Metropolitan Museum Takes A Look Back at the History of Photo Manipulation

The Metropolitan Museum of Art previewed “Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop”, an exhibit that examines the history of photo doctoring before digital photography.

The collection features over 200 photographs from the 1840s to the 1990s; around 60 of these photos will be display in the Met’s Galleries for Drawings, Prints and Photographs from October 11^th, 2012 until January 27^th, 2013.

“In the 1840s, photographs were reality – people considered them magical images created by the light of the sun,” said showcase organizer Mia Fineman, “There have been various phases of how people look at photographs in their relation to the truth.”

In an effort to capture these phases, the exhibit is divided into seven sections, each one exploring a different type of photo tweaking.

The earlier works, in the section “Picture Perfect”, feature photographers adjusting technical aspects such as lighting or color, learning the tools of a new technology rather than trying to distort reality.

Moving forward in time, the manipulations become more familiar. The section entitled “Politics and Persuasion” features faked photos that were used as propaganda during historical periods. It includes a faked photograph of the Paris Commune massacre, manipulated to place famous generals in front of a firing squad.

The section entitled “Pictures in Print” showcases photographs that have been manipulated by newspapers and advertisers.  It includes doctored photographs of atomic bombs being dropped and prisoners executed by electric chair, images which were impossible for journalists to photograph.

One of the memorable photos in this section is of Elvis Presley, taken right after he was drafted, manipulated to make it seem like he had an army style buzz cut when in fact his iconic locks were still intact.

Other photos in the showcase had less of an agenda, such as the ones in “Novelties and Amusements”, where men held their own severed heads and ghosts were placed in everyday scenes.  

Also on display at the Met is “After Photoshop: Manipulated Photography in the Digital Age”, an addendum to “Faking it” that will be on display from September 25^th, 2012 to May 27^th, 2013.

Fair Folks & A Goat Serves Up a New Style of Coffee Shop

When you walk into the Fair Folks & A Goat café, it feels stumbled into someone’s living room. Owner Anthony Mazzei, 31, sits in one of two neon colored chairs, flipping through magazines on his iPad while his wife and business partner Aurora Stokowski, 29, mixes a fresh pot of coffee behind the bar nearby. Some patrons are sprawled comfortably on couches reading while others are settled at tables plugged into computers.

Anthony wanders around the café taking bets on how much chocolate bread will be consumed by the collective this month. “We’re getting the bread from the bakery next door and plan on selling it at a discounted price to members,” he says.

The couple has an innovative business plan when it comes to selling coffee. Fair Folks & A Goat is a membership café, for $25 a month visitors can have unlimited coffee, espresso, and tea and invitations to art events that are held at the café. According to the couple, Fair Folks & A Goat is supposed to be a home away from home for commuters. Members also chose one of two charities when they sign up and a portion of their membership fee goes to the cause. Customers who don’t want to be members can also purchase coffee a la carte.

In addition to subscription-based coffee, everything inside the café is for sale. Various pieces of art, furniture, and sculptures are spread around the space.

Some are designer originals, like the long dining table in the center created by an artisan in Brooklyn. Fair Folks is the only retail location his work is sold. Others, like the neon green comfy chair that Anthony is seated on, are bought in bundles from design shows in the city.

The pieces for the store are chosen by Aurora, who used to be a buyer for the Design Store at the Museum of Modern Art.

“The competition at the MoMa was tough for new designers because of all the hierarchy and politics,” says Aurora.

For her, Fair Folks & A Goat is a chance to showcase lesser-known New York City designers.

The couple perfected the membership café concept when they ran a coffee house in New Orleans.

“Here I stand outside and try and get people in, In New Orleans, I was like a bouncer keeping the rowdy ones out,” shares Anthony, “They always seemed angry that they couldn’t get a drink at a coffee place.”

Anthony pauses to tell the professor grading papers on the couch to get comfy, “If you fall asleep we’ll wake you up,” he says.

The pair is used to patrons passing out, the coffee house New Orleans doubled as a bed and breakfast. “There it was like ‘if you fall asleep we’ll have to charge you’,” jokes Anthony.

Once they realized the membership method was profitable, the couples moved the operation up to New York City. 

