An end of summer grab bag
With the Labor Day holiday here and cool Autumn weather in the air, I am enjoying one last summer weekend before the working year (and the school year) begins. I have recently been gathering bits and pieces to share and so that is what this blog entry will be doing.
In no particular order:
I just completed the page where you can download past editions of the newsletter that I send out monthly to members of The Wells Point. Find those at: http://thewellspoint.com/about/past-newsletters-from-the-wells-point/
An interesting grant opportunity for photographers who are still using film can be found at: http://www.heyhotshot.com/blog/2009/08/28/too-much-chocolate-kodak-film-grant/ On the one hand, it is a great opportunity. On the other hand, it seems a bit like tilting at windmills.
The Julia Dean workshops in Los Angeles just announced the winners of their annual Berenice Abbot prize. The most interesting part of the announcement to me is that they have posted the work of AND the project proposals for the winners as well as the finalists. Seeing how other photographers explain their work, in writing, is very important, because almost all photographers eventually have to write about their work in artist’s statements, project proposals, etc. Reading these pieces is even more valuable because they successfully made it through review by a jury. Read those at: http://www.juliadean.com/competitions/2009winners.html
The folks at Frontier Gallery in Maine reminded me again by email to: “…feel free to send along any artists whom you think may be interested in showing their artwork at Frontier in the future.” An open invitation to submit work, what more could a photographer ask for? Start at: www.explorefrontier.com
You can read a fascinating piece on one of the unintended consequences of the Polaroid Corporation’s bankruptcy. The once formidable photography collection known as The Polaroid Collection is being sold and potentially broken up to satisfy creditors. Read about that at: http://nearbycafe.com/artandphoto/photocritic/
I have started posting galleries of student work from my most recent class on Street Photography, which was held through the Maine Media Workshops. You can see that work starting at: http://thewellspoint.com/gallery/ and looking at the work under Maine / Street Photography.
I was introduced to an interesting project documenting the now defunct factory of National Instruments of India, which can be seen at: http://darklythroughalens.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/prologue/ The work explores the fading industrial landscape of National Instruments, the first and only major still camera manufactured in India. The work is beautiful and because the factory made cameras, it has a double resonance.
Similarly, my own work, “Foreclosed dreams, ” a Photo-Essay exploring the empty homes and foreclosed dreams littering the American landscape in the wake of the foreclosure crisis, is now on the web as part of a project competition at: http://www.viewbookphotostory.com/2009/08/foreclosed-dreams/ Because this is part of a competition, if you like what you see, please “vote for me!”
You can see more of that project at: https://www.davidhwells.com/docuForeclosedDreams/index.html#_self Here are a few images from that project.
Next week, I start my Fall busy season with workshops, lectures, traveling and photographing. If you want join me for a workshop or attend a lecture, start by checking where I will be, at: https://www.davidhwells.com/workshops/index.html I hope you get out to enjoy the late summer, early fall light. It is my favorite.