Sight Unseen – Photography by the Blind
Sight Unseen, at the California Museum of Photography, is on view through August 29th. This astounding exhibit, curated by Douglas McCulloh, stays with you long after you leave the museum. The images are bold, fresh, honest, powerful and gritty. The fact that they are all created by blind photographers presents an initial feeling of astonishment, giving way to humility by the time you reach the end. I encourage you to read/listen to 
the essay (yes, logically, an audio of the essay is available) on the CMP’s website. It provides a concise summary of the exhibit better than I can.
Two main questions bounced off the walls of my brain. First, “how did they do that?” I was curious about how the photographer knew what f stop and aperture to use, how to focus, and how they knew when to release the shutter if they could not see the subject?
Second, why? Why do they choose to make photographs if they cannot see the results? The payoff for a sighted photographer is the accomplishment of seeing and sharing the finished product. If a photographer is blind, and cannot experience the outcome, what is the payoff?
The intrigue was so strong, I called Douglas McCulloh to get the answers. He explained that there is special equipment such as light meters that work by sound, focus rails with notches, and measuring devices that speak. Many of the photographers have modified their equipment to their individual needs.
As for the reason why, it is a matter of sharing the images inside their minds. These artists have a running movie of rich imagery they feel compelled to share with us. I must say, its quite a film.
California Museum of Photography – open Tu-Sat, 12-5
3824 Main St
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 827-4787
by Gina Genis
Jerry Burchfield – Understory
I just published my second Jerry Burchfield photobook review for his Understory: Florida Lumen Prints, which was published this year (2009) by Laguna Wilderness Press, a publishing company that Jerry co-founded. Jerry is a professor of photography and the director of the photographic gallery at Cypress College in Cypress, CA.
The main subject of this book is a mural size Lumen print that Jerry was commissioned to create in Florida and includes many of the Lumen prints that were studies for creating the mural.
Best regards, Doug Stockdale
Hal Myers at Irvine Fine Arts Center
Photographs copyright of Hal Myers
Hal Myers, a member of the Photograhers Exchange, will be having a solo photographic exhibit, titled 22˚ Below, at the Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, California opening August 7th through September 26th, 2009. The artist reception is Friday, August 7th, from 5 to 7 PM.
Hal Robert Myers has been creating photographic art since 2004, when a trip to Death Valley returned epic landscape imagery that hangs in several corporate collections. His passion for global travel, especially to destinations off the beaten path, combined with an ability to see between the cracks of a cultural norm or common perception, has led to an increasingly humanistic, sometimes daring approach to artistic expression that explores the raw undercurrent of daily existence.
With 22° Below, subtitled A photographic journey through the raw undercurrent of the 22nd parallel, Myers seeks to dispel the modern clichés of Mexico and the Caribbean, instead focusing on the true nature of a tropical region whose image is typically shaped by either travel brochures or a patronizing view of its relatively poor economic conditions.
by Douglas Stockdale
Jerry Burchfield book review
Photograph coyright of Jerry Burchfield, 2004
Just a quick note that I just published a photobook review of Jerry Burchfield’s Primal Images: 100 Lumen prints of Amazonia Flora, on The PhotoBook. I will soon post my photobook review of his most recently published (March, 2009) book Understory.
An interesting book in which the photographic prints he made in South America were created with a photographic process that is as old as photography itself. For those who attended the Photographers Exchange meeting in June, you had a chance to see Ted’s prints that were created in a similar manner.
Jerry Burchfield is a professor of photography as well as the Photography Gallery Director at Cypress College, which is located in Cypress, California.
by Doug Stockdale
Creative Destinations – Cavallo Point
I recently had the opportunity to talk with Anne Veh, the photographic curator for the Cavallo Point Lodge, located in Northern California near the Bay. The conversation was primarily centered on the photobooks that Cavallo Point recently published for the photographers who are featured in the rooms and grounds of this resort. What I realized was that although I have not been to this resort, I sure wanted to stay there, and here is why;
The resort features the work of twenty photographers, with 800+ photographs, situated in either historic or contemporary rooms. Currently at the restaurant, Murray Circle, there is an exhibition of 50 vintage silver gelatin photographs by Imogen Cunningham, probably the largest exhibit of her work available today. Also on display in the upstairs foyer of Murray Circle are seven select photographic works from Gregory Colbert’s exhibition Ashes and Snow.
