We are now only hours away from the Hey, Hot Shot! Winners' Showcase and what an event it promises to be! For now, get to know Hot Shot Joe Fornabaio.

Current place of residence?
East Village, NYC

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
Born-n-raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

Your age?
37

What do you do to pay the bills?
Shoot.

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
Boredom and a very smart high school teacher.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
Edouard Boubat, Karl Bissinger, Leon Levinstein, Modigliani, Egon Schiele, Alexander Calder, Leonardo DaVinci, Bernini, Gianni Berengo Gardin, Pat Metheny, David Darling, Tom Waits, Duke Ellington, Brian Eno, that's a very short quick list, there's really too many.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
At least once a day it puts a smile on my face.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
BFA in Photography from SVA, and too many years of assisting.

What camera do you use?
Mamiya RZ 67, Yashica T4.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
FILM!

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
You really want me to answer that? It'll piss off people.

What are your loftiest goals?
A career behind the camera.

Do you have any other creative talents?
Another? LOL, ya killin' me!

What are the top three movies on your queue?
Charlie Brown Christmas Special

What book connects with your life the most?
The Essential Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Who are your favorite musicians?
There's a few above. Bob Marley, Grateful Dead, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Ayub Ogada, Etta James, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Bland, Claudio Villa, The Rolling Stones, The Ramones, AC/DC, Rage Against The Machine, Juan Carlos Formell, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Flamingos, Radiohead, Ali Farka Toure, Neil Young, Annie Lenox, Steely Dan, Marvin Gaye, Led Zeppelin, gotta stop, too many to list 'em all.

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
A woman.

Favorite color?
Black.

Favorite food?
Italian.

Favorite possession?
My Mamiya RZ.

Favorite way to kill time?
Watching the world go by.

For this Monday night, I pass the mic to Hot Shot Sasha Rudensky.

Current place of residence?
I split my time between brooklyn where I've been living for the last 5 years and new haven, ct where I go to school.

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
I was born in moscow, russia and lived there till I was 11. When my family moved the states we briefly lived in new haven, then moved to Seattle.

Your age?
27

What do you do to pay the bills?
Now that I'm at school I live in debt, but beforehand I was mostly teaching photography at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
We had a pretty good photography program at my high school and my boyfriend at the time was very into it and he's the one that gave me my first camera. And after that it just happened on its own. At a number of points in my life I was thinking it was time to do something a little more stable and lucrative, but just couldn't bring myself to stop taking pictures.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
I've had a lot of influences - very early on while still living in Russia my parents would drag me and my brothers to museums - I was in love with northern renaissance painting - van der weyden, van eyck, cranach. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I think that's what originally got me thinking about the function of color in art making. i also grew up reading a lot of poetry - axmatova, mandelstam, brodsky. The latter was especially influential in trying to wrap my brain around living abroad, while creatively being connected to the place where one was born. And of course there were photographic heros - koudelka, stephen shore, joel sternfeld.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
I like not being confined to a studio, I like being in the world, I like the pressure of having to actually meet and engage people when I'm with my camera

What formal training, if any, do you have?
Majored in studio art in college, though I went to a liberal arts school and we only had two photo classes - black and white photo 1 and 2. Now I'm making up for it at grad school when we have more brutal crits than any sane person can take.

What camera do you use?
For years I used a Konica Hexar, a tiny silent rangefinder, which I still adore. When I started shooting color I bought a Mamiya 7 and now primarily shoot with that. Recently I became interested in portraiture and have been borrowing the RZ from a friend, it's a bit clunky for me though and I might switch to something else.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
I never think about equipment - I know very little about it and only use what I have or can get access to for free.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
Sullen portraits of upper-middle class young people staring at the camera

What are your loftiest goals?
I suppose sustaining myself as a gallery artist - though I will always want to teach as well

Do you have any other creative talents?
I'm a good arm-wrestler.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
I recently saw a Melville film called Army of Shadows, which was absolutely amazing and have been trying to get my hands on it ever since. There is also a devastating Russian film called Ascent by Larisa Shepitko which appeals to my tragic side. Of recent stuff I loved Cronenberg's History of Violence.

What book connects with your life the most?
Do I dare say it? I guess Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
Musically I'm very torn - I listen to Sonic Youth, Stereolab, Pavement, but I also love old country - Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams. And Shostakovich makes me cry.

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
My husband.

Any pets?
My four pet fish died recently.

Brooklyn-based photographer Joseph Holmes is a two time winner with a superb eye and a worthy photoblog. Meet him and many of the other winners in person this Wednesday @ the JGB. Until then, enjoy.

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
I was born and raised in a tiny factory town in Pennsylvania.

Your age?
52

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
These days, every good photographer in the world inspires me, too many to name. Every great photo book and gallery show makes me want to immediately get out and start shooting. And I discover new great photographers all the time. Finnish photographer Esko Mannikko just crossed my radar&mdas;he's amazing.

What I find fascinating is that, even though I can't warm up to Lee
Friedlander's work, though I just can't get on his wavelength, the longer I see his stuff, the more I'm finding that he influences me. What's that about?

