Presenters will discuss their institution's MFA photography program,
application and portfolio process.
After short information presentations the
session will open for questions and answers
Day: Saturday October 29, 2011
Time: 10:00 am Eastern Standard Time (7 am Pacific time)
Cost: free but you must register to receive login information.
Access the FREE Webinar broadcast by registering
Presentation Description:
This presentation addresses a variety of issues directly related to the new roles, demands and expectations on Photo Educators. Most college faculty no longer teach 100% of the time in the traditional classroom/lab environment. Course management systems like Moodle and Blackboard have empowered teachers and students alike with a variety of new options, applications and networking tools for delivering and receiving viable and dynamic photographic instruction. Most instructors no longer have to be at any given place (office or classroom)) thanks to wireless communications and applications like Skype, Blackboard, Moodle and Elluminate when teaching their classes, however many of the traditional 20th Century expectations are still applied to online faculty by college administrators and students alike. Faculty must also constantly be upgrading their technical skill sets in order to incorporate the latest technologies into their online classes. Teachers are also expected to check-in to their online classes over weekends and on holidays with no additional compensation, in addition to spending countless hours developing, retooling and upgrading their online courses. The role of faculty is changing (evolving) rapidly and this panel presentation will addresses these changes and offer suggestions for adapting (surviving) in the new world of education we find ourselves in.
If you are interested in teaching photography online this is a presentation you do not want to miss.
SPE & RayKo / Deadline: 01/16/12
This competition is open to artists holding current membership in Society for Photographic Education (SPE) and is organized in conjunction with SPE's 49th national conference, Intimacy and Voyeurism: The Public/Private Divide in Photography, March 22-25, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The exhibition will be on view during the SPE national conference and feature an opening reception open to all attendees of the event. To join SPE or renew your membership visit www.spenational.org. The RayKo Gallery offers over 1600 square feet of exhibition space and presents eight to ten shows annually featuring nationally recognized artists.
RayKo Photo Center
428 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
$25/up to 3 images. $5/additional image up to 10 images in total
All work must be created by current SPE members and must be original. Works previously shown at RayKo are not eligible.
- All entries must be jpegs (8" longest side at 72dpi | RGB color space)
- Save files with artist's last name, first name and title of image
Example: Smith_Jane_Pigeons01.jpg
- Any work deemed misrepresented by its jpeg will be declined
- Online Submission: Go to www.raykophoto.com for login, payment, and submission information.
- Accepted artists will be invited to send or deliver actual work. All work must be framed or mounted with a wire affixed and ready to hang, no saw tooth hangers accepted. Entries are handled with great care; however, RayKo and SPE assume no liability for work on the premises. All selected works must be for sale. RayKo retains 40% commission on all photographs sold. Selected images may be used for promotion of the exhibition.
Best in Show: Complimentary 1 year membership in SPE and complimentary conference registration to SPE's 49th national conference in San Francisco.
JUROR
Todd Hido is a San Francisco Bay Area-based artist whose work has been featured in Artforum, The New York Times Magazine, Eyemazing, Metropolis, The Face, I-D, and Vanity Fair. His photographs are in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as well as in many other public and private
collections. He has over a dozen published books, the latest monograph being A Road Divided, released in 2010.
Notification of juried results will be communicated by January 23, 2012
428 Third Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
The Kiernan Gallery / Deadline: 12/27/11
From formal portraits to snapshots, family pictures adorn our homes more than any other type of photograph. Images of family reveal personal connections as well as emotional distances. They are historical records, containing both facades and truths. The definition of family is a personal one, and for Family Dynamics, The Kiernan Gallery welcomes images that break with tradition or embrace it, whether the family is yours, someone else's, or one to which you have chosen to belong.
The Kiernan Gallery
23B West Washington St
Lexington, VA 24450
$25
All photographic media are encouraged. Photographers of all skill levels and nationalities are eligible.
We accept only digital submissions. All digital files should be provided as:
- JPGs
- 72 ppi
- sRGB
- Image width not to exceed 1024 pixels on the longest side.
