A few years before he passed, my friend Jason Polan ​and I were talking about illustrators we loved. I mentioned Joana Avillez. He stopped cold, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “dangerously cool.” And then repeated it for emphasis followed by, "She's the best." I had always wanted to work with her for Tinybop ​, or one of my many children’s book projects—not for her coolness, which I’m sure she has in spades—but for her good taste and light touch. As someone who’s enjoyed following her art ​, children’s book picks ​, and vintage photo obsessions ​ for years, she never seems to miss. Today’s NY Times posted a nice feature on Avillez ​ on her six-year journey illustrating a new edition of Joseph Mitchell’s “ The Bottom of the Harbor ​.” If you don’t know the book, Science Survey ​ explains why it was important and how Avillez’ work brings it to life. They describe Mitchell as a listener. I characterize Avillez as a noticer. This is a great match, and I can’t wait to get my copy.

I’m a fan of single images that tell stories. 

Sara Messigner​ is someone who notices things and sees stories all around. I love the combination of spontaneity and intensity of her images. As camera phones have become ubiquitous and everyone has become more camera-aware and it’s become increasingly difficult to make a truly candid image, yet Ms. Messigner seems to do it over and over again.

Golden Age
I sometimes picture the ink

flowing from the books

thrown into the Tigris

by Hulegu Khan‘s army.

You never know it’s a golden age

'til it’s over.

Frames

If I open a shutter for a day,

people disappear.

In baobab  time,

Buildings vanish.

But consider the rock.

If you are a rock, there are only other rocks.

Forever.

Tortillas con azúcar

My abuelita 

made me sugar tortillas

and hot chocolate

every morning.

She and my abuelito

would joke about death

and about the conversations they would have on the other side.

She would say,

“Every day is the end of the world for somebody."

Between 1868 and 1872 Scottish photographer John Thomson made a series of trips in China travelling from Hong Kong to Beijing by boat and from Shanghai up the Yangtze to the Three Gorges. 

He produced a book of over 200 photos ​ arranged as a travelouge taking Europeans into Chinese homes of rich and poor. The photo above for example was taken in the home of Mr. Yang "a gentleman enormously rich, and holding an official rank in Peking.” (Thomson was clearly enchanted with Yang’s courtyard home which he described as "a paradise.”)

 

Many of the interior windows were covered with rice paper. Thomson noted that women (who were sequestered from the men) would touch their tounges to the paper making it temporarily transparent to peer through the spots as he passed by.

Look at these images full sized. There’s a lot hidden in the details. Unlike many other early photographers he didn’t spend all his time photographing palaces and ruins. He also captured a lot of daily life including peasants, merchants, and criminals. 

It’s an extraordinary peek into a the complex layered society that would be swept away by the series of wars and revolutions that would  roil China for the much of the next 80 years. 

More early photography from China: Historical Photographs of China, Shackford Collection​, Cornell University Collection​ (search for “China") .