NVAL 2016 International Juried Photography Show Gold Selections
JUROR STATEMENT • Jack Fulton Professor Emeritus, San Francisco Art Institute
21st Century State of the Art: Trying to Incite Insight
In this 21st century the World Wide Web would not be what it is without photography as a prime medium of communication. One might go so far to say it has become a verbal medium as one might view and comment on a site like Snapchat.
Apple, the world’s largest company, with its iPhone & Pad, created such a simple imaging tool, which along with the WWW has made ‘the photograph’ the world’s most ubiquitous visual experience. The medium, in which let us include video, is presently changing destinies, traditions and political realms in countries throughout the world.
With this onset of non-verbal communication are ‘hits’ or ‘likes’ from web sites that not only garner attention but influence others to emulate successes with the result being tens of thousands of look-alike photographs. Such constant input ultimately creates prevailing themes and ways of doing things to or with the photographic image. In recent years apps, add-on programs for Photoshop/Lightroom software, have provided yet more image enhancement and manipulation. Companies now provide quality printing such as the supercilious named Giclee print, the dye sublimation print, prints mounted on aluminum and a host of presentations of a multitude of papers, canvas, silk etc. The majority of these tools and methodologies are intended to elevate the image to the point where it can be called Art.
Therefore, with these advantages, the majority of which provide the user with a very good quality photographic presentation, it is increasingly difficult to say that one image is ‘better’ than the other. Accompanying this multiplication of digital imagery is a renewed interest in the medium’s historical processes, once called alternative. These too have been aided by digital techniques but it is a pleasure to see cyanotypes, Pl/Pd, gum bichromate, carbon, bromoil et alia techniques practiced today in light of the preponderant digital ink print.
Due to this ease of excellence, which has been observed in judging other photographic contests, composition related to content is of key importance as is context, metaphor and even simile, all tools of the writer. The idea is to peruse each image in order to find the author, the one who has seen the ordinary and turned that into the exceptional . . . or, perhaps better put, has proffered to the viewer insight into what is being thought by the photographer about what they are observing. A simpler way is to say the photographer has made an image, not taken it.
Plagiarizing, emulating and success with either of those tactics does not create an outstanding work, one that holds emotional content . . . and while the term lyrical comes to mind that is but one of the human expressions available to pursue. Ultimately it is about expression . . . the chiaroscuro of a non-color photograph; how, in the viewing one’s perspective rises to see a poetic description; what sort of a dialogue has been created by the author with the viewer; and, in the context of our time does the dialogue speak in the visual language of our time to provide meaning in our lives. What the goal is is to be a person of content living in an age of style.
Juror Bio
Jack Fulton has been involved with photography as a fine art since 1965. He has taught in the Photography Department of the San Francisco Art Institute from 1969 to 2013 and was Chair of the Department for approximately half that period. He designed the complete darkroom facilities and curriculum, also introducing color, historic processes and the digital environment.
He has also taught at UC Santa Cruz, Colorado College, Emily Carr in Vancouver, Ansel Adams Yosemite workshops, the Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego, Anderson Ranch and in Lisbon Portugal.
His practice is interdisciplinary and presently primarily digital. His body of work has earned him numerous awards among which are two NEA Fellowships (1970 and 1990) and an NEA Publishing award, which brought forth a book on walking in the Sierra Nevada: 2 Saunters: Summer & Winter.
His work has been exhibited and collected in Paris, London, NYC, Portugal, and a number of national venues, including SFMOMA; Oakland Museum; Los Angeles County Museum; University of AZ; Chicago Art Institute; Biblioteque Nationale, Paris; Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris; Seagram’s; UNOCAL; DiRosa Foundation (Napa, CA); San Jose Museum of Art, and multiple private collections.
He has been selected to judge photography and fine arts work in Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada and California. Jack enjoys and appreciates a wide variety of style, technique and subject matter, but to see some of his more recent work go to his website – JackFulton.net. To learn more about Jack view — https://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/81636-jack-fulton
“Dancer”
Judi Altman, Ocean Springs, MS
ARTIST STATEMENT: You pray that you know what might be coming...and you hold your breath over and over waiting for what you believe you will see...countless moments later, it never happens...or...many moments after your patience has waned, wildlife does something completely other than what you expect. "Dancer", epitomizes for me our natural local wonder....seemingly familiar, yet without any reference to the expected....
ARTIST STATEMENT: Documentary style photography as art is my passion. The artistry in this type photography involves the ability to capture moments or scenes in a way that tell a story and grab the viewers’ attention. Our lives are so inundated with information that we tend to take what surrounds us every day for granted. I think photography can help us sort through the clutter and better appreciate the environments in which we live. I prefer black and white for this purpose because it further reduces the captured scene to its basic elements.
ARTIST STATEMENT: I am a street photographer, and shoot in an “old school” manner—manual rangefinder cameras, black-and-white film, and prints made in a traditional darkroom, all of which I do myself. Strictly analog.
“No Bull” was shot on the upper westside of Manhattan, just outside of the 72nd Street subway station. I saw the advertising poster of the athletic man drinking his sports drink, and waited for the right passersby. Luckily, the elderly gentlemen happened by as I was waiting.
Email: bbarshop@barshopventures.com
“Tension No. 4”
Zsolt Batori, Budapest, Hungary
ARTIST STATEMENT: Tension No. 4 is part of a series that focuses on the visual tension between light and shadow. The individual images in this series all have darker-toned backgrounds which is disturbed by the brightness of various light sources that dominate the picture. I am most interested in the resulting patterns, the way the interplay between darkness and light determines the compositional structure of the photographs. Tension No. 4 explores a space where the light source goes beyond being a functional fixture; it is meant to make a difference, to lend dynamism to the otherwise uneventful space. The parallel light stripes frame the zigzagging black stripe and together they complicate the unusual space. This vague space with its patchy surface, with its curving and indefinite boundaries challenges our perception. The black and white stripe, however, firmly leads our eyes and focuses our attention. It is the unsettling tension between the two components that creates the compositional effect of the image.
Website: www.zsoltbatori.com
“Bent Not Broken”
Jerry Berry, Meadow Vista, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: “Decay is inherent in all component things”
The Buddha
While vacationing in Bhutan, I kept an eye out for some handmade paper to obtain and bring back to print some of the images I captured while I was there. It wasn’t until the last evening in Paro that some of us visited an art gallery. Paintings were purchased and the clerk rolled them up in some paper from a stack she had behind the counter in order to protect them. My quest ended when I persuaded the clerk to sell me 20 sheets of this paper even though she was confused about why I wanted to buy it.
This image “Bent not Broken” of the older gentleman, printed on the handmade paper reflects perfectly the teachings of the Bhudda on the impermanence of all things. As the paper ages, yellows, and frays so too the life of the man. The frailty of mankind and vulnerability of the print reminds us that life is precious and that the present moment is the most important thing we have. Impermanence is inevitable.
Website: butch.pixu.com
Email: butch@usamedia.tv
“Kettle On To Boil”
Lester Blum, New York, NY
ARTIST STATEMENT: Light is used to counterbalance the dark. Visually all compositions are deconstructed into simple geometric shapes and then mentally recomposed in the camera frame thus creating a balanced image of shape, darkness and light. Without the darkness there can be no possibility of apprehending the light.
In many parts of the world, despite the convenient advances of technology, life continues as it has for a millennium. The boiling kettle will offer a respite from the drudgery of the day. The glowing embers and sparks of light offers hope for a better tomorrow.
The interplay of light enhances the image offering a fourth dimension. This fourth dimension, even in a still life - is for the viewer to see past the objects to have an emotional response to the photograph.
ARTIST STATEMENT: I look for urban settings or landscapes that, for me, are evocative or suggest emotion. And then I look for how people behave in those environments.
In Old Port Marseille, two boys are dancing with their shadows on the wall of the Old Customs House.
ARTIST STATEMENT: I look for urban settings or landscapes that, for me, are evocative or suggest emotion. And then I look for how people behave in those environments. In Winter Oak, Geneva, a couple is crossing a snowy park on a winter morning.
ARTIST STATEMENT: Taken in Sicily, 2013 year during my exploration of the ancient temples in the valley of the temples in Agrigento.
