Ten artists found a way to make vacant commercial space incredibly exciting. I wandered by 25 Central Park West on a walk in my neighborhood a few days ago and saw artists inside. They were hard at work cleaning, preparing and hanging their pieces. Tapping on the window was one of my smartest moves this week. By doing so, I learned of a new exhibition, which opened Wednesday night. The show, 10 from 25: Emerging Artists using Photography, is set to run through December 13, 2009. It includes flat art and video, bringing to life an empty space in a part of Manhattan generally forgotten by the art community.

The artists, including Bess Greenberg, who gave me a tour of the space as she and the other artists prepared for opening night, have created an integrated show that doesn't sacrifice the message of each of the participants. So, in addition to a group exhibition, visitors are treated to 10 individual efforts, in which one can appreciate a specific style without having to cope with the intrusion of other pieces on his experience.

Now through November 19, artnet Auctions is featuring Faces & Figures, a special sale of 375 photographs by famous artists including Nan Goldin, Santé D'Orazio, David LaChapelle, Helmut Newton, Bert Stern and Pamela Hanson. The stunning sale features several nude supermodel portraits, including a nude of Carla Bruni by Hanson from 1994, vastly underestimated at $1,500 - $2,000 considering an identical one sold over the summer for $18,000. Other highlights include nudes of Frederique Van Der Wal from 1990 by D'Orazio, $1,000 - $1,500; a sexy snap of Gisele Bundchen by Mark Seliger (above) from 2000, estimated at $8,000 - $10,000; and a nude Gisele astride a horse by Walter Chin, $4,000 - $6,000. A nude of Pamela Anderson by LaChapelle is expected to fetch $18,000 - $24,000, and there several famous nudes of Marilyn Monroe by Stern. Also included are portraits of rock stars including the Rolling Stones, artists like Warhol and Basquiat, and celebs like Jackie Kennedy and Marlon Brando.

You may remember she hit pause. studios from our previous article on the gritty, sexy polaroids when they went up at Alison Nelson's Chocolate Bar at Henri Bendel (Sexy Polaroids at Henri Bendel). Well, we're not the only ones who love artist Matt Schwartz's provocative photography -- Catherine Zeta-Jones does, too.

"She will be hanging them in her dressing room for her new Broadway show," says Schwartz, who sold five photos to Zeta-Jones. The Oscar-winning Welsh superstar will be making her Broadway debut alongside Angela Lansbury in a revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical "A Little Night Music," which is slated to open December 13. This is Schwartz's first major celebrity sale. We knew about him first, CZJ!

You can order prints unframed or framed in the artist's signature weathered barnwood from she hit pause -- check out some of the new photos, like the above "white legs + bridge (brookyn)," here, or see them in person at the Union Square Holiday Market November 23 - December 25.

We have always been entranced by the history, both cultural and architectural, of the grand country houses of England. The London-based magazine Country Life has long been the essential chronicle of these iconic estates, having featured a different country house in each weekly issue since it was founded back in 1897 and advertised many hundreds more in its property pages. A stunning new book, The English Country House, by Mary Miers from Rizzoli is sourced from the magazine's incredible archives. More than 400 images, mostly in color, highlight 62 houses encompassing a range of architectural styles spanning seven centuries beginning with the medieval Stokesay Castle and also examining the decoration, gardens, and landscapes, settings that inspire a continuing tradition of sporting style via country pursuits pursued with panache such as hunting and shooting, as well as whole schools of interior design.

As a result of its famous series of beautifully illustrated and authoritative articles, Country Life amassed an "astonishing library of photography and scholarship that provides a fascinating record of changing tastes and approaches to the country house and its garden over the past century," Miers notes. The book is illustrated almost entirely with images from its famous picture library, many of them by leading photographers of their day. The focus is not on the world-famous palaces that have now become museums, but rather the sort of houses to which Country Life has had privileged access over the years, many of which are still private homes often occupied by descendants of the families that built them. In the gallery you can preview photos from the book of Parnham House in Dorset, Honington Hall in Warwickshire, Claydon House in Buckinghamshire, and Renishaw Hall in Derbyshire.



Spanning more than seven centuries, these houses were nearly all built as an "expression of status at the center of a landed estate, many interpreting the mainstream architectural trends of the day with their own distinctive provincial character," Miers notes. "They celebrate that rich seam of English domestic architecture that reflects, through a variety of material and design, the diversity of the English landscape and its regional traditions of craftsmanship." Punctuating the book at intervals in the form of booklet inserts on rich, uncoated paper are six essays by leading British architectural historians that set the English country house into its social context and chart "the changing tastes in decorating and collecting, the development of ancillary buildings, gardens and landscapes, and finally, its influence in the United States" in our own magnates' mansions.

Twenty rural retreats spanning the breadth of North America and over a century of architectural and social history are featured in author and photographer Bret Morgan's stylish new book Rustic. Examples include the Ames Gate Lodge, H. H. Richardson's "sublime pile of boulders" in Massachusetts; Camp Topridge, Marjorie Merriweather Post's rustic luxe compund in the Adirondacks; the Arts and Crafts masterpiece Charles Millard Pratt House in southern California; Fortune Rock, George Howe's striking modernist home on the coast of Maine; Robert A. M. Stern's nostalgic Spruce Lodge, hidden high in the Colorado Rockies; and Ledge House, Peter Bohlin's vision of rustic modernism in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland. All exemplify an "artfully informal aesthetic that celebrates the beauty of the natural world."

