First Go.

I tried out a public reading of "CHOWCHILLA" last nite at CORNELIA CAFE.
At Cornelia Cafe a reader is allowed only 3 minutes so I decided to keep it straight foward and simple, to test the waters of my guts. I can do this. I do want to involve a little more "drama" into this. A little bit more of a performance.
I have some ideas up my sleeve and will appear again in 2 weeks at another Open Mike venue with a 7 minute, Performance decorated reading.

I went alone.
I set up the camcorder.
I walked up and read the thing.
I split.

Enjoy.

The origins of "CAMP".

The writer/critic Susan Sontag was teaching at Columbia University when she published her essay, "NOTES ON 'CAMP'". Sontag's analysis of the underground camp sensibility launched this term into mainstream culture (later confused with Pop), and film. Sontag also became popularly identified as the high priestess of camp cult. A March 1965 NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE article on camp by writer Thomas Meehan described Sontag as the person who discovered and defined the already existing phenomenon "CAMP".

In later years, Sontag became one of America's best-known intellectuals, writing frequently in the NEW YORKER, the NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS, and other journals, published four novels, a book of short stories, and a number of nonfiction books of criticism and cultural analysis, including AGAINST INTERPRETATION, ON PHOTOGRAPHY, ILLNESS AS METAPHOR and REGARDING THE PAIN OF OTHERS. She also directed four feature films. Her novel IN AMERICA won the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2000. Susan Sontag died in December 2004 at the age of 71.

Recent discovery has uncovered that Sontag identified aka joey (aka jane public) as the one and only true relevant figure of the cinematic underground notion of "the Fine Art of Camp". Her living family members have confessed that Susan regrets not having left all of her material belongings to aka joey, but from her grave encourages him to move foward and let others know about her "innermost feelings" via the written blog.


Thank you.
ANONYMOUS

Cant Explain.

I recorded this video installation of YVONNE RAINER at the MoMa museum. This dance excerpt is an example of what inspired me to make the film NICE PEOPLE. And also, what inspires me in general. I cannot explain why I simply love watching this kind of body movement (I.E. dance). When ya think of ballet, you think of tutu's and conservative crowds, BUT there is really something else about the essential art of the idea of how a person can move and express with a body.

Anyways, enjoy.
And give me credit. Your not allowed to take pictures at the MoMa, and I managed to pull this off quietly. The things I do for YOU.

always,
akame.

p.s. if you listen carefully you can hear me and my darling Cassie as I feed her an afternoon of gallery strolling tips :)


xo

Incredible Review

I recently purchased the book, "WORDS IN AIR, The complete coorespondence between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell". The book is such a masterpiece of simple and blatant letters of two artists to one another. It's the kind of book that makes you hate the laptop computer and wish the old typewriter was still available in places other than EBAY.com (I found my typewriter in a garbage can so there ARE other options).

Here is an incredibly accurate review if this book I hope you consider reading.
CLICK ON THIS LINK ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/books/review/Logan-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

SNAPSHOT poetry study

You look for fire logs all of the time (at least I do). Something to inspire the hands to create something "different". Sickening that we have to KEEP ON doing this as film artists, BUT WE DO, and that's just the way it is. At least there can be a silver lining to New York's snowy clouds and I found my log today. Thank God. I found it in some Warhol book about his portrait films at the WHITNEY MUSEUM. Book's Title: Andy Warhol's Screen Tests. The goal was to see Meredith Monk's FREE musical performance at 2pm at the WHITNEY, BUT the place was way too crowded and I said to myself, "screw this. I got something out of this trip, a book for ideas. Get the hell outta here". I listened.

I am still ambitiously looking for the proper way of shooting my latest quest, a film about poetry and it's author poet that is based on a very simplistic manner of filmmaking. Minimalism with "Narrative" depth. The idea is to touch the inside of a poem by looking at it's outside.

I'll browse through this book and see what strikes my fancy.
I'll jot notes of various ways I could shoot this project (16mm or 8mm).
And, on a different note, please go see the film, "DOUBT". I just saw it. It has incredible performances and is based on a catholic school that I attended and was an altar boy in the Bronx. NO, I was not molested by this priest, but I do recall one priest who enjoyed making me light his candles.


