reGeneration²

From the Flak website: reGeneration² is ... a book + group exhibition that examines how the new generation of image-makers operates, showcasing the inspiring creativity and ingenuity of emerging photography .... Curators William A. Ewing and Nathalie Herschdorfer selected the most promising candidates from 120 of the world's top photography schools. 

The exhibition can be seen online at the Aperture Foundation website.

New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year Competition

From the NZ Geographic Website: 'The four main categories of the 2011 New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year are intended to celebrate the time-honoured art of editorial photography and showcase the extraordinary natural and cultural riches of New Zealand.

'The New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year, sponsored by Nikon, will be picked from these entrants, as will the Young Photographer award, sponsored by Getty Images (for entrants under the age of 21 on Sept 30, 2011). All photos must have been shot after Sept 30, 2008, and within New Zealand territory – including New Zealand-administered Pacific and Antarctic dependencies. Read full Terms and Conditions here. Entries close September 14th. New Zealand Geographic invites professionals and amateurs alike, to submit their work in the following categories: Wildlife, Landscape, Society and Culture, Photostory.'

Simon Roberts

A photographer who deserves attention is the award winning British photographer Simon Roberts.

His first book, Motherland, was shot on a year-long journey with his wife, in over 200 locations around Russia. His second book, We English, was the product of a trip around England in a motorhome with his pregnant wife and two-year-old, in which he again explored the sense of 'belonging, of memory, identity and place' - but this time in his homeland.

This has been followed by the limited edition newspaper photo essay and touring exhibition, The Election Project, resulting from his being commissioned by the UK parliament Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art, to document campaigning activity prior to the 2010 election.

Photo: From the book We English - The Haxey Hood, Haxey, North Lincolnshire, 5th January 2008, Simon Roberts

Black Asterisk Gallery, Ponsonby

Black Asterisk, a new exhibition space in Ponsonby, opens on 1 Sept 2011.

Details are on the Photoforum blog, which is the most important  photography blog in New Zealand to keep tabs on.

Metonymy 2011

VARIOUS ARTISTS AND WRITERS
9 Sept – 9 Oct | Opens Thursday 8 Sept, 6pm

From Corban Estate website: Metonymy is an annual Auckland-wide collaboration project, now in its fourth year. It is creative blind dating (with the idea that people often spark creatively when they are exposed to new ideas and methods of working) in which artists from different disciplines – visual, literary, film, dance, theatre – are matched and given eight weeks to create a work: object, written, performance or somewhere in between. The best of these works will be showcased in September 2011 at Corban Estate Arts Centre. The artworks for exhibition will be selected by a panel of senior artists, curators and writers.

Further information: NZ 2011 listing ; Metonymy Website ; Going West Books and Writers' Festival

Book Review: 'Parr by Parr - Quentin Bajac meets Martin Parr - Discussions with a promiscuous photographer'

A must for any fan of social documentary photography, Parr by Parr - Quentin Bajac meets Martin Parr - Discussions with a promiscuous photographer; Schilt, 2010, is an extended interview in book form.

Able to be read in a sitting or two, this book explores Martin Parr's beginnings, his motivations, methods, the evolution of his subject matter and means of presentation, as well as delving into his involvement with the Magnum photo agency and the possibilities this has facilitated.

The book contains a cross-section of his images, from early black and white work in 1975, to celebrations of colour as recent as 2009. The Parr humour and juxtaposition of subjects within the frame were there right from the early monochrome images; but it was the addition of colour and flash in the eighties which defined his instantly recognisable aesthetic.

The greatest area of interest for me was the discussion of Parr's probing and evolving exploration of his subject matter - English middle class culture, through global consumerism - which is discussed in a down-to-earth and accessible way.

(For an overview of his work, further recommended reading is Sandra S. Phillips' Martin Parr; Phaidon, 2007.)