LOS ANGELES EDITION With KAWS On The COVER
Welcome to The FALL 2014 Edition of The BUREAU of ARTS and CULTURE MAGAZINE. We are very pleased to bring you a New Slate of Interviews featuring an intimate conversation with SURFER and SURFBOARD Creator, Wayne RICH. The Great Orson WELLES is This Editions Celebrated ICON Essay. Our Guest Artist is Eric ZENER. We are proud to bring you the Inside Scoop on an interesting Documentary by Tom HAYES about ESQUIRE Magazine in The 1960s. A Fabulous Parisian Fashion Layout by Cathleen NAUNDORF, Now at Fahey Klein Gallery. Photographer Terry Richardson takes us deep into America's heartland and Robin Holland shares an Image of Public Enemy with an article by Jamar Mar(s) Tucker. Editorials on The Voices in Radio Today as well as The Hate Crimes Essays. We take a look at Robert REDFORD'S Classic Film " QUIZ SHOW " 20 Years Later and Interview Cygnet Theater's Director regarding Their current SAM SHEPARD Productions. We Take you Inside L A Art Gallery Honor Fraser with New Paintings by KAWS + The New Astrology Column Celebrates All Things LIBRA. A Look at Johanness BRAHMS. Original BUREAU Artist Lorna STOVALL shares The Salton Sea Series. Plus The BUREAU Artist Profile on British Painter Tony SOUTH and a sneak peak of The Upcoming Paul STRAND Exhibit at The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Images by Leon Ferrari from New York Gallery Josee Bienvenu. We are very excited to announce The MAGNUM Photography Agency as an Affiliate source of Images at BUREAU of Arts and Culture. THERE ARE ALSO FIVE ALTERNATIVE COVERS FOR THIS SEASONS EDITION: KAWS / CATHLEEN NAUNDORF / ERIC ZENER / TONY SOUTH ...
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CATHLEEN NAUNDORF : Inside Coco Chanel's Paris Apartment
A 12 Page Spread Including The HAUTE COUTURE Exhibit at The
FAHEY KLEIN GALLERY Currently in LOS ANGELES ...
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OF THIS SEASON'S BUREAU OF ARTS AND CULTURE MAGAZINE
OF THIS SEASON'S BUREAU OF ARTS AND CULTURE MAGAZINE
ELLIOTT ERWITT On The Set : The MISFITS
The Photographic Work of Elliot Erwitt is touching, funny, poignant and has a keen sensitivity to the human condition. Born in Paris, he spent his teen years in Hollywood and his young adult years in New York City. When Erwitt met Edward Steichen, Robert Capa and Roy Stryker he was invited to document the City of Pittsburgh which led to assignments at Life, Look, Collier's and magazines of the day. Elliott Erwitt has been a Magnum Photographer for over 60 years & served as president for three. This image, on the set of The Misfits is a very telling portrait of the cast and the crew. It portends the end of an era for both the art of filmmaking & for celebrity. We Welcome MAGNUM PICTURES
GUEST ARTIST ERIC ZENER : The PAINTER
Guest Artist for October's Edition of BUREAU of Arts and Culture Magazine is Eric Zener. Mr. Zener is currently working with figural subjects in relation to the element of water. The very act of diving in, the splash, the plunge, the immersion, the submission of giving yourself to a body of liquid. Normally, this subject might be considered a perfect summer series, but with record heat waves on the West Coast, we decided to celebrate these refreshing images. Although the work is influenced by photography and lush saturated realist tones, because of the expressionist nature of the reflections and the water's reaction to the figures, there is a large amount of experimentation and abstraction within the work. Each painting is worked over with an extreme amount of detail. Many of the subjects are proportionately larger than life, in terms of scale, which takes us into the picture in the same way that a camera might magnify a subject, bringing us as the viewer into closer focus with the subject & the scene.
The poolside in the contemporary arts has become a symbol and almost a genre of sorts. Think of films such as The Graduate and its isolationist emotional meaning or David Hockney's pool paintings and drawings, which have a new relationship's reflective quality, or on a darker side, Billy Wilder's opening and closing scene in The classic film, Sunset Boulevard. Water equals emotions, pool side water is a slightly more controlled emotion, it is not the all powerful ocean, but a man made version. Mr. Zener's most recent work gives us pause to reflect on the stages before, during and after the experience of diving into our uncertain future. Many of the works allow for the individual to feel that surge, while others within the on going series represent a relationship of two. Zener has an evolving craft that is currently at a pinnacle, Over the past decades, he has developed a style that is in a territory which might be called realism or even symbolism. What you call it is not as important as what you experience, feel and imagine while viewing it.
All to often, the Art Critic, the Presenter, the Gallery and the Historian's interpretation of any given work eclipses the actual experience of simply enjoying, owning and living with a work of art. We suggest, in the case of Eric Zener's paintings, that you simply allow yourself to dive in and feel the work, immerse yourself and reflect on the refreshing qualities of relating to the element of water. This Series of paintings brings new meaning to the term, "West Coast Cool." Also included throughout the entire edition are earlier works by Mr. Zener that relate to the elements of Wood, Earth & Air, making him a sort of alchemist of images. Man's Relationship to Nature: The great on going story that never ceases to effect, edify and entertain. Humankind's relationship to the elements are once again asking us, even demanding for a reevaluation of what it actually means to have an ecosystem, to relate directly to the elements and to reciprocate by preserving it's offering. Zener's newest work is exhilarating, impassioned and fresh. We are proud to have him as Guest Artist for the October 2014 Edition of BUREAU of Arts and Culture Magazine & Our On Line Sites.
