Now where was I?
Oh yes, talking about the shows I saw at CONTACT foto fest……
THE MECHANICAL BRIDE
at MOCCA/ Alec Soth, Ryan
McGinley, David LaChapelle

The Rape of Africa by D. LaChapelle
This was one of the feature shows at CONTACT. There were more
photographers involved than those I mention here. But I’ve decided
to only talk about the work that interested me……
Everywhere I went at CONTACT people were talking about the Alec
Soth talk. It happened the day before I went to Toronto so I missed
it.
A shame, really, because he’s a total star in the foto-firmament.
I did get to see some of his prints at MOCCA, though, and looking
at them you can see why he’s so influential/talked about.
These suckers were simple yet mesmerizing. Never hurts to make
big C prints from 8×10 negs, either, does it?
But it’s not just about his impeccable technique. It’s about his brain.

Fotos by A. Soth
Also on view was a wall of Ryan McGinley shots from I Know Where
The Summer Goes.
Now, with Mr McGinley, it seems like you either love what he does, or hate
it. I wanted to be one of those who hated it, but was seduced. His row of
small (yes, hallelujah, small) prints were beautiful and seemed to me to
capture some essence of summers’ past. I was happy to see this work.

Fotos by R. McGinley
And, finally there was Mr. LaChapelle. All flash and brash. Fun.
But this shot of Lady Gaga was really only fun like a donut. It doesn’t
last long. And your fingers get all sticky. Too bad.

Lady Gaga by D. LaChapelle + SONY demonstration that was happening while I was at MOCCA (somehow fitting)
THE GLADSTONE HOTEL

Ottawa content. Genevieve Thauvette shows some of her Dionne Quintuplet series at The Gladstone
Über-Kool hotel, The Gladstone, had 4 floors of fotos. Some segmented off into
little rooms. Some rooms more interesting than others. Then there was this:

From Nightingale, by Meera Margaret Singh, in the halls of The Gladstone
Rising star Meera Margaret Singh mounted Nightingale, her ode to her mother, in
the hallways of The Gladstone. I’ve seen this work (online) in a gallery context and
it’s very swell there. But something about the location put this over the top. The
milieu charged this installation and you couldn’t help but wonder.

From Nighingale, Meera Margaret Singh
THE BROTHEL WITHOUT WALLS
at the University of Toronto
Mid-morning I called Clare Jordan, the foto editor at Report on Business magazine.
Was just checking that some images I’d sent her (from a story to be published next
month) had made it to her ftp site.
She asked me to go for lunch but I countered with the suggestion we go see The
Brothel Without Walls, a feature show at U of T. She was game.

Picking up Clare and looking at The Brothel Without Walls
Brothel Without Walls showed work that critiqued the media. (Funnily enough,
no photography was allowed in the gallery. I took the shots above just after I’d
been told not to take pictures, and that all the galleries were being monitored
by CCTV. Fuck me.)
The standouts in this show, for me at least, were Christopher Wahl, including
this devastating image of CBC news reader Heather Hiscox:

Swine Flu. © Christopher Wahl. (You really need to see it large)
Evan Baden, who showed images from Technically Intimate, a series he shot of
young women and men whose images he initially found on the web. He then
recreates these found images, using the original subjects. Strangely sexy, and
makes you think, too.

© Evan Baden
Jessica Dimmock showed some of her images of paparazzi. Now, I’m a huge fan
of hers but I thought this series fell a little bit short. Was a bit too overwrought
and obvious.

© Jessica Dimmock
Also of interest were:

© Stefan Ruiz, from The Factory of Dreams
And…….

© Marina Gadonneix, from Remote Control
HMAb LIVE BLOG PARTY
My last nite in Toronto was spent at the PIKTO studio, with, like,
200 plus other fotografers, art directors, foto editors and misc.
other foto industry guys and gals.

© Eric Brazier (here)
The occasion was the big Heather Morton Art buyer live blog
party. Copious amounts of alcohol and conversation fueled
the nite. As well as brief talks by myself and these folks:

It was a great pleasure to see so many gathered for some good
times, networking and so on. Thanks to Heather (and the folks
at PIKTO) for making this happen. Blogs and the internet are
just so virtual, a party is sensual. We need more of that.
AND IN OTHER NEWS…….
Went to the opening of EVOCATIVE OBJECTS at the Bytown Museum.
Museum director Mike Steinhauer included a couple of my fotos in
the thing, a funny pairing of Yvon, an addict, and David Wilkins, the
American ambassador……

As well, included in this show, which is composed of very “normal”
but rarely seen artifacts from certain Ottawa neighourhoods, was
bits one of ChinaDoll’s outfits. As it happens, the outfit we used
when I fotografed him last year…..
