Thousands of Words About Pictures

In case you haven't noticed, there's some afoot in the world of blogs about photography (not to be confused with photoblogs). Lately it seems like lots and lots of smart people are writing interesting things on the subject. Some people, like Raul Gutierrez, have been writing interesting blogs for a long time now. Others, like say Brian Ulrich have recently stepped it up a bit, perhaps nudged along by Alec Soth, who only started his blog recently, but has already acquired an almost slavish following. (I too am one of those enthusiastic fans.)

I am pleased by this new development, but also somewhat dismayed. Pleased because the best of these blogs are enlightening about the discipline, but not single-mindedly about photography - they're broader than than that and touch on life, inspiration and sometimes politics. It's nice having a window into what makes the people who I enjoy and admire tick. I'm dismayed because, well, how's a girl supposed to keep up?? I'm not just talking about my ever-growing list of bookmarks, a formidable undertaking in and of itself... I'm also talking about my own musings here. It's a struggle to stay up to par. All these smart people are messing with the curve, damnit. Anyway, all of that said, here's what I'm reading and why:

First off, I'd like to point you to an interesting conversation about fair use that started over on Raul's blog, inspired his posting of the Robert Adams photo above from the book The New West. Photographer Robert Wright posited that using the photo was a "blatant misuse of copywrighted material" and an interesting conversation ensued. (You can see where I stand, having just republished the photo myself.)

Art blogs in general are probably a whole other post, but Modern Art Obsession gets a nod in this one for pointing me to a Fortune article about collecting photography. (Although I have to say I wish he'd lay off on the strike throughs a bit. The posts can often be hard to decipher and he's usually got interesting stuff to say.)

Conscientious is a must read, naturally. I'd say it's the most consistent fine art photography crit blog around, and it's all the better because, like it or not, Joerg has his opinions and is not afraid to make them known. Being a woman of opinions myself, I like this a lot, so much so that I asked him to be a panelist for Hey, Hot Shot! and was delighted when he said yes.

Photographer and biennial star Zoe Strauss consistently warms my heart with her very authentic and regular person posting style. I love an art star with heart, and Zoe has miles and miles of it.

I could give exhaustive commentary on every blog I read, but I need to get on with my day, and besides maybe y'all just want the meat of the matter, so here's a list of links I love, including the ones mentioned above:

1mag3
2point8
alec soth - blog
Automatt .com
Big Images Blog
bighappyfunhouse
Conscientious
FlickrBlog
Journal Of A Photographer
Meet Me In Ataxia, Baby
NOTIFBUTWHEN #2 (Brian Ulrich)
nyc.photobloggers.org
PDNedu
powerHouse (Although their new MySpace location hurts my eyes. Ow.)
site news - joe's nyc
slower.net weblog
State of the Art
The Daily F'log (Who recently ran an interview of me conducted over IM with Ms. Jenni Holder)
The Online Photographer
virtublog
Youngna (A photoblog, but with meaty "captions" that are basically posts.)

I'm sure I've overlooked some, so I encourage additional pointers in comments below, so let me know whatcha got.

Comments

[Brandon Stone]

So much on the web to inspire and provoke thought. And we're only at the beginning of it all still. (I can only imagine what the web will be like in 5-10 years when many more smart people become web-savvy and start sharing their experiences this way.) Sometimes the avalanche of good stuff is too much to handle, but this is a good problem to have.

I appreciate you sharing this list. You've pointed out some new sites that I'm sure I'll start to follow regularly.

[Michael Shaw]

BAGnewsNotes offers expert political analysis of news photos and political images.  

A 2006 Webby Awards finalist for Best Political Blog (along with Huffington Post and Columbia Journalism Review) and winner of the 2005 Koufax Award for Best Blog Post, any number of political blogs are recognized for their analysis, but only one is known for breaking down visual propaganda and deconstructing political and media spin.

Besides authoring the site, which is one of the most widely viewed in the political blogosphere, I am also a regular contributer to the Huffington Post blog, doing a feature called: "Reading The Pictures."

[Addison]

Check out http://www.HaveYouSeenMyDynamite.com - He's a friend that posts about Art, Photgraphy and tosses in a lot of himself. He's also got some good links.

[Robert Wright]

Well I said that :

"Consider if I had a cola, and began publishing a blog online advertising that cola using content from other well known artists. I think most of us would agree that would be a blatant misuse of copyrighted content for the purpose of advertising a product. Ok, so I don't advertise a product, per se, but I am using it to build "brand" as they say-still guilty, essentially.

In a lot of ways this is no different."

So you are parsing my statement somewhat inaccurately. You need to read the whole conversation, not just the cliff notes. I won't go round that merry-go-round again. But I'll take your bet and raise you one since I'm game.

I wrote this shortly after, as usual, thinking aloud:

http://tinyurl.com/yxhzzz

sorry for the tinyurl but iweb makes some nasty links.

I don't think I'm right, but I don't think I'm wrong, there is something to this, it's a shift in the culture, and it interests me.

[Todd W.]

Alec's blog really made a big splash. Unbelievable how he can keep up such a stream of interesting posts and participate in comments with how busy he must be. I struggle to keep my own Gallery Hopper fresh with my own busy life. It's sadly taken a back seat to other things recently so posts are infrequent.

You should add Christian Patterson's Speak, See, Remember to your feed reader, too.

[Jen Bekman]

Hey Brian, it's no contest! I love all y'all, you should know that. My point was that when I see other smart, creative folks blogging more I feel pressured (in the best possible way) to keep writing. If I'm not mistaken you have three shows opening in the new year, which makes me impressed that you find time to blog at all!

[Mike]

Jen...
Thanks for the shout-out!
Your blog is real swell too!!

But what do you mean you don't like my stike outs???
Damn... everyone's a critic...

[Brian Ulrich]

I would be trying to step it up but more often find myself stepping off. Perhaps one day off will be on and I can feel some peace inside. I will say I'm really not into blog contests, I love everybody (except the guy who owns brianulrich.com and won't sell it to me).

[Tom Gibbons]

http://cameraarts.blogspot.com

Come on over and let me know what you all think. We also have a great e-newsletter on the main site. Hope to see you!

[An Xiao]

Just passing through and thought I'd say thanks for the compilation! I've been trying to find quality blogs about photography and this is a great list.

[Toledo Photographer]

deviantART is the worlds largest art website. I have accounts at many others but deivnatART is my faovrite. Enjoy :)

[Zoe Strauss]

Jen Bekman is super.

[Ron Diorio]

So many blogs so little time.
http://www.aphotographicimagination.com/2006/12/so_many_blogs_so_little_time.html