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THE BUREAU FILM INTERVIEW
TOM HAYES:DOCUMENTARIAN
Tom Hayes Wrote, Directed, Produced and Edited a New Documentary Feature film which takes us inside The World of Magazine Publishing at ESQUIRE Magazine during It's Zenith in The Heady 1960s. It's a Heartfelt, Hip and Candid film that also tells the story about Mr. Hayes' father who was one of America's Leading Legendary Magazine Editors. The film includes stories by & about Gay Talese, Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, Muhammad Ali, Dizzy Gillespie, Candice Bergen, George Lois Plus Esquire's creative team of photographers and artists. READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW THIS MONTHS EDITION OF BUREAU OF ARTS + CULTURE
PHOTO ESSAY: 25 IMAGES OF MIDDLE AMERICANA
The ICON: ORSON WELLES "A REAL Voice"
Orson Welles is the REAL voice of America. He scared the living hell out of us on October 31st 1939 with The Historical radio narration of "WAR of The WORLDS". A somewhat naive public had tuned in to hear the usual musical concert brought to you live by so and so from such and such a location and instead was told that, "The Martians were landing in New Jersey," and a full on invasion of America was taking place. The 'Boy Wonder' as he was called by some, had looks, guts, a voracious appetite for fame and a deep male voice that held passion, wisdom, roots, defiance and bravado. Orson gathered a group of actors and called them The Mercury Players, including a young Agnes Moorehead, Vincent Price, Joseph Cotton, Everett Sloane, Ray Collins, Martin Gabel, Anne Baxter, Judy Holliday, Geraldine Fitzgerald and other future stars of sound and screen. Orson Welles wrote, acted, directed, narrated and produced. He took classic literature and related it to current issues including Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with a twist toward the growing fascism in Europe of the late 1930s. He went on to create radio adaptions of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Huckleberry Finn, Our Town, The Heart of Darkness, Five Kings, and Native Son. The Legend of Welles has created many a great film and literary adaption in its own right. "RKO 281" starring Liev Schreiber as Welles is a good adaption of events leading up to his entry into Hollywood and filmmaking. "The Cradle will Rock" by Tim Robbins is another fine and thorough film which brings to life The Theater chapter of Welles experience in New York City with the WPA and censorship in America. Orson Welles' All Black MacBeth commonly known as VooDoo Macbeth, set in Haiti, was an out and out success, every line in Shakespeare's play was kept intact. The production, "Exceeded its original play dates in New York and had a popular tour of The country". It also began an animosity surrounding Orson Welles that continued to follow his career leading up to his masterpiece which chronicled the life and times of a once powerful media mogul and newspaper magnate, in all its highs and lows: Citizen Kane. Both Peter Bogdanovich and Henry Jaglom spent a good amount of time with Orson late in his life and each have interesting stories to tell, in both book and film. "The Cats Meow" a film by Bogdanovich tells a dark chapter related to media mogul William Randolph Hearst of Citizen Kane fame and Jaglom's book, "My lunches with Orson" transcribe taped conversations with the late great master filmmaker and magician. Some twenty years after Citizen Kane created a revolution in film, censorship and battles between the artists and the media in Hollywood, Bogdanovich had organized a retrospect of works at The Museum of Modern Art in New York and years later posthumously published, "This is Orson Welles" in 1985. Controversy courted Welles at all levels, especially with his collaborators and creating partners, including The Bogdanovich book which, was lost in storage, later found, put on hold by Welles himself, having been offered funds for his own life story and later published with full approval. Some called it a failed career, others know damn well that Welles was out and out blackballed from the industry and ten years later, hundreds of left leaning artists, writers and filmmakers were witch hunted by not just, The Industry, but by their own government. Orson Welles was a real voice for American Radio and being a real man in America can be a dangerous game. Citizen Kane is commonly called One of, if not, THE, Greatest Modern American Film of all time. Welles took the newspaper techniques utilized by Media Moguls of the time and flipped them right back in their faces, taking tawdry facts and innuendo and skewering the all powerful modern day millionaires of the day. It was a beautiful and defiant move that scared the pants off of the powerful and at the same time, empowered the individual artist. Unfortunately, the price Orson paid to make that statement ended his own career, created a legend, set the tone for decades to come and even taught a weary government what tools could be used to dupe the public into submission, fear and war. To this day, film, radio & literature as well as newspapers are all fooling society daily.
NEW YORK STYLE : PUBLIC ENEMY
BUREAU MAGAZINE NEW YORK CITY PHOTOGRAPHER ROBIN HOLLAND TAKES US INTO THE NYC SCENE FOR ART, MUSIC, FILM, LITERATURE & EVENTS OF A CULTURAL NATURE, INCLUDING SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF CREATIVE LIFE. THIS MONTH ROBIN CONTRIBUTES HER CLASSIC PORTRAIT OF GROUND BREAKING RAP BAND : PUBLIC ENEMY.
PLUS THE APPRECIATION ESSAY ON PUBLIC ENEMY LEGEND AT 25 +
BY Brooklynite & New BUREAU Contributing Writer: JAMAR Mar(s) TUCKER
In This Months Magazine Photo Essay of The
Paul Strand: Master of Modern Photography
Exhibition at Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art October 21, 2014 - January 4, 2015
This major retrospective presents the work of a critical figure in the history of modern art, American photographer and filmmaker Paul Strand (1890–1976), whose archive of nearly 4,000 prints stands as a cornerstone of the Museum’s collection. Emphasizing the influential artist’s most important projects from the 1910s through the 1960s, the exhibition surveys Strand’s entire life’s work, including his breakthrough trials in abstraction and candid street portraits, close-ups of natural and machine forms, and extended explorations of the American Southwest, Mexico, New England, France, Italy, Scotland, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, and Romania. This exhibition includes approximately 250 of Strand’s finest prints, selected primarily from the Museum’s holdings, with important early prints from public and private collections. The wide range of imagery highlights how Strand radically changed his work at several key moments in an effort to identify photography's pivotal role as a means of understanding and describing the modern world. The exhibition also features works by fellow artists from the Alfred Stieglitz circle (Georgia O’Keeffe, John Marin, and Arthur Dove), screenings of Strand’s films, and a selection of archival materials. We have provided a Link to The Philadelphia Museum at the end of the Photo essay.
INSIDE LOS ANGELES ART GALLERY HONOR FRASER:
ART GALLERY : KAWS IN L. A.
Street Art is at an all time crossover pinnacle. Kaws is a great example of a fierce trajectory. The current Exhibition at Honor Fraser in the Culver City Arts District is a new direction for the artist. Is it an homage, a re appropriation, a redux, a remix, a reevaluation or is it simply Kaws pressing rewind on some of his earliest influences, in this case the late, great Charles Schulze, creator of the classic fifty year comic street, Peanuts ? There are other influences here, such as Los Angeles artist Anthony Ausgang. This particular school of thought has much to do with animation at all levels. This is a mixed tape art world where samples from a classic can be used as a riff to a new hit single. Kaws is definitely pausing here to take a breather and relies heavily on Schulze's classics to get the crowd dancing, but dance they do. This is a hyper saturated, sexually suggestive and humorous take on a tried and true American Classic. To be sure purists will balk and certainly Kaws will take some heat for the sampling of something as bold as a Schulze, at the same time, he ensures that Schulze and his iconic images stay in the diaspora of artistic lingustics. Not unlike what Warhol did for Marilyn Monroe, The Mobile Pegasus and The Statue of Liberty or The Empire State building. The rules change daily and here, one of the rules has just been transgressed: See it, take it, re-do it, call it your own and do it gracefully, colorfully, boldly & don't look back. Once an artist enters the arena, it is always interesting to see just how they plan to stay in the game and not be eaten by the lions, in this case Kaws takes a bite out of a well beloved lion and the crowd cheers for more. The question is: Will he survive the next skirmish ? If we even care, he has already won the battle. Art is War.
- BUREAU of Arts and Culture Magazine
FILM:QUIZ SHOW at TWENTY
Robert Redford is a Master Film Director of The American Landscape.
QUIZ SHOW at TWENTY
Robert Redford is a Master Film Director of The American Landscape. His style is so deeply rooted in Realism that even when the story hinges on magical realism, such as, "The Legend of Bagger Vance," we as the audience are taken in, wholeheartedly. "A River Runs Through It" took Brad Pitt and insured that his career would not be one of how a handsome man can become successful, Redford pushed the actor to find a personality that would surpass looks and it worked. "Quiz Show" takes on the almighty Power of Television and puts it on Trial. Today, we take a look at "QUIZ SHOW" on The 20th Anniversary.
