America in Pictures
Fourth of July party at the American Consul's house
Last night in Marseille, Andrea and I partied down with the American contingent. My favorite part of the evening, other than the food, drink, live music, interesting people and views of the Mediterranean, were the pictures planted all over the Consul’s grounds.
On the walk to the party terrace.
It made me think of my friends in Holyoke, Brigitte and Jens, who will be getting their American citizenship on July 4th (if they pass all the tests).
We moon-walked up the stairs and took a big gulp of America.
So, I send a wish for perfect grilling to everyone and their BBQs this holiday weekend.
The party nears it's end.
May you eat well and party long.
The Nicephore Files
In the grass
I wanted to call this post The Aix Files, but it is about Chalon-sur-Soane which isn’t even in Provence. It is in Burgundy, which was, at least, a good reason to take my class to a wine tasting. As we were leaving the tasting, a student asked me to take a picture of this “cute couple kissing in the grass”.
The class also ended up lying around in the grass.
Sleeping in the grass.
Some of us photographed the bocce tournament.
Bocce in the park
Yes, there is a reason to go to Chalon in addition to general mellowness. There is the Nicephore Niepce Museum. I wanted to go there to learn how to pronounce” Niepce”. It turns out that it rhymes with “sleeps”, which is very appropriate.
Sleeping on the train
Back to the Niepce Museum– it is a great place.
Outside the Niepce Museum
Nicephore Niepce was the first person to make a picture that lasted long enough to illustrate that he was the first person to make a picture that lasted. I’m not really sure how long his photos lasted, as the museum didn’t have a lot of pictures by Niepce. We are talking about photographs from 1827 so you can’t expect a major exhibit from that period when photography wasn’t officially invented until 1839. What the museum did have were many great old cameras and collections of other questionable photo stuff, like a glass case of probably non-functioning point and shoot 35mm cameras that looked like a display from a Goodwill thrift store.
Possibly Niepce's diaphragm
- Possibly the first color camera
They did have three great contemporary photography shows at the museum. The best of which was by Mac Adams.
- Mac Adams exhibit
The exhibits were mostly in French so I’m not really sure what was being explained.
Tomorrow is our student critique of pictures from our work in southern France. I’m planning to collect some interesting images for the next post.
Generation Aix
On the platform at 6:45AM
My students are not a gang of lazy bums. Every one of them showed up at our meeting point at 6:20 in the morning. And that was after an all day fieldtrip on the day before.
Here are a few pictures from Friday’s bus trip. I’ll show some of Saturday’s all day trip in the next post.
Here's the group on the bus the day before.
The above picture was after 6 or 8 hours busing around Provence so everyone was a bit tired.
Student on the loose
Every now and then we would let students out of the bus to burn off some energy.
Liz jumping, Michael missing the picture.
At one point we stopped touring for a couple of hours and everybody went swimming and boating.
Leisure on the lake
After the swim.
I could show some pictures of folks swimming and boating, but those pictures look too much like folks swimming and boating. I’d rather have the photos be about how people stand and sit and look from different angles. It’s something I learned to love from looking at pictures by Garry Winogrand.
Here's a picture of me trying to blend in with my students.
You can see that I am reaching into my pocket to show you that, yes, I have a ticket to ride.
The Third Toast
Photo Class in Aix
At any special gathering of important people the toasting gets around to the recognition of the ladies in the group. In the above picture almost all 10 of my female students are represented. From left to right- Tsion (portrait in previous post), Anna (the first student I met), Mosettee (great body language), Louise (there is a better picture of her below), Julia (the radiant one from the last post), Bridget (she’s awesome as the fulcrum of the picture with our single male Michael floating above her in shadow), Virginia (more great body language) and Tanya (She’s fabulous and also asks great questions). Amber is hidden behind Virginia and Tracy is off taking a picture.
A half second before the top photo
Above, Amber has stepped between Virginia and Tanya on the right. But I lost Louise behind Mosettee. Tracy is still a no show. Michael remains in the top shadow.
