The SVA alumni included in the 10-year retrospective are Michael Bilsborough (MFA 2006 Illustration as Visual Essay), Steven Bindernagel (MFA 2006 Fine Arts), Matthew Craven (MFA 2010 Fine Arts), Brandon Davey (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Amy Elkins (BFA 2007 Photography), Daniel John Gadd (BFA 2008 Fine Arts), Yuhi Hasegawa (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Avery McCarthy (BFA 2008 Photography), Cesar Chavez Lechowick (MFA 2007 Photography, Video and Related Media), Dan Perrone (BFA 2005 Photography), Amy Stein (MFA 2006 Photography, Video and Related Media) and Ivar Theorin (BFA 2009 Fine Arts).

Current students participating in the SVA booth this year are Ranya Asmar (BFA Visual and Critical Studies Department), Victoria Batey (MFA Fine Arts Department), Andrew Brischler (MFA Fine Arts Department), Amanda Brown (BFA Fine Arts Department), Travis Brown (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department), Steven Chapman (MFA Fine Arts Department), Azhar Chougle (BFA Photography Department), Jeremy August Haik (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department), M. Benjamin Herndon (BFA Fine Arts Department), Eric Mistretta (MFA Fine Arts Department), Laura Murray (BFA Fine Arts Department) and Pacifico Silano (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department).

On Saturday, April 21, 4pm SVA Project Manager and alumnus Dan Halm (MFA 2001 Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 1994 Illustration), curator of the booth and the retrospective, will moderate Fair Game, a panel discussion between artists, gallerists and collectors. They’ll talk about how art fairs impact emerging artists and how, for collectors in particular, art fairs facilitate the discovery of new talent.

The Affordable Art Fair takes place April 18 – 22 at 7 West New York, located at 7 West 34th Street. Tickets are $12 a day or $10 a day for students and seniors with ID. Free admission is offered to the public on Thursday, April 19, 5 – 9pm. For more information, visit www.affordableartfair.us.

Image: Victoria Batey, Nobody puts Baby in a corner, 2012, spray paint, gouache, pen, and thread on canvas

MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department and BFA Photography Department faculty member Penelope Umbrico reflects on the anonymity of photographs in a limitless digital age and her 2011 work Signals Still/TVs from Craigslist is featured on the cover of the magazine.”Pictures are not still anymore…” writes Umbrico. “The image torrent is actually alive, emergent and perhaps more indexical than photography has ever been in the past.”

In an interview, MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department faculty member Liz Deschenes discusses her new series of photographs (currently on view in the Whitney Biennial) and the evolution of her practice. When asked about the connections she makes between her work that focuses on the mechanical process of creating photos and installations, Deschenes says, “I think both aspects of my practices have always existed. Over time, and through the accumulation of installations, I’ve been able to remove some of the more peripheral or external concerns that I previously used to give people access to my work.”

BFA Fine Arts faculty member Liz Magic Laser writes some thoughts on her unease with the interview form (something she also explored in her critically acclaimed piece for Performa 11 I Feel Your Pain) and what it means for artists. Laser noted that most interviews seem forced and unnatural since they ask artists to stand outside of their work to talk about their “real” intentions.

In his feature article entitled “Think and Shoot,” MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department faculty member Marvin Heiferman writes about the exhibition “Light Years: Conceptual Art and the Photograph, 1964 – 1977,” which was recently on view at the Art Institute of Chicago. “What makes ‘Light Years’ so timely is the fact that—with digital technology radically transforming the definition of and our relationship to photographic imagining—it’s clearly time to rethink what photography is, and can be, again,” he writes.

In addition to making album cover artwork for record companies, McBride began creating magazine editorials for celebrities like Jay-Z and Dennis Leary, and he has worked with Kid Rock for the last 12 years. “When I shot him the first time, he was amazed at how quickly I worked and how little of his time I wasted,” he explained in the article. Most recently, McBride’s ability to create editorials that appeal to multiple demographics has lead to opportunities to work in advertising where he has shot campaigns for companies like Pontiac (featuring rapper 50 Cent), Nike, and Volkswagen.

To read the entire article, pick up the Spring 2012 issue of Emerging Photographer or download the magazine’s app for iPad and iPhone.