- Files should be titled as LastName_FirstName_01Title.jpg. The number should correspond with the number on the submission form. No non-alpha-numeric characters.
Up to 30 images will be selected for exhibition in the main gallery and up to an additional 40 to be included in the online gallery.
All images will be reproduced in an exhibition catalogue available for purchase.
A Juror's Choice and Director's Choice will also be announced.
About the Juror: Henry Horenstein has been a professional photographer, teacher, and author, since the 1970s. He studied history at the University of Chicago before turning to photography, earning his BFA and MFA at Rhode Island School of Design while studying under legendary photographers Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. Henry's work is collected and exhibited internationally, and he has published over thirty books, including Black & White Photography: A Basic Manual, used by hundreds of thousand of college, university, high school, and art-school students as their introduction to photography. He has also published several monographs of his own work, including Show, Animalia, Close Relations, and many others. Henry lives in Boston and is a professor of photography at RISD.
The Kiernan Gallery
23B West Washington St
Lexington, VA 24450
W: http://www.kiernangallery.com
E: submissions@kiernangallery.com
www.running-down.com / Deadline: 12/31/11
www.running-down.com is a running blog looking for excellent photographs that explore why runner's run. Cash prizes for award winning photographs, plus publication in Blurb book Why We Run in January 2012.
As runners, we all have had this conversation:
-You: "I have to go for a run"
-Non-runner: "What are you running from? Ha! Ha!"
-You: "Ha. Good one"
-Non-runner: "Seriously, it is freezing rain out. Why?"
So the theme for this completion is "Why We Run." The idea is to convey the reasons why runners do what we do. Why do we get up at 4 am, drive 80 miles, and pay $60 for a race we have no chance of winning? Or spend 3 hours on a cold, muddy trail? Or run around the same circle day after day and not get anywhere?
We hope to answer these questions through photography, reward outstanding images with cash, and create a book of visual responses.
Free
Anyone can apply. You may submit one and only one image during each month throughout 2011.
Please see the website at www.running-down.com/p/photo-contest.html
Prizes:
1st - $100
2nd - $50
3rd - $25
Any submitted work may (or may not) be published in Why We Run. Public acknowledgement/praise/ridicule on www.running-down.com.
The spirit of this competition is to get beyond the superficial reasons for running like losing weight or competition. We are not looking for pictures of Ryan Hall, Kara Goucher or somebody's six pack abs. This is about running as it's own reward.
There are no concrete rules regarding content, or criteria for judging. Just make us laugh, cry, cringe, or say "wow". Bottom line is we are looking for is great images.
Anthony Corriveau
104 Redgate Drive
Cary, NC 27513
P: 919.671.9105
W: http://www.running-down.com
E: ac1@running-down.com
PhotoPlace Gallery / Deadline: 12/12/11
Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring: each season provides inspiration for distinctive photographs. For this exhibition PhotoPlace seeks photographs capturing the essence of individual seasons. Photographers are welcome to submit photographs illustrating aspects of just one particular season, or a mixture of several.
$25 for five photos, $6 each additional photo.
Internationa, age 18 and over
We are honored that David Middleton will be the juror for this exhibition. For this exhibition David will choose forty photos for exhibition at PhotoPlace Gallery from February 14 through March 5th, 2012. He will also choose an additional thirty-five photos for the gallery's "On-Line Annex." All selected work will be included in a full-color exhibition catalogue available for purchase. To help artists defray costs, PhotoPlace Gallery offers to mat and frame work selected for exhibition free of charge, providing artists print their images to our pre-cut mat and frame sizes.
Juror: David Middleton
Kirsten Hoving
PhotoPlace Gallery 3 Park Street
Middlebury, VT 05753
P: 802 989 2359
W: http://www.vtphotoworkplace.com
E: photos@vtphotoworkplace.com
The Center for Fine Art Photography / Deadline: 11/16/11
An individual's connection to Home is highly personal; nonetheless, the concept of Home is shared among all people. Understanding how others define Home strengthens our human connections. Home: Universal. Ubiquitous. Unique.