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
Photography can be social in surprising ways. I don't often go out
shooting with friends, because shooting becomes a very meditative
experience. There's a kind of zen-like space I've learned to reach for, which doesn't lend itself to chatting. Very few friends are good companions for that. But lately I've been working on some things that involve approaching strangers. That turns out to be a lot of fun.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
My father taught me to use his Miranda Sensorex when I was in junior high school. A childhood in the darkroom is a wonderful teacher.

What camera do you use?
I like my Nikon D200, but I miss film.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
Oh, where to start? Gas stations in the desert twilight. Lonely
shopping carts. Heroin addicts. Too many photographers seem to be all about reacting to other photos.

What are your loftiest goals?
I'm enjoying today so much that I haven't spent much time thinking
about tomorrow. I suppose my goal is to continue to find photo projects that excite me.

Do you have any other creative talents?
My short story "Keys" is appearing in the next issue of North Atlantic Review. I've won two screenwriting prizes. Long ago I acted in dinner theater and summer stock.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
I don't have a queue, but since we're talking about movies, I was
surprised lately to discover that Dr. Strangelove hasn't aged as well as I thought, while both Vertigo and McCabe and Mrs. Miller are timeless.

What book connects with your life the most?
Continuing in the vein of the last answer, I was recently disappointed to find that Catch 22 doesn't hold up well at all; I loved it as a teen, but I now find it unreadable. Walker Percy's Love in the Ruins also didn't hold up well, but I'm thinking of rereading Percy's The Moviegoer Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker however, remains a masterpiece.

What are your favorite websites/blogs?
They're almost all boring, technical things, but I'm happy to have discovered Alec Soth's blog. There aren't many really fine photographers willing to take that level of conversation online.

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
My son is my favorite musician. Seriously. And my daughter's an amazing songwriter and singer.

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
A speedboat.

Today I give you Copenhagen-based Hot Shot Mette Maersk. Happy Saturday!

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
Copenhagen, Denmark. Fredensborg, Denmark

Your age?
36

What do you do to pay the bills?
My best

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
Instinctive flirting with found footage and discarded photographs at a young age

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, David Hockney, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Lynne Cohen, Len Lye, Man Ray, Stephen Shore, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ed Ruscha, Oscar Niemeyer, Gordon Matta-Clark, Gabriel Orozco

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
Being in motion, encounters and seduction. Analog equipment has all the pace and attitude, that I like. I can never fully grasp the implications of what I observe, but I can gradually approach a totality, subsequently. In the meantime, signatures have to be recorded and contours framed, as handles to grasp.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
Mixed and mostly self-taught

What camera do you use?
Yashica Mat, Polaroid SX-70, Richo GR1v ( like to try a Graflex Super Graphic )

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
cars, no guilt

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
The urge for asking artists to produce linguistic meaning and define the sense of their work. Curators are better at that.

What are your loftiest goals?
A loft! Frequent field-assigments and artists residencies. Working with photographic books

Do you have any other creative talents?
I am a documentarist, I thus could unfold my gaze to capture yet unknow subjects. Just ask.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
(un-numbered group) Music of Chance, In the mood for love, Ultimo tango a Parigi, Blow up, Chelsea Walls, Soy Cuba, Playtime, The Straight Story, Boccaccio '70, Jules et Jim, Det Perfekte Menneske, The Conversation, La Linea, Sheltering Sky, The Idiots, Down by Law, Lucia y Sexo, Bonnie & Clyde, The Night of the Iguana, Le Mepris

What book connects with your life the most?
Mac Powerbook

What are your favorite websites/blogs?
zoetati.blogspot.com ( and all the links listed on the blog )
patalab02.blogspot.com

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
John Lennon, Thomas Dybdahl, Nina Simone, Jan Johansson, Kate Bush, Nick Drake, Cat Power, Gotan Project, Bob Marley, Chet Baker, Tom Waits, Eric Satie, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Beck, Omara Portuonda, Aretha Franklin

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
A swiss army knife with an espresso-machine, a fireplace and a male surf-instructor attached

Favorite food?
cod roe

Favorite possession?
rare collection of toy caravans

Favorite animal?
puppy

Favorite way to kill time?
Fleamarkets

Untitled (Self-Portrait) by Shen Wei

If Hot Shot Shen Wei isn't out practicing photography, he's probably looking at it online. Shen's favorite way to kill time is a popular one, by surfing the web. His favorite site, also a popular one, is our fabulous panelist Joerg Colberg's Conscientious. If you're in Seattle, plan a visit to The Center on Contemporary Art. Shen is one of 16 artists included in The 2006 CoCA Annual, curated by Jennifer Gately and up through the end of the month.

Current place of residence?
New York City

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
I was born and raised in Shanghai, China.

Your age?
29

What do you do to pay the bills?
Mostly freelance work and selling my prints

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
I came to the US initially to pursue a masters degree in Design; I was initially educated and worked as a designer in Shanghai. Before I started my study at Minneapolis College of Art Design, I only had experienced a Seagull point and shoot camera, but after I took a couple of photography courses, I absolutely fell in love with photography and decided to pursue serious training in photography. I feel much emotionally in control of what I want to express when I ready to take a photograph.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians,politicians, painters, or the like?
Thomas Eakins, Diane Arbus, Lucien Freud, Caravaggio among others are some of the inspirations for me. Composer Keith Fitch's work has been my major inspiration for my film/video work.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
Capturing the moment that's personally moving + contact sheet surprise.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
I received my MFA in Photography, video and related media from School of Visual Arts, a BFA in photography from Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a BA in Design from Shanghai Light Industry College. I have to mention that two of the most significant mentors during my photography study are David Goldes and Sylvia Wolf.