Talk to you soon dearest reader,

love,
akame
xo

The Poetry TESTS

A trial/test reading of a new work that will be read in various OPEN READINGS in NYC.

The poet speaks of silence.

So, here I am again. on the BLOG machine for my faithful loyal readers (i.e. me, myself and i)

Last nite I met a poet at a cinema cafe to discuss making a new film. I witnessed this poet on Open mike nite at the Cornelia Cafe and was inspired and moved by a poem read titled, "Woodcutters'. it immediately made me sad, romantically suicidal, and cinematically moved. it clicked right then and there and one voice inside my head said to another voice inside my head:

"hey joey, you just finished making a film about a ballet dancer. Good job. You made a film about that college girl who went missing. c'mon joey, smell the coffee! You MUST make your next movie about poetry! You MUST try one last time to prove the critics wrong and show everybody just how soft your marshmellow heart can really be. DO IT! introduce yourself to Ms. Woodcutter and put her into your next docu-fessional and give her the privaledge to mimic your own wrestless issues".
"OK. OK". said the other voice. "Stop yelling at me! Damn, you are so domineering. I will. relax. Geez."

So we met. She is into astrology and wanted to know what time I was born, and the month ( i then called my mother in Florida and learned it was at 2am. I hung up my cellphone call and kept talking to the poet lady again) The poet said that she writes alone and at dawn in her quiet kitchen daily with a Virgin Mary candle lit. She explained to me that she healed a cherry tree by the Hudson river by transferring energy into it (and promised me that this river is not as gross as I feel it is). She admires poets Lorca and Wright, and told me Lorca was shot by a firing squad during the Spanish Civil War (hummmm, maybe I will include a shooting in the film, we'll see). She said I reminded her of a woman friend who is NOT a poet. She asked me if she reminded me of anyone, I said yes...MY MOTHER. She said I was funny and called me a "Wild Card". that will stick to me till the day I drop dead. I have never been called a Wild Card. I thought I was a simple person who doesn't go out of the house that much. After she left and we agreed to a second meeting to discuss our film, a film in which she claims should include "silence" (i agree!), I saw another person. A person who has known me for years. I told this person that I was told I was a "Wild Card". This person agreed. Then told me, "has anyone ever told you that you act and talk just like Heath Ledger in that Joker movie thing he just did?" I said, yeah. about 5 times, including my sister who never calls me called me the nite she saw it to tell me that.

Long story short. I am making a film about poetry. I was called a "wild card". I guess Heath Ledger's Joker character was a "wild" card. And now he's DEAD. Wow. and GOLLY. What an interesting way to begin to process of making a movie about poetry. JOKERS WILD. But then this third voice pops up inside my head and reminds me of the embarrassing truth, "JOEY SHUT UP. YOU DON't KNOW HOW TO PLAY CARDS. ONLY MONOPOLY".

lord have mercy on me. And all three of us.

love,
akame

Art Gallery screening

THE NEW VISION CINEMA SERIES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2009
6:30PM, ADMISSION: BY CONTRIBUTION

HAVEN ART GALLERY,
50 BRUCKNER BOULEVARD,
BRONX, NEW YORK.

Continuing in the tradition of the Invisible Film Series, the New Vision Cinema Series presents a broad range of film and videos from an equally-diverse selection of cineastes. Founded in 2000 by Jennifer MacMillan as the Invisible Film Series, the New Vision Cinema Series has endeavored to showcase the talents of some of the finest local (and sometimes, not-so- local) independent film and video talents of the Greater New York City area. Since its inception, the series has shown works of such notables as Stan Brakhage, Mike Kuchar, Nick Zedd, Jennifer Reeves, and Bradley Eros. With the departure of Ms. MacMillan from its fold (a hard act to follow), the series has been under the sole curatorship of its former co-curator, Michael Park.

New Vision is now proud to announce the addition of its newest venue, the Haven Art Gallery in the Bronx!

