My observation of the Eaton Fire, before, during, and after.
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Exhibition Announcement - APG Story Telling 2024 - Now through December 7th
I am happy to announce that I have another print being exhibited at the Atlanta Photography Group gallery now through December 7th. This year’s Storytelling juror was Sara Ickow who is an Associate Director of Exhibitions at the International Center for Photography in New York City.
My photograph in the exhibition is from this past June, and it is being exhibited for the first time. The image is titled “Rambo” and was from the West Hollywood Pride Parade in Southern California. Since 2020 I have been focused on documenting as much of Southern California as possible and I have now twice photographed the WeHo Pride Parade. This year’s parade was the first day I had ever encountered a “Leather Pup” and I found they were very willing to be photographed. I also like this image because the person in the lower left of the frame is also photographing “Rambo” with their cell phone which adds another layer of information to the documentation of the moment.
I want to thank Sara for selecting my image as well as congratulate the other photographers in the exhibitions. Thank you to everyone at the Atlanta Photography Group for such an amazing space and all the work you do. Finally, I want to thank my Atlanta area printer and framer Barry at Digital Arts Studio for producing another amazing framed print for me, your lab is one of the best in the county.
Other Work in the Exhibition:
Lisa Miller’s photograph above is one of my favorites in the exhibition. It is a great document; I love the lighting, the composition, and I especially like the reflection in the mirror which brings more depth of information to the image.
CHI DSC_6274_ 03-26-2024 - Laureen V. Connelly with her Cook County Assessor’s Office Certificate of Retirement plaque documenting 25 years of service.
Chicago Photographs - March 2024
Both of my kids played travel ice hockey growing up. It was time consuming and expensive, but it was some of the best times of our lives. A nice biproduct of them playing was I got back to the East Coast a lot and was able to photograph and see lots of amazing exhibitions. My daughter now lives in Chicago after getting her master’s degree from Northwestern and she started playing hockey again last year with joining a women’s league. When her team qualified for the payoffs, she told me that I needed to come back to see her play again. The last time I had been in Chicago was March of 2020 when I was driving across country with her brother trying to outrun the pandemic shutdown of the country. I acknowledged I was long overdue to visit so I agreed to a long weekend. The playoffs were up near Madison, Wisconsin but I was able to bookend days around the tournament to get three days to photograph in Chicago, museum hop, and eat at my favorite restaurants.
Chicago has been my favorite city to visit since I first went there in 1987 to photograph Wrigley Field, before they installed the light. I have been to Chicago at least twenty-five now. Chicago became our go to vacation spot, it was an easy flight, there was lots to do, and we just liked the city. Chicago had everything a big city should have but there is a Midwest atmosphere which is just nice. It is an amazing sports town, the museums are amazing, and the city has the best steaks of anywhere in the world.
Photographing on the street in Chicago is amazing I always find good images there. Like in New York there are usually lots of people walking about the city and there is plenty of interaction which usually adds layers of meaning to an image. I have also found that most of the time I have been in Chicago the quality of light in Chicago has been outstanding, which is not the case other places. I think part of it has to do with the way the streets are laid out, there is more room between the buildings there than most cities. I think part of that is by design since architectural design is so important in the city and there may have been a conscious plan to allow some buildings to have room around them to be showcased. The Chicago River and lake front also allow more light to fall in the city. The beauty of the architecture in Chicago is also lends itself to more interesting backgrounds of images. I also think the way some of the buildings are constructed that they improve the bounce light. The city also has that Midwest atmosphere most places which is nice. Michigan Avenue is a wide street with wide sidewalks and planter boxes; the street was designed for shoppers and heavy pedestrian traffic. With Michigan Avenue’s sidewalks being so wide not only does that allow more light into the area but it also has always given me room to maneuver and get in position to frame my images better than anywhere else. I have become so familiar and comfortable with the city I always do well with a camera there.
It was amazing on this trip in March how quickly I was back in the zone while photographing on the street. At times it felt like images were coming to me and I wasn’t having to search as hard as I do in Los Angeles sometimes. I especially found that interesting because I spent more time on this trip than ever before photographing South of the river, especially around Daly Square where I don’t usually go.
My Chicago portfolio is special to me, and I envision having an impact on others in book form and as part of a permanent collection. The Chicago Historical Society already has some of my photographs in their collection and hopefully I can find more homes in the city for my work soon.
This trip also inspired me to start digitizing more Chicago negatives and I have added some of those recently scanned images to my Chicago Portfolio here on my website.
Below are some of the images from my March 2024 trip:
CHI DSC_6274_ 03-26-2024 - Laureen V. Connelly with her Cook County Assessor’s Office Certificate of Retirement plaque documenting 25 years of service.
Nikon Z6ii with a 24-120mm lens - Ms Connelly with her Retirement plaque
This photograph is another one from my Chicago trip that took on more so much more meaning once I got home and started going through the editing process. I am sure the faces, the contrast, and the forms all drew my intention when I made this exposure. I almost overlooked it until I zoomed in on the plaque that the woman was carrying and realized it was tack sharp and I could read what it said. The plaque is from the Cook County Assessor’s Office and was recognizing her retirement after 25 years of service, I could also read her name, Laureen V. Connelly. Being a block away from the Cook County Building I assume that this woman was coming from her old office where she had just had a retirement lunch, or reception, and they presented her with this plaque. I have no idea who the woman with here is, but I would guess it might be a daughter or even a former coworker that is a close friend.
With the information in the image, and some reasonable assumptions this image now has become pretty powerful. Laureen and the woman with her look rather solemn, like there might be a lot of reflection and thought going on. I can envision Laureen having the realization of the change in her life might be pretty intense. I assume she had a cubicle type job where she pushed a lot of paper and with it being the Assessor’s Office some of the citizens she interacted with daily might not have been in the best moods. But I can also imagine she took pride in her work and liked some of her coworkers. Change is not always easy and after 25 years to walk out of the office for the last time with just a pension and a basic plaque might be a little tough. The person with Laureen seems to be there in a supportive role. We can all imagine our own scenario of details with this image, and it doesn’t matter who is the most accurate. What is important here is the fact this person spent 25 years doing a job and is walking away with a basic plaque. Does this plaque really sum up her career? It lends the viewer to reflect on their own career and the real impact it is having on themself, on others, and society. This image allows the viewer to run with it. For me when I saw this, I reflected back on my law enforcement career and how it didn’t end on my terms because of an injury. The sudden change was not easy and luckily for me I had my family and my photography career to fill some of the void.
Between the two version I think the black and white image works best because I find the colors in the frame don’t add anything to the image and the monochrome version seems to be more appropriate for my interpretation of the mood. I just wanted to share both versions here so every viewer could have their own experience with the image.
This image is also a great example of how sharp the Nikkor 24-120mm Z lens is and how well it works with a Nikon Z6ii camera body; the autofocus capability is outstanding. UPDATE!!! Nikon Z6iii is out, and Preorders are being accepted at Samys Camera, with expected June 25th availability.
CHI DSC_6274_ 03-26-2024 - Black and White version
Controversy over Garry Winogrand's Photograph of a couple at the Central Park Zoo
In authoring a blog post on the book Winogrand Color I came across a review of the book online by New York Times writer Arthur Lubow. I think it was a really accurate review about the images in the book. The only thing I didn’t agree with that Lubow wrote were part of his comments on the very famous Winogrand photograph on the left above. Lubow wrote “Even less successful is the color version of one of his most famous photographs, “Central Park Zoo, New York City” (1967), which shows a Black man and blonde woman, seemingly affluent, each carrying a fully clad chimpanzee. It is a biting and unsettling comment on the era’s prevailing slurs about interracial marriage. In the color image, probably taken an instant later, the man is looking at the camera, the woman’s expression has changed, and the impact is diffused by the photographer’s own obscuring shadow and a distracting crowd of passers-by.” As I stated in my other blog post I saw the Winogrand documentary film, “All Things are Photographable” where Papageorge discussed this image and shared his own photograph of Winogrand with the couple. Tod Papageorge explained he was with Garry Winogrand that day and he disputed the assumption that Winogrand was making a statement about interracial relationships with this photograph. Tod and Garry were close friends and I think Tod would have understanding of Garry’s beliefs and opinions. I researched this subject matter further and found an in-depth article, with photograph illustrations, that Papageorge had authored about the photograph for Transatlantica in 2014 on MoMA’s website.