What camera do you use?
Most of my recent projects were filmed with a Mamiya 67 II and I also used a Toyo 4X5 View Camera for some of my early projects. I also start to use a Canon 5D for documentary and freelance work.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
I refuse to take Polaroids in order to motivate myself to concentrate more on details. I hope that makes sense.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
When a photograph is all about the lighting technique + overly decorative.

What are your loftiest goals?
To be able to build schools in the poorer regions of China.

Do you have any other creative talents?
Creative cooking

What book connects with your life the most?
The Dream of Red Chamber

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
Jascha Heifetz, Tchaikovsky and Scissor Sisters.

Favorite color?
Turquoise blue for now.

Favorite food?
Chinese

Favorite animal?
All baby animals and dogs

Any pets?
Emma the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who I have been convinced is a part-alien dog.

Paris-based winnerPatrick Smith enjoys the freedom of being a photographer, and as he should. Our Hot Shot owns, last he counted, a whopping 22 cameras. He also recently redesigned his website—take a look here.

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
Born in Lille, (industrial town in the North of France). Educated in England.

Your age?
50

What do you do to pay the bills?
Write checks. Seriously, I am a photographer (architecture, interior decoration, travel, documentary)

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
It was my father's main hobby when I was a child. My daughter is now following the same path (watch the HHS! competition next year!)

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
Musicians inspire me, because they create emotion out of thin air. It is the same with poetry, I love haikus, and a number of contemporary French poets. I have a long career, so, when I was into BW street photography, it was free jazz performers. Music is important to me to set the mood before I start shooting. I am eclectic, (iPod helps a lot these days), I can choose a boost from rock and roll.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
I was trained as an engineer (mechanics) in England and then took a two-year photography course in France

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
It used to be the Leica, now I am in love with my Walker large format camera, which I used for this project.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
In photography: letting intellect rule over emotion. In the world: letting emotion rule over the intellect. Or: spending more time reading about photographs than actually looking at them.

What are your loftiest goals?
Make "useful" photography: first, to obtain an emotional response from the viewer, hopefully followed by analysis and reflection from his/her part.

Do you have any other creative talents?
I enjoy making pizzas—those who eat them seem to enjoy themselves too!

What are the top three movies on your queue?
Alice in the Cities (Wim Wenders)
The idiots (Lars von Trier)
Get Carter (Mike Hodges)

What book connects with your life the most?
Let us now praise famous men (James Agee)

What are your favorite websites/blogs?
Conscientious
Alec Soth weblog

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
John Coltrane. Yes "A few of my favourite things"

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
Pencil and paper (if considered a luxury), otherwise, probably an iPod (you supply the power outlet)

Favorite way to kill time?
I never have any time to kill. If I am waiting in a station, airport, etc, I re-arrange my notes : I jot things down all the time, so I synthesize, rewrite, and throw away.

Any pets?
Peaches, the cat, is on the window ledge looking at Montmartre.

Brooklyn-based Hot Shot Victoria Rich grew up drawing, studied graphic design while in college, and then realized that photography complimented her knack for image-making rather well. And it's a good thing... Perhaps I am far too lost in my holiday spirits, but Victoria has managed to capture something I am desperate to find. See that here.

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
Born in Lackawanna, NY. Grew up in Floral Park, NY.

Your age?
36

What do you do to pay the bills?
I teach at ICP, do freelance production/photo editing, shoot editorial/commercial work. I like being involved in different aspects of photography.

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
I remember always being interested in pictures when I was a kid. I liked the history of any family images. I also liked using the family camera, however unimpressive (110 point + shoot). I also remember getting in trouble for 'wasting film on unimportant things'. I always drew a lot, somewhat seriously by high school. I started to realize my drawings were very photographic, quite detailed, objects or often spaces, interiors w/ a person. I took a photo class my first semester in college which I had been looking forward to for a long time, and it made sense right away. The visceral quality of photographs, regardless of how that can be manipulated, has always interested me.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
Eggleston, Robert Polidori, Paul Seawright. Vija Celmins. Painters such as Vuillard, Bonnard. Raymond Carver.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
I like the surprises. While I do have different specific projects or themes that I work on, I never set things up or have very specific ideas about what I am going to shoot. I like finding things along the way. I especially like when I initially think there is nothing to shoot, but then I discover lots of interesting things. That is what I also like about assignments, the opportunity to go shoot something you would not have access to otherwise neccessarily.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
BFA from SUNY Purchase, MFA from Hunter College.

What camera do you use?
My favorite camera for a while has been a 1956 Rollei. I like the square format, and the waist level viewing. Also the fact that there are no battery/electronic components to it. I have a 'modern' 645 and there are sometimes malfunctions. I also have an old 4x5.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
Sometimes I look at other Rolleis, but then I feel guilty. I would not mind having a Hasselblad.

