Feature Shoot |
- Scot Sothern and Muir Vidler Come Together to Explore What Lies Beyond the Cultural Mainstream
- Photojournalism Community Rallies Behind Photographer Jared Moossy, Critically Injured By a Drunk Driver
- ‘Cats of the Urban Wild’ Video Sheds Light on the Plight of NYC’s Feral Cats
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Posted: 23 Oct 2015 05:00 AM PDT
 Watchful Eyes, 2012 © Scot Sothern  Purim, London 1, 2014 © Muir Vidler  Martha, 2012 © Scot Sothern Starting October 23rd, the Mindy Solomon Gallery in Miami will unveil a new exhibition entitled The Way We See It, with photography by Scot Sothern and Muir Vidler. Both artists hone in on subjects that are unique, often living lives that exist outside the cultural mainstream and seeking neighborhoods and communities where individuality can be embraced. “I know a place not far from here where I can take your picture. I can give you twenty bucks.” – Scot Sothern, from his memoir Lowlife The American photographer and writer Scot Sothern creates photographs that are at once raw and illuminating, and it’s impossible not to be affected by them in some way. Venturing out in the small hours of the morning, Southern scales the streets seeking out sex workers and street dwellers in downtown LA to photograph. His photobook Lowlife published in 2011 was labelled, “the year’s most controversial photobook” by The British Journal of Photography and catalogued Sothern’s encounters with the prostitutes he slept with and then photographed. The photographer couples his pictures with journal-type extracts, lending blunt and brutally honest context and reminding us of the humans behind the images. In his latest body of work Sad City, Sothern again focuses his lens on the discarded and disenfranchised populations of society. He describes the sad city as somewhere “nobody wants to live, but where the population keeps on growing.” The lucid colors of the urban landscape are brought to life by Sothern’s flash, yet the images are somehow bleaker than the black-and-whites we see in Lowlife. As Sothern takes us deeper into sketchy neighborhoods in the dead hours, we imagine him stalking the silent, moving streets. His flash penetrates the shadows of the criminal underworld, revealing the seamy edges that many choose to cast a blind eye on, and despite the controversy of his approach, his intention is to humanize these people through the medium. Through his visual narrative, he wants us to understand and empathize with the struggles of a community of people that are often harshly judged and ignored. Muir Vidler is a London-based photographer and has worked for a number of publications including i-D, Vice, Time, and New York Times Magazine. Like Sothern, his primary focus is on people. Vidler takes joy in contradicting people’s preconceived ideas about how we view a culture or society to be, and his images explore an eclectic scope of subjects ranging from the Israeli death metal scene to transsexual prostitutes in Pattaya to the decaying dive bars of Cairo. The way in which Vidler’s subjects interact in front of his lens show his remarkable capacity as a photographer – the ability to make his subjects appear totally at ease. Posing comes as naturally to them as he is able to make sharp, humorous yet compassionate observations on those around him. This apparent trust and ease with the photographer’s presence mean Vidler is able to give a more intimate look into the lives of the people he portrays, and his photos have a real sense of fun and spontaneity that makes us want to climb in.  Elmo, 2011 © Scot Sothern  Superman Dreams, 2011 © Scot Sothern  Barracuda, 2012 © Scot Sothern  The Division, 2011 © Scot Sothern  What It Is, 2011 © Scot Sothern  Pooky’s Salon 2, Pattaya, 2015 © Muir Vidler  Ian Baillie, House, Kilmarnock, 2014 © Muir Vidler  Debbie Dogbite, London, 2014 © Muir Vidler  Three Boys, London, 2014 © Muir Vidler All images courtesy Mindy Solomon Gallery The post Scot Sothern and Muir Vidler Come Together to Explore What Lies Beyond the Cultural Mainstream appeared first on Feature Shoot.  |
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Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:00 AM PDT
 © Lynsey Addario – Print $1500  © Peter Van Agtmael – Print $100  © Chiara Goia – Print $100 When asked in 2013 about how he dealt with the emotional toll of shooting in a Rio torn asunder by drugs and violence, photojournalist Jared Moossy repeated the mantra, “I can do this. I’ve been in scary situations. I can keep pushing through.” Whether he’s shooting in the conflict zones of Libya or capturing the human toll of war in Afghanistan, Moossy has lived by those words, putting his own life on the line in order to tell stories that would otherwise go untold, to shed light on the most urgent tragedies of our time in hopes of building a better, more humane world. Now he needs our help. Early last month, Moossy was riding his motorcycle through South Austin when he was struck and critically injured by a drunk driver. He suffered extensive injuries, including a brain bleed and several broken bones (fourteen in his face