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Two of my prints were accepted into the upcoming Twelve: Natural Magic juried photographic art exhibition at the Viewpoint Photographic Art Center. Details as follows:
Twelve: Natural Magic
December 11, 2013 - January 4, 2014
Viewpoint Photographic Art Center
2015 J Street, Sacramento, CA
Artists' Reception: December 14, 2013, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
It would be great to see you at the reception on December 14!
Viewpoint Photographic Art Center is a member supported photographic gallery in Midtown Sacramento. The gallery generates revenue through membership fees, exhibition fees, and by offering a limited number of portfolio drawers to members who would like to make their prints available for viewing on a day-to-day basis. So-called "portfolio members" pay an annual fee for their own print drawer and shared space in the gallery's print racks. I recently upgraded my membership to the portfolio level and my prints are now on permanent display at Viewpoint. If you have been unable to attend my exhibitions, you can now visit the gallery during regular business hours to view my prints. My portfolio drawer is number C-14, and don't forget to check the print racks too!
Viewpoint Photographic Art Center
2015 J Street, Suite 101, Sacramento, CA
www.viewpointgallery.org
I was just informed that two of my prints were accepted into the Visions 2013 juried photography exhibition at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center. Details as follows:
Visions 2013
Juried Photography Exhibition
October 29-November 23, 2013
Sacramento Fine Arts Center
5330-B Gibbons Drive, Carmichael, CA
Artists' Reception: November 9, 2013, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
It would be great to see you at the reception on November 9!
Back in the day, you’d buy a camera body and a couple of nice prime lenses and you'd be good to go for at least 10 years. But with the advent of digital sensors, cameras effectively became computers with lenses, and their life cycles were adjusted down accordingly. Now, in line with the rest of the tech industry, camera manufacturers introduce new models on an annual, if not a semi-annual basis. Photographers, gear-heads that they are, have played right along; today, if you shoot with a digital camera that's more an a few years old, you're outdated and falling off the back of the technological treadmill.
Fortunately, there are signs that this relentless race to upgrade gear is starting to slow. Recently released camera industry figures show a dramatic drop in camera sales across the board. This includes all types of cameras, not just compacts, which have understandably taken a beating from the now nearly ubiquitous iPhone. Even the new so-called “mirrorless” cameras, touted as being the be-all and end-all to replace both DSLRs and compacts, are slumping big time.
Perhaps what we’re seeing is a leveling off of the rate of technological advancements (most cameras today are well beyond “good enough"), combined with buyer fatigue as a result of profit-hungry manufacturers releasing cameras at a rate that even the most fervent gear-heads can no longer keep up with. If this is the case, it's good news. The obsession with gear that fully consumed many photographers for the last decade or two took the focus away from what really matters: the skill and artistry of the photographer. Lets hope this is the start of a trend and not just a statistical blip. Moving away from photography primarily as a camera buying exercise, and back toward photography as a fine art medium, would be a welcome development indeed.
The obvious subject of this photo is well within the realm of being a cliché: "Lone tree positioned approximately 1/3 of the way from the edge of the photo, level horizon, with plenty of puffy white clouds overhead." There's nothing unique or unusual about this image in that regard.
Of course, sometimes photos aren't really about the obvious subject or even the composition - sometimes they're about the subtle character of the light, and the recognition by the viewer that they've experienced the feeling of being bathed in that particular type of light at one time or another. That's really what this image is about. If you've lived in Northern California for any length of time, and you've experienced a particular intensity of late morning light that only happens out in vast open spaces during the height (and heat) of summer, you may recognize the light in this photo.
In the gallery world, prints created using the platinum/palladium, wet plate collodion, and other antiquated processes generally fetch much higher prices from collectors than modern archival inkjet prints. These "craft" prints are desirable due to their unique beauty, archival qualities, and rarity. They are undoubtedly beautiful, but not necessarily more so than the best modern prints. And even though high-quality modern prints now boast upwards of 200-year archival quality, it doesn't really matter; perception is everything when it comes to the value of collectible art.