I know I have shared this information in the body of another blog post, but I think the subject is important enough to highlight in a separate post specifically dealing with the perceived controversy with this image because it applies to other works by other people. It is wrong to apply current day feelings or cultural standards with things from the past. I am not saying we need to condone outdated beliefs or past behavior that would be wrong in our world today. I am saying things needs to be evaluated with perspective of the time of the event and without any attempt to cancel it because of the current values and opinions of a segment of society. Here is a good non-photo example of my point:
My son is a graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall, a well-known prep school in Connecticut. On one of my many visits back there I got to sit in on his English class during the events of a “parents’ weekend”. My son’s teacher was Ed McCatty who is an outstanding educator, now retired. McCatty, who is black, had the class reading Mark Twain’s 1884 classic book “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” at the time. In the classroom, with all these other parents visiting, McCatty called on a student to read the book out loud and the student became nervous because of the book uses the “N-word” a fair amount to describe Huck’s friend Jim who was a fugitive slave. Finally, McCatty took over reading and projected Twain’s words eloquently. Parents squirmed uncomfortably as McCatty read “that word” again and again. I had already met Ed on a previous visit, he was one of the faculty residents in my son’s dorm, I knew where he was going with the reading, so I sat back and enjoyed seeing a number of parents getting completely stressed over words written in the 19th century. McCatty eventually explained how it was important to interpret Twain’s writing based on the time it was written. He pointed out that even though Huck was using the term for Jim that it wasn’t being used in a derogatory manner for the time, and the fact that Twain wrote about a young white youth befriending a black fugitive slave it showed Twain had a progressive viewpoint. McCatty took the topic further, using examples in his own life, and ended up giving everyone a lesson that day which went far beyond literature.
Interpretations of images (and other things) can change quickly, we don’t need a hundred plus years to pass for feelings to change. The best example of this with my own work is this photograph below which is in the permanent collection at the Center for Creative Photography.
PPD-177 #23 March 1987 - William Karl Valentine
Officer Ware and Craddolph at search warrant related to a narcotics sales investigation.
When I displayed this photograph in the first couple decades after making the exposure most every viewer was compassionate for the child being raised in dangerous conditions and anger towards the parents for putting the child in the situation. Some people went on to acknowledge gratefulness for law enforcement for trying to protect the child and do something about the drug epidemic of the times. These are accurate opinions about what my image is about. But in the last decade plus a portion of our society has altered its perspective on law enforcement and I have been confronted about this image. I had an anonymous Instagram viewer question my ethics for taking the photograph when the woman was unable to defend herself. In 2020 the photograph was in a simple exhibition in Pasadena and several people demanded to have it taken down because they found it offensive, so that image was pulled from the wall by staff. I am fine with someone not liking my work or disagreeing with my interpretation of the world, but to censor me is outlandish. The First Amendment gives me as much right to express myself opinion as anyone else in this country. The fact that some people thing their feeling give them the authority to remove that right is infuriating. Most photographs are an accurate account of a fraction of a second of time, how we interpret them is another thing.
One final thing I want to get back to, the majority of Arthur Lubow’s opinion on Winogran’s color photograph of the couple at the Central Park Zoo is spot on. The image is not as good as the famous black and white image and for all the reasons Lubow points out in his description of the image. Lubow obviously knows how to look at photographs. The positioning of the subjects in the frame and Winogrand’s shadow make the color image way less impactful. If Winogrand had been using a digital camera, which obviously did not exist then, and decided to share this famous image in color I think it may have been impactful, but I can see how the bright colors could have been distracting from what was going on in the frame. I know in my own work sometimes bright colors in a color image distract the viewer from the shapes, forms, layers of meaning, and textures in the image which drew my eye. That was a big consideration I had with my Santa Anita book, I didn’t want the viewer to focus on the bright colors of the silks, the horses, and the grass, I wanted them to see the details and layers of information that came out in a black and white image. It is natural that our eyes are drawn to bright colors and when color is removed a photographer can direct the focus in an image. There are times that colors matter and for that I am thankful for the digital age where the decision can be made after the shutter was released. Knowing how many rolls of film that Winogrand exposed I can only imagine how many hard drives he would have filled and the thousands of more images he would have made.
Linde Lehtinen and William Karl Valentine at the Munger Research Center - The Huntington Library
Linde Lehtinen - Curator of Photographs - Huntington Library
On September 22nd, I had the amazing opportunity to meet with The Huntington Library’s Curator of Photographs, Linde Lehtinen, and explore a fraction of their Photography Collection. The Huntington has an incredible collection with over one million photographs, as well as photographic artifacts. Being born and raised in Pasadena I know the Huntington Library fairly well. I have walked the gardens numerous times, seen their famous paintings “Pinky” and “Blue Bloy”, smelled a Corpse Flower in bloom before, and I have seen a few photography exhibitions there. In fact, probably the best photography exhibition documenting Los Angeles that I have ever seen was the Huntington’s 2008 exhibition “This Side of Paradise - Body and Landscape in Los Angeles Photographs”. That show and accompanying catalogue were curated by former Huntington Curator of Photographs Jennifer A. Watts, independent curator Claudia Bohn-Spector, and Brown University Professor Douglas R. Nickel. But this was the first time I have ever had the opportunity to get an inside glimpse in to their amazing photography collection.
I was able to obtain this experience through the Los Angeles Center of Photography and one of their charity auctions. I am so thankful for the wonderful things that LACP does and I was happy to support them with my bid. I used my iPhone camera as my note taker for the event so this blog post is going to be more photos than words, which is always best with my posts. I will post gallery blocks for most items I saw. Linde chose the items to share based on our correspondence before the visit, selecting things I was interested in as well as unique pieces she was interested in seeing. In some cases, this was her first opportunity to really spend time with an item in the collection since the collection is so massive and the fact, she recently assumed her position.
Linde started off with the above Daguerreotypes. The first was a Daguerreotype made by photographing another Daguerreotype which was highly unusual but it created a richer image and allowed for reproducing an image. The second was on a mourning ribbon for Lincoln. I loved how this artifact was both a photograph and a piece of American History. The third was the largest Daguerreotype I have ever seen and when Linde tilted it the image was so rich. The link in this paragraph is to the Library of Congress’s definition and is very informative.
Preparing for my visit I researched the Huntington’s collection online and saw these two books and asked to see them. The red cover book was published in 1856, titled Photographs of the Most Beautiful Views and Public Buildings of San Francisco, G.R. Fardon's San Francisco Album is the earliest existing photographic record of an American city and one of the earliest of any city in the world. The dark cover book is William Henry Fox Talbot's Pencil of Nature, produced between 1844 and 1846. The Pencil of Nature was the first commercially published book illustrated with photographs. It contained twenty-four plates, a brief text for each, and text about Talbot’s invention of Photography, specifically the history and the chemical process. There are believed to only be 40 copies of this book that still exist today. As most readers of this blog will know, Talbot has been credited with discovering the photographic process in 1833, and with making the first negative in 1834. Most readers will also know that Nicéphore Niépce and Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre were working on discovering a photographic process with a Camera Obcsura in France during the 1820’s and that Dauguerre had perfected the Daguerreotype process by 1839 when he announced publicly. Most scholars I believe agree the processes were discovered concurrently. It was an intense feeling to be in the presence of these two books because I realized they were connecting me back to the beginning of a medium which is such an important part of my life. When we were looking at the Pencil of Nature, I knew that book had been produced just a decade after Talbot’s discovery of photography. In reading the pages of the book, seeing Talbot’s comments about the history and detail of his photographic process I felt like I had gone back in time and was listening to him telling me this story directly. The printing press / typeset work was beautiful, and I assume he supervised the printing of all photographs placed in the book. It was a truly powerful experience, and these books are so delicate now we had to view them in subdued lighting. Fardon’s book had images in better condition being produced another ten years later. What I loved about seeing Fardon’s book was it is a photographic record of something, it was a documentary project, the first book using photographs to accomplish that. Talbo't’s book was a history and resource guide about the medium. Fardon’s book could probably be considered the father of most all photography books. It is a wonderful documentation of San Francisco in the 1850’s.
Ansel Adams - Print from Portfolio One
I have seen lots of Ansel Adams prints in my travels, they have taught me so much about what a good print should look like, but I had never seen a copy of his Portfolio One in person before. Reading the portfolio’s accompanying documentation and seeing the general craftsmanship of the portfolio was a great reminder of what perfection looks like. It definitely helps ‘sharpen the saw’ seeing an Adams’s print. Linde also brought out a Hills Brother’s coffee can with an Adams photograph on the can. Adams had partnered with Hill’s Brothers to produce a limited edition run of coffee cans with his image Winter Morning Yosemite Valley on the side for some promotion, these can now be valued at upwards of $1,500. I am sure Ansel probably got some free coffee in the deal and was excited having one of his images get more attention and exposure. The Huntington has an actual coffee can as well as another unassembled side of the can before it was pressed. I had no idea this artifact existed, and I am happy Linde decided to share it with me.