Website: sanjabuterin.com
“Saharan Trek”
James Canter, Redding, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: The Saharan Desert is a magical place with seemingly endless waves of sculpted sand dunes that form marvelous architectural designs. My hope was to capture its beauty while my wife and I rode camels into the Moroccan desert. As the sun began to set, our camels lumbered to the top of a high ridge, where I witnessed shadows beginning to project onto the desert floor. At the top of the ridge, I tightly held onto the saddle with one hand, steadied the camera as best I could with the other, and opportunely shot the picture, “Saharan Trek.”
Email: jfcanter@gmail.com
Website: jfcanter.com
“Stopping for Water”
James Canter, Redding, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: Steam railways always fascinated me because of their historical significance and intrinsic beauty. Recently, I accomplished a longtime desire to ride one in England, the country where the steam train was invented. While visiting there, I rode the Kent and East Sussex Railway in rural southeast England, and as the train chugged along through the beautiful countryside, I realized that it was stopping for water, an essential ingredient to power the train. Without hesitation, I leaned as far out the window of the coach as I could and captured this 19th century-like scene, “Stopping for Water.”
Website: jfcanter.com
Email: jfcanter@gmail.com
“Milky Way above Kings River Camp”
Fritz Carlson, Palo Cedro, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: This camp along the north fork of the Kings River is one of my favorite places in the world. We used to take our kids here when they were very young so they could learn to love the quiet, solitude and beauty of the High Sierra. On this trip, though, it was three old geezers (70+) on a short trip to try to recreate mountain adventures of our youth. We succeeded, I think, but within the constraints of everyone having to take their medications on the right schedule.
In the northern hemisphere in September the massive star and gas clouds near the center of our Milky Way galaxy stand nearly vertical in the southwest sky so I was hoping to catch some nice very dark sky images. I was a little irritated that one of my geezer colleagues set up his tent right where the Milky Way was going to be, but after seeing the resulting image, I thanked him for his (unintended) foresight.
Email: fritz.carlson@gmail.com
“Perseid Meteor Shower above Mount Whitney”
Fritz Carlson, Palo Cedro, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: The 2015 apparition of the Perseid meteor shower peaked during the night of August 12-13. It was the best apparition in years since the moon was a just a thin crescent that rose right before dawn so dark skies lasted almost all night. It took 4 days to hike into this remote spot on the Great Western Divide where the Mt Whitney group of peaks could provide a nice foreground for the celestial show.
Back-country photography presents some unusual challenges in that I had to decide whether to bring a tripod or food for another 2 days. I chose food, so my tripod consisted of a jury-rigged assembly of three trekking poles and an ultralight ballhead. Camera batteries were charged during the day using solar panels.
Email: fritz.carlson@gmail.com
“Bronze Age Waypoint, Altai Mountains, Mongolia”
Pat Carlson, Palo Cedro, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: This cairn marks the trail to a high pass (around 10,600 feet) in the frequently misty and snow-covered Altai Mountains in the Bayan Ögliy region of Western Mongolia. Passes have been used for millennia to cross this mountainous region into the steppe lands of present-day Mongolia, Northern China, Kazakhstan and Russian Altai. Numerous Bronze Age petroglyphs and stone monuments surround the sacred Shiveet Khairkhan mountain pictured at the end of the valley.
The day after we and our camels passed this location in mid-September, a blizzard covered the surrounding mountains with snow and likely closed the pass for the season. We had hiked for 5 days (45 miles) of a 12 day (85 mile) trip to reach this place. When viewing this image, I see the expansiveness of this high, cold, arid land and wonder about the humans who have lived and traveled here for the past 3000 or so years. The early hunter-gatherers gradually shifting to the current herding of domesticated animals and wonder what shifts may occur over the next several millennia with the humans and the landscape.
Email: patcarlson@msn.com
“Attitude”
Connie Cassinetto, Sonora, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: A couple of friends joined me one day in an outdoor shoot I had arranged in an abandoned building. I had found a tattoo artist, who owned a local tattoo shop, who would pose for us. When he arrived we were amazed: he brought with him five pairs of different colored shoes and the tank top, shorts, belt, and hat to match each pair and his skateboard. He said he never left the house without every piece of clothing matching up. He was a delight to work with and he had such a wonderful attitude. It was obvious that he was very happy with his life and he talked almost non-stop about his little girl, showing us many photos of her from his iphone. Some months later he suffered a major head injury in a motorcycle accident: I have heard he is getting well but each time I see one of the photos that I took of him I cannot help but think how a photograph can capture an absolute moment in time that will not be changed or forgotten, no matter what happens to us through time or how we change. It’s also a reminder of how tenuous life is.
Website: www.cassinettophotos.com
“Kennedy Meadows Cowboy”
Connie Cassinetto, Sonora, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: I live very near the Sierra National Forest and within that area is a resort, Kennedy Meadows Resort & Packstation, that has been in business for 90+ years. The area is definite cowboy country and the cowboys at the pack station are the “real deal.” These are not your city-bred, wanna-be cowboys: these cowboys are hard living, let’s have fun, dig-in-and-do-the-hard-work cowboys and they are genuine. I go there to photograph tack hanging in the ample tack room a couple of times a year. Sometimes I’ll ask one of the cowboys if I can take a photo of them and they are always polite and say “yes.” I liked this photograph in particular because he was intently working on a piece of tack and then all of the tools, pieces and parts of leather, bits for bridle repair, and everything else you would need to keep a working pack station going was apparent. I wanted to catch the motion in his hands while leaving the rest of the photo very sharp and I was happy that I did that with this photo.
Website: www.cassinettophotos.com
“Monks and a Tree, Myanmar”
Tom Cheatham, Durango, CO
ARTIST STATEMENT: This photo was taken in Phalankone village, Myanmar. It is a village I have visited many times in 13 trips to Myanmar (formerly Burma). The village has a monastery where local boys fulfill their traditional obligation to become novice monks and learn the tenets of Buddhism. Some of the boys live at the monastery, where they are sheltered, fed and go to school. I was on a walk with five of these boys when they stopped to rest at the base of a tree. It was a hot day.
ARTIST STATEMENT: Overboard is based on a vivid dream I had recently. In the dream, I was on a cruise with my husband and son. Suddenly it was night and I found myself in the ocean near the cruise ship. I had a spot light and I was frantically trying to find my room number which was visible on the door on deck. For some reason, that seemed to be the key to getting back on the ship. I could not find it and I started to panic. Next thing I knew, I looked around me and there were a lot of dolphins all around me hovering over the water. I felt relieved they were there with me as if they were guiding the way.
I created this piece by building a set in my studio using images, threads, and various papers. The set was then backlit behind a sheet of white paper. I came around to the front of the paper to view the scene illuminating through the paper. Working with light, shadows, reflections, and silhouettes I created a final composition which I photographed.
Website: www.HeidiClappTemple.com.
“Fertility Suite No. 2”
Brian Connor, Martinborough, New Zealand
ARTIST STATEMENT: I was privileged to work with Katya Zvantseva late in her second pregnancy at Studio Arto, Rockville, Maryland, in 2014. We tried to capture the grace and beauty of her pregnant form. This image shows the delicate details of her skin in outline. A single, gridded studio strobe was used, positioned slightly above Katya, slightly to her left, and about 6’ behind her.
This image received a Single Image Award in Nude, from Black & White Magazine, and appeared in issue #113, February 2016. Also appears in Supermodel Magazine #028, 2015.
Email: brian@aspringimagery.com
“Piece Work, Budapest Market”
Kathy Conway, North Haven, CT
ARTIST STATEMENT: Kathy Conway is primarily a self-taught photographer originally from Chicago, San Francisco and currently North Haven, Connecticut. She attended Paier Art School, New Haven, CT, studying oil painting in a representational style. Her creative expression is more recently focused on fine art photography, inspired by her travels and love of nature as well as her experience as a lawyer/mediator concentrating in environmental and land use law. Her ability to capture the dignity, beauty and ever-changing moods of people and wildlife in their environment has evoked a sense of place that engages her viewers in an intimate way.
Inspired by form, lighting and texture, my landscapes, both natural and man-made, challenge the viewer to enter my domain. Recently I am concentrating on street photography and structures in black and white.
However, these street scene images from Prague and Budapest literally demanded color to portray the essence of the images. The story is in the color.
Literally, art, for me, is about story telling – capturing and conveying the essence of a moment in time and evoking memories of people and places, whether black and white or color.
