4/30/08

Photography Workshop Highlight

It is almost starting to feel like I never actually took that trip to California. Only a few days back and yet it feels like I never left. How bizarre.

In any case, today i am going to start highlighting some of the amazing artists coming to CPW this summer to teach weekend workshops. Expect to see this feature on my blog a few times a week for the next month. After that...I will blog about the workshop. How fun! For now, I will promote these events and if you spot anything you are interested in feel free to email me with questions or call CPW at 845-679-9957.

Today I am going to talk about 2 of June's workshops that I think are going to rock!


Craig J. Barber: Experimental Pinhole Photography

May 31-June 1

In this two-day hands-on workshop you will learn to make your own pinhole cameras and depart from the world of hi-tech equipment to one of simplicity and liberation. Due to its infinite depth of field, the pinhole camera has unique abilities to redefine the world, whether working in extreme close up or playing with depth perception. In addition, its slight soft focus creates a dreamlike quality that is capable of rendering expressive images with an ethereal effect. It is also the perfect match for those interested in alternative processes, as you begin with an enlarged negative from the start!

We will begin our weekend with a historical and contemporary overview of pinhole photography that includes a variety of formats you may choose to employ in your own explorations. Each participant will construct a personal camera suited to your individual aesthetic requirements. Daily field trips will include practical demonstrations and working time to learn how to gauge exposure, framing the subject, and how to see with your new camera. You will learn about the usage of single and multiple pinhole cameras including diptychs and triptychs, using both polaroid film and paper negatives, as well as the conversion of existing cameras and/or “found” containers into pinhole cameras. This will be a fun and creatively inspiring workshop with emphasis on photographing and experimentation, geared toward both experienced and inexperienced pinhole photographers!

please bring: a portfolio of 10 prints, small notebook and pencil, watch with second hand or a stop watch / additional materials provided by CPW via your lab fee.
class limit: 12
tuition: $325 / CPW members: $295
L
ab fee: $60
PUBLIC LECTURE SATURDAY, 8 PM

Learn more about CRAIG J. BARBER here.

Josephine Sacabo: Images of the Psyche: Seeing the Unseen

June 14-15

“Invisible connection is stronger than visible. To arrive at the basic structure of things we must go into their darkness.” – Heraclitus

In this two-day, hands-on workshop you will explore how to photograph things not as you “see” them but rather as you might have “dreamt” them. We dream in images – they are at the most basic level of our true psychic reality. Our dreams are the metaphorical pictures of our individual realities. Through them we can forge a deeper connection between the world and ourselves. By uniting dream and reality, we can make an art that will resonate and in the process learn something about our own spirit. Working from this personal and intuitive place will be the focus of our two days together.

We will begin by talking about a personal dream or imagined images and explore the qualities in them we may want to make into photographs. We will share and review portfolios, and Josephine will show you her latest work dealing with these themes and expressing what was revealed to her after the fact by the images themselves. We will then go out to photograph. Whether you choose to make images of the landscape, models, objects you’ve brought from home, or found items on location… Josephine will be there to help with techniques that can yield the results you envision. After our shoots we will share some of the work made and discuss what is communicated by it to one another. This class is open to all photographers working in any genre with any format.

Participants should bring: things that reappear in your dreams or that haunt you as items to photograph, (a model will also be available), your favorite camera and film/memory cards, a portfolio of 10-20 prints, and found images that compel you.
Class limit: 15
T
uition: $325 / CPW members: $295
M
odel fee: $60
PUBLIC LECTURE FRIDAY, 8 PM

learn more about JOSEPHINE SACABO here.

4/28/08

10 things I loved about California....

10 things I could not get enough of. 10 amazing adventures, places, people or moments during my week in california. no particular order. all of them are equally loved.

1. the Northern California Coast. Breathtaking, meditative and fierce. I will close my eyes and picture this place when I need to find a calming thought.

2. our family. two beautiful people that it could not have been nicer to see. Getting to know one and catching up with another. sarah, our host, brought us to some of the most beautiful places and i could not thank her enough for that.

3. enjoying the not so usual surroundings in Boonville, California. This was such a great town with awesome people. An eclectic mix of just about everything.

4. watching the earth bloom at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.


