Greetings From Down Under

Outback © Amy Stein or Stacy Mehrfar. Who cares?

This blog has been quiet lately because I've been focusing on making images rather than writing about them.

Right now, I'm in Australia to participate in Foto Freo. The festival--which will feature the first solo show of Stranded and a panel discussion where I'll be speaking about online photo communities and blogging with the illustrious Andy Adams and Jon Levy--doesn't start until March 20, but I decided to turn my once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia into a jam packed, three week affair.

Over the past ten days or so I've been working on a new collaborative project with photographer Stacy Mehrfar that has taken us from Sydney to the dusty wilds of the outback. After ten straight days of shooting from sunup to sundown I'm very happy to be back in Sydney.

If you happen to be in Sydney, please come celebrate with me tonight at the Australian Centre for Photography where a solo exhibition of Domesticated is opening. My focus will be squarely on the Sydney art scene and drinking a ridiculous amount of Coopers.

Here are the details:

Amy Stein | Domesticated
Friday March 12 - Sunday April 11, 2010
Australian Centre for Photography
257 Oxford St
Paddington NSW 2021

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 11, 6-8pm
Artists Talk: Saturday, March 13, 1pm

Cassiopeia: Surveilling the seas at fast speed

The February-March issue of the Revista de Marinha publishes a report of a mission onboard the NRP Cassiopeia, a fast patrol craft from the Portuguese Navy. The work covers not only the daily routine of the crew but also some extraordinary missions of the Cassiopeia, such as the scort of the Russian cruiser Moskva. Comprehensive data on this class of ships and their missions is also presented.

This ship is part of the Argos class which entered in service in 1991. Its primary mission is fishing surveillance aimed at combating illegal fishing in the Portuguese coast.

The report also signals my first collaboration with this leading-magazine in Portugal.

Pedro Monteiro

People Got A Lotta Nerve

When I heard about the recent Sea World incident, I immediately thought of the song "People Got A Lotta Nerve" from Neko Case's brilliant album, Middle Cyclone. Here is the video by Julie and Paul Morstad.

You know they call them killer whales
But you seem surprised
When it pinned you down to the bottom of the tank
Where you can't turn around
It took half your leg and both your lungs
And I craved I ate hearts of sharks, I know you know it

Logorama

Amazing animated piece from French design studio, H5. Via Next Nature.

In Conversation: Lyle Rexer and Amy Stein

Production still from Wendy and Lucy

Please join me next Friday for a special event. I will be talking with renowned art critic Lyle Rexer about my series Stranded and the themes that connect it with Kelly Reichardt’s award winning film Wendy and Lucy.

When I saw Wendy and Lucy in 2008 at the Film Forum I was struck by the similarities between Stranded and this beautifully simple film about a woman and her dog stuck in an Oregon town after her car breaks down.

It’s unusual to screen a film as part of a show of still images, but Brian Ulrich and I, along with the folks from Caption Gallery, decided to broaden the conversation beyond the images in the Instruments of Empire exhibit. In March Brian will be at the gallery to screen Jem Cohen's The Chain. More on this in a few weeks.


Here are the details:

In Conversation: Lyle Rexer and Amy Stein
Friday, February 19
Caption Gallery
55 Washington Street, No. 802
Brooklyn, NY

Conversation: Lyle Rexer and Amy Stein
7:30pm - 8:15pm

Screening: Wendy and Lucy
8:15pm - 9:30pm

Great Star Wars Lego scenes

Great Star Wars Lego scenes — Lost At E Minor: For creative people

Technorati Tags: Great, Star Wars, Lego, scenes, Movies, Films

Real Thaw 2010

Following the 2009 edition, the Portuguese Air Force (PoAF) has organized once more the Real Thaw military exercise. This is an international exercise focused on Close Air Support (CAS) and modern air combate operations in a scenario which closely resembles Afghanistan. In the 2010 edition a total of 1,000 military and 50 aicraft from Portugal, Belgium, Dennamark, Spain, Lituania and United States (along with a NATO E-3A AWACS aircraft) have been involved in the day and night missions.

The Brazilian website Defesa Net has published a report convering the exercise. You can check the full article in the following adress:

http://www.defesanet.com.br/10_02/100202_05_realthaw2010.htm

Pedro Monteiro