Do you have any other creative talents?
I've gotten pretty good at embroidery.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
Atlantic City
Midnight Cowboy
Badlands

What are your favorite websites/blogs?
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum (www.tenement.org). There are virtual tours + history.

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
lip balm

Favorite color?
Red. Or green.

Favorite food?
There are many. Kale and figs top the list.

Favorite way to kill time?
I run a lot, though that's not really killing time.

Any pets?
Yes, 2 cats, by default (stray rescue)

Untitled by Chad Muthard

Hot Shot Chad Muthard is not only a talented photographer and Photoshop master, but he also writes and plays the guitar, all at the prime age of 23. I give you Chad.

Current place of residence?
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Kensington)

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
Allentown, PA I grew up in Catasauqua, PA

What do you do to pay the bills?
I work as the Print Center Coordinator at Moore College of Art and Design at night, and during the day when I'm not pacing around or making art, I work as the Creative Director at Wonka Vision Magazine, where I am in charge of getting artists and photographers for the Artist Feature and Photo Essay articles of each issue.

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
I'm not quite sure how it began, maybe it was just something to do since I couldn't sit still, but what I think it has evolved into is a medium where I can start to analyze/criticize moments in life with better clarity and that is what has kept it as a constant for me. Most of my photography now is initiated by conversations with people or events that occur throughout the day or in the past. Recently, it has been more about questioning the purpose behind the actions of myself and others, whether that be conscious or subconscious decisions.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
To be honest I think I am more inspired lately to create work from listening music and reading books, then I am by other photographers or painters, there is something about the intangibility of words that lets my mind wonder. Some musicians I listen to now are people like Micah P. Hinson, Tim Kasher, Maria Taylor, Jenny Lewis, Lucero, Jena/Berlin. Authors I have been reading are: alot of John Fante, Charles Bukowski, Kurt Vonnegut, Jeffrey Eugenides, J.D. Salinger, Brett Easton Ellis, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. But, I would truly be a liar to say that there have not been past influences from art, people like Jeff Wall, Duane Michals, Thomas Demand, Doug Aitken Jake and Dinos Chapman. Most of their work has guided my direction in how to go about using narration in art.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
Freedom to do whatever I feel and capture it instantly as a moment. That's the old cliche line, right? I don't feel much differently. But, really I think its all about connections, putting your personality out there, your life experiences, your problems, your ideas, and communicating with others. The images I create are mostly fictional, but under that they have real emotions, real stories, real philosophy and personality that other people can connect with, or take and interpret to connect their own life with mine. That's what I love about art and I think that's the most important part.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
I went to Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, there I was taught the basics. The best "formal" training it gave me was how to analyze art, and how to constructively criticize the work to get it to a higher level. Also, at Tyler I did a lot of work collaboratively with my friend Nils Orth, which was a great experience on many levels, and helped me to think differently about art, and opening up to different ideas and views on how to create.

What camera do you use?
Lately, I have been shooting with a Nikon D2x. I have a Mamiya RZ67 that I actually like a lot more but haven't used it lately because of the cost of film and the time it takes up to scan and dust, maybe one day I will bring it back and/or be able to afford a digital back.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
I'd have to say Photoshop, I construct all the work I make, don't get me wrong, everything you see in the photographs is actually there in real life, but I am just insanely nit picky about things like layer masking. It gets to the point where a friend will look at my file and click layers off and on and have no idea what changing, sometimes I even have to stare at it for awhile til I know whats happening.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
Jesus, that's a loaded question. In reality, a cliche is anything the public deems it to be, one moment everyone is saying its cliche to have trashy looking fashion shots, then its cliche to make narratives, then anyone who is creating digital composites is cliche, its all based upon whats hot for this moment. I try not to let myself get caught up in that kind of stuff, I make work I like to make and if I stop liking how it looks I will switch it up.

What are your loftiest goals?
To be able to make a living off of making artwork

What are the top three movies on your queue?
Mickeybo and Me (the best film in years)
Royal Tennebaums
High Fidelity

What book connects with your life the most?
Right now, I'd say Ask The Dust(I can't help but personify myself as Arturo Bandini).

What are your favorite websites/blogs?
tylerpaint.com (art blog started by students)
fallonandrosof.blogspot.com (art blog run by Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof)

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
Elliott Smith. If I had an anthem it would be...the Broken Social Scene CD You Forgot It In People

Juliana and her dog, Moishe Godoshevitz Beasley

Let's start with Jersey City resident Juliana Beasley. I had the pleasure of meeting Juliana and seeing some of her work first-hand last week. A disco fiend, if not out and about with her camera, she can be found at home dancing with her beloved pet, Moishe.

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
I was born in the East Falls part of Philadelphia, PA. I was raised in Philadelphia, New Rochelle, New York, and Florence Italy.

Your age?
I'm 39 years old.

What do you do to pay the bills?
I worked as a career stripper for eight years. Now, I take photos.