EXHIBITION March 2 - March 31, 2011
ARTISTS' RECEPTION March 2, 6-9PM
Members: $20 for the first three images. Non-Members: $35 for the first three images Additional images may be submitted for $10 each. There is no limit to the number of images that may be submitted.
The exhibition is open to all photographers world wide, both amateur and professional. The Center invites photographers working in all mediums, styles and schools of thought to participate in its exhibitions.
All accepted images submitted for exhibition must be printed and framed or mounted professionally. The Center recognizes that some work is non traditional and incorporates the framing as an integral part of the presentation. To encourage participation by photographers from around the world, the Center offers optional economical printing and framing services. Additional details will be provided upon request.
Juror's Selection $600.00
Director's Selection $250.00
Two liveBooks Website awards valued at $399.00 each
Blurb Book Award Valued at $250.00
Honorable Mentions: 2 year membership and a complimentary entry to a future call for entry at the Center.
Juror Krzysztof Candrowicz is a founder and the director of Lodz Art Center and Foundation of Visual Education in the city of Lodz, Poland.
P: 970.224.1010
W: http://www.c4fap.org
E: exhibitions@c4fap.org
PhotoPlace Gallery / Deadline: 11/14/11
Travel enables us to broaden our horizons, and photographing while on the road encourages us to look with special attention at the people and places we encounter. For ON THE ROAD: TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY, we seek photographs of any subject photographed away from home. People, still life, landscape--any subject, any process, any style.
PhotoPlace Gallery, 3 Park Street, Middlebury, Vermont
$25 for five photos, $6 each additional photo.
International, age 18 and over
For this exhibition Sandra Chen Weinstein will choose forty photos for exhibition at PhotoPlace Gallery from January 17th through February 11th. She will also choose an additional thirty-five photos for the gallery's "On-Line Annex." All selected work will be included in a full-color exhibition catalogue available for purchase. To help artists defray costs, PhotoPlace Gallery offers to mat and frame work selected for exhibition free of charge, providing artists print their images to our pre-cut mat and frame sizes.
Juror: Sandra Chen Weinstein
Kirsten Hoving
PhotoPlace Gallery 3 Park Street
Middlebury, VT 05753
P: 802 989 2359
W: http://www.vtphotoworkplace.com
E: photos@vtphotoworkplace.com
Mpls Photo Center / Deadline: 11/05/11
Impromptu Ad-Lib, Extemporaneous, Improv, Improvised, Improviso, Off-Hand, Played by Ear, Shot From the Hip, Spur-of-the-Moment, Unpremeditated, Unprepared, Unscripted, Whipped Up and Winged Photography.
Off the Cuff: The Spontaneous and Unrehearsed will demonstrate the complex and varied roles photography employs as a witness and an accomplice in seeing the world. Relating to both the genres of street photography and performance art, these images may collectively portray chance encounters, improvisations, decisive moments in the height of action, and documents of occurrences. Without premeditation, the photographer captures what arises – acting as the mediator between the photograph and events as they unfold.
Mpls Photo Center
2400 North Second Street
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55411
$35 first 5 images, $10 each additional
Open International Call for Entry
Submit your work via the online tool, Smarter Entry System. To submit click on Account Login to begin. Create an account if you don't already have one. Simply pay online then upload your images.
All entries are submitted via our on-line system. When you see the image thumbnail under Submitted Images, you image has been received for the show/contest. You will be able to change an image or add additional information regarding that image, at no cost, by logging into your account. Changes may be made up to the appropriate deadline.
When preparing images for uploading, please adhere to the following file specifications:
sRGB or RGB color space (standard) - NOT CMYK (typically used by printing industry)
Save files to 72 ppi resolution; flatten layers, 8 bit JPEG files (16 bit will not upload.)