In the public areas, the photography collection features significant work by Bay Area and internationally-recognized artists. These include Richard Barnes, Lukas Felzmann, David Liittschwager, David Maisel, Arno Minkkinen and JoAnn Verburg.
Featured in the historic guest rooms and suites are nationally- and internationally-recognized contemporary artists working primarily in black and white photography. One or two artists are highlighted per guest room or suite. Each artist has worked with Edition 1 Studios to publish an artist monograph to accompany his or her work in the rooms.
Artists include: Tom Baril, Linda Connor, Robert Dawson, Lukas Felzmann, Candace Plummer Gaudiani, James Henkel, Michael Kenna, Mark Klett, Wayne Levin, Arno Minkkinen, Chris McCaw and Camille Solyagua.
The contemporary guest rooms and suites also include a number of black and white photographs but focus on a collection of large-scale color photography. Both the architecture and dramatic landscape provide a perfect setting for more conceptually-based artwork. One artist is featured in each of these guest accommodations.
Artists include: Rick Chapman, Eirik Johnson, Ken Fandell, James Henkel, Charles LaBelle, Lisea Lyons, Amanda Marchand, Arno Minkkinen and Sangyon Joo
A brief description of the historic section of this resort:
Unique to California, the 13 historic Bayside buildings were originally the Fort Baker Officers Residences. The beautifully restored, turn-of-the-century Colonial Revival buildings offer both guest rooms and suites, just four to 12 in each building. Thanks to mindful reuse of the Fort Baker structures and materials, the Bayside buildings were renovated with minimal impact on the land and original footprint, preserving their California history and sense of place.
And about the contemporary facilities:
The newly-constructed contemporary accommodations are located on the coastal hillside of the Cavallo Point property. Positioned on a bluff above the main public areas and parade ground, these accommodations enjoy modern design and stunning views. The comfortable lodgings, with high wood ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, showcase panoramic vistas of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge. Housed in intimate two-story buildings, all 74 contemporary guest rooms and suites feature private entrances, toasty gas fireplaces, radiant heated floors, bamboo wood furnishings, ceiling fans and individual patios or decks.
To be able to combine a beautiful setting with a wonderful range of photographs appears very inspirational to me, and is now on my short list of places I would like to spend some quality time enjoying. I have already acquired three of the Cavallo Point monographs, including Mark Klett, Arno Minkkinen and Eirik Johnson, which I hope to review soon on The PhotoBook. And I hope to acquire more of these great monographs, as they are well printed and constructed, unique and delightful to read.
by Doug Stockdale
MediaStorm presents a variety of videos
Photo copyright by Paul Fusco
Photo copyright by Jim Lo Scalzo
The MediaStorm web site presents the visitor with a wide variety of compelling videos on subject ranging from the social commentary on the life of drug junkies in “The Ninth Floor” or the horrors of nuclear accidents in “Chernobyl Legacy” to the whimsical animated music video “The Creep”.