ARTIST STATEMENT: Kathy Conway is primarily a self-taught photographer originally from Chicago, San Francisco and currently North Haven, Connecticut. She attended Paier Art School, New Haven, CT, studying oil painting in a representational style. Her creative expression is more recently focused on fine art photography, inspired by her travels and love of nature as well as her experience as a lawyer/mediator concentrating in environmental and land use law. Her ability to capture the dignity, beauty and ever-changing moods of people and wildlife in their environment has evoked a sense of place that engages her viewers in an intimate way.
Inspired by form, lighting and texture, my landscapes, both natural and man-made, challenge the viewer to enter my domain. Recently I am concentrating on street photography and structures in black and white.
However, these street scene images from Prague and Budapest literally demanded color to portray the essence of the images. The story is in the color.
Literally, art, for me, is about story telling – capturing and conveying the essence of a moment in time and evoking memories of people and places, whether black and white or color.
ARTIST STATEMENT: My image in this exhibition is part of a series of photo-based, digital manipulations. I often begin these images by scanning natural elements and found objects directly on the surface of a flatbed scanner. Working with very basic tools in Adobe Photoshop, I then combine the scanned image with my own photos (digital and/or film).
Using these varied elements, I attempt to create cohesive, visual narratives that articulate ideas related to impermanence and the passing of time, life, and love.
All photographs are output with an Epson printer using archival K-3 ultra chrome inks and printed on Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper.
“Girl in Doorway, Khajuraho”
Nathan Dean, Atlanta, GA
ARTIST STATEMENT: You are wrong, John Dunne; I am in fact an island. I can sense only myself. I cannot shed my skin and become another person; I can only see others and imagine what they sense, what they feel, what they dream. Only in images can I imagine the islands that others inhabit. My lens is my ally in this effort, by capturing moments of revelation, moments of truth, moments in which I see in others those things I sense or hope to sense in myself. My images are my way of imagining others as myself. Only through them can I dream of leaving my island.
ARTIST STATEMENT: "Minimalism, both as a philosophy of art and life, has deeply influenced my work. I draw inspiration from various objects, like the sea and the sky and from my emotional response to them. It is in the simple feelings that they evoke to me—vastness, quietness, tranquility, symmetry, and balance—that I find beauty.
Reality is perceptual and through its transformation I can interpret what surrounds me and express my emotions. I often remove colour from my images, as I find it extraneous to the essence, and focus on the main building blocks of photography: shapes, lines, forms, and tones.
I favour long exposures because they allow me to introduce the dimension of time in a two dimensional medium and to create a dreamy atmosphere. To achieve this I use Neutral Density filters, often stacked on top of each other. Photographing with slow shutter speed, over a period of time, you can capture the changing world: rivers flow, clouds pass, the waves sway to and fro. The film can accumulate time, light, and events in a way elusive to the eye. The real becomes surreal.
With long exposures I can also eliminate the details from the background and highlight my main subjects, which are the constant in the shifting landscape. The water, an element I am deeply drawn to, and the sky are usually the canvas on which I place my subjects. This enables me to balance the image and satisfy my need for order, serenity, and silence.
My work turns away from representation, conceptualism, and the endless search for meaning, and focuses on the wonder of beauty and simplicity."
Website: www.digalakisphotography.com.
“Rain Bird”
George Digalakis, Athens, Greece
ARTIST STATEMENT: "Minimalism, both as a philosophy of art and life, has deeply influenced my work. I draw inspiration from various objects, like the sea and the sky and from my emotional response to them. It is in the simple feelings that they evoke to me—vastness, quietness, tranquility, symmetry, and balance—that I find beauty.
Reality is perceptual and through its transformation I can interpret what surrounds me and express my emotions. I often remove colour from my images, as I find it extraneous to the essence, and focus on the main building blocks of photography: shapes, lines, forms, and tones.
I favour long exposures because they allow me to introduce the dimension of time in a two dimensional medium and to create a dreamy atmosphere. To achieve this I use Neutral Density filters, often stacked on top of each other. Photographing with slow shutter speed, over a period of time, you can capture the changing world: rivers flow, clouds pass, the waves sway to and fro. The film can accumulate time, light, and events in a way elusive to the eye. The real becomes surreal.
With long exposures I can also eliminate the details from the background and highlight my main subjects, which are the constant in the shifting landscape. The water, an element I am deeply drawn to, and the sky are usually the canvas on which I place my subjects. This enables me to balance the image and satisfy my need for order, serenity, and silence.
My work turns away from representation, conceptualism, and the endless search for meaning, and focuses on the wonder of beauty and simplicity."
Website: www.digalakisphotography.com.
“Patient Records”
Matthew Emmett, Reading, United Kingdom
ARTIST STATEMENT: The conditions and treatments of this abandoned Italian asylum's former patients lie scattered across the floor in an administration wing. The patients and staff all left the asylum decades before, but echoes of their passing can be found, helping to tell the building’s story.
Website: www.forgottenheritage.co.uk
“Faded Grandeur”
Matthew Emmett, Reading, United Kingdom
ARTIST STATEMENT: Shafts of sunlight reflecting brightly off suspended dust particles, a magical moment surrounded by the chaotic remains of a once grand Belgian château. It is singular moments in time such as these that as a photographer I strive to discover and capture.
Website: www.forgottenheritage.co.uk
“Sleepy Pigs”
Rachel Eubanks, Lucedale, MS
ARTIST STATEMENT: I feel all art is a reflection of one's subconscious. During the ebullient moments, the heartbreaking moments, and even the moments we go astray art can speak volumes where words simply cannot compare.
I try to bring something different to the table with each piece of work. I strive to never put a box around my style as to not limit my creative ability. There is always room to try new things and grow as an artist. If I can keep people engaged and asking questions then I have done my job.
"Sleepy Pigs" is a breath of fresh air for me. When I look at this photo I can feel the warmth of that evening's sun. I watched these pigs run and play all evening and without prompting they cuddled up together safe and secure to nap in the evening's glow. It gives me a sense of peace when I look at them sleeping without a care in the world. They are not worried about what tomorrow brings. They are simply enjoying the moment, and for that reason I long to feel as the sleepy pigs do.
Email: ree1413@gmail.com
“A-68”
John Gehl, Brookings, OR
ARTIST STATEMENT: John Gehl is an award winning photographer and metal sculptor living in Brookings, Oregon and Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. John and his camera are intrigued by landscapes, portraits, and abstract forms. His aim is to photograph ordinary objects such that they take on attributes of the extraordinary and evoke emotion in the viewer.
“A68” was shot in the Port of Brookings - Harbor with a Fuji XPro1 mirrorless digital camera, processed in Photoshop and printed on metallic paper.
A pile of broken and discarded commercial fishing totes, this photo brings together all the elements needed to create a striking abstract image — vivid complementary colors, intriguing forms, and strong value contrast.
John is a member of the Coos Art Museum, Pelican Bay Arts Association, Manito Art League, North Valley Art League, Chetco Photographers Association, Artist Blacksmith Association of North America, British Artist Blacksmith Association, California Blacksmith Association, and The Guild of Metalsmiths.
“Untitled”
Ryan Gould, Santa Barbara, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: I’m interested in epistemology; specifically, I’m interested in how language and images interact and impact our understanding of the world.
Photographs have long been regarded as unmediated copies of reality, however visual rhetoric suggests that images conceal ideological mystification.
Language, on the other hand, evokes mental images. The mental images produced resonate with our previous experiences with the associated text. This may be lived experience or virtual. In either case, we often neglect to question where certain associations have been formed.
This body of work, titled POV, situates itself within the framework of pornographic clickbait. If one has come to understand words like ‘wet’, ‘oral’, ‘hole’, etc. to be inherently sexual, do we then—when primed with these words—activate some sort of erotic charge?
ARTIST STATEMENT: “Shadows and Rust” reflects work from the “Cardboard” portfolio series that arose from the desire to provide a new purpose for the discarded cardboard among the approximately 69 million tons of paper materials that the Environmental Protection Agency reports Americans annually use.
Originally what captured my attention were the artistic designs of the forms and shapes that provide protection to packed objects.
“Shadows and Rust” combines three cardboard pieces of which two are shadows cast by the late evening sun. The image was enhanced with the shadow of bicycle and the rusty iron textures and shapes.