This is a large film, with a brilliant cast, a flawless tone and leading actors that include John Turturro as the whistle-blowing contestant Herb Stempel and Ralph Fiennes as Charlie Van Doren, a wealthy second generation Columbia University teacher who gets sucked into cheating himself, the public and his families reputation simply by allowing the network's television producers of The Quiz Show entitled, "21" to, "… give him the answers." Which are said to be, "… sealed in a bank vault." Enter investigating lawyer and Harvard graduate at the top of his class, Richard Goodwin, played here brilliantly by Rob Morrow. A former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter, who is on the legislative subcommittee for oversight. The film begins with undertones of the times, "Mack The Knife" by Bobby Daren is the films musical opener and on the radio, we are told that, "The Russians have launched Sputnik and all is not well in America." Redford knows the American historical backdrop well and informs his dramas opener with tones suggesting preceding events between 1950 and 1959, the year this film takes place. Alluding to the dreaded blacklist, which somehow connected the Russian communist fear of an invasion with Jewish writers and leftist entertainers who were demonized by Joe McCarthy. More than once, Goodwin tells his fellow associates and his wife, "This is not McCarthy-ism here." Goodwin is a careful prosecutor, by some standards, too careful.
"He is ordered to give the wrong answer to a question that everyone in America knows and is given the number of a psychiatrist free of charge, welcome to the network."
Attempting to explain that he is simply going after the fact that the answers were being given to contestants and the public was duped into tuning in night after night while the sponsors of these shows reaped in millions. The film marches in step between four worlds, Herb Stempel's blue collar neighborhood in Queens, Charlie Van Doren's upper crust family in upstate New York, Richard Goodwin's moderate post graduate career life and the big and awe inspiring world of major network television with all its new bells, whistles and "APPLAUSE" signs. Early on, an ad executive, played by Martin Scorsese, warns the television producers that Herb Stempel, who has been the winning contestant for several weeks is, 'not working'. The producers say that Stempel has that, "Everyman quality…" and that he represents the idea that anyone from New York can make it in America, The Ad Exec exclaims, "Queens is not New York …" and soon Herb Stempel is told he must take a dive.
Dan Enright, the shows producer, delivers the bad news over steak and wine. When Stempel begs to stay on the show, he is reminded that, "It's an arrangement, It's always been an arrangement." He is ordered to give the wrong answer to a question that everyone in America knows and is given the number of a psychiatrist free of charge, welcome to the network. The Stempel character breaks and eventually demands some restitution from the television producers who quickly move into cover up mode by launching Charlie Van Doren into the stratosphere of T.V. fame and fortune, he eventually makes upwards of 120,000 thousand dollars, surpassing even his famous father and uncles riches awarded by simply great writing, Pulitzer prizes and the like. By the time Charlie Van Doren graces the cover of Time magazine, Herb Stempel, who is schlumping around like a schmuck without a life, goes to the district attorney and an investigation ensues. The judge on the case, who regularly plays golf with the president of the network, conceals Stempel's statement to "protect reputations from an unstable whistleblower." The concealment is the first of any such case in New York in the past hundred years, attracting the likes of Richard Goodwin & things begin to heat up from this point on. In motion picture history, there have been other television expose' style films preceding and since "Quiz Show." Paddy Chayefsky famously wrote "NETWORK," which was a dark and comedic opera like parody of television with brilliant performances by William Holden as a burnt out television executive and Fay Dunaway as an upwardly mobile television producer who will do anything for ratings. "Network" brought us the now famous line, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" with a bust out performance by Peter Finch as the broadcaster gone made who is deified into a modern day mad man, hero & eventually martyred on the air, all in the name of good ratings.
There are no tricky camera angles,
nothing brings attention to the story
accept simply great performances …
Since the making of QUIZ SHOW, George Clooney directed the somber, yet honest, story of Edward R. Murrow's fight with the networks to tell certain truths that were better left untold. This is also a brilliant film told in black and white with performances by a cast of incredible actors all working in unison to bring this chapter of network television to the fore. Clooney, who was a child of TV knows very well how to explain the tone of advertiser vs truth and he delivers well. Quiz Show sits somewhere between these two versions, both cinematically and sequentially. Redford's realist style and tone are not colored in any expressionistic way whatsoever, this is not a parody like NETWORK, nor is it a black and white report, like Clooney's, "Good Night, And Good Luck". Redford plays it straight and allows us to simply experience the events in real time, from all angles of a four cornered world. The film rolls out like a giant 1959 American made automobile, sexy, classy, bold, he's working with an ample budget, an outstanding cast and crew and top of the line costume, camera and production team. The film is timeless, its arc is perfect, its idiom unique.There are no tricky camera angles, nothing brings attention to the story accept simply great performances, a brilliant and balanced screenplay, as usual, Redford always works with the most perfect script that encompasses the act one - two and three - format that then goes one step further and adds both a preamble and a post event wrap up that often leaves the audience informed, entertained and enthralled. With Quiz Show, he hits the trifecta: This is pure Cinema.
As Richard Goodwin begins to investigate The 21 Show, he is given personal contact information about Van Doren and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. Goodwin, who is Jewish, a Harvard Grad at the top of his class, a brilliant lawyer and a keen mind himself, is slow to suspect Charles Van Doren of any wrong doing. The two lunch at high brow restaurants and run into Charlie's father, who is a famous literary figure among a circle of writers such as James Thurber and Edmund Wilson. It is not until Goodwin's wife pushes him to dig deeper that the drama really cranks up and Goodwin does indeed uncover the scandal. All along the way, previous contestants deny any commiseration, they all know too well the power of the networks and just when it seems hopeless, a Greenwich Village artist and former contestant submits an unopened, self - addressed - stamped - envelope with the questions of the show mailed to himself, several days prior to the actual live television airing. Goodwin now has evidence and gets his teeth into the television producers pant leg. "Your a very disruptive young man," he is told by Dan Enright, the show's hapless producer and network stooly who eventually flees to Mexico when the shit really hits the fan. Portrayed here by David Paymer. Meanwhile, Richard Goodwin and Charlie Van Doren play poker, go sailing and celebrate Van Doren's father's birthday with background commentary from family members exclaiming that, "Charlie's famous, like Elvis Presley." The senior Van Doren has never seen his son Charlie's appearance on television and so, for his birthday, he receives a TV set from Charlie.