Sized to 1,280 pixels on the longest side, the other size width or height proportional
JPG format, compression level 8 (medium). Compression level will not affect the quality of viewed images.
Use period preceding jpg in the file name. Characters (!@#$%^&*()_+) will result in uploading problems.
First Place = $400
Second Place = $300
Third Place = $200
Three Honorable Mentions
(Prizes and Awards include a free Off the Cuff Exhibition Book)
Results Announced: November 13th, 2011
Acceptance: All entrants will receive an e-mail notification. Accepted images will be posted on the Mpls Photo Center's website along with instructions for gallery presentation.
Exhibit Prints: Mpls Photo Center will only accept framed prints with a bright white mat and traditional black wooden or metal frame (nothing ornate). Printing, framing, and shipping/ repacking fees are the responsibility of the exhibiting artist. For the convenience of those not living in Minnesota we offer optional fine art printing and framing services at an additional cost to the photographer. For additional artist information, please contact us at exhibitions@mplsphotocenter.com
Abby Rutchick
2400 North Second Street
Minneapolis, MN 55411
P: 612-643-3511
W: http://www.mplsphotocenter.com
E: abby@mplsphotocenter.com
The Kiernan Gallery / Deadline: 10/26/11
Time is an essential element of science, philosophy, and religion. Nonetheless its definition has continuously eluded the greatest minds. For In Time, The Kiernan Gallery welcomes images that interpret and define Time as subject matter, whether it be in a historical context of the then and now, time lapse, events and the intervals between them, or a crucial moment, preserved for eternity. In a sense, every photograph is an embodiment of time.
The Kiernan Gallery
23B West Washington St
Lexington, VA 24450
$25
All photographic media are encouraged. Photographers of all skill levels and nationalities are eligible.
We accept only digital submissions. All digital files should be provided as:
- JPGs
- 72 ppi
- sRGB
- Image width not to exceed 1024 pixels on the longest side.
- Files should be titled as LastName_FirstName_01Title.jpg. The number should correspond with the number on the submission form. No non-alpha-numeric characters.
Up to 30 images will be selected for exhibition in the main gallery and up to an additional 40 to be included in the online gallery.
All images will be reproduced in an exhibition catalogue available for purchase.
A Juror's Choice and Director's Choice will also be announced.
About the Juror: Blake Fitch received her BFA on full scholarship from Pratt Institute (1994), with a major in photography and a minor in photo history. She earned her MA in Arts Administration from Boston University in 2001. Documentary in nature, Fitch's work has focused on the human condition, including themes of: identity, rites of passage, civil rights, belonging and the investigation of community in third world countries. Her work has been described as graceful and confident. The quality and breadth of her imagery has enabled her to receive a variety of grants and sponsorships including support from Kodak and Calumet Photographic. Her work has been exhibited internationally and held in the collections of numerous museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Worcester Art Museum, and the George Eastman House of Photography.
The Kiernan Gallery
23B West Washington St
Lexington, VA 24450
W: http://www.kiernangallery.com
E: submissions@kiernangallery.com
INFORMATION | |
Internships and Volunteers | |
 |
We offer two types of employment:
Permanent opportunities are listed as positions become available.
Seasonal employment opportunities are available twice a year for our Summer and Winter programs.
Our objective when hiring seasonal staff is to select individuals who bring formal education, knowledge of digital capture and output, photographic experience, and resourcefulness, so that it benefits the experience of participants. This is especially true when meeting the needs of instructors. The majority of instructors are working professionals and expect technically and aesthetically proficient staff members. As a staff member, the Workshops is a place to give your knowledge back to those who need it and want it, rather than take-away more for yourself. Each staff member is technically proficient, possesses an imaging aesthetic of their own, and enjoys working with people. Superior customer service is integral to every job description and to participant's and instructor's overall experience.
seasonal Positions
A number of individuals who have worked at the Workshops in previous seasons return periodically or for consecutive seasons, so the number of available positions changes season-to-season. Seasonal positions include:
(click job title to download description)
Application Procedures
All applications for seasonal positions (except for Store Assistant) will be handled through e-mail to Renie Haiduk, Director of Operations. Her e-mail address is renie@santafeworkshops.com. Please note: All materials will be read and reviewed on a Macintosh; please send MS Word documents.
