All photos © Seth Kushner.

In Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics, just published by powerHouse Books, photographer Seth Kushner has captured the creators of such classic comic book figures as Spider-Man, Captain America and Fantastic Four. Kushner, a New York City environmental portrait photographer,  and writer Christopher Irving co-founded the web site Graphic NYC. They expanded the site into their book, which traces the story of the comic book from the late 1930s to modern-day graphic novels and memoirs through interviews, photos and reproductions of original sketches and panels.  Excelsior! (more…)

All photos © Jesse Frohman

Today marks the 18th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. These candid images of the icon of Grunge in his final days with Nirvana are an entertaining record of the band during the height of grunge in the 90′s. On assignment from the Sunday Observer, photographer Jesse Frohman had one day to photograph Nirvana before one of their largest concerts in New York City at Roseland Ballroom on November 15th, 1993.

In the exhibition, Kurt Cobain By Jesse Frohman, the photographer unveils some rare and previously unseen images. The exhibition is on view at The Morrison Hotel Gallery in Soho from Friday, April 6th through Sunday, April 22nd.

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All photos © Peter Ash Lee/Art + Commerce

New York-based editorial and commercial photographer Peter Ash Lee photographed Sir Ben Kingsley for his magazine Corduroy. The night before the shoot, Lee re-watched Kingsley’s movie Sexy Beast, so he was quite nervous to meet “Don Logan” (his character from the movie).  He ended up being a really nice guy and worked with Lee for over two hours on location at the Handel House Museum where Frederick Handel composed “Messiah.” Jimi Hendrix also lived in the house for a few years before it was converted to the museum.

Lee was recently named one of PDN‘s 30: New and Emerging Photographers to Watch. Join us tonight at the School of Visual Arts for a free seminar, moderated by PDN‘s editor Holly Hughes, with  PDN‘s 30 photographers Peter Ash Lee, Ryan Pfluger and Sam Kaplan; photo editor Clinton Cargill from The New York Times Magazine; and Sony Artisan of Imagery, Andy Katz. The event takes place at the SVA Auditorium, 333 W. 23rd Street, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. (a reception will follow the event). (more…)

Herb Ritts, Richard Gere – Poolside, 1982, C-type print, Courtesy of the Herb Ritts Foundation, Los Angeles © Herb Ritts Foundation

Southern California’s swimming pool culture is the subject of a new photography book, Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool in Southern California, 1945–1982 (DelMonico Books, $60), which features work by photographers and artists like Bill Anderson, John Baldessari, Ruth Bernhard, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha, Julius Schulman and Larry Sultan. The book serves as a catalogue for an exhibition of the same name that is currently showing through May 27 at the Palm Springs Art Museum in California. The book and exhibition document the private swimming pool’s rise in popularity as suburban communities grew following World War II, and also consider the pool as an icon of Hollywood and celebrity culture; as an architectural element; and as a symbol of wealth and status. (more…)

"Girl reading comic book in newsstand" by Teenie Harris (c. 1940-1945) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

For over 40 years Charles “Teenie” Harris documented life in and around Pittsburgh’s Hill District for the influential black newspaper the Pittsburgh Courier. Affectionately called “One Shot” due to the brisk manner in which he photographed his subjects, Harris spent as much time shooting the everyday people of the neighborhood as he did the famous people who visited it. With close to 80,000 negatives in his archive, he is said to have best captured the urban African-American experience during the 20th century.

The Carnegie Museum of Art acquired Harris’s archive in 2001 and set out preserving, cataloguing and digitizing the images. The museum is currently exhibiting the first major retrospective of his work, “Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story.” The exhibit includes a life-size projection of close to 1,000 of Harris’s images set to an original jazz score; a chronological display featuring small prints of those same images; and a mini-exhibit of 12 16 x 20-inch prints selected by various experts. The exhibit will stay in Pittsburgh through April 7 and then move on to the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library.

"Duke Ellington at piano, with dancer Honey Coles and Billy Strayhorn looking on, in the Stanley Theatre" by Teenie Harris (c. 1942-1943) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

"Woman outside Kay’s Valet Shoppe" by Teenie Harris (c. 1938–1945) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

"Soldiers from the 372nd Infantry marching in parade, Fifth Avenue, Downtown" by Teenie Harris (c. July 1942) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

"Three men and a woman at a restaurant counter" by Teenie Harris (c. 1948–1960) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

"Protesters with UNPC signs outside United Mine Safety Appliance Company, Braddock Avenue, Homewood" by Teenie Harris (c. October 1963) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

"Lena Horne reflected in mirror in dressing room at Stanley Theatre" by Teenie Harris (c. 1944) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

"Roland M. Sawyer and Aileen Eckstein Sawyer posed on their wedding day on steps of The Thimble Shop, 5913 Bryant Street, Highland Park" by Teenie Harris (c. August 1938) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art