This series of work originally started out by photographing cardboard to evolve by adding with textures like the rust, cracked paint, or even shredded dryer cloth and handmade papers.
“Shadows and Rust” and the other 20 photographs pay a visual tribute to the unknown or ignored creators of these inventive pieces of paper.
Art from this portfolio series has been published and also shown in several gallery shows, among which included 15 images in a group exhibit at the Nicholson B. White Gallery at St. Paul’s in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and “Solitary Confinement” at the North Valley Art League’s 2015 International Juried Photography Show.
Email: Susangriffith342@gmail.com
“Fez Medina”
Lee Grossman, Oakland, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: I think of all photographs as dreamscapes. Time does not freeze in ordinary life, but photographs steal moments from time that reveal the dream-truth behind the unbroken waking action.
Website: www.leegrossman.net
“Forgotten #1”
George Grubb, New York, NY
ARTIST STATEMENT: Bluie East Two is just one of the abandoned U.S. Air Force military bases in Greenland, that was operational during World War II from 1942-1947. The U.S. government operated several military bases in Greenland during this time to defend the country from the Germans. To this day, the clean-up of these military bases remains yet to be done. At this base, those remains consists of thousands of fuel drums strewn across the landscape that continue to leak fuel seventy years later. The Inuit call these rusting barrels, "American Flowers."
The stench coming from the fuel drums made it quite difficult for me to photograph. At times, I felt the onset of nausea and would leave the area to recuperate before returning to photograph. The leaking fuel made the site especially dangerous as well. Following the capture of these digital photographs in 2012, I would later experiment with alternate methods to present this material to an audience.
In 2016, I revisited these photographs again and began exploring a digital technique that involved processing each image twice: once as a historic-appearing black & white image to metaphorically set the scene back in the World War II timeline, and again, as a contemporary full-bleed color image. By digitally masking the separate layers, I was able to combine them in a way so as to represent the passage of time and responsibilities that still remain to address this destructive ecological problem.
This project illustrates how evolving techniques can be applied to older images to re-emphasize their meaning in innovative and experimental methods. By revising older images with newer techniques, the message of these images continues to further highlight how the cost of war haunts us many decades later.
The images are printed in pigment ink on acid-free 100% cotton rag, and displayed in simple rustic wood frames. The images were originally photographed digitally in 2012, but this digital technique would not be applied until 2016.
ARTIST STATEMENT: I look for beauty and grace where others see despair. There is a strength of spirit in my subjects, human or otherwise, that have weathered hard times. They may not have necessarily triumphed in the traditional sense of the word, but they have adapted and endured, a victory in and of itself. I try to capture bits and pieces of their stories, but leave just a little bit of mystery for the viewer to ponder and figure out for themselves.
ARTIST STATEMENT: I love my sons and I'm sure my father loves me and his father loved him. I left a particular Legacy for my sons I'm not proud of, it wasn't intentional but it was something I did not, could not stop. The role I played in this endeavor was the part of the harassed, denounced, and devalued. My sons have and unfortunately will continue to encounter these issues. I wish I could stop this maltreatment but I do not know how, So I attempt to teach them how to Survive in this climate exactly how I have been able to Survive, my father and his father had been able to Survive. There will come a time when my sons will have to look after one another and in fact each will be his Brothers Keeper and teach there sons how to Survive.
Website: Alharden.com
“Grand Prismatic Spring”
Michel Hersen, Portland, OR
ARTIST STATEMENT: Michel Hersen’s photography of the Northeast, West, Northwest, and Southwest is inspired by knowledge of Hudson River School painting. His objective is to present the viewer with a tableau permeated by inner light taking advantage of 21st century artistic vision. His photographic art is characterized by a clear compositional framework, luminosity, and coloration. Hersen is Field Contributor to Nature Photographer. He is a member of North American Nature Photography Association and Northwest Outdoor Writer's Association. His landscapes and wildlife photos have been published in Outdoor Photographer, Popular Photographer, Nature Photographer, Shutterbug, NANPA's Expressions, Oregonian, Oregon Home, American Psychologist, Amateur Photographer, Country, Freshwater, Bird Watching, Photographer's Forum, Portland Japanese Garden Calendar, Oregon Field Guide Calendar, Oregon Bounty Calendar, Travel Oregon, Camping Life, and Arizona Highways Website. He has had numerous exhibitions of his work on both the east and west coast. His work is in the permanent collection of the Hallie Ford Museum in Salem Oregon, where he had a one person show of Oregon scenes. He has won first, second, and third prizes , and honorable mentions in regional, national, and international competitions. According to art News, "Hersen's images have a sublime quality." September 3, 2011, p.22.
Website: Photographybymichel.net
“Grandmother’s House”
Linda Hollinger, Philadelphia, PA
ARTIST STATEMENT: I traded my paints and brushes for film and the camera. My images include a wide range of subject matter, sports, nature and landscapes, however, I am drawn to strong faces with a story to tell. My passion is to travel the world and capture everyday people absorbed in their daily lives. Most rewarding for me is freezing that moment in time, traveling to the remote corners of the globe and capturing life’s moments through the lens. My journeys have taken me crisscrossing the globe in search of compelling travel experiences and images.
I have traveling to Salvador de Bahia the past few years photographing the culture and daily activities of the families that live on the beautiful island of Itaparica. The people of the island are very warm and friendly and will invite you into their homes. They are very poor but very giving. This particular family lived in a tiny two room house on top of a very steep hill. The grandmother is raising the children and the children show their love for her in a special way. I felt very blessed to be able to capture the deep love and affection between the children and their grandmother.
Website: lindahollinger.photography
“Street Poster”
Mike Holtz, Champaign, IL
Email: redhousegallery@yahoo.net
“A Wedding”
Mike Holtz, Champaign, IL
ARTIST STATEMENT: Several years ago, while exploring the Gothic Wawel Castle in Krakow, Poland, I came upon what appeared to be a wedding photograph session prior to, or after, a formal wedding.
This was my attempt to capture what the master of black and white photography, Henri Cartier Bresson, called “the Decisive Moment”. Bresson stressed the dedication and critical timing necessary in such attempt.
Depending upon my mood, I imagine several different interpretations of this scene.
Email: redhousegallery@yahoo.net
“Sun Emerges from Storm-Bruised Clouds”
William Horton, Boulder, CO
ARTIST STATEMENT: “Sun Emerges from Storm-Bruised Clouds” is part of a collection called Zen Garden, from our new series Landscapes Unseen. This series presents images too small to see with the unaided eye.
To produce these images, ordinary household chemicals that you might find in your medicine cabinet, kitchen, or garden shed are dissolved in water and smeared on a microscope slide. Once dried, the slides are photographed with a digital camera attached to a laboratory microscope. Much of the color comes from polarized light provided by circular polarizing filters immediately below and above the slide. The resulting images are simplified, sharpened, and refined.
Such photomicrography requires selectivity and tons of patience. A careful survey of a few dozen slides may yield only a single, small scene with possibilities. The process is time-consuming and eye-straining, but ultimately fascinating. Even the most prosaic objects and substances offer beauty when looked at closely—very closely.
I hope you enjoy this scene from the Zen Garden, the microscopic world of Landscapes Unseen.
Website: williamhortonphotography.com.
“Milky White”
Michele Houghton, Folsom, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: Moon Girl Photography is all about capturing everyday objects in a different light. I am a Northern California-based photographer who specializes in nature, travel, and night photography. My style is photographing light by using long exposures.
Night photography has become a passion for me. The world is different at night. Everything is mysterious and glows with an unusual light. But to see this light, you must first place yourself in a situation that you would not normally find yourself in. For example: standing in a parking lot at Lassen Volcanic National Park at 3 AM. Or on a bluff over the ocean watching a thunderstorm come in. You have no idea what will happen or what you will see. But that is the adventure. That is where the magic is found.
ARTIST STATEMENT: Capturing this candid photograph has become a wonderful memory for me; everything lined up for a unique composition. It was taken in Cannon Beach, Oregon on an unseasonably warm day where people came out in droves to take advantage of the low tide.
After I took the photo, I introduced myself to the two ladies wearing the hats. Not only was the impromptu scene charming, it was remarkable in that the ladies were visiting from their home nearly 6,000 miles away in Romania!
