Special MOPLA Event This Week: LOST ROLLS AMERICA Featured April 12-15
A special event sponsored by the project LOST ROLLS AMERICA will be featured this week as part of the 10th Month of Photography Los Angeles, to take place at the Line Hotel, April 12-15. I spent a bit of time familiarizing myself with the project and would like to share some of my thoughts.
Ron Haviv, well-known award-winning photographer, and Lauren Walsh, Director of NYU Gallatin’s Photojournalism Lab, are the forces behind the project. The idea was to solicit undeveloped film that might be hiding in people’s drawers, almost forgotten, but perhaps worthy of seeing the light of day. The deal was, you sent them your undeveloped roll of film, they had it developed by FujiFilm, and the finished images were then returned to you, with the option of incorporating one or two into the archive, after some questions regarding time, place, subject, and photographer’s reaction and memories evoked are answered. Here is the project’s original description:
Lost Rolls America is a national photo archive created by a democratized process: Anyone can submit their lost roll of film to the project for processing (the images must be at least 3 years old), and the images are subsequently returned to the originator. These contributors, who are members of the general public, are asked to select one image, answer several questions that are provided, and return it to the project for inclusion in the archive.
This photography project is the brainchild of Ron Haviv, Project Creator and Emmy-nominated, award winning photojournalist and co-founder of the photo agency VII, and Lauren Walsh, Project Director and Director of NYU Gallatin’s Photojournalism Lab. Her work focuses on the history of photography, contemporary visual culture, war reportage and journalistic ethics. Ron’s prior book, The Lost Rolls, was the jumping off point for this project.
Meanwhile, the archive has grown into several hundred images, and these can be studied along with the fascinating answers to the questions, on the website devoted to the project.
Here is the poster for this week’s event:
Studying the pictures in the collection is a great adventure into recent popular, “vernacular,” and even some professional lost photography. Forgotten places and people take on a mysterious aura: friends, relatives, and pets in long-forgotten moments of levity or seriousness remind all of us about the fleeting nature of life. Indeed, even experiments with fine art photography may be hidden among the undeveloped rolls still hidden in your closets or other places, as the images submitted by Melanie Chapman and Chris Jurgenson demonstrate. I leave it to you to find these and other images in the archives and to read the responses of the photographers who found the films. Not every ambiguous moment can be disambiguated! And yet, memories from our past, when shared, can become a part of our universal experience and help us understand our common concerns.
Gerhard Clausing
© Walker Sayen / Courtesy Lost Rolls America
Anne Olmstead (assumed), © Jeff Olmstead / Courtesy Lost Rolls America
© Melanie Chapman / Courtesy Lost Rolls America
© Chris Jurgenson / Courtesy Lost Rolls America
Palm Springs Photo Festival – Deadlines approaching
There are a number of events that occurring in conjunction with the Palm Springs Photo Festival (PSPF) this year.
This annual event for photographers occurs over the week of May 6th – 11th in Palm Springs, California.
Part of this event are the Portfolio Reviews with the registration occurring April 20th. That is when you will be able to select and prioritize your reviewer choices. After this date, usually only a few of the reviewers are still available. There will be some additional reviewers posted weekly until April 20th to the provisional listing.
PSPF Sponsors will offer 9 Special FREE Shooting Events during the festival week. Attendance is limited so sign up as soon as possible. Canon, Fuji, Leica & Pentax are all offering great free classes.
Another trade mark of PSPF are the intensive workshop classes that are offered through the week, which include; Virtual Reality for Still Photographers, Lightroom and Photoshop with Ben Willmore, Color Management and Digital Workflow with Mac Holbert, Reducing Unauthorized Usages of Your Images with Michael Grecco, The Creative Process with Mona Kuhn, Standing Out in a Saturated Market, Scanning Your Archive with Your DSLR, The Bottom Line with Ink-jet Papers, Writing Winning Grant Proposals, Securing Support for Your Personal Projects with Mary Virginia Swanson, Enhancing Your Creative Process, and Digital Asset Management.
