Featured Artist...James Friedman

Art defines itself in many ways depending on who is viewing it. For some Art is beauty captured in nature, human form, colors, presentation to name a few. For others it is a cohesive concept that presented as a body of work, speaks and makes you return to look again.

"The Pleasures and Terrors of Kissing" is one of those projects, by James Friedman, inspired by his mother's passing.

"...I do not remember any kissing between family members as I was growing up.  It wasn't until my mother was hospitalized for eight months, unable to speak, that we began to kiss good-bye before I would depart for the day after visiting her. These newly discovered displays of affection were imbued with genuine caring and profound sadness as we both know she had only a short time to live. Our relationship in my mother's final months inspired my photographic project."

A difficult time period, no doubt, yet James reaches deep inside and finds a meaning to explore. Perhaps it's times like that when one goes or is driven way inside that we see what would be normally apparent to our eyes but seen differently through our souls and brought to life by the artist within. 

There is a beautiful line in Ashes and Snow by Gregory Colbert..."..Ever since my roof burned down, I can see the moon more clearly."

James started very young, at five, with his Brownie Hawkeye camera. Self taught his interests continued till college where he earned an B.F.A. degree with distinction in photography. Later, while earning an M.A. degree in photography from San Francisco State University, he worked as an assistant to Imogen Cunningham, one of the preeminent figures in the history of photography.

As a teacher, curator, picture editor, and as a fine art, portrait, architectural, commercial and personal documentary photographer, he has enjoyed a wide-ranging career in photography. His work has been exhibited internationally and been published in numerous books and discussed in Artforum, Arts, Afterimage, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Selected from 800 international applicants, James was awarded the Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer's Fellowship and has been the recipient of seven Individual Excellence Awards from the Ohio Arts Council. Winning the 2011 Governor's Award for the Arts in Ohio, he was honored as an individual artist whose work has made a significant impact on his discipline nationally, regionally or statewide. In 2008, as an independent photographic educator without institutional affiliation, he was nominated for the prestigious Excellence in Photographic Teaching Award, which recognizes outstanding international teachers of photography.

 James has many projects. Among them all this one can be found here..

Featured Artist...Deon Reynolds

This week we come back to the U.S.A. and take a look at the West through the eyes of Deon Reynolds who captures its essence with his panoramic views in his series
"Where the Cowboys Once Roamed".

"...I began exploring ideas and images for ‘Where the Cowboys Once Roamed’ when I was creating scenic
photos for the coffee table book ‘NEVADA’. Originally, I was captivated by the beautiful landscapes of
the high desert".

From seven years old his interest sparked by his brother using dad's camera, a Hasselblad, he took his first lessons. On his father's advice together they built a pinhole camera out of Kodak Film boxes and learned his craft in the darkroom.

Educated in Portland at the then "Museum Art School" he began his career shooting catalogs and advertisements until he realized this was not what he really wanted to do but afforded him the freedom to pursue the artist in him.

" I began exploring ideas and images for ‘Where the Cowboys Once Roamed’ when I was creating scenic
photos for the coffee table book ‘NEVADA’. Originally, I was captivated by the beautiful landscapes of the high desert. Though, during my travels through the state I found evidence of an era gone by and realized it was deteriorating rather quickly. Around that same time, I began playing with Kodak Funsaver Panoramic 35 disposable cameras and found the format complimented the landscape while the low-fi camera quality evoked a sense of history creating the perfect look for my new found,disintegrating subject matter". 

 For those of us who have had the opportunity to have been out west, we have experienced what these images how well...wide open spaces with freedom to roam in a big sky country. Deon lives today with his wife Trish in Eureka in an 1880s bank building where they operate the Eureka Gallery 

More of his work can be seen here

Featured Artist...Massimo Siragusa

Most photographers have an assortment of interesting assignments and inspiration to draw from. Massimo Siragusa had good one...The Vatican and Pope John Paul ll, for the Vatican's news. Working through the Contrasto Agency in Rome where Massimo resides, his assignments have graced a myriad of magazines along with some major advertising campaigns and corporate clients. In his personal work he turns to social and cultural issues.. from his viewpoint..