ARTIST STATEMENT: The fresh water for Boston comes from the Quabbin Reservoir, located two hours from the city by car. It was created in the late 1930’s by the taking of four towns in the Swift River Valley and the forced relocation of several thousand. Hard feelings still linger 75 years later and yet the area is now an accidental wilderness left pristine to protect the water. This confluence of history, engineering and nature is notorious for provoking a deep reflective sense in most of the few people who travel there. The Dam, Spillway and Dike that hold back the water blend effortlessly into the New England landscape, almost as though they being disguised and take away the pain of the sacrifice. Beautiful they are as massive engineering structures go. But they were also the weapons designed to cut the Swift River Valley in two. Reconciliation of these two states of mind remains difficult for many.
Website: www.jameshuntphotography.com
“Big Top”
Ellen Ingram, Toledo, OH
ARTIST STATEMENT: Before movies, radio and television were invented, the traveling circus was one of the greatest entertainment industries in the world. Now, more than a century later, many of these circuses have closed their doors. So it was a surprise and a delight to find that the Kelly-Miller Circus was coming to town.
Early on a hot, August morning, I visited the Circus as they began to setup for their evening performance. I watched as the “Big Top” was unloaded and erected. It was arduous work and took many hours and lots of manpower. But this is where all the action and fun take place. This is the heart of the circus. When the work was all done, I wandered around the area and spoke with some of the performers, trainers and crew. Interaction with them is easy and encouraged by the Circus, as it helps build good will and enhances everyone’s experience. I didn’t want to leave without capturing an image that would embody the uniqueness and tradition of a traveling circus. And as happens many times in photography, the image comes and finds you.
ARTIST STATEMENT: This is a self-portrait. The genesis for the concept began as an assignment from a photography group to which I belong. The challenge was to create a self-portrait. The idea then transformed into a personal, introspective journey into the relationship between time and mortality. Because I belong to the “silver haired” generation, time has become more relevant and precious with each tick of the clock. On a daily basis, reality leaks into my consciousness to remind me that my time here is finite and that my departure is unknown.
In developing the concept, I found both a simplicity and complexity within the theme. In its simplicity, time is the distance between my birth and death. But within the remaining distance of my life, I discovered a complexity of feelings, emotions, and questions that coalesced around the uncertainty of not knowing the end of my days. When I realized that the present moment is all I have, I was free to enjoy the things that matter to me – family, love, joy, and inner peace. Now, remember all those things you wanted to do? Go do them, because the trouble is, you think you have time . . . until you don’t.
ARTIST STATEMENT: The core of my photographic practice stems from a place of pure empathy- a desire to share my story within the collective human experience. My visual trajectory has always centered on the distant nature of my own family, and my desire to reconnect us.
For most of my childhood our lives were scattered over countless households. My disparate memories of these places merely composed a fragmented idea of home. Later in life I began to question how my identity was shaped without a point of origin. As a way to cope with these feelings of isolation, I created a narrative hoping to join these places and reunite my family. In these photographs, my family and I appear to search for one another within the various environments that divided us. As a result of our efforts to find solace, I conjured a personal mythology; a sanctuary where my loved ones and I could finally belong.
My photographs are relics of loss; traces of a family that I tried to piece back together.
ARTIST STATEMENT: Infanto - 1 is a part of a series INFANTO - "alternative" portraits of the six-month babies. When we speak about little kids we instantly imagine nice pictures of funny cute infants surrounded by teddy bears or flowers. My ambition is to bring to light a developing person. To show “infant's adulthood” that is usually missing in photography.
Website: www.annakadykova.com
“Spine”
Anna Kadakova, Moscow, Russian Federation
Website: www.annakadykova.com
“Into the Mystic”
Deonne Kahler, Arroyo Hondo, NM
ARTIST STATEMENT: I'm on a mission to see every National Park in the U.S., and Redwood National Park in California, where I made this photograph, has been one of the more sublime stops on that journey. The wisdom and experience in these ancient trees is palpable, and since I'm also a fan of Joseph Campbell's work and intrigued by thresholds and doorways, this moment on the trail was practically crying out to be captured.
ARTIST STATEMENT: It was an unusually hot California afternoon in mid-February when I was feeling restless and wondering where I should go to take pictures. I was feeling a bit down and disappointed because my photos from the previous weeks weren't coming out well, and wherever I went I seemed to be missing good opportunities. It was almost evening and I couldn't go somewhere far, so with very low expectations I decided to go to the local train station in Fullerton to practice some photography. I started taking pictures (as inconspicuously as possible) of a man resting under a shade, when I sensed a figure approaching the scene. I used that opportunity to incorporate the approaching man into my shot, clicking away as fast as possible. Afterward, I went home with excitement to see how my photos turned out and was very pleased with the result. I reaffirmed on that day that nice surprises can happen when you least expect them in the journey of a photographer.
Email: tinaunni@gmail.com
“Every Apple Has a Star in the Middle”
Stephen Komp, Lakeview, New York
“A Tear in Reality”
Bonnie Lampley, Shasta, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: A morning trip to the nursery…there in the delicate plant enclosure, behind the potting bench, an image, a question…can a torn reality be repaired?
Email: bandgshasta@yahoo.com
“What Remains”
Bonnie Lampley, Shasta, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: Down by the river lie massive and mysterious blocks, all that remains of thunderous machinery used to build a great dam, now gently embraced by the river.
Email: bandgshasta@yahoo.com
“Forward and Backward”
Beverly LaRock, Sarasota, FL
ARTIST STATEMENT: In the beginning of my life as a photographer, I focused totally on the real world. These early photos were all in color and revolved around nature, my grandchildren, and my travels around the world.
Then, I got bored. I found that I wanted to go beyond the obvious. I began moving away from reality, being more creative, more abstract in what I photographed. Then, I learned PhotoShop which offered many more possibilities to tweak reality. Now I wasn’t bound by the single image from a lens but could twist, tangle and manipulate to my heart’s desire.
I was amused when I saw this lazy array of mid-century chairs at the entrance of a museum in Marrakech, Morocco. Later I played around with the image turning it into black and white which played up all the pattern in the floor. And, then I inversed the black and white and saw more possibilities. The final image, “Forward and Backward”, was the result of experimenting to find the most engaging arrangement of these chairs. I especially like the black and white “pyramid” which emerged on the back wall. You never know what will appear when you “tweak reality.”
Email: larock@west.net
Website: BeverlyLaRock.com
“Zen at Ocean Edge”
Beverly LaRock, Sarasota, FL
When I moved to the San Diego-area, I began walking along Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. The meditative beauty of the rock cliffs plus the myriad of patterns formed by sand and water drew me closer and closer with my camera. The special energy of this portion of beach always brought forth in me a creative mood and I decided to do a series of photos. I used all the elements found along my walks to express the deep space within me that was being touched. This image is a composite of details seen at the ocean’s edge: a zig-zag of seaweed, a sea-worn rock, the foam of the oncoming surf, and the charcoal-gray sand. The details of the rock with its holes inhabited by bits of broken shell is superimposed on an abstract background created by layers of other images. It is one of eight digital composite works I completed in black and white of Moonlight Beach, California
Email: larock@west.net
Website: BeverlyLaRock.com
“Losing Ground”
Shery Larson, Dunsmuir, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: My friend asked me to take a picture of a tree. She was aware I often employ an antiquated black apparatus used ‘back in the day’ to create photo images.
I imagined a gnarled oak from the movie set of Lord of the Rings, a snowy aspen or an enormous weeping willow. I was led to the Sacramento River and to indeed a most unusual tree—two conjoined trunks teetering on the river bank with roots exposed, as if floating in mid air.
Remarkably, the tree had green leaves, still provided shade and shelter, purified the air and supported someone leaning against it to read a book. It seemed unaware of impending doom.
We make a yearly pilgrimage to the tree, camera gear in tow, to check on its survival, to try new lenses, and different times of day.
Photography can illustrate an important life lesson or universal truth. Who has not experienced the erosion of personal infrastructure by some external force threatening our very core? Who has not felt the ground slipping away beneath our feet?
Our pilgrimage pays homage to the survivors of this world, to the tenacious tree, and encourages us to PERSEVERE: to NEVER GIVE UP!
