Street photography isn't easy, especially when you have to consider privacy laws and of course personal safety. Joerg Colberg's fine blog Conscientious is full of wonderful links to photographers working in this special genre of photography. He introduced me to a terrific site called In-Public that you should definitely check out.

There are only a few of us who can walk the walk and talk the talk. Are you one of them? If you shoot on the streets of your neighborhood or anywhere else, I want to hear from you. I have already introduced you to Robb Hill‘s fine work. But I know there are lots of other undiscovered photogs out there. If you work in South Asia, I want to know about you and I would love to see your work published here on Tiffinbox.

The Earth Institute at Columbia University invites you to a lecture and slide presentation by SUBHANKAR BANERJEE “Alaska: Barren Wasteland or Safe Haven of Biodiversity?”

Introduced by Professor Don Melnick, director of the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation Wednesday, October 6, 2004, 7:00 – 9:00 pm at Rotunda of Low Library

Columbia University, 116th Street and Broadway

The event is free of charge and open to the public. There will be a reception in the Faculty Room of Low Library from 6:00-7:00 pm, with Subhankar Banerjee, where his book will be available from the Columbia University Bookstore. On October 6, photographer and

conservationist Subhankar Banerjee will present findings and photographs from his two year, 4,000 mile journey through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in northeastern Alaska.

Banerjee's research resulted in a collaborative book of his photographs and essays by some of the world's leading conservationists and environmental thinkers, including Peter Matthiessen, Fran Mauer, William H. Meadows, George B. Schaller, David Allen Sibley, and Terry Tempest Williams.

Published in 2003 by Mountaineers Books, ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE: SEASONS OF LIFE AND LAND became influential in the national debate over energy resources and proposals to drill for oil within the refuge–at one point flourished on the floor of the US Congress by Senator Barbara Boxer.

Solo exhibits of Banerjee's photographs have been on display at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, American Museum of Natural History in New York, and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. In New York, Banerjee's photographs are now at the Gerald Peters Gallery, 24 East 78th Street, through October 15, 2004. Banerjee is the first recipient of the Lannan Foundation's Cultural Freedom Fellowship, as well as a recipient of the National Conservation Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation, a Special Achievement Award from the Sierra Club, and the Daniel Housberg Award from the Alaska Conservation Foundation. For more information on Subhankar Banerjee, ANWR, and related artistic and conservation projects, please visit the WORLD WITHOUT BORDERS website

For more information on the Earth Institute at Columbia, please visit here.

For more information on the event, please call 212-854-3142.

The book Avedon at Work will soon arrive in my mailbox. Meanwhile, I have been watching the QuickTime clips on Digital Journalist. Might be worth your while, too.

Jim Richardson finally has a spot on NikonNet. He is a terrific photographer and joins an august group of legends in the field.

I must be experiencing some form of grief.

Less than 24-hours since Richard Avedon died, I bought a book about the way he worked. His image of the fashion model Dovima standing perilously close to two towering elephants is my favorite. In the documentary by PBS, Avedon says he sees this image as a failure because the model's sash lay limp in the final image. I think he wanted it flying off to the model's right so that it would help lead the viewer's eye into the model and presumably her clothes to complete the picture. It's still an amazing image. Coming a close second is the image of a bee keeper from The American West series.

In addition to the book, I simply had to get a poster print of Avedon's as well. And to my utter amazement, I was able to get both of my favorite Avedon images on one print!

Here it is and this is where you can get it:

Next on the list is the PBS documentary about Avedon's life on DVD. Perhaps for Xmas.

Via New York Times

“I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.” – Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon died yesterday in San Antonio. He had suffered a stroke several days before when he was on assignment for The New Yorker.

The image you see below is an example of his exquisite portraiture work for the book project “The American West.” Today, I finally bought Laura Wilson's book, Avedon At Work, that describes this controversial project.

Be sure click on MULTIMEDIA on the right-hand side of the NYT page for links to Avedon's work and a review of Avedon's show by Michael Kimmelman.

Here is the Associated Press story about Richard Avedon's death.