History will be made in Brooklyn this weekend as the New York Photo Festival opens in DUMBO — the first international-level festival of photography to be based in the U.S.

In the debut of this new annual event, four internationally respected curators present their vision of the newest and most important trends in contemporary photography:

Magnum photographer Martin Parr’s “New Typologies” highlights the use of the photographic series as an attempt to bring order to the chaos around us. The New York Times Magazine picture editor Kathy Ryan looks at sculptural and painterly qualities of recent photography in “Chisel”. Lesley A. Martin of the Aperture Foundation reflects on “the replication and reproduction of the photographic image in “The Ubiquitous Image”, focusing on how contemporary artists are using the seemingly limitless cache of disseminated images to create their own work”, and Tim Barber of tinyvices.com presents over 300 images in “Various Photographs” that showcase work from well established to unknown photographers.

In addition to the curated pavilions, the Festival features seminars, portfolio reviews, slide shows, book signings, photographic workshops, live performances and events, and a gallery row. The festival is poised to satisfy any culture cravings whether you’re a professional photographer, an amateur or an appreciator. If you’re in New York this weekend, make sure to head under the bridge and check it out.

For tix click here and for more info on the New York Photo Festival, click here.

New York Photo Festival
Thursday May 15 – Sunday May 18
10:00am – 7:00pm

Laura Marie and Ashley Dimes over at DimePiece Designs have been busy since we last spoke up about their femme-power revolutionizing. Since then, their mission — to dress all the dimepiece women out there in looks to match their savvy sexiness and street n book-education — has taken off from New York to Tokyo, Queensland to Quebec and Zurich to D.F., Mexico.

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Damn. Damn. Damn. Sure, there’s a shitload of nonsense on YouTube. In its short lifespan, we’ve all come to realize that. But every once in a while, a shimmering ray of hope descends from the HyperText Heavens and blesses with the goodness. And yeah, this would be one of those moments. A slender and youthful Biz Markie (of Cold Chillin’ fame) sharing the stage in NYC with the inimitable Roxanne Shante, circa 1986. And if you can get past the fuzzy, dookie-roped nostalgia of the whole thing, maybe you’ll tune into young Ms. Shante’s brief rumination on the cultural and socioeconomic shitshow that was/is the crack epidemic.

Yeah, that’s right. Lest you forget that the “Big Mama” has a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell (and now has her own practice in Queens). Payback From Wayback!