My favorite moment

Possibly my favorite moment from last night's opening at Ryugaheon Gallery was when my niece Shiwoni pointed out her favorite photo in the exhibition. She then made a heart shape - hands over her head - to show her approval.

Opening night at Ryugaheon Gallery, Seoul

My exhibition YONKEROS opened yesterday night at Ryugaheon, one of my favorite photo galleries in Korea.

The exhibition was curated by Joanne Yang and includes 23 images from the series.

Installation Day at Ryugaheon Gallery in Seoul

Tired and jet-lagged from the long haul flight from NYC -but also super excited- I arrived yesterday at Ryugaheon Gallery in Seoul.

This is curator Joanne Yang's blueprint for the exhibition. It's gonna be an amazing exhibition!

YONKEROS BOOK SIGNING AT ICP

On April 12th I had the pleasure of presenting YONKEROS at the International Center of Photography (ICP).  It was a true celebration with many friends, colleagues and students in attendance.  What a thrilling and perfect night in New York City!

Meeting Flor Garduño

Yesterday at AIPAD: New York has its share of thrills and surprises. Leafing through a gorgeous monograph by Flor Garduño, I turned to her gallerist, Spencer Throckmorton, and asked if he knew where Flor was living nowadays. He smiled and with a gesture of his arm indicated Flor was seated in a chair right next to where I was standing. 25 years of admiration became emobdied in her smile. What a moment.

photo by Hye Ryoung Min

YONKEROS book signing at La Fototeca

Last month I had a blast presenting YONKEROS in Guatemala City.  The venue was La Fototeca's amazing new gallery space, Fototropia.  I invited my good friend, Guatemalan poet Alejandro Marré to join me in conversation and we talked at length about the project.  My entire family was in the audience as well, including my little niece Yael -a precocious and talented photographer herself- who would have liked nothing better than grab a mike and fire off some questions of her own. 

Above a photo from the presentation courtesy of my colleague Carlos Lopez Rueda.  On Friday April 12th, I'll be signing books at the International Center of Photography (ICP).

Testing the Nikon D800

This week I borrowed an instructor D800 from New York Film Academy (where I teach) and did a bit of testing with it.  This shot was taken at f/2.8 using a Nikon 24-70mm zoom.  Normally I prefer to shoot with a prime lens, but we have yet to get some of those in our equipment cage.  Overall, I'm really happy with what I've seen: the files are incredibly sharp and I've had no issues with digital aberrations. I'm seriously considering upgrading from my current camera, the D700.

YONKEROS on press in Seoul, Korea

For the past few days I've been on press in Seoul overseeing the publication of YONKEROS. The long airplane ride from NYC only seemed to underscore the great anticipation and excitement of it all.

As many of you know, my fiancée Hye-Ryoung Min is a gifted photographer and being a native of Seoul it was wonderful to share this experience together. She lent an additional pair of - very sharp! - eyes to this process. 

Being on press is a supremely challenging and complex process: every signature involves juggling multiple images, and in my case sometimes a mix of both black and white and color photos. However it is also an incredibly rewarding experience and there is really no substitute for supervising the printing in person. I'll never forget the feeling of watching the first image of the book rolling off the press, accompanied by the text of Francisco Goldman's luminous title essay.

The book is being published under the imprint of La Fabrica Editorial (Madrid) and will be distributed worldwide starting January 2013.

Opening night at Art Museum of the Americas, Washington DC

On Novemeber 7th, Art Museum of the Americas presented the exhibition "On Labor: A Visual Dialogue" which is currently on view and features 25 works from my series YONKEROS and 25 works by photographer Ian Wagreich who is also interested in the current state of labor in the United States.  The exhibition was organized and curated by Fabian Goncalves Borrega.

I was honored to have the Permanent Representatives to the Organization of American States, Ambassador Rodrigo Vielmann of Guatemala and Joel Hernandez of Mexico attending on opening night. Not pictured but also in attendance was the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic Hector Alcantara and former Washington Post Latin American correspondent and PBS News Hour Foreign correspondent Charles Krause.

Two nights later, a second exhibition featuring my work "Tranisitional Bodies" opened at the former residence of the Spanish Ambassador in Washington DC.  Both events are part of Fotoweek DC.

"On Labor" selected as pick by the Washington Post

The exhibition "On Labor" at Art Museum of the Americas opened last week.  It was classic Washington DC style, with Ambassadors from Guatemala, Mexico and the Dominican Republic on hand to help kick things off, with introductory remarks by Rodrigo Vielmann, Guatemala's representative to the Organization of American States.  The Washington Post highlighted the event in its weekly Going Out Guide as their pick for Wednesday night.