Being born and raised in Pasadena I am very aware of the photographer Adam Clark Vroman who lived in Altadena and founded Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena which still is thriving today. Although his best-known photographs are of Southwest American Indians, I also knew he had photographed the local San Gabriel Mountains extensively. Because of this I had Linde if I could see some Vroman’s photographs in the collection. Above are some of the prints Linde shared with me. The San Gabriel Mountains, and specifically Mount Wilson are right above Pasadena and Altadena. If you live there, you see them every clear day (with the exception of rainy days and bad smog days back when I was a kid). I have hiked to Mt. Lowe and Henniger Flats growing up and knew about the famed Mt/ Low railway. It was awesome seeing these photographs because I have been there. I only know the trail to Mt. Wilson as a wide fire road so to see it as a horse trail was fun. I also loved the handwriting style with these photographs. One last thing about Vroman, Vroman’s Bookstore was the first place I ever did a book signing, back when I published my Santa Anita book.
I have always enjoyed the photographs of Edward Curtis and Karl Moon, I love the American Southwest desert and its history. The quality of the Curtis prints Linde showed me were incredible, so rich, the only problem was their surface was so shiny everything reflects in them. I was excited when I saw the Moon prints she had included Hopi Snake Dancers and a Snake Priest. As a kid I was interested about rattlesnakes and did at least one science report on them. I also remember learning about the Hopi and their tradition in grade school, and my parents took me on several road trips to the Hopi and Navajo reservations. Later on, I was lucky to get to know a couple Hopi and Navajo classmates when I went to ASU. I don’t recall ever seeing these specific images before.
The book Photographs West of the 100th Meridian , by Lt. George Wheeler was another interesting share. Timothy O’Sullivan was the official photographer who accompanied Lt George Wheeler and the Army Corps of Engineers on an expedition documenting the American West for the war Department between 1871 and 1874 and photographs are the basis of the book. I have so much respect for O’Sullivan and what he went through to photograph in those conditions with the equipment that was available during that era. His images are beautiful as well as being important documents,
I remember seeing Alexander Gardner’s “Harvest of Death” several times before, and I know it is one of the most famous photographs documenting the Civil War. What I either had forgotten or didn’t ever know, was the exposure was made by Timothy O’Sullivan, who was Gardener’s assistant, and that Gardner took credit for printing the image, while still crediting O’Sullivan for the negative. It was such a privilege to see this historic print with the notations on its original mounting board.
I knew about Photographer Mike Mandel’s work especially his Photographer Baseball Cards (below) but I had never heard of his 1974 book project Seven Never Before Published Portraits of Edward Weston. With the book Mandel reached out to as many people named Edward Weston as he could find and asked them to send him photographs of themselves along with answering some questions about themselves. The book is fun but at the same time also intellectually deep.
Mike Mandel’s 1975 Baseball Card project documenting photographers is legendary, and I just found this great video by the Worcester Art Museum of Mike talking about the project. Jim Hajicek was a professor at Arizona State University, and A.D. Coleman lectured there, while I was getting my BFA so I really liked seeing their cards. I appreciate Mike’s approach to the medium, it is healthy.
Bea Nettles “Mountain Dream Tarot” box of 78 photographic cards distributed by Light Impressions was another item I had never seen. This 1975 12 cm x 10 cm “book” is another example of how some photographers started to think about different ways which were appropriate to share their work. I loved the fact Light Impressions distributed it. Light Impressions used to be my primary vendor for all my archival product needs, back in the hard copy catalogue days, I even visited their Rochester, NY location once, while on a trip to the George Eastman House.
“Physogs” Facial Composit was a game released in 1939 in England. It was based on physiognomic principles, and instructed players how to read and construct facial features and character types as part of the game. When I saw this, it immediately reminded me of the Identi-kit that we used in law enforcement early in my career (1980’s -1990’s). The Identi-kit had drawings of parts of the facial features like this game but they were on clear acetate. You could stack the layers to get the final image then either photograph it of Xerox it for a suspect flier. You basically would sit there and mix and match the pieces getting input from the victim or witness to see if that part was similar to the suspect. The system was actually fairly decent and helpful for patrol officers looking for outstanding suspects. The latest versions are computerized.
This foldout book entitled Ginza Kaiwai 1954 by Shōhaci Kimura (1893 -1958), which documents the Tokyo Ginza district, immediately reminded me of Ed Ruscha's book Every Building on Sunset Strip, that he produced in 1967. I wonder if this inspired Ruscha for his project. I absolutely love the sketch / signature of the silhouette hanging out having a smoke. Love this book concept, a great document, would love to see it rephotographed and compare the changes.
Photographer Laura Aguilar was a key figure in the Chicanx and queer art scenes of Los Angeles. Linde shared Laura’s work with me and explained the value it brought to the collection as well as how much she personally liked Laura’s photographs. The photographs are good, I see why Linde likes the work. Laura’s images document important segments of our Southern California society, and I am thankful the Huntington is collecting artists like her. I also always value learning which artists and topics are holding a curator’s interest, that is so valuable to me as a photographer.
Linde recognizes the power photography has in documenting diverse cultures and she is exploring several future heritage projects. One such project includes curating their collection of Filipino photographic postcards. Linde explained she feels a strong connection to the images because of her own Filipino heritage. The image quality of these postcards was incredible, and it was impressive to see how much of their culture, past and present, was documented. I loved the fact that these postcards had actually been mailed. The postage stamps, the cancellation stamps, and the handwriting of the messages and addresses really made these items complete documents with lots of value.
Conclusion
I have never had an experience before like this visit to the Huntington Library’s Special Collections Reading Room, it was incredible. Linde was a great host and did an awesome job showcasing a fraction of their incredible collection. It honestly felt like we were together on an adventure checking out one treasure after the next. Linde told me she had never seen some of the items she brought out for my visit as and admitted she used my visit opportunity to get to know their collection better, I am glad she did. I am so thankful to Linde for putting so much effort into preparing for this meeting and I am also thankful for the Los Angeles Photography Center for making the opportunity available. I apologize that this blog post is massive, but I saw so much on the visit, and this blog post is basically my diary for those memories, so there is more content here than normal. I will wrap this up encouraging everyone to visit the Huntington Library, there is so much there to experience and its absolutely beautiful. I would also suggest that you follow their exhibition calendar, Linde is just starting out the Huntington and I know she is going to do some amazing things there for years to come.
Me and Ave on York Boulevard
Photographing with Ave Pildas - September 22, 2023
On Friday September 22nd I spent the afternoon photographing and hanging out with legendary Los Angeles street photographer Ave Pildas.
I discovered Ave’s work, when I found a copy of his book Street People at Arcana Books in Culver City five years ago. I liked his work so much I bought a copy of the book. I authored a blog post about Street People and how his photograph “Cop Salute” really stood out to me. I loved the fact Ave was apparently self-publishing small edition books, promoting his work, making his own opportunities. Los Angeles is a hard town to photograph in and it was obvious Ave has been out there documenting Los Angeles for a long time. I followed Ave on social media and when Deadbeat Club Press released Ave’s Star Struck book last year, I went back over to Arcana for the signing to meet him; I also authored a blog post about that. We had a great talk and I suggested going out photographing on the street together.
Ave and I had talked a few times this year trying coordinate our schedules to go out and photograph. When we figured out September would be good for both of us, Ave specifically told me he wanted to find new areas in LA to photograph. The light in September is also usually better than the summer months which I thought would be a plus, but of course the day we went out it was oddly overcast for September here. Ave lives in Santa Monica and is probably best-known for his Hollywood street photography. When we were planning the day Ave told me he was interested in exploring two Los Angeles neighborhoods: Liemert Park and York Boulevard in Highland Park. Because I knew I would be coming from a morning meeting with Photography Curator Linde Lehtinen at the Huntington Library I chose York Boulevard which was closer. I also liked how he described York Boulevard as a gentrified neighborhood with plenty of foot traffic and people out and about to photograph. I love an image rich environment.
We met at Avenue 50 and York which was perfect. There is also a bench there which allowed us to talk for half an hour before we started walking and photographing. I also got a good feel for the area watching the people pass us.
Ave and I are very different in a lot of ways, first and foremost I am 6’5”, Ave is not. I was born in the 1960’s, Ave was “living life” in the 1960’s and 70’s; and he still attacks life today. But I quickly discovered we are very similar when it comes to photography even though we work in different styles. We both constantly look for images in our travels, framing things in our mind when we don’t have a camera in hand, and we both have a strong desire to document our world. We also both feel the pressure of fleeting time and its impact on our efforts to preserve our work, so our images live on long after we are gone. We also have a similar geek side, like where we both got excited with the visit to Galco’s Soda Pop Stop. I bought some PEZ and Ave asked for a handful of eclectic bottle caps. I also loved listening to Ave and Ernestine at Leaf & Spine talk about succulents for ten minutes. We discovered her shop while adventuring around York Boulevard.
