Welcome/September-October
©Albert Watson
©Albert WatsonTaking the best shot yet
Welcome to another killer issue of ragazine.cc.
Photographer Albert Watson, in an interview at his CyclopsNYC studio, discusses aspects of his craft, the evolution of his career, the equipment he uses to produce his prints, and more. Referred to by Photo District News as “one of the most influential photographers of all time,” Watson generously allowed ragazine.cc to reprint an extensive portfolio of images, many of which you’ll no doubt recognize from the covers and pages of Vogue, Rolling Stone and Harper’s Bazaar. Showing no sign of slowing down, Watson has two book collections coming out this fall from PQ Blackwell publishing company, a solo show in Chelsea opening in October, and more than one project in the works.
Sara Ellison Lewis tells what it’s like for her to be a photo stylist in New York. Brookly-based sculptor Miya Ando explains what it means to her “to do good” in the world, a task that merely begins with making art. The cast and crew at Spool MFG, a gallery-performance space in Johnson City, New York, share part of their group’s latest production, Ampersand, a collage-like assemblage of history, poetry and art.
In Music, Jeff Katz reviews the latest musical offering from Eli “Paperboy” Reed, and looks back on 30 years of Paul Simon’s “One Trick Pony“. Jonathan Evans remembers Bob Marley a full 19 years after the reggae legend’s death. And, in Politics, San Miguel Allende, Mexico-based writer Lou Christine recounts his impressions of a 2007 trip to Havana that ring true even today.
On the literary front, there’s the Poetry of Emily Vogel, Tony Gruenewald, J.P. Smelcer and Rob Mustard; the Creative Non Fiction (CNF) of Marissa Fielstein, Fiction from Mira Martin Parker and Jessie Carty; a book review of Ted Greenwald’s 2008 volume “3″ by Kayleigh Wanzer, and the wry commentary of our Casual Observer Mark Levy. Levy also weighs in this month with Shaun Vavra, offering legal advice in “Feeding the Starving Artist” — “Wait, Wasn’t That My Substantially Similar Idea?”
Rounding things out is the new strip from editorial cartoonist Jeff Hardin, whose first appearance in ragazine.cc anchors the Casual Observer.
If all that’s not funky enough for you, we’ll just have to keep trying.
— MRF
* * * * *
___Hey, no time like the present to get a ragazine.cc T-Shirt!__
Black or White & red some places, not others ….
ragazine.cc T-Shirts Now Available
http://ragazine.cc/support-ragazine/
Advertise with us!
Contact: info@ragazine.cc
to find out how …
Ragazine.cc® is a program of Binghamton Imaginink, Inc. a 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in the State of New York. Your donations to Binghamton Imaginink earmarked for Ragazine are tax-deductible.
“Nook-book & Kindle-ready.” — What’s it mean? On the go? Take along ragazine.cc. Simply dial in to zinepal at (http://www.zinepal.com/create) and create your own feed: http://ragazine.cc/feed/. Once we’re aboard your Nook, Kindle or other e-ink device, you’ll be able to read stories, check out the art, share in the lives of others, all while sitting in the subway, on a beach in the Bahamas or a cabaña in Havana.
Welcome: August-September
A collaboration of artists, writers, photographers,
poets, travelers and interested others …
Jean Marc Calvet, Legend, Acrylic on Canvas, 90cm x 90 cm, 2010
The 20 Act Play
A friend paints. I wonder how she does it. Day after day, year after year, for as long as I’ve known her, 35 years – which is quite a long time, indeed. It’s not the mechanism I wonder about, but the motivation, the drive, the wellspring of the ideas that come to her as she applies layer upon layer of color until the piece itself achieves unity. Some of the works look alike. In their style, that is. The subjects almost always are different. She’s not skinning the same cat twice.
With the help of a growing population of contributors — painters, poets, photographers, writers and others after arcane pursuits — we try to do that with each issue of ragazine.cc. The format is designed to put each and every contributor – and contribution – center stage, for how else can an audience best judge the performer?
With the July-August issue, we’ve got dozens of images and thousands of words, in nearly 25 posts. Not all the posts, I’m afraid, are included in the list of “Recent Posts” that appears column left, so don’t be afraid to click on the categories to the right that may be of interest to you. The latest posts in that category will lead the page.
Regular features include “On Location/Los Angeles” with Ginger Liu, and “On Location/Columbus”, the latter with a snapshot bio of Candice Watkins, artist, photographer & musicologist; and, an update from Baghdad on the activities of Kitchen Caravan’s Emma Piper-Burket and the Iraqi Seed Project. “Music” includes Jaff Katz’s review of Neil Young’s Albany gig at the opening of his latest tour, and an interview with Graham Parker. “Politics” editor Jim Palombo shares his unique experiences and artwork from Cuba. And for amateur filmmakers, Mark Levy shares his regrets in Casual Observer.
On the literary front, you’ll find fiction by Kris Saknussemm and David Cody; an exploration of the “life force” by Lucy Sherman, with a thoughtful introduction by CNF editor Leslie Heywood; poetry by Paul Sohar, including translations from Hungarian to English; poetry by Laura Merleau, written in both English and French, as well as poems by Carmen Mojica and Deborah LaVeglia.
In a world of contrasts, nothing could be more different than the “spiritual madness” and reconciliation in the work of French-born artist Jean Marc Calvet, and the tranquility evidenced in the communion with nature drawn out in the paintings of Transylvanian artist Claudiu Presecan. For more visual impact, check out the gallery of photographs by Jim Friedman, whose obsession with the interior design of golf balls gives something to think twice about before taking that next big swing. And in keeping with summer, Herm Card, who’s spent decades as player, coach and umpire, shares some of the special photos he’s taken staking out the diamond as a photographer.
At home, Emily Vogel joins poetry editor Joe Weil on the staff as assistant poetry editor. Vogel is the recipient of second prize for The Academy of American Poets competition at Binghamton University, 2008. Her third collection of poetry, “Elucidation Through Darkness”, was published by Split Oak Press in May of 2010. She has been nominated for the AWP award in creative non-fiction, 2010.
We’re hoping you, dear reader, will let us know your thoughts about the play. And if you please, leave a comment on your way out after the curtain falls at the end of Act 20-something. And thanks for reading!
– Mike Foldes
Ragazine.cc is a program of Binghamton Imaginink, a 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in the State of New York. Your donations to Binghamton Imaginink earmarked for ragazine.cc are tax-deductible. Ragazine.cc, updated approximately six times a year, is a collaboration of new and established artists, writers, poets, photographers, travelers and interested others, with a goal to promote an eclectic selection of subject matter to an international audience.
ragazine.cc, c/o PO Box 8586, Endwell, NY 13762
607-343-3091
Random headers from Chuck Haupt, Al Dorsa, Steve Cartwright, Ronald Davis … Credits on About Us Page …
_______________________________________________
Grow with Ragazine. Become a registered Ragazine reader.
Check out our Lynx… Have a site? Link to us …
_______________________________________________
“Nook-book & Kindle-ready.” — What’s it mean?
On the go? Take along ragazine.cc. Simply dial in to zinepal at (http://www.zinepal.com/create) and create your own feed: http://ragazine.cc/feed/. Once we’re aboard your Nook, Kindle or other e-ink device, you’ll be able to read stories, check out the art, share in the lives of others, all while sitting in the subway, on a beach in the Bahamas or a cabaña in Havana.
0 comments
Kick things off by filling out the form below.
You must log in to post a comment.