Thursday, March 31, 2011

Long Shot - Photo Marathon

Photo Center NW is having a 24 hour Photo-thon called Long Shot from June 17th 6pm-18th 6pm.  While this Photo-thon is based in Seattle participation can be world wide!  You can shoot during part or all of the 24 hours, join a team, meet up with people or go it alone. The subject matter is completely up to you as well!

Why Participate?
The money you collect as pledges goes to funding the Photo Center's education and outreach programs.  This event also seeks to celebrate photography and community!

You also get to submit photos for the exhibition which will be held on July 23rd.  Every photographer who submits their work from the Photo-thon will have at least one photo in the exhibition.

For more detailed information you can go to the Long Shot Website.







If you would like to start a team here in Pullman leave a comment on this post or email Kaitlin at Kaitlinleephotography@hotmail.com.

Kaitlin is already registered for this Photo Marathon!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Just wanted to make a few announcements about upcoming exhibitions here at WSU!



Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition

Exhibition Dates: April 8 – May 7, 2011

Reception for the Artists: Friday, April 8, 6 pm

This annual showcase represents the culmination of two or more years work by the Master of Fine Arts graduate candidates. MFA student candidates will present works from a variety of media including ceramics, crafts, painting, performance, photography, printmaking, digital video, sculpture and drawing.





First Year MFA Shows in Gallery 2

April 4 – 8:   Nicholas Flatley, Mariah Boyle
April 11 – 15:   Meredith Lewis, Eric Parker
April 18 – 22:   Brett Lysne, Kaitlin Phillips Goodey
April 25 – 29:   Eric Norman

Make sure you check these all out!  April sure is a busy month!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Depth and Time

The Beginning Photography students second Assignment was Depth and Time.  This assignment has the students craft their images using Depth of Field (f-stops) and Time (shutter speed).

They had to turn in four prints:
Stopped Motion (something in motion frozen at a fast shutter speed)
Slow Motion (something in motion showing motion with a slow shutter speed)
Short Depth of Field (very little in focus)
Great Depth of Field (everything in focus)

So here are the 4 honorable mention photos from Assignment 2!
Jenna Canter (Slow Motion - Flickering of candles)

Preslie Duskin (Short Depth of Field)

Brooke Troutman (Short Depth of Field)

Brooke Troutman (Slow Motion - Painting with light)


* Remember these photos can be seen in the Art building on the 7th floor!*


Stay tuned for the honorable mentions from Assignment 3 - Composition and Design!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Renowned Indigenous Artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Speaks at WSU

Source:
Marian Sciachitano, Clinical Associate Professor, Women’s Studies, 509-335-5372, sciach@wsu.edu

Media Contact:
Phyllis Shier or Sam Jones, College of Liberal Arts, 509-335-5671, peshier@wsu.edu; samuel.r.jones@email.wsu.edu


Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
PULLMAN, Wash.—The Department of Women’s Studies at Washington State University has named internationally renowned artist Juane Quick-to-See Smith as the 2011 Jo Hockenhull Distinguished Visiting Lecturer for 2011. Smith will give her lecture titled “A Survey of Contemporary Native American Art,” at 6 p.m. March 30 in Kimbrough Hall, room 101, with a reception immediately following.
Smith is a painter, print-maker, artist, activist and curator who has organized contemporary native exhibits for more than 30 years. Her multimedia work explores the ironies of myths and icons that bound in mainstream America about American Indians. She incorporates sign language, glyphs, pictograms, and collage to address issues such as the environment, Native American sovereignty, racism, and sexism. Through her imagery she educates and challenges misconceptions about indigenous culture.
Born in 1940 at the St. Ignatius Indian Mission in Montana, she grew up on the Flathead Reservation. She is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Nation.
Amongst numerous awards and accolades, Smith is a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award from the Women’s Caucus for the Arts and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters Grant. She has been a guest lecturer at more than 185 universities, museums and conferences around the world, serving as a spokesperson and activist for contemporary Native American art. Her work is featured in many private and public collections including: The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Museum of Mankind, Vienna, Austria, and many other prominent galleries around the globe.
Smith earned her Bachelor’s in Art Education from Framington State College, Massachusetts, and Master’s in Art from the University of New Mexico. Over the course of her career she has been awarded four honorary doctorates from Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts, Massachusetts College of Art and the University of New Mexico.
Preceding her lecture the WSU Women’s Resource Center will host a brown-bag lunch for Smith from noon to 1 p.m. in CUE 316. All interested are welcome to attend. Smith will also lead a hands-on printmaking workshop on the same day from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Fine Arts, room 7094. Anyone interested in participating can contact:workshop@accumulated.org to reserve a spot.
The Jo Hockenhull Distinguished Visiting Lecturer Series began in 1996-1997 in honor of Jo Hockenhull, a Washington State University professor emerita of fine arts. Hockenhull was the Director of Women’s Studies for more than a decade. Throughout her career at WSU, Hockenhull was committed to building programs and initiatives supporting diversity, the liberal and fine arts, free speech, and critical thinking.
This year’s lecture is sponsored by the Women’s Studies, Comparative Ethnic Studies, and Fine Arts departments, and also by the Visual, Performing, and Literary Arts Committee; the Plateau Center for American Indian Studies; the Tribal Liaison Office; the College of Liberal Arts; the Museum of Art; the Women’s Resource Center, and the Division of Student Affairs, Equity and Diversity.

Friday, March 11, 2011

1st Summer Session Photography Course Will Focus on Landscape Photography

Summer 2011 Photography Class-Instructor: Dennis DeHart
Investigating the Landscape

The emphasis in the course will be on landscape photography. This will include photographing in the field, where we will be taking multiple day trips to various locations throughout the Palouse region. We will also be doing reading on issues centered around the landscape / environment including writing by artists / photographers and environmentalists. Technically, we will be working with 4x5 view cameras and DSLR's  including HDRI and stitching techniques. 


Flag and Chortens, Ladakh, India 1988, Linda Connor.
Prerequisites:
Intro to Photography
Prefer student have access to DSLR, though not mandatory 

We will do readings and review works by artist and writers including:
Plowed Under-Agriculture and Environment in the Palouse-ANDREW P. DUFFIN
 A Field Guide to Getting Lost-Rebecca Solnit

We will  be looking at works by photographers including:
Richard Misrach
John Pfahl
Linda Conner
Edward Burtynsky
Mark Klett


Above Image by Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe, Four Views from Four time and one Shoreline, Lake Tanaya, 2002

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Learning to use their Camera's

Below are the four honorable mention images selected from the Beginning Photography class section 2.

Their first assignment was basically to get them out in the field shooting and learning how to get a correct exposure.

Danielle Holmes

Brooke Troutman

Andrew George

Kelsie Duncan

These photographs can also been seen in the Fine Arts building on the 7th floor on your way to the photo lab.

Monday, March 7, 2011

A Day in the Photo Lab

The Fine Art department prides itself in an interdisciplinary approach to art making. Below we have Cierra knitting a bikini for one of the sculptures on campus. Go cougs!


Entry way Art by first year MFA Nick

Q & A with Dennis DeHart. By Pedro Garcia

Q and A with Dennis DeHart, WSU Photography Professor 


When did photography first interest you?
Around seven is when I took an active interest in looking at photography. Like many families, there were lots of photos and photography albums laying around, which I loved to look at. My grandmother was encouraging of my creativity and interest in photography/art as a form of play and expression. In high school, I had an english teacher who let me have the run of the yearbook darkroom. At the time, I was very interested in persona and identity, mixed with design, so photo became a perfect marriage.

What made you decide to get into photography?
When I went to Undergrad, I really had no idea what I wanted to study. I knew I was interested in photography, though I only took one color photography course. My BA opened up a lot of doors for me at the time, including studying filmmaking, and other forms of creative expression. I also become interested in visual culture, theory, nature/culture,  and the politics of representation.  