Street Photography Styles:
When it comes to photographing people on the street, Ave talks to people more, and likes to engage with his subjects. I like to move anonymously through crowds while photographing. I don’t want people to be aware that I am photographing them because I want to document the world as it is, without interfering with it; but I always do get incredibly powerful images when I get suspicious stares directly into my lens. We talked about our different approaches and during the conversation I referenced Bruce Gilden who photographs in a very confrontational style, on the street of NYC with a wide-angle lens and a flash. There is never a doubt when Bruce has taken your picture, he’s in your face. The confrontation Bruce creates is an important part of the image. Ave and I both like Bruce’s photographs but agreed we would never want to work in that style; we also agreed that style would not go over well in Los Angeles.
I think Ave photographs in a more methodical manner. Granted he is 84 years old, but he is in great shape still and could move along the street faster. He just really likes to examine everything around him and often photographs details from multiple angels to get exactly what he wants. I like to do that as well with static subjects but when I am photographing on the street I am usually moving and reacting to the people I see. I often “Shoot from the hip” literally, with a Sony RX100 vii with the rear screen tiled up so I can glance down and see it. I miss some things in the frame with this approach but with it I can move about better, and people are more natural. Missing an image is just part of the process, some things aren’t meant to be. When I see something that is amazing I will frame it regardless of whether people will notice. Often I have a Nikon D850 around my neck and will transition to that for those images. I also use the DSLR camera for all the static subjects. A DSLR camera body around the neck often helps me photograph surreptitiously with my Sony RX 100 vii. Suspicious people focus on the DSLR body, and they don’t even look at my hands. Good Life Lesson from my Law Enforcement days, always look to see what’s in people’s hands.
William Karl Valentine - York Boulevard Portfolio
The Experience of Photographing with Ave
The afternoon photographing with Ave was one of the coolest times I have had in a while. I almost always photograph alone or if I am with other people I am the only photographer. After leaving ASU I have never really had a mentor photographer. I have had outstanding advisors like Mary Virginia Swanson but no one I went out photographing with. Ave and I photographed well together, each discovering different things to photograph and moving at a pace that didn’t hinder either of us. The pace was also good because it gave us the opportunity to discuss so many different things. We meshed well, I did not set the day up looking for a mentor, I was looking to exchange ideas with an experienced peer, and I got that. I know we both got something out of the day and developed a good friendship. Ave even called me last week to tell me about photographing Liemert Park the weekend after we were on York Boulevard.
We discussed so many things there is no way to list everything here, and some things were just between us. Ave life has been an adventure. He was a successful designer in Cincinnati and when he wanted to get to the next level he followed the advice of his mentors and went to study design in Switzerland. He met his first wife in Switzerland and has two granddaughters who are Swiss. He taught in Philadelphia and ended up in Los Angeles because one of his former students worked at Capitol Records and introduced him to management when he had been in town on a road trip. He had to fly back to Philadelphia to get a portfolio to show them and was hired. We talked about some of the legendary photographers of our time, and it was interesting learning how Ave had met Danny Lyon in Milwaukee once and had seen Garry Winogrand photographing around Los Angeles on several occasions.
I look forward to getting back on the street again soon with Ave and could see somehow collaborating with him one day. His schedule is crazy, with pending trips to New York and Morocco coming up soon, but that also means I get to see more new images from him. I encourage everyone who reads this post to check out Ave’s website and follow him on Instagram, you won’t be disappointed. There is also a recently completed documentary film about Ave called Ave’s America that I am looking forward to watching once the release is complete.
William Kart Valentine on York Blvd – photograph © 2023 Ave Pildas
Ave Pildas at York and Avenue 50
Ave’s Bio from his website:
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ave Pildas worked early in his career as a photo stringer for Downbeat Magazine in the Ohio Valley and Pennsylvania in the 1960's.
In 1971 Pildas began working as the Art Director at Capitol Records in Hollywood and designed and photographed album covers for the label's recording artists. He launched a career as a freelance photographer and designer soon after, specializing in architectural and corporate photography. His photographs have been exhibited in one man shows at the: Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Photographers Gallery, London, Janus Gallery, Los Angeles, Gallerie Diaframma, Milan, Cannon Gallery, Amsterdam, Gallerie 38, Zurich and numerous group shows. His photographs are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Bibliotheca National, Paris; the University of Arizona as well as numerous other public and private collections. He is a Professor Emeritus at Otis College of Design.
William Karl Valentine and Mark Hilbert at the Hilbert Museum’s temporary gallery space in Orange, California. 9/23/23
Hilbert Museum - Catching up with Mark Hilbert
I had a chance last week to catch up with Mark Hilbert, who with his wife Janet, founded The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University in Orange, California. The Musem houses their collection of 1,000 20th century paintings documenting California and one of my first blog posts documented a private reception I went to when it opened in 2016. The original space, at 7,000 square feet, was beautiful and it is currently being expanded to 22,000 square feet due to open early next year. The Hilbert collection includes works by Maynard Dixon and many of my favorite California Painters. They opened the Hilbert Temporary gallery off The Circle in Orange to stay engaged with the public as they prepared for the unveiling of their beautiful new museum space.
Mark Hilbert explaining the expansion of his museum which will be completed early in 2024.
The temporary gallery space is obviously only a fraction of the size of the coming new museum, but the space is still decent and located right off the Circle in Orange. The area has great restaurants, eclectic shopping, and is a great place to spend a few hours on a weekend. I’m hopeful that someone maintains this space as a gallery after the new Hilbert Museum opens. I also encourage everyone to visit the Hilbert Temporary while it is up because the works on display are worth the trip to see them.
My Favorite Painting in the Exhibition
Dean Cornwell (1892-1960) “Mission San Antonio de Padua - 1949 Oil on Board
I have heard many photography scholars talk about how a viewer’s past experiences influence how they perceive a photograph. People will connect, or not connect, with a photograph often because of their past experiences, their understanding of the subject matter, or even their believes. Every viewer’s experience is unique, so their response is also unique and that is a good thing. Every person’s opinion has value, even if only just to that person. In talking with Mark he expressed frustration with political viewpoints impacting viewing experiences and an increasing lack of tolerance for differing opinions, I completely agree with him. As in the world, the art world also needs to be inclusive to differing points of view, including conservative ones. The First Amendment is important for all of us.
Dean Cornwell’s 1949 painting Mission San Antonio de Padua really stood out to me and I think may be of value to my blog post readers to explain why so I can expand upon what I wrote above about a viewer’s past experience influencing their reaction to an image.
I have written blog posts before about the Father Serra statue that was in downtown Los Angeles. For me it was an important monument because both Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand had photographed in the 1950’s. I searched for the statue and photographed it on May 29th, 1995, and returned again 25 years later to the day and rephotographed it. Two weeks after photographing the Father Serra statue a second time Indigenous activists invited Los Angeles Times reporters to the statue to witness them tear it down as part of the George Floyd protests. I don’t get how it was connected other than tolerance was being shown to civil unrest at the time.
I am respectful of the opinions that Indigenous Americans have towards colonization and the influence that Catholicism had upon their culture, they have a right to be upset with injustices of the past. But that shouldn’t give them the right to destroy public property or cancel things they don’t believe in. We need to remember history, not erase it. Cancel culture is a slippery slope and should never be tolerated. For me when they tore down the Father Serra statue for that minor LA Times article, they took away my connection to two of my favorite photographers, they destroyed an artifact of California history. They did it all for a soon forgotten moment of attention that was quickly overshadowed by so many other events with the pandemic. Having that experience impacted my thoughts when viewing this painting. I was drawn to the graphic shape of the cross and the stylization of the people in the painting. I took note how the priests were supervising (ordering) the indigenous people doing all the labor to accomplish their task. I also noticed how the indigenous people were colorful and bright and the priests were ashen and less dynamic. I saw elements in this painting supporting the outrage of the indigenous people who tore down my Father Serra statue. For someone of strong Catholic Faith they might see the impact the church had bringing the ministry to the new world. Both viewpoints are valid. No matter what opinion a viewer has the painting is an amazing piece of artwork, wonderfully crafted, and is something to be enjoyed by all. Hopefully it will inspire various dialogues for years to come.
Father Serra Statue two weeks before being torn down by indigenous protestors in 2020 - William Karl Valentine
Selected images in the exhibition at the Hilbert Temporary
Atlanta Photography Group - Storytelling 2023 Exhibition - Opening September 19th
I am honored that the above print is included in the Storytelling 2023 exhibition which opened this week at the Atlanta Photography Group.
The exhibition celebrates street and documentary photography and was curated by Alyssa Coppelman.
APG shared the following about Coppleman on their website:
Alyssa Ortega Coppelman is an independent photo editor and photobook consultant based in Austin, Texas. She is Art Researcher for the Oxford American magazine; and Archival Researcher on the Emmy-nominated, PBS NewsHour series, Brief But Spectacular. Previously, she was Deputy Art Director at Harper’s Magazine.
About Oxford American
The Oxford American is a nonprofit arts organization and national magazine dedicated to exploring the complexity and vitality of the American South through excellent writing, music, and visual art. Billed as “A Magazine of the South,” it has won four National Magazine Awards and other high honors since it began publication in 1992. The Oxford American is published in partnership with the University of Central Arkansas.