On March 14 at 7pm in the SVA Theatre (333 West 23 Street), Pfluger, Lee, and fellow PDN’s 30 recipient Sam Kaplan will join The New York Times associate photo editor Clinton Cargill and Sony Artisan of Imagery Andy Katzfor a panel discussion on how to navigate the photo industry. They will talk about past experiences and techniques that helped them achieve success, what they learned or didn’t learn in school, and offer general career advice. The event will be moderated by PDN’s editor Holly Hughes, and refreshments will be served at a reception afterward. Sponsors include Sony, Adobe, Canson, the American Society of Media Photographers, PDN and the BFA Photography Department.

To view more work from the PDN’s 30 winners, visit the 2012 Gallery. For more information about the event, visit the SVA Events page.

Images: (top) Sir Ben Kingsley by Peter Ash Lee. (bottom) Photo by Ryan Pfluger.

Along with just seven other artists, SVA faculty member Tim Rollins (BFA 1977 Fine Arts) has been commissioned to create work for the Frieze New York 2012 art fair from May 4 – 7 in Randall’s Island Park, Manhattan. He will appear as part of Tim Rollins and K.O.S. (Kids of Survival), a group of at-risk students that he has collaborated with artistically since 1984. Other commissioned artists for Frieze New York 2012 include American novelist Rick Moody and artist Uri Aran. The annual event offers the opportunity to view artwork by more than 1,000 international artists and also includes debates, panel discussions and lectures. For more information, visit Frieze New York.

“As these people enter the last phase of their long and productive lives,” Wallenstein wrote about the project, “I believe they deserve to be celebrated. My photographs are meant to capture their spirit and beauty, and to inspire admiration by future generations.”

To learn more about the project and to donate, visit USA Projects.

Image: Photographer Editta Sherman by Ellen Wallenstein.

“There is a lot of daily life taking place on the streets,” Bazan said. “Neighbors talk to one another if they need a favor, if they need some matches or garlic and the exchange of several things.”

In order to publish Al Campo, Bazan reached out to the students he’d taught in Cuba. In response, more than 50 of them contributed both their talent and funds to help him get his book out to the world.

“It was a great privilege for me because I think I’m the only one with this incredible student support,” Bazan said. “Basically, I feel that, thanks to giving all of myself, I’ve been getting so much back.”

For the entire article and more photos, visit TIME.

After growing increasingly frustrated over the number of people she knew that had been sexually assaulted, Brown decided to create the blog as a platform for victims to share their stories and foster of community of supportive allies. “The attacker uses a lot of guilt and manipulation to either make the survivor think that it’s their fault or that they wanted it,” Brown told The Washington Post. “It’s also a common thread to see threats against the survivors if they don’t keep quiet.”

Since its launch in October 2011, Project Unbreakable has featured more than 100 photos of men and women. “It’s good for people who haven’t been victimized to see it and not make light of the issue,” Brown told The Toronto Star. “It’s not just something made up.” Since the project began, Brown discovered that sexual abuse is more common than most people realize. Each day, she receives dozens of emails with photographs and stories of survival. “You hear the statistics…but once you start realizing that a person you care about is another survivor, it turns your life upside down.”

In addition to Project Unbreakable, Brown is working on another photographic series called 50 Extraordinary Women, in which she plans to photograph 50 women who have inspired her. “This project traces my journey into womanhood,” she wrote about the project. “I want to be able to take a piece from each of these 50 women to mold myself into the woman I will become.”

Images from Project Unbreakable.

5) Manuel Aleman (BFA 2011 Advertising), Bo Mi Jo (BFA 2011 Advertising), Dahee Song (BFA 2011 Advertising), Raúl Cosculluela (BFA 2011 Advertising), and Nikolai Shorr (BFA 2011 Advertising), City Harvest Integrated Campaign

4) Dina Litovsky (MFA 2010 Photography, Video and Related Media), Untag This Photo

3) Twig Capra (current student, BFA Photography), Parasomnia

2) Maya Barkai (BFA 2005 Photography), Bed Landscapes

1) Eric Wagner (BFA 2006 Computer Art) and Sharon Ma, Greatest Card Trick Ever