Project Basho—Onward 2011 Reception

It was great to meet so many old and new friends at the opening on Saturday. I am super excited that the show is going to Tokyo in May, and congratulations to the two photographers selected to be flown to Japan to attending the opening.

There were close to 300 people who attended the opening, and there wasn't a chance to spend much time or room to really take in all the great work on display.

Here are a few of the snapshots I made that day. And a link to the Onward Blog for a list of all the winners.

Project Basho— Onward 2011

Mojave Desert Artifact #5, 2010

I am thrilled to announce that one of my new platinum prints from my Desert Artifact series was selected by Larry Fink for Onward, Project Basho's juried exhibition for emerging photographers. The opening reception is February 12, and the show runs through March 27.

Here is a video or people in Philadelphia announcing the selected photographers.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ8na4Dz4ME&fs=1&hl=en_US]

(1:16)

SPE and Portfolio Reviews

I just returned (sick) from the SPE National Conference held in Denver. It was great to have a chance to hang out with people I met last year, and there were some good lectures (although I did sleep through most of Edward Burtynsky’s talk—despite the fact that he is usually such a good speaker). Then there was the dance party. Even if I never picked up a camera again, and cursed everything remotely related to photographic education, I would still go just for the dance party . . . Then there were the portfolio reviews. The formal waiting-list-only-20-minute-career-making/breaking reviews, and the informal grab-a-table-and-show-your-prints-(or iPhone)-to-anyone-who-will-look reviews. Unfortunately, both types are equally important when it comes to having your work seen these days. This isn’t the 70s and there are now far too many photographers in the world for everyone to simply call up the curator at anywhere and ask to show them work. I say unfortunately because the importance of these reviews is more on getting a job, show, book, dealer, etc. than getting feedback about how to make better work. Everyone wants to be Alec Soth.

The problem with reviews is the importance placed on the 20 prints, the photographer’s agenda, the spiel, and the marketability of the work. At the end of my second day at SPE I was tired of showing my prints, and giving my little speech. It became more about the idea or the project rather than the pictures, and all I wanted to do was sit down and stop talking. I was perfectly happy to answer questions, but I was tired of trying to justify what to me should have been obvious. At one point I actually told someone “these pictures came from nothing more than an unashamed response to beauty.” Surely a no no to some people.

Cara Phillips made a recent post about being rejected from the Review Santa Fe event, and the nature of the competition process. The juror is undoubtedly going to be biased as to what he/she thinks is good or undeveloped or derivative. Competitions, and even portfolio reviews, in general, are all a crap shoot, and you can never tell who will like what on which day. I’d rather save my money to buy a plane ticket and a box film. At least I know it will be going to a good cause—my own sanity.

Matthew Betcher, Los Angeles River Orotones

Before flying back to the East Coast on Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting Los Angles photographer, Matthew Betcher, and seeing his exhibition of incredible large-scale orotones from his series el rio de nuestra señora la reina de los angeles de porciuncula. I just learned the show has been extended to the end of the year,  and is surely not to be missed.

Inspired by Edward Curtis's Orotones— a process involving ambrotypes backed with gold pigment in banana oil—Betcher printed on orthochromatic lith film that was slightly bleached, toned, then mounted on glass backed with gold leaf.

Along with the show of about ten 40x60-inch pieces, is a beautiful a 19x25-inch portfolio of all the photographs in the series. Again, they are hand-printed lith film, with gold painted rice paper, hand-bound and housed in a box that contains an orotone on the bottom. The book is a work of art in itself.

These three digital images may give one the idea of what the show is about, but nothing can replace the feeling of being in front of these in person. They are almost dream-like in the way details disappear in the three dimensional quality achieved by the interplay of light and the layering of image, glass, and gold leaf.

In Matthew's introduction he writes:

For the series, I have been exploring the LA River as a datum for the explorations and questions relating to a new sense of what is ‘nature.’ Knowing the River was originally named after the small field (’porciuncula’ is loosely defined as ‘a small portion of land’) where St. Francis of Assisi developed a monastic order based on a lack of worldly possessions and an admiration for the natural environment, the Los Angeles River becomes a paradox in its own right. The massive concrete structure intended to allow the massive expanse of the city now protects the Glendale Narrows - one of the few spaces in a concrete city choked by its own waste where, as a protected sight, ‘nature’ is left to fend for herself. For the work, I have been using a photographic technique used mainly in the teens that involve photographs on gold-backed glass. The idea is that the large scale gold-leafed plates adorning the jungle-like images from the Los Angeles River bring into question the schizophrenic ideals of what is or could be considered ‘natural.’

Here, there are no swimming pools, no movie stars, but a mutation of nature that continues to thrive in a place no typical Angelino would go. As a dedicated nature preserve, the Glendale Narrows represents the natural world Los Angels couldn't manicure or pave with concrete. The images are, for me, both a metaphor and the antitheses of the City.

Paris Photo Recap, part 1

So, guess who forgot the digital camera and European power adapter for the laptop? Because of the strikes, Paris was more of a crazy adventure than in the past. Nearly missed planes and trains, more walking than I've ever done in my life, long bus lines, shared cabs, and mountain biking with an 8x10 camera . . . this actually might be the most memorable year yet.

The fair, however, was something of a let down. I swear if I see another oversized color print I am going to puke. Luckily, I could take refuge in the few gallery booths showing some excellent 19th century work. One print, a gravure on silk , stood out the most, but there were several others worth posting in more detail when I have the chance.