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
As a child, I was obsessed to create a sense of self and a personal history through my mother's intricately made photo albums of family snapshots. I began shooting my own work after modeling for my ex-boyfriend Christoph. I changed majors from Italian and French to photography in my third year of school.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
I was inspired early on by Charles Addams, Oliver Sacks, and Robert Crumb. Later and now, I am inspired by Larry Clark, Boris Mikhailov, Jim Goldberg, Bill Burke, Kent Klich, Eugene Richards, and E.J. Bellocq. Wow, I picked all male artists...that's gotta' change.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
I enjoy getting to break boundaries and get close to my subjects. I like going to the point of "no return" when you go through the manic spells of the creative process.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
I studied at New York University for two years and graduated with a B.F.A. in photography.

What camera do you use?
I'm still trying to figure out if I should stick with one format. I can see the benefits of all of them...it's like changing your clothes, or better said I'm non committal in my format selections. So, here goes, I shoot with a Rollei Twin Lens, a panoramic, a polaroid, a Mamiya 645 and a Contax 35mm. I suppose I'm most fond of the square format. While working on a project, I will use several formats.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
I love to color correct....I love getting down to the subtle nuances of color correction and the feeling of my own color vivid persona.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
The dead zombie look of staged scenes crafted after Philip Lorca di Corcia. Children and adults naked and frozen in surreal situations. The lighting is flawless but the photograph is devoid of feeling and depth. After a while it begins to look like an exercise in masturbatory lighting technical finesse.

What are your loftiest goals?
Really simple. Have the means to travel as much as I can and photograph as much as I can and make more books. And get a deep tissue massage once a week.

Do you have any other creative talents?
I love to dance to Bollywood Pop music in my apartment with my dog, Moishe. I love words more than I enjoy reading books and I found out in my early thirties that I love writing...finding the right words without using too much vernacular and expressing myself though language to my deepest core.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
I would be lying if I were to say these are my top favorite three...there are too many good choices out there.

Four Hundred Blows
Harold and Maude
Vagabond

Favorite possession?
The air that I breathe.

While our Hot Shots! are busily preparing for the showcase, allow me the pleasure of introducing you to each of them. Check back regularly for the Hot Shot interview of the day. 10 Hot Shots, 10 days until opening.

And don't forget to pencil it in:

jen bekman presents:
Hey, Hot Shot! Winners' Showcase
Wednesday December 13, 2006 from 6-8 pm
6 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012

From the series Three Star by James Deavin

Here it is. The second segment of my interview with James Deavin. Enjoy!

Alice: Visually your show is not that different from your earlier work, other than it is shot in another world... It is an impressive body of work. Were you working on the SL shots before NYC, HHS!, and your Ultra status?

James: No I started 3 months before the show opened. In the meantime I made work in the UK, in Bourneouth, a series called 3 Star...And some other stuff in NYC... I was introduced to Second Life and logged in w/ the sole intention of making pictures. I wandered around for 3 months without interacting really with anyone working out what it was all about

A: Did you figure it out?

J: it's a shame the 3 star stuff has been TOTALLY overlooked because of the SL stuff...Figure what out?

A: What it's all about? This Second Life... I'm joking, you don't need to go there. I'm still somewhat in awe over it, that's all.

J: WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT????? SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE. Well I know I have different opinions on what its all about to everyone at Linden Labs. I am writing an essay at the mo, on photography and SL, that makes it all clear.

A: I anxiously await.

J: It just fascinates me how it is possible to approach an entire world through the medium of perspective.

William Henry Jackson and his glass plates and camera gear

A: I can't help but imagine you virtually lugging your view camera around that treacherous landscape... That's still how it is in my mind.

J: Heh...Well that's the funny thing about it. That camera in SL was made for me! I mean its really mad in fact - there is NO way that camera system has been used by anyone to its full potential until I came along... it is a view camera.

A: A pioneer... THE pioneer.

J: How would non view camera users know that, or want to know that, its bizarre in fact... I asked Philip Rosedale about it at the opening. he said: "We made it for you."

A: sweet!

J: ...and 77mb file sizes! who would use that?? Except someone who wanted to make 40/50 prints??

A: It is a bit crazy.

Photographs from the New World by James Deavin

J: The funny thing is... I thought the SL images were a massive step backwards at first. They reminded me of the stuff I was doing in the RW at age 25 or something. You know just wandering around, taking pictures, whistling, taking pictures, all very innocent... Stuff like Three Star seemed to have much more depth to it. It was only as i started reading about and looking at still life painting that the penny dropped, and i saw how the SL stuff could develop.

A: Some of the SL shots would have gone over very very well in my beginning Large Format class...

J: right. its all straight verticals and so on. is that what you mean?

A: Basically.

J: And sharp back to front! Without focusing! Joy!

A: It amazes me how much talk the work generates.

J: I always forget to focus my view camera. it can be really annoying (when i get the film back) I am an expert "sharpener' in Photoshop...

A: How's the SL lens...?

J: what talk, Alice?

A: I got into a 30 min chat with someone in the gallery the other day about the work and SL

J: Wide angle.

A: Some people just won't stop...

J: Which is ok, although use normal to long in RL.

A: Maybe they'll make options...

J: do you get the feeling that people are thinking about authorship???

A: No, I don't...I think it's more the "mind trip" it takes them on...

J: OK...but wouldn't they get that trip through the computer screen too?

A: It seems we're all so caught up in the idea of a photographer documenting another world in the same way that he would document this one.

J: Right.

A: I thought it was a show of novelty at first, I will admit... However, no longer the case.