The Image
This is the first time I have exhibited this image which I photographed in June 2022 at the First Annual West Hollywood Pride Parade. I have been concentrating on photographing more aspects of Los Angeles the last few years, partially because I think is important to document where I am from and partially because of the constraints related to the pandemic. I have always found it difficult to photograph in LA, it is not like New York or Chicago or even San Francisco. Los Angeles has so many diverse communities, and is geographically massive, it is really hard to capture everything about this place. People also don’t move around here like in the other big cities, in LA most people drive to where they were going, they don’t walk. Although this is changing some, as a photographer I still find that I have to search for the areas where people are congregating on the street. Hollywood and West Hollywood have always had more foot traffic than other areas and I knew the Pride parade would bring out lots of people for me to photograph so I went to it. I felt it was important to document the LGBTQ+ community because of its population size in Southern California and I was also interested to see how people would interact with each other at one of the first large post pandemic events.
When I saw this person in drag, and the people with them, I knew I was going to have the opportunity to capture a good image. I was first thinking my images would only be of the entourage but as this woman in in the tan hat started to fumble to get her cellphone camera up, I recognized that having her in my frame could take the image to a different level. The woman was so excited by what she saw approaching her that she stepped right in front of me to get her shot. Normally I would say something if someone did this while I was photographing but I wanted her in my frame. I stepped to my left and took my time framing the image. I made a number of exposures and worked to make sure the person in drag was featured, was in focus, and that I could see their image in the woman’s phone. Normally when I photograph on the street I am moving, often photographing from the hip (literally with a Sony RX100 vii), and when I frame an image, it’s quick. The parade setting obviously allowed for a more traditional photographic approach, framing in a viewfinder, but with this image I spent even more time than normal to perfect the frame.
For me, the interaction between the woman and the person in drag is key. The stare down of a dominatrix, the desire of the woman to capture the image and maybe even a desire for other things. The stare was so intense it seemed to single them out from the crowd, like a scene you might see in a movie, where all other noise is silenced and it’s just the two of them alone, albeit in the middle of a crowded parade. The other elements of the image work well too: the laughter of the other woman witnessing the scene, the contrast between the muscular man and other woman crossing the street, and the how the majority of the crowd isn’t even taking notice of their connection. With many of my street photographs I look to document relationships between individuals, and relationships between a person and the whole of a group or society. I love that this image has lots of layers to it, which allows each viewer to have their own experience of seeing it. The image is also a solid document of the event and a segment of the Angelino population.
The Print:
The exhibition print has an image size of 24” x 16” which is the largest sized print I have produced so far in an edition (I have produced some larger prints for commercial clients). This print is on a sheet of 26” x 18” Hahnemȕhle Photo Rag Ultrasmooth paper, framed with a window matt to an external size of approximately 33” x 25”. The print in the exhibition is #4 in an edition of 9 for this image size.
The print was made by Digital Arts Studio in Atlanta who I have been using to produce all my large print editions. Owner Barry Glustoff is fantastic to work with and his lab is one of the top certified printers of Canson and Hahnemȕhle papers in the world. I had Barry produce editions of 19 other images this summer at this size, and he has printed and framed all my photographs for every one of my APG exhibitions. His work is outstanding, and the staff is professional.
The Exhibition:
I have had a chance to see the other images in the exhibition and some early photographs of the installation. The exhibition looks great, some outstanding images, and I am pleased to be showing work with Gwen Julia, Joe Hoyle & Peter Essick again.
The List of Photographers in the exhibition:
Betty Press
Blake Burton
Caren Winnall
chilingo
Cindy Konits
Dennis Church
Dwain A Vaughns II
Eric Burkard
Eric bladholm
Erica Clahar
Gwen Julia
Howard Pelteson
Joe Hoyle
John Garcia
Joshua Tann
Laura Inman
Lawrence Manning
Louis Leon
Madeleine Soloway
Marcela Verschoor
Marcos lopez
Peter Essick
Richard Schramm
Robert Oliver
Roger Archibald
Steve Dinberg
Susanne Swing Thompson
Ulrich Mannchen
Willard Pate
William Karl Valentine
The Atlanta Photography Group - Critical Mass 2023 Finalists
I am trying to catch up on Blog Posts. wanted to take a quick moment to share the Atlanta Photography Group’s announcement last week that 23 APG members are among the 200 Finalists for this year's Photolucida Critical Mass call. I am proud to be one of those finalists as well as a member of the Atlanta Photography Group. I have authored numerous blog posts already about APG, it is an incredible organization with some outstanding photographers. I have exhibited work with at least five other finalists before and have met a number of them. I encourage you to check out some of the links below to get to know their work, I am in good company with this selection.
Congratulations to all of the APG members who are Critical Mass 2023 finalists.
@robinbellphoto
@blakeburton
@davidcliftonstrawn
@norm_diamond
@peteressick
@jgfields
@zendrson
@michaeljosephphoto
@jeesu_kim
@denise.laurinaitis
@sbethlilly
@simonelueck
@klukkason
@lauriepeek
@aplass
@johnprincephotography
@apmaieutic
@daniel.sackheim
@kristasvalbonas
@dmtozzi
@williamkarlvalentine
@annewalkerfilmphotos
@hiddenglances
Greg Vaughn and Brewers at Scottsdale Stadium - Cactus League Spring Training - Arizona (CL-152 #08 3-16-89)
Photo Lucida Critical Mass 2023 - Finalist Announcement
I am honored to announce that my submission to Photo Lucida’s Critical Mass 2023 has been chosen to be a Finalist. This is the third time I have been a Critical Mass Finalist. I was also a Finalist in 2014 & 2016 with law enforcement portfolios. Critical Mass is one of the most prestigious international photography calls for submission there is. It attracts thousands of entries each year from around the world and the jurors for Critical Mass are some of the most renowned photography professionals in the world. 200 photographers are chosen as Finalists and now a panel of 150 jurors will select the 50 Winners.
I also want to congratulate Denise Laurinaitis who is another finalist this year. Denise and I have exhibited together twice this year. First in May at the Atlanta Photography Group’s Portfolio 2023 Exhibition and opening next month in The Decisive Moment juried exhibition at the Photo Place Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont. Denise is a very good emerging artist, and I am always honored to have my photographs exhibited with her work.
This was the first year I submitted images from my Cactus League Portfolio which documents baseball’s Spring Training in Arizona each March. I have been photographing the Cactus League for over 40 years now. With my submission, I selected images which showcase the decline of the number of African American athletes playing professional baseball in recent years as many of those athletes now concentrate on Football or Basketball. Below are the rest of the images in the submission and my statement:
“Black in Baseball" William Karl Valentine
This submission is a selection of images from my Cactus League Baseball portfolio to showcase player demographics changes since I began documenting the sport forty years ago.
African American players only accounted for 6.1% of Major League Baseball’s 2023 opening day rosters. Of the 945 players only 58 were Black. The last time the percentage was this low was in 1955 the year before Jackie Robinson retired. Five teams had no black players and 9 teams only had one player who was black. 29% of Chicago’s 2.75 million residents are black, the city has two baseball teams, and only two black players.
Diversity though is up in baseball, with 269 International players on opening day rosters. The sad reality is fewer African American athletes are choosing to play baseball when it comes time to select a focus sport in high school, they tend to pursue football and basketball instead of baseball. Popularity, visibility, marketing, and related attire are suspected factors. The path to the NFL and NBA may also be easier with many players turning professional after only a year in college. The prohibited costs of youth travel baseball may also be impacting the numbers of black players.
Many of baseball’s greatest players have been Black, it is sad to see the decline in numbers today. Thankfully baseball is working on this by investing in programs to bring these athletes back. If baseball is to continue as America’s National Pastime it needs more Black players back in the game.
Photo Place Gallery - Middlebury, Vermont - September 2023
I am pleased to announce that Curator Aline Smithson has selected the above photograph to be included in The Decisive Moment juried exhibition at the Photo Place Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont. This will be my first-time exhibiting work in Vermont, and it will be the 55th exhibition I have participated in.
I am honored that Aline selected my photograph. She is the founder, and editor, of Lenscratch Magazine and an accomplished photographer in her own right. I first met Aline at the Medium Festival of Photography ten years ago and she featured my Santa Anita book in article that same year. Earlier this year, we both had our work showcased in the Atlanta Photography Group’s Portfolio Exhibition, in an exhibition curated by Shana Lopes, who is the Assistant Curator of Photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art .
This is the first time I have exhibited the above photograph which I captured 15 years ago while photographing for my Cactus League portfolio. The image is from the White Sox training facility in Tuscon before they moved to Glendale, Arizona and their current shared facility with the Dodgers. When I saw this call for entry, I realized this exhibition could be the perfect opportunity to finally showcase this image which I have liked.
