All kinds of stuff and information on drool this week. Reviews, special
offers, recycled words and more.

Feel free to skip the boring bits. I know I would.

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MOAMMAR GADHAFI/SPECIAL OFFER

Gotta start this week’s drool with Moammar. This dude is stylin’.

(For those out there who might not know who he is, well, he’s the
leader of Libya.)

Check this pic from last Thursday’s Globe and Mail. Moammar
Gadhafi visits Italy, and what does he wear on his outfit, besides
standard-issue Third-World-Leader brocade and medals?

Why, a photograph, of course.

But not just any foto. No, Moammar’s got an agenda. The pic
on his chest is of Libyan guerrilla leader Omar Mukhtar, who
fought against Italian colonialism in Libya, way back when
Italy was an actual colonial “power”.

First off, dude’s got big balls for this stunt, seeing as he’s
visiting Italy.

Second, I think he’s on to something. Another market for
fotos.

So, here’s my special offer…….Anyone out there who wants
one of my PERSONAL pix, to wear on their outfit, just send
an e-mail to {tony(at)tonyfoto(dot)com}, tell me which shot
you’d like, and for the paltry sum of just $19.95* I’ll print you
out a 4×6 or 5×5 inch print suitable for wearing.

*plus postage and handling. please allow 3 to 6 weeks for delivery

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SOMERSET by JUSTIN WONNACOTT

Justin Wonnacott has been shooting buildings on Somerset Street,
in Ottawa, for about ten years.

I first became aware of this project of his about 3 years ago, he
was posting the pix on his (now defunct) blog. (In fact, it was
Justin’s blog, which had just the right amount of personal and
professional information, stated in a pretty matter of fact way,
that convinced me to start drool.)

Anyway……the fruits of his labour are now on display at The
Bytown Museum.

Justin Wonnacott (right) seen with Stephan St. Laurent and Tam-Ca Vo-Van

The show, curated by Christopher Davidson, is interesting in many
respects. Firstly, Christopher ignored the obvious impulse to arrange
the images in a geographic way. Rather they are grouped in loose
themes and in no real obvious themes at all, which kind of reflects
the street itself.

One wall contains a typology of similar houses…..

Other walls hold pairs of images that show change, in amongst
documentary-style shots……

photos copyright J. Wonnacott

photo copyright J. Wonnacott

The photographs in this show whisper to you. And it’s those whispers
that make you look and listen more carefully. The quietness of these
images make you feel the secrets and the history these buildings hold.

I suggest you make your way down the stairs to The Bytown Museum
to see this show. The setting really helps.

If you can’t make it to the museum you can see the photos (and other
words) here.

Justin’s web site is here.

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USER REVIEWED IN MONTREAL MIRROR

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LIKENESS

LIKENESS, a group show of contemporary portraiture, opened
at SPAO’s Red Wall Gallery this past Friday.

The show is part of Festival Karsh, a celebration of the 100th
anniversary of that dude’s birth. There are exhibitions and
stuff all over town. You can see the schedule, etc, here.

But, back to LIKENESS…..

There was a big crowd on hand for the opening and a good
time was had by all.

fotogs Andrew Balfour, Lawrence Cook, Trevor Lush

Montreal photographer and SLIGHTLY LUCID blogger Aislinn Leggett

Like most big group shows, especially ones with no criteria other
that “contemporary foto portraiture”, LIKENESS is a bit uneven.

As it stands LIKENESS treats the viewer to a cornucopia of styles,
some much more modern than others. It’s left to the audience to
make sense of it all.

Seems to me that photo shows, just like cameras and photographers
brains, can all use some focus.

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TONY SHOOTS TONY

As regular drool readers will know, I had an image nominated for
a National Magazine Award…my portrait of class action lawyer Tony
Merchant.

These nominations are difficult to come by and Report on Business
magazine pulled out some stops to publicize the fact that their mag
garnered 4 nominations.

One of the things they did was produce a video, introducing the four
fotogs whose work for the mag was nominated. Here (again).

But, before they hit on the idea of producing a video, they thought
they might just use words and pictures on their web site.

To this end they asked the fotografers to write a thing about the shoot
and to send along some out takes.

The words I wrote (and the out takes) never saw the light of day so, in
the spirit of recycling, I’m going to post them here.

Here you go…….

Tony shoots Tony, or Mr. Fouhse shoots Mr. Merchant.

I don’t know about you, but I always find it a bit funny
when I have to deal with someone who has the same
name as me.  Once I photographed a man with a dog. 
The man’s name wasn’t Tony, but his dog’s name was. 
I loved that, calling the dog Tony. It felt funny.

Anyway, Tony Merchant……..

When I first contacted Tony about the shoot he said
he was booked into a suite at the Chateau Laurier,
a fancy Ottawa hotel.  I reckon every photographer
loves hearing that kind of thing……we all love shoot-
ing in fancy hotel rooms.  Not for the room service,
but for the milieu.  Hotel rooms have a semi-anony-
mous feel that allows a certain freedom. Plus, every
hotel room I’ve ever been in has a bed.  The trick is
getting the subject, when he’s a lawyer, onto the bed. 
Kind of like a first date, and editorial photoshoots are
a lot like a first date.

I try to treat every person I shoot the same (up to a
point).  Mostly I just try to be myself and to be as
honest as I can be, given that part of my job des-
cription is manipuating people.  But manipulating
in the nicest sense of that word (up to a point).  I
never try to pull any fast ones, I just about always
try to include the subject in the process. I show
them the Polaroids/files on the computer.  I explain,
we discuss.  I find that that adds to the process, and,
if you ask me, it’s all about process.  Well……process
and schedules and stress and keeping 6 balls in the
air at once as you try to keep up a conversation while
you’re figuring out lighting and blocking and back-
grounds and framing and exposures and a whole
bunch of other stuff, too.

With Tony, I knew the shoot was on the right track
when, after we met and shook hands, he picked up
his cell phone, pressed a speed-dial number and
said to whoever answered:  “I’m going dark for
the next 3 hours”, then turned the phone off.
Sounded like I was going to have his undivided
attention.  Good.

So, the shoot went like a dream.  Tony was open
and cooperative, willing to try just about anything
I suggested.  We started with him in a chair,  but
eventually ended up on the bed.  

Tony is a real action man, so having him in the bed
made no sense.  However, having him on the bed,
putting on his costume, getting ready to spring
into action, that, to me, made a lot of sense.  I
asked him to sit there, on the bed. I asked him
to tie his tie. Then I asked him to look off to the
right. He did and I pushed the button.

The shot they ran

The very next frame

out take

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USER: Women

Ten of the final USER: Women photos are now up on my web site.

Go here and click on PERSONAL.

Cathy, USER: Women out take