The Photo Group from the stairs.
I joined Michael on the steps and managed to find Louise with other students on each side of her. That’s also a better picture of Amber on the left. Tracy is reclining with her camera in the background. Our two lead photographers from the previous group portraits, Mosettee and Virginia are now off making pictures. Below, I photographed Michael on the stairs.
Michael, our class representative of the male gender.
Look at what Tracy created during our first class (below).
Michael photographed by Tracy Konig after I gave a slide presentation on the Daguerreotype.
Tracy is not the sole talent in Aix, Amber photographed my favorite bread stall in Provence.
Photo by Amber Horvath
I’ll include more student work as we progress. For now I just want to toast the quality and talent of my class. Without them, I would not be here.
Aix Essential
My Photography Class
Early in the course of every great meal, there comes the time for the toast as to why we are gathered together. So today I toast my class. I know this is a somewhat clumpy picture of everybody. I’ll post more, and I’ll post some individual portraits for they are the beautiful people.
Tsion entering the church
We are going on another field trip this afternoon so I’ll post more portraits soon.
Meanwhile, the assignment for yesterday was to photograph the Aix music festival that happened all around the town last night. I squeezed out a few images. I was overwhelmed by the crowds of people.
Fountain Sculpture Scotch
There was live music on every other block. Sometimes it was a complete cacophony. At the far end of town we found the Breton bands and dancers. It was like an oasis of joy as people danced to the traditional acoustic music. I was enjoying it too much to get a picture.
The second toast is often to the hosts of the event. Here’s to Tommy and Andrea– a picture of Andrea’s laundry hanging in her garden.
The third toast is always to the women of the group. I’ll save that picture for the next installment.
Uzbek Retrospect
Two Students, Urgench
Here are a few images that caught my attention as I look back through the pictures I made while exploring universities in Uzbekistan.
Information Technology, Urgench
While Vivian was giving her seminars, I would simply wander, poking my head into classrooms and meandering across campuses. The above picture was from the computer room leading into the space where Vivian was giving 8 hours of English language training.
University Corridor, Tashkent
I would often hang out in the hallways simply observing the pace of education.
Young faculty member in the entryway, Urgench
Specimens in a classroom, Urgench
Specimen containers, Urgench
Vivian was teaching in an English classroom in Tashkent with this student-created poster displayed behind her. I thought it was useful advise for anyone on a first date. I hope you can read it.
What to wear on a first date
There was also an interesting discussion of the pros and cons of junk food on the poster beside it.
Food and Dance
Mushrooms from the market
As is appropriate for life in France, my stay has quickly become all about food. Mostly eating it, but sometimes photographing it. Above and below are food still lifes I made in Andrea and Tommy’s house.
Sausages and Tomatoes
I haven’t begun to photograph the cheese yet because as soon as I see it, all thought of photography leaves my mind. It’s all about the cheese.
Harpist playing an avant guard version of "Danny Boy"
We went to an art opening last night where this harpist was wailing on some Irish music. She had a single mindedness like me when I see the cheese.
Andrea took me into the back room of the gallery to show me the 17th century staircase that replicated the one in her house. There were all these bodies flying around warming up for a dance concert.
I didn’t stay for the dance, it was time to eat.
Paris and Aix
Rainy day bus ride
I’m having trouble getting Aix in focus. It is plenty beautiful and the centuries old architecture is a joy to experience. The room I teach in is from the 1600s or something. Outside the front door of our building workers have the street dug up and 2 Roman caveways are exposed. They are putting pipes through them. It is a seriously old city.
More rainy day bus ride
People in Aix are not into being photographed. I got a lot of negative responses. At least the people on the bus were smiling and not yelling at me.
Aix-en-Provence
So I’m keeping my distance from people and trying to get a feel for the city. But, it’s not just buildings that make a city. It’s about the people too.
Girl on the street
Below are a couple of pictures from Paris.
The balcony view from Andrea and Tommy's apartment.
