Flare Competition

I entered an image to a competition called Flare. (flarecompetition.com) It requires images to have dramatic lighting as well as a person somewhere in the shot. I found this competition through a google search.

That is conformation page that was displayed when I submitted the image. It cost $20 for one. Everyone who enters also receives a thank you file, which includes a coupon, an action, and some helpful .pdf documents on the industry and photography.

Russell

This is the image I submitted.

"Interstitial"

I found Interstitial to be a very intriguing piece. The idea of striping oneself of all adornment in an act of purification is a topic that I have often thought about. I have had a personal desire for many years to shave my head (definitely pre-Britney.) Who knows if that will ever happen, but I would love to know the experience. I thought that the sequencing of the piece worked very well and that the overlapping facet brought a necessary element to the film. There was definitely an uncomfortable quality to it. Starting with the removal of the piercings and then the faces that you made when shaving. It seemed that even if didn't hurt you physically, that there was something going on in your head. I was a little confused by the green stuff you put on in the end. Although visually intriguing, I didn't really understand it in the shaving process context. Maybe it was a form of aftershave that you wash off after? OH! It just occurred to me that it was shaving cream! Either way, I really enjoyed the piece and found it neat to see you without your hair and piercings!

Artist Lecture: Doug Menuez

Award-winning commercial and documentary photographer, Doug Menuez, was brought to Richmond on April 23rd by the ASMP. He lectured at the Crittenden Gallery to a crowd of about forty people. His funny, witty style was easy to relate to and learn from. He told of his rise to the big time in the commercial world and his feelings of uneasiness because he was not doing the work that he desired to produce. It was in a moment of clarity that he said no to a job because the client wanted him to do it their way and not his own. He said that he felt empowered. Shortly after, the client came back and said that he could do it his own way. This has been the model for the commercial jobs that he has sought after since- jobs that allow him to work and shoot in his own style and way. This has been the key for finding the balance between living as an artist and working as a commercial photographer. Menuez is also well known for his documentary photography, which seems to be his passion. He learned about a dance troupe of orphans from Uganda and was inspired by their story and courage. He traveled to Uganda where he became friends with many of the children, even helping a young boy find his brother in a far away town, and took pictures that are now the book, Transcendent Spirit: The Orphans of Uganda, a beautiful book whose profits go to help the orphans of Uganda. Doug Menuez's passion for people, life and photography is evident in the way he lives and the way he speaks. I left this talk truly inspired and with a renewed drive to use my photography to better the world, not to simply make beautiful images.

James River Film Festival

On Friday, April 17th, I had the pleasure of attending the juried competition for the finalist of the James River Film Festival. Of the ten films shown there was a great variety of work and I truly enjoyed the majority of them. The film from Japan, titled Monster, was a bit too abstract and repetitive for my taste. For me the best part of attending the festival was getting to see the work of three of my instructors. Jake Dodd and Bryant Dameron's film, Tide, was a beautifully shot story of a man stranded on a deserted island and how his attempt to be rescued affected the life of a little girl. I was very impressed with the cinematography and loved the song of the little girl singing played at the beginning and the end. It was ethereal and added to the feeling of the piece. My other professor that had a piece in the competition was Dan Currier, whose film Labeled, was a documentary style look at the serialization that went on in North Carolina from the 30's to the 60's. Until hearing about the topic of his piece I had never heard that sterilization had gone on in America, and was appalled. This film was creatively edited, seamlessly moving between the woman's story and her current job as a painter. It allowed me to truly feel the pain of the woman sharing her story and I feel enlightened as a viewer.

Bruce Bickford Workshop

As a part of the James River Film Festival, underground celebrity claymation master Bruce Bickford taught an afternoon workshop. The small group that consisted of VCU students and members of the public gathered in a classroom on the VCU campus to meet the master. Knowing nothing about clay animation and being interested in film, I felt like it was a great opportunity to learn a new skill from a master. Reading in the film festival guidebook that Bickford was a "nortorious recluse" I became a little nervous about the logistics of the workshop. I realized that my fears were legitimate upon arival. The increadably thin man seemed nervous and out-of-touch with reality a bit. He spoke a few words at the beginning but once he began work on the clay head he was animating into life, the room became silent for long stretches of time, making it very akward and boring. Participants were invited to grab some clay and make something to add into the animation, but the work area was small and animating without a goal in mind seemed a bit nonsensical to me. It was interesting to see him work, he is definitely a master at what he does, but a workshop isn't exactly a workshop without an organized way for everyone to be involved and a teacher that actually teaches.

First Friday's: April '09

Sarah Hollis

April's First Firday's fell on my 25th birthday this year. With many friends in town and a multitude of festivities to attend to, I decided it would be best to attend a few galleries the next day. My favorite show that day, as well one of my favorite of the semester, was the Rain or Shine show at 1708 Gallery. The show featured the work of four artists who discipline themselves to create artwork daily; artwork intended to be viewed as a series. The tagline of the show was "Alert, awake, eyes open: Rain or Shine." I like this very much and found it to be inspiring beyond production of daily artwork.