By Jim McKinniss
City of Beverly Hills – CALL TO ARTISTS ANNOUNCEMENT
Photo copyright by Beverly Hills
The Beverly Hills Art Show – Affaire In The Gardens
Call To Artists
The City of Beverly Hills is seeking artists to show and sell work at the “Affaire in the Gardens” Art Show, held in Beverly Gardens Park in Beverly Hills. The show will be held Saturday, October 17th and 18th; it is 37 years old this fall and attracts up to forty-thousand art lovers at each show. The show is a famously fun meet-and-greet site as well as a place to sell art; area collectors and art dealers routinely attend this event along with the real people. The site is an immaculately groomed, four-block-long linear park in the center of Beverly Hills. The deadline for an artist to submit an application is July 20th. Artists’ work must be in one of the categories: Painting – Sculpture – Drawing – Traditional Printmaking – Photography – Ceramics – Glass – Mixed Media (hard & soft) – Digital Art There is a major emphasis in this show on original art, hand-crafted from raw or recycled/raw materials. This show is not an appropriate venue for artists planning to sell many reproductions; only 10 percent of work at the event may be in the category of reproductions. Exceptions are all fine art “original prints” such as engravings, photographs, etc., which should be numbered and signed, as should all reproductions in the sculpture category or other category where molds are a primary part of the art-making process. We thank artists for observing these fine art traditions.
To receive an application, call us or log on to our website:
9400 Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310.285.6830
Web site:http://www.beverlyhills.org/affaireinthegardens
E-mail: kmclean@beverlyhills.org
Deadline July 20, 2009
By Jim McKinniss
EMERITUS COLLEGE EXHIBITION
John Montich: Photographs 1989-2009
Emeritus College
1227- 2nd Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
The gallery is on the first floor of the four story building. It is located ½ block south of Wilshire Blvd and north of Arizona Avenue.
The show runs from August 27 to October 9. The reception is the 27th from 5:00 pm to approximately 6:30 plus. The school and gallery are open during the week only from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm approximately.
John will be giving a slide presentation on September 14th at 3:30 pm.
“Eye Sore” is a diptych containing silver dye bleach photographic prints and is 26 X 61 inches.
The untitled B & W print is pigmented ink on rag paper and is approximately 26 X 36 inches.
Sabastiao Salgado at the Peter Fetterman Gallery
Photo copyright by Sabastiao Salgado
Peter Fetterman’s gallery is currently showing the work of Sabastiao Salgado in Africa at his gallery in Bergamot Station. The exhibition runs through October 30, 2009.
Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado is one of the most respected photojournalists working today. Appointed a UNICEF Special Representative on 3 April 2001, he has dedicated himself to chronicling the lives of the world’s dispossessed, a work that has filled ten books and many exhibitions and for which he has won numerous awards in Europe and in the Americas.
“I hope that the person who visits my exhibitions, and the person who comes out, are not quite the same,” says Mr. Salgado. “I believe that the average person can help a lot, not by giving material goods but by participating, by being part of the discussion, by being truly concerned about what is going on in the world.”
Peter Fetterman Gallery
Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave.
Gallery A7
Santa Monica, CA 90404
T: 310-453-6463
F: 310-453-6959
E: Info@peterfetterman.com
By Jim McKinniss
4×5: four works by five photographers
Photo copyright by John Fitzpatrick
Photograph copyright by Brian Hodges
Frank Pictures Gallery at Bergamot Station is currently showing the work of five contemporary photographers. The show closes on July 25 and I regret that I missed the opening reception and that this posting is so late.
Frank Pictures Gallery is excited to present “4×5″, a group show featuring five of Southern California’s rising photographic talents: John Fitzpatrick, Brian Hodges, Adam Santelli, Frank Schaefer and Michael Salvatore Tierney. “The biggest challenge facing photography today is creating work that doesn’t resemble what has been seen before”, says Laurie Frank, owner/director of Frank Pictures Gallery, “I see hundreds of portfolios every year that are indistinguishable from Weston, Weegee, Eggleston, and Shulman, then, suddenly, I was asked to jin the faculty of the Palm Springs Photography Festival and one after another I was struck by an overwhelming cavalcade of singular talent. It literally took my breath away.” Frank asked five of the photographers from the festival to showcase four selected works, all sized at 4′x5′, from their individual series.
Frank Photo Gallery is located at Bergamot Station. 2525 Michigan Avenuue, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Open Tuesday – Saturday 11:30 – 6:30 or by Appointment
310.828.0211
To learn more about the gallery and to read about the artists, please visit the gallery website:
http://frankpicturesgallery.com/home.html
By Jim McKinniss
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