Croissants are a good reason to just sit back and enjoy France.
The coffee is good, too.
Wavelength Uzbekistan
I was almost able to post this morning, but again, I have to return to http://fmward.blogspot.com Please check out my Uzbekistan pictures there. The Coruscating Camera will be up and running a week from today after I arrive in France.
Siberian Swan Song
A View from the Bridge
I believe this will be my last post on WordPress for a couple of weeks. Please check and subscribe to Asia Central over at Blogspot to read about what happens when we get to Uzbekistan.
Back to Siberia. I have to give nods to Bob Aller on this series of pictures. As I was taking them, I was thinking it was so “Bob” of me. Of course, I managed to mess with them. I shot them all at 3200 EI with my D700. They may make noisy 20X24 prints at that exposure index.
More from the new Irkutsk Bridge over the Angara River.
White Truck on the Shore.
Now, back to the “Frank” view of Siberia. Some may recall the winter scenes I did in this spot in January 2008. It wasn’t much warmer in May 2010.
Wall on the Waterfront
Russian Orthodox on the Angara
I love Siberia. Every morning brings a totally new day. It could be snow, wind, sleet or rain. Hey, that sounds like New England!
The Siberian Guards of the Eternal Flame
What’s not to like about the young folks who are in charge of protecting the Irkutsk monument to WWII? Below is a picture of the rabid types who invade the Irkutsk memorial.
Graduation Day, AKA, The Last Bell.
The other major type of Siberian found wandering around the Eternal Flame is the about-to-be-married couple. I’m not ready to show wedding photography here although every bride is beautiful.
I’ll continue this post over at Asia Central.
Superior Siberia
The view from our apartment balcony
I write this just after reading about my daughter, Tobey, in Ashfield for days without electricity. Here in Irkutsk, we have a whole power station just across from our building. You can see the transformator on the right in the picture. It rattles and hums all night so I know it is working. Actually, I’ve gotten into the habit of wearing earplugs at night so I don’t dream that I am being beamed-up for brainwashing. That proved unfortunate for Vivian the night she locked herself out of the bedroom and was stuck in the kitchen and bathroom for a couple of hours. I couldn’t hear her knocking and pounding. That was one cold night for Vivian.
The Green Lada
Transportation in Siberia is also superior to the US experience. You can go anywhere almost anytime. Of course, you can’t expect to do that in your green Lada, but the marshrutky are everywhere. Today we were coming back from a Sturbridge Village type of 18th/19th century park about 70 km out of Irkutsk. The place (Tultsi) was loaded with German tourist and their big tour buses. We walked out of the park, stood on the side of the road for less than 5 minutes and were whisked up by a marshrutka that took us to our bus stop in less than a half hour.
This is a bus, not a marshrutka
One final criteria for being superior is cell phone service. We were out in the birch forest of Lake Baikal today and Vivian got two calls on her cell. Total cost for her cell phone service almost anywhere in Siberia–$3 sign-up charge and another $3 for about 2 weeks worth of calls with basically unlimited texting. Now that’s how to do business.
Here's Vivian heading down the hill to our apartment.
Beginning Tuesday, we will be in Uzbekistan. As of two years ago, WordPress was blocked by the Uzbek government. I use Asia Central at http://fmward.blogspot.com while I am there. If you are interested in what we are doing, please go to the Asia Central blog and subscribe. I do not think it is linked to Facebook. I have new posts there from Irkutsk right now so take a look.
From Arshan to Angarsk
The Good Life, Irkutsk, 2010
These are the same espresso cups that I have in Ashfield. The coffee isn’t bad, in fact it is damn good compared to any other coffee place. Coffee isn’t particularly popular here in Siberia and I have to take a mashrutka (small bus) to get to the nearest coffee bar. There is only one open before 9 AM so I have many hours every morning to find my first cup.
Yesterday, Oleg took us to Angarsk. That’s where the Russians store their nuclear waste. It’s a Kruschev era city built by prisoners 50 years ago. They did a good job.