The first work that I encountered upon entering the gallery was that of Sarah Hollis. Her scanned and printed journal pages contained daily musings in the form of drawings, cutouts, writing etc. They differed greatly by day, some pages containing detailed drawings and others just a simple sentence. For me, this fact made it more believable as a daily work, as one would not have to time or the inspiration everyday to make an elaborate "journal" entry. Sometime the simplest of pages were those that were the most intriguing. Like the multi-colored line drawing in the center of the picture above; simple yet beautiful and interesting. I loved that the use of the scanned pages allowed for the work to not be confined to one page or the other, work could span both without falling into the crease. My favorite part of her exhibit, besides everything, was that the front cover of the closed book began the wall of pages and that the back cover ended it. Perfection.

Ryan Mulligan

What is there to say about Ryan's exhibit? So many great and interesting things in one place. His style of drawing-- simple, yet somehow complex at the same time-- is such an amazing thing to view as a multitude. The work captures life from a unique point-of-view, and I definitely felt like i got a sense of who Ryan is as person. A playful, fun-loving, unique, individual and I would like to be his friend. I am in love with the drawings above of everyone's "favorite"! Such a great style and such a unique topic. It was an interesting series to be alongside the other daily-works exhibits that were all tied together by a specific way or medium to produce daily art. Ryan's work was almost stream of consciousness. Whatever he felt like or was inspired to create on any given day was what he went with. His artistic style and the playful nature of all the pieces tied everything together in a way that worked unbelievably well. I love and appreciate this style of working as much as I do that of the daily regimen. Maybe not being so regimented allows one to create beyond their own expectations? ...or limitations?

Stacy Searcy

Stacy's paintings of the daily sky are an impressive sight when grouped together in this geometric form. I love that the paintings, while all the same size and paper, are done in many different mediums and with varying techniques and styles. Had they been more similar I feel that the excitement of the work would have been lost a bit. I also really liked that they were not all perfect. A few of the pieces had marks outside of the obvious taped lines that confined the work to the specific rectangle size. It gave the work character, I feel like, and reminded me that it is possible to do daily work without the constraints of perfection- my personal flaw. Although all the series inspired me to create my own series of daily work, this one seemed to be the most inspiring in terms of outline. I know that my own daily work would need to be an organized documentation of something.

Kate Bingaman-Burt

Kate's documentation of her daily purchases was the series that interested me the least. Although done well and displayed in an interesting way--in little colorful books hung on colorful strings-- I was not exactly enthralled by what a stranger purchased on a daily basis. Maybe if it hadn't been the last work that I viewed I would have felt differently, but after a few minutes of browsing the pages I was bored and ready to leave. I feel like the idea of it is interesting, as we do live in a consumer-driven society, but many daily purchases are out of necessity and therefor not exactly exciting. Maybe if she had included a picture of herself and a short bio I would have been more interested in the things she bought. I do understand that maybe the point was to get an understanding of her through her purchases but for whatever reason, that didn't do it for me. Sorry, Kate.

First Fridays: March '09

John Henley

My second First Friday experience was very much like my first. Overwhelming. It is not easy to view art while immersed in a swirl of talking, laughing, drinking people. However, I did mange to enjoy myself and to get a glimpse of some beautiful and inspiring art. My favorite show of the night was at the gallery Art6 . Titled "Shoot the James," the show was comprised of 54 pieces, all centered on and shot at the James River. There were 18 artists represented in the show, the majority of whom were photographers with two to four related works displayed together. There was one digital video on display and an interesting trypic of scans of live insects.

Three of my favorite photographs -and I may be a little biased- would have to be those of John Henley, a Richmond-based commercial photographer and a teacher at VCU. John teaches Intermediate Photography, a darkroom-based class, and I am proud to be one of his students as well as one of his friends and future summer intern. His way of capturing natural beauty in an unforced and unobtrusive way, while still managing to create dynamic images, is a craft that John has honed well over his many years as a photographer. Knowing him and having experienced first hand the time and meticulous attention to detail that pours into his work has given me a greater appreciation for his beautiful landscapes.

Rita Root

Another artist whose images I found inspiring in this show were those by Rita Root. Her three digital prints of rocks in a dried up James River were unlike anything I've ever seen before. The images were purposefully pixelated, giving them an original look. Printed on watercolor paper with quaintly torn edges, the images were then framed by thin, black pastel lines and graphically drawn circles as well as a large title and signature in artsy penmanship at the bottom. The combination of all these elements together gave these pieces an exciting and original look that I greatly admire.

Doug Hayes

I found the three photographs by Doug Hayes to be beautiful and inspiring as well. The portraits of nude women in the James River, shot on black and white infrared film, were hauntingly eire and gorgeous at the same time. Long exposures caught the swirling water of the James in a way that added to the mystery and beauty of the photos. I have never used infrared film before and am looking forward to the possibilities. As the last pieces I spent time with before heading out, I left the show with an excited feeling and an appreciation for being able to view art on a regular basis, even if it happens to be with hundreds of my closest friends.