There will be workshops by renown photographers inlcuding Dan Winters, Erwin Olaf, Debbie Fleming Caffery, Mark Edward Harris, Scott Frances, Art Streiber and Stephen Wilkes.
So check out their schedule, as it appears that there is something for every type of photography and photographer.
I plan to attend one day of this event, May 10th, so give me a shout-out to arrange a meet-up and discussion.
Cheers, Douglas Stockdale
Medium Photo Festival – Portfolio Review Registration opens on April 19-20
Medium Photo Festival, Portfolio review preparations, 2017 copyright Douglas Stockdale
The Portfolio Review registration for the 2018 Medium Festive opens April 19 -20 (click here)
The shout-out from Medium: So consider grabbing one of 65 spaces for the acclaimed Medium Festival Portfolio Reviews. Participating photographers meet with 8 reviewers from across the field of photography and consistently receive 90% of their top ranked reviewers—something few other review events can claim. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis and will sell out quickly. They’ve posted a short list of our 2018 reviewers online to help you discover who can expand your career this fall.
If you are considering attending a Portfolio Review?
Each year Medium offers a two-hour workshop helping photographers plan properly for a portfolio review event. Join Medium on April 14 in San Diego as we explore the range of portfolio reviews available today. Whether you’re planning to attend Medium in October or another review, this workshop offers an opportunity to learn what you’ll need to successfully develop relationships with professionals from across the field.
Participants will have the opportunity to practice their presentation skills as part of the workshop. You will need to register for this two-hour workshop.
Roger Bennett – Center Gallery
Photo
Photographs copyright Roger Bennett
Roger Bennett will have a solo exhibition of his black and white landscape photographs at the Center Gallery, located at within the Downtown Anaheim Community Center. The Gallery address: at 250 E. Center Street, Anaheim, CA
The exhibition runs from April 22nd through June 18th, 2018.
The Opening Reception is Thursday, May 3rd, 2018 from 7pm to 8:30pm (see announcement below)
Roger is a long time member of the Photographers Exchange, a group of photographers and artists that meets monthly at the Irvine Fine Arts Center (IFAC). He has previously exhibited at the Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach.
Cheers!
Report on Photobook Day at LACP Open House, March 17
Yesterday was a very exciting day at the Los Angeles Center of Photography (LACP) in Hollywood. During its Open House Weekend, March 17 emphasized photobooks.
The day started with a fascinating presentation by our own Douglas Stockdale. In covering the topic “Photobook Pre-Visualization,” he took the audience on a tour of his own book-publishing history, and shared some of the thoughts, trials, and tribulations behind each of several projects. Contrasting his commercially published volume Ciociaria with several projects in the self-publishing category (Bluewater Shore, Middle Ground), it was an apt demonstration how projects move from the conceptual stage to the finished product, and what all can happen in between. Doug especially emphasized the importance of the necessary haptic and visceral experience with physical “dummies” (maquettes), since you can change the format and sequence around as much as necessary until a satisfactory sample is arrived at. For his latest project, Middle Ground, he showed four stages of dummy preparation.
Dan Milnor, Creative Evangelist for Blurb, was next, with his presentation “Self-Publishing for Photographers: Blurb Books.” Here too the emphasis was on creativity and experimentation. Blurb provides a variety of tools and printing sizes and formats to fit any idea a photographer might have. Dan emphasized that potential photobook artists should dare to break out of the constraints of predictability and sameness. He encouraged each photographer to be “an interesting original human being” and to collaborate, especially with excellent designers. He then presented a range of photobooks, published by himself over time, as well as by others, showing multiple format ideas, and discussed some cost issues as well.
