Photographic Center Northwest

I am pleased to announce images from my Sorority Rush series were accepted in to this years Photography Center Northwest's annual juried show. Rod Slemmons from the Museum of Contemporary Photography was this years juror. The show opens July 11, 8:45-10:00pm and runs through August 28, 2008. If you are in the Seattle area please stop by. All works are for sale.

Other artists include:

1. Aragona, Marisa, CA (BCD)
2. Baden, Evan, MN (ABD)
3. Bayles, David, OR (DEJ)
4. Breen, Andrew, IL (ABC)
5. Bross, Suzette, IL (ABC)
6. Browder, Chase, TX (AFG)
7. Burk, Jeff, IL (ABC)
8. Bush, Diane, NV (ACD)
9. Conley, Beverly, AR (BHJ)
10. Cox, Andy, WA (BFG)
11. Dickerson, Nell, TN (ABD)
12. Hagen, Erik, NY (BDE)
13. Heileson, Thom, WA (ABC)
14. Holmes, Joseph, NY (ABG)
15. Ketcham, Sally, WA (EFG)
16. Krieg, Carolyn, WA (BCD)
17. Miranda, Paolo, CA (ABD)
18. Papo, Rachel, NY (ACD)
19. Phillips, Russell, IL (AHJ)
20. Prusinowski, Peter, PA (ABG)
21. Sauvaitre, Marie, NY (CEF)
22. Small, Ellen, NY (FGI)
23. Sudhoff, Sarah, TX (FGJ)
24. Veenstra, Victoria, MI (ACE)
25. Vionnet, Corinne, VD, Switzerland (CEF)

Fotofest Meeting Place: Day 2-4

The intense days of mini meetings with well known curators from New York, Texas, California, etc as well as several international galleries has finished up. Well for me anyway. There is one more week of portfolio reviews taking place in conjunction with Fotofest. I honestly had my reservations regarding attending such a costly event however when I ran in to Mary Virginia Swanson at an opening last summer at Jen Beckman's gallery she convinced me it was worth while. Although I did not have the opportunity to meet with MVS (hint hint) although I selected her everyday, I have to agree the days of prep work and sometimes exhausting and nerve racking meetings seem, at this point, to have been a good investment. I had the opportunity meet with a handful of people who seemed to be really interested in my work–either my Repository series or my Sorority Rush series. Overall, I received constructive feedback on how to improve both bodies of work and ways to continue them. I find its always difficult to put yourself out there not knowing what you will get in return, if anything. So for four days myself along with about 100 other people got the nerve to lay our cards down, meet with directors and/or curators we have only dreamed of meeting, all in the hopes that one might be interested enough to represent us, put us in a group show, publish a book of our work or show us around to other possibly interested curators, reps, magazines or book publishers.

I found everyone was looking for something different and I think in the end no matter what level you were at, how finished your body of work was most people found someone their work connected with. I myself was looking for possible gallery representation, inclusion in a group or solo show and interest in publishing one or both projects. In addition, I felt that both projects could be continued and should be. I discussed the strengths and weakness of each body of work and where to go from here. Often, as those of you who have attended reviews know, often the advice can and does contradict what the previous reviewer suggested. I think, based upon all the advice, you have to find the path or next step which seems best suited for you at this moment in time.

In between the meetings and over the course of four days, I was able to receive and give peer reviews and see some amazing photography. What is most striking to me is I signed up for the third section of portfolio reviews. There had been two before mine and one after. The level of work I was seeing and most of which I recognized from recent publications, contests and exhibitions was phenomenal. It appeared that some of the most talented emerging photographers were all gathered in Houston. I ran across photographer Kaylynn Deveney whose images I had seen through the 2005 critical mass top 50 contest. It was a real pleasure to see her prints and also purchase her book titled The Day to Day Life of Albert Hastings. Kent Rogowski, another photographer I had the pleasure of meeting, also recently published a book titled Bears. Both books can be purchased online. I am planning to order Kent's book, maybe he'll sign it for me??? Other photographers I met were Rona Chang, Geoffrey Hutchinson who I knew from New York and his business Print Space as well as Jessica Kaufman and Anne Arden McDonald. On Wednesday night there was an open portfolio viewing where the general public could come view our work and speak with us. After 6 hours of reviews earlier in the day it was the last thing most of us wanted to participate in however the experience was so worthwhile. How often do you have the opportunity to meet the artist or photographer in such a casual setting and how often do we as artists and photographers get to interact with a group of people who might not be the typical crowd at our openings.

Some of these same photographers, including myself, have been selected to attend this years Santa Fe Review happening in June. Unlike the meeting place, the Santa Fe Review is upon portfolio selection only. A panel selects a small group of photographers to attend a two day review. I hope to reedit and include some of the suggestions from the meeting place before heading out to Santa Fe to do it all over again.

Fotofest Meeting Place: Day 1

I made it through my first day of Fotofest here in Houston. Unfortunately I was so exhausted after I wasn't able to check out any shows around town. I had the pleasure of meeting with several reviewers who offered insightful feedback. It was both encouraging and discouraging on some levels. Based on the first day events I'm considering reediting the current selection of images in my Repository series. I've brought along two series. Most reviewers are drawn to the medical work although a few have been more taken with my Sorority Rush series.

Reviewers questioned the themes running through my Repository series and ways to strengthen those ideas. One reviewer from Canada mentioned the possibility of separating the project in to two parts of one body while another reviewer suggested separating out the images of the photographs of me in the morgue sink from the rest of the hospital/gynecologist pieces. Nothing was a complete surprise however it gets me thinking–maybe the series isn't as strong as I originally thought. Maybe it is. Maybe it just needs refining. I have been wanting to continue with the self-portraits as well as continue shooting for the series but not sure which ideas to focus on and which themes need to be fleshed out more.

In between the intense timed reviews I was able to see the work of fellow Fotofest participants. I ran across two photographers whose images I was already familiar with. I spotted Carlo Van de Roer's Untitled (Astoria Park, Queens, New York). I recognized his image which had been shown at Jen Beckman's gallery and through her photo venture 20x200 offering very reasonably priced prints to the general public. Unfortunately this photo is already sold out in all sizes. It was wonderful being able to see the entire series and meet Carlo. Jen Beckman is attending the conference as a reviewer. I'm hoping to meet her and show her both my series and see where that leads. I'd love to be part of her gallery or at the very least sell an image through her 20x200. I also recognized the work of Rachel Papo and her series of Israeli female soldiers. Her and I were both published in the same issue of PDN edu a few years ago. Having only seen the images in a magazine or online it was fantastic to see them beautifully printed 20x24 as well as see Rachel's new series on ballet dancers in Russia.

I overheard one photographer say that while nothing transpired from his meetings with reviewers two years ago during his first Fotofest conference he walked away inspired. During the last two years he has produced two bodies of work and a book. I hope if nothing else I can walk away with a list of new contacts and the same positive outlook on my own work and future projects.