Yancey strickler biography of michael jackson
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Michael Jackson?
Last week, office had the enlightening privilege of chatting with MJ’s personal photographer, Todd Gray, who has an entire room of work in the show.
You were Michael Jackson’s personal photographer. What did that entail?
That's correct. I photographed him in ’76—maybe ’75. Up until Thriller, I worked for him. Back then, big celebrities—even Muhammad Ali—had their own photographer. But photography was more complex—it wasn’t like you had a disposable camera in your pocket. So, if you wanted anything recorded, and you wanted to have control of what was taken, then you’d have a personal photographer. Basically, he’d call me to come to his house and photograph him doing some leisure activity, or going to an award show, or benefit. One thing was going to Disneyland with him because he wanted shots of him going on the rollercoasters. And then, of course, touring and recording sessions. So, for the Thriller sessions, I was presen
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Kickstarter is a darling of New York’s burgeoning tech scene—and the poster child for the crowd funding phenomenon—backed bygd Fred Wilson’s Union Square Ventures, lauded by Mayor Bloomberg, and having spawned copycats around the world. (There are Kickstarter-like services aimed at philanthropists, small-business owners, and even one for aspiring pornographers.) But Kickstarter, which the three founders launched in 2009, is an even bigger deal among young creative types, who have used the site to raise some $338 million for their projects.
The perennial men’s magazine cover girl stepped away from acting gods year to focus on the Honest Company. The Los Angeles start-up, which already employs roughly 50 people, offers a subscription service for nontoxic diapers and baby products. Alba founded the company with Christopher Gavigan—an author and children’s health guru—and Brian Lee, the co-founder of the buzzy fashion Web site, ShoeDazzle. In March, she raised $27 million from a group of
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Issue 26: Are You Experienced?
Soft Labor, is an occasional newsletter about trends in visual culture written bySarah Hromack.Related/Unrelatedis a highly heterogeneous, link-heavy feature whose style hearkens back to my earliest days as a digital editor. Soft Labor is a reader-supported publication and I invite you to share this newsletter andsubscribeat either the free or paid level.I appreciate you.
Hyperallergic just published my review of Harold Cohen: AARON, an exhibition of the late painter-cum-programmer’s work on view through mid-May at the Whitney. Thanks for giving it a read.
While walking through the show with its curator, my longtime colleague Christiane Paul, I was particularly struck by how the exhibition’s display conventions demonstrated Cohen’s multivalent artistic process — one that bridged a wide divide between forms, from painting to code. I didn’t say much about this in my review, but Paul’s interpretation of Cohen’s work couple