As Richard Goodwin begins to investigate The 21 Show, he is given personal contact information about Van Doren and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. Goodwin, who is Jewish, a Harvard Grad at the top of his class, a brilliant lawyer and a keen mind himself, is slow to suspect Charles Van Doren of any wrong doing. The two lunch at high brow restaurants and run into Charlie's father, who is a famous literary figure among a circle of writers such as James Thurber and Edmund Wilson. It is not until Goodwin's wife pushes him to dig deeper that the drama really cranks up and Goodwin does indeed uncover the scandal. All along the way, previous contestants deny any commiseration, they all know too well the power of the networks and just when it seems hopeless, a Greenwich Village artist and former contestant submits an unopened, self - addressed - stamped - envelope with the questions of the show mailed to himself, several days prior to the actual live television airing. Goodwin now has evidence and gets his teeth into the television producers pant leg. "Your a very disruptive young man," he is told by Dan Enright, the show's hapless producer and network stooly who eventually flees to Mexico when the shit really hits the fan. Portrayed here by David Paymer. Meanwhile, Richard Goodwin and Charlie Van Doren play poker, go sailing and celebrate Van Doren's father's birthday with background commentary from family members exclaiming that, "Charlie's famous, like Elvis Presley." The senior Van Doren has never seen his son Charlie's appearance on television and so, for his birthday, he receives a TV set from Charlie.
At one point, Goodwin tells Charlie,
"I know your lying." Charlie retorts
with a simple response, "Bluffing ...
The word is, 'Bluffing'."
By the time that Richard Goodwin gets to actually speak to television executives, he is given a list of Herb Stempel's psychiatric bill and a recording made while Stempel was heatedly unravelling. When Goodwin speaks to Stempel again, he admits that he was given the answers and goads Goodwin on to go after Van Doren, exclaiming, "Just 'cause you went to Harvard, you think you have a stake in the system ?" The TV Exec's convince Charlie Van Doren that the investigation will not reach him and that Stempel is just a crackpot. But with Goodwin on the case, the other contestants self addressed letter and an impending investigation by the subcommittee, Charlie begins to buckle. During a poker game with a bunch of wealthy pals of Charlie, Goodwin begins to 'QUIZ' Charlie, who happens to be working on a book about, of all people, 'Honest Abe Lincoln'. At one point, Goodwin tells Charlie, "I know your lying." Charlie retorts with a simple response, "Bluffing, the word is, 'Bluffing'." This particular exchange is what makes Redford's world so damn compelling, he is a master of the slow but steady storytelling that unravels on the screen as a great book unravels on the page. Bob Redford is probably one of the most well respected and truthful directors when adapting books of the popular or well written variety in the past several decades. He simply works with great writers and those able to adapt a screenplay into something incredibly special from very thick & exhaustive source material. Meanwhile, the television executives offer Charles Van Doren fifty-thousand dollars and a morning show to teach children about, 'literature and the importance of reading'. He accepts the offer and is sucked even further into the networks spider web like prizes.
By the time Goodwin nails the television producers to the floor, they actually offer him his own show, he declines and instead suggests that they implicate the network. The producer admits that if he said a single word that, "They would never let me through the door again." Goodwin pauses, looks at the man and simply states, with a Bogart - like - cool: "I have a feeling you're not walking through that door anyway." By this time, the film and it's impending investigation roll forward with a non stop pace that is both rewarding and gratifying. Not surprisingly, the networks are untouched and the producers, we are told in the final scene, returned with popular quiz shows some years later. In a final tit for tat dialogue exchange between Goodwin and the head advertising executive played here by Martin Scorsese, the ad exec exclaims, "It isn't about what I know, it's about what you know… The Public has a very short memory, but corporations, they never forget… Look young man, you have a very promising future, watch yourself out there." About the time that the elder Van Doren, Charlie's father exclaims that, "All this talk about cheating on a quiz show is like plagiarizing a comic book," Charlie comes clean, "Dad, they gave me the answers." His father's reaction is total surprise, "They gave you the answers ? Oh my god Charlie, How are you going to tell the committee ?" Then Charlie asks dad to back him up.
In a final scene, in front of the subcommittee and a host of swarming reporters, Charlie Van Doren finally admits to wrong doing in a speech that starts, "Everything came too easy…" which is an echoing line from one of Robert Redford's earliest successes as an actor, his portrayal of Hubbel in, "The Way We Were." Redford's character writes a story which begins with the opening line, "Everything had come too easy…" and so we come full circle. The entire committee begins to congratulate Charles Van Doren for coming clean in an overly acceptable and non critical manner, until finally, a working class representative steps up and exclaims, "Although, I think it is commendable … I am from another part of New York … and I don't think by simply telling the truth you should be so easily forgiven." The audience begins to applaud, the camera view is now from high above the proceedings and a gavel pounds for order. We hear Richard Goodwin's voiceover, "I thought we were going to get television, the truth is, television is going to get us." Which is true in more ways than one as even Robert Redford's Sundance Channel now has just as many commercials between independent films, as the big three network broadcasters. One thing for sure, nobody would ever have expected Robert Redford the actor to ever even dream about, let alone realize his ability to direct films at the level with which he has delivered time and time again. Robert Redford is one of America's best and brightest, we love his work, respect his artistic output and honor his contribution to the art of fine filmmaking.
WAYNE RICH: SURFER & SHAPER
BUREAU OF ARTS AND CULTURE MAGAZINE
THE SURF INTERVIEW: WAYNE RICH: SHAPER
Wayne Rich Lives, Surfs and Shapes Boards in Santa Barbara, California USA. He has been through hell and high water more than once in his life. Mr Rich is a master surfboard shaper, an artist, a humanist and he's cool. He found the time to discuss surfing, the art & craft of creating surfboards, growing up in the California surfing community and the technical as well as creative decisions in making a specialized board for any individual surfer. Wayne is a dedicated surfer who lives the life, he knows the lore, he abides by the surfers code and has a great sense of what it is to be a surfer today. He is also an award winning board shaper with an incredible shaping style. Take Notes Surf students, this Man is a true veteran of the early days.This isn't an Interview, this is Surfing History 101 & Mr Rich is your Professor.
BUREAU Editor Joshua Triliegi: You Have Been Shaping For Quite A While, How Did You Originally Get A Chance To Shape Boards ?
Wayne Rich: It really all started for me when my mother took to me in her arms under the lip of a breaking wave through the shore break at 2nd Street in Hermosa at 3 years old, followed by swim class's for the next 7 years at the historical "Swim Gym" on Pier Avenue. Owned by the Legendary lifeguard Iron Man Champion Mr. Paul Matthies and his wife Aneta, the Swim Gym taught almost everyone in the South Bay how to swim well enough to always be safe transitioning into the ocean with respect and confidence. My swim instructor at 3 years of age was Mrs. Rudi Bendiksen who was married to Danny Bendiksen - one of the Great Shapers at Bing Surfboards. We became family friends and I was in awe of Dan and Rudi's beach and ocean lifestyle as well as my sister Zona, who was their babysitter and I mowed their lawn once a week for 2.00, and the honor of hanging in the garage handling all of the bitchin' boards in Dan's insane quiver that included: Hawaiian Guns, Nuuhiwa lightweights and Nose Riders, with a few experimental transitional short boards that were for Rolf Aurness. Dan was sort of a second father to me and a few of my friends at times through early childhood. He shaped me my very first actual custom board when I was 12, after I had to earn the right of a custom by riding anything possible on the beach or around the neighborhood garages or yards up to that point. My sister Zona and my mother Bertie were cool enough to always take me surfing and were avid water women themselves back then, that was key in keeping the dream alive in my early years.