Some photographers--even outside of the gallery world--also consider these antiquated processes to be superior to modern digital processes. The common argument is that the old methods are more difficult, which in the minds of some, makes them more legitimate. Of course, the difficulty of any art form has never been tied to its ability to express emotion and move the viewer. It is also debatable whether the old techniques are actually more difficult to master than modern tools such as Photoshop, many of which require years of dedicated effort to fully master. Different than the old techniques? Yes. Easier to master? Not really.
I believe photographers should use whatever tools they enjoy that also enable them to fully express their personal vision. That might be anything from wet plate cameras from the 19th century to the latest iPhone apps from last week. What matters is not the tool, technique, or process, but the ability of the artist to capture an idea or emotion and convey it to the viewer in a powerful way.
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." --Marcel Proust
I love that quote from Proust. My entire approach to photography is encapsulated in that one sentence.
I just finished framing a print for the upcoming members' exhibition at the Blue Line Gallery in Roseville. The 18" square (30" framed) gelatin silver print titled Ephemeral Wetland (at right or full size here) will be on display from July 19th through August 24th. The gallery is located in old town Roseville at 405 Vernon Street. It would be great to see you at the artists' reception on Thursday, July 20th, from 6-9 p.m.
Some of my other prints will be on display in the upcoming California Fine Arts exhibition at Cal Expo and the Viewpoint Members' exhibition at the Viewpoint Photographic Art Center in Midtown Sacramento. Details about those and other upcoming shows can be found on my exhibitions page.
Before the advent of digital photography, the physical characteristics of the recording medium (film) had much to do with the physical characteristics of the final print. There was the ability to crop an image in the darkroom, but in most cases, the aspect ratio of the final print matched the aspect ratio of the negative. Today, we have no such constraints. Many digital cameras provide the option of setting a handful of different aspect ratios in-camera, and of course, cropping in post is no more than a one-click operation.
This freedom to determine the aspect ratio of every image on the fly puts tremendous pressure on the photographer. Failing to choose an aspect ratio prior to composing an image is like trying to design a page layout without knowing the size or shape of the page. Whether it's the native aspect ratio of the digital sensor, or some other aspect ratio chosen for aesthetic reasons, it's good practice to choose an image shape before bringing the viewfinder up to the eye. Doing so provides a solid framework for setting up a composition, while failing to do so changes the process of image composition from one of careful consideration to one of mostly luck and happenstance.
The 120 film format was popular in the 1960s and is still available today. Cameras that take 120 film are often called Medium Format cameras. 120 film allows several aspect ratios, including (but not limited to) 1.35:1, 1:1, and 1.50:1. A number of my favorite photographers from that era shot 120 film in the 6x6 (1:1 aspect ratio) square format. Their influence is one of the reasons I choose to shoot square images on a digital camera with a rectangular sensor.
The other reason I shoot square is related to my work as a graphic artist. In the world of graphic design--particularly print design--artists are working in rectangles nearly 100% of the time. After doing this for decades, you naturally get pretty good at parsing out rectangles. For me, the square format provides a fresh, more interesting challenge that requires a higher degree of intuitive thinking. It also frees me up from adherence to the classical rules of composition that are so deeply ingrained in the rectangle.
I was pleased to find out that my photo Upper Putah Creek was honored with the Viewpoint Photographic Art Center Award for best black and white photo at the California Fine Arts exhibition. Awards of any kind are always a welcome validation of one's work, but it's a particular honor to receive an award from my photographic peers. Many thanks to the jurors and the Viewpoint Photographic Art Center.
I hope you can make it out to the California Fine Arts exhibition this year. The show looks great; eclectic as always, with lots of strong work in a wide variety of media. Details as follows:
California Fine Art
July 12 – July 28, 2013
California State Fair
Cal Expo, Expo Center Building 7
Sacramento, CA