Leaves peaking through a motel window try to regain what was lost. By aspiring Hot Shot Alana Celii

Originally uploaded by msjenbee.

Alana Celii can see global warming’s effects on your soul. Toying with the age old battle of man versus nature, her work compares human nature with its impact on the environment. She is interested in destruction, rejection, and abandonment within both the physical and psychological landscape––the explorer of the forgotten and overlooked.

Within each photograph there is a sense of nature trying to regain loss ground. Through these photographs, I am trying to capture the history of destruction and man made development to the land, and how that same devastation is mimicked within our own nature as human beings. We do not learn from our mistakes, but rather, expose ourselves to the same ruin.

Two weeks remain until deadline. Get it in, get it out.

Deadline: Tuesday November 7 @ 6pm
Enter Now!

Untitled (Backdoor) by aspiring Hot Shot Taylor House

Originally uploaded by msjenbee.

Like many an inspiring photographer before him, Taylor House photographs what he knows––the people, the places, and the spaces. Rather than spend his time in the classroom, he has honed his fine art of photography by keeping up with many a photoblog and forum.

My photography evolved from a few snaps at the school dance to a slightly psychotic desire for order and documentation. A healthy diet of Klein, Koudelka, and Bresson helped to sharpen my sensibility and composition, and now I can’t keep my eyes from constantly searching for photographs.

My submitted photos are from an ongoing set of Tucson at night, and attempt to explain the unique ambience of this used city.

Have a Safe Trip by aspiring Hot Shot Scott Hammond

Originally uploaded by msjenbee.

One fine day Scott Hamond accidentally became a photographer. Since then he’s traveled the land, out to capture that banal side of American life which we all so dearly love, giving us our nostalgic fix in the process, and all with the ultimate of Americana devices––the Polaroid camera. In his own words:

I travel the country looking for mundane, ordinary moments to record with my Polaroid camera. Why? I’m still not quite sure. I’m conflicted whether I’m recording moments in American life or just moments in my life. Or maybe they’re both…

Holly Lynton | Solid Ground : Hymenoptera, originally uploaded by msjenbee.

This isn’t specifically Hey, Hot Shot! related, but it is fabulous gallery related news! The excellent Vince Aletti writes about Holly Lynton’s exhibition Solid Ground in this week’s edition of The New Yorker.

HOLLY LYNTON
Exploring the possibilities for fantasy in her own back yard, Lynton turns it into a wild kingdom for a series of color photographs that assume the point of view of a playful and inquisitive child. Lynton’s nearly naked little girl and a bare-chested friend take on a fairy-tale presence in a landscape rendered mysterious by worm’s-eye-view closeups. He’s a giant seen through a scrim of leaves; she’s a sprite, crouching to catch a sprinkler’s spray in her mouth. But some of the most intriguing images are unpopulated: a tunnel in the snow; a bird caught behind the netting on a raspberry bush; leaves, petals, dead bees, and dry ice floating in a plastic pool. Through Oct. 28. (Bekman, 6 Spring St. 212-219-0166.)

We’ll be hosting a Q+A between Holly and Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City on Thursday October 26 from 6pm - 8pm. (There will be wine + beer, the talk starts around 7ish.)
Space is very limited, so please RSVP: rsvp AT jenbekman DOT com.
The show remains on view through Saturday October 28, and the gallery is open Wednesday - Sunday from noon - 6pm or by appointment.

Hey, Hot Shot! Entries: Lydia on Her Bike by aspiring Hot Shot Nick Meyer

Originally uploaded by msjenbee.


Nick Meyer nows how to have fun and luckily the camera gets to play part in it. On a cold and windy New York City night his green grass, good times, and hip friends are looking rather enticing. In his words…

They are photographs that toe the line between formal portraits and simple snapshots. They are between city and country. The images are between joyous and brooding. These are all things I believe to be true about my work, but in the end I have a group of friends that like to relax, go swimming, drink beer and be with one another, just like you do.

Hey, Hot Shot! Entries: Joe as Jack by aspiring Hot Shot Siri Kaur

Originally uploaded by msjenbee.


Perhaps it is just because Halloween is right around the corner or that I am a Jack fan just as Joe… But of this image, I am quite the fan. Siri Kaur loves strangers and, even more, working with them to get that perfectly odd portrait.

I do not objectively record a situation; rather, I subjectively create an alternate universe unique to each photograph. These images are my fantasies about the lives of people who willingly invite me into their homes. My strangers are eager participants in the fantasy we create together.

Keep it up Siri! Check back from now until the quickly approaching deadline for my aspiring HHS pick of the day. Get your entries in, I want to see what you’ve got.

He’s the hand that guides so many of us through the quickly condensing photographic-web, the man who consistently brings us new artists to ogle and old favorites to rehash. He’s the one we can depend on for genuine thoughts and opinions, the one who brings us outstanding interviews and always keeps us entertained. He’s a photographer, a thinker, a writer, a blogger, and an astrophysicist. He’s a staple for us all, the photography/life/art/culture blogger of bloggers, and the mind behind Conscientious—he’s Joerg Colberg, our Special Guest Panelist for Hey, Hot Shot! Fall 2006.

In his own words…

I was born on 15 February 1968 in what was then West Germany. I wish I could write that my interest in photography started when I found an old camera as a little boy. But alas, that didn’t happen. Instead of using it I took it apart when it didn’t work. In this spirit of wanting to know how things work - instead of being creative - I went to school and university. Eventually I ended up with a Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics, a degree that doesn’t have all that many applications in one’s daily life (but, hey, it’s quite interesting). In a sense I could write that I turned to photography after I had learned how - literally - the Universe worked, except that that’s also just partly true (but it sounds good). In any case, I picked up photography at around the age of 30, again by chance. This time I had to buy a camera, because apparently there are only so many free cameras in one’s life time. In parallel to learning how to take photos (by making each and every mistake that one could possibly make) I started compiling a weblog about contemporary photography, Conscientious. I guess it would have been harder to pick up theoretical astrophysics at the age of 30, so I’m not complaining.

We are thrilled to have Joerg on board and along for the Hey, Hot Shot! ride. This November he joins our amazing group of panelists in looking at your work. We are four weeks away from deadline, so get it in and let Joerg be the judge!

So October has arrived, the chilly weather is here to stay, and less than one month remains to submit your work to the Fall and final edition of Hey, Hot Shot! 2006. Many a masterpiece is made when the weather is warm, we want to see what you’ve been up to.

Get it in, get it out there, get it seen.
Deadline: November 7, 2006

Apply Now!

As for me, allow me to introduce myself. I am Alice, the newest edition to the uber-cool, intelligent, bad ass, and beautiful jen bekman pack. And I will be your guide through the Hey, Hot Shot! excitement. Stay tuned for daily updates, pictures, fun facts, and other tidbits I decide to throw your way as we get closer and closer to the deadline.

Looking forward to it all––ALICE

If ever a question, comment, an ache or a pain, just email yours truly @ alice AT jenbekman DOT com