J: lol

A: It's good stuff. Anyways... Do you have any advice for aspiring Hot Shots and/or the new round of winners?

J: OK. My advice is that you could have a great opportunity on your hands. There can be no better way to get a show up quickly in NYC, with great people. That and remember to focus and stop trying to be William Eggleston...I mean, really!

From William Eggleston's Guide

A: Remembering to focus, not always an easy task. But Eggleston, he might be even harder to let go of...

J: and STAY OUT of SL!! Incidentally, where do you study?

A: Chicago

J: SL is my turf!

A: Oh we're all moving in, and never sleeping again.

J: Do you take pictures? Do you have an avatar? Questions questions! Role reversal!

A: Yes. And in fact I am still taking pictures.

J: What's your avatar's name? (Send them to me.)

A: Alie Wheels

J: Oh yeah? Brill.

A: flickr.com/photos/akwells

J: Do you think Flickr is a good medium for a portfolio?... Alie wheels -that makes me laugh!

A: It's not necessarily bad. But, my website is still a work in progress, stay tuned...

J: So do you need to know anything else, alie wheels?

A: I think that'll do. You're too kind to offer your time...

J: Well get back in touch if you need anything else, pleasure. Nighty night.

A: Will do. Sleep well.

Installation view of Photographs from the New World by James Deavin

This Wednesday from 6-8 pm jen bekman will be hosting what promises to be a rather intriguing artist talk. Marisa Olson of Rhizome will moderate a discussion between James Deavin and Eva + Franco Mattes about their respective projects documenting Second Life:Photographs from the New World and 13 Most Beautiful Avatars. Still somewhat mystified by this virtual world, I am anxious to hear what the artists have to say. Find out more about the event here.

To wet your whistle, last week I interviewed James about Hey, Hot Shot!, the show, and Second Life. Today I give you the first half of our little chat. Check back tomorrow for Part 2 and on Wednesday come hear him speak live in the gallery.

And we're off!

Alice: I'm new to this IM thing, at least it's been a while. I just got AIM and I downloaded Adium.

James: ok. well this works. i just like Skype cos they have the best emoticons, they rock

A: Well, I'll have to look into it then...

J: this one doesn't have ANY and that's bad

A: It does the trick... So your show is bringing them in in droves.

J: i see a world in the future when we all communicate solely by emoticons...Oh really? Droves?

A: And they're all asking for you.

J: Alice. I know Jen is putting you up to this.

A: No, I too think it's a bit silly to be so far when there is so much good going on here

J: Well no one has actually told me what i would physically do if i were in NYC...

A: Well, just being here would be enough.

J: erm

A: In the air... Anyways. How about this "interview"?

J: ok

A:You're the first Hot Shot to have a show at jb...That's pretty exciting AND it's a great one at that...Can you sum up in maybe a few sentences how HHS! has changed your life? To really lay it on you...

So that was a big question... Let me start over. Not too long ago you were a Hot Shot, then an Ultra, and now have a solo show that is starting quite a buzz. That's a lot for such a small amount of time.

J: So... HHS! well i just moved to NYC and was looking to meet people you know...

A: Did you enter before you headed this way?

J: No, and to be honest I cannot remember how I found out about the competition either. I thought it was unusual for a gallery to be doing something like this and I wasn't sure how it would develop. I was entering competitions generally, like Art & Commerce Emerging Photographers for instance... anyhow, for me, it got good when i started talking to Jen.

A: How so?

J: Well I like Jen and she is v. helpful in dealing with getting everything happening. Basically I liked working with her... I didn't even know there was an "ultra" part to the competition or the possibility of representation I was just entering competitions to get known.

A Summer 2005 Hot Shot winning image by Deavin

A: HHS! is a thing all it's own--there really is nothing like it, it's true. Did you win any of the other competitions?

J: I got stuff shown at Art & Commerce and quite a lot of stuff back in the UK. That's the thing about HHS!, though, it turns out there is much more of a future to it - the other comps just give you one chance to show in a large group show (like i thought HHS! was too), but it turns out HHS! has a future. . . . It's funny though, the fact that it's not "traditional" is very off-putting to many artists. The art world is so conservative.

A: So true. But because of this a lot of great work gets out there that otherwise perhaps would not get the chance, at least so early on. Do you think HHS! jump started some things for you here in NYC? Or set you on a different track as a photographer?

J: Well sure HHS! got me going gallery-wise in NYC. It's a tough nut to crack and it has given me amazing exposure that I am extremely grateful for...I'm not really on a different track though, I am still doing pretty much my own work and I do not think I have become more "art" orientated than anything else. I still hope my practice is not defined by where it is seen entirely...and I love the idea of growing with a gallery.

A: Photographs from the New World is a pretty, I hate to use the word, provocative show, one that might not have been as easy to sell to just any gallery.

Visit jen bekman on Second Life. Coordinates: Hooper (128, 28, 46)

J: It's perfect for jbg if that is what you mean. I don't know how hard it would have been to "sell" it to other galleries as I never tried... provocative, maybe but its hard to get an appointment at them!

A: It's perfect for jb. We practically live on the web over here...

J: I mean for an emerging photographer you have to show at group shows and befriend people in the industry, you know, pay your dues. HHS! is a different version of this...