Wayne Rich: In the 70's some of my friends and I would strip the glass off old longboards and try to shape them into something different for fun, but it wasn't like starting from a real blank, so I guess that doesn't really count as actual shaping, although we really had fun and it pissed off our parents as it made a hell of a mess. My mentor was Danny Bendiksen, who shaped at Bing surfboards during the 60's and early 70's and I would go in after school occasionally to watch him shape and to this day I use many of the techniques that Danny used then. I feel honored to have been so lucky to grow up in Hermosa Beach and two blocks from the Bay Cities factories of the famed Pollard Valley, the only industrial two block square area zoned for manufacturing in the HB. There is so much history in that tiny mecca of the surfing world from the past 50 to 60 years that much of the world has probably not heard about. The original surfer/board builders - Greg Noll, Bing, Rick, Jacobs, Dewey Weber, Velzy, Becker, Donald Takayama, Lance Carson, Eddie Talbot, Pat Ryan aka Gumby, Mobley, Vardeman, Dave Boyce, Petrillo, Reef, Unity, and Wayne Miyata, Sam Harwood aka Skipper Fats, Dave Higley, Pat Reardon, Don Kadowaki, Steve and Chris Schlickenmeyer, Dennis Jarvis - Spyder, Tom Stanton, John Lessing, Mike Eaton, Bendiksen, Mike Geib, Jeff Widener, Redman, Ray Lucke, Zen Del Rio, Steve "Berdie" Burdette, Steve Mangagli, Bobby Jensen, Henry Ford, Kenny Tilton, Mike Collins and sons Timmy and Tom of Shoreline Glassing, and Two of the greatest airbrush artists in the world - Steve Carranza, and for a few short years - The late Jack Meyer, and in later years Tyler Hatzikian, and Matt Calvani, Mark Broeg, Jeff Biggs and that's just off the top of my head to name a few. All of the Kick Ass take no prisoners - South Bay Lifeguards, and of course Bill and Bob Miestrell and their kids (Body Glove Wetsuits), have had a profound influence on the surfing world in many ways branching out all over the entire planet today.
Wayne Rich: By '79, I started getting more serious about wanting to learn the true art of shaping and design but was afraid to get off of my Bendiksen's that worked so insane. Dan called bullshit on that and encouraged me to ride both and stop making excuses - he was like a god to us! I just shut up, did what he said and he was always there through the process and saved me when I got in over my head. I also had the good fortune to work with a master woodworker and boat builder named Dave Harris who was my craftsmanship mentor with the traditional tools of the old world wizards. So that is my foundation and what a blessing it was to grow up on 7th Street in Hermosa, two blocks from all the factories and 5 blocks from the beach around such a diverse town with sometimes over 40 Hells Angels bikes lined up in front of Pier 52, or some other local bar keeping order in the downtown area near Hermosa pier. Every one of these people and more not listed have been the foundation of influence in the Water, and in the vast elements of the Craft throughout my entire life.
Wayne Rich: As a matter of fact, the knowledge I learned over the years from these people was so deep, that I could go anywhere in the world to build boards and be at the highest level of technique and cratsmanship in any shop, anywhere. This really opened the right doors with the right people as I migrated North, to Ventura, Port Hueneme and Hollywood by The Sea, (Serious Hard Core Localism) and once again, my foundation got me through it and I fit right in with them. I lived at Hollywood by The Sea for nearly 10 years before moving to Carpinteria and eventually Goleta, but have been shaping Santa Barbara for the past 20 years. Once I got hooked on the beach breaks of Oxnard, and Rincon, not to mention the lower end of the Central Coast, I just ended up staying up here. Working for 13 years in Reynolds Yaters original Santa Barbara Surf Shop with Clyde Beatty and a great crew of craftsman has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Working around Renny during this time was like going to Graduate School in all ways of board building, what an Honor !
BUREAU Editor Joshua Triliegi: Besides Functionality & Form, Color & Pattern Are Also A Big Part Of Your Work, Discuss How Your Designs Have Evolved Through The Years .
Wayne Rich: As Frank Lloyd Wright always said - "Form Follows Function," The color designs and particular uses of them in simple flowing ways will accent the lines of a surfboard. I've been really learning more and more about this very thing in the past decade. I think breaking certain rules with color and design is most interesting and learning how far we stretch those limitations is the real art of the whole thing. I have always loved abstract resin swirl techniques and try to put a different twist on than conventional production abstracts and have worked with Chris Fallon at Studio 609 since the '90's to push some of these ideas and limitations with color designs on my boards. He's an amazing artist and helps me get the effects that are mind boggling in recent years. The evolution of the designs really come from a lifetime of riding waves with my friends up and down the coast and around the world. The era's of wave riding mindset inspire us as Designers and Builders to ride the circle where ever we want to depending on how we surf, and where we surf.
Wayne Rich: Many of us that are serious about surfing, have quite a diverse quiver of boards and depending on the person, can range from 4 or 5 and some up to 20 or more boards that are highly specialized and tuned for specific breaks and conditions. I guess to answer this question thoroughly: my designs have become more versatile in every way around the entire circle of design theory and application through the experience of "feeling the cause and effect" of incremented shape and contour changes as well as fin designs and placements relating to specific types of boards. This is only achieved though the trial and error real time testing - Incredibly humbling at times, but truly the most insanely fun parts of what we do. Then we document all of this as best we can in a creative and evolving way in the shaping room while always maintaining the human element of free flowing - Hands - Eyes - & Dreamlike Mind, tuning the progression and change in only the essential areas of any given design. There is really No End to this process of dynamic experimentation and I'll do it till I Die!
BUREAU Editor Joshua Triliegi: Your Use Of Concave Shapes Is Really Progressive. Share With Our Readers Your Decision To Really Push The Inverted Arch In Your Designs.
Wayne Rich: The concave's that I shape into the vast variety of my models will vary in many ways depending on the desired "cause and effect" of feel and performance that we are striving for in a purpose built board. If it's not purpose built, I won't build it! This can get pretty deep, and it's really why many of us chase this Dragon for a lifetime! For example, If you are shooting for a high level authentic traditional single fin Nose Rider and you want the lift of a concave, there are many things to take into consideration. First off here, Who is riding the board and what are they looking for in feel? How much do they weigh? What is their level? Are you sure you want or need the lift of a concave? Where are they surfing the board primarily, what type of wave? If so, then we can adjust the rocker accordingly and start by deciding on how deep and where do we want it deep and why, followed by do we want to blend it into the middle of the bottom so we can control the push point, or do we want the defined tear drop Nuuhiwa Nose Rider type of concave with the push point on your back foot or if you're not right on the tip. They all have great dynamics and it's really all about how to balance them with each riders style.