I'm going all Hilla and Berndt Becher wandering around the industrial landscape here.
I’m not really comfortable doing Dusseldorf typology pictures. I know the art world goes bananas over this kind of repetition. I was having a good time appreciating this water tower in Angarsk. Then I peeked inside and fell in love with the darkness.
Oleg brought me here two years ago, but we didn’t have time to stop. This time he took me inside and talked about climbing the spiral staircase as a teenager.
Later in the day, I met another Oleg who came to photograph Vivian for the local newspaper.
Oleg, the photojournalist, brought me to his apartment for a morning vodka and his homemade bread.
Oleg pours a dark brown vodka and slices his bread.
Oleg does not speak English so I brought along three teenagers with varying fluency to interpret. I think he said he made both the bread and the vodka.
I think this is his daughter Yulia, but translations were vague.
Oleg's daughter opened the door to his apartment.
Last weekend we went to Arshan. I put together a few pictures of our friends Olga, Arina and Alexey. I’ve got to sign off so I’ll leave you with a few Arshan pictures.
Arina and Alexey in the kitchen.
The view from our cabin.
This is us with the very important outhouse on the left.
Live from Siberia
Self portrait in Irkutsk, in the same apartment that Vivian and I stayed in 2 years ago.
Vivian on the banks of the Angara.
A bus driver naps while bulldozers make a parking lot on the Angara's edge.
The above pictures are from our first day in Irkutsk. We’ve been here for over a week now. This is the first time I’ve gotten pictures to upload. I’ll test to see if this is working and then I’ll provide a few more pictures and details.
Chris Dorley-Brown: On the Corner
Kingsland Road by Chris Dorley-Brown
Street photography in London is experiencing a renaissance through the work of Chris Dorley-Brown. I came across an interview of him on Mull It Over. Just when I think it is the end of something I have known and loved, like street photography, up pops a fabulous portfolio of street artistry. I also love the fact that his web link is on Flickr. (I can’t get Flickr to link. You’ll have to get to his site via Mull It Over).
I want to thank Jorg Colberg for pointing me toward Mull It Over via Conscientious. I was disturbed with Jorg’s elitism when he held a photo contest recently and refused any entries that were submitted via Flickr. Granted, Flickr represents the global warming of photography. It seems to just be oozing pictures out of the atmosphere at millions per minute. Flickr is also lovingly peppered with the “Frankly, Scarlet, I don’t give a damn” people. These are the iconoclasts who need to make visual statements much more than they need to relate to a photography market. I was a manic Flickr poster for a couple of years until Flickr banned me for not using their rating system. We worked it out, but I’m not much of a Flickr fancier anymore. I just like that it exists.
Sarah Holbrook’s Pinhole Universe
It’s the last month of spring semester and my students continue showing up (or not) with descriptions of personal injustices that have resulted in not having pictures to show or work on. I had managed to delay the onslaught of these excuses by handing out a universal excuse form at the beginning of the semester. That is a fill-in-the-blank multiple choice document listing every excuse I can remember hearing from students. I would include it here if it wasn’t so lengthy. Students are embarrassed into silence by my predetermined awareness of their tactics. Then, after a month or so, it starts. Last week a student had his camera stolen out of his car in the school parking lot. He swore that he’d have another camera soon. This week I asked him, “Where’s your camera?” “Oh, I left my new camera in my car.” And so the cycle starts all over again. The pinhole camera is the no cost alternative to help students conquer life’s many injustices. I’ll provide the box or cylinder and the film or paper that any student needs to get their work done at home or in class.
Sarah Holbrook’s pinhole universe does not usually include the classroom. The few that she is showing at the Greenfield Savings Bank branch in Conway, Massachusetts on Rte. 116 whet the appetite for more. Her prints are expansive and elegant. She makes her own cameras and tends to place them in unobtrusive spots on the deck or in the garden. Her results are glorious. They will be exhibited until April 23rd as part of a show called Celebrate Hilltown Art.