"...I am focused on contemporary social and cultural issues: my photography questions and the gives a personal interpretation. In the last years I have been focused on architecture with the firm intention to make a common places the symbol and protagonist of an issue. This is the reason why the human has disappeared from my pictures".

Born in Catania, Italy  then later moving from Milan to Rome where he resides today, Massimo teaches photography in various schools while still finding time to publish several books.

His clean well composed images shows the attention to detail, a bright color palate makes one see the plain in an extraordinary light in contrast to his earlier works rich and darker in colors.   

"...I now work with a medium format digital back PhaseOne that has replaced the large format. I have a keen interest in the study of the colours that I believe I can control better than the black and white. The only “trick” of my photos is the overexposure of each single shot to give to the image that watercolour feeling, softness and elusiveness".

He is currently represented by Polka Galerie in Paris;Forma gallery in Milan.

More of his work can be seen here.

Featured Artist...Marc Burden

It's New Year 2011, the mark of a new decade. Janus the two headed Roman god , for whom the celebration was given, faces opposite directions to look backward on last year and forward to the new one. I can't help feeling like him, sitting this weekend exhausted from last year's bittersweet moments, voided and exhilarated from the struggle, both personal and career wise, now in its depleted space...new room to be filled by the new set of challenges future rounds bring.

Darren Guisha

The work of our current "Featured Artist", Marc Burden , says all of that to me in the faces of these cage fighters from his series "The Sitting". His portraits taken just after the fight show men who whether or not they have won or lost, have paid the price for what they love.

"...My photography explores this psychological space within the portrait, and the notion of the photographer’s and the medium’s ability to pierce the causal representation of that which sits within it. If the screen is the mediation of its relational structure, can the screen be pierced,
can a glimpse be elicited of what lays beyond "? 

For me art is best described as the ability to talk in whatever medium, to the one who listens with whatever sense. It's not always about beauty nor grandeur and often not what was meant by the one speaking. It's simply communication on a deeper level.

Kev Reid

"...The Sitting operates at the confluence of the oft-conflicting desires, and the gazes of the
camera, the spectator and the subject, interrogating the portrait as being analogous of a
screen. In most cases the screen is seen as protective, or it is used to obscure and conceal,
at its most opaque the portrait separates by a process of exclusion, the camera’s scrutiny
eliciting a self-conscious projection to deflect its gaze - what Lacan termed the ‘Mask’- the
projection of a second skin employed to deflect the gaze of other(s) acting as a surface onto which the image and the power of the gaze are deflected or are reflected mirror like.But the screen can be translucent too allowing glimpses - if only for the briefest of times - that hint at what may be beneath and beyond, moments when that protective layer slips or is not consciously in play ". 

Steve Dossett

"...The series takes as its subject those practised in the projection of the mask: fighters, specifically cage fighters for whom the mask is a shield of intimidation, invincibility and is devoid of emotion, the nature of their combat though, drains them both mentally and physically. The camera acts as a barrier visually and mentally, a screen divorcing contact and interaction between the photographer and the sitter, the images document moments that are emporally random and un-decisive, the absence of interaction leaving the exhausted sitter
isolated. By eschewing the intimacy and mediation conventionally associated with the portrait the images explore the visual psychological states in unconscious compositions that dislodge and disarm the surface before the scrutiny of the camera. The resulting portraits reveal not the conscious projection of an identity but a space between that and their unconscious; the isolated figures are seen in liminal moments characterized by ambiguity, openness, and
indeterminacy ".

 

More of Marc Burden's work can be found here

Featured Artist...Bob Hudak

I thought we would end this year here, where I live, South Florida, with images best shown by our      current "Featured Artist" Bob Hudak. His views are classic photography, large format and yes film.      

Self taught, he leaves his former life as pilot flying air taxis, throughout Florida and the Bahamas where he develops his taste for the landscapes he sees.                                                                                 

                                                                                                                        

Bob takes his influence from one of the      greats, Edward Weston   and makes black&white photography his choice of expression.

