West Nineteenth Street (Yellow Dress)
by Joseph O. Holmes

Thursday greetings, collectors! It's Youngna for the last time this week, bringing you an extra special bonus photography edition from Jen Bekman artist and 20x200 favorite, Joseph O. Holmes. A few weeks ago we introduced West Forty-third Street (Yellow Cabs), and today bring you that edition's sister image, West Nineteenth Street (Yellow Dress). Yellow Dress illustrates why we are glad to have guys like Joe photographing the streets of New York every day: he captures moments that feel like you're looking at the movie-set version of the city we live in.

As Joe says in his own words, he is "learning the subtle art of twisting the elements of cliche in something archetypal," and so creates images that are equivalent to the New York most of us see only in our imaginations. Whether at the museum, in the park, or walking down a city sidewalk, Joe's photos embody all the New York-ness that both those who do and those who don't live here, romanticize.

While staring at these editions, Sara Distin pointed out that yellow really is a very New York color. Yellow cabs define the streets of Manhattan and the sheen of the evening sun reflecting off the city's many brick buildings during the magic hour, radiates an effervescent golden hue. Joe hones in on yellows of both aura and object in this pair of prints, intended to hang side-by-side.

Before we say farewell for the weekend, we want to remind you that the 2009 Second Edition of Hey, Hot Shot! is currently open for entries! The deadline to enter is Friday, October 23rd at 8 p.m EDT. Our panelists are very much looking forward to seeing your work, and we will continue writing about our contenders on the blog and featuring them on Flickr and Facebook until the Hot Shots are announced. Interested? Head over to Hey, Hot Shot! to see what the competition is all about and apply here!

It is only fitting that Joe was himself a two-time Hot Shot (Fall 2005 and Fall 2006) before being selected as an Ne Plus Ultra in 2006 and gaining representation by the gallery the following year. We've been fortunate to have the chance to work with Joe on all of the Jen Bekman Projects now, an opportunity that first arose by seeing his work in the competition.

We also want to remind you that Jen Bekman Projects is hiring! We are looking for passionate, art-loving people who are the very best at what they do in the following fields: marketing, product & project management, web development and accounting.

You must also possess excellent written and verbal communication skills and eat/sleep/breathe social media, the Internet and, of course, art. Sound like you? We can't wait to meet you! Send us your resume and cover letter today. For more information, visit the jobs page, which will soon have detailed descriptions of all open positions.

And with that, we'll see you next week!