Showing in this installment:

1. OBAR by Taylor Dunne (12.5 min): to this day, there still are ghost towns
generated in america.
2. THE CITY WAS BORN by Drew and the Medicinal Pen (5 min): innovative
music video that explores further our great american countryside.
3. AIRWAVE: THE CIRCLE OF GNOMES by Sophia Peer (2 min): another
music video that cuts across the countryside at an even-more-frenetic pace.
4. DAME DARCY: A FILM PORTRAIT by Joel Schlemowitz (4.5 min): we slow
the pace back down a bit to examine an experimental portrait of this
lovely figure in the world of the avant garde.
5. THE TEAT BEAT OF SEX, EPISODES 1-4 & 8-11 by Signe Baumane (11 min):
another great new woman of the avant garde (this time, an animator), presents
to you her early exploits into the realm of sex.
6. STICKERS by Daniel Maldonado (16.5 min): another exploration into childhood
exploits, this time of a more-sinister nature.
7. NICE PEOPLE by aka Joey (26.5 min): the sinister side of childhood again
explored, this time from the perspective of parental pressures leading to
bulimia and far worse.
8. PAINLESS by Sridar Ranganath (20.5 min): life's pressures in general can
lead to drastic measures, can't they?
9. THE DROWN: HOMAGE by Amy Leonard (4 min): as a relief from all this
glumness, we present to you this film noir romance set to a rock video.
10. MILIEU by Dmitry Torgovitsky (17 min): and to top off our show, a questionable
romance set amidst modern-day yakuza clans.

Directions to the Haven Art Gallery:
Take the 6 train to 3rd Ave./138th St.
Take the staircase marked Alexander Avenue.
Once on the street, take a right (walking south) and go about 3 blocks to Bruckner Blvd.
Once at Bruckner Blvd., cross the street and make a left.
Go half a block.
Gallery will be on your right (south side of street), 50 Bruckner Blvd. Bldg. A

The Ups and Downs of the CROSS

Creating. Making. Being an artist IS a cross to bare. And don't anyone ever try to convince otherwise.

There is absolutely nothing PRETTY about being an artist. I only embraced that "title" (i.e. artist) and that self-definition within the past decade as my only real available option to be able to fit into within some crevice of the human race. Yes, there are moments of creative excitement during the "process" stages of a work, and especially after the completion of a work. But the IN BETWEENS are ruthless. IN BETWEEN WHAT, YOU WONDER? -

1)In Between projects.
2)in Between ideas and idea-vacancy.
3)In Between self-doubt... WHY IS IT THAT I HAVE TO DO THIS? WHY CAN'T I JUST BE A BIT MORE SIMPLE? WHY CAN'T I JUST HAVE A JOB AT WALMART AND GO HOME AND SLEEP?

Long story short (or should I say long Blog short) being an artist is a curse.
And a blessing. It is a cross to carry, and a very heavy one I must say.
Trust me, this is a Blog and Blogs are meant to be honest.

aka me.x

A quote for the day from ME.

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.


Elizabeth Bishop

Sample scanned slide images from HOMEWRECKA

These nature images will be combined with the imaginary friends images of the film's narrator's brother...

CHEAP BY THE 35mm DOZEN

3 Blogs in 3 days. I am on a roll huh.

I went to the mall to do a lil Christmas shopping (and to get myself an ICE LATTE) and I walked into BED BATH AND BEYOND department store. There was this table with a 35mm SLIDE to DIGITAL Converter! I was like, HOLY SHIT! Not only do I need this for my slides for HOMEWRECKA, at a ridiculous chain store like this, I can get buy the thing, get my work accomplished, save the receipt, and return the crap to get a FULL REFUND. Hell yeah! $100 it costs. $100 I get back. I will enjoy the process. And I hope I have educated all of those poor and passionate artists put there, where there is a will there is a way. And , God bless stupid, corporate holiday chain department stores and their in-kind refund policies :)

love,
aka refund meister

CRITIQUE from film, "I NEED YOU" viewing...

Tuesday, December 16, 2008


CRITIQUE from film, "I NEED YOU" viewing...

