Friday, November 03, 2006

Camera Works

I know that I'm constantly hammering the WaPo for their miserable and pathetic coverage of the Greater DC area visual art scene, especially when viewed in the context of their decent coverage of theatre, dance and music, and their unexplainable orgasmic coverage of fashion shows.

But as a good friend pointed out to me recently, they do deserve some kudos for their exceptional Camera Works feature on their online site.

This slideshow of the photography of Korda is perhaps the best example of what can be done online when a newspaper's leadership wants to do something different and right.

Tangent: Most of Korda's original vintage photographs, the ones which he actually kept for his own private records, and which he gave to one of his daughters a few years before his passing, made their way to the United States when the daughter escaped from Castro's island prison. They are now in the possession of a private collector in Bethesda, as well as many letters and notes from Korda. I mention this in case some DC-based (or any place) curator ever wants to mount a Korda retrospective in the US and wants access to the original vintage work.

Back to Camera Works.

I also share my friend's favorite online column: Frank Van Riper on Photography.

His recent article discusses vintage photographs and a previous article by Frank Van Riper: "The Wet Room Lives!" was also extremely informative and interesting.