I also want to congratulate Denise Laurinaitis who received the Directors Award for her submission “In Flight”. Denise exhibited this image with my work in May at the Atlanta Photography Group’s Portfolio 2023 Exhibition. It is an outstanding image and worthy of the recognition.
APG - 2023 Portfolio Exhibition Installation Photographs
I authored a blog post in May about my inclusion in the Atlanta Photography Group’s Portfolio 2023 exhibition. I recently received the photographs of the installation, and this post is just to share them. I again want to mention how honored I was that Shana Lopes selected my photographs for this exhibition and to have my photographs exhibited with the other outstanding featured artists.
My six photographs in the exhibition.
Juror Shana Lopes and the other Photographers in the exhibition:
Artists Names and Links:
I am pleased that my work was exhibited with the other photographers and lens-based artists listed below. Collectively their accomplishments include a Pulitzer Prize, multiple Photo Lucida Critical Mass Finalists, and photographs in many prestigious permanent collections. Four of us live in Los Angeles, two in New York City, and the rest live in the following: San Francisco, Indiana, Mississippi, and Jason is in the Midwest. Hopefully you will take a moment to follow these links and learn more about their work:
Aline Smithson Instagram Web Site Linktree
I first met Aline ten years ago at the Medium Festival in San Diego and she interviewed me for Lenscratch about my Santa Anita portfolio and book. Aline has also featured Justin Carney’s work twice in Lenscrach as an emerging artist.
Ashleigh Coleman Instagram Web Site
Denise Laurinaitis Instagram Web Site
Justin Carney Instagram Web Site Linktree
Preston Gannaway Instagram Web Site Linktree
Michael Young Instagram Web Site Linktree
Simone Lueck Instagram Web Site
& Alternate Artists: Diane Meyer and Jason Lindsey
BLM Protest - Newport Beach, California (NB DSC 6686 6-06-20)
Picturing Resistance Exhibition at Art Intersection Gallery - Gilbert, Arizona
I am proud to announce that legendary photojournalist, and educator, Ken Light has selected three of my photographs for inclusion in the Picturing Resistance Exhibition at Art Intersection Gallery in Gilbert, Arizona. The exhibition runs August 12th through September 30th and includes 59 photographs.
Protest against Governor Newsom’s orders to close the beaches during the Covid Pandemic - Huntington Beach, California (HB DSC 9916 5-01-20)
BLM Protest - Hollywood, California (CA DSC 5652 6-02-20)
I have enjoyed Ken Light’s work for some time, and his books “Texas Death Row” and “Course of the Empire” are in my library. Ken is a great photographer to follow on social media. Not only has he been documenting America, and other parts of the world, for 50 years, but he is also the Reva and David Logan Professor of Photojournalism and curator of the Center for Photography at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California Berkeley, so he has knowledge of most all current trends in photography today. Ken posted about this exhibition call on social media and I took the opportunity to get my work in front of his eyes. I didn’t know about Art Intersection before the call but in researching it some it looks like Alan Fitzgerald, the Executive Director, is overseeing a good space with a great photography community. I’m glad to have discovered Art Intersection.
With Ken selecting these images for the exhibition it gives me some validation for my pandemic portfolio which makes me very happy. I think mu pandemic era photographs will become an important documentation of what occurred during the pandemic, especially here in Southern California.
Art Intersection Gallery
207 N. Gilbert Road, Suite 201 - Gilbert, Arizona, 85234 480-361-1118
Gallery Hours: Wednesday - Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM
Owl in my Star Pine - Newport Beach, California (NB DSC 5929 11-6-22)
Small Works Exhibition - South x Southeast Gallery - August 2023
I am pleased to announce that curator Donna Garcia selected the above photograph, “Owl in my Star Pine” for inclusion in the South x Southeast Gallery’s upcoming “Small Works” Exhibition. The work will be displayed online and in the South x Southeast’ gallery space in Molena, Georgia this August through September. I am also excited that exhibition will hang during “Slow Exposures” Photography Festival: Celebrating Photography in the Rural South, in neighboring Concord, Georgia.
This exhibition call was a chance for me to showcase one of my lesser-known images, in this case a photograph I have never exhibited before. I really like this photograph, but I knew when I made the exposure that the image would not fit in to any of my primary portfolios. Didn’t matter, this is an example why you should make the exposure when you see an image that interests you even if you don’t know how you would ever use it. Like that old paraphrased Winogrand quote says: “You photograph something to see what it looks like photographed”. I also liked the technical challenge of photographing an owl at night that far away.
Background about this Image. If you are familiar with Newport Beach you might not expect to find a home here with two pine trees and a 100’ tall Star Pine on the property, but my house does. I have lived here for 29 years and a couple of years ago I started hearing owls in the neighborhood, eventually they started sitting on the top of my Star Pine. The owls come and go, sometimes I hear them every night for two or three months straight and then they will be gone for several months. I have heard them on a couple times in the last week and not in my tree. I have used a 400mm lens with a flash on my D850 to photograph the owl before and was lucky to have been able to photograph two owls in the tree at the same time. With most of my owl photographs I am standing within 6 feet of my front door. For this submitted image I used my D500 with a 300mm zoom lens because I was in a hurry to get the image of the owl with the alignment of the rising moon. This image lent itself to be cropped square so for this exhibition I had it printed and framed so it was 12” x 12” with no matting (Price $375, no edition set but limited up to 27).
More photographs of the Owls
Owl in the Rain - NB DSC 1053 12-30-22
And a few photographs from last September when the crows were going after a Cooper’s Hawk in the pine tree 20’ away from my Star Pine. I didn’t see the owl at first, he looked like he was just hanging out, but I assume that he and the hawk were both going after the young in a nearby crow’s nest.
I am not a nature photographer, but I appreciate God’s creations and find all the birds in my yard interesting (although I hate the crows, they are annoying), so as a photographer, I photograph them, it is just a compulsion I guess at this point.
Atlanta Photography Group - Portfolio 2023 Exhibition - Now Open
I am proud to announce that six of my photographs have been selected for the Atlanta Photography Group’s “Portfolio 2023” exhibition, which opened Tuesday. I am especially honored that Shana Lopes, who is the Assistant Curator of Photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was the juror for this exhibition. Only eight photographers were selected, and one of us will have their photographs placed into the permanent collection of the prestigious High Museum in Atlanta from the purchase award associated with the exhibition.
This is my sixth Atlanta Photography Group exhibition, and this is the first time I have had my work selected for their portfolio exhibition. This is a significant career moment for me because the APG Portfolio exhibition is so competitive and always judged by a renowned curator. I am once again thankful for Donna Garcia and the staff at APG for all their work organizing this exhibition and securing Shana to make the selections. I am also thankful for the APG board, staff (Nicole LeCorgne), and community for building the best photography organization of this kind in the country. I am also excited about APG’s future with the addition of David Clifton-Strawn as APG’s new Executive Director.
Photographs in the exhibition
Background Information about the images in the exhibition:
“Welcome to Hell” (1985) – Bill Walton was an outstanding street cop. Where all the young officers wanted to work in the action-packed area with the gangsters and rock cocaine sales, Walton was happy working in the slower East side of the Pasadena. He wasn’t lazy in fact he had to work harder to get his arrests than officers in the busy areas. I remember how Walton would hunt vehicle burglars hitting the cars in the restaurant and theatre parking lots of his area. He had a number of hidden lookout spots where he could sit with his binoculars scanning the lots for thieves. He made lots of self-initiated arrests because he cared about protecting his beat. His clipboard has his unit call sign (“3L41” - signifying Swing shift, solo officer car, Beat 4, and the first unit in that beat, usually he was the only officer on that end of the city) and “E.S.P.” (Copying the East Side Pasadena gang graffiti), as well as the bumper sticker.
“Bus Ride” (1986) - Every New Years Eve, officers would get dressed at the old police station then get bused the half mile over to the convention center for the large briefing of all personnel working security along the route of The Rose Parade. Over a million people come to watch the parade each year, many of which camp out overnight and like to celebrate New Years Eve. Some areas of the route are calm and other areas were known to be rowdy every year. The buses used for these trips were Los Angeles County Sheriff inmate transportation buses. I always thought the contrast between the gang graffiti etched on the roof of the bus and the police officers added a lot to this image. I also love how this image captured the comradery of the officers and diversity.
“Report Writing” (1985) - Documents the unglamourous part of law enforcement you never see in the movies or TV shows, having to write reports. Back then everything was handwritten or typed by the officers. Lots of white out and erasers. I chose a different angle to showcase how much paperwork actually have to deal with. The images also lets the viewer see how unglamourous the report writing area was.
“Dusting for prints” (1986) – I learned so much about the profession while photographing at Pasadena PD that I would later use in my own career as a Police Officer and Detective at Chino PD. As I was photographing Calvin Pratt, he taught me to always dust the center review mirror on recovered stolen vehicles because everyone always adjusts the mirrors the first time. He said most car thieves would wipe down the stolen cars when abandoning them but often would forget to wipe down the center mirror. Auto theft investigation would later become one of my areas of expertise’s at Chino PD.