Wayne Rich: Keep in mind that the rail foil of the deck and bottom have a huge effect on the speed of the board and work hand in hand with the concave and where it transitions into the bottom of the board. So we don't want release on the rail with a nose rider and we can retard the effect of the concave by how we foil the rail into it. The weight of the board is also a factor as well as the fin area, design, and placement, wood stringers, and if you design "flex" into a specific area of the nose or tail. In a nutshell, this type of concave is more of a lifting device and a speed brake in some areas of the wave to keep us perched on the tip. Nothing is for free in the design world folks, there are always side effects to every design feature and this extra lift can sometimes pull you up out of the slot in certain conditions and you need to adjust in a fluid manor with good footwork to keep them in the constantly changing hook of the curl while driving on the tip. With a Short Board for 3-5 foot conditions, concave's will be used in a different way with a different purpose in mind. We want speed! We want maximum lift! We want release off the rails and the tail! With these things balanced with the proper rocker and fin set up, We get maneuverability and speed working together! One example is light entry concave under the front 1/3 to center of the board that increases in depth out through the tail of the board. Sometimes you can sand in light double barrel concave's inside the big single concave only through the back 1/3 of the tail as another variation of this example. This really creates great lift and less wetted surface under the rider through each maneuver, offering the quick powerful movement we want out of a good short board design. These examples are tip of the iceberg as for the whole concept, I've been as brief as possible.
Wayne Rich: The Asymmetric design is the brainchild of Carl Ekstrom. Carl is the Godfather of the Asymm movement in the world today! Asymm's are a heel and toe thing, designed with the longer rail line on the frontside or backside depending on the style and power in your stance. Most are built with the longer rail line on the riders frontside and the shorter rail line on the backside, but some people want it the other way around.The templates are completely different from one side to the other and the boards are really interesting, the best thing is that when you ride them they don't feel weird or asymmetrical in any way. That part is Mind - Blowing! the bottom contours are totally different too, as well as rail volume, overall foil, and thickness distribution.
Wayne Rich: They are very intriguing and have created quite an underground movement with many of us that build them since Carl Ekstom was honored in the Icons of Foam Boardroom Show (formerly, Sacred Craft - Tribute to the Masters). 6 shapers were chosen by Carl to create any type of asymm they wanted and need to submit a mini thesis on the design to be judged in the end by Rusty, Stan Pleskunas & Carl in a very subjective format. Every board was unique and awesome in their own way and we all had a great time that elevated our minds in every way. Somehow mine was picked as the winner, but it could have gone to anyone and I'm sure it was heart wrenching for the guys to pick any one board, when they were all the winner! The coolest part is that I have been still shaping and riding the design that I came up with for the show and it has changed my life in the water and that's what it's all about.
BUREAU Editor Joshua Triliegi: Share With Our Readers The Different Challenges Regarding Size Starting With A. Longboards B. Guns C. Tri Fins And Shaping Specifically For A Very Particular Rider.
You have to surf what you shape to earn the high degree of respect and understanding needed to have confidence through humility with any type of surfboard design and the conditions that it will be surfed in. That becomes serious business when it comes to big wave guns, so you go as far as you can without drowning, and then you need the help of your brothers that can take it a step further. We forge intimate relationships with our riders to mind meld what we can together about the dynamics to call the shots on the key design elements. This is pretty much the same in everything we make from 70's retro single fins, to classic fish designs and alternative boards to the modern short board. My friends that are my riders, have helped me throughout my life with this endless learning experience, I owe it all to them.
Wayne Rich: Two weeks ago the MSA Malibu Classic Invitational had the best surf in the 50 year history of the event. Joel Tudor, Vince Felix, and myself, all won our respective age divisions on old school classic designs that we have been working on together and that was a highlight in the life. It's so cool when things come full circle through the Brotherhood of Soul in the ultimate Dojo, we are all good "dirty white belts" in training, and we will never stop learning! To wrap it up, in one of my heats, my old bro Allen Sarlo and I were sitting deep up the point waiting for a set and I said hey brother - "Do it for Jay!" And he said, "YEAH - Do it for Jay!" as he looked up in the sky. I wanted him to win it for Jay so bad to help him heal as he and everyone in the whole Surf / Skate community has been in shock the past couple weeks with the passing of Jay Adams. A few moments later, I said, "If you don't, for any reason, I will do my best to pull it off." At the awards ceremony it was an honor of a lifetime to tell the story and raise up the win in honor of Jay Boy. The Underground Lives !
SAM SHEPARD: PLAYWRIGHT
INTERVIEW with Sean Murray The Artistic Director of two Classic shows written by One of America's Most Original Playwright's, Sam SHEPARD. Currently Playing in The Old Town San Diego District. A Perfect Location for Sam SHEPARD's Literature World and a Brave Programming Choice. Old Town San Diego is a Preserved Town from Pioneer Days with Many Archival Displays, Stores, Historical Architecture and a Fun Family Spot. Read The New Edition Now...
León Ferrari (1920 - 2013) is considered among the most significant artists working in Latin America during the second half of the twentieth century. Born in Buenos Aires, Ferrari studied electrical engineering before becoming one of the foremost Pioneers of Conceptual Art . PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY IN THE NEW YORK ART GALLERY of JOSEE BIENVENU DOWNLOAD THE NEWEST BUREAU OF ARTS AND CULTURE MAGAZINE TO VIEW IT NOW...
FROM THE BUREAU ARCHIVES EDITORIAL CLASSICS: THE HATE CRIME ESSAYS ...
BUREAU EDITORIAL: HATE CRIMES Essays The First Two Essays in the Series By Joshua TRILIEGI Originally Published between 2012-2013
How they happen, where they happen, how often they happen. Motivation. Locations. Statistics. Why hate crimes happen is a more educating question to delve into. How does hate start ? Usually there is a form of history involved. A person or a group of people have a history. Everybody has a history. An event or a series of events is interpreted by a person or a group of people and a reaction is created or a response is activated either without thinking about it or by planning that reaction accordingly. Being true to a certain code, to a certain religion or to a certain value is every single persons choice. We do have a variety of belief systems on this planet, in this country, this state, this city, this neighborhood, this house, this room, this wall, this etc ... [ READ THE ENTIRE ESSAY IN NEW EDITION ]
The BUREAU Exclusive INTERVIEW with CRAIG REILLY
BUREAU: Your Photographic Work has a very strong quality for Portraiture. How would you describe approaching a subject ?
Craig REILLY: Yes, portraiture features heavily in my work. This comes from my fascination of observing people, particularly their emotions and how they engage or interact with their surroundings or each other, and I aim to capture this within my portraits. I am lucky enough to live in London, which is not only one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world; it also has so many different areas that vary in look and feel. With so many variations of areas, people and their cultures or religions I feel a need to approach each subject differently. One thing I purposely look for in my portraiture work is for my subject to have direct eye contact with my lens. The reason I like this is because I when I am first drawn to them they are normally totally detached from what is happening around them, either deep in thought or engrossed with a task. As soon as they make eye contact, I have their attention, and I feel this enables the viewer to have some sort of connection with the subjects themselves. I haven’t yet asked a person for permission to take their shot, or intentionally tried to grab their attention to look my way. Again I do this because I want to capture them in their natural state and environment.
