William Eggleston exhibit presents the casual as classic

By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

NEW YORK - What may be the most notable art photograph of the last 40 years shows a tricycle. That's it, a toddler's three-wheeler. It's kind of ratty, too, a definite Toys 'R Us reject. Sure, you can also see two ranch houses and a car in a breezeway, they're in the background, and a patch of dead grass, some asphalt, and a mess of gray sky. But the entire scene is all very, well, negligible.

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If you're planning a trip to Washington, DC after the new year -- to visit relatives, infuse the kids with some history, see the cherry blossoms, or -- lucky you -- attend the presidential inauguration, make it a point to stop by the National Gallery of Art to see an exhibit of photos from Robert Frank's seminal work, "The Americans."

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Medium and muse come together in exhibit of Harry Callahan photos

By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

PROVIDENCE - There have been two great husband-and-wife acts in photographic history. The better-known is Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe. Over the course of 20 years, he took more than 350 photographs of her. The other is Harry and Eleanor Callahan. He took so many photographs of her it's impossible to give an accurate tally. It's equally impossible to imagine Callahan's career without those photographs as part of it.

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By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

In "Four Quartets," T.S. Eliot writes that "to apprehend/ The point of intersection of the timeless/ With time, is an occupation for the saint." Saints have other things on their minds, as well: salvation, halos, whatever. Photographers can be more single-minded. For them, apprehending -- and recording -- that intersection is the occupation.

Arresting time is so central to photography that we simply take that centrality for granted. Among the virtues of "Keeping Time: Cycle and Duration in Contemporary Photography," which runs at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University through Jan. 25, is the reminder it brings that time is not just the ocean that photography splashes in, but also the spray that it raises. The seven photographers here all make explicit the function of temporality in their medium, and do so with means as varied as sunsets and cellphones, smoking cameras and drawn-on tablecloths.

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Here are some Thanksgiving images from around the country for you to enjoy this holiday weekend. Click on the full-screen link for large images.

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The RAW Dawg whose photo was published in the Globe's "G" section today was Caitlin Robbins of West Newton, whose photo from Cape Verde was praised by Globe photographer Dina Rudick when she did a portfolio critique of Cait's work last month.

Here's how the page looked in print:

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By Pat Glennon
Rockland

Do something every day for a year and you're bound to get better.

It was in this spirit that I began my "Project 365."

In its simplest form, Project 365 involves taking a photo every day and publishing it online for, you guessed it, a year. I'm sure versions of this have been around as long as photography itself, but thanks to digital photography and the Internet, capturing a year in images has never been more possible.

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By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

Jules Aarons, a Boston University physicist who was an internationally known expert in the study of radio-wave propagation and an acclaimed photographer whose work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, New York's Museum of Modern Art, and Paris's Bibliotheque Nationale, died last week at his home in Newton after battling congestive heart failure. He was 87.

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Meet Brian Skerry, a corrugated-box salesman from Uxbridge. Once you've processed that snapshot and think you know who he is, meet Brian Skerry, globe-circling underwater photographer for National Geographic and other top magazines. His was a simple transformation, if you call 20 years of hard work simple.

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In order to get a little ahead on the monthly contest themes, we're posting two polls here: One to choose a December theme, the other to choose a theme for the January contest. Both polls will end at midnight Nov. 30, giving you a lot of time to shoot photos for the January theme if you don't have anything suitable in your portfolio.

Here's the December poll:

and here's the poll for January's theme:

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Here's some food for thought: If you have nude photos of your wife on your cell phone, hang onto it.

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MFA opens Herb Ritts Gallery with eclectic "Photographic Figures"

By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

"Photographic Figures" is a dual celebration: of the human body and of photography at the Museum of Fine Arts. The show, which comprises 78 images from the museum's collection, some recently acquired, helps inaugurate the Herb Ritts Gallery, the MFA's first permanent exhibition space for photography.

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Four shows, two venues, and lots of photographers to check out at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester.

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At the ICA, one Foster finalist focuses on photography

By Sebastian Smee
Globe Staff

I'm guessing that the James and Audrey Foster Prize, the Institute of Contemporary Art's local version of Britain's notorious Turner Prize, sees itself as a little more grown-up and subtle and a little less sensation-craving than the British award, whose winners over the years have included a guy who switched lights on and off in an empty room (Martin Creed), another who specializes in dead animals suspended in formaldehyde (Damien Hirst), and a third who combined paint with elephant dung (Chris Ofili).

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By Christopher Shea
Brainiac blog

The writer John Hockenberry has soured on the postmodern metropolis -- a view he airs, not unironically, in the November issue of Metropolis magazine. "From the ground, megacities have trouble conveying a distinctive skyline," he writes. "Shape and texture are best appreciated from the air. From the foreground, sheer density trumps all other qualities." And he has little good to say about the modern skyscraper-office, which he refers to as "stacks of boxes" and "factories for making to-do lists."

