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Editor's Pick

On Display Online And Outdoors: 100 Contemporary Portraits

by Claire O'Neill

For the past four years, Andy Adams has been publishing Flak Photo — a website, in his words, that "promotes contemporary photography from an international community of artists." For a while it's been one of my go-to bookmarks for staying abreast of contemporary fine art.

This week, the Wisconsin-based editor is taking a brief sojourn in the nation's capital for FotoWeek DC, an eight-day celebration of photography. He has joined forces with Larissa Leclair of Indie Photobook Library to assemble '100 Portraits — 100 Photographers,' a projection of contemporary photography, now showing at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

  • By photographing his subjects in their houses, Zwelethu Mthethwa captures peole in their most comfortable environments. The South African artist has been documenting the social landscape in the wake of apartheid.
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    By photographing his subjects in their houses, Zwelethu Mthethwa captures peole in their most comfortable environments. The South African artist has been documenting the social landscape in the wake of apartheid.
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    From '100 Portraits, 100 Photographers,' Curated by Andy Adams and Larissa Leclair
  • In her series, Simulating Iraq, Claire Beckett documents the fabricated spaces designed to mimic Iraq and Afghanistan in the U.S. for military training. The simulations include specific architecture as well as objects and costumes, for Americans who role-play as Iraquis and Afghans.
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    In her series, Simulating Iraq, Claire Beckett documents the fabricated spaces designed to mimic Iraq and Afghanistan in the U.S. for military training. The simulations include specific architecture as well as objects and costumes, for Americans who role-play as Iraquis and Afghans.
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    From '100 Portraits, 100 Photographers,' Curated by Andy Adams and Larissa Leclair
  • "Using a photographic process linked to the times of ethnographic classification," photographer Myra Greene writes, "I repeatedly explore my ethnic features in Character Recognition."
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    "Using a photographic process linked to the times of ethnographic classification," photographer Myra Greene writes, "I repeatedly explore my ethnic features in Character Recognition."
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    From '100 Portraits, 100 Photographers,' Curated by Andy Adams and Larissa Leclair
  • Blood on the Streets, David Griggs
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    Blood on the Streets, David Griggs
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    From '100 Portraits, 100 Photographers,' Curated by Andy Adams and Larissa Leclair
  • David Maisel's series History's Shadow comprises re-photographed x-rays of art objects from antiquity.
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    David Maisel's series History's Shadow comprises re-photographed x-rays of art objects from antiquity.
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    From '100 Portraits, 100 Photographers,' Curated by Andy Adams and Larissa Leclair
  • Swimmer by Shane Lavalette
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    Swimmer by Shane Lavalette
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    From '100 Portraits, 100 Photographers,' Curated by Andy Adams and Larissa Leclair
  • Photographer Suzanne Opton's "Soldier Billboard Project" consisted of several portraits like this one — of soldiers flat on the ground. The images appeared in public spaces, such as the D.C. metro.
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    Photographer Suzanne Opton's "Soldier Billboard Project" consisted of several portraits like this one — of soldiers flat on the ground. The images appeared in public spaces, such as the D.C. metro.
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    From '100 Portraits, 100 Photographers,' Curated by Andy Adams and Larissa Leclair
  • From My Generation, by Andreas Konrath
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    From My Generation, by Andreas Konrath
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    From '100 Portraits, 100 Photographers,' Curated by Andy Adams and Larissa Leclair
  • In his series, Fall River Boys, photographer Richard Renaldi captured young men coming of age in the small-town industrial landscape of Fall River, Mass.
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    In his series, Fall River Boys, photographer Richard Renaldi captured young men coming of age in the small-town industrial landscape of Fall River, Mass.
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    From '100 Portraits, 100 Photographers,' Curated by Andy Adams and Larissa Leclair
  • Days With My Father, by Phil Toledano, captured the slow process of losing his father, and his father's slow loss of memory.
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    Days With My Father, by Phil Toledano, captured the slow process of losing his father, and his father's slow loss of memory.
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    From '100 Portraits, 100 Photographers,' Curated by Andy Adams and Larissa Leclair

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It's a very small sampling of what has appeared on Flak Photo. And an even smaller sample of 10 can be seen here. For Adams, an online element was also essential; "the intersection of online publishing, social media and community collaboration are inspiring forces in my current photo work," he wrote in an email. And so, for those who are not in D.C., he has also assembled a web exhibition, which you can see on his website.

Learn more about FotoWeek DC on the festival website. And stay tuned for more FotoWeek-related fodder.

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