The third major event was a panel discussion on “How to Get Your Book Published.” With Douglas Stockdale as moderator, experiences were shared by Stephen Schafer (we will be reviewing his book here shortly), Cat Gwynn, Sarah Hadley, Dan Milnor, and Mark Edward Harris. Projects covered included, among others, photography in exotic locales, publishing offbeat projects, and the role of photography as a therapeutic experience.
In the vendor area, it was possible to check out products and services presented by ASMP-Los Angeles, Blurb, Canon, Dual Graphics, Fabrik Projects, Freestyle, Hahnemühle, and The Artist Corner. A portfolio and book walk by LACP members and presenters (shown above), as well as raffle prize drawings, rounded out the afternoon. The day was also enhanced by food and refreshments facilitated by the one and only Julia Dean (Executive Director), Brandon Gannon, and other dedicated staff members and assistants. Thank you to all — it was a lovely and productive day!
Gerhard Clausing
Douglas Stockdale, explaining one of the dummy stages of Middle Ground
Dan Milnor, Blurb Creative Evangelist
Panel Discussion: D. Stockdale with Stephen Schafer, Cat Gwynn discussing Ten-Mile Radius, and Sarah Hadley
Sarah Hadley discussing her project about Venice, with Dan Milnor
Dan Milnor listening to Mark Edward Harris
Photography is about sharing!
All photographs © Gerhard Clausing 2018
Annual Print Exchange & Membership Meeting: March 15th, 2018
Sandstone Creek, Vail, Colorado, February 2018 copyright Douglas Stockdale
The annual print exchange and membership meeting for the PhotoExchange, a group of photographers who meet monthly at the Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA will be this Thursday, March 15, 2018 stating at 6pm. There will also be some food, usually a few kinds of pizza, vegetables and cookies, with some non-alcoholic beverages.
I have discussed this interesting, if not a bit wacky, print exchange earlier, as this print exchange has been an on-going event by this group for about twenty years. Reminds me of a white-elephant Christmas gift exchange.
Those who participate bring a photographic print, not necessarily matted, but it might help, more about that in just a moment. You will be guaranteed to leave with a print, perhaps not your first choice. The process starts with a judging of all of the photograph by the participants and the photographer who brought the photograph that has the most “likes” gets to choose another photographic print. The photographer whose photograph was just selected then has a few minutes to talk about their photograph before selecting a photograph of their choice. This process of selecting prints, then the selected photographer chooses a print continues until all of the photographic prints are gone. Unlike a white-elephant exchange, the selection is only from the the remaining photographs on display, not a photograph that somebody else has already selected.
Seems in the past that photographs with mattes usually obtains more likes or are chosen early in the process, when then entitles the photographer who brought that photograph to choose a print of their liking sooner.
This is also the membership meeting for those who wish to continue to belong, or want to join, for the year to bring their annual dues of $35.00. Preferably a check as the group does not have access to make a credit card transaction unless someone wants to consider using PayPal with Larry Pribble.
Note: as you may suspect, like last year’s post about this event, I am included the photograph that I am bringing this year. The photographic image is 6″ x 6″, archival matte, Edition of 1/10, pigment print on Museo Portfolio Rag, Extra Smooth Matte Finish, 300 gsm weight. For those who would like to purchase a copy of this limited edition print, either in this size or larger, message me at doug@douglasstockdale.com
Let me or Gerry know if you have any questions,
Cheers!
A Gallery of Photography — New Orleans
One of the wonders of New Orleans is a well-established gallery in the French Quarter, A Gallery For Fine Photography, which was founded in 1973 by Joshua Mann Pailet.
When first entering the establishment, you are surprised by two floors full of both iconic and new work, all at the highest level of fine art photography. How often do you see a wall featuring Maggie Taylor, Louviere+Vanessa, and Henri Cartier-Bresson right next to each other (first image below)?
This week three exhibits could be seen: Michael Kenna, Michel Varisco, and Josephine Sacabo. Michael Kenna is well known and needs no explanation. The underwater worlds presented by Michel Varisco are intriguing as well, as are some of her innovative presentation techniques, such as the image mounted in a fancy cutlery box or the hinged diptych, as shown below.