While living in Seattle in my 20's, I experimented with photography, though I was not particularly focused. At some point, I began combining my different experiences with art making, including time based media, and painting for example, and blending it into my photography. I also was involved with an art collective of artist and friends called Whirly, which was important for community and dialogue. 

Around my mid 20’s, I decided that I wanted to return to graduate school and study photography formally. Through some luck and good advice, I managed to get into the University of New Mexico’s fine art photography program. Graduate school is pretty much what sealed the deal to my commitment to photography.

What were your first jobs in the photography business?
My first jobs were actually working on independent films. I was idealistic in my 20’s and thought that working a job that did not require a lot of my brain cells (such as a bike courier, for example) would allow me to focus on my creative work. I did an internship with 911 Media Arts in Seattle, and met a lot of interesting media makers, which led into working on some independent productions including videos, documentaries, etc. 


What made you get into teaching photography?
Deep down I have always been interested in teaching, though I didn’t necessarily have a lot of confidence or experience with it. While in Americorps, I started teaching art classes to seniors and children. I found the experience rewarding. While in graduate school, I taught as a Graduate Assistant. In addition, I also taught and ran the summer photography program at the Northwest School on Capital Hill in Seattle. This experiences took me down the path I am on now.

With so many photographers out there, it’s very competitive to get a job. What job is probably the one that’s most in need of photographers?
To be a successful photographer, or more importantly to meet your personal goals, one has to be both diversified and specialized at the same time. In my opinion, the more your can learn about photography-the business, the craft, use of multi-media, imaging for print vs. web, fine art practices, lighting, theory, conceptual thinking, history, etc., coupled with a strong personal vision and style will serve you best. Again, diversified while specialized. Photography is also much broader then being a photographer. There are all kinds of ways to be involved with photography including for example curators, editors, historians, gallery assistants, art handlers, etc.


What is the most important thing an aspiring photographer should know about the business?
This is a hard question, but I suppose I would answer this by suggesting that photographers need to  have a clear idea of what their personal goals are. Are you interested in photography to make a living? Do you want to be an artist whose work is shown is an art gallery? Do you want to go into education? Is it important for you to live in New York and become a star? Do you want to continue to make photography for yourself and follow where you heart leads you?  Knowing your goals and yourself will help you arrive at where you want to be.

What one thing would probably look the best on a photographers resume?
Again, depends on the job and what he/she is applying for. With that, I am interested in working with people who are motivated, talented, work hard, and have a diversity of experience, which may extend beyond just photography, while demonstrating that they are competent to do what I am asking them to do.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

William Eggleston

William Eggleston came upon photography in the early 1960's at which time he abandoned a traditional education and started learning from photo books by such artists as Walker Evans, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank.  While he started in the traditional black and white photography he quickly dropped that for color photography which at the time was only being used for commercial advertising.  In 1976 with a ground breaking one-person show at the Museum of Modern Art, New York Eggleston mounted his show "Color Photographs"  and created his reputation as a pioneer of color photography!

Eggleston photographs mundane and everyday subjects.  Most of the time I am unsure why I love his photographs as much as I do but they do honestly draw me in.  He assumes a neutral gaze as he documents the south.  Everything from a kids bike to a trailer hitch is photographed with equal importance.  He brings importance to the things we pass over, ignore or barely see in the grand scope of walking through our every day life.

I grabbed a just a few of his photos that caught my eye today from his official website the Eggleston Trust.









Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Multimedia Portfolio of the Year at POYi

Leslye Davis, a student at Western Kentucky University, has won the Multimedia Portfolio of the Year honors at the Pictures of the Year International contest.  Davis's projects can be seen here on vimeo.  Her projects tell personal stories related to the passage of time and the strength of family bonds.  Her project Cycle of Sacrifice is of note.

Also don't forget to check out PDN photo contests sometimes even just perusing the winner galleries can be inspiring.