Hey Joey,

I just finished watching your film, "I Need You". I watched it twice because I hadn't watched it all the way through the first time and thought that would be better. A lot of it's tough to watch - it's poingant. But it has more impact the second time. It's much more obvious the second time that the dancing at the beginning is when they're both successfull out-patients. The first time they both seem pretty "crazy" even then. The second time it's also more obvious when the Captian is beginning to go manic - when Ernie is trying to talk him out of his "Bongo" obsession.

I thought the early scene when Ernie is trying to talk Captian out of his Bongo obsession was a little long, and though it's filmed in regular light, which makes it more sane (which is what it's supposed to be), the regular light makes Ernie's wig and teeth more obviously fake.

But the scene shortly after that when Captian Jamaca is explaining how Paul died and why Paul died was great. In fact it was so good that I wished some (or all) of what he was saying was sub-titled so people couldn't miss what he was saying.

Some of the zoo scenes were long, but they did have the effect of showing Paul's manic phase kicking in.

All of the parts with the phone guy were really good. In fact they were perfect and striking. Especially the end, when he smiles at the camera from the end of the pier.

Irronically you start by saying Ernie is our worst fucking nightmare, and end by saying he's probably never going to get better, but in reality he didn't do anything bad in the entire film. He just tried to keep Captain Jamaca from messing up. It was less obvious that he followed Captian Jamaca into not taking his meds.

Maybe you could start with more voice-over during the part showing the psych hospital in the rain talking about the numbers of people on out-patient status. This would make it more obvious that Ernie and Paul are recent out-patients trying to pull it together. Also, the dates help a lot, but they're usually small and I found it difficult to follow their progress, which I think is important so you can see how the two are deteriorating over time.

I'll probably watch it a couple more times. The grainy colored film sequences are great. A lot of texture in sound and picture. I loved the Martin Luther King part too. And I thought it was funny the second time I watched, at the beginning it says the film was "dierected" which seemed to indicate it was already a story, the director merely "erected" it for everyone to see.

Maybe that's more critique than you wanted. You said you were re-working it so I thought more ideas might help you brain storm (but then they might not also). It's too bad you couldn't make them look less crazy at the beginning and establish Paul as Paul so watchers could see the Captain Jamaca transformation as extreme and indicative as it is supposed to be - as an indicator that Paul's starting to go manic.

Anyway, you said this was done in 1995 I thought, but you also said it was done after Len. I didn't know Len was that old. makes it even more impressive.

Now I'm more impatient to see Nice People.

James

To study a BREER

I'm gonna go to ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES and check out the work of filmmaker ROBERT BREER.
I got tip from an experimental friend/professor and checked out the films a bit on YOUTUBE.
Blew me away. I am not into the "animation" breed of filmmakers but this guy is truly amazing. What I saw in the film " 69 " blew me away. Simple line drawings morphing into all kinds of movements and creatures. Very inspiring, and clearly a HANDS ON process.

I'm hesitating to begin shooting my HOMEWRECKA film simply because I want to make sure I tackle it with the same precision as I did the first 2 films of this trilogy series (MISSING GREEN, NICE PEOPLE). I have enrolled into a drawing class and want to see what that experience brings to the new film. Either way, I will begin the film in about 2 weeks by recording the sound interview. Also, shooting the 35mm slide film onto 16mm film with the optical printer.

LINK TO HIS FILM, "69":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlpoppkVeic



6pm.
Anthology Film Archives.
Robert Breer films.

Goodbye.
me.xo

William and the WHITNEY...

I was looking for "NEW" toy to play with, a NEW tool. I have been intrigued by the old PORTAPAC video system used in the late 60's and early 70's. This camera system was used in the documentary "THE POLICE TAPES" and the video image looked gorgeous. Smears of light, unexpected splashes of video-Noise. AHHHHHHHH, LOVE IT! Total unpredictable beauty.