I was particularly amazed by the work of Josephine Sacabo. Not only is she able to express emotions and statements through her images, but she also combines contemporary elements, in this case graffiti, with religious icons, in large hand-tinted photogravure prints. The effects need to be seen to be appreciated!
The staff of the gallery is extremely helpful and knowledgeable. The prices of the works range from lower to very high for iconic rare work. A bookstore is also part of the gallery, featuring both signed and unsigned volumes. It is of particular use to the collector to see all that is available on their website as well, including prices. This openness should be emulated by other galleries.
A museum-quality experience, highly recommended!
Gerhard Clausing
Maggie Taylor, Louviere+Vanessa, and Henri Cartier-Bresson
Michel Varisco: Below Sea Level
Josephine Sacabo: Barking at God – Retablos Mundanos
“The Accidental Selfie”: Milton Greene’s “Marilyn Monroe, Glass Balanced On Left Knee, 1962”
All rights reserved. Reproduction not permitted without permission.
Pensacola Museum of Art — Mobile Museum of Art
Even editors go on vacation once in a while, as evidenced by my image of Pensacola Beach, Florida, above. All I can say is, marvelous white sand beaches and great seafood!
While in this area, I happened upon two interesting art museums, the Pensacola Museum of Art (constructed in a former jail!) and the Mobile Museum of Art, a magnificent structure.
Photography shown in Pensacola included Richard McCabe’s recent Polaroid explorations of the rural and small-town South, in order “to capture the vanishing vernacular signage and architecture of the region.” Also interesting were his color experiments with instax exposures, shown along with projected student work.
Of course we also are inspired by mixed media and other arts. The work by Katrina Andry was particularly amazing. Her series of anthropomorphic figures in vulnerable positions cast the viewer in the role of voyeur and hunter. Her series “The Promise of the Rainbow Never Came” depicts the strife of forced transports of Africans on the Atlantic, a stark reminder of contemporary connections to history gone by, but not forgotten.
In Mobile, Alabama, the highlights were an exhibit of photographs sharing motifs with Havana, Cuba, the sister city. Further features were photographs and paintings documenting Southern subjects, as well as an extensive exhibit of geometric designs of all kinds, with delightful symmetry works that pleased me in particular.
A visit to New Orleans will be the subject of another article.
Gerhard Clausing
Pensacola Museum of Art
The work of Katrina Andry
The work of Richard McCabe
Mobile Museum of Art: View of the Park
Common Ground: Mobile – Havana / Chip Cooper and Julio Larramendi
Richard Frank Jr. – “If You Want Home Cooking…Stay Home” (1985)
All images Copyright 2018 by Gerhard Clausing
LACP Open House March 16-18, 2018 — Classes, Events, Photobook and Portfolio Day March 17 With Douglas Stockdale & Special Guests
Photo courtesy of Douglas Stockdale, Founder/Editor of The PhotoBook Journal
Join LACP for our Sixth Annual
Spring Open House
Featuring workshops, panel discussions, portfolio & photo book walk, raffle prizes, vendors, food, drink and much more!!
March 16th – 18th, 10 am – 5 pm
On Friday, March 16, 10 am – 5 pm, bring your old, used camera equipmentand turn it into cash!
- KEH Camera will be at LACP all day buying used photo equipment
On Saturday, March 17th, 10 am – 5 pm, celebrate the Photo Book with workshops, panel discussions, portfolio walks and more!
Saturday, March 17, 10 am – 5 pm
On Saturday, March 17th, 10 am – 5 pm, celebrate the Photo Book with workshops, panel discussions, portfolio walks and more!
