Untitled, from the series Aggressive Girls by Chikara Umihara

Hello collector friends, it's Sara. As an undergrad studying art and English, I realized lots of advice for writers also applies to photographers and other artists. Among the things told to writers, "Write about what you know" is probably the most common and the least helpful. At best, it assumes you already know a lot—enough to be some sort of authority—about something, anything, which often, is intimidating, or just isn't true. At worst, it denies that the process of writing or making art is all about figuring things out, or even, asking more questions than you answer along the way.

The more relevant counsel, I think, is "Write about what only you can write about." Or, if you are an artist, make the work that only you can make. Today's photographer, 2010 Hot Shot Chikara Umihara, photographs what only he can photograph. To make Untitled, from the series Aggressive Girls and the other images in the series—a few of which are on view as part of the 2010 Hey, Hot Shot! Showcase at Jen Bekman Gallery—Chikara earned access and permission, through persistence and genuine interest, to document an underground community of lesbian women in Brooklyn who have adopted male-dominant hip hop culture as their own.

As a male studying photography for one year in New York at the International Center for Photography, it wasn't a community he would have probably, naturally, known superficially and even less likely, intimately. But because of the type of person and photographer he is—wholly compassionate, intelligent, never condescending—documenting these women, their lives and surrounding details, was a project that only he could do.

"I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them." If Chikara said this, he would most likely be right—I can't imagine stumbling across this pre-celebration set up of balloons, streamers and trophies that seem to defy the age, dirt and crumble of their surroundings. But the quote comes from an artist Chikara cites as an inspiration: Diane Arbus, the photographer who is known for her portraits of people, many who probably wouldn't have been photographed if she hadn't. Arbus also said, "The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way."

NYC Art Fairs Weekend Reminder
While you're out and about this weekend, at the fairs all over the city, swing by JBG downtown, and catch the 2010 Hey, Hot Shot! Showcase before it closes. Or make your first stop the Jen Bekman Gallery booth at PULSE and pick up an Art Fair Survival Kit. Follow us on Twitter to find out exactly where else we'll be all weekend long.

PULSE NEW YORK
125 W 18th Street, New York, NY
Booth #b-4
Thursday, March 3: 1 p.m.–8 p.m.
Friday, March 4 + Saturday, March 5: noon–8 p.m.
Sunday, March 6: noon–5 p.m.