The last New York City location for the café was in a third floor loft in a residential area. With little visibility and signage, the café quickly had trouble turning a profit. Determined not to let lack of advertising be an issue again, Anthony negotiated with the landlord to have ads for Fair Folks placed in the windows for a few months before the café opened at it’s new Greenwich Village address in the fall. The extra marketing paid off and by the end of the summer the couple had 60 members signed up.

Only ten days after opening, Fair Folks & A Goat has already racked up 160 members willing to pay $25 a month for an unlimited supply of caffeine and seems to show no signs of stopping. “I think we’ll cap it at 300 here and if this level of interest continues we’ll open another location,” says Anthony.

Miss Subways Reunite to Celebrate New Book

Shirley Martin with her Miss Subway poster.

Former Miss Subways gathered with their families in Ellen’s Stardust Diner to toast the launch of the new book “Meet Miss Subways: New York’s Beauty Queens 1941-76.”

The Miss Subways contest was a program launched by New York Subways Advertising in 1941. The New York City woman that won the contest would appear on posters in NYC Subways. A new winner was chosen every few months until 1976.  

Of the 200 total women who won Miss Subway, around 60 are still living and well enough to travel. Around 30 former winners were at the event. The oldest attendee was Ruth Mate, who won Miss Subway in 1942.

Owner of the Stardust Diner Ellen Hart was herself a Miss Subway in 1959. The diner features a collection of Miss Subway posters on the windows.

“I was a Miss Subway so I decided to start hanging the posters up, this was 1982,” said Hart, “after that we just kept having reunions and collecting posters from the women.”

Author Fiona Gardner attended one of these reunions. After seeing Hart’s Miss Subway posters and meeting the Miss Subways, Gardner decided to turn their stories into a book. Funded by KickStarter, Gardner wrote “Meet the Miss Subways.”

All the former beauty queens brought the poster version of themselves that hung in the subways decades ago. Each one was given Miss Subway sashes to wear and looked just as glamorous as they had in black and white.

Event organizers collected donations from the guests, all proceeds from the reunion were used to purchase metro cards for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Not every attendee was a Miss Subway. Patty and Jeff Barnett came with a poster of their mother won Miss Subway in 1943. “We’re here to represent her memory,” said Patty.

When the final photo of all the former winners was taken, organized made sure the poster of Patty and Jeff’s mother was included. “It’s the sisterhood of Miss Subways,” said Hart.

In addition to the book, there will also be a Meet the Miss Subways exhibition at the New York Transit Museum from October 23 to March 25.

Discussing Rape in Conflict and How Men Can Help

Feminist activist from around the globe gathered for a discussion panel with six leaders of The International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict attempting to answer the question “Is it possible to stop rape in conflict?”

The event, held in the TriBeCa Performing Arts Center on Monday, featured two of the six living female Nobel Peace Laureates, Dr. Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams. Ebadi was award the prize in 2003 for her fight to protect human rights in Iran. Williams won in 1997 for her International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

Rounding out the panel were Patricia Guerrero, director of the League of Displaced Women in Colombia; Susanna Sirkin, creator of Physicians for Human Rights’ Program against Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones; and Dr. Denis Mukwege, founder of Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the few hospitals in the region that treats rape victims.

Before the discussion began, feminist author Robin Morgan offered some context, reminding the mostly female audience that, “there is a direct correlation between the violence of a state and the treatment of it’s women”.

Guerroro discussed how rape is a part of the power struggle in Columbia.

Ebadi explained how female political prisoners in Iran are raped in jail to further humiliate them.

Mukwege shared stories of mass rape in the DRC, where women, sometimes 300 or more, are raped in village centers.

“Rape is not just a weapon of war, but a strategy of war” he said.

Mukwege has performed approximately 15,000 operations on women for rape related injuries.  

Rape in patriarchal societies becomes a way to insult the males, explains Ebadi, “part of our work is to change this culture.”

The only male member of the panel, Mukwege encouraged other men to speak out against rape.

Audience member Joanna Hoffman, from Women Deliver, appreciated this appeal saying, “By not speaking up, [men] contribute to the silencing that often happens.”

Moving forward, the initiative intends to mobilize males.

“One component of the campaign will be male leaders who will publically discuss a man’s role in intervening,” said Birkin.