"The photographs shown here were produced from negatives made with large format cameras. Originally, because of its relatively small size, the 4 x 5 inch view camera was my camera of choice. However, with my increasing interest in the contact printing processes and my aversion to making enlarged negatives, the 5 x 7, 8 x 10 and (soon) larger formats more likely will get the nod. However, the use of these relatively small camera sizes, in comparison to 8 x 10 inch and larger cameras, does offer a wider range of flexibility when it comes to printing. With certain subjects these negatives can be printed as contact prints or when needed as with a large landscape the 5 x7 inch negative can produce 16 x 20 inch prints of outstanding quality.
"

Since 1984, he has worked for various publications on travel adding commercial work in Architecture, Aerials, and Yacht photography and supplying stock agencies with his images. Florida becomes his choice for his work.

"My reasoning behind the Florida trips was that while the West in general and more specifically Montana does have a lot to offer the photographer working in the landscape I do not live there, and while I have returned many times it has been mostly with a fly rod to fish on the Madison, Yellowstone and numerous other rivers and streams around the state. To do something productive with a camera would require repeated visits to easily accessible, visually interesting areas; in short, I felt I needed to stay closer to home base.

The Florida that I grew up in, that is to say, South Florida in the late sixties, seventies and early eighties is, unfortunately, gone. Today’s post Disney version of Florida bears little resemblance to that period of time before the floodgates were opened and the mass influx of new residents hit my part of the state. The booming population and the infrastructure needed to support it, guaranteed that the lakes and woods used by myself and my friends as our escape from the real world would soon be filled in, paved over and lost forever under a sea of concrete and asphalt, never to be seen again except in memory."

His love of the outdoors continues to draw his attention adding to an over 16 year project dedicated to personal vision and viewpoint.
"As a photographer working with a landscape that now exists only as a fraction of the place you once knew, the challenge is to bring an awareness to the land through your photographs without resorting to sentiment in the hope of protecting what little we still have left, knowing that loosing this, it too is gone forever.
With these photographs my hope is to engage the viewer in a way that conveys not only a love of the land but also acknowledges the presence of something spiritual. Not spiritual in a biblical meaning, but something deeper, more to do with the belief that there is this unseen force in the universe larger than ourselves we can’t understand and that science and religion can’t explain. More than once it has been suggested to me that my photographs of the Florida landscape have been subconsciously my attempt to bring back the Florida that was, and in doing so recapture my youth and that, which disappeared with it. I’ve never had an intelligent reply to that comment; however if these images succeed at all then maybe what I’ve been doing for the past eighteen years hasn’t been a search for what I’ve lost of myself, but rather a search for the manifested Gods that are to be found within these lands."
For more of his work

Merry Christmas to all

Wishing all a very Merry Christmas... and a healthy, happy and successful New Year..

Featured Artist...Yvette Worboys

It's always good to see what is happening around
the world in photography. Some come from "Across the Pond" but Yvette Worboys hails from " Down Under, " Sydney Australia to be exact. Her graphic design background shows in her work "ghosts"

   
Yvette is a professional photographer and has been working within the industry since 2002. Yvette began her creative career as a graphic designer and she combines both her love of design and photography within her work. After completing her studies in 2003 Yvette began working in the domestic portrait market while continuing to pursuer her love of fine art photography. She has been a successful exhibiting artist in Australia being selected for various shows including the prized Olive Cotton Award for portraiture.

 Yvette is currently working on a body of work using color and shapes as the main focus of the images. This body of work will hopefully be exhibited in Sydney Australia in 2011. She uses a vast array of equipment from the iPhone 4 Hipstamatic camera, Lomography cameras such as Holga, Canon 35mm film and digital cameras and a Bron 6 x 6 film camera. Her post production process involves mainly Photoshop however Lightroom is used for batch processing and selecting of images.

 Yvette wishes to capture not just the person or place she is photographing but also the stories behind them, as evident in herCommunity exhibition, a study on the northern NSW town of Mullumbimby, Australia. This exhibition told the stories of the town from the local’s perspective. This exhibition was held in Sydney and then travelled to Mullumbimby.
Her work below right is from "Surrealist"

More of her work can be seen here 

Featured Artist...Stuart McCall

This week we receive work through the eyes of Stuart McCall, a Vancouver, BC based photographer, who shows us his panoramic scenes of the deserts of Nevada and northern Mexico.