Photo Review Benefit Auction

So the Photo Review Benefit Auction is tomorrow night (Sat. Nov., 10) at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and I have my "if-I-had-the-money with list." There isn't much I would really like to buy—mostly vintage—but just don't have the means. My ideal job would be consulting with collectors on their personal acquisitions. A few months ago, I actually told Kate Ware what to get from the Mike and Doug Starn show at the Print Center. Here is the short list from tomorrow's auction:

Vincent David Feldman: Hongkew, Shanghai, 2005/2006, carbon inkjet print, A/P, signed verso, framed, 16"x20" $350—$700

Eugène Atget: Senlis. Ruines se Saint-Frambourg, 1903, gold-toned albumen print, unmounted, 8.5"x6.875" $4,000—$8,000

Jay Dusard: Petrified Forest, Arizona, Blue Mesa, 1977, silver print, titled recto, framed, 8"x10" (courtesy of D. W. Mellor) $250—$500

Henry Horenstein: Texas Map Turtle, Graptemys, c. 2000/2007, digital chromogenic print, signed verso, 20"x16" $800—$1,600

Mark Klett: Storm Clouds over Eastern Idaho: Near Craters of the Moon, 8/18/80, 1980, silver print, signed verso, 16"x20" (courtesy of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg) $900—$1,800

Stuart Rome: Presence, Bali, 1993/2007, archival pigment print, A/P, signed verso, 12"x15.5" $500—$750

Josef Sudek: Trees in Flower, 1950s/1976, silver print, unmounted, 11.25"x8.25" $750—$1,500 Unknown: Tea House Nogeyma at Yokohama, Japan, c. 1880s, hand-colored albumen print, 7.750"x9.875" $200—$400 Frank Yamrus: Tree in Nickerson State Park, Eastham, MA, from the series "Bared and Bended", 2004, archival pigment print, signed verso, 6.5"x6.5" $700—$1,400

Friends of Project Basho

This is from a recent email from Tsuyoshi Ito, owner of Philadelphia's Project Basho. I am proud to have two photographs in this inaugural show in their new gallery space.

Project Basho is hosting an opening reception for its inaugural show titled "Friends of Project Basho" on Thursday November 8, 6-9 pm at Project Basho Gallery. The opening reception is open to the public as a part of 2nd Thursday Openings in the area, and will be complemented by the musical styling of DJ Einstein. The show will run from November 8th through November 30th.

"Friends of Project Basho" will feature the works of students, instructors, monitors, darkroom users, and others who have been actively engaged in photographic activities at Project Basho. The walls will represent the community and the diversity of talent at Project Basho, as well as display a vibrant segment of the current photographic scene in Philadelphia.

If you have not visited the newly-renovated gallery space yet, this is a great opportunity to see the space. With a 14ft ceiling and unique architectural details, the gallery is spacious and intimate at the same time. Project Basho will be working with other art venues in the area to bring exciting shows with visually stimulating photographs to Philadelphia.

For more information about the show and reception, please feel free to contact Project Basho.

Project Basho 215-238-0928 1305 Germantown Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19122 (Click for Google Map) info@projectbasho.org “Re-introducing Photography to Philadelphia”

POST: From the Studio IV

I have a couple of pictures in a show curated by Shelly Spector opening October 4 at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists. Also in the show are photographs by Talia Greene (courtesy of Philagrafika), Kara LaFleur, Eugene Martin, Paul Rider, Wendy Wolf, John Woodin, and Rick Wright.

Mike and Doug Starn at the Print Center

The Print Center's opening of Mike and Doug Starn's Black Pulse series of prints on of dried leaves was such a success that it was almost difficult to properly appreciate the work. As one person said, “There were so many people you couldn't stir them with a stick.” It was good to see some friend there that I missed at the garden party, and some I hadn't seen since March.

I found myself responding to the inkjet prints on gampi with albumen and encaustic much more than I did to the extremely-large digital c-prints. That was mostly due to media being more suitable for the nature of the subject—the fragility of the dried leaves, of life. In part though, and maybe most importantly, it was the sheer beauty of the pieces on gampi that made them stand out against the larger, cleaner, almost-cold c-prints.

The video instillation, a computer generated piece on the decomposition of leaves, was incredibly beautiful, and evoked some of the same feelings and internal imagery as Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Back from the West

Just back from ten days on the West Coast, and already hitting the ground running. First, saying goodbye to Summer, and a big hello to a busy Autumn is the Photo Review Garden Party—being held this year in Downingtown, PA. Next weekend is the Mike and Doug Starn opening at the Print Center in Philadelphia, Amy Stevens opening at CfEVA, and later are all the Fall submission deadlines, PhotoPlus Expo, POST, Paris Photo, another trip out West to continue photographing the Lower Owens River Project, and AIPAD Miami in December.

Project Basho

I have been printing in the darkroom at Philadelphia's Project Basho for the last few weeks. Maybe the best advantages of using a communal darkroom are the people you meet, and the variety of things you are exposed to. There is an informal critique this Sunday (August 5th), and in addition to holding small classes and workshops, there will soon be a space for exhibitions, film screenings, and rental studio space. Earlier this week, Tsuyoshi was showing two short videos of James Nachtwey and Edward Burtynsky giving their TED Prize acceptance speeches, which until then, I had not seen. Seeing Burtynsky's talk reminded me that I still need to see the film, Manufactured Landscapes, by Jennifer Baichwal . Maybe I can make time for it next week . . .