10:15-11:00 am – “Photo Book Pre-Visualization” taught by Douglas Stockdale, Founder/Editor, The PhotoBook Journal
$20 for Members; $40 for Non-Members
11:15 am-12:00 pm – “Self-Publishing for Photographers: Blurb Books” with Dan Milnor,
$20 for Members; $40 for Non-Members
12:30-1:30 pm – Free Panel Discussion, “How to Get Your Photo Book Published,”
moderated by Douglas Stockdale, Founder/Editor, The PhotoBook Journal
Panelists include Dan Milnor, Cat Gwynn, and more (TBA).
2:30-4:30 pm – Free Portfolio and Photo Book Walk featuring the work of LACP Members (contact info@lacphoto.org to sign up for a table space)
Throughout the day:
• There will be various organizations and vendors present including ASMP Los Angeles, Hahnemühle, Freestyle, Blurb, The Artist Corner, and more!
• Raffle tickets available and prize drawings!
• Complimentary lunch (served from 1:30 – 2:30 pm)
• Complimentary wine and beer (served from 1:30-4:30 pm)
Sunday, March 18, 10 am – 5 pm
- Come take part in one of several of our 17 “mini” classes and seminars. A full day pass is only $100!!
10:00 am:
1) “Portraiture: An Artistic Journey” with Ken Merfeld
2) “Understanding Your Camera’s Features” with Peter Bennett
11:00 am:
1) “Introduction to the Documentary World” with Kevin Weinstein
2) “Let’s Talk Lenses” with Peter Bennett
3) “Creating Worlds and Stories with Photomontage” with Ry Sangalang
12:00 pm:
1) “Portrait Studio Lighting” with Jennifer Emery
2) “The Singular Vision” with Andrew Southam
3) “Optimizing Your Images in Camera Raw Before using Photoshop” with Ed Freeman
2:00 pm:
1) “Street Photography Essentials” with Ibarionex Perello
2) “Moving Your Career Forward: Steps to Success for Photographers” with Sherrie Berger
3) “Black & White Conversion using Lightroom” with Rollence Patugan
3:00 pm:
1) “Crash Flash” with Julia Dean
2) “Best Practices Using Social Media for Photographers” with Paul-Michael Carr, TBA
3) “Monitor Calibration” with Eric Joseph
4:00 pm:
1) “How to Teach Photography” with Julia Dean
2) TBA
3) “Digital Printmaking Primer” with Eric Joseph
- Click HERE to sign up for the classes. (Please note not all classes are posted yet.)
• Individual classes are $20 for Members; $40 for Non-Members. Sign up now! Seating is limited.
• A one-day Sunday pass is $100 for Members; $200 for Non-Members.
The Open House is all about community. It’s a time and place for all those interested in photography and the arts to come together and meet, socialize, learn, laugh and grow. Network with other artists, try your luck at some terrific raffle prizes, sell your used camera equipment, meet organizational vendors, take some classes and more! Whatever your pleasure may be, we encourage you to spend a weekend with us, invite your family and friends, and enjoy some good camaraderie, fellowship and fun!
A Time and Place for the
Photo Community to Come Together
An Image in Honor of President’s Day
© 2017 Gerhard Clausing
After the last presidential election, I created the self-portrait above (with some distortion) to express my feelings. And isn’t that really the main purpose of photography and art in general?
While I have been a citizen of the United States for over 50 years and have great respect for this country and the office of the President, I have had great qualms ever since this last election campaign was underway. I feel that much of what we believe in has been seriously distorted. Surely we deserve better than such divisive tactics and insulting rhetoric? And now that the occupant of that office has engaged in many shenanigans for over a year, perhaps on a day like this we should ask ourselves if we are worthy of better representation: someone who does not get elected with the help of foreign propaganda and fake news, someone who does not want to spend our money on “walls,” someone who does not emphasize tax breaks for the super wealthy, someone who does not use the government to solicit business for his own family’s enterprises?
Your mileage may vary from mine. Please send your comments and images that express your own emotions and opinions, so we may have a lively exchange here! That is what a real photo exchange is all about.
Happy President’s Day!
Gerry
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