Animals of Fashion (a concise history)

Edward Steichen. 1935



Richard Avedon. 1955



David Bailey. 1968



Richard Avedon. 1981

"The magical and funny picture is, above all, a great fashion photograph. What better way to sell a dress than to set its elegant sleekness of line and expensive smoothness of texture against the rough, wrinkled hides and ponderous shapes of elephants? It is instructive to compare this picture with what may have been its inspiration: Edward Steichen's celebrated Vogue photograph of 1935, for which he brought a white horse into a white-tiled lavatory and posed three models in white clothes around it-a notion that comes out looking as ridiculous as it sounds. Why Avedon's even more outrageous idea works when Steichen's doesn't could sustain a course in fashion photography".

from A Series of Proposals
Essays on the Aesthetic of Photography: Diana & Nikon
by Janet Malcolm (1980)

There is a nice write up on Sarah Stolfa in today's Philadelphia Inquirer...

Sarah Stolfa article

I first met Sarah a couple years ago at Abington Art Center when she presented a slide show on the history of portrait photography as well as her work The Regulars. At that time she was just about to head up to Yale University for her MFA. I have followed her work ever since, including her group show last year with the other 2008 Yale MFA graduate show.

Yale MFA 2008 Photography exhibit


The Regulars series has now been published in a book, and there will be an exhibition and book signing at Gallery 339 on July 14th at 6pm. If you have not seen the portraits from this series, and even if you have, this is a highly recommended show. The current 2009 Yale MFA group show will still be up at the gallery on that date, so it is well worth checking out.

buy the book

Gallery 339

Walking New York City. 2009


Back in May I posted some gallery exhibits I wanted to see in New York...

Gallery Picks

Last weekend I spent the day with my friends Randall and Lisa walking all over the city and we were lucky enough to hit just about everything on our list. I walked around that day with only my Olympus OM-1 and some Kodak 125 Plus-X film. I am in love with the results I got and am determined to continue using lot's of that wonderful Plus-X film for the rest of the summer. I want to have plenty of negatives to work with when I get back in the darkroom in the Fall.

First stop was ICP to check out the Avedon show I had read so much about. I was pretty sure this would be an excellent exhibit, but I still held onto a general skepticism about it being just fashion photography. How wrong I was! This show is memorizing. Avedon was a master at his craft and the images are just captivating. The gallery room Paris at Night is one of the most beautiful gallery displays I have ever seen, and really shows off the genius of Avedon's work. Do not miss this show if you go to New York.

dovima with elephants. richard avedon


International Center of Photography
1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036

Avedon Fashion @ ICP




Next we headed down to Chelsea and caught a really great mix of exhibits.

Chuck Close at Pace Wildenstein Gallery was a display of eye popping tapestry work. This gallery, with it's incredible natural light and dramatic high ceilings, was the perfect venue for the amazing work being shown.

Chuck Close Tapestry




Andrew Bush's Vector Portraits at Yossi Milo Gallery is a really fun exhibit of medium format images shot from a moving vehicle of other drivers on California Freeways. The images are gorgeous and have an ethereal quality to them. They appear completely staged, and yet they are shot at high speed from the freeway.

Andrew Bush. Vector Portraits

Yossi Milo Gallery



We weren't at all impressed with The Edge of Vision: Abstraction in
Contemporary Photography at Aperture Gallery. It is a group show with little cohesion and nothing new to offer.
But there is a wonderful display of Paul Strand's work in the library room, a gorgeous space with a wonderful view of old Chelsea buildings. I could spend an entire day just sitting in the comfy chairs at Aperture Gallery reading the thousands of books from the shelves. The only thing missing here is a coffee bar.

View from Aperture Gallery Library

Aperture Gallery


The highlight of the day was Urban Stonehenge at Deborah Bell Gallery. Stunning group of black & white photographs of sunsets in New York all taken at precise moments at the summer solstice over a 20 year time span. The photographer, Sid Kaplan, happened to be in the gallery while we were there. One of those fantastic moments when you have undivided conversation with an artistic genius and walk away so grateful to have had the opportunity. Kaplan took the time to carefully explain how he crafted the images in this show, as well as discussed other projects he has worked on over a long brilliant career, including Mummer photography in Philadelphia. He promised to call me the next time he is in Philly for a Mummer's Parade. I can't imagine a more fascinating day than one spent with Sid Kaplan on New Years Day in South Philly.

It also must be said that another reason this was the highlight of the day for me is Deborah Bell herself. I have mentioned this before on this blog, but it is worth repeating. In so many galleries, when you walk in, the staff is sitting behind large imposing counters and they barely acknowledge your presence. Deborah Bell goes out of her way to welcome you and there is no doubt that she is delighted that you are visiting her gallery. This is the most visitor friendly gallery in New York City!

deborah bell photographs


sid kaplan. by howard christopherson

here is a nice bio on Sid Kaplan from Icebox Gallery in Minnesota...

Sid Kaplan was born in the South Bronx of New York City in 1938. At the age of ten, he saw a black and white print develop in a darkroom. The experience hypnotized him and he began his life-long career of photographing and printing. Kaplan loves the hunt and the search for meaning that only street photography allows, and he is equally enamored with what he calls "the magic" of making a black and white print.

This exhibit has no particular theme, nor is it a retrospective. Instead, it is an eclectic mix of color and black and white prints created over several decades in New York City, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and on the roads of America. The exhibit includes a variety of framed images along with several stereo pieces photographed in three dimensions. Kaplan refers to these as Œstereopticon experiments‚ because of the way they are made.

