Where to Go and What to See

Three grids of images, each from a different city: Paris, New York, and Shanghai. Two are of men on motorcycles, one is of bike messengers. Sure, it's kind of a gimmick, but for some reason it totally works. In his book on the three cities (images from which are on view at the Aperture Gallery in New York City), Hans Eijkelboom has created an incredible study of street life in each--and a rare opportunity to compare among the three. In capturing everything from little old ladies in flowered dresses to teenagers with mohawks, always in sets of 10 or more images, he draws attention to the diversity of the cities, but equally to the way styles are repeated and permutated in such dense urban areas.

Cornucopia: Documenting the Land of Plenty also deals with issues of density and consumption. On view at the Montserrat College of Art Gallery, I'm guessing this show is worth a look mostly from the young photographers included in it. JeongMee Yoon created an incredible book this year, Pink & Blue Project, which American Photo is featuring in our upcoming best books issue. Her photographs chronicle the color worship of toddlers (and their parents) by creating portraits of the children surrounded by their pink and blue objects. I'm also a fan of Chris Jordan, whose series Running the Numbers and Portraits of American Mass Consumption are both beautiful and terrifying, and Brian Ulrich, whose Copia work documents huge commercial centers such as Target and Home Depot.

Finally, I can't escape the feeling that it's become passé to recommend Alec Soth (sorry Alec). But in going back over his Dog Days, Bogotá series (on view at the Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis) I've decided I just don't care. The work--created in his adopted daughter's hometown partially as a way to record for her the place she came from--is simply too good not to be seen. It's quiet, and beautiful, and tragic, and funny. What more can we ask for.

~Miki Johnson

(Photo: "Cell phone chargers, Atlanta, 2004" from Chris Jordan's Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption series)

Click the link below for details about these and many more photography openings and events across the country.

New York Events

November 6, 7-8:30
Platon: Power Snapper, An SPD Super Tuesday with Platon
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, FIT
27th St. (at 7th Ave.)

November 6, 6-8
Jill Enfield; winners of the third annual Alternative Processes Competition
Opening reception
On view through December 1
SoHo Photo
15 White St.

November 7, 6:30-8
Images of a Journey: India in Diaspora, a conversation with Steve Raymer
The Overseas Press Club of America
40 W. 45th St.

November 7
You Can't Spell America Without Eric by Eric Payson
Opening
On view through December 9
The powerHouse boilerRoom
37 Main St. (windows on Main), DUMBO

November 8, 7-9
Paris, New York, Shanghai by Hans Eijkelboom
Opening reception
On view through January 3
Aperture Gallery
547 W. 27th St., 4th Floor

November 9, 6-8
Thomas Ruff
Opening reception
On view through December 22
David Zwirner
525&533 W. 19th St.

November 8, 6-8
Lynne Cohen: Camouflage
Reception for the artist
On view through December 22
Hasted Hunt Gallery
529 W. 20th St., 3rd Floor

November 9, 6-9
The Breaks: Stylin' and Profilin' 1982-1990 by Janette Beckman; Born in the Bronx: A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip Hop by Joe Conzo
Reception
powerHouse Arena
37 Main St., DUMBO

November 9
Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe: Daufuskie Island and New Work
Opening
On view through January 5, 2008
Leica Gallery
670 Broadway, Suite 500

November 9, 6-8
Transfigurations: Tao Aimin, Gaye Chan, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, and Liu Zheng
Reception
On view through December 22
SEPIA International
148 W. 24th St., 11th Floor

November 10, 6-8
Jeremy Blake Memorial Exhibition
Opening reception
On view through January 5, 2008
Kinz, Tillou + Feigen
529 West 20th Street, 11th Floor

November 1, 6-9
Camera Club of New York's silent auction for photography
Peer Gallery
526 W. 26th St., Suite 209

Other Events

November 8, 5-8
Angelika Rinnhofer: Sammelsurium; Train of Thought: Serial Images from the Light Work Collection
Gallery reception
On view through December 28
Light Work
Robert B. Menschel Media Center
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse, NY

November 8, 6-8
Cornucopia: Documenting the Land of Plenty: Xing Danwen, Chris Jordan, Portia Munson, Brian Ulrich, Jeongmee Yoon
Opening reception
On view through February 2, 2008
Montserrat College of Art Gallery
23 Essex St., Beverly, MA

November 8, 5:30-7:30
Ad/Agency: Kate Bingaman-Burt, Dean Kessmann, Jonathan Lewis, Michael Mittelman, Matt Siber, Hank Willis Thomas, Brian Ulrich, Penelope Umbrico, Diana Shearwood
Opening reception
On view through January 27, 2008
Photographic Resources Center at Boston University
832 Commonwealth Ave., Boston

November 9, 6-8:30
Alec Soth: Dog Days, Bogotá
Opening reception with the artist
On view through January 12
Weinstein Gallery
908 W. 46th St., Minneapolis, MN

November 9, 5-7
David Plowden: Vanishing Point
Opening reception with the artist
On view through December 29
Catherine Edelman Gallery
300 W. Superior St., Chicago

November 9, 7-8:30
It's a Dog's Life: Photographs by William Wegman from the Polaroid Collection
Opening reception
On view through January 13, 2008
Griffin Museum of Photography
67 Shore Rd., Winchester, MA

November 10, 5-7
John Humble: Sunday Afternoon
Reception for the artist
On view through December 29
Rose Gallery
Bergamot Station Arts Center
2525 Michigan Ave., Bldg. G5, Santa Monica, CA