Stranded at Foto Freo

Cheerleaders, New Orleans, Louisiana © Amy Stein

A few years ago Mark McPherson contacted me out of the blue asking if I was interested in taking part in a book project that focused on Australian and American photographers. I thought, hmm... that's random, but potentially interesting. I knew very little about Australia beyond the cliches of surfing, kangaroos and walkabouts. Since Hijacked was released I have been involved in an intense love affair with the country.

Thank you, Mark, for opening so many doors.

After three weeks touring about New South Wales, I'm now in Perth for a series of Foto Freo related events. Thursday, Stranded will have it's solo debut at the Perth Centre for Photography. The show will include 33 images and I'm nervous and excited to see how they work together. Foto Freo also includes talks and shows by Trente Park, Chien-Chi Chang, Jon Levy and friends and fellow Americans Carrie Levy, Stacy Mehfar and Andy Adams.

Thanks to Bob Hewitt, June Moorhouse, Laura Beilby and the folks at the Perth Centre for Photography for inviting me to Australia and Foto Freo.

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

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

Instruments of Empire

JC Penney © Brian Ulrich

"In the eyes of empire builders men are not men but instruments."

– Napoleon Bonaparte

Thursday night is the opening of my two-person show with Brian Ulrich, Instruments of Empire, at Caption Gallery in Brooklyn. The exhibition will feature new work from my Stranded series and Brian’s Dark Stores series, plus work we created specifically for the show where we reference each other’s projects.

On the surface our two series couldn’t be more different; one, portraits of stranded motorists and the other environmental landscapes of abandoned box stores. Look deeper and you’ll see two artists engaged in long-term projects examining the real and metaphorical effects of a country strained by the collapse and corruption of our social institutions. This timely and telling exhibition of photographs debuts as the economic crisis continues and Americans are forced to reexamine their long held assumptions of entitlement, privilege and permanence.

Here are the details:

Instruments of Empire: Photographs by Amy Stein and Brian Ulrich
January 28 – March 25
Caption Gallery
55 Washington Street, No. 802
Brooklyn, NY

Opening Reception: January 28, 6:30pm – 8:00pm

In addition to the photographs, Brian and I are planning some additional programming surprises during the run of this exhibition. Stay tuned and see you at the opening.