Are you really my friend? The facebook portrait project

slideshow video with music by bleubird

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Hollander) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 05:04:00 +0000

Portland Museum of Art

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:27:00 +0000

Wednesday, June 6, 12 p.m. to 12:30 p.m., Fourth Floor Gallery: Live streamed Gallery Talk with Tanja Hollander and Mark Bessire. You can watch and participate from the comfort of your own home by clicking this link!

Fundraiser #3 - Picture of the week - $25

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Every Monday I will offer a print for $25 *NOT* including shipping. Sometimes they will be small, sometimes large. Sometimes landscapes, sometimes portraits. You will also be added to the list of supporters for the project for your purchase. Buy now and buy often! And buy quick - you only have one week to purchase. Your name will also be added to the list of sponsors. If you would like me to e-mail you with a new picture every week or if you have any questions, pop me an e-mail.

I have added on a couple of options if you would like to buy in quantity OR not have to worry about missing a Monday. And I won't have to worry about buying film.

Title: Viewers choice! Any portrait you want - just tell me which one in the message box.
Date: 2010-2012
Size: 5x5"
Medium: Archival pigment print

Shout out from BBC - Persian

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:51:00 +0000

Originally posted on BBC Persian

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Gretchen, Clarence, Nell & Grant Williams, Ballwin, Missouri

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

title: Gretchen, Clarence, Nell & Grant Williams, Ballwin, Missouri

date: 2012

relationship: friends, met at Wade I.G.E. Elementary School

years known: Gretchen 30-35, Clarence 5-10

Matt Strauss & Gravy, St. Louis, Missouri

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

title: Matt Strauss & Gravy, St. Louis, Missouri

date: 2012

relationship: friends, art, met through Laura Fried

years known: 0-5

Adventures in New Orleans - day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:37:00 +0000

I met my sister, Emma in Boston and we flew down to New Orleans together for our annual pilgrimage to Jazz Fest. We were lucky enough to stay with friends Wayne & Louise in their beautiful Uptown house. I photographed them last year, so I knew they would be great hosts and historians. Even though I had some work to do, this trip was mainly going to be a vacation so I also extra excited to catch up on sleeping and reading, poolside. We took a quick dip, then went for po boys up the street, and then a long an arduous journey trying to get across town for my only scheduled shoot.

Cold and rainy Boston

Hot and sunny poolside NOLA.

Guy's Po Boys

Grilled shrimp po boy

We tried to take a cab, then got on the bus the wrong way, then the right way, then tried to transfer buses once we got to the French Quarter, then gave up and just walked to Brett's in the Marigny. What was ideally a 20 minute cab ride turned into a 2.5 hour transportation adventure. Part of the whole project, I suppose. Luckily, Brett was sympathetic to my plight to get to his house.

Brett & I went to Hampshire together, and vaguely remembered each other from college. We have mutual several mutual friends but we reconnected in Nola, un-Hampshire related. Last year, after I photographed Wayne & Louise, they took me to a dinner party at their friend Pablo's house, and Brett was there. We spent a lot of time talking and he was intrigued by the project.

He is working on a book, and was trying to get a chunk done before he left for NYC (I later found out to win a James Beard award- yay Brett!), so it was really awesome that he took a break from writing for the shoot & to have a beer with us. I was also honored that he asked if I wouldn't mind taking a few images for his author picture for the book - which we did outside on his patio with banana trees in the background.

And one more thing, as if Brett isn't kind enough, last month he tweeted the project to Mel, a Fresh Air producer, which then caused an amazing public radio chain reaction and a ton of publicity for the project. Thanks Brett!

Bus ride to the Marigny

Brett may win the prize for the coolest objects, although he is up against tuff competition

coffee table

Brett

Love the art up the stairs

kitchen

afternoon light kitchen

living room

Book jacket Brett

He sent us around the corner to Lost Love Lounge for the best spring rolls of my life and a giant bowl of Pho. Then we walked over to Vaso on Frenchman's Street to hear some music and caught a few minutes of a great brass band before I realized my wallet was missing and we had to go on a mad and fruitless search to find it.