PHASE I:
Formal Application
Please download and complete the application form (MS Word document) and submit it via e-mail along with:
• a current resume,
• three letters of recommendation (these letters should come directly from your references, not from you -- make sure they include a contact phone number), and
• a one-page statement of intent that describes your objectives, and how you believe working at the Santa Fe Workshops will benefit your imaging career.
NOTE: DO NOT SEND IMAGES AT THIS POINT
PHASE II:
Candidate Selection
Formal applications are carefully reviewed by the Director of Operations and Operations Assistant and then subject to review by The Director. Those applicants being considered will be asked to send a portfolio of work by email that represents their current photographic style. Please send no more than 12 images, JPGs, 72dpi, 3 x5 size, no greater than 50K each.
PHASE III:
Interview and Notification
Selected candidates are interviewed for final selection either in person in Santa Fe or via telephone by the Director of Operations. All transportation costs to and from the interview are to be borne by the applicant.
Notification of award of a position is via telephone by the notification date stated for each application period, and followed-up with information regarding the approaching season.
Positions Available & Application Deadlines
Formal applications must be received within the dates specified. Early or late submissions cannot be considered.
FALL 2011
Fall Season application period is open July 18-August 1, 2011
Notification of hire: August 19, 2011
| POSITION TITLE | AVAILABLE | STATUS |
| Work/Study | 1 position | filled |
| Store Work/Study Course Coordinator-Photo | 1 position 2 positions | filled filled |
WINTER 2012
Winter Season application period is open November 14-28, 2011
Notification of hire: December 16, 2011
| POSITION TITLE | AVAILABLE | STATUS |
| Studio Manager | 1 position | appl. period open soon |
| Studio Assistant | 1 position | appl. period open soon |
| Course Coordinator-Photo | 3 positions | appl. period open soon |
| Work/Study | 2 positions | appl. period open soon |
| Store Work/Study | 1 position | appl. period open soon |
SUMMER 2012:
Summer Season 2012 applications will be accepted in the Spring of 2012.
Check back for dates.
| POSITION TITLE | AVAILABLE | STATUS |
| Studio Coordinator | 1 position | appl. period open soon |
| Assistant Studio Coordinator | 1 position | appl. period open soon |
| Darkroom Coordinator | 1 position | appl. period open soon |
| Course Coordinator -- Photo | 4 positions | appl. period open soon |
| Work/Study | 2 positions | appl. period open soon |
| Store Work/Study | 1 position | appl. period open soon |
Consider yourself as a morphing god?? Show us what you got..
Photo editing: a skill possessed by the masters, do you think you are one of them??
Do you have the skill in you to edit photographs and make them look more authentic than the original??
If you have what it takes, then here is a golden opportunity to prove your proficiency.
Take part in the photo morphing contest held by desitara.com, upload your master pieces and stand a chance to win a Sony handy cam.
What are you waiting for?? Showcase your masterpieces and prove yourself a morphing savvy!!
Upload photo period : 4th Oct 2011 to 31st Oct 2011
Voting period : 1st Nov 2011 to 15th Nov 2011
Announce winner : 16th Nov 2011
My early photographs documented the continuing aftermath of American de-industrialization in the urban Midwest. These works had a particular poignancy to me through their stark and formal depiction of hollowed out and forgotten spaces. There was something both horrifying and thrilling about seeing the near total destruction of sites that represented the glorious past recounted to me by my father, an expatriate of the “splendors” of old Detroit. Despite the grandeur of these spaces, I see no chance for redemption in them. Their stories had been told, and they could not take into account the realities of those living in their wake. With complete loss can come massive liberation, as we no longer have to rely on the values of the system that shaped our lives and influenced our thinking. As our system of a democratic and supposedly benevolent capitalism, which has slowly failed us throughout my life, and leaves us to our own devices we are faced with paralyzing changes. But what is this system that has failed? It may have actually never existed, except as a myth, a dream of industrial progress and community, maintained for generations, and is now faced with an abyss of neglect. The industrial past and the middle class values that have sprouted up around it to help legitimize it. Giving up on this legacy is not an easy liberation; there is no paradise, only the abyss. But this is liberation in its truest sense, a complex emotional and intellectual truthfulness that depends upon interaction, situation and camera.