He began his career as a commercial photographer in 1982. Since then, his images have been published widely, featured in  Time Magazine, Fortune Magazine, Saturday Night, Photography Monthly, Boston Globe, Times of London, as well as in books by National Geographic and Douglas & McIntyre. His work has been recognized by Communication Arts, the Lotus Awards, and International Photography awards.

"The desert has fascinated me for some time.  It is a place where the climate and environment are quite incompatible with human survival.  Scarcity of water, and extremes of heat and cold are typical…  Yet people have been inhabiting and trying to make a living in deserts since time immemorial. Many come, but few stay on.   The extremes of climate have the ability to preserve traces of past activity in a remarkable way that is not so much the case in wetter or more moderate climate.  Structures, roads, footpaths, machinery, fences, and garbage heaps tend to linger on in an unnatural way, far beyond what their creators anticipated.  I have for the past several years developed a keen interest in remains left behind and eventually becoming a part of the landscape.  The deserts of western North America are wonderful places to study this." 

He completed his series of desert scenes in 2010, using small digital equipment as series of overlapping frames,combined in post-production,creating a seamless panoramic image that really shows it better effect here .  He has been experimenting with this technique for a couple of years and found the possibility of extremely high image quality with the convenience of small format appealing.

"The desert has fascinated me for some time.  It is a place where the climate and environment are quite incompatible with human survival.  Scarcity of water, and extremes of heat and cold are typical…  Yet people have been inhabiting and trying to make a living in deserts since time immemorial. Many come, but few stay on.   The extremes of climate have the ability to preserve traces of past activity in a remarkable way that is not so much the case in wetter or more moderate climate.  Structures, roads, footpaths, machinery, fences, and garbage heaps tend to linger on in an unnatural way, far beyond what their creators anticipated.  I have for the past several years developed a keen interest in remains left behind and eventually becoming a part of the landscape.  The deserts of western North America are wonderful places to study this." 

Stuart has several projects which have been in various exhibitions . Hos work continues to evolve with his current approach.

" The notion of a planet absent of human beings has been of interest for some time, and has been cause for expression in my work.  While many imagine a future where man and nature will return to a state of equilibrium, my current work considers a world where nature is gradually reversing the effects of a brief encounter with humanity."
More of his work can be seen  here

Featured artist...Walt Stricklin

With over 35 years in Photojournalism, Walt Stricklin takes inspiration from David Hockney  and turns his focus on fine art.

As Director of Photography at the Birmingham News  for the last 15 years, Stricklin applies his new vision for landscapes earning him an invitation as one of ten American photographers to go to China and be part of an inaugural exhibition and conference at The Art Palace in Xiang Sha Wan, inner Mongolia.

 
"I call my pictures "Scapes" because most of the (so far) are landscapes and city scapes. They are preconceived, digitally hand crafted and not stitched or blended by  a computer program. As I do them, I am not looking for perfection in their assembly. I leave the many individual imperfections to celebrate both my humanity and the enjoyment of discovery. My composite panoramic Scapes are my visual sculptures. I want them to be a blend of reality and my interpretation of a given situation. "

  
His composite panorama "scapes" are preconceived, digitally hand-crafted and not stitched or blended by a computer program. 

"I am not looking for perfection in their assembly. I leave the many individual imperfections to celebrate both my humanity and the enjoyment of discovery. "

"... As an artist, I search for those everyday places and events in our lives that represent the universal truths of shared experiences. What is true in our core is true no matter who we are, where we were raised or where we end up."

More of his interesting work can be seen..here

          

Featured Artist ...Ellen Jantzen

Ellen Jantzen's ghost like images have been referred to as " photo-synthesis"  Her new body of work appear spiritual, as portraits of the soul within the body. Her book, " Alternative Realities" can be found here shows her vision. It also appears in Amazon, here

Reality of Place

    I am intrigued with how a person adapts to their environment; how they are absorbed and changed. I set about to address this through a photographic photosynthesis in this body of work.
    Having recently moved to the Midwest after living in Southern California for 20 years I was, at first, unimpressed with my new surroundings. But this move has changed me and impacted my work by forcing me to deal with the reality of a given place. It has helped me pay attention to and appreciate the details of diverse environments. 
    Having always been intrigued with various aspects of reality, I chose photography as the medium to help me reveal/obscure truths. Traditionally, photography was viewed as an honest replication of the real world. But, as we all know, even from its inception, photographers used their medium to alter, accentuate and eliminate aspects of the "authentic". As I deal with these issues, I've come to realize it is all about the landscape, the environment…. fitting-in, disappearing, blending-in, and perhaps, ultimately embracing.
    In this new work, I have placed my husband (Michael) in various landscapes and in various poses to both highlight and obscure his presence while celebrating the reality of place.


