Foto Motel

The Four Sisters Brown

The Brown Sisters are in town for the holidays. I was sure they were avoiding a national gathering, since its their 31st anniversary. I can't blame them, who wants to be surrounded by tourists, flashers and old aunts at the holidays that only poke, prod and point at you, remind you that you're still in black & white and that you have not changed a bit.

Go see the Brown Sisters by Nicholas Nixon at The National Gallery in DC. More info HERE. See them at their 25th HERE. Word has it that one of the photography curators at the NG went to high school with the sisters. And in case you didn't know, third from left is Bebe, aka Mrs. Nicholas Nixon.

To see some other Brown Sisters click HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.
 

Irving Penn

Left work to have lunch yesterday. Luckily,  the air-conditioned museums on The National Mall are nearby to cool me down. Saw Irving Penn at The National Gallery of Art. I have enjoyed his beautiful still life work for Vogue Magazine over the years and  his Platinum prints on view are amazing. The subtle exploitation of geometry in his compositions and the tonal range the platinum process allows for make his work remarkable. The subject matter is broad, many a current photographer's work could fit into a portion of Penn's. That could be because they're a bit younger. But I'ld like to see what they do to a bunch of old cigarette butts or a paper cup. Most interesting thing was to see the work print collages at the end of the exhibition.

Here's an article from The Washington Post.