I use an Olympus OM-D E-M1, which has many features I utilize to maximize my chances of capturing the mood I see. With some of these features I’m also able to respect the subject's own personal space, by not having to shove the camera in their face. The Wi-Fi connection allows me to connect the camera to my iPhone via the Olympus Image Share app, which in turn allows me to shoot from the hip without holding my camera, thus drawing attention to myself. I used this option in my image titled ‘A MomenT’. On my way home from work, I was passing through London Bridge station and my attention was quickly turned to a girl sitting directly below a warm glowing light. Her blonde hair was blowing in the breeze, and with the added texture of the bare brick background, I saw a good opportunity of a shot. As she was engrossed in her phone, I knew I would have time to set up the Olympus I.S app, and get a better angle for the shot. As she was sat at a table, getting her framed was easy, I then just had to wait for her to make eye contact with the camera and tap the focus point on my phone. This was the only shot I took and I was pleased with the outcome.
I also use the patiently waiting approach, which I used with the image of the chef unpacking the boxes. Having seen him just walk away from the boxes into the open door, I assumed he would soon come back out again. I got myself into position and waited a minute or two for him to return. When he returned, and was stood in the same position for a number of seconds, I knew that was my chance. I took a sidestep right, to frame the scene correctly and waited for him to feel my presence. Thankfully he did exactly that, and as soon as I got eye contact I pressed my shutter. This was also one shot only. I then approached him and told him I had just taken his picture, and asked is it ok? His reply was, “Oh, ok.”
BUREAU : Is Capturing The Perfect Henri Cartier - Bresson - like moment a part of your mission ? If so, how long will you wait for that moment to happen, if the lighting and locale is perfect ?
Craig REILLY: As much as I would love to capture a Henri Cartier-Bresson perfect moment, I personally don’t feel I have a mission in photography per se. What I want to do in life and in my photography is to enjoy it and share it with others. Where this takes me is unknown, but I will enjoy my time doing it.
In the perfect setting you present to me here, I would first capture an image of the scene itself, if I then felt it needed something else to complete the scene I would happily stay in that location for as long as the light or mood of the scene allows. If the final component didn't arrive, I would make a point of returning to this location another time. Which is something I do on a regular basis.
This is something I have learnt to be an important part of developing as a photographer, and would encourage beginners to do the same. It's important to see rather than to look, moving around it, taking a new perspective from the ground, or standing on a bench or wall. Don’t always think you have the image you saw with your eyes in the camera within the first shot.
My favorite image that I have taken is titled ‘Maybe Alone on my Bike’. I captured the cyclist in the position of the published image, in the 2nd of four exposures. Once he had left the scene, I still circled the tree to see if I was able to get another moment before the fog turned to mist twenty minutes later.
BUREAU: Your characters live very much within their surroundings, discuss how atmosphere attracts you ?
Craig REILLY: The atmosphere or mood of my subject's surrounding is a vital component of the whole scene. Street photography isn't just about aiming your camera at a street, person, or an inanimate object, and pressing the shutter. I believe what you capture has to have something of substance. I personally get attracted to calm atmospheres, where the person is in their own moment, either reflecting on something or involved in a task.I am also attracted to an atmosphere of positivity, such as friends or lovers sharing moments with each other, either hugging, kissing smiling or laughing together. It must be clear to the viewer what you are trying to show them, so they’re able to relate to the image from their own experiences and emotions.
BUREAU : Many of your working class images employ a bit of humor, yet still retain a brevity, are you looking for these moments or are they looking for you ?
Craig REILLY: I think they must be looking for me! Seriously, this is one of the reasons why I am so passionate about street photography, and why I believe it’s an art. You never know what type of moment you will encounter from one street corner to the next. It is also the reason why I don’t get hung up about missing a shot either (I have missed a few!). There are millions of people, moments, interactions happening around us every minute, so for me there really is no reason to worry about the moments I have missed, there is always another one around the corner. Having this mindset allows me to remain alert, observant to my surroundings and also helps me to enjoy the moment I am in.
The humor in my images stems from me having a very close family, where humor was a huge part of my upbringing and of me as a person now. Due to this, I spot many things that are humorous to me on the streets, if I am able to get that across in some of my images, and the viewer has a chuckle or at least raises a smile then I guess brevity is the soul of wit! And who can argue with Shakespeare? The reason I emphasized the me in the last sentence is because it’s important to remember that what I find funny may be totally insulting to someone else. So I would suggest to upcoming street photographers to have that in mind, and not to mock or belittle someone for your own enjoyment or even worse, the wider audience online. Not cool at all. For me, Matt Stuart is the master of using humor in photography. The moments he spots are just pure laugh out loud and clever.
BUREAU : Could you site a few early influences: Photographers, exact images, films, literature, etc ...
Craig REILLY: Regarding Photographers: Being an active person in the social network community, I am influenced by hundreds of photographers. Naming specific photographers, I can include the past masters of photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon especially his ‘In the American West’ series and René Burri. Of more modern times, Matt Stuart, Thomas Leuthard, Marius Vieth and all members of the Street Photography International Collective, which at this moment includes Ronya Galka, Alan Schaller, Gagan Sadana, Reuven Halevi, and Walter Rothwell. Photographers images are one thing, but I’m also influenced by how they conduct themselves, how they network, how they run their business, and how their photography journey is progressing; again naming specific influences including Nicholas ‘Nico’ Gooden, Robert Pugh, Benjamin Nwaneampeh, Iwona Pinkowicz and Wojtek Kogut. Exact images: My all time favorite image to this day is René Burri’s ‘Men on a Rooftop’ image. For me that image has everything. The leading lines of the street and traffic, the beautiful low Sao Paulo sunlight that creates the amazing shadows of the four Reservoir Dogs type characters on the roof, and of course it has us as viewers all asking the same questions. Who are they? What were they doing up there? Is it as suspicious as we think? I can honestly look at this photo for ages.
Craig REILLY: [ - cont ] Another image that had a huge impact on myself was a photo that my Great Grandfather had from when he was a POW in Japan, in WWII. It was a group photo that featured the POW’s and the torturer. You could see the fear and lack of hope in their eyes and the wickedness and hate in his. On the back of the photo my great grandad had written ‘us and Dr. Death.’
Kevin Carter’s “Vulture stalking a child’ photograph was also influential to me. This showed me the power of a single image, and what impact pictures can potentially have to millions of people’s lives or that of a single life. Of course this had positive effect on the whole world regarding the famine in Sudan, but unfortunately it had the ultimate negative effect on him.