She was born and raised in St. Louis Missouri. Her early college years were spent obtaining a degree in graphic arts; later emphasizing fine art. Upon graduation she and her husband, Michael, settled down on acreage in Southern Illinois and set about to construct several solar and energy efficient structures including their 2400 square foot home. Organic gardens and goat husbandry took center stage in Ellen’s life but a desire for a more “artistic” life led the couple to Los Angeles California.

Ellen spent two years at FIDM (the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) in downtown Los Angeles. Here, she obtained her advanced degree in 1992. After a few years working in the industry, including several years at Mattel Toy Company as a senior project designer, she became disillusioned with the corporate world and longed for a more creative outlet. Having been trained in computer design while at Mattel, Ellen continued her training on her own using mostly Photoshop software.
As digital technology advanced and the newer cameras were producing excellent resolution, Ellen found her perfect medium. It was a true confluence of technical advancements and creative desire that culminated in her current explorations in photo inspired art using both a camera to capture staged assemblages and a computer to alter and manipulate the pieces. Ellen has been creating works that bridge the world of prints, photography and collage.

Ellen’s work has been shown in galleries and museums world-wide as well as numerous web-based sites.



More of her other work can be seen here..http://www.ellenjantzen.com/

Featured Artist Kelly Fitzgerald

This week we are featuring member  Kelly Fitzgerald , an American born artist best known for her black and white film landscapes. 
Her selection here is from her recent work, "Colorado" from Infra-red film.

"...Photographing Colorado has been a dream of mine for over 25 years.  The first time I was inspired was when I looked through a black and white landscape photography book that had been given to me as a gift.  I saw these gorgeous landscapes of nature that had been taken by the photographer Ansel Adams.  From that moment, I knew that I wanted to experience Colorado first hand and explore its scenic beauty and history.

Dreams do come true.  With 3 camera bodies in tow, along with the very last of the discontinued Kodak Infrared High-Speed Film, I got to travel to Colorado this past September of 2010.

Fitzgerald strives to create works that capture and preserve the beauty in nature and in vanishing places – images that will inform the viewer and convey her deep belief in the value of these amazing places.

Fitzgerald discovered her love for art and photography at an early age.  In 1985, while living on the island of Kauai, she decided to move to San Diego, California to pursue her passion of the arts.  She enrolled in the photography/art program at San Diego City College.  She also studied oil painting and charcoal drawing at the San Diego Art Plex.

Fitzgerald is a black and white landscape specialist using tools such as manual film cameras, black-and-white film and the traditional darkroom to create her silver gelatin fiber base and Type C prints.  

Her photographs have been in numerous exhibits throughout the United States and Europe.  Fitzgerald's work has also won several awards including The Golden Light Award and the IPA Lucie Award.  She was honored at The Hubbard Museum in Association with The Smithsonian Institution in 2003, and was the first photographer to receive the Gene Harrison Memorial Award in November of 2003.

July of 2009, she wrapped up a 5 year project called "A New Discovery" ~ Black & White Infrared Film Landscapes of the Hawaiian Islands.  This past year, she was chosen to be a part of the Calumet Ansel Adams Tribute Video.  Her image "Shipwreck Beach - III, Lanai" was featured in the video.

More of her collections can be seen here 

Featured Artist of the Week...Charles Hedgcock

Equally at home photographing in the studio or in the field, Charles "Chip" Hedgcock has been a professional photographer for more than 20 years. He is a member of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), the Stock Artist Alliance (SAA) and is a Registered Biological Photographer and Fellow of the BioCommunications Association (BCA).

"I have a deep interest in natural history that has led me on photography and research projects in the American southwest and Sonora, Mexico.