Big Mind, Big Picture
Advanced Photography Class at HCC, 2010, Frank Ward Photo
Every now and then I learn something. I’m teaching three courses and I would hope that my students feel they are at least learning something every now and then. As you can see by the above picture, I try many strategies while teaching. What I learned this week was to keep my receptors open to whatever is out there.
Twin Dish Receptor (Stereo?)
Alterazioni Video has created a love story with images gathered from Google. This is just a piece of the story I found at I like this art.
Also from I like this art:
From the Art Fun Club
Our relationship to textbooks is changing. The world’s relationship to books is in transition.
Lily, 2008 by Melanie Bonajo
Melanie Bonajo is the Big Mind, Big Picture photographer I was thinking of when I started this post. She’s from the Netherlands and has studied at the School for Visual Arts in NYC. We tried something like her above photo in class. The book jackets were so slippery that the model could barely sit on them. Our picture is at the bottom of this post. I didn’t want to have to compete with Melonie’s brilliance by putting my class picture close to hers.
I like her titles for her projects. Below is from “Modern Life of the Soul.”
Healing Machine, 2008 by Melanie Bonajo
Melanie’s “Furniture Bondage” series resonates with my idea of a Big Mind Big Picture:
Hanna, 2007 by Melanie Bonajo
I learned about Zen Buddhism in high school by reading Philip Kapleau’s Three Pillars of Zen. This picture reminds me of a quote from that book. “I once carried the weight of the world on my back, then I turned a somersault and swallowed it.”
The real inspiration behind this Big Mind, Big Picture post is Genpo Roshi, a zen master born in Brooklyn and raised in Southern California. I participated in a workshop of his yesterday at Smith College. He cleaned my clock, so to speak. I feel like I did 35 years ago in Bodhgaya, India when the Dalai Lama performed the Kalachakra Tantra initiation. The security guards saw my camera and thought I was a member of the press. I was placed a few feet in front of His Holiness with thousands of lamas and monks at my back.
Monks and Lamas at the Kalachakra Tantra, India, 1974, Frank Ward Photo (Original in Color)
I thought I knew so much back then. Now that I know I am ignorant, I’m a teacher. Here is my picture inspired by Melanie Bonajo. I’m sure one of my students made a better one.
Book Sitting, 2010 by Frank Ward
Obsession and Intuition
The Dementia Code by Dean Nimmer
After my last post about AIPAD and their exhibition of guaranteed-to-sell photographic art, I started searching for fresh art made because artists are obsessive about making art. It’s just what they do whether or not they can sell it. I’m not implying that Dean Nimmer doesn’t sell his art. After all, I bought The Dementia Code and his work is in a pile of museum collections. I just know that he is obsessed with making art. He writes books about making art, specifically about what he calls intuition art. He asked me to contribute to something he is working on about abstract/intuitive photography. I immediately thought of Ellen Carey who teaches at Hartford Art.
Polaroid Pull, 2002 by Ellen Carey
And next, I remembered seeing Alison Rossiter‘s developments of out-of-date photographic papers in the Stephen Bulger Gallery at AIPAD.
From the series LAMENT, Expired Papers by Alison Rossiter
Polaroid 20X24 film is gone, Kodak Kodabromide graded paper is gone, and abstract photography is alive and well based on the work of these two artists alone.
Qiu Yang has a unique take on making art inspired by history:
Qiu Yang puts a smile on my face with his elaborate use of art speak. Yesterday, before I saw Yang’s stimulating work, my class photographed a model holding a Gowlandflex 4X5 twin lens reflex. Peter Gowland invented the camera to make it easier to interact with the model when he was photographing Playboy centerfolds in the 50’s and 60’s. On a somber note, Peter Gowland died on March 17th, 2010. He was 93 years old. A few years ago, I talked to him on the telephone about my Gowlandflex. He was a trip to talk to. It is appropriate that we send him a thank you for his glamour photography and for his wonderful camera.