5. the great Glass Beach in Fort Bragg. I have never seen so much sea glass in my life! This is a great spot for local artists to collect materials.

6. visiting the vineyards of Anderson Valley- this one is the Navarro Winery and it was soooo delicious.

7. getting to see my friends make new families.

8. the colors of california. they are all over the spectrum and really amazing.

9. The Friedlander exhibition at SFMOMA. Sure, the show came from New York, but it was so much sweeter to see it in San Fran. The MOMA in CA is a much more accessible space. Loved this exhibit and all the others they had!

10. the rest and relaxation time was limited, but when I did get to chill it was in this incredible cozy bed at the Anderson Valley Inn in Philo, California. No TV or telephone here. Just time and space to get a good sleep and enjoy the valley.

4/21/08

I am leaving for Cali at 3:30am (why did I plan it like that?!) I have no idea what kind of internet access I will have so I may be able to post or I may not. it is a mystery. have a great week.

4/18/08

California through the eyes of the FSA

Grandmother from Oklahoma and her pieced quilt. California, Kern County.
Dorothea Lange.

CREATED/PUBLISHED
1936 Feb.

Drought refugees. California.
Dorothea Lange

CREATED/PUBLISHED
1936 Feb.

Real estate office, Oakland, California.
Russell Lee

CREATED/PUBLISHED
1940 Dec.

Drought refugee from Oklahoma in California.
Dorothea Lange

CREATED/PUBLISHED
1937 Mar.

San Jose, California. Sign.
Russell Lee

CREATED/PUBLISHED 1942 June.
LC-USF34- 072906-E

4/16/08

my work


Sometimes I get so wrapped up in talking about everyone else's amazing art that I forget about my own. Here is some work from an ongoing project.

Revisit
is a project I worked on as my MFA thesis and through the last year. For more than 2 years I have been visiting locations originally photographed by the FSA photographers of the 1930s and 40s. In this rephotography process, I am investigating our cultural history- discovering and tracking the root of many cultural norms and societal trends. I am viewing this country through the eyes of history (these photographs) and interpreting my experience through a new image.


As I have said, I am going to California next week where I will photograph a bit more and then put this project to rest for a while. It has been a long two years but I realize now that I need to move on and come to new ways to express my ideas about the cultural memory within our landscape. Lots to think about.

4/15/08

Californ-I-A


Have I mentioned that I am going to California? I am spending almost one glorious week in the sunny state. I am so excited for a vacation! We are flying into San Fran but spending most of our time up north in Boonville, CA with sister Sarah. I would love some suggestions on places to go, see art, eat, relax, hike, bike...anything! I think we will spend 2 days in the city at the end of the trip, so suggestions for there are welcome to! Been there lots of times but always looking to do something new. Bookstores, galleries, hot springs....what do you love about that area?

4/13/08

my sunday local artist ramble

all images, copyright Angelika Rinhoffer


So, the opening last night was great. Town was full of people and the weather was stellar! Though, I am dealing with some sinus and head pain today and will keep this post short.

Todays ramble is reserved for one of CPW's summer workshop instructors, Angelika Rinnhofer. She is from Beacon, NY and will be teaching a studio lighting class with us in August.
I think her work- especially her attention to detail- is quite beautiful. Another amazing local artist!

A statement from her website to help better understand her process:

"Oil paintings from the Renaissance and the Baroque were primarily created for patrons of the wealthiest class. Influential clients celebrated their sense of entitlement by commissioning artists to create flattering portraits, still-lives, and religious scenarios with implications of ownership. My photographs, by their very nature, although formally inspired by these traditional oil paintings, transform this intrinsic elitism into a classless, more democratic concept."


4/9/08

Come visit us this Saturday!

© Cornelia Hediger, 04.05.07, archival inkjet print, 13.5 x 13"

It is time for second saturday in Woodstock, which means lots of stellar art openings to attend. Come by CPW on April 12 between 5-7pm and see our new exhibitions and say hello to me! The shows are awesome-- they include a solo exhibition by Cornelia Hediger called DOPPELGĂ„NGER and Photography NOW 2008, a group exhibition selected by Darren Ching. Cornelia will be giving an artist talk during the reception- which gives you another reason to come by! Learn more about the exhibition here.