“Gang Card” (1995) – Foremost this image documents the era when law enforcement was encouraged to do more gang enforcement to combat rising crime in Southern California. There are a few layers in this image, the gang tattoo, which was hidden at first, the subject looking away avoiding eye contact and the posture between the officer and the subject.
“Domestic Violence Suspect” – (2022) Last year the Chief of Police at Chino PD asked me if I would be willing to come back and photograph officers out on patrol again and I immediately told him I would. A couple years ago I had decided it would be good to photograph this current era of Law Enforcement so I could document the changes within the profession in my time. With the pandemic I had not found the right opportunity yet. This image documents something that unfortunately never seems to change, domestic violence. The man in the back seat of the unit is a domestic violence suspect who allegedly got drunk and slugged his wife in the face during an argument. When the first officers arrived, he resisted arrest and a crowd formed in the apartment complex prompting officers to have to call for a “code three back” for more assistance. After being handcuffed the man refused to walk to the police car and had to be carried to it by officers. The man’s brother, whom he had been drinking with, said the man resisted arrest because was afraid the arrest would hurt his ability to lawfully immigrate to this country. If I correctly remember the man and his family came to the United States from Nicaragua, crossed the border illegally, and were placed in this apartment complex while waiting for their immigration hearing about their asylum request.
Information about images in Previous APG Exhibitions (see below):
“Kevin Hall at the Do Dah Parade” (1985) – The Do Dah Parade is an annual event where people hold a spoof parade making fun of the Rose Parade. I think it still exists, but its popularity has waned, it was at its peak in the 80’s and 90’s. This image is a great document of the parade, but I also love the symbolism in it. Kevin was a big good-looking cop, who wore the uniform well. Here he is looking cool, calm, and collected in amongst a world of pandemonium. The image symbolizes what society expects from all officers but has little concept of how hard that is to achieve, especially in today’s world.
“Young Guns” (1986) – Pasadena PD Officers Hal Edwards, Matt Harrell, Mark Rangel, and Don Osterholt. These are Graveyard shift officers lined up in the hallway at the station waiting to check out their unit keys, shotguns, and portable radios. Law Enforcement Graveyard shifts inherently have many young officers because they have the least amount of seniority and can’t get a better shift yet. Younger officers often bring more energy, make more mistakes, and have lots of bravado. When I made the exposure I felt the image captured the invincible, fraternal, mindset many young Graveyard officers have. I also liked the fact this image documented the diversity which Pasadena PD had in the 1980’s. I gave this image the title “Young Guns” sometime later, with the inspiration being the 1988 Western movie with that title.
Related photographs which have recently shown at APG but are not in this current exhibition.
Artist Statement for this submission:
My father was a Reserve Police Officer with the Pasadena Police Department for over 30 years. I would go with him when he went to the station to drop off paperwork and he often stopped by our house nights he was on patrol. Because of this I saw my first dead body when I was about six years old, 1969. A hippie had overdosed, and his friends brought him to the emergency clinic next to the station, but he was already dead. MY dad took me over to his body in the VW bus and told me my first lesson about drug use. I remember the scene vividly to this day.
I started attending Arizona State University in the fall of 1984 as a Photography major. For a class assignment, I needed a documentary project to photograph during spring break. I came up with the idea of photographing the Pasadena Police Department and my dad made the arrangements so I could go on a series of ride-alongs to photograph. The first night I rode with a Sergeant who was a good family friend. He took me all over, introduced me to the younger officers, and he got me on scene of a suicide, a woman named Tina Hart who shot herself in the middle of the street. I immediately liked being in a police car and knew the access I had could lead to a powerful body of work. Northwest Pasadena in the mid 1980’s was crazy, lots of rock cocaine and gangs; the Bloods and Crips in Southern California were very active. When I got back to school the work was well received.
I continued the Pasadena PD series during the following summer. I quickly earned the trust of more officers and ended up becoming a technical reserve working in the photo lab during the day while still photographing on the street at night. Between 1985 and 1987 I spent over 1,000 hours on the street photographing officers with unlimited access.
When I graduated I did not want to become a press photographer, so I decided to become a police officer. I attended the Rio Hondo Police Academy and then became our class photographer which gave me more unique access. I was then hired by the Chino Police Department in 1987. I spent most of my career working Patrol with years in the Detective Bureau. I was medically retired in 2008 because of injuries. Working patrol photographed when I could but I obviously had to perform my duties first. Last year the Chief at Chino PD asked me to return and start photographing the department again.
This portfolio documents law enforcement during a period which is now being scrutinized by people examining ways to bring about change to our criminal justice system. I don’t know of any other photographer who had the access and vantage point that I did during this era.
Other Artists in the Exhibition
I am pleased that my work is being exhibited with the other photographers and lens-based artists listed below. Collectively their accomplishments include a Pulitzer Prize, multiple Photo Lucida Critical Mass Finalists, and photographs in many prestigious permanent collections. Four of us live in Los Angeles, two in New York City, and the rest live in the following: San Francisco, Indiana, Mississippi, and Jason is in the Midwest. Hopefully you will take a moment to follow these links and learn more about their work:
Aline Smithson Instagram Web Site Linktree
I first met Aline ten years ago at the Medium Festival in San Diego and she interviewed me for Lenscratch about my Santa Anita portfolio and book. Aline has also featured Justin Carney’s work twice in Lenscrach as an emerging artist.
Ashleigh Coleman Instagram Web Site
Denise Laurinaitis Instagram Web Site
Justin Carney Instagram Web Site Linktree
Preston Gannaway Instagram Web Site Linktree
Michael Young Instagram Web Site Linktree
Simone Lueck Instagram Web Site
& Alternate Artists: Diane Meyer and Jason Lindsey
First exhibition for “Ponyhenge”. Photographed off of a rural road in Lincoln, Massachusetts and now displayed in the busiest airport in the world, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Last look before flying home on 10-22-22.
Atlanta Airport Exhibition 2022
2022 is the second consecutive year I have had two photographs on display in the Atlanta Photography Group’s Airport Exhibition. This year I also had two photographs in the Atlanta Photography Group’s Selects Exhibition, in APG’s gallery space, concurrent with the Airport show, so I decided to fly to Atlanta last month to see both exhibitions and finally visit Atlanta for the first time.
I had never seen photographs of the Airport exhibition space before, but I had a rough idea of where the space in the airport based on its description. I knew it was outside of security in a food court area. After landing I got my luggage and went looking for the exhibition, luckily it was near by the baggage carousels. There are 30 photographs in the 2022 Airport Show by 22 different photographers. The exhibition was curated by Lisa Volpe who is the Associate Curator of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The prints are uniform in size because of the framing constraints, and they are displayed on four columns within the Central Atrium. My photographs were on a column in front of the Atlanta Chop House; I am sure everyone who knows me would say this is an appropriate location for me and my work. The column had four panels with two photographs on each panel. Below are details of my photographs, the Central Atrium area, and finally a slide show highlighting all the photographs in the exhibition. As I stated in early blog posts about this exhibition, I am honored that Lisa Volpe selected my two photographs to be part of this exhibition. I am thankful that the Atlanta Photography Group arranges this exhibition annually and that they are able to secure top curators, like Lisa, for the selection process. After visiting the space and seeing the exhibition I am even more proud that my photographs are being displayed with so many other strong images, in such a unique space, with so much daily traffic. This exhibition runs through January 25th, 2023.
Slideshow of all 30 prints in the exhibition:
Jackson Fine Art - Atlanta
I have known about Jackson Fine Art in Atlanta, and of their reputation as one of the nation's top private galleries, for years. I have casually followed who they were exhibiting in the past, but I had never seen their space. So, when I was in Atlanta last month for my opening of the Atlanta Photography Group’s 2022 Selects Exhibition, I made a point to stop by Jackson and finally see their gallery.
The gallery is a converted residence in the Buckhead shopping district neighborhood of north Atlanta. The gallery layout is a little unique, but it works well the way they designed it.
I planned my Atlanta trip last minute, so I was not able to make arrangements to visit Jackson beforehand; so, this was a complete cold call on my part. I just wanted to see their space and hopefully introduce myself to someone on the staff.
The visit exceeded my expectations, Gallery Director Coco Conroy and the staff were so nice, and Coco was gracious enough to spend half an hour showing me the current exhibition and talking about the gallery. We even were able to talk briefly about my own work and Coco was even able to introduce me to the owner, Anna Walker Skillman. I can see why Jackson has the reputation and client list that they do, everyone is professional, and their artist roster and inventory is large.