The Gowlandfex was designed to be a hand held 4X5 camera.
Direct from the annals of my most embarrassing moments, this picture reminds me of the time I was photographing a figure model with my 8X10 inch Deardorf view camera. That’s a 40 pound wood and metal box that fell off the tripod and onto her lap as I was hovering over her. I was so glad she didn’t bruise.
I have one more image I want to share from a series by Sofia Hulten.
From the series, Points in a Room Condensing by Sofia Hulten
Points in a Room Condensing Objects of increasing size are placed inside one another, beginning with a ball bearing (2 x 2 x 2mm) and ending with a cupboard (120 x 110 x 50 cm) which then contains all the objects.
11 Photographs 32 x 40 cm
Object 120 x 110 x 50 cm, mixed media 2006
Check out the whole series here.
I would like to thank I Like this Art for some of the links in this post.
AIPAD or iPad?
The Park Avenue Armory
Robert Aller, Chris Lizon, George Desmarais and I went to the Association of International Photographic Art Dealers Annual Armory Show yesterday. I try to get there every other year to see what is selling on the World’s photography gallery market. This year’s NYC extravaganza is an unsurprising mix of classic silver prints from the 20th century, a few 21st century efforts at picturing something fresh and a substantial batch of 19th century treasures. Photography prices seem to be rising steadily. From our one-day perusal of pictures, I found a true value Robert Demachy photogravure for $350.
I can't guarantee that this is the Demachy that is at AIPAD, but it is, at least, very similar to this.
And a Tina Modotti still life silver print for $250,000.
This is not the Modotti I am referring to. The one at AIPAD is on a black background and in imperfect condition.
In between these two financial extremes are many of the greatest photographs ever created. I do miss the presence of some world class artists, though.
The Edwynn Houk Gallery
Where is Richard Avedon? The place is crawling with Irving Penn pictures. For a couple of decades it appeared that Avedon had won the mantle of greatest photographer of the fashion and fine art axis. Well, Penn’s passing last October has led to a reappearance of many of his greatest works.
This was, most likely, Penn’s favorite model, and wife, Lisa Fonssagrives.
Does anybody remember Post Modernism? It peaked in the 80’s with work by Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Laurie Simmons, Laurie Novak , Nic Nicosia and a few hundred other artists. Maybe Post Modernism never actually happened. I don’t want to be a deny-er, but there is little sign of the 1980s ever happening at AIPAD. One huge exception are Doug and Mike Starn who have a gallery to themselves. Cindy Sherman, a true art diva, is absent. Sally Mann has a few scattered early pieces lying around, but none of her newer wet-plate efforts. 80’s art star Robert Mapplethorpe also has several works spread throughout the Armory.
One true visionary who received his MFA from Yale in 1981 and became a gallery sweetheart soon after, is Abe Morell.
Abelardo Morell's 2010 new work.
Above is a box of his newest work photographed off the ground inside a tent out in the wilderness.
New Morell's on display
It reminds me of the historic observations of the camera obscura seen by Arabs over a thousand years ago living in tents in the desert.
Trudi Lynn Smith's camera obscura tent.
The view inside of Trudi's tent.
No, I did not see any Trudi Lynn Smith work at AIPAD. I hope she is there, though.
Danny Lyon's 1968 paperback.
The highlight of AIPAD is the strong presence of 1960s photographic work. From Elaine Mayes’ Haight Ashbury portraits to Danny Lyon, Jill Friedman, Diane Arbus and Saul Leiter‘s brilliant early color work.
Saul Leiter, New York, 1960
I think my title question of “AIPAD or iPad?” comes from my observation of so many gallery presenters who were working their internet cell phones while sitting amidst 180 years of the greatest visual stimuli a photo lover could imagine. The reality is that most of the images I saw on walls or in boxes are simply an iPod Touch away from being seen by a large number of 21st century humans. With more sophisticated and user friendly picture viewing devices becoming available soon (iPad), we can carry an infinite number of pictures with us almost anywhere we go. I don’t have to own a $100,000 photograph when I can view it anytime from the web. There is something about the physical touch that trumps the touch of a viewing screen, though.