A: So true. Trying to focus, sorry. thoughts everywhere.

J: The difficulty, and I know this isn't the point of the interview, is getting everyone else to believe this!

To be continued...

Black Friday Frenzy at Macy's in Herald Square from Hot Shot! Casey Kelbaugh

Our very own Spring 2006 Hot Shot, Casey Kelbaugh, has a terrific, yet frightening photograph on the front page of today's New York Times. I don't know about you, but I've been trying my very, very best to stop being the good little consumer that I am and participate in Adbusters' Buy Nothing Day. This has proven far more difficult than I had hoped; I have a million and one excuses up my sleeves and 12 hours still remain. Luckily, I wasn't one of the thousands waiting in line outside of a department store at 4 a.m. on a freezing November morning; that takes some serious goals. Full of admiration, we are proud of our brave Hot Shot, shooting at risk of shoppers' stampede.

See the featured photograph and read the article here. Or even better be a rebellious rebel and get yourself a good ol' hard copy.

Untitled by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Mette Maersk

Take a look at the Fall 2006 Hot Shots' work. We've got 30 excellent images in our HHS! Winners set, up now on Flickr! Check it out here.

And get ready: you can see all this work live at the Hot Shot! Showcase December 13, 2006 from 6 to 8 p.m. Be there!

Untitled (Three) by Fall Hot Shot Patrick Smith

It keeps getting harder and harder, but somehow we have managed to narrow it down to a final ten! Drum roll please...The winners for the Fall 2006 Edition of Hey, Hot Shot! are:

Juliana Beasley
Joe Fornabaio
Hans Gindlesberger
Joseph O. Holmes
Mette Maersk
Chad Muthard
Victoria Rich
Sasha Rudensky
Patrick Smith
Shen Wei

Write it in—the Showcase Soiree in honor of our new Hot Shots is Wednesday, December 13 from 6 - 8pm. The show will be up from December 14 - 17, 2006 and what a show it promises to be! And Fall Hot Shots are also going to be included in the first of its kind HHS! Yearbook, out this December!

Special thanks to our fantastic group of panelists, to Jeff Kirsch and Jesse Chan-Norris for all their hard work and commitment to the jb, and, of course, a big thank you out to all of the participants!

It indeed was a difficult round for decision making and with so much great stuff to see, some Honorable Mentions are in order:

Joslin Van Arsdale, Alain Astruc, Meg Birnbaum, Karin Bubas, Alana Celii, Larissa Cleveland, Cary Conover, Rachel Herman, Alexandra Huddleston, Siri Kaur, Drew Kelly, Orrie King, Daniel Kopton, Suzette Lee, Nick Meyer, Stephen Miller, Graeme Mitchell, Mark Rubenstein, Lissa Rivera, Angie Smith, Sam Sweezy, Grant Willing, Christopher Young

There's some good work in those links...spend some time, take a look. And stay tuned for more excitement in the week to come!

Paddy's Mother's Wig by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Juliana Beasley

Juliana Beasley
Currently residing in: Jersey City, NJ

Website: http://www.julianabeasley.com/

Work Statement:
The people in these photographs are largely disregarded: the poor, the elderly, the mentally ill, alcoholics, or drug addicts. They live in a close- knit community along the boardwalk of the Rockaways. I became accepted with my camera in hand.

I feel compelled to photograph the people I've met in the Rockaways with the same honor and clarity I would bestow upon my own parents. I document an illness we share in common; reflecting upon a chaotic childhood soaked in the misery of alcoholism and two parents dead of a fatal disease. Despite our worldly exteriors, our humanity connects us.

This project confronts various levels of marginalization. There is a geographic marginalization insofar as all of this takes place on a peninsula at the far-flung edge of the city where the fog rolls over the beaches. Secondly, there is the social marginalization, the fact that the subjects are poor, physically or mentally challenged, and otherwise living far outside the mainstream, virtually invisible. Finally, and most importantly perhaps, there is the interior marginalization, a loneliness that I attempted to capture in the portraits, a sense of personal isolation that is often exacerbated by or results in alcoholism or drug addiction.

Bio:
Juliana Beasley was born in Philadelphia, PA, USA, on August 16, 1967. After graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in New York in 1990, she began working as a freelance photographer, covering the city's nightlife for the Village Voice. In 2003, she published Lapdancer (powerHouse Books 2003), an intimate photographic and text account of the world of strip clubs. In 2004, she photographed the rehabilitation of landmine victims in Cambodia. Her newest book project concerns substance abuse and mental illness in a boardwalk community in Queens, New York.

Her work has appeared in many major publications, including American Photo and The New Yorker in the US, and Max in Germany. Her work is represented Contact Press Images and the pH on-line gallery, both in New York. Ms. Beasley has participated in group shows and in 2006, had her first one-woman show in Stockholm at the Kontrast Galleri. Most recently she showed her work at the Camera Club of NYC Competition, juried by Antonin Kratochvil. She will lecture about her book and have a signing at the Camera Club in November 2006.

When not working she is dancing with her dog, Moishe in Jersey City.