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FIRST PLACE -- $100

izzysmama says: "Our cat Tilly. I'm surprised she let me get this close to her; she's not the friendliest cat ever." Camera info: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, focal length 60mm, 1/250, f/6.3, ISO 400.

Of this photo, Globe assistant chief photographer John Blanding, who chose the winners, said: "The eye color is stunning. You could even say the photo is a little scary, but it epitomizes the 'Get Close' theme."

Congratulations to izzysmama for taking home the $100 first prize. The rest of the winners:

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I've taken your comments to heart, and although a few of you advocated keeping the public voting, the majority -- some of whom left comments below, others who emailed me -- would prefer having a professional choose the winners.

Here are my thoughts:

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This month, The Boston Globe's Bill Greene chose the work of Lesley Mattuchio of Melrose to critique. Lesley wrote us that she "wants to photograph it all, portraits, scenics, wildlife/nature, street candids, actions, etc." and said she worries "that I am biting off more than I can shoot!" Bill noticed that -- however, it's one of the things he liked best about her work.

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By Michele Morgan Bolton
Globe Correspondent

For a decade, Patricia Fanning has navigated the delicate balance between two passions and worlds.

One is her job as an associate professor and head of the sociology department at Bridgewater State College.

The other, a biographer of F. Holland Day, a Norwood native and one of the world's most influential photographers at the turn of the 20th century.

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By Kate Passaro
Quincy

CANTON -- As an amateur photographer, I find myself in constant search of new places to practice the craft. The Bradley Estate in Canton has become a regular trip of mine based on the natural landscape, easy-to-find location, and price (free!).

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How do you get an art gallery named after you? Well, you can be a world-famous photographer.

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This week's print star is Atyia Martin of Boston, who was a Photographer of the Week back in August.

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Salem Open Studios Tour
Arts & Antiques Month in Salem includes an Open Studios Tour from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 22) in three places: Old Town Hall, artists' studios, and retail stores. This year, the work of several photographers will be showcased, along with paintings, mixed media, jewelry, fiber, glass, and sculpture.

The details:

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Time to end the fall sports actions shots callout ... check out the gallery of the best submissions below. Again, nice job, everybody ... and make sure to try "Full screen" mode to fully appreciate the photos.

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By Joanne Rathe
Globe Staff Photographer

They seem to be arriving by the hundreds these days. Everyone seems to send out a photo greeting. It's a great way to update friends and relatives about the people you care about most in your life, and it's a great opportunity to be creative.

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RAW Dawg Chris Wraight of Southborough became the second lucky duck to have one of his photos featured in the "g" section of the Globe.

Chris's photo, which ran Wednesday, was submitted as part of our call for fall sports action shots; his image captured Katie Campbell, a senior center back for the Algonquin Regional High School Tomahawks field hockey team, taking a free hit during a Midland Wachusett A game against visiting Fitchburg on Oct. 7. Chris shot this at f/2.8, 1/4,000 of a second, ISO 250, with his lens at 300mm.

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By Alex Wright
Berklee College of Music, Boston

Photography found me at age 12 on a family vacation to Northern California.

My dad bought a small point-and-shoot film camera for me to use during the trip. Knowing little to nothing about taking pictures, I tackled a few of America's premier photo opportunities with the abandon of a total amateur. Yosemite National Park, San Francisco, and the spectacular coastlines of Monterey and Big Sur posed for my endless shooting. As a native Marylander, I was awestruck by the vast difference and beauty of the California landscapes compared to my familiar East Coast turf.

That trip sparked my interest and love for photography, and influenced the way I shoot today. My toy camera produced a new kind of awe when I saw the magic of alpenglow on Halfdome, captured by pure folly.

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With his collection of 2,000 books, Karl Baden upends the adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Baden, a photographer and professor at Boston College, collects books for the iconic images the covers evoke. He wonders: Was the book designer aware that a similar image already existed? Did the designer subconsciously absorb it? Or is there no connection whatsoever?

Baden mulls these issues in the exhibit he curated at the Boston Public Library, "Covering Photography: Imitation, Influence ... and Coincidence."

The cover of John McEnroe's autobiography, "You Cannot Be Serious," looks like a re-staging of Dennis Stock's portrait of James Dean. Baden wonders: Is that what the former tennis star and enfant terrible intended? Is the little girl's dress on the cover of "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" inspired by a similarly haunting photograph in Adam Fuss's "My Ghost" series?

Baden and two other collectors - who specialize in Italian architecture and the atomic age - will speak at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair at 3 p.m. Saturday at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. Details at the book fair's website.

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The medium of film pays tribute to the medium of photography in an 11-film series at the Museum of Fine Arts called "Photography on Film". It's a complement to the exhibits "Karsh 100: A Biography in Images" and "Photographic Figures." Steven Cantor's documentary "What Remains" screens Nov. 13 to 28. Other highlights include three films about Edward Weston airing Nov. 29 to Dec. 20, and Harry Rasky's documentary on Karsh Dec. 14 and 18.

