Wednesday Editions: Juliane Eirich

Wednesday greetings on this finest of spring days, my collector friends! Last night's Infinity Awards and post-ceremony cocktails kept me out way past my bedtime, then an early morning meeting had me up at the crack of dawn, but I'm downright perky in spite of it all. Once I'm done schooling you on today's editions, I'm off to play hooky for the afternoon — I'm heading uptown to the Cooper-Hewitt and then over the river (but through no woods) to preview the exhibitions at the aforementioned New York Photo Festival.

I'm especially curious to check out the exhibition curated by Chris Boot, which includes photographs by 20x200's very own Stefan Ruiz. Based on the amazing stories that Stefan's told me about making the work, I've got a hunch that the show will get high marks for quality and controversy. NYPH has been giving high marks to members of the JBP family too; we were pleased to see lots of familiar names on their list of nominees for the '09 Photo Awards, including today's featured photographer, Hot Shot Juliane Eirich.

Waialua Intermediate School 3 and Liliuokalani Elementary School 2 are both fine examples of why Ms. Eirich deserves a gold star. Viewed through her lens, darkly, these Hawaiian schools have a noir-ish air of mystery and danger. Their fine mid-century bones and kid-friendly colors stand out in the darkness, forming tableaux that are ripe for teen drama and mischief. As Juliane describes in her statement, the spotlight's on these schools as a hedge against such mayhem — it turns out that vandalism of schools is a major issue when the sun goes down in paradise.

Speaking of sundowns, I'm going to take this opportunity to educate y'all on some good things that are about to come to an end. First off: have you seen Beth Dow's Ruins show at Jen Bekman yet? It's closing on Saturday, and it's not to be missed. I'm biased of course, but not alone... the Village Voice and Wall Street Journal agree! If you're taking pictures and want them to be seen, don't miss your big Photo Op. The deadline for the 14th annual Photographic Center Northwest competition is this Friday, May 15th and is being juried by yours truly. So give me some good stuff to work with and meet me in Seattle for the reception in July, won't you please?

Finally, I'm thrilled to announce that Jen Bekman Projects is going to be well-represented at this weekend's powerHouse Portfolio Reviews. Sara Distin and Jeffrey Teuton are going to be there scouting new talent on behalf of JBP. I'm hoping they'll discover some rising stars while rubbing elbows with members of the JBP family arriving from near and far for the photo festivities. Check out Sara's recent post on the Hey, Hot Shot! blog for a comprehensive rundown of the who, what, where and when.

That's all for now, folks, but not for long — I'm back tomorrow with the aforementioned Umbrico editions, which include a benefit print for Aperture. Watch this space!