Pierre Borhan, former director of photography for the French Ministry of Culture, presents a compelling anthology of maritime photography since 1843 in his beautiful new book, The Sea. The slipcased volume features 300 color and black and white images ranging from historical photos, documentary photos, and art photos to archival works and pictures taken in the present day. Images include striking seascapes and perspectives, including lonely lighthouses, bustling port towns, early explorations of Antarctica and the Arctic Circle, and abstract compositions of waves,
water, and light by some of the world's best-known photographers. It makes a perfect gift for lovers of all things related to water and the ocean.

Gail Buckland's new book Who Shot Rock & Roll is the first to truly explore the extraordinary work of the photographers who captured the "energy, intoxication, rebellion, and magic" of rock, with images of icons ranging from Elton John to Led Zeppelin, Bjork to Janis Joplin, and James Brown to John Lennon, that have become icons unto themselves. Featuring more than 250 photos, including many rare and never-before-seen images, Who Shot Rock & Roll is an unparalleled compendium of portraits, live concert shots, behind-the-scenes snaps, and studio work selected for their aesthetic quality and power. The extended captions tell stories from the photographers, including everyone from Bib Gruen to Richard Avedon and David LaChappelle, that reveal their role as both "creative collaborators and tireless journalists."

Covering 1955 to the present, "Who Shot Rock & Roll is a silent window into a world of sound," Buckland says. "There are photographs of crowds and fans reminiscent of the great historical paintings of battle scenes where bodies blend and bend and faces radiate with what can only be described as transcendence. Snapshots reveal the passion, ambition, and insecurity of aspiring young musicians. There are portraits of godheads, objects of mass adoration; the best could hang next to paintings of Renaissance princes, so similar are these royals with their finery, wealth, and power." An accompanying exhibit just opened at the Brooklyn Museum and will run through the end of January and before traveling across the country through 2011.

The English aristocrat the 12th Earl of Drogheda, better known as Derry Moore to his friends, is an arbiter of taste and style but also an accomplished photographer for Architectural Digest and other magazines, as well as the the author of several books. His latest, In House, just published by Rizzoli, is a selection of interiors from what he considers to be some of the world's most remarkable residences photographed over the last 35 years. The 28 houses pictured within are richly diverse in style and period with a common thread of originality, eccentricity and aesthetic appeal. They range from an airy and colorful palace in Morocco to an "austere but whimsical" Scottish castle; an Art Deco masterpiece in Jodhpur to a cluttered apartment in Prague; and from the museum-like home of one of London's most macabre collectors to the "extravagant remnants of Madrid's aristocratic heritage." Each of the houses is accompanied by commentary from noted architecture and design writer Mitchell Owens, and is laid out with an eye to its unique character by award-winning graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook.

British photographer Norman Parkinson's name may not be terribly well known today, but his influence on a subsequent generation of fashion photographers is obvious from a new survey of his work just published by Rizzoli. Norman Parkinson: A Very British Glamour is a lavish portrait of Parkinson's long career from the 1930s through the 1980s, produced in a unique collaboration with the Norman Parkinson Archive in London. Parkinson got his start at Vogue in London, was a protégé of the great Alexander Lieberman at American Vogue when he came to New York, and did some of his most innovative work in the Diana Vreeland years there. In a career that spanned more than four decades, Parkinson worked with the greatest models, from Carmen Dell'Orefice, often called the first supermodel, who was Parkinson's early muse, to the young Jerry Hall, whom Parkinson shot for her first Vogue cover as well as in an historic 1975 shoot staged in the USSR. His iconic photographs for the likes of Vogue, Queen, and Harper's Bazaar are reproduced in the volume alongside a trove of previously unpublished fashion work.

On October 9th in New York, Sotheby's will stage a stunning sale of photographs including several nude portraits of supermodels, with work from the likes of Chuck Close, Peter Beard, Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton and more. One of the top lots is a series of six full frontal nudes of Kate Moss by Chuck Close taken in 2003, estimated at $100,000 - $150,000. Another high-priced draw is a portfolio of 12 semi-nude images of Marilyn Monroe taken in 1962 by Lawrence Schiller, estimated at $50,000 - $70,000. Two Peter Lindbergh portraits of Mick Jagger taken in 1995 are estimated at $30,000 - $50,000. And a nude of Stephanie Seymour by Richard Avedon taken in 1992 is estimated at $20,000 - $30,000, while this relatively tame image of Nadja Auermann by Irving Penn from 1994 is also a relative bargain at $6,000 - $9,000.