In 1952, Sid Kaplan began his only formal education in photography at The School of Industrial Arts, a NYC vocational high school. At the same time he was going to meetings at the Village Camera Club, which served as a refuge for members of the recently defunct Photo League. His first showing of his photography was there. At one of the photography trade shows he met Weegee for the first time and through fate, they would be running into each other till he died in 1968. After graduation, Sid began his career working in the photography industry. Kaplan paid his dues working at many dead end minimum wage photography jobs. After 6 years he had gained enough skill to be hired by Compo, a well-known custom lab in NYC. There he printed exhibition and book prints for several Magnum photographers; Philippe Halsman, Robert and Cornell Capa, and Weegee. There Kaplan met Ralph Gibson, who later introduced him to photographer Robert Frank. Kaplan began printing for Robert Frank that day, and still continues that relationship.

Sid Kaplan has told me that the biggest highlight of his career was the day when he took a break from the darkroom with Mr. Frank. The two of them walked to a local bar for a beer when they ran into another photographer who lived next door, W. Eugene Smith. They invited him to join them and they spent the evening together swapping stories and comparing their royalties from the Minamata and The Americans. "This reinforced my feeling that photography was best practiced as a gentleman's hobby like Lartigue or Steiglitz. I never wanted it to become just a job where editors' art directors and deadlines ruled; that would make me crazy and demoralized. Printing other people's work gave me the bucks to pursue my hobby and photograph what I want to without

Kaplan sometimes calls his photographs 'snaps'‚ a slang term from the forties. "If I never take another snap again I will still have more than I can print." Sid says with a smile. Images in the show are of people and places, some are shot from a moving car, resulting in blurred and grainy scenes of the road taken in various parts of the country. Other images included where made during repeated visits over the past twenty five years to a single Mummer's club in Philadelphia. Many places are now reduced to nostalgia and may be only a distant memory to the locals over the age of 60. interference." he says with a bearded grin.

Sid Kaplan: Urban Stonehenge

Icebox Gallery

How to Purchase Prints

For the most part, all of my photographs are available for sale as prints. If you see something you are interested in, simply get in touch with me by email at chpaquette@comcast.net

I have all of my custom work printed at Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints in Philadelphia. They are the best in the business. The resulting work they produce is archival, museum-grade, top shelf,etc etc. I prefer to have my work printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth 305 gsm paper. This is a really heavy cotton based archival paper with a smooth matte finish that produces stunning documents. There are numerous other high quality paper options, including environmentally healthy bamboo and sugar cane based papers.

General pricing guidelines are as follows...(subject to change)

*All work is signed and dated on verso, as well as numbered for any limited editions.


8 X 10 prints/ $30 each

11 X 17 prints/ $75 each

20 X 30 prints/ $120 each

Larger and custom sized prints can be made upon request

You can order prints directly through the option below. Indicate what photograph you want in the special instructions to seller box. If you prefer to use a different payment method just send an email to chpaquette@comcast.net

Order Prints

8 X 10 Print $30.00 11 X 17 Print $75.00 20 X 30 Print $120.00

Rough draft for First Person America: In These Hard Times
(can't use more than 100 words of narrative per photograph)

I have been a self employed contractor for the past twenty years; designing and building kitchens and bathrooms. My business revenue dropped considerably starting in late 2007 and continued to decline throughout 2008. In the past twenty years I had seen several economic downturns, but always managed to make it through the down cycle. This recent recession was quite different, and every contractor I know was in the same situation. People just stopped spending money on non essential home improvements. Towards the end of 2008 I was seriously considering a career change or a part time job.






In January 2009 I was lucky enough to find a part time job as a Lab Courier for a major hospital. My job is to drive around picking up specimens and cultures and bring them back to the lab. Decent pay, stress free, hours that allow me to continue running my own business, and a great work environment. I tell people I found the perfect part time job. The current recession continues to negatively affect my finances, but this part time job has really helped to stabilize my cash flow.









I have had to endure the snickers and laughter of a few friends when I explain that essentially what I do every afternoon is drive around picking up urine, feces, and blood samples from doctor’s offices and nursing homes. In recent weeks I have hand delivered quite a few cultures to be tested for the Swine Flu
Virus. I have learned to more or less ignore what I carry around in my car, although I am now a fanatical user of hand sanitizer.







I spend about four or five hours in my car every afternoon driving approximately 60 miles each day. My route changes from day to day, but more or less follows a general circular pattern around the Philadelphia suburbs. What a wonderful opportunity for a photographer! I am able to spend my afternoons observing the constantly changing landscapes along my route. I bring my camera bag with me every day just in case a photograph presents itself.







One of the most striking images I see every day is the overwhelming number of empty retail buildings. For Rent and For Lease signs seem to be everywhere I look. So many automobile dealerships have closed down. Each of the images in this series are of buildings I pass by every day on my route. The impact of the current recession is clearly evident along every mile I drive. What is not as obvious is the fact that each of these empty buildings represents dozens or hundreds of lost jobs. People who are out there fighting for economic survival.





Submit your Writing, Video, or Photography...
First Person America: In These Hard Times
Deadline has been extended to July 15th

furniture showroom. southampton, pa.

This is the first photograph my mother ever took, a portrait of her grand parents taken in 1941, when she was 5 years old...


first portrait. 1941


... and this is the first photograph I ever took, a portrait of my parents taken in 1962, when I was 3 years old...

first portrait. 1962


I am certain the camera I used for my photo was a Kodak Brownie. I wish I knew what camera was used for my Mom's photograph. I love the vague similarity in these shots taken twenty years apart. The child's eye view is so evident.

pontiac dealer. richboro, pa. 2009