Email: flyingartiste@finestplanet.com
“Oblivion”
Nash Lawrason, Boston, MA
ARTIST STATEMENT: Driving in the high desert north of I-15, noise, man, traffic, quickly recede into the distance. The temperature drops and cell service fades, revealing a quiet, desolate expanse of empty roads, deserted pastures, abandoned houses, and fast moving clouds. Driving deeper into the unknown, the road leads to a dead orchard with a discarded fuselage and lonely truck. This is a beautiful place, a place of wonder and oblivion
Email: nashlawrason@verizon.net
“Auto Repair”
Nash Lawrason, Boston, MA
ARTIST STATEMENT: "Auto Repair" was taken in the small town of Quartzsite, Arizona, long known for its gem and mineral swap meets. It is from an ongoing series: "Edges of Oblivion", a study of things abandoned: remote stretches of old highways, closed gas stations, deserted motels, and junked cars. As I stand and watch these places, some are silent, some threatening, others rattle in the wind, and some are infested with toxic material. But, they all have solitude, mystery, beauty, and light. Like fragments of dreams, these places vanish rapidly. My wish is to create a dream-like connection with these forgotten, isolated, and often hidden American landscapes.
Email: nashlawrason@verizon.net
“Souls Engagement”
Urszula Lelen, Des Plaines, IL
ARTIST STATEMENT: Photography is a process that starts in my head long before I take a camera in my hand. This is a thought or a vision which persistently comes back and bothers me.
What inspires me is the world - year seasons, life passing or a human being - everything I can perceive. I create series to tell a story. My pictures are often magical, inexplicit and symbolical.
A camera is an incredible device but with certain limits. These limits raise a challenge for me, so I constantly experiment. I experiment in the field of digital as well as analog photography. Long exposure, double exposure, blur achieved by using a lensbaby - these are some of the means I apply.
Soul Engagement is a photograph in the series made in the scenery of an abandoned and ruined church. Pierrot is rejected by Columbine, a cliché story, but who of us has not been touched by a withdrawal or a terrible loneliness. Long exposure and flash lights painting allowed me to look into the very depth of Pierrot’s solitude. In this way I can connect to my audience conveying not only esthetical values but first of all deep emotions.
Email: urszula777@gmail.com
“Juxtaposition”
Sandra Lincoln, Redding, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: What appealed to me about this scene was the poignant contrast between these two objects and the myriad of possibilities why they found themselves in the same space and in the same time.
While the enlightened spiritual Buddha lies in a peaceful reclining repose, the vehicle also has found itself in a state of rest. Its secular rest is troubled by surrounding neglect and chaotic clutter. The Buddha’s smooth sleekness is worlds apart from the vehicle’s rough and dirty uselessness.
I decided to treat the image as a partial black and white with the added glimmer of gold to further accentuate the pronounced difference between the two.
Email: sandyl@rp530.com
“Feeding Time”
Stephanie Luke, Cottonwood, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: Windmills churning out power, sheep making meat, birds cleaning up the left overs. Mother earth provides, in her time, if not in ours.
Photo.net portfolio
Photos by Stephanie Luke
“Red Tractor, White Horse”
Stephanie Luke, Cottonwood, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: Accommodation, survival, usefulness. I am still here. Look me in the eye and tell me who won.
Photo.net portfolio
Photos by Stephanie Luke
“Lunch, Adam?”
Barbara Luzzadder, Red Bluff, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: As a photographer, it sometimes happens that an opportunity for a photograph is waiting for me to discover it. Such was the case with the subject for, "Lunch, Adam?" While at the Abbey of New Clairvaux Monastery in Vina, California, I was walking around the outside of the 800 year old Chapter House, which had been imported from Spain and reconstructed on its present site. The "temptation" was already sitting on the windowsill and lent itself to a retelling of the ancient story. As I looked into the background, I saw the back-lighting on the columns and beautiful reflections on the floor completing the composition. Although I will never know why the apple came to be placed there, I did not question the serendipitous moment
Email: bluzzad@snowcrest.net
“The Beauty of the Old and New”
Thomas Mangione, Amherst, NY
ARTIST STATEMENT: The Church of the Transfiguration is an abandoned Catholic Church on the East Side of Buffalo. It opened in the late 1800s to serve a growing population, but closed in 1990. The building is in ruins, but its grandeur remains intact.
Since the building is partly boarded, natural light is limited. Strobes and long shutter speeds were used to light up and capture some of the interior beauty of this once vibrant church.
My vision was to highlight the beauty of both the old and the new. In this image, dressed in white, some see an “angel”, but interpretations vary: some see an angel in despair, looking downward, defeated; others see her as picking up what has been neglected, and consider this a sign of rebuilding and hope.
Website: www.photographybythomasmangione.com
“The Garage”
Thomas Mangione, Amherst, NY
ARTIST STATEMENT: I met J.J. and Kevin in 2012 while working on a project, Restaurant Kitchens , to showcase the inner workings of independently owned restaurants in Buffalo, NY. At the time, the brothers, chefs and restaurateurs were operating three local restaurants ( Torches, Smoke on the Water, and The Garage Delicatessen ). I consider them central to the project, as they were exceedingly welcoming and generous with their time and restaurant spaces. In this image, J.J. and Kevin are
featured in front of the 1966 Corvair that was converted into a smoker.
My original vision was to photograph J.J. alone (he was managing The Garage and Torches ; Kevin was running Smoke on the Water ), but J.J. felt the photo would be incomplete without his brother. J.J., on the left, has a larger than life personality; Kevin is more reserved. I wanted to convey their personalities, but also their connection to each other and their dedication to their mutual endeavors.
I am grateful to these men for their generosity of spirit, their artistic integrity, and their contribution to the culture and cuisine of Western New York.
Website: www.photographybythomasmangione.com
“Pointing Skyward”
Richard Mason, San Francisco, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: This image is part of a new series I started last year called “From the Ground Up”. I decided to start this project when I realized that I’ve lived here for nearly ten years and not once had I really taken the time to stop and simply point my camera skyward. No matter where you go in the city there’s so much fabulous architecture to enjoy; and you don’t necessarily have to be in some tall building or major vista point to take it all in. Simply walk through the Financial District or the vastness of Golden Gate Park and tilt your head up. You’ll likely be amazed by what you see. The different styles of architecture (old and new) and the way they mesh with the sky…. it’s pretty breathtaking. This image was taken at the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park on a typically overcast afternoon.
ARTIST STATEMENT: San Francisco is replete with many unknown photographic treasures - one of which is Mount Davidson Park located centrally within the city. This cloud forest lives up to its reputation as one of the more misty and magical places in the city, especially on those days when the trees are enshrouded in their blanket of foggy mist. This particular image was taken during a very quiet afternoon hike just after the fog bank rolled in. Cold, wet and dreary as the day may have been, there was still much to love and appreciate about the scenery.... almost like stepping back in time.
ARTIST STATEMENT: "With all the horrific images and verbal abuses that we see and hear around the world today, I love to discover the caring and loving scenes which quietly exist all around us in our everyday life.”
ARTIST STATEMENT: The sheeted figure confronts, and yet denies, the probing eye of photography. Countering our material culture, the figure seems to say, “Know me by my voice––by what’s inside of me––by who I really am––rather than mere appearances.”
As a child I experienced difficulty in speaking and in being understood by others, and this informed my sense of self and my perceived ability to navigate through the world. A strong and mysterious force, the human voice has thus become a lifelong curiosity and is regarded as both a transmitter and a metaphor of our human essence.
Website: www.jonlynnmccallum.com
“Tammy and Alex #14”
Jim McKinniss, Orcutt, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: The idea for this photo of Tammy and Alex came from an 1890's vintage photo that I saw on-line titled "Sweeping back the sea" which showed a woman dressed in period clothing standing in the ocean and using a broom to sweep back the approaching waves.
As a result I started a project with the same title featuring Tammy and her broom. That project morphed into a new project featuring both Tammy and Alex enjoying each other and engaged in carefree play in the ocean.
I am a great admirer of Pastoralist photography and so I decided to emulate that style in this photo.
ARTIST STATEMENT: I've been making photos in Venice, Italy for 10 years using a 35mm digital camera. In 2016 while returning from a late night dinner with photographer friends I noticed that the light and shadows in Venice's narrow streets created a deep sense of mystery when viewing people strolling the streets.
