News
I'm honored to have been invited to be a part of the Art Photo Index, an online searchable database of art and documentary photographers and their work. It currently includes close to 3,000 photographers representing 85 countries. Check it out!
I was recently invited by Fraction Magazine's editor and publisher David Bram to participate in this year's Holiday Print Sale. (A portfolio of my work appeared in Fraction Issue #16 a couple of years ago.) If you are looking to gift someone with original photographic art for the holidays, there is plenty to choose from in this sale. This is the image that I am selling- one of my favorites from the "Secrets the Land Told Me" series:
Nice to see that the media in town is still interested in photography after FotoFocus ended. Click here to read a review of the "Landscapes of the Mind" show that appeared in last Sunday's Cincinnati Enquirer. My work is mentioned towards the end.
Since the writer referred to "Red Inner Bag #1, Fall, Aomori Prefecture" but didn't print it, here it is: 
I was on a panel at Xavier University last week that had as it's topic "The Future of Photography". Towards the end, we were asked what we thought the value of the FotoFocus biennial has been. My answer to that is: It made so many people in this region aware of photography as a creative medium.
It pointed out the many different ways in which people approach this medium and proved that a photograph can be so much more than just a recording of something in front of the lens.
It introduced photographers to each other who otherwise wouldn't have met.
It provided networking opportunities to photographers, students, and others who love the medium.
Finally, it made photography important in a way that a million photos posted on Facebook, Pinterest, or other social media sites can't.
Kudos and many thanks to Tom Schiff, Cincinnati Art Museum Chief Curator James Crump, and their team of sponsors, supporters, and workers for the fantastic job they did at making FotoFocus be such a success.
The final show that I have up during Fotofocus Cincinnati is "Landscapes of the Mind", which opened last Friday at the YWCA Women's Gallery on Walnut Street. Curated by Judi Parks, it is a look at how metaphor and symbolism has expressed itself through the photographs of Nancy Rexroth, Judi, and me. The show is up until January 10, 2013.
Both Nancy and I presented work that was culled from projects that had been thought complete. In her case, she went back into her negative archives that had resulted in her book "Iowa". Printed in the late '70's, "Iowa" became a defining body of work for anyone working with simple lenses or toy cameras. It legitimized them as a serious tool for the photographic artist. For the YWCA show, Nancy took another look at what she had shot back then, and presented a series of images that shed new light on that series.
In my case, I exhibited work that took a completely new look at what I had shot while in Japan a few years ago to photograph the process of apple growing in Aomori Prefecture. Rather than focusing on the process itself (as I had originally done when choosing the pictures of the "Seeking Perfection" series), I this time focused on the impact that the process had on the land and trees themselves. Amazing what you can discover about yourself and your work when you take another look.
The opening for the "Photographers X Photographers" show at the A.B Cohen Art Center at Xavier University was last evening and it was packed! Connie Sullivan had a show of some of her smaller light boxes in one gallery, while the "P. X P." show was in the larger space. It was fascinating to see how each photographer approached the task of making a portrait of another photographer. While I didn't know all the photographers who participated, I knew enough of them to appreciate that so many of these portraits perfectly reflect both the maker and their subjects. I found myself thinking, "I'd love to be photographed by the person who took that picture." many times over throughout the event.
Gallery hours are Mon. - Fri., from 10:00am-4:00pm. The show is up through October 26.
I had an amazing time at the opening of the show at the Phyllis Weston Gallery this past Friday. Lots of people in and out all evening, and one of my pieces sold. My work is being shown together with that of Connie Sullivan, Devin Stoddard, and Kent Krugh. Although our photographs are very different from each other technically, they all work really well together, I think. The show is up until October 31. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11:00am-5:00pm. 2005 1/2 Madison Road in Cincinnati. Check it out!
The first wave of openings for Fotofocus Cincinnati began last night, and what a buzz! The crowds were great and the work was better. All the Cincinnati newspapers and magazines are filled with articles about the 70+ shows that will be up in October. Also yesterday, the Cincinnati Enquirer ran this article about the three shows I have work in for Fotofocus. I delivered the "Secrets the Land Told Me" show to the YWCA Women's Gallery two days ago, so all the work is now in place- let the openings begin!
I've completed the final editing for the show that will be at the YWCA Gallery in Cincinnati in October as part of the Fotofocus Cincinnati photography festival. I was at an impasse until I went to the gallery and was able to see for myself the layout and lighting of the space. Once I did, the final edit just fell into place. I'm once again struck by the difference between seeing something in real life, or experiencing it through other means, like in a photograph, a map, or the written word. Prior to that visit, I had had a map of the space and had tried to imagine the work there, which worked to a degree. But it was totally different to actually stand in the space, absorbing its ambiance, sounds, and look.
This was the same kind of experience I had had once in an art history class, when we were looking at The Hunters in the Snow (Winter) (see below), by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, initially in books and then via projected images. Then later we went to a museum, where we saw his works in the flesh. It was like night and day.
Always opt for the real thing, whenever possible!