Photographer William Eggleston was being showcased at the WHITNEY MUSEUM so I decided to go check out his "process", listen to the lecture and hear about his use of the Portapac Video system in his exploration of the "moving picture". It "looked" great BUT there was an immediate MAJOR problem. The PORTA PAC was being wheeled out in a WHEELBARROW! Literally! That is how the 75 minute film that he made of the South opens up, a friend with a wheelbarrow lugging what looks like 300 lbs. of video box luggage. CALL ME SPOILED BY SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT AND THE ALMIGHTY HI8mm BUT I AINT GOING ) ORDER ANY DAMN PORTA PAC after seeing that!

Overall, my day at the WHITNEY was inspiring. I saw images that moved me (particularly 5x7 blown up BLACK AND WHITE portraits) and was reminded of the important responsibility that I have to continue to "move foward" as an artist and not get boggled down by any person, or any disappointment.

I am still dealing with the fact that Eggleston was a sophisticated redneck who took some pretty damn good pictures. I did not know that this was possible. Guess I have been working in the Bronx way too long. huh.

love,
akame
x

SBX Film Festival reactions

The SOUTH BRONX FILM FESTIVAL far surpassed my expectations. It was REALLY good. Not only did I leave a PROUD Bronx born person, I left learning more about my work, and the effect it has upon other people.

The film fest screened, LEN. My screening generated some very informative dialogues, with the usual combination of those who "believed" and "wanted to believe" the tragic story narrative I had created. I have had such a difficult time with this important film of mine due to the fact that it was used against me in a trial to hurt me. A film, like some of my others, that came back to personally attack and haunt me. There is a distance now, a creative one, and I was able to speak of the film and it's process, without the caution I had experienced before. I continue to get the overall appreciation for the "look" of the film, it's gritty 16mm black & white style, it's misunderstood horror. Other comments really made me appreciate the experience of having to "go back in time" and recall why I did some of the things that I did. Here are some sample questions that I received:

1) Did you film the story in a linear fashion? There are essentially 5 questions asked in this interview with the perpetrator. Were they designed to be a "build up" to this character's "resolution", or did you construct the interview-story-drama in the editing process Out of Sequence? ( the question was asked due to the fact that the actor appeared to be getting better and better at his "denial" as the film progressed).

2) How did you set up the Lighting? (the question was asked due to the pulsating effect. This effect occurred since the lights were blasted up at the apartment cieling fan).

3) Your "personal situation" due to he misinterpretation of the film, and the LEN character's situation ended up being so close in detail. Would you ever consider making a film about how THIS particular film actually came back to attack you, the filmmaker, in a trial and forensic evaluation setting? (the question was posed because the person felt that it added a whole new layer and dimension to the mysterious "reality" the film has despite it's complete falsehood).


OVERALL, I made some good contacts due to this film screening at this New York festival. I think that finally LEN has come back to make peace with me. Thank God almighty. I will embrace anything good that comes outta the effects of this film upon others, and as usual, hide it away under LOCK AND KEY, after any film festival is done and finished with it. (i.e. right now. I locked Mr. LEN up and away. and it's time to get to the next film to show).

NOTE: I was told that the gallery that showed my work has FREE model drawing once a week for artists. I will begin to participate in NUDE Model Drawing on Thursdays. Number one: It's free. Number two: I'm thinking I may find the next victim to make a star in a new joey film. Why not try something new and that ain't using CRAIGS LIST as a means for casting. Let's see how that confessional narrative goes. No clothes. No script. No clue. Time will tell.


Love,
akame
xo

Justine Kurland

I saw Justine at APERTURE GALLERY down on 47th street. Awesome lecture. It's just so interesting to see a hippie fight so hard against "hippiedom". I keep telling her that it's not her fault, IT'S HER MOM's! (her mother is the ultimate commune livin' nudist hippie). Justine lives in her van, with her 4 year old kid, so ya gotta give credit where credit is due! She rules. Point Blank.

Anyways, all friendship aside, she is an incredible talent. Her work IS narrative driven (the unfortunate new hype), BUT is SO focused and enamored by the nature "LANDSCAPE" there is always something unruly and unstaged about every single thing that she does.