Since I had only my cell phone I used it to make a few photos and discovered that my phone's camera was able to capture that same sense of mystery I felt on observing these strangers approach.
The photo "Man Carrying Newspaper" is part of the resulting cell phone project of night street photos in Venice. I plan to continue this project on my subsequent trips to Venice.
ARTIST STATEMENT: Natalie Morawsky lives in Italy, in Umbria’s upper Tiber Valley. She developed an interest in photography in 2007 while traveling across the United States by bicycle. She has since worked to advance her photographic skills and to broaden her artistic experience with the guidance of photographers, artists and workshops but mostly through a lot of trial-and-error. She experiments with different facets of photography, with a focus on black and white images.
Although many factors can inspire creativity, Natalie believes that often the magic happens right outside the front door. The exhibited image is held in evidence. Last winter, a vixen that set up her territory near the house was injured (note one ear missing) and frequently turned up in the yard for solace, safety or sometimes, it seemed, just to make mischief. On seeing signs that the fox had been near, Natalie went into the house to get her camera while her husband took in the low angle rays of the winter sun. On walking out of the house, the scene was set. One shot. Sometimes that’s all it takes.
Email: nmorawsky@comcast.net
“Live Oaks and Lights”
David Morel, Nashville, TN
ARTIST STATEMENT: This image was taken on a foggy morning in New Orleans. I shot a lot of images that morning, but this is one of my favorites because I was with a longtime friend and his son when I shot it. They joined me for part of the morning and we walked among the live oaks of Audubon Park reminiscing and sharing new stories. Imagine the stories these trees have seen and heard over the years…..
Email: davidlmorel@gmail.com
“Raindrops”
Walter O’Brien, Eugene, OR
ARTIST STATEMENT: My creative photographic interests have mostly followed the straight landscape in both black and white and color. I have been influenced primarily by west coast landscape photographers such as Ansel Ad-ams, John Sexton, Ray McSavaney and others. I have been
a member of PhotoZone Gallery since 1992 and have exhibited there and in other galleries to include Umpqua Valley Arts Center, Umpqua Community College Gallery, Lightbox Gallery and the Jacobs Gallery
in Eugene. I am also a member of the Photo Arts Guild in Corvallis and the Emerald Art Center in Springfield. I taught photography at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg and at Lane Community
College in Eugene.
Website: waltobrien.com
“Sunset at Bowling Ball Beach 1”
Douglas Parks, Cameron Park, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: Photography is my escape from the world, my way down the rabbit hole, my nirvana.
My father started it with a Brownie Automatic. From the beginning the process of turning a click of a shutter into an image was mystical to me. And, over the years, that magical process has had its way with me, leading me from hobby to art. Photography fills me with a sense of accomplishment and peace, and has proven a most amenable vehicle for translating inner vision to outer reality.
Though I work quite deliberately, consciously employing both traditional and innovative techniques, my unconscious is the undisputed guide.
The technical aspects of this medium and being one with nature releases my imagination and provides many opportunities for happy accidents and vision to influence the finished product.
My work is an extension of my being and my father who nurtured the creativity and always asked “Do you have your camera?” as we made our way to the outdoors.
ARTIST STATEMENT: My journey began some years ago in an ancient monastery tucked between the mountain ridges of northern India. On a particularly dark evening, I noticed a long staircase leading to a rooftop. Its dim glow caught me, and I felt compelled to ascend despite its narrow, steep path. Moving closer, I saw each step as a new period in my life. For so long I had resisted changing, climbing, yet the urge to surmount some unknown summit drove me forward. As I crept up each step, the voices of the past echoed, “you are not good enough,” “the journey is too hard,” “you are not doing anything new.” But I reached the roof, and the voices faded, and I understood. I had found a path.
My photography is deeply rooted in the conventional film format; silver gelatin developed by hand and printed in the darkroom. The meticulous hand crafting of each print is an integral part of my work. Sometimes I hear voices of disapproval from my fascination with a historical process rather than evolving into digital, but then I see an image appearing in a tray of developer under an amber light, and I know I’m exactly where I should be.
Walking up the steps in the monastery I discovered the one true voice that I had been waiting to hear: my own.
ARTIST STATEMENT: What Remains captures the dramatically altered landscape created by the sand and gravel operations prevalent in Port Jefferson Harbor in the 1920’s and 30’s. At the time this activity was controversial with some individuals heralding it as an economic boon while others attacked it as an environmental disaster. Fortunately, the name of the area known as Mt. Misery Point belies the current beauty of the created cove and park. Now the cove offers a safe haven for boats and the park offers a quiet refuge for hikers wishing to find a quiet beach and an unhindered view of Long Island Sound. Nevertheless, the remains of the abandoned foundation of the processing plant, the docks, and dredging structures are sobering reminders of how man greatly altered this natural environment. Fortunately, what remains in this altered landscape, unlike countless others, is a striking beauty which transcends its industrial past.
Website: www.dquinnphotography.com
“Savannah”
Michael Randolph, Stockton, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: Today I am transitioning from traditional darkroom and silver gelation printing, to computers and Photoshop, from large format 4x5 cameras to digital. After a Workshop with Jerry Uelsmann, I learned to see photography more as an art form enabling me to express myself like a painter. The image “Savannah” was made from three images from a road trip down the coast to create this print.
ARTIST STATEMENT: Today I am transitioning from traditional darkroom and silver gelation printing, to computers and Photoshop, from large format 4x5 cameras to digital. After a Workshop with Jerry Uelsmann, I learned to see photography more as an art form enabling me to express myself like a painter. The image “Journey” was made by over laying four images I shot on a road trip to Bodie, CA, thus creating the final work from my imagination.
ARTIST STATEMENT: I feel that each medium in the visual world has innate qualities that are unique to the medium. To that end, photography’s strongest suit is to describe. That inexorable ability for the camera to describe a moment in time and space along with contextualization provided by putting four edges around that collection of descriptive “facts”, sets the stage for a transformation of those “facts” My interest in the medium is to revel in that enigmatic transformation.
One’s preconceptions do no service in this process.
Website: Chrisrochephotography.com
“Kushti 1”
Alain Schroeder, Brussels, Belgium
ARTIST STATEMENT: Kushti is the traditional form of Indian wrestling. Practiced in an Akhara, the wrestlers, under the supervision of a guru, dedicate their bodies and minds to Kushti on average for 6 to 36 months. It is a way of life and a spartan existence that requires rigorous discipline. Experienced wrestlers set the example and transmit their skills in the pit and in the community to the younger boys (7-8 years old) and new recruits, whereby promoting camaraderie, solidarity and fraternity.
I discovered Kushti while on location in India for a year on another story for National Geographic Holland/Belgium edition.
Website: www.reporters.be/photographers/show/21
“Mardi Gras #1”
Steve Siegel, Buffalo, NY
ARTIST STATEMENT: While spending the winter of 2014 in New Orleans, one of my objectives was to do a black and white photo essay of Mardi Gras. It would be a challenge to photograph one of the most colorful spectacles held in the United States in black and white and yet still capture the essence of the action and pageantry.
Between shooting images of the many parades, I oftentimes wandered through the French Quarter where life went on as usual, but played out to much larger crowds of people than one usually sees in the Quarter.
The two gentlemen in Mardi Gras #1 were simply living out their lives, oblivious to the hundreds of tourists wondering by. They appeared to me to be the only souls on Bourbon Street who did not have an agenda – simply existing with no collection plate in sight.
The street band in Mardi Gras #2 was indicative of just the opposite – commerce in action (see dollar signs on bucket). The lead singer knew exactly what the audiences expected as she flashed a “thumbs-up” at me as I prepared to photograph her.
Two very different worlds, one block apart.
ARTIST STATEMENT: While spending the winter of 2014 in New Orleans, one of my objectives was to do a black and white photo essay of Mardi Gras. It would be a challenge to photograph one of the most colorful spectacles held in the United States in black and white and yet still capture the essence of the action and pageantry.
Between shooting images of the many parades, I oftentimes wandered through the French Quarter where life went on as usual, but played out to much larger crowds of people than one usually sees in the Quarter.
The two gentlemen in Mardi Gras #1 were simply living out their lives, oblivious to the hundreds of tourists wondering by. They appeared to me to be the only souls on Bourbon Street who did not have an agenda – simply existing with no collection plate in sight.
