Student Work

This summer I am teaching two 10 week courses at the Houston Community College as well as a number of courses at the Houston Center for Photography. Needless to say I am in the thick of it and hoping to inspire my students even though the classes are long–nearly five hours at a time and its hot as hell. On top of it my HCC classes have to bring in their own water to process their black and white film since the tap water is coming in at almost 100 degrees.


I have a few standard assignments I have students complete at the start of each new session. I introduced the LIGHT assignment to my teen intro digital photography class at HCP and have attached two of my favorite images created by one student. This was a four session course and this was their second assignment. The images are Uta Barth inspired, as if you couldn't tell.

Who Knew

I have my sorority series syndicated through Redux Pictures in New York. Out of the blue I'll receive a check in the mail for an image or two running but I'm not always sure where it ran(I don't google myself enough) or when. Just today I got an email from someone who saw one of my images in Forbes magazine. Sure enough it ran in April 2009. I always have mixed feelings whether to allow my personal work to be used out of context but for editorial purposes. I can say the money I have made from it being published a number of times in the last few years has paid for the project–film, two plane tickets, processing and scanning. The first major running of the work was in iO Donna an Italian magazine which ran 10 or so images. Of course since its syndicated I only make half of what Redux is paid for the images.

Highs and Lows

Its been nearly a month since I've posted anything. In that time I had a quick trip to New York to visit friends and I was lucky enough to see the American debut of Sophie Calle's Take Care of Yourself show at Paula Cooper Gallery.

Displaying a unique approach to what might otherwise inflict emotional trauma, artist Sophie Calle rose to challenge an ex's breakup email suggestion to "take care of yourself" by asking 107 professional women to analyze and interpret the email's content. Calle's voyeuristic sleuthing and disclosure of intimate details — delving into explorations of public-versus-private life — has made her one of France's most renowned conceptual artists. Take Care of Yourself exhibits these personal responses to a painful message (ranging from live performance to academic discourse), which leaves viewers both uncomfortable and reflectively empathetic.
– Renata Christen

Ironically while at the exhibition I got the call I had been waiting for from the University of Akron that I had not been offered the full time tenure track position. Honestly it was quite the let down. Ironically though later that night my father called after finding a medical photographer position open in Texas which I immediately applied for. Still waiting to hear if I'll get an interview there or not.

Last week I moved to Houston for the summer to teach two courses at Houston Community College and a number of short courses at the Houston Center for Photography. Classes began today and I'm excited about teaching for the next two months.

In the realm of my own work I found out I did not win an award at the NY Photo festival, get in to the HCP annual member show or receive the Women in Photography grant however the winner will be announced this Wednesday. Sometimes you just don't get any slack.

But to end on a positive note I had the pleasure of meeting Alec Soth for the first time last week. The non-profit I helped start, The Austin Center for Photography had its second 'Icons of Photography' lecture on Thursday evening at the Blanton Auditorium. I was the chief organizer for this event and was able to spend a good deal of time with Alec and his wife. I'm happy to report, Rachel bought boots and we took her and Alec to the Broken Spoke for a night of country dancing. And yes they both hit the dance floor. No, no photos to prove it.