Contrary to popular belief in certain quarters, polo is not just a rich people's pastime confined to the Hamptons and Palm Beach; nor is it merely an extremely lucrative clothing empire founded by Ralph Lauren. In fact, it's an ancient and noble game, as well as the world's oldest team sport, that has evolved into an entire way of life. In her upcoming book Polo: The Nomadic Tribe (available for pre-order on Amazon), photographer Aline Coquelle chronicles all aspects of the ultimate equestrian pursuit, tracing polo from its nomadic origins to the incomparably chic lifestyle it encompasses today. Coquelle, who studied art and anthropology, traveled around the world for five years photographing and writing about each significant place along the route of polo's evolution, capturing all its courage, strength, speed, style, beauty, elegance and allure.

Polo was first played in Persia well before the 1st century AD. Warlike tribesmen played it with as many as 100 to a side in what was essentially a miniature battle. Later on it was passed from Persia to other parts of Asia including the Indian subcontinent and China, where it was very popular during the Tang Dynasty. The name polo is said to have been derived from the Tibetan word "pulu", meaning ball. The first polo club was established in the town of Silchar in Assam, India, in 1834. The British, who are seen as the main proponents of the sport today, picked it up in India and the classic style of the colonial era with its overtones of aristocrats and army officers gives polo much of its current cachet, cleverly marketed by the aforementioned Mr. Lauren and others.

Divided into geographic sections, Coquelle's book presents the sport on a global scale. At locations around the world, "the vibrant green carpeted fields, the carefully ornamented players, the brilliant sheen of their horses, and the deep brown leather of their saddles" provides an aesthetic link between polo's devotees - the "nomadic tribe" of the title. She reveals the essence of what has historically been called the "Sport of Kings" and the passion of its players from across the globe. Designed to be "the ultimate book on the sport of polo," Coquelle offers "an homage to beauty in pursuit of a modern perspective" while maintaining the spirit and sophistication of this centuries-old game. See the gallery for a preview of some stunning images from this incredible book.

We've known that watches are pretty, but sometimes watch photography can be too focused on the watch itself versus the watch in the world. A great timepiece looks good because it enhances your appearance and reminds you of something else, even if that reminder is subconscious. A recent photo essay that was republished on the French Intersection magazine blog. Photographed by Charles Helleu, the images take popular mainstream luxury watch models and places them in an industrial theme that the photographer felt best represented the character of the watch. For example you have the shown Rolex Milgauss watch among some sort of gearing. Follow the link below and you'll find masterful images such as a Brietling Chrono-matic 49 among fuses, a Chanel J12 Superloggera among screws, a Panerai Ferrari against a performance racing disc brake, and more. Many styles of watch photography can be found. Most do a good job of showing the appearance of a watch, but only the rogjt accompaniments really illustrate the character of a watch well.

Via Intersection blog (in French).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Scott Schuman, who worked in the fashion industry for 15 years before starting his now famous blog, The Sartorialist, and landing a column in GQ, has come out with a book of his stunning street portraits that's a must for any student of modern style.

The Sartorialist the book is a 500-page collection of Schuman's favorite photographs from around the world - "from the quiet dignity of a man with silk handkerchief carefully popping out of his jacket pocket, to the pride of a young woman who fashioned her father's shirt into a skirt, from the lightness of a diaphanous dress to the unexpected flash of neon under muted tones."

The Sartorialist captures the "inspirational aspect of people styling themselves in ingenious, playful, creative, unpredictable and distinctive ways," be they models, regular joes, fashion editors, or in a couple instances, children. Schuman sees inspiration in everything, be it gorgeous, garish, or just plain weird, as long as it's done with flair.

There are two versions of the book being published later this month: a $25 paperback (above) and a $175 "bespoke" limited edition hardcover. The Sartorialist was picked by Time magazine as one of the Top 100 design influencers, and has been lauded by the New York Times as "the bellwether American site that turned photoblogging into an art form."

The renovations have taken years, resulting in legal action from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and a $15 million lawsuit against Leibovitz by her next-door neighbor. The suit was settled in 2003, when the photographer bought the litigant's building for $1.87 million. So, she wound up paying for three properties (12,000 sq. ft. in all), which contributed to a tenuous financial situation and the loan from Art Capital Group, according to Bloomberg News.

These transactions were only part of a mountain of debt amassed by the photographer. From 1999 to 2008, Leibovitz borrowed extensively to purchase property and refinance the debt she was carrying. In total, her activity stretched to more than a dozen loans, Bloomberg News reports, all on the back of her real estate holdings. Two 2006 loans – for $4.7 million in November and $2.5 million in December – were extended by Rhinebeck Properties LLC, which happens to have the same address as Conde Nast Publications Inc.

When some people tell war stories, it's worth listening. Baron Wolman, Rolling Stone's first photographer, will mark the 40th anniversary of Woodstock by signing posters and sharing rock n roll stories at the Tory Burch store in the recently opened Malibu Lumber Yard shopping center on Aug. 13 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. At 8 p.m., he will do a multimedia presentation that includes his Woodstock photos, the 1969 Summer of Love in San Francisco, and the
early days at Rolling Stone magazine.

Prints of his photos of Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, and others will be available for purchase with a percentage of sales donated to the Malibu Legacy Park.

Baron lived in Haight Ashbury during the 1960s with neighbors who included The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin.