Abandoned Houses, Berkeley, CA, 2008 by HHS entrant Eve Morgenstern

I lived in over 10 houses before I was 20, so as soon as I saw these images of abandoned homes, I was pierced by their ability to speak not of comfort and safety, but of the delicateness and transience of life.

Then I remembered a song by The Smiths:
The passing of time
Leaves empty lives
Waiting to be filled

Sigh.

Benadryl on Black by HHS entrant Jeremy Freedman

I am allergic to everything, and so I instantly recognized this Benadryl pill in Jeremy Freedman’s work. Freedman shoots pills in a close-up hazy way that seems fitting to pharmaceuticals. The colors really pop.

Brandon Herman’s cover photograph for Kaiserin Magazine

Summer ‘06 Hey Hot Shot winner Brandon Herman has two photographs in the current issue of Kaiserin (including the cover!), a bi-annual art magazine that features emerging artists. Herman also has an edition available on 20×200.

SEED magazine, cover photography by Summer ‘05 Hot Shot Noah Kalina

Summer ‘05 Hot Shot Noah Kalina has a stunning photograph on the cover of the current issue of SEED and a 10-page photo essay on “Labs at Night” inside the magazine. And Kalina recently stopped by 20×200 to release an edition and a chat with Jen Bekman.

Liminal Echoes No.3 by HHS entrant Christophe Barbour

I pretty much just like this photo, by HHS entrant Christopher Barbour. It’s a little bit lonely and a little bit sad, but it has this great bright focal point — that pink blur that I can only imagine is a carousel or a funny little house or a strange statue. Barbour says that he used a Holga pinhole camera and Fuji NPH 400 film. No additions or manipulations outside of the camera.

Carrie Marill, A Dream World Glimmers In The Background Of The Soul (Detail)

Fall ‘07 Hot Shot Todd Forsgren has six photographs in the latest Jen Bekman show, Ornithology. The group show, which features a stellar array of artists working in various media, opens tonight, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at the gallery, at 6 Spring Street.

Ornithology features bird-themed works by Echo Eggebrecht, Todd Forsgren, Laura Levine, Carrie Marill, Christina Muraczewski, Victoria Neel, Lamar Peterson, Jason Polan, Alec Soth, Amy Stein, Keith Taylor, Bert Teunissen, and Luke Stephenson. Many of these artists will debut exclusive editions on 20×200 during the course of the exhibition.

In the spirit of summer, Ornithology takes its cues from the great outdoors. With their brightly colored plumage, sweet songs, and uncanny ability to fly, birds have captivated humans for centuries, making ornithologists out of even the most casual of observers. From Aristotle to Audubon, Darwin to the binocular-clad of Central Park, our feathered friends have proven to be a source of abundant inspiration.

Of his work, Todd writes:

Ornithologists now use mist nets instead of shotguns. These nearly invisible nets are set up like fences and function as huge spider webs, catching unsuspecting birds. The researcher carefully extracts the bird from the net. Each bird is measured, aged, sexed, and banded with an individually numbered anklet. Then the bird is released.

I photographed these birds while they are caught in mist nets, moments before the ornithologist extracts them. Here, the birds inhabit a fascinating space between our framework of the bush and the hand. It is a fragile and embarrassing moment before they disappear back into the woods, and into data.

Las Vegas, Nevada by HHS entrant Noah Beil, 2008

Noah Beil’s landscapes are sneaky. Best viewed as a set, his shots highlight the man-made interruptions that manage to blend in with natural horizon lines. He explores the fine line between alteration and landscaping, destructive and decorative structures.

Measured in Time, #2, by HHS entrant Jacqueline Truong

This shot is like a movie. Like a great old movie about a sport that I’m not interested in, but with a story and spirit that grab at my heart. I can’t turn it off. What composition!

(What? You thought we were finished? While we are no longer accepting submissions for the current round of Hey, Hot Shot!, and these posts and my blog views are not a reflection at all of the judging process, but we’ll stick with it, because it’s fun to see what’s out there, from among all the great stuff was sent in.)

9717 by HHS entrant Liz Danahey-Fish

Hey, Hot Shot! contender Liz Danahey-Fish makes photographs of items she’s purchased at thrift stores around Los Angeles. She writes, “This is a catalog of last chances — someone saved this stuff when they donated it, someone saved it when they priced it, and I saved it yet again when I bought it.”

What she neglects to mention is that she really saves the stuff when she photographs it. She’s documenting detritus. She’s saving stuff in a way that’s a lot more permanent than simply purchasing it for pennies and putting it on a tchotchke shelf.

Her approach is direct and interesting. I’d rather look at her shots than through the Goodwill bins, for sure.

*REMINDER* Go get your entry ready! Submit it! There is still time. Not much, though! All entries for the current round of Hey, Hot Shot! are due tomorrow, Tuesday, June 17, at 8:00 p.m.*

Unexpected Suprise (Venti Americano, 01.31.2008) by HHS entrant Jon Mali

Maybe it’s because I know that I have to wake up four and a half short hours, and because I’m about to embark on a roadtrip wherein I traded all my driving shifts for the promise that I’d be in charge of staying awake with every other driver. Or maybe it’s becuase Jon Malis’s work is so good, that it is so appealing to me right now.

I love this bottom of the coffee cup abstraction, from the series Stained Grounds. I think he uses a scanner, but I’m not sure. I’m certainly going to think about his process on the road.