Floating House, 1977, Itek print by Bill Arnold
Technology and photography make loving bedfellows. We ran into Bill Arnold at the show. Since the 1960s he has used the Olympus Pen 35mm, or one of the Olympus half-frame cameras, with a converted Itek micro film reader/copier to create beautiful black and white non-silver prints that relied on a technology of his own invention. The Olympus Pen has since been replace by a digital Pen, the Itek was less fortunate. Bill has brought his last Itek printer to the dump. The pictures created from it are now selling at AIPAD for $3500 each. That’s the end of an era for Bill and a microcosm of the technological shift that we are all facing. I’m hoping that photography galleries can survive the transition.
At AIPAD, silver gelatin prints and type C color prints outnumber digital ink jet prints by a large margin. Digital prints most often appear as large mural sized creations. Only a few artists and galleries are exhibiting average sized giclee portfolios. I want to close with Jack Spencer’s lush, mostly digital, landscape work being shown at the Stephen Clark Gallery from Texas.
Stephen Clark showing the work of Jack Spencer.
I remembered Stephen Clark from two years before when he struck me as the nicest gallery owner at AIPAD. He still owns that mantle.
The AIPAD event continues through Sunday at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City.
No Nudes is Good Nudes
After Bellocq
We’ve been photographing the figure in both my Digital and Advanced classes. A wonderful model has patiently sat through all our shenanigans with slide projectors, glow sticks, flashlights, blinking footballs, mirror balls, glass globes, plexiglass, flapping velvet… OK, so my student with the glow-in-the-dark hula hoop still hasn’t brought it to class. And I keep forgetting to levitate her. That means we still need to bring her back.
iPod Touch
We photographed her with an iPod for lighting. When one of my students get an iPad, we’ll be all over that.
Back Face
So we are doing our duty as art students and soldiering on through the minefields of art history. We even projected a slide of the Venus of Willendorf on her. That represents 25,ooo years of the female form. Well, it is nice to know that the female is still a wonder to behold.
The Global Recession and Other Issues
Join Us Tuesday Evening in Brooklyn
SocialDocumentary.net will celebrate the work of the winners of their Crisis and Opportunity competition at Powerhouse Arena in DUMBO, Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, Feb, 16th. Along with the exhibit, there will be a panel discussion by top photographers and photo editors. This could be a real nice get together for photojournalists, editors and others to discuss the current situation for making work and publishing it. I will be there along with Lucien Perkins, Ed Kashi, Lori Grinker and SDN founder/director Glenn Ruga. FYI, Glenn is also the new director of the Photographic Resource Center in Boston.
CHUCK STERN’S TABER ART GALLERY RECEPTION RESCHEDULED
The Wednesday blizzard that blew through Holyoke canceled Chuck Stern’s retrospective reception. The exhibit goes on and the opening will become a closing reception on March 10th, 2010 from 11-1:00. That’s a great day to visit Holyoke Community College because it is also the day of Vivian Leskes’ and my slide show presentation about Central Asia. You will hear more about it as the time approaches. Here’s the flyer we just created.
OK, I realize that our presentation is the same time as Chuck’s opening. Vivian’s talk will be an hour and then you can go over to hear Chuck speak. I consider that a win-win situation.
Long time readers of my Asia Central blog may recall that my Russia visa was cancelled before we got to the chess capital of the World, Elista in Kalmykia. That’s what our crazy title is referring to.
Guardhouse, Mongolia, 2008, by Frank Ward
My show with Robert Aller and David Prifti at the Valley Photo Center at 1500 Main Street in Springfield, Mass. will be open beginning Tuesday, Feb 16th. The hours are something like 11-2. I think that’s to get the Tower Square lunch traffic. To insure that you do catch it open, consider coming to our reception on Sunday, Feb 21st, from 1-4. The three artists will be there.
The Coruscating Camera 