Exhibit runs from Nov. 13 through Dec. 20
$10, $8 for students and seniors
Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston 617-369-3306
More information at the MFA website

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I hope you've been perusing your photos for good Motion shots, or going out and experimenting with this style. If you're ready, you can upload your best from now until midnight Nov. 30. (Remember, one photo per photographer.)

Remember: Motion doesn't mean simply action. There are several ways to capture motion, whether it's the streaked lights of traffic or your child streaking down the sideline of a soccer field (for you '70s hippies, no, not THAT kind of streaking).

Here are more details:

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Several of you have asked if any of the best photos on the site -- those by the Photographers of the Week, for example -- would be printed in the Globe. Thus far, the answer has been no -- until today.

The Globe's new feature section, "g", pulls together all of the content that falls under the broad umbrella of Living/Arts: Food, Movies, Music, Calendar, Sidekick, comics, TV listings, etc. The inside back cover of "g" will display a rotating set of features; for example, "Party Lines" by Bill Brett -- photos taken at social events around the region -- will run every Tuesday. And every Wednesday belongs to RAW.

Now, if somebody buys an ad for that spot, then the feature gets pre-empted. That happened to us last Wednesday. And if somebody buys an ad in that spot to run from now until next spring, well, your fame will have been short-lived.

But enjoy it while you can. The photo that we chose to feature today came from Nancy Bray of Harwich, who was one of our early Photographers of the Week. Here's how it looked in print; if you'd like to see it up close, just plop your loose change down for a copy of today's Globe. (If you live in Harwich, don't bother; Nancy has already bought every copy in town.)

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Here are your Democracy in Action photos, including some shots of Election Day voting as well as images taken after Obama captured the presidency. Click on "Full screen" to read the full captions.

E-mail your Democracy in Action shots to raw@boston.com.

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Hope you've all voted or will at lunch or on your way home from work. It appears that many polling places were crowded this morning, so democracy is in full bloom.

There are a few ways you can take part in our coverage of today's voting.

If you have your camera handy when you vote, send us your photos of the scene at your polling place.

Or be one of our poll-watchers; that is, after you vote, report to us on where you voted, who you voted for (if you don't mind telling us), how crowded the polling place was, and any other details you want to add. You can read what others have written so far here (and sort by town), and if you want to add your observations, just fill out this easy form.

Feeling patriotic? Then belt out a tune for all to hear. All you have to do is dial a number, wait for the beep, clear your throat, and start singing. We even provide the lyrics to four popular patriotic songs. Believe me, you don't have to have a good voice -- just listen to some of the clips others have already recorded. Here are the details.

Meanwhile, I've uploaded the last of the foliage shots into the gallery; next up are your action sports shots, which are pouring in.

Also on tap: Another On Assignment essay and photos, a Globe tipsheet from photographer Joanne Rathe on taking good photos for holiday cards, polls to choose themes for December AND January (to give you time to shoot), and soon, voting for the October "Up Close" contest winner.

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"Photography Past and Present" is a special event presented by the Film-Only Group (FOG) from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. this Thursday (Nov. 6) at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, 60 Hope Lane off Route 6A in Dennis in the Cape Playhouse compound.

FOG consists of 16 advanced amateur photographers who photograph for the love of the art. They will present photos that reflect both conventional film photography and contemporary digital photography. The exhibit will consist of vintage chemical prints, new silver prints, and digital prints. A prized collection of vintage film cameras, as well as old darkroom equipment for developing chemical film and prints, will be on display.

Dress is casual, wine and light refreshments will be served, and admission is gained simply by making a small donation to the museum.

FOG meets at the museum every month to discuss old and new methods of photography.

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The October "Get Close" contest is over, and we have 208 entries. I've posted all that are eligible in this gallery; if you don't see yours, let me know by dropping a line to raw@boston.com.

I'm not sure when we'll get the Voting Machine posted because of the election, but in the meantime, look over the entries in the gallery (click through to see it) below and start to make your choices.

And start shooting for the November contest: "Motion" was the winning theme. The deadline is midnight Nov. 30; again, we'll post the November Flickr Uploader as soon as we get out of the political thicket.

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By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

NEW HAVEN - Seeing is believing? Seeing is confusing, or it can be. The whole point of "First Doubt: Optical Confusion in Modern Photography," which runs at the Yale University Art Gallery through Jan. 4, is to demonstrate this basic fact of our visual existence. It does so with nuance, variety, and skill. "First Doubt" is the rare high-concept show that manages to be smart without preening over its smartness.

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By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

William Eggleston: Democratic Camera / Photographs and Video, 1961-2008: The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York has organized this first career retrospective of the photographer's work.

It's hard to overstate the impact Eggleston has had on American photography.

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