By Summer ‘06 Hot Shot Kate Bingaman-Burt.

The past few weeks have been great, but, look, we need a break.

And, by “break,” I mean a short pause here as we get ready, technically, to launch the first Hey, Hot Shot! edition of 2008.

So grab your portfolio, and start working on your statement and bio; I look forward to seeing them when we return.

From Room Temperature, by Kirby Pilcher

Today’s 20×200 edition is photogaphs by Luke Strosnider, who, as Ms. Bekman points out in her newsletter, is a colleague of Hey, Hot Shot! alums Kirby Pilcher and James Rajotte at the Visual Studies Workshop.

You don’t get her newsletters? You’re missing out. Sign up to get gossip like this and first crack at each 20×200 edition.

2006 Hey, Hot Shot! Ne Plus Ultra Kate Bingaman-Burt

Lesley Martin, Hey, Hot Shot! panelist and the publisher of Aperture’s book program will speak tonight with Harper’s Books art book dealer Harper Levine, and Daile Kaplan, V.P., Director of Photographs, Swann Galleries Inc., and others in an Introduction to Collecting Photography Books, a panel discussion. They will talk about what makes specific books valuable, and thoughts to consider in building a book collection. It should be a great night for photographers and collectors alike.

The details:
Introduction to Collecting Photography Books
Panel Discussion
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
6:30 p.m.

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555

Structure of Thought 6-a, by Doug & Mike Starn

The second part of the Starn twins’ 20×200 edition is now for sale. If you missed out last time, or if you want to own both parts, you should really hurry!

Ms. Bekman writes, “Structure of Thought 6a is printed on translucent vellum and is a beautiful print on its own, so if you didn’t get the first one, don’t hesitate to click through and grab a print. And of course, it can be layered over Structure of Thought 6b.”

Ian Baguskas’s Rincon Artificial Island and Pipeline, Ventura, California, 2007 40×51″ C-print

Peggy Roalf reviews Sweet Water, Spring ‘06 Hot Shot Ian Baguskas’ current show at Jen Bekman Gallery, in Design Arts Daily.

She writes:

“In the last several years, photographers around the globe have taken up the plight of the earth, further endangered today through climate change, deforestation, and drought. The landscape, with human activities accepted as a ‘natural’ aspect of the view for better or worse, provides the raw material, from both a visual and philosophical standpoint. One of the most beguiling exhibitions on view in New York is ‘Sweet Water,’ photographs by Ian Baguskas, at Jen Bekman Gallery.“

Baguskas’ Sweet Water is up until May 3, 2008.

A few weeks ago, Rob Haggart at A Photo Editor put out a call for work. He curated a slideshow meant to forge new relationships between photographers, photo editors, and art collectors. It’s up now, on his blog, and with an embed code so that others can host the show too. It’s called I Like These Photos (to the point, perfect), and it features the work of 297 (!) photographers. It’s a novel way of collecting images, for sure.

He writes:

Attention art buyers and photo editors, this is a free promo that’s meant to supplement all the other ways you find photographers to hire. I created it see if there might be an easier more efficient way to quickly look at 200-300 photographers. Compared to the weekly promo pile this works pretty good. Plus, if you’re like me, you remember a picture and not necessarily who took it so you can come back to this slideshow and find the name and website of the photographer whenever you like. This project only works if you find work you like and hire the photographer. I can create more of these but it’s a complete waste of time if it doesn’t connect buyers with photographers. That’s the only reason I did this.

Are you a photographer who missed out this time? Don’t worry, Haggart promises, “we’re going to do this again with different editors in a couple months.”

Carlo Van de Roer’s Hey, Hot Shot! winning entry.

Carlo Van de Roer, a Fall 2007 Hot Shot, is almost a sell out. And he will be, soon, surely. For the second time. His Untitled (Bondi Baths, Sydney, Australia), 2007 is today’s 20×200 edition. And there are only two prints left! His previous 20×200 edition, Untitled (Astoria Park, Queens, New York), is long gone.

Carlo’s work is in high demand. He won the 2006 ADC Young Gun Award, the 2007 IPN Go Indie Award, the 2007 PDN Pix Digital Imaging Award, and most recently he won 1st place for fine art at the 2007 APA Awards. So you should hurry.

Structure of Thought 6b and Structure of Thought 6a by Doug and Mike Starn.

Today’s 20×200 edition, a benefit for Blind Spot by Doug and Mike Starn, sold out in seven minutes. Seven minutes! Structure of Thought 6-b proved to be as hot as in-demand concert tickets. Sign up for the 20×200 e-mail list and be the first to hear about the release of another Starn edition — Structure of Thought 6a — which will be printed on vellum paper and can be paired with Structure of Thought 6-b to make a whole new layered piece of art.

Have you done your taxes yet? Have you had your taxes done for you yet? One day to go, and yet, there’s still hope. “Business of Art: Taxing Artists,” a New York Foundation for the Arts article, has some great information that’s relevant to photographers and other artists. For example, “…artists should also be aware of what is known as a Un-Incorporated Business Tax. If someone is a freelance artist doing a portion of their business in New York City, there is a tax form they have to complete in addition to their federal, state and city tax returns.”

• The New York Times reports that MFA students at SVA show at the MoMA. In the bathroom. The show lives on, online.
• In the 40th anniversary of New York Magazine, they attempt to define a New York Canon from 1968-2008, and they also run a few Q&As with “iconic New York artists about creating their masterworks.” Mark Stevens talks to Cindy Sherman about her Untitled Film Stills. She discusses process, character creation, and, to some extent, intent.
• Earlier this week, the Pulitzer Prizes were announced. Adrees Latif of Reuters won for Breaking News Photography “for his dramatic photograph of a Japanese videographer, sprawled on the pavement, fatally wounded during a street demonstration in Myanmar.” Preston Gannaway of the Concord (N.H.) Monitor won the Feature Photography category “for her intimate chronicle of a family coping with a parent’s terminal illness.”
• Mike Stimpson uses Legos to recreate famous photos from Robert Capa’s Death of a Loyalist, to Cartier-Bresson’s Behind the Gare Saint Lazare. “Strobist.com taught me everything I know,” he says.
• It’s photo auction time. Controversy over the oldest — or just an old— photo. Even Gawker’s covering the photo auctions, drawn to the nudes. Phillips de Pury canceled a sale of Diane Arbus prints because of concerns about a recent lawsuit. There was even a Fine Photobooks Auction at Christie’s.
• Cathy Horyn discusses Juergen Teller’s role in Marc Jacobs’ ad campaigns. How great is it to see a photographer so in charge of a commercial campaign? Small thing: the NYT blog swapped out the photo they initially had (Teller’s ad that featured Victoria Beckham’s legs splayed out of a shopping bag) at the top of the post. Why?