I then began working with a group of photographic slides that I had found in thrift stores and in the basements of various apartment buildings I had been living in. As I sifted through these discarded images I started noticing how many incidental, un-posed photos there were of members of the same family. These non-narrative moments seemed to reveal more about the relationships these people had with the spaces they did with the other members of their family or traveling group. There is an omniscient quality to the un-posed and incidental slides.
In considering the limitations of a single slide to provide any intelligibility or narrative content, I decided to superimpose slides to create a photograph that could consider or reveal multiple moments; a moment that is the sum of multiple moments. I began layering slides together in an equally obsolete slide printer; the multiple exposures portrayed the same individuals in different situations as they traveled to different spaces, or in single spaces that included different individuals. Time is compressed and literally stacked as I try to preserve moments in time as well as reunite individuals who existed in different images. There is still a yearning and searching, as these individuals are still separated from one another, but coexisting in a single place
After the collage work, which I still hesitate to call finished, I started taking photographs of my family as a microcosm of social issues in the Midwest. Inspired by a 1970s period of Soviet film known as “The Stagnation”, I began thinking of the dynamic of post-industrialization as more of a literal stagnation as opposed to a slow decay toward total immobility and death. These films mocked notions of heroism, selfless duty to country, family and career, and faith and reliance on industry and conservative values, as we saw them fail on the screen. To me this was more than relevant as I came back to Ohio to take pictures of my sister's release from her military training, and subsequent acclimation to a life that had not changed. The social and economic climate that I feel almost forced her into making this drastic change that has yet to deliver on its promises of upward mobility.
I followed her and my mother throughout this acclimation, exploring the nuances of the domestication of this military life, a process that downplays the risk and terror of the eventual realities of war. These photographs existed isolated from the rest of those I took, and had the risk of existing as a photojournalistic project. I then wanted to expand on these feelings of stagnation and isolation and humanize individuals who were losing a sense of identity, or experiencing shifts within that identity. Inspired by Wolfgang Tillmans, I created a network of images consisting of a few of these domestic portraits juxtaposed with one another, as well as landscape work. Besides opening up new meanings as the photographs collided, I wanted to create a richer environment that existed somewhere between narrative and documentary. I wanted to create a stagnating but beautiful world, a way perhaps of both redeeming and of asserting the power of the lost.
Still thinking about notions of documentary and yearning, I began taking photographs of men I located on gay social networking sites. I still wanted to work with the internalized psychology that existed in the Ohio pictures. I wanted to mix the observational approach from this work with a more conceptual approach. After a short discussion with someone on the site, we would meet at their house or a public location of their choosing, and work with their relationships to the space and to the camera. Despite the awkwardness and artificiality of the encounters, the photographs have a palpable intimacy. That intimacy could somehow come from something so impersonal intrigued me. The photographs oscillate between narrativity and stasis, terms I am borrowing from photo critic and theorist George Baker. Narrativity refers to the historical and narrative information in a photograph that causes the viewer to contemplate the world and concepts outside of the photograph, while stasis refers to a slowing down, a stillness that is more concerned with the psychological or subconscious, which stays within the photograph. The space between these two poles interests me, as there is an inherent narrative or documentary quality to these photographs, but also something psychological that permeates. This slowing down, and eventual freezing is what interests me most about photography.
