Category: Travels
Studio Visit Caochangdi and Songzhuang
10 Years ago, thanks to the China Culture Center in Beijing, I had the opportunity to join a series of visits to artist studios in Caochangdi and Songzhuang. The artwork and spaces pictured here include those of photographer Wang Qingsong, painters Huang Yin and Huo Qing, and sculptor Wang Yiqiong, who demonstrated his technique of exhaling his own cigarette smoke to create brown stains on white surfaces. These artist colonies emerged in the 1990s on farming land, away from the city center, and offered a supportive community and space for artistics freedom. While the 798 District has become more commercialized […]
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The Last Days of Carabanchel
New York Times, July 21, 1977 Even after the death of Francisco Franco, the Carabanchel prison in Madrid remained in operation and continued to hold some political prisoners. During the transition to democracy in Spain, the prison became a focus for protests and calls for amnesty for political prisoners, gaining international media attention. More than two decades passed before the prison was finally closed on September 11, 1998. Read more in the Carabanchel book available here
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Salvemos el Toblerone!
Earlier this month the cavernous metal structure affectionately known as “The Toblerone,” in Almeria, Spain, was reduced to a pile of crumpled metal. The event inspired an unlikely wave of international support and creative activity. The building’s distinctive profile, mimicking the Swiss chocolates that are a standard fixture in Duty Free shops around the world, has been memorialized via t-shirts, graphic artworks, songs, videos, and countless photographs. For four decades The Toblerone towered over the old train station and was one of the most distinctive pieces of architecture passengers see when arriving to the city. The Toblerone was constructed in […]
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Kazan: “Closed for Renovation”
“Closed for Renovation” became a familiar refrain on my recent visit to Kazan, capitol of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. As host city for the 27th Universiade Summer Games, Kazan has been undergoing a makeover. Dozens of museums, hotels, and Orthodox churches and mosques (the city has plenty of both) are being cleaned up. And with less than a month to go before the opening event in the brand new 45,000 seat Kazan Arena, work across the city has reached a feverish pace. In these photographs I tried to capture this period of transition. When I was last here […]
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Reading List
Art exhibitions generally don’t come with a recommended reading list. Unless, of course, the exhibition is in a library.
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500 Years: Spain and the United States
May 2013 marks 500 years since Juan Ponce de León landed off the coast of Florida. His was the first official European expedition to reach the mainland of what was to become the United States.
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Photography in Mexico at SF MOMA
‘Photography in Mexico’ at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art spans a century of photographic history, including Mexican photographers as well as outsiders’ visions of Mexico. Opening with the work of Tina Modotti and Edward Weston in the 1920s, the exhibit traces how photographers responded to cultural and political changes in the country. The show devotes substantial space to luminaries like Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Graciela Iturbide, but includes a number of lesser known artists as well. On a recent visit, I was especially intrigued by the final two rooms of the exhibit. As the layout follows a roughly […]
Read MoreCarabanchel
In October 2008 I photographed the interior of the former Carabanchel prison in Madrid, one of the most infamous architectural landmarks from Spain’s decades of dictatorship. General Francisco Franco ordered construction of the complex in the 1940s to house the regime’s many political prisoners. After the prison was finally closed in 1998, the building became a haven for squatters, graffiti artists, and curious visitors. A month after my visit the entire structure was demolished to make way for a new urban development.
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The Cliffs of Miraflores
In the district of Miraflores in Lima, Peru, new luxury condominium towers hug the edge of the cliffs. At the base of a dizzyingly steep drop, the coastal highway winds along beaches popular with surfers. Miraflores is a privileged neighborhood. It contains some of Lima’s best restaurants, upscale shopping, and well-maintained parks and gardens. The district also serves as a base for foreign tourists visiting the city. Walking the paths along the cliffs provides a rare escape from the noisy, smog-filled city of almost 9 million. But the quiet is frequently broken by sounds of demolition and construction, as new […]
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