With Gallery Director Coco Conroy - Jackson Fine Art
Jackson was featuring the work of Tabitha Soren, who they represent, when I was there. Soren is a former MTV reporter and is married to Michael Lewis who authored the famous book “Money Ball”. Her prints are often individually unique. For her images from her “Relief” portfolio she damaged the print surface by causing small holes (from an airsoft gun or knife) or even burned some prints slightly to use that damage to create a finished work that better captured her feelings; the damage added an interesting element of texture to the photographs. Prints from her “Surface Tension” portfolio were also on exhibit. These large prints were made from 8”x 10” negatives where she photographed the reflective surfaces of iPads with vernacular images on the screen. She was interested in capturing the viewers fingerprints on the surface of the iPad to highlight the connection between the viewer and the electronic device. Soren’s photographs allow for a lot of viewer interpretation and for me they seemed to have lots of layers of meaning.
I would strongly recommend Jackson Fine Arts for anyone interested in purchasing photographs in the region. Jackson has a national client base and provides services to many top institutions as well as collectors. Hopefully I will have a chance to visit Jackson again soon as well as spending more time with Coco talking about photography.
Jackson Fine Art
3115 East Shadowlawn Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30305
info@jacksonfineart.com
Tel 404.233.3739
Fax 404.233.1205
Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm
LACMA’s Wallis Annenberg Photography Department Curator Rebecca Morse by Robert Heineken’s images.
"Objects of Desire" - curated by Rebecca Morse - LACMA through December 18th 2022
On October 7th I had the incredible opportunity to spend two hours talking one on one with Rebecca Morse at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art viewing the exhibition “Objects of Desire”.
Rebecca Morse is coming up on her 10-year anniversary as a Curator in the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at LACMA. Prior to LACMA she spent 15 years as a curator at MOCA in Los Angeles. Originally from upstate New York, Rebecca worked for a commercial photographer in New York City and earned her Master’s degree at the University of Arizona before moving to Los Angeles. Rebecca curated the “Objects of Desire” exhibition and authored the accompanying catalogue for the exhibition.
Here is LACMA’s Statement for the exhibition:
“Objects of Desire: Photography and the Language of Advertising traces the artistic manipulation of advertising, the most powerful, mainstream visual language. Since the 1970s, creative innovations led to dramatic shifts in the possibilities for photography as artistic expression, as photo-based artists reworked advertising strategies to challenge the increased commodification of daily life, and later to appropriate the command these images have over the viewer/consumer. By exploiting advertising’s visual vocabulary and adopting its sites and formats, and through re-photography, appropriation, and simulation, artists create a shared photographic language that puts the onus on the viewer to determine what exactly these pictures are asking of us.”
I appreciate diversity in photographic styles although I always gravitate toward documentary images because that is my style. I think it is important that all genres of photography are showcased, and I try to view as many different types of photographs as I can to keep up my knowledge of the medium. Viewing other images and talking about photography always helps me refocus on my own work. My expectation in viewing Objects of Desire was that I would learn something new and hopefully see a couple images I could connect with.
The Objects of Desire exhibition exceeded my expectations. It is truly amazing, one of the tightest exhibitions I have seen. It has some images I was familiar with, some work by photographers I had never heard of, and some totally unique pieces like Urs Fishcer’s “Mirror Box” series. What made this exhibition so outstanding is how Rebecca Morse curated and designed the installation such that seemingly eclectic works when put together are in fact totally congruent with the goal of the exhibition. The pairings make perfect sense when you follow the chronology and sequence of the installation.
Obviously, there is nothing like viewing an exhibition with the curator who is sharing insights on how they constructed the exhibition. That was a huge advantage for me. But if the average viewer follows the wall signage the story is laid out in a clear, concise and easy way to understand manner. I don’t think Rebecca missed a single detail; the show accomplishes exactly what the statement says.
I had never met Rebecca before, and I earned this private tour by winning a fundraising bid for the Los Angeles Center of Photography, so I didn’t fully know what to expect. What I discovered is an amazing photography professional.
I gained a ton of insight into the curator’s mind with this visit, which was one of my goals. Rebecca talked about how the concept for the exhibition formulated over many years, and as I expected her interests and experience were the foundation. There was one specific image (Ericka Beckman’s 1987 image “Spoonful”) I had never seen before. Rebecca explained that she had seen the photograph years ago, how the image stayed in the back of her mind, and when she had the right exhibition for it, she remembered it. We also talked a lot about presentation and design of the space. I loved hearing about the many details and fine adjustments, and I could see how each thing she mentioned made the exhibition better. We ended up talking about every piece. I knew that Rebecca had worked with Robert Heineken when she was at the University of Arizona and the Center for Creative Photography was adding Heineken’s archive to their collection. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk to Rebecca about his work given her firsthand connection to it and that’s why I made a point to photograph Rebecca by Heineken’s work.
I found it particularly interesting when Rebecca pointed out the reflective qualities of Sarah Charlesworth’s Cibachrome “Figures” and Vikky Alexander’s “St. Sebastian” and how the viewer’s reflection on the surface of the prints was such an important element of the viewer’s experience. The importance of the reflective quality of Urs Fishcer’s “Mirror Box” series was more apparent, but in talking with Rebecca I learned the placement of each box had been carefully considered. If a box was moved one way or another the reflected background would be completely different. Asha Schechter’s 2020 print “Junk Drawer” is unlike any other exhibition photograph I have ever seen. It is an inkjet print on adhesive vinyl and it was made specifically for this exhibition and the precise location in the gallery where the print hangs. The drawer which was photographed to create the image has reflective surfaces although the print itself does not have reflective qualities. But when you look at the print it appears those reflective surfaces are mirroring the lights and other objects in the room because Schechter actually photographed the room during installation and added those elements to his print to appear as if they are reflections. The perspective of the drawer also seems off with the back of the drawer appearing to be bigger than the front of the drawer which is closest to the viewer. In the catalogue Rebecca describes this print as being based on reality but feeling “off kilter”, she’s right, I found it to be subtly bothersome and I respect that.
I also enjoyed listening to her thoughts on the scale of certain pieces and the overall design element regarding placement of work. I know how much effort I put in to editing my own work, it takes a lot of time and focus, but to hear Rebecca talk about her curatorial process for an exhibition of this scale is a completely different level.
One other thing I enjoyed on my visit was watching other patrons view the exhibition. Rebecca also liked being in the gallery when no one realized she was the exhibition curator so she could stand back and see what people were drawn to and how they experienced the exhibition.
Rebecca also authored the accompanying catalogue for the exhibition which is one of the best exhibition catalogues I have ever seen. It explains the overall exhibition nicely and showcases many details about individual works. If you get the book and read the Acknowledgements you also get insight in to how many people are involved in producing an exhibition of this scale too, it definitely takes a good team. David Karwan designed the catalogue and he did a fantastic job capturing the magazine / advertising spirit in a beautifully published book. LACMA co-published the book with DelMonico Books.
The Exhibition runs until December 18th, and I highly recommend a visit.
Beautiful Senoritas - So Good! Album is now Available
A week or so I got an email from the Beautiful Señoritas updating me that the album which I provided the cover image for had been released along with the great new it was being well received. Here is what they said:
“The record is in the market. Bellow some links of interest (the record in the label web, metions in national and international podcasts, spotify, youtube, etc). The front is being quite and event for the Spanish public. It is being tremendosuly striking and all those who give us their evaluation begin with the great originality of the photo. When it is with others fronts, all the sights go to Gary. In January we should start to make the shows where we sell even more than now. We will keep you informed about all the news.”
I am so happy for Jose, Ale, and Blas. They have been so professional to work with, I dig their music, and I respect how dedicated they are to their music so much. With any success you must follow your passion and work hard to achieve your goals then your dreams will have a solid chance of coming true.
Please check out their music at the links below that they provided:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ7MHp3EtNk&list=OLAK5uy_k_-iHHsXq9UrM-49GICdd4d9sqGJ01K9M
https://open.spotify.com/album/2r2I3O1oceuM7LQQMmye7F
Beautiful Señoritas · Album · 2022 · 8 songs.
https://folcrecords.bandcamp.com/album/folc189-beautiful-se-oritas-so-good
https://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1651636521
https://www.deezer.com/album/370034107
Oh No! Not Garage and Hardcore Punk! Ep 85 26-10-22
New Punk stuff:
https://www.ivoox.com/behringer-del-capi-programa-348-audios-mp3_rf_94999707_1.html
https://www.ivoox.com/podcast-motel-bourbon-73-audios-mp3_rf_95015396_1.html
Descripción de El Podcast de Motel Bourbon #73 - ivoox.com
Escucha y descarga los episodios de El podcast de Motel Bourbon gratis. Una nueva cita con la distorsión. Ración de mandanga antes de dar la bienvenida a noviembre. TIPARRAKERS - Noche trankila BEAUTIFUL... Programa: El podcast de Motel Bourbon. Canal: El podcast de Motel Bourbon. Tiempo: 01:00:23 Subido 28/10 a las 08:11:12 95015396