A relationship to Nan Goldin's Ballad of Sexual Dependency became clear as this series began, yet, how do these notions of intimacy and access exist in the face of the internet? Unlike Goldin, I have no pre-existing relationship to the subjects of the photograph. In these encounters there is a physical danger present that does not exist in her work. Not just the danger of being with a complete stranger in a highly charged situation but also the risk of intimacy itself, emanating from nowhere. The camera becomes the catalyst for a performative space. Has intimacy become a commodity, an expectation brought about by the nature and origin of the encounter? Even as I try to negotiate these new territories, I still want to give these men a dignity within this system. Is there a desire for all of these men to reach out to someone, or is it me who is trying to reach out to them?
Justin Niespodzianski and Leah Irwin in the Alternative Processes Lab
Camelia Montoy, Untitled 1, 2011
> Internship Opportunities & Descriptions
> Download Internship Application Form
The VASA Project hosts a number of internship programs including Visual Arts Administrative Assistant, Curatorial Interns for photography and digital arts, Transmedia Writers and Reviewers, and other intern opportunities as they evolve.
Each intern will work closely with the curators, editors, administrators, teachers, and other VASA staff members on particular projects. Internships are designed to provide the intern with dynamic experiences that may have an impact on their careers as artists, researchers, educators, and administrators. Each internship is unpaid and usually runs for one year.
Interns may live anywhere in the world, but will need broadband internet access and must speak and write in English.
Individuals interested in the VASA Internship Program should refer to the current internship opportunities and download and complete and return the internship application form.
Direct any questions concerning internships to email Roberto Muffoletto, Director of the VASA Project (roberto@vasa-project.com). The VASA Newsletter will publish announcements of internship opportunities.
Welcome 4 Omega D2 enlargers for printing 4x5 black and white negatives - now in the Point Park Photography Gang Lab!
This spring, Christopher Rolinson took his digital photography students to Carrie Furnace so they could photograph the mill that made iron for the Homestead Works across the Monongahela River.
"They seemed overwhelmed by the scale of it all," said Mr. Rolinson, an associate professor at Point Park University.
Mr. Rolinson, who grew up in Freedom, was well acquainted with the Jones & Laughlin mill in Aliquippa, which has been torn down.
As recently as five years ago, he says, pictures of that mill hung inside a McDonald's restaurant in Baden. He wanted his students to realize how much this region's landscape changed when major steel mills disappeared. There was another lesson, too.
Where: Student and Faculty Photography Exhibition of the Carrie Furnace site in Rankin is in the Lawrence Hall Lobby, Wood Street and Boulevard of the Allies.
When: Through Sunday; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Where: Art Exhibition featuring works of Aaron H. Gorson, Clyde Hare, Robert Qualters, Frank DeAndrea, John Shryock, Frank Vittor, Ron Donoughe, Mark Perrott and other artists from the collections of Tomayko Arts, Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, and The Duquesne Club is in the Lawrence Hall Gallery.
When: Through Dec. 30; 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Information: 412-392-8008.
"How many people went to college because of this site?" Mr. Rolinson mused as he looked again at his students' digital images of the millsite in Point Park University's Lawrence Hall gallery. For more than 70 years, he said, steelworkers forged a work ethic and earned salaries that propelled them into the middle class, a step that helped their children get ahead.
If you can't drive to Rankin and visit Carrie Furnace on Oct. 15, the date for the last official public tour offered this year by Rivers of Steel, you can get a sense of what remains by looking at the students' images. Through this weekend, the pictures are on exhibit in Lawrence Hall at Wood Street and the Boulevard of the Allies.
The color images make up roughly half of an art exhibition called "Rivers of Steel at Point Park University."
Blast furnace No. 7 is silhouetted against a bright blue sky in a picture taken by Point Park senior Erin Price of Mars. While touring the sprawling industrial site, she experienced sensory overload.
"I was surprised by how there was a lot of graffiti everywhere, how rundown it was," Ms. Price said, adding that she would like to return to the mill with friends and family to see how they react to seeing the vast, empty buildings.