The street band in Mardi Gras #2 was indicative of just the opposite – commerce in action (see dollar signs on bucket). The lead singer knew exactly what the audiences expected as she flashed a “thumbs-up” at me as I prepared to photograph her.
Two very different worlds, one block apart.
ARTIST STATEMENT: “The spirit of the primordial landscape has been the focus of my work for over twenty years. I have travelled over 250,000 km across Canada in search of what I call the eternal convergence—that rare moment when multiple natural forces and the artist are powerfully aligned in the landscape. Such a convergence cannot ever be forced or reconstructed again in any way. Once attained, the creative process is ceased. The stronger the convergence, the more powerful the image, creating a singular point in time that will outlast both the changing landscape and the viewer in its permanence. To forge these enduring statements on analogue film by means of the traditional photographic process is a spiritual experience for me. My work strives to go beyond mere documentary capture of a landscape by looking towards the unknown, creating imagery where the physical world touches the divine.”
Website: www.ronsmid.com
“Stormy Weather”
Stilson Snow, Eureka, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: As we all know, the world around us resonates with meaning beyond its physical manifestations. As metaphoric beings, we instinctively seek to fathom the depths of our experience using nature and art as keys, as touchstones.
Sometimes an image evokes in me a memory of past experience, sometimes a sense of a reality that lies just beyond my perceptual awareness. My hope is that my photographs will speak directly to the viewer and give rise to a memory, dream, longing, aspiration, or to a sense of something beyond the mundane.
Email: clearpix@suddenlink.net
“Desert Road”
Grant Sorenson, Santa Clarita, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: When creating a photograph, I am drawn not only to the interplay of shadow and light,
but I also attempt to capture a sense of the past and present, a moment, and a line in
time. All places have a complex soul of sorts, and I try to reflect this in the mood of the
image.
The moment caught here was certainly fleeting. Seconds after I tripped the shutter, the
lightning and thunder hit, along with a hard, driving rain that reduced visibility to near
zero. The desert was awash, and again transformed.
Website: grantsorensonphotography.com
“Nothing”
Eduardo Souza, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
“In Daddy’s Arms”
Tom Thomas, Redding, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: I was eating lunch in a dimly lit café in Weaverville, California, when I captured this image as the light from a distant window softly illuminated the faces of a father and his child.
ARTIST STATEMENT: This image was photographed at Cape Perpetua along the Oregon Coast. Arriving at high tide, I was mesmerized by the powerful and tumultuous surges of water as the sets of waves rolled in to this small cove.
ARTIST STATEMENT: Knowledge is an avenue by which we learn how to live our life. We see the world through our eyes and mind tempered by our knowledge. Yet we are only one in our ideas and actions. Experience has formed our personalities and values. Each person is unique in their view of the world and ideals. We are one unto ourselves and the world.
Website: constancevepstasdigitalphotography.com
“Three Falls”
Gary Wagner, Paradise, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: Wilderness, nature, and the world around me is the studio I use for my photographic work. I find freedom, and inspiration to create my interpretations of the natural elements and scenic vistas that come to my view at these locations.
The landscape is an exciting and challenging environment to work in, for it is constantly changing with the light of the day and the changing seasons. On many occasions I have revisited my favorite locations repeatedly throughout the year and found them to be completely different in their appearance, from the leaves on the trees, the depth of water in the streams, or the light striking the rocks. This environment and the many faces it reveals, bring me endless excitement, for creating my art.
I work exclusively in black and white. This medium best relates the shapes, lines, and tones of the landscape and more fully captures what I am viewing when I look at a scene. Color imagery for me is too close to reality and more of a visual record, than an artistic interpretation. I understand that the world is in color and we see in color but I find the magic of light on the land to best be conveyed in black and white.
With my work, I have tried not only to pay respect to the natural order and beauty of the earth but also to show reason for its preservation.
Website: www.garywagner.com
“Untitled 4”
Merethe Wessel-Berg, Oslo, Norway
ARTIST STATEMENT: I started to photograph in the year 2000, I often say. But that`s not true. The truth is I`ve been capturing images for as long as I can remember, in my mind, even without the camera.
I`m curious, I was born that way. My days are too short. I want to take a closer look – but the scenes pass too quick, and the beauty of the atmospheres disappear in the shadow of the more obvious moments, of the conclusions already made, of the main events.
I want to see behind, before, after, between the defined moments. That`s where the image is still in vibration, still ambivalent, refusing to lay down, still asking a question – able to escape the power of the definitions made by words – even this one.
ARTIST STATEMENT: From my earliest experiences in photography, I have always been a seeker and explorer with the camera. I would walk for hours photographing people, designs and objects from the natural and manmade environments. Early on, the style of Edward Weston, the famous Carmel, California photographer, who could take a common object and present it to the viewer in pure form, impressed me. In my photographic pursuits, I observed various shapes in the subject matters, such as, the circle, the square and the triangle. These shapes naturally exist in the visual world. As I began to use digital cameras, I had more options available with new opportunities to think outside the box. I can now shoot any object, take it apart and transcend the boundaries of film based photography. For instance, with digital stitching, I created a new abstract series of images, Entitled; "Under Construction" and many of which can be viewed at my website; williamrwestjr.com.
Website; williamrwestjr.com.
“We Are More Than Our Physical Body”
Dennis Wickes, Paradise, CA
ARTIST STATEMENT: Photography is an avenue of self-expression for me. It allows me to make visual statements in ways that I could never articulate with words. My work is about revealing my inner world, the way I see, feel and experience life.
Much of my recent work has focused on the use of movement in the image. This work is not a composite in Photoshop but is created with one long exposure…thus allowing for the captured movement. I am currently using myself as the model. Actually, I’m an easy guy to work with and I take direction well.
ARTIST STATEMENT: I feel magic really does exist in our lives. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic. Magic is both a simple and an extraordinary part of the lives we live. Mystery is the basic appeal of magic and I feel that photographers can create magic with photos that evoke emotions by the subjects they choose, the time they choose to shoot them, and how they choose to process or manipulate the final image.
I found my “Magic Hill” photo in one of my most favorite places to shoot at night and that is Hudson, NY. A small little town just two hours North of New York City in Rip Van Winkle Country. I felt that a black and white effect rather than color was what this photo called for. The dark of night added to the mystery of this formidable and intriguing three story brick building on Hudson’s Warren Street signed Magic Hill. The two Gothic turrets on the roof and an unexplainable question mark in the second floor window and the unexpected Christmas Trees on the main floor, all illuminated by the glowing streetlight, enhance the feeling of mystery and create the magic. Finally, I used a little grungy processing which helps to pile on a few more layers of mysterious atmosphere.
Website: www.alanwoodphotography.com
“Old Mill Stream”
Alan Wood, Allentown, PA
ARTIST STATEMENT: The amazing thing about an image is that different people see different things when they look at it and that stirs different emotions. Some people will see the blue sky, clouds and mill reflection and appreciate the beauty and the peacefulness in this photo. Others may view it and focus in on the dead branch and mud in the foreground and find these to be a jarring anomaly to the beauty of the scene and feel that what the photographer was thinking when he framed this shot this way is about the complexity of life and that beauty is often accompanied by some jarring element. In truth, the photographer could have been thinking either of these things and so many more when he took the shot and probably was. He could have even been thinking I got to get this shot, but I sure hope I don’t step in Goose poop!
www.alanwoodphotography.com
“The Rite of Spring”
Joel Zak, Salem, OR
ARTIST STATEMENT: This image, The Rite of Spring, represents my way of ‘seeing’ in classic black and white photography: simple, minimal, graphic. In fact this approach is likewise carried over into all my other work be it color or digital art expressions (see Van Gogh Oak on digital display here at the Carter House Gallery). I am fascinated by line, design and the myriad of opportunities expressed in the natural world. I hope you enjoy this piece and feel free to contact me or to review my other work by simply searching for “zj images”.
Website: Zj3002@yahoo.com
Search for “zj images”
“Mount Hua”
Lu Zhang, Ottawa, ON, Canada
ARTIST STATEMENT: Mount Hua in China is popularly known as one of the most dangerous hiking trail in the World. This picture was taken on an early August morning. Dramatic cloud and mist hanging over the mountain added mood. I converted the image to black and white to emphasis the breathtaking atmosphere of the scene.
Website: www.luzhangphotography.com
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