Lost Love's bar

Lost Love book shelf

Pho & spring rolls

Vaso Lounge

Sarah, Joe, Genevieve & Ellie Francois, St. Louis, Missouri

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:20:00 +0000

title: Sarah, Joe, Genevieve & Ellie Francois, St. Louis, Missouri

date: 2012

relationship: friends, met through Tania Allen

years known: Sarah 25-30, Joe 5-10

Shout out from Radio Bremen - Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Hollander) — Sun, 27 May 2012 23:36:00 +0000

Originally posted on Radio Bremen

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Jenn Sichel & Kristine Moss, Chicago, Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Hollander) — Sat, 26 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

title: Jenn Sichel & Kristine Moss, Chicago, Illinois

date: 2012

relationship: friends, art, met through Laura Fried

years known: Jenn 5-10, Kristine 0-5

Kate Sedey & Erik Tonneson, Chicago, Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Hollander) — Sat, 26 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

title: Kate Sedey & Erik Tonneson, Chicago, Illinois

date: 2012

relationship: friends, family friends, met through Toby Hollander

years known: Kate 25-30, Erik 0-5

Adventures in St. Louis - day 11

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:21:00 +0000

On my last day in St. Louis, I had a shoot with Gar & Larry. Gar is my childhood friend Tania's dad, he is also a biologist and professor at Washington University. His partner, Larry is a flight attendant. Gar & I spent a beautiful morning having coffee in the back yard and catching up. Lafayette Square is another neighborhood packed full of incredible victorian architecture. I loved going to their house as a kid (and adult) so I was extra happy to be able to include them in the project. This trip to St. Louis also made me realize how important my friends families were to shaping my identity now.

Gar & Larry's gorgeous Lafayette Square house

Bench in the backyard

Backyard coffee time

Gar & Larry

dinning room

old timey light switch

dinning room mirror & fire place

love the tall ceilings!

living room

And enough time before my plane took off to hit two museums! First stop the Contemporary Art Museum where Juan & Keirsten told me to go see their friend Brandon's show. The last time I was in St. Louis it wasn't open so it was great to see the space. Then off to Forest Park where the St. Louis Art Museum is. The park is over 1000 acres and besides being home to the museum, it's home to many cultural institutions in St. Louis. I have fond memories of the zoo, ice skating, sledding, concerts as a child and some getting into trouble memories of "the bridge" where we used to hang out as teenagers.

There are not a lot - actually I don't think there any other museums I would describe as "warm" but SLAM definitely has a coziness to it. I don't know if its because I have fond childhood memories, if its the fact that everyone is actually nice (a trait of the midwest, for sure), if its because its FREE, or its just the vibe it gives off. They have a great contemporary collection and I saw a fantastic photography show.

Fox Theatre

I remember loving this building when I was a kid

Chrıstodoulos Panayıotou

Brandon Anschultz

Amazing view of the windows/street

St. Louis Art Museum

I remember sledding down this hill as a kid

I also remember field trips to the Museum

The great entry hall

Gerhard Richter painting

Jenny Holtzer's are sprinkled through out

Isak Applin, Chicago, Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

title: Isak Applin, Chicago, Illinois
date: 2012
relationship: friends, art, met through David Wolfe
years known: 10-15

Magalie Guerin, Chicago, Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

title: Magalie Guerin, Chicago, Illinois
date: 2012
relationship: friends, art, met through Angela Dufresne
years known: 10-15

Rick Sindel, St. Louis, Missouri

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

title: Rick Sindel, St. Louis, Missouri
date: 2012
relationship: friends, family friends, met through Toby Hollander
years known: 25-30

George & Zoe Tarmy, Chicago, Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:54:00 +0000

title: George & Zoe Tarmy, Chicago, Illinois
date: 2012
relationship: friends, met through Moira Greenspun Tarmy
years known: 0-5

Adventures in St. Louis - day 10

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:52:00 +0000

The first shoot of the day was with Juan and Kiersten, who like Matt I also met through Laura a few years ago in Colorado. It was great to see them again, since while in CO Juan and I talked a lot about art and photography. I was just starting to shoot portraits, and he was trying to figure out what was next for him. He had been running an alternative space, Boots and was thinking he was ready to move on. Kiersten was also wanting to move on from her job at the St. Louis Contemporary Museum.

