Worldwide Photography Biennial Exhibition

One of my favorite images, “Abera”, was selected by Steve McCurry in his list of “special mentions by the juror” category and will be included in the curated exhibit opening at the Borges Cultural Center in December in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

This image is dear to me because while I was deep in a remote area of Ethiopia photographing a midwife, I turned around and saw this young boy looking at me with the most intense expression. I had seconds to react, obtain his ok to permit me to photograph him, and not lose that moment where he seems to be looking into my soul.

My focus was off. I usually focus on the eyes, and in this image the center of focus is on his hands. But had I taken longer to compose the shot to my liking, I would have captured an entirely different portrait.

I look at this image almost every day to remind me of the level of humanity that is found in the spirit of the Ethiopian people.

(Funds from any sales of prints are returned to projects in Ethiopia.)

 

Critical Mass: Portfolio Pre-Screening

In the last several years, I have been asked to perform portfolios reviews, consult one-on-one with individual photographers, and judge various photography competitions. In each case, I feel honored to provide this service.

And while I try to make some adjustments for each situation, I can’t help but uphold a standard of criteria when I look at photographic work. Sometimes this upsets people greatly, and they defend their work ferociously, even within an entry level photography classroom. This is fine. Others express gratitude for an honest assessment and helping them move into another phase of the development of their work.

I don’t pretend to know everything about photography. I am only one person, with one opinion. However, there are several themes that do seem apparent to me:  Photography has no rules, never tells the entire truth, is bastardized frequently, and love is in the eye of the beholder. I have seen weak work garner stellar awards, and strong work pushed aside.

The truth seems to be that there is more to the picture than the picture.

This month, I am in the process of pre-screening 756 of this year’s Critical Mass entries. Each entry includes ten images and an artist’s statement.  I am halfway finished, and after viewing 387 entries, I am starting to see a pattern regarding how I “judged” the entries. And often, very often, I wish that the artist is sitting right here next to me so I could ask them some questions.

Here are some of those questions. I hope this helps when editing your entries for any competition. As I reflect upon these questions, I realize many things about my own work and how I can alter my approach.

What were you thinking when you came up with this concept? Did you clearly state this in your artist statement?
If you’ve seen it before, are these images similar?
Does your work look strikingly like (blatantly derivative of) someone else’s work that you admire?
What are you really trying to tell your audience?
Do all photos form a song?
Do any of the images feel insincere?
Who is more prominently in focus: your content or your self?
How are these photos surprising?
Is your artist statement descriptive, and not overbearing or self-righteous?
How is your point of view different from others we have seen?
Did you take risks with the subject matter, execution of imagery, post processing?
Does one weak image take the others down?
Even though you captured important subject matter (cancer, crime, death), are the images interesting and different?
Have you gone too far just to be considered “different”?
Is the group of images cohesive?
Is the group of images repetitive?
Have you told anyone to blankly stare into the lens?
Are you trying too hard to solicit emotions from the viewer?
Were you engaged with your subject matter? How so?
Are you trying to please someone?
Have you taken a photo of a photo (or painting, or design) and if so, how have you made this your own image?
Do the images tell us something without having to read the artist statement?

Again, there are no right and wrong answers when creating a body of photographic work. It is yours, and should reflect your voice. But if we present the portfolio to others, especially within a competition, there seems to be another layer of pondering that might be useful in presenting something that is unique and therefore more aptly noticed.

Portland Squared!

I had great fun out on the streets with other photographers during ASMP’s “Portland Squared” event.  I really enjoyed seeing everyone’s work at the end of the day…so many different perspectives!

And I think perhaps most of all I loved feeling of camaraderie that was present throughout the day.  Established photographers came together with students who are just starting out with their careers and it did not matter what type of camera anyone had or whether they were published, won an award, or made a ton of money this year. We all were there for the simple love of photography.

I decided to set up an outdoor studio in a few locations in my “square” of Portland. I took hundreds of images, and at the end of the day, my cellphone images were my favorite of the day.

If working on the streets sounds like something you would like to try, street photography/portraiture is a class I teach regularly. Check the class listings on my website, or send me an email to see if we are in the planning stages of an upcoming class.

A bit of press:

Portland Tribune

1859 Magazine

April: Portland Photo Month

There are several events related to photography taking place during Portland Photo Month in April. Check the Portland Photo Month website for the latest listings.

A few highlights:

THEN. NOW. HERE.  BAM! Images of Portland, curated by Raymond Meeks, will be projected onto buildings around Portland during the month of April. Check the link for times and locations.

Photo Picnic!  Bring your nibbles, your favorite sip and a special blankie. We will be showing Mary Ellen Mark’s newly released book, Prom, and screening the Prom documentary film, co-produced with her husband and filmmaker, Martin Bell.

Thursday, April 26  8-10pm   Location is at my studio.

Door: $5-10 sliding scale payable to Photolucida.  Floor space is highly limited, so send us an email to reserve your spot.

GET IN THE VAN! I will be teaching street photography workshops in various locations and with different co-instructors I admire. First up: the uber-talented Leah Nash! Check the classes link on my website to view current workshop listings.

(Photo by Mary Ellen Mark, from her new series “Prom”)

Gallery Show: Natural Playground

My image of Kristen Ulmer, extreme skier and co-founder of the Ski To Live program, was juried into the “Natural Playground” show, juried by Corey Rich and Justin Gural at the Darkroom Gallery in Vermont.  Details can be found here.

This image was first published in Sports Illustrated For Women.

 

Queens Raise $5000 For Ethiopia

Our FUNraiser at Darcelle’s was a smashing success, and a total blast of a party.  The queens are amazingly talented, and we all did not want the show to end.  Here are a few snapshots from the evening, and check out Dr. Philippa Ribbink channeling Janis Joplin here.

Thank you, Darcelle’s!  We love you!

(Above photo by Michael Schoenholtz)

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