Vintage in Print



The International Vintage Poster Dealer Association put together a show of "Propoganda, Protest & Political Posters" in Fall 2006 that I think is pretty cool. Check more posters out here.

I really love this kind of archive because it represents how passionate people can be. When i was at the Student Union Gallery at UMass, I curated a show with political poster art from a collection in Boston. The posters were part of the show -the other half were prints made by Stan Sherer from archived negatives of UMass students from the 1960's era. It was a powerful show. Lots of similarities between the campus then and in 2006.

4/7/08

CPW Workshop catalog has been released!

CPW's summer/fall workshop catalog has been printed and mailed out. How awesome! This is a really exciting year for me since I helped to organize the workshop schedule and catalog. Last year I started working after all of this had been finished. This is such an established program and I feel really honored to be part of it.

If you did not already know- the workshops have been offered here for 31 years. It runs on weekends from June through October and covers an outstandingly diverse array of topics from Wet Plate Collodion to Photoshop for Photographers to Encaustics & Photography to Exploring the Social Landscape to The Personal Narrative...and many, many more.

Keep an eye on my blog- i will post information about the artist instructors soon.

If you are not on CPW's mailing list you can request a catalog by calling 845-679-9957 or emailing info@cpw.org and include your name, address, phone and email. Or you can check it out online at CPW's website.

4/6/08

my sunday local artist ramble

Fossils of Imagined Territories

Deluxe 40 Piece Lustre Set

it is another sunday already! the week flew by. just want to say that the opening last night was a lot of fun. it was so great to see some Massachusetts friends and catch up. They are all doing such amazing things with themselves which made me very happy. Hudson is a really interesting town that I want to explore more of. tonight we are off to the Egg in Albany to hear some bluegrass. I could not be more excited to enjoy some live music for a few hours in such a spectacular venue.

In the tradition of Woodstock's own Levon Helms saturday night barn parties coined "the Rambles", I have created my own ramble. This one is about local artists that I admire. The person I am presenting this week is especially awesome in my book. Besides the fact that her art is incredible, she is a rock hound (much like myself!) I have been collecting minerals and gems for 12 years now and she is the first artist I have seen that utilizes the awesomeness (if that is even a word) of the geologic world and transforms its key characteristics into magnificent encaustic sculptures.

If you have not already guessed, I am writing about Laura Moriarty . She works at the infamous R&F Paints in Kingston, though I am unsure where she lives. Her art, to me, does not just mimic the natural elements found in such rock specimens, and in essence simply produce a duplicate of this form with new materials. Instead, a new breed of object is created in her work- as if the natural world and Laura's human imagination came together as parents to introduce a new life form to the world. When I look at her objects I am transformed into a narrative. One which forces me to look at the patterns that exist in nature and of course, the human influence on it. Ultimately what Laura proves to me is that even with encaustic as a material that can be controlled by her touch, there is still an element of surprise and chance. That is beautiful to me. Hats off to Laura, who is one of the outrageous and talented local artists you can find in our very own Hudson Valley.


Gemboree, detail

Kristin's Geode

4/4/08

this weekend

Stan Sherer, Provençal circus, Valleraugue, France.

Two local exhibition openings this weekend that include friends from Massachusetts...

The Barrett Art Center in Poughkeepsie is presenting their 21st ANNUAL NATIONAL JURIED PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION Photowork 2008 from April 5th-May 10th
Opening reception:
Saturday April 5th 4-6pm.
My good friend Stan Sherer was selected for this show.

Limner Gallery
in Hudson will be exhibiting another good friend David Cahill in their new show JUXTAPOSITIONS, April 3 - 26, 2008 Reception: Saturday, April 5, 4-6 pm.

I will be at the opening at Limner- so if you are there say hi- but will unfortunately not be able to also go to Barrett. Have a great weekend!

4/2/08

printing in albany


this is a view from the window of New York Press & Graphics (which is where I spent my day yesterday). They worked overtime on CPW's Summer Workshop catalog (which I must say, looks amazing!) It was my first time "on press" for a publication and it was fun! It will be in the mail by Monday and is already on our website. I will start highlighting different workshop instructors on this blog soon. So, keep an eye out for that.