We all came full circle, and left the jobs we had to pursue new projects. They are working collaboratively with different community organizations in North St. Louis on an incredible creative urban project to build a bee sanctuary in what once was the Pruitt-Igoe projects. Now it an over grown multi acre urban jungle.

Northside Workshop is their home base and the Old North Saint Louis Restoration Group is a partnering organization. Both have super cool missions and are doing so much to help restore the unbelievable architecture & community.

Although we're coming at it from completely different angles, we are both figuring out how to build community around creative thinking - the process of making work is just as important as the work itself. They also deserve a huge congratulations for receiving Art Matters & Guggenheim Foundation grants.

I was lucky enough to arrive the day after the bees came and invited myself out to lunch with them and along to see the hives and meet the bees!

The Hasselblad & awesome bookshelves

I have a soft spot for both vintage dishes & cameras

I love the open shelf kitchen

living room

more cool things

Juan & Kiersten

Kiersten making sugar water aka bee food

Stopping in to say hello to Juan's mom & aunt

Toasted ravioli, a St. Louis favorite!

First stop, the studio to pick up bee supplies

door in studio building

Does everyone have a crate in their studio?

hive innards

hives

Kiersten with supplies

view from North Side Workshops

Juan has to stand back as the bees got mad at him the day before

Kiersten prepares the food

Hive before the added box

Kiersten feeding the bees

I love the color scheme

church in North St. Louis

Then to Mary Anne and Joe's. Mary Anne and my dad were law partners when I was a kid, fighting the good fight. Mary Anne has turned her specialty into representing employees in discrimination cases and is a force to be reckoned with. Joe is a librarian at the St. Louis public library. I also used to baby sit for them (I shot their daughter Kate while I was in Chicago). It was great fun catching up and again picking up years later as if we had seen each other the day before. Their house is another gorgeous example of St. Louis architecture, the wood work and detail is unreal.

front of the house

light in the living room

Living room

Entry way

two charis

tv room with one of my photographs!

Mary Anne & Joe

pre-gaming dinner on the deck with Jess, Sherry & Joe

sunset across the street

dinner on the hill!

Susan & Tony Villasana, Clayton, Missouri

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:22:00 +0000

title: Susan & Tony Villasana, Clayton, Missouri
date: 2012
relationship: friends, family friends, met through Toby Hollander
years known: Susan 25-30, Tony 10-15

Shout out from The Marker - Israel

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Hollander) — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:23:00 +0000

Originally posted on The Marker

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Shout out from ABCnews.com

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:35:00 +0000

Originally posted on ABC news:

Facebook Portrait Project: Photographer Sets Out to Meet Her 600-Plus ‘Friends’

By Deana Mitchell

May 18, 2012 1:58pm

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is set to earn billions by  today’s end, with the company’s launch of its IPO. So as our friend  counts continue to grow, one photographer, Tanja Alexia Hollander, set  out to find just how many of her FB friends are actual friends.  With  her FB friend list set at 626 friends (it’s grown higher since),   Hollander decided to  meet face-to-face with each of her contacts and  photograph them through a series of environmental portraits called “Are  you really my friend? The Facebook Portrait Project.”

Samantha Appleton, Washington, D.C.

All photos Tanja Alexia Hollander

Click here to contribute

Hollander was inspired to explore the idea of friendship in the  digital age one day when she was writing an old-fashioned, snail-mail  letter while also IM’ing with a friend. She began in February of 2011  and to date has photographed 251 “friends”, including former lovers,  distant acquaintances and a few people she had never actually met (some  of whom she now calls friends).

read and see more

Shout out from Inovadores ESPM - Brazil

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:42:00 +0000

Originally posted on Inovadores ESPM

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Jessica Sindel, St. Louis, Missouri

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Hollander) — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:21:00 +0000

title: Jessica Sindel, St. Louis, Missouri
date: 2012
relationship: friends, family friends, met through Toby Hollander
years known: 25-30