Cakestare by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Joe Fornabaio

Joe Fornabaio
Currently residing in: Staten Island, NY

Website: http://www.joefornabaio.com

Work Statement:
My current focus is on my family but not just my parents, brothers and sister but also aunts, uncles, cousins and their kids. I grew up literally and emotionally very close to them so they're more than just an extended family. I enjoy the holidays and personal occasions that allow me to just be with them, and the pictures from these occasions are really an extension of the happiness of their gathering. On any occasion I'm there in celebration with them but they've become comfortable with my camera by my side so I get to shoot the things that I find interesting about them without drawing a glance. And what do I find interesting about them? Everything. I know, I know...cliche, but it's true. The kids are an endless source of entertainment and the adults make for and endless display of manners. There's no deep meaning to my work, I just enjoy the time I spend with them and I'm drawn to their little habits and quirks that make them beautiful. And as a result, I've started to explore this with other projects.

Bio:
Born and raised in Brooklyn,NY. Was introduced to photography by my high school arts teacher which led me to a BFA in Photography at The School of Visual Arts. Assisted editorial and commercial/advertising photographers for a bunch of years and now I'm pursuing my own career in editorial and commercial/advertising photography.

Untitled (theatre) by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Hans Gindlesberger

Hans Gindlesberger
Currently residing in: Buffalo, NY

Website: http://www.gindlesberger.com/

Work Statement:
As a result of neglect or inability to modernize, the American small town has fallen victim to economic decline and is forced to consider its relevance in contemporary society. As a remedy, there is a rush to embrace a nostalgic image of an idealized past. However, by adopting this mythical image, the small town becomes a simulated space. This work explores the strained relationship of an anachronistic simulation with the present reality and the residual effect on individual identity.

Probing the psychology of a transient character inserted within a variety of constructed environments calls to attention how the individual is affected by his environment. This staging references the form of theater along with silent film and pushes otherwise realistic images toward the threshold of a dreamlike space. These photographic scenes suspend a transitory moment in which the protagonist is presented with an opportunity to make a decision. In his aimlessness, the character is a product of the changing relationship of the small town to mass society. The repeated emphasis on the will of the character and the absence of decisive action renders these situations absurd and interrogates contemporary concerns about identity, authenticity, and the loss of belonging.

Bio:
The experience of growing up in the small town Midwest is the root of my work. I stayed in Ohio through the completion of my BFA at Bowling Green State University before moving to Buffalo, NY to pursue an MFA. Photography appealed to me first as a common interest with my father and then as a way to engage in a different way of looking at my environment. Currently, I hold positions as an adjunct instructor at several schools in Western New York. Aside from making work, I have enjoyed traveling extensively for the past several years, both throughout the US and abroad.

Hot and Cold Salad bar by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Joseph Holmes

Joseph Holmes
Currently residing in: Brooklyn, NY

Website: http://joesnyc.streetnine.com/

Work Statement:
Taking pictures is extremely gratifying. There are mornings when I'm wandering through Soho or Tribeca or Chinatown, when the sunlight is fine and diffuse and the air takes on an unfamiliar tint, when the hydrants and street debris seem a little too purposely arranged, maybe a little coy or ironic, and it's at those times that I'm seized by the feeling that the whole city is a film set. I imagine a crew of little film-set elves passing through during the night, sprinkling film-set dust everywhere and preparing the street for the arrival of camera operators, focus pullers, and little elf teamsters in their little denim jackets and white Adidas. On those days, we all live in a film set and I'm the set photographer.

Bio
I was born in 1954 and raised in a tiny factory town in rural Pennsylvania where my father taught me how to take pictures and use the darkroom; I spent many years shooting nothing but black and white film. I lived in various towns and cities in the Midwest and East before settling in Brooklyn in 1984 where I now live with my wife and two children. I teach photography at New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

Untitled (paintjob) by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Mette Maersk

Mette Maersk
Currently residing in: Copenhagen, Denmark

Website: http://www.mettemaersk.dk/

Work Statement:
The present text delineates my practice in words, differentiating from the visually explored territories, where I usually try to sense before reflecting. I often use small work titles, though. Short Maxims, simultaneously condensing and generating the core of matter(s) to be explored. They introduce gaming dialectics, and are the touchstones I work with.

Conditions of exile and identity have become my grounding as photographic story-teller. On most projects, the steppingstone is my physical displacement into a carefully chosen field, combining a geographical drift with an emotional one. Thus creating a polyphonic whirl, including exact phenomena and randomness. The work can best be described as embedment of matter density.

The visual matter develops and frames. In those visions, various architectural spaces are investigated as metaphysical conglomerates or invasive motives, initializing oblique stances on place and gender.

The fieldwork is thus double tracked. One exiled path in alien territory, and the other, its opposite: whereabouts in the familiar provincial, the grounding of identity, where personal matter can be handled exotically.

One can newer fully grasp the implications of what we observe, but we can gradually approach a totality, subsequently. In the mean time, signatures have to be recorded and contours framed, as handles to grasp.

Bio:
female > born 1970 > 182 cm tall > nearsighted > long dark hair > grew up in the countryside north of Copenhagen in a big house with 3 fireplaces > got my first camera at christmas 1985 > studied at the Danish Design School > post grad studies at the Danish film school > exhibitions in Denmark, Italie and Finland <