Microstock Calendar

The press release for the Whitney Biennial describes O’Grady’s piece, titled “The First and Last of the Modernists,” as “an installation of photographs and photo collage that deals with appropriation and cultural identity.”

O’Grady also told Benson she was planning to reproduce the diptychs in an edition of 10. Next Benson contacted the Whitney, and ended up speaking with Nick Holmes, a lawyer for the museum. 

The Attorney General’s office in New York has filed a lawsuit against wedding photographer Harold J. “Bud” Thorpe of Oswego, New York, for failure to deliver proofs, DVDs or photo albums to couples who paid a $500 deposit for Thorpe’s services.

The lawsuit, filed in Onondaga County Supreme Court on March 8, alleges that Thorpe, the owner of Limelight Studios, had promised to deliver proofs six to eight weeks after the weddings. “However, he repeatedly failed to provide customers proofs within the promised time period—and in many cases, he failed to provide any proofs at all.” The lawsuit does not state how many couples who hired Limelight Studios are still owed images.

Thorpe could not be reached for comment. Limelight Studios’ Web site has been shut down.

The suit seeks several penalties:  barring Thorpe from entering into new wedding photography contracts until he has fulfilled outstanding orders, completing outstanding contracts according to a court-ordered schedule, and returning deposits to all customers who have sought refunds.

The suit is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Judith Malkin from the regional office of the Attorney General in Syracuse, New York. The Attorney General’s office asks businesses or customers who believe they have been defrauded by Limelight Studios to contact the Attorney General at (315) 448 4848.

Annie Leibovitz's debts--which put the photographer at risk of losing ownership of her photographs last year--have been taken over by private equity firm Colony Capital, the Financial Times reports. Colony Capital assumed the debt on undisclosed terms from Art Capital Group, another private equity firm that had loaned Leibovitz $24 million.

Under the terms of the debt takeover, Colony Capital will help Leibovitz market her photographs, the Financial Times reported.

Leibovitz borrowed $22 million from Art Capital Group in September 2008. The loan was eventually increased to $24 million. Leibovitz used her photography archive and several properties as collateral for the loan. Her original deadline for repaying Art Capital Group was last September 8. About two months prior to that deadline, Art Capital Group sued Leibovitz, alleging that she was refusing to make loan payments and meet other terms of the loan.

But Art Capital Group ended up dropping the lawsuit in September, giving Leibovitz more time to repay the debt, and allowing her to retain her photography archive and properties. Art Capital Group may have been trying to avoid forcing Leibovitz into bankruptcy, and causing a court to take control of her debts.

According to a Bloomberg report yesterday, Leibovitz's financial troubles are due partly to her property purchases and renovations. Between 1999 and 2008, Leibovitz borrowed and refinanced more than a dozen loans, Bloomberg said.

Related story: Art Capital Dropping Lawsuit Against Annie Leibovitz

Congrats to photographer Nicole Hill Gerulat whose combination living room/studio/home office drew just over 30 percent of the votes,. That makes her the winner of this year's Cramped But Cool Studio Showcase. 

We'll be sending Gerulat a gift certificate to B&H Photo & Video shortly. 

Like the 2009 Cramped But Cool winner  (see Tom Zinn's Backyard Studio Near Austin), Gerulat's space boasts sunlight, minimal but tasteful decorating and personal touches. But it's all contained within a city apartment. 

Notified of her win this morning, Gerulat wrote to PDN Pulse in an email, "I think the space may have appealed to PDN readers because it's just my living room --proving that great shots can be taken anywhere and that a studio isn't necessary (until the client calls)." 

A commercial and editorial still life photographer who attended both Brooks and the French Culinary Institute,  Gerulat often shoots portfolio pieces in her living room, which gets eastern sunlight through a set of glass doors. 

She also maintains her office in the apartment, in what she says "really should be a dining room." 

 Gerulat, her husband, and their dog, Molly, have been living in the space for about a year. Gerulat says she loves it. "Though of course, I'd love for my office to not be the first thing everyone sees when they walk in."

The color scheme and airy quality of Gerulat's live/work space have already caught the eye of the home decorating blog Design*Sponge, which featured images of the space last fall. There you can see more photos of Gerulat's home, and find out what her cramped yet cool kitchen looks like, too. 

Congrats to all the photographers who submitted their photos and stories to PDN Pulse's second Cramped But Cool Showcase. It's been fun!  And thanks also to everyone who voted this year.  

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Now we've seen everything. Canada-based photographer Chris Wilkinson got his hands on one of those coveted coffee mugs designed like a Canon lens and he's posted a video of it on YouTube.

Chris says he bought samples of the mug at the Carsand-Mosher photo retailer in Nova Scotia and that it will officially go on sale soon for $29.99

Check it out the video below. Also, to see more, ahem, mugshots, visit Chris' site.

(UPDATE: Apparently, rival 24-105mm Canon coffee mugs have appeared on eBay. But these are not true 70-200mm F/4 lens mugs and therefore they are evil. Via 1001 Noisy Cameras.)

Photojournalist Louie Psihoyos' documentary "The Cove" was awarded the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary on March 7. Psihoyos directed the film, which documents the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. In accepting the award at the Oscar ceremony on behalf of the film's creators, co-producer Fisher Stevens thanked Psihoyos as "the man who came with the idea" for the film.