I had needed inspiration today and I got it by seeing her work and hearing her process. She not just loves what she does, she needs to do what she does. She needs to take and make images. I needed to be reminded that I am not the only lunatic in the world who needs to do this kind of thing with my life.


love,
me.
xo

Caught In The Love Triangle of PROCESS/CONTENT/MATERIALITY

How do we choose our specific material, our means of communication?
"Accidentally."
Something speaks to us, a sound, a touch, hardness or softness, it catches us and asks us to be formed. We are finding our language, and as we go along we learn to obey their rules and their limits. We have to obey, and adjust to those demands. Ideas flow from it to us and though we feel to be the creator we are involved in a dialogue with our medium. The more subtle we are tuned to our medium, the more intuitive our actions will become. Not listening to it ends in failure...What I am trying to get across is that material is a means of communication. That listening to it, not dominating it, makes us truly active, that is: to be active, be passive. The finer tuned we are to it, the closer we come to art.

Anni Albers, "Material as Metaphor," in SELECTED WRITINGS ON DESIGN

Text Text Text go away

I am currently rehearsing my new film, HOMEWRECKA in my head. I am continually looking for various ways to describe my stories. With film, you have only a few options, IMAGE, SOUND and TEXT. Is there a way to climb over this prison wall? Not sure. I think that then we would be walking into the landscape of performance art. Hummmmm. I have used all kinds of different tools for my text descriptions of events to keep my creativity work "FUN". You can only find so many busted up typewriters and types of rough paper.

I wish I had a teacher I could turn on and off. A teacher who would challenge me to discover new ideas and possibilities. I am reading about the teaching practices of Eva Hesse. What a lucky bunch of kids she taught.

Here is a sample of her teaching methodology from the book "EVA HESSE DRAWING" :

On "expressive possibilities of line," find this: "I will make up a story. I will describe forms that can move, walk, jump, describe long shapes, circles that skip and hop. I can sit still or move at 300 miles an hour. Can you paint me?"

On color, one exercise proposes "using at least four different hues of black, render the image as colorful as possible" (ex. Ad Reinhardt).

I read stuff like this, and I am reminded about why I love, and DON'T understand why I REMAIN in love with creating films. I am hellbent on continuing my journey towards bringing the film narrative into the complete "white cube" of the "fine art" spectrum. MISSING GREEN was my first direct gunshot. NICE PEOPLE and HOMEWRECKA will be the following ballistic report.


love,
aka me
xo

a note on poet, ANNE SEXTON

The doctor encouraged her, and tried to give her a sense of purpose. "Don't kill yourself," he said. "Your poems might mean something to someone else someday."

your greatest fan

Like it or not, you must be your greatest fan.

I make films, make sounds, make stuff, because I HAVE TO. I have no other reason.
It is terrible when you work so hard at setting up a presentation of work, and you learn that know one really truly cares about you do BUT YOU. I am talking to myself outloud right now (I imagine). Why do I do this crap? IT's all about money, attention, who knows who, for the most part. I do have to remind myself, that I got into this film art thing because of seeing cinema that inspired and changed me (i.e. BERGMAN, ROSSELLINI).
I have a huge body of work now.
But who will ever see it all?
I work now towards my death show. Seriously. I organize everything I do carefully and "clearly", I "back up" all of my work, I write the "creative process" for as many films of mine as I can to help give insight to the public of how I create what I do, and my "motivations" if there are any. The idea is that when I am dead(and unfortunately when this happens I won't even know it) someone can organize it all and show it all properly to inspire others and let the work live on. WHY CAN'T I JUST DIE, COME RIGHT BACK IN THE FORM OF A FANATICAL FAN GIRL AND ORGANIZE THE THING MYSELF!

I guess this is why God created the almighty BLOG , huh. For stuff like this.
Well, I hope someone out there can relate to some aspect of this.
If not, The mere act of writing this keeps me focused on the quaky reminder that I am this despicable creature they call "artist".

And man, what I would to to trade it in and be a simpleton candy wrapper somewhere in a rural town with a run down local movie theatre and a loyal mut junkyard dog that loves me.


aka
me.
xo

Forgot to mention...

I AM FEATURED IN BWAC !
I am showing a still photography show based upon the joys of single parenthood, and the wonders of children.