For my personal art work I prefer the classic tools of my trade; film and archival silver gelatin prints. My images often focus on arthropods (insects, arachnids, crustaceans, millipedes, centipedes) and herps (reptiles and amphibians). What I like to call the “Charismatic Microfauna”.

His award winning photography has been called "beautiful in its precision." by the Austin American-Statesman. It has appeared in an eclectic mix of publications including; Spin, Ranger Rick, Cell & Tissue Research, BBC Wildlife, Outdoor Photographer and the Journal of Biological Photography. A gifted fine art photographer, his work has hung in numerous galleries as well as natural history museums and botanical gardens.

Brooks Jensen, editor of Lens Work, had this to say about his work:"Chip is to bugs what Weston was to peppers!"

"I enjoy photographing animals in the studio because of the control it affords me. Control not just of my subjects, but perhaps more importantly, control of the light.  Photography is “painting with light” after all, and I feel that working in the studio allows me to paint with a fine brush. This helps me to bring out the sculptural and luminous qualities of my subjects. All subjects are photographed alive and when possible, released back into the environment from which they came unharmed."

More of his work can be seen at

http://charleshedgcock.com/index.html

Featured Artist of the Week..Eric Smith

Eric Smith has many exhibits to his name. His work ranges from studio to editorials in documentary fashion. But he doesn't let his commercial side get in the way of his Art side, but rather uses it to bring him closer to the experience. His technique lends itself to his subjects shown here in his series:

McLouth Steel

Roll Mill

He says in his statement:

I create instinctually.  Time, place, light, and chance: these are the elements from which my photographs are formed.  My images are never preconceived or contrived.  Instead, my work is firmly rooted in that gap which exists between seeing and comprehending: that place which reveals, but also questions, the truth. 

I examine reality.  Our world is ambiguous and filled with contradiction and uncertainty. Hope and cynicism.  Solemnity and absurdity.  Beauty and ruin.  My photos explore these incongruous experiences and emotions, and documents their opposition.  Essentially, photography allows me to question the indefinite relationship between reality and perception.  My work is a constant journey towards authenticity.

I foster discovery.  A compelling image is one which reveals something unexpected, even if the material is truly mundane.  Photography is a medium which provides the viewer not only the opportunity to observe and detect, but also to emote and respond.  My photos are evocative, suggestive, and reminiscent: their subjects are self-explanatory, yet call into question one's usual perception of time and space.  My work continually examines how the ordinary is really quite extraordinary.

Oxygen Plant

Roll Steel Warehouse

 Drive Gear

" Photography allows me to question the indefinite relationship between reality and perception.  My work continually examines how the ordinary is really quite extraordinary. "More of his work at www.ericsmithphotography.com

Featured Artist of the Week..George L. Smyth

This week we welcome George L Smyth
He began to seriously study photography upon his return from an extended trip to Wales in 1990. After experimenting to find his personal style, he decided to concentrate on pinhole, infrared and alternative process photography.

A member of the Bowie-Crofton Camera Club since 1992, the largest in the Washington-Baltimore area, he has won numerous awards, including Photographer of the Year in 2009. He is a regular lecturer on pinhole and infrared photography, and has offered numerous presentations to area clubs, as well as presenting to PhotoPro Expo twice.

His work is Bromoil  is a labor intensive process made out of love. Below his examples with his accompanying stories:

 Early Morning Meeting

It was certainly long in coming, but they say that the best things take time.  What "takes time" is the connection, and oddly enough, that had been the easy part.  He hadn't even considered sharing his plans by starting at the top, but here he was, and this was his time.  Spotting his contact across the room, he entered and presented his offering, which he hoped would be the first of many.

  

  Encounters....  the cover of his book  "The Extras"..

Nothing was the same.  Nothing.  Many things were better, but is better always better?  A hunger built up in her throat as she found her way through the crowd.  The things she had known all her life, and from which she had run, were familiar but not comforting.  This new unknown was a hurting thing, but the abundance of the new life acted as a counterweight.  She was not sure if she would ever forget her past pain, but perhaps her children would be spared.

George's other work can be seen at his website . He also maintains a blogsite... sharing more  work with stories..

DreamStates... matthew pace photographer |