An image titled "No Smoking" by Carl Bloss is exceptionally well balanced. Jace Lumley's well-composed image of a building with boarded-up windows and graffiti conveys a sense of abandonment. Korryne Corriere's shot of electrical wire that has been pulled apart serves as a metaphor for an industry that unraveled. The students' work represents the hard, rusting reality of what remains but some of their work is also surreal.
The other half of the show, which stays on view through Dec. 30, includes colorful, romantic scenes and graphic depictions of the sprawling complexes that sent fiery plumes of exhaust into the sky. There are masterful paintings by Aaron Gorson, Robert Qualters and Ron Donoughe plus stark photographs by Clyde Hare and Mark Perrott.
Mr. Perrott's vast "October Sky" was taken in 1989, long after many of the white hot fires cooled in local mills, and tens of thousands of steelworkers had lost their jobs. The stark image is an elegy for a sweaty, productive era. Many of the canvases belong to Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area and rarely leave the Bost Building in Homestead. Admission is free.
 | |
| 32nd ANNUAL COLLEGE and HIGH SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST sponsored by NIKON | |
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Speaking Light season at Point Park has officially begun as we welcomed Tim Fabian, Pittsburgh photographer and former Pittsburgh Filmmakers and Point Park University professor, this past Friday, September 30. Although the night was mainly focused on Tim’s lecture, Professor Patrick Millard and students (pictured on the left) gathered outside of the JVH Auditorium an hour before the lecture to have peer portfolio reviews. There were only a few students that brought their portfolios, while most just came to critique. However, after hearing the critiques and reviews of the works that were there, many students expressed that they found this portfolio session beneficial for them and will definitely be bringing their work to next time. 
Taryn Chepanoske, (pictured on the right) a second year Photography major and one of the students that attended both the portfolio review and lecture, was one of the students that said she would bring her work next time and didn’t realize how helpful it would be to have her peers look at her work outside of the classroom. Tim Fabian arrived early and participated in the activities by offering up some professional advice and praising many of the portfolios, which gave the evening more of a comfortable atmosphere as we all relocated into the JVH for his lecture.
As Tim Fabian (pictured on the left) started his
presentation, we could all see that he had a strong objective that he wanted to bring across to all us: everything should be done with a purpose. Photography should not just be a snapshot, but really an image that is created and composed, which he expressed as he showed us his own mental process and elements he uses when he creates his images. The elements of an image, from the rule of thirds to the leading lines, should be carefully and exquisitely illustrated in each photograph.
But Tim made it clear that we should have more than a purpose of composing an image; we should have a purpose in what we want to do with it after. He started going into the business aspect of photography, which is not really stressed in the photography curriculum (at least not in the Photojournalism degree) here at Point Park, so to hear some helpful tips and hints, such as how photography should be looked at as a business with elements such as marketing, production, and accounting, gave the evening an interesting twist that I was not expecting.
Something that really shocked and interested me was that for most of Tim’s newer work, he admitted to using mostly just a point-and-shoot camera and Photoshop. He believes that creating photography is more about how you compose an image rather than what you take it with, which is something all photography students realize, but I feel like sometimes we, especially young students, get lost in the glamour of having the best models of DSLRs and lenses that we forget that it is us that makes an image great, not what kind of camera it is. It was reassuring to hear that sometimes passion, not just great camera equipment, can be successful as long as there is determination to back it up.
To check out some of Tim Fabian’s work, you can go to his website at timfabian.com and if you happened to miss this Speaking Light lecture, but would love to attend another one, here is the schedule for the rest of the Fall 2011 semester:
October 28 – Christin Boggs
November 18 – Filippo Tagliati
January 27 – John Holmgren
All lectures start at 6 p.m. and are held in the JVH Audiotorium, and if you are interested in getting helpful critiques from your peers on your work, you are welcome to join us at 5 p.m., an hour before the lectures, for the peer portfolio reviews. A special thank you to Tim Fabian for coming to speak to the students and faculty and thanks to everyone that attended; hope to see you all again on October 28th for Christin Boggs!