Please come see my non-controversial moment as an artist (FINALLY)!
Here is a sample image from the series...

mistakes :

A good piece of art is a successful exploitation of mistakes.


anonymous

How a painting can inspire a film...

This Image has inspired me. I want to make a very minimalist film soon. One that centers around a static shot of a model. Subtle movements that remind the viewer that they are not experiencing a still photograph. Emphasis on location sound recording, as a backdrop to create an ambient idea of a narrative. I would like to use an analog NAGRA recorder rather than a digital sound recorder. I would like to record sound at night. In the dark. Only company:INSECTS. A RUSTIC CABIN. Please stay tuned...

Film and Photography as a means of "documentation"

There is a growing interest in the commerce of photography and its reception as an index to larger political, economic, and social issues. Recent research and writing about photography focuses on the politics of representation, the markings of difference inflected by gender and class, and the social conditions of reception. Perceptions are filtered through the lens of theory and writing about photography encoded in the language of the New Art History.

The books by Molly Nesbit and Elizabeth Ann McCauley grow out of extensive, if not exhaustive, research. Their interest in the commerce of photography in the mid-19th to early 20th century has led them to recover an important body of material which might otherwise have been overlooked. The footnotes, appendixes, and extensive bibliographies are essential sources and references of great use and interest to anyone working in the history of photography. McCauley's research is prodigious: in the appendixes she registers commercial photographers, their addresses, and their years of operation during the period 1848-71. Charts in the body of the text give the number of employees per establishment and their total sales. Nesbit provides the captions and numbers indicated on Atget's negatives, records his sales to Paris institutions from 1898 to 1928, and lists his clients, classified by profession. The images from the seven albums are reproduced in small-scale duotones.

Since the exhibition of Eugene Atget's work at the Museum of Modem Art in 1981 and its catalogue by John Szarkowski and Maria Morris Hambourg, there have been profound changes in the discourse on photography. Atget's individual perceptions, choices, and aesthetic were foregrounded in the MoMA catalogue; theory as such was not at issue. Szarkowski noted: "No philosophic rubric will lead the photographer to an image that describes a new subject; at best it will tell him when he has arrived at his own proper hunting ground." He observed that "in the last decade, mythic Atget was replaced with an historical one."(1) "Mythic Atget" refers above all to the view of Berenice Abbott, who bought his archive in 1927 and wrote the first biography.(2) Now, with Nesbit's study, we have a thoroughly theorized Atget, seen through the ideologies of "difference."

Nesbit radically reinterprets Atget, taking issue with the prevailing view of his oeuvre as a unity of artistic accomplishment. She cites Clement Greenberg and John Szarkowski as the principal proponents of this seamless praise of Atget's work as great art. Nesbit is more aligned with the contrary view advanced by Rosalind Krauss, who argued that the numbers marked on his negatives are not clues as to how his work constitutes an artist's "oeuvre" but rather are the workings of a documentary photographer.(3) Nesbit makes much of Atget's words to Man Ray, that his photographs are "simply documents I make" -- not art. This position is central to her argument. She regards Atget's photographs as "commodity pictures," following Marx's definition of commodity, and as "satisfying man's need through their [the documents'] play between sign, knowledge, and vision".

The reduction of the history of photography to discourse has curiously led in Nesbit's study to the drawing of sharp distinctions between documents and art, aligning photography with knowledge rather than aesthetic form. But does the distinction really hold between art and document? Must one discount knowledge from the range and concern of art? Nesbit does not actually write about what of photography she might consider as art. Documents, on the other hand, are defined by their exchange value, and their identity lies in the "technical signs" they contain which refer to "a culture of work." Nesbit likens the document maker to a worker in the field and partakes in that aspect of critical theory that discounts the notion of the artist.(4) The section, "The Author," draws the distinction between the form of personal engagement of the document maker and that of the artist. Atget becomes an auteur-editeur through the seven albums he composed of his photographs. Nesbit charts his course from the photographer working for clients both public and private to his increasingly critical and political subversion of the topoi of picturesque Paris. The complexity of Atget's practice is presented, and we become aware of him as a determined conscience of the changing urban scene.



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