E-Photo
Issue #159  4/1/2009
 
Responses to Newsletter #159

Even though I probably alienated whole countries with my last tongue-in-cheek newsletter, I thought I would share some of the emails and Facebook comments with you all:

Good one, Alex! I was so excited to read about the $4 Billion for the arts…until I kept reading!

--William Greiner, photographer

Fantastic!!!! Thanks, Alex.

--Bonni Benrubi, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York City

I enjoyed your April Fool's E-Photo Newsletter. I simply could not imagine how a swarm of locusts could invade the Armory!

--Susan L. Edlis, collector

Alex, You brought a smile to my face!

In appreciation,

--Weston Naef, Curator Emeritus, Dept. of Photographs, J. Paul Getty Museum

Hello from Stuttgart, this unimportant and unknown city near Baden-Obama-Baden. How are you? Thank you for your funny newsletter. John and I have often reminded you about the two most important things to have at a fair--first the pistol in your booth for protection against unpopular artists and second the security-frogs against all these other insects. Hope you had a good show and a good time in NYC anyhow.

--Anja Klafki, artist

Too funny, Alex! You are jaded though! Great to see you at the show.

--Lisa Newlin Galeano, art consultant, New York City

Hi, Alex. Great work! I think we could all use a good laugh.

--Daile Kaplan, Swann Galleries

Superb!

--Barry Singer, Barry Singer Gallery, Petaluma, CA

Terrific! Thanks! May I pass it on???

--Carl Chiarenza, photographer/artist/educator

Wow. How tired was I last night that I didn't even "get" that the newsletter was a joke? Unbelievable! I should've known Bill R. Taxpayers wasn't a real person. I kept wondering how his last name was pronounced. I really need a vacation.

--David Spivak, publisher, Focus Magazine

It was great to see you and AIPAD and thanks for the Fools Newsletter. The concept of Damien Hirst as a Toxic Art Asset really fits the times.

--Tom Southall, Harn Museum of Art/Univ. of Florida

No bugs in my booth.

--David Scheinbaum, Scheinbaum & Russek, Ltd., Santa Fe, NM

"Because they were on a plastic base and were not particularly taste-worthy." LOL

--David Chow, Camera Obscura, Providence, RI

Alex, you almost got me, but bells started ringing after a few seconds into reading. Glad AIPAD was so successful. Photography endures!

--Helena Srakocic, photography dealer and consultant

Hi, Alex. I love it. No fooling!

--Howard Greenberg, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York City

Thanks for the laugh! Great.

--Ann Thomas, National Gallery of Canada

Dear I Photo Central, fantastic spoof! Thanks much and all my best.

--Saul Robbins, photographer

You got me. I did not realize that it was April Fool's day until 20% into your newsletter. Good job! We all need a little laugh.

--Richard Glance, collector

The locusts eating the Cartier-Bresson prints? That I could believe. But the Republicans backing the arts? That was just going too far. Thank you for making my day.

--Daniel Quat, collector

Mmmmmm...tasty photographs. Thanks for a smile at 2 am.

--Bill Stanton

Nice one!

--Serge Plantureux, Serge Plantureux Gallery, Paris

Love the stimulus package for the arts. I am on my way to Kinko's to copy me some Marlborough ads right now! I will have to hurry as the Japanese government recently announced that all ads featuring Americans will be banned. In response, Marlborough announced today it will cast Japanese in its famous cowboy ads.

--Kjeld Duits, Photographer, Journalist and Producer

Dear Alex, thanks for the great newsletter and again for the pass to AIPAD. I hope you did really well!

--Amy Kaufman, collector

Dear Mr. Novak, I take umbrage (usually two spoonfuls with coffee) with your latest newsletter's stance on the photography market. It should sit occasionally. Are you aware that two-thirds of the world's population has never placed a photograph in their salad spinner! The other third insists on Thousand Island dressing on their salt prints. What have we become--a nation of idling idylls?

You can glean my limp jottings that reading your droll wags have found an outlet to this fellow purveyor of prints and have inspired a quick dash to the typing board to send this missive. Carry on your carefully organized punning and hopefully your merchandise will not be handled by a beefy baggage handler who writes autobiographical fiction during his leisure time.

Sincerely,

Winston "See If You Can Find My" Link, dec.

Al, how can you kick me off your Facebook page after the prank you pulled with your newsletter? I was about to send the NEA part of the newsletter to my art friends in NY. I'm gonna get you for this. Look out for Ron Feldman.

--Larry Baumhor, photography dealer, New York City

Great newsletter. Perfect tone. You had me for a minute. Too bad you had to fess up at the end, but I understand it is a business letter. May all your sales today be real ones.

--Sharon Collins, photographer

Hah! Love the newsletter, and April Fool's back to you.

--Steve Weinrebe, photographer and educator

Alex, thank you so much for the April Fool's E-Photo Newsletter #159. I don't advise anyone to read it when drinking their early-morning coffee. I laughed out loud a couple of times, but otherwise I can warmly recommend it!

--Sebastian Dobson, photography dealer and consultant, London

Fabulous!

--Shawn O'Sullivan

You seem a little punchy in the newsletter.

--Erin Waters, photography dealer, Lancaster, PA

Yowsa!

--Annie Seaton, artist

"Vern Acular"! Great newsletter, Alex. The best in years…

--Xavier DeBeerst, AnamorFose Gallery, Izegem, Belgium

I enjoyed your "topical" newsletter of today, but please help a poor foreigner understand the finer points of Republican language: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said, "I'm down with the bling, bling, and the art thing. Anything that gets these Republican dudes tight with the hood. Dig?" I don't dig. Tight with the hood?

-- Hans-Josef Jeanrond, photographer

(From the editor: Yes, I know that one was definitely NOT something many, if not most, Europeans would understand. Mike Steele is the Republican's one Afro-American at the higher levels. He is known for his "colorful" street language, which has upset many in the Republican Party and has been parodied here a lot on our late television comedy shows. "Tight with the hood" means that you would be well liked by your district or constituents, although it is black street slang for close with your local friends. I may need an English translation for my newsletter (LOL, or laugh out loud).

Loved it, by the way. About the locusts and all. I'd have to say that most would eat up whatever I showed them, with only a few asking for smaller portions. I hate locusts on diets.

--Catherine Couturier, John Cleary Gallery Fine Art Photography, Houston, TX

Very well done! Particularly love the 100% premium headline. It is certainly beginning to feel that way.

--David Mahoney, collector

Ha-ha…

--Ellen Katrine Syverstad, Ellen K Fine Art Photography, Snarøya, Norway