Films: I'm not sure whether my photography is inspired by the movies I have watched, but I always love the visual style of Wes Anderson and the Cohen brother’s movies, others that have blown me away visually, include Saving Private Ryan, Her, Slum Dog Millionaire, Inception and Shutter Island.
Craig REILLY: [ - cont ] Literature: Being self-taught, I have read many photography books. There are a few books that have improved me as a photographer immensely. One that I can recommend highly is ‘The Talent Code’, by Daniel Coyle. It's about deep practice and building up myelin, [ a mixture of proteins and phospholipids forming a whitish insulating sheath around many nerve fibers, increasing the speed at which impulses are conducted ] to aid our development. I often sit at home or on the train with my camera, practicing hitting a particular focal distance on the manual focus ring, constantly starting and stopping, then looking at the position of my hand where it started, where it ended, in time all the different little practice sessions I have will help my use of the camera become second nature, and I won’t have to rely on the camera system to get it right. Another is ‘The Tao of Photography’ by Philippe L. Gross and S.I Shapiro, with quotes from some of the greatest photographers that have lived, it’s an interesting read in teaching seeing beyond seeing, and looking at the world arounds us in greater detail. Bryan Peterson’s ‘Understanding Composition’ field guide. Bryan’s books are all written in such a way, that they are very easy to understand. You’re also able to put method into practice very quickly, with positive results in a short space of time.
The BUREAU Exclusive INTERVIEW with CRAIG REILLY
THE FILM PICK BUREAU NEW YORK : TRUTH
TRUTH sonyclassics.com/truth
" Why this film has not been nominated is no secret. Kate Blanchett is absolutely superb as a 60 Minutes Segment producer. Robert Redford in his mature and efficient minimalist style portrays America's most trusted television newscaster, Dan Rather. Supporting cast includes, Topher Grace as an upstart journalist with a firm middle finger, Dennis Quaid as a retired Colonel, Elisabeth Moss, Stacey Keach and Dermot Mulroney. The film is both written and directed by James Vanderbilt, who adapted the screenplay from the book by Mary Mapes, personified in the film by Ms. Blanchett with grace, style and a realist quality that deserves some deep recognition from peers and the public alike. When She gets the attention this February, believe me, It's not just for her role in Carol. SONY Pictures did IT again. Bravo !"
THE BUREAU INTERVIEW : STEVE COLEMAN
BUREAU : When did you first find yourself attracted to the hustle and bustle of real life ?
Steven Coleman: I guess I've always been a people watcher. I grew up in a real working class village called, Haydock, in the UK. I left school with few formal qualifications and unemployment was high, so although it wasn't the most deprived or rough place in the world, it was still important to keep your eyes open and work out who was friend or foe. I moved to Liverpool when I was 22, it was exciting, the different people and cultures all in one place, I've always been the social type so I was like a child in a sweet shop! I suppose this dense population in one place (Liverpool isn't the biggest city) really woke me up. I'm always interested in the person inside or the story real, or imagined in the scene. Photography can capture life for sure in real terms and very accurately, but I prefer some imagination from the viewer. Do they think they know what a subject in a picture is thinking or doing, can they imagine their own narrative. It's like listening to your favorite song, some lyrics are explicit and speak for themselves, but the ones I like leave the story up to you, it's far more interesting to put your own ideas and meanings into someone else's work, whether its a photograph, song, painting etc… The hustle and bustle of real life is always interesting, and for me the mundane or ordinary is more interesting than the extraordinary when I think in these terms. I could sit in a coffee shop all day and imagine what peoples stories are, or at least imagine what they could be.
BUREAU : Can You remember early moments in childhood that influenced the work, If so describe those memories for our readers ?
Steven Coleman: I'd like to say that from when I was young I always took pictures, but that isn't true. But what is true is that my parents moved house a lot, so my family is spread from North to South of the UK, so I was always changing schools and making new friends. One half of my family lived in London and I remember being in awe of the size of the place. In photography terms one of my early memories was looking at pictures of my Grandparents. They died when I was very young so my memories are hazy at best, but my mother kept lots of pictures of them in a little leather briefcase. I would and still do love to look through the pictures in that case. No matter how many times I look, there's always a picture I feel like I've never seen before. That's the magic of it all. When I look now I'm much older, the memories of my childhood are entwined in it. I'm trying to say my memories aren't all that clear, I'm very much the sort of person that always looks forward and rarely back, so back to my first answer to the first question, imagined stories and memories of my childhood seem more appropriate than the reality.
BUREAU : How far back does your education, formal or otherwise trail and what would those influences be ? Literature, Film, Art, etc …
Steven Coleman: I've never been a big reader so literature hasn't played a big part in my adult creativity. Film and music on the other hand have been instrumental in shaping my view in an artistic sense. I'm jumping back and forth a little here, but when I was living at home with my parents, there was a video film rental shop not far from our house. Barely a day would go by without a trip to that place, I loved it! The front covers of the VHS boxes, the posters in the windows and on the walls, all these images take us back or forward in time or even root us in the present depending on the film of course. There's that imagination thing again, the make believe. There's a romance to the past, whether it really exists or not isn't the point, we all imagine a simpler time, when things were more real, with less distraction. When I look through my work, I notice that I seem to find one maybe two people existing in a busy place, many of my pictures where taken during busy periods of the day, but I don't want to show the chaos, rather the contemplative moment of the subjects own space within the madness of city life. The image of the little girl sat on the pavement was taken on a crazy shopping day in Manchester, but she could be sat in the middle of nowhere, and the look in her eyes made me feel like she was somewhere else. She was oblivious to the mayhem.
BUREAU : You are also a Journalist, does that professional experience inform the photographic work ? If so please explain how with a few exacting examples.
Steven Coleman : Journalism is simply the process of telling a story, and of course photography is this also, no matter the style. Landscape photography tells the story of a place, the wind in our hair, the smell of the rain against the grass and so on. Street photography also tells the story of a place, but often through the movement and emotion of the people or objects. So journalism does play a big part in what I take pictures of. I'm a broadcast journalist in radio, and it's definitely easier to tell a story in words. Getting the story across in photography is hard, and not always do people see it. Now that could be because I just haven't been good enough, nailed it or at the other end to vague about what story I'm actually trying to tell.
"I often hear other photographers emphasize the importance of a picture telling a story, whilst this is true, I’d also say it’s important that a shot contains a feeling or an emotion. Sometimes the story is less important than the feeling a picture presents. If it makes you smile, cry or get angry then you’ve achieved something as important as telling the story."
For example in the image of the protesters against fascism I took in Liverpool, the subject and story is clear, a more documentary style of an event in time, but when one tries to tell a story in a more free artistic sense maybe with one image opposed to a series of shots, it can get tricky to get the point across. I’m trying to say the emotion is as important as the story, they can exist together or alone and I think that’s important to know. Of course if you miss both these things then the picture probably just doesn’t work. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don’t, but the journey of discovery when I’m out with my camera is always the same. The process and the hunt for the magic is what drives storytellers, journalists and anyone who looks for something in others and that’s worth doing regardless of the end result.