alone). The photographer will likely need lifetime care, and during his rehabilitation, he will be unable to work. The road that lies before Jared Moossy and his family is long one, a grueling one, and an expensive one. But this battle isn’t one that Moossy will fight alone. Family, friends, and colleagues of the renowned photojournalist and cinematographer, who told the stories of his fellow conflict photographers as Director of Photography for the unforgettable HBO series Witness, are rallying behind him as he faces a difficult recovery. Some of the best photographers in the world, including Moossy, have come together for a print sale fundraiser, with every cent of the much-needed proceeds going towards the photojournalist’s rehabilitation and fundamental living expenses. Along with Moossy’s own mentor Ron Haviv, photographers selling work include Lynsey Addario, David Alan Harvey, Peter Van Agtmael, Maggie Steber, Jason Andrew, Brandon Thibodeaux, Matt Eich, Peter DiCampo, Michael Christopher Brown, Katie Orlinsky, and many more. These amazing images—sold as either limited or open editions—each hold a piece of history, and in turn, the money used to purchase them will allow a one-of-a-kind storyteller to recover from a horrible act of carelessness on the part of a drunk driver. If you would like to purchase a print, please visit the Jared Mossy Recovery Fund Indiegogo page, which will be updated regularly with new prints. Prints are selling out quickly, so it’s best to act fast. More images are coming in all the time, so check back frequently. Please also consider contributing whatever you can to the Go Fund Me campaign. Together, the photography community mourns this accident, but we also have the opportunity to help one of our own. In the words of Moossy’s family and friends, “He is a fighter, and as his family we have a grave responsibility to tell his empowering story in way that will make him proud.”  © Matt Eich - Print $300  © Maggie Steber – Print $1000  © Peter DiCampo / Everyday Africa – Print $100  © David Alan Harvey – Print $250  © Brandon Thibodeaux – Print $400  © Melissa Golden – Print $100  © Kirsten Luce – Print $100  © Andrea Bruce – Print $100  © Liz Arenberg – Print $350  © Ying Ang – Print $200  © Brian L. Frank – Print $500  © Justin Maxon – Print $2000  © Michael Christopher Brown – Print $2500  © Q. Sakamaki – SOLD OUT  © Dominic Bracco – Print $100  © Lance Rosenfield - Print $100  © Greg Kahn – Print $100  © Justin Mott – Print $100  © Sarah Hadley – Print $100  © Kael Alford – Print $500  © Scott Dalton – SOLD OUT The post Photojournalism Community Rallies Behind Photographer Jared Moossy, Critically Injured By a Drunk Driver appeared first on Feature Shoot.  |
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Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:05 AM PDT
 The feral cats of New York City stalk the streets at twilight in search of food, scurrying for shelter whenever a threat passes by in the shadows. Unlike domesticated cats or strays, the wild cats have an instinctual and learned understanding of how to survive the brutal metropolitan elements; today, their population has reached into the hundreds of thousands, and we as human beings who have bred and then neglected our fellow city-dwellers, are responsible for every one of them. The overpopulation of feral cats is a crisis a crisis that affects cities all over the world, where the cats often remain unseen but no less present. It’s a tough life on the streets, and the future remains precarious for tens of millions of individual felines. The most humane plan of action when addressing the problem, suggests The New Yorker’s Sky Dylan-Robbins is the Trap-Neuter-Return method (TNR), a program by which citizens and animal advocates are able to trap and neuter or spay wild cats before returning them to their secret homes, often small areas hidden from view, or the exact place in which they were found. In speaking the the experts, Dylan-Robbins produced the above video to call attention to the sometimes polarizing arguments surrounding feral cat populations. While TNR might be the most productive and compassionate means of controlling overpopulation, some stand by plans to euthanize mass numbers of these colonies. The government of Australia, for instance, plans to euthanize two million feral urban cats, while others around the world advocate for similar measures. At the numbers they are at now, the argument here is that the cats pose a threat to wildlife, but as cat-care expert Anitra Frazier tells The New Yorker of the choice to kill feral cats, “As a race, man is not taking responsibility for his actions.” Indeed, we are each of us accountable for these animals, and together, we are their hope for the future. With the help of colony caretakers, the New York state Senate passed a law if signed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, would fund TNR programs. Visit the ASPCA to learn more about feral cats and how you can help.   via Motion Arts Pro The post ‘Cats of the Urban Wild’ Video Sheds Light on the Plight of NYC’s Feral Cats appeared first onFeature Shoot. |
