DAVID BLACK PHOTOGRAPHS

RINKO KAWAUCHI'S "AILA"

This is one of my favorite photo books... So many people close to me are having a difficult time with life this last year, and I thought these images might help us all out. In Aila we're gently reminded how beautiful, inspiring, heartbreaking and short life is. If you have a chance swing by Dashwood and spend time with it.

"Consisting primarily of images of nature, the photographs from AILA (from the Turkish word aile meaning "family"), published in 2004, celebrate the awe-inspiring essence of life. Kawauchi captures the limitless diversity of nature, hives of insects, matrices of fish eggs, dewdrops, waterfalls, rainbows while emphasizing the limited time all creatures have on earth. Animals, plants and humans are all depicted at various stages of transition from birth to death."

OLIVER STONE

On Sunday I'll be traveling to Los Angeles with John Buffalo Mailer to do a story on legendary director Oliver Stone. More to come soon..

NOBODY IS FAMOUS IN NEW YORK

103 Broadway at Berry, Brooklyn.
February 22nd 6 PM

Come see my friend molly's photos, she's the best

Afterwards come see Blood on the Wall play at North6, it's Ivan's b day party!

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT

On Monday I photographed Martha Wainwright at her apartment in Brooklyn. She was very charming. Photos to come soon.

IN MEMORY OF...

Yesterday was the birthday of Ansel Adams, Kurt Cobain, and Robert Altman. In 2006 I was fortunate enough to spend an afternoon with Mr. Altman shortly before he left us. In memory of him please read his biography and check out the contact sheets attached. A photograph from the shoot was selected for American Photography that year, the book was released on the morning he passed.

It's the birthday of *Robert Altman* , born in Kansas City, Missouri (1925), the son of an insurance broker who loved to gamble. The boy was educated by the Jesuits and at the age of 18, he joined the Army Air Corp. During the course of World War II, he flew more than 50 missions on a B-24 bomber in Borneo and the Dutch East Indies. He studied engineering after the war, then moved to California and tried acting, screenwriting, and songwriting. He went back to Kansas City, got into industrial film production, made 60 of them for various clients, including a feature on how a self-service gas station works, and a film on highway safety. He made a low-budget feature of his own called /The Delinquents/, which didn't do well in theaters but it brought him to the attention of Alfred Hitchcock, who offered him the job of directing episodes of the /Alfred Hitchcock Presents/ television series. His breakthrough came when he was 45: the success of /M.A.S.H./ (1970) - a dark comedy about a medical unit in the Korean War, which had been turned down by dozens of other directors. It was a hit, and Altman's career took off with /McCabe and Mrs. Miller/ (1970), /The Long Goodbye/ (1973), and /Nashville/ (1975). Altman said, "Filmmaking is a chance to live many lifetimes."

"It's Okay With Me: Robert Altman"
The Full interview by James Hughes

S.F.A.I.

I'm excited to announce that i'll be teaching a portfolio class at The San Francisco Art Institute this summer. I created the curriculum of the class and I really think it'll be great. If you know any B.F.A. or M.F.A. students currently there pass the word on. S.F.A.I.

THE VIRGINS IN THE CHELSEA HOTEL

Last week I spent the day with the N.Y.C. band The Virgins at the historic Chelsea Hotel. More images to come soon...

AN AFTERNOON WITH VIBRAPHONIST BOBBY HUTCHERSON

The Stop Smiling Jazz Issue came out today, when you get a chance check it out. I had the honor of spending the day with legendary Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson at his house in Northern California. I've attached some images from the day below.

An old poster of Bobby was stored in the garage.

Bobby has a small studio full of Vibraphones set up in a shed behind his house.

Bobby sitting on his wood pile.

Bobby in the backseat of his 1966 Thunderbird.

RETRACING THE MANHUNT FOR JOHN WILKES BOOTH

Stop Smiling just published a small sample of images and writings from the John Wilkes Booth project I've been working on with Ernest Loesser. You can view them at here

When John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln on April 14th, 1865, his act sparked the largest manhunt in the nation’s history. The 26-year-old gunman fled south through rural Maryland, hoping to find sanctuary in Confederate territory and then possibly safe passage to Mexico. After 12 days on horseback, boat and foot, Booth was cornered and shot dead by Union troops at Garrett Farm in northern Virginia.

— Ernest Loesser

Booth’s legacy lives on among American historians, conspiracy theorists and an assortment of key chains, coffee mugs and other gift shop mementos.

Upon the outbreak of civil war, had Lincoln not issued martial law across the state, Maryland would have likely sided with the Confederacy.

At his farm south of the capital, Dr. Samuel Mudd set Booth’s broken leg in the early morning of April 15th. Mudd later served four years in prison for his alleged involvement in the assassination.

Maryland was a predominantly Catholic colony when it was founded in 1632, and the state’s religious tradition is still visible today.

After Booth crossed the Potomac River and reached Virginia, he received assistance from sympathetic Confederate soldiers who sheltered him at Garrett Farm.

The former site of Garrett Farm currently rests near the entrance to Fort A.P. Hill, a US Army military base named after the distinguished Confederate general.