Kelli Connell

Carnival  by Kelli Connell