Alicia Sindel Vega, Juan Pablo & Sofia Vega, Clayton, Missouri

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:07:00 +0000

title: Alicia Sindel Vega, Juan Pablo & Sofia Vega, Clayton, Missouri
date: 2012
relationship: friends, family friends, met through Toby Hollander
years known: Alicia 25-30, Juan Pablo 0-5

Adventures in St. Louis - day 9 - the Sindel family in four parts

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:58:00 +0000

The Sindel's were family friends growing up, and I babysat for Jess and Alicia when they were little little. Although my parents had been in touch with their mom, we didn't reconnect until FB came along. Jess contacted me before the Christmas holidays, asking if she could commission me to photograph the now different parts of her family. Her parents had divorced and her sister was with a daughter. She wanted to give each of the different families a portrait for a present. I loved the idea.

I didn't realize what a meaningful present this was to her family until we were on our way home at the end of the day. In the same way that I have sought to document, historically, my network of friends and communities across the globe, Jess decided it was important to do that for her own family. The birth of her niece, Sofia - and the light of sunshine Sofia brings to everyone brought her two parents to a meaningful post-divorce place and she knew it's importance.

She is absolutely a force to be reckoned with, she had everyone on schedule and dinner planned afterwards where everyone gathered for a group photograph. I have a feeling, like me, her family is still wondering what exactly happened on Sunday, April 15, 2012.
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The first stop was her sister, Alicia's place. I met her husband Juan Pablo, and the ever charming Sofia. Alicia works for a company that lives streams music events and Juan Pablo works with international engineering and shipping (I think).

gorgeous deco tiled hallway in the building

Sofia greeted me at the door and immediately showed me her fort

And her room

Gorgeous deco tiled bathroom

dining room

Juan Pablo fixes lunch which smells amazing

Wish we could of stayed for lunch!

I love this lamp

Sisters catching up

living room

Alicia, Juan Pablo, Sofia

Every kid needs a truck from Columbia

And every dog needs their portrait done

Sofia and her puzzle

Sofia sings and plays the Uke!

Then to her mom Susan and husband Tony's place down the road. Susan is a school psychologist and Tony hires journalists to cover major sports events. It was a hockey championship so he was busy at work but was able to take a few minutes and join us for the amazing lunch Susan made.

front of the house

front door kaleidoscope

Susan and Tony

backyard

Susan MADE me cheesecake!

dining room

I love the woodwork details

Preparing lunch

The beautiful and delicious lunch Susan prepared

Screened in porch

Sun room

Then to her dad, Rick's house - who like everyone else in the family has amazing collections of art and objects. Rick is a trial lawyer so if you ever find your self in need of a top notch defense attorney in Missouri, you know who to call.

Rick

Glass collection

Rick in the kitchen

small pottery

sculpture

salt n pepper shaker collection

sink

dining room table

Then back to Jess's house. I stayed with her the entire time I was in St. Louis, and she was a gracious and thoughtful host. She stocked the fridge, lent me her car and arranged every detail in advance of my arrival. If she wasn't in law school, I'd ask her to be my personal assistant! And, I fell in love with her sweet bungalow in the Dutchtown part of St. Louis.

ET sculpture in the backyard

Jess

stain glass windows

dining room

hall way with wood inlaid shelves

kitchen

kitchen table

living room with awesome shelves and art collection

sitting room

Awesome chachkas

Then to dinner for the grand finale picture, the entire family around the dinner table. I sat across from Rick's girlfriend, Sarah who is GAL like my father (who I worked for many years) and we had a great time exchanging stories.

The whole family at dinner

Sarah & Rick

Sofia eats mussels and loves them!

Ten shoots back to back two days in a row = feet up and bottle of wine.

Anne, John, Kate & Emma Freeman, Houston, Texas

noreply@blogger.com (Tanja Alexia Hollander) — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

title: Anne, John, Kate & Emma Freeman, Houston, Texas
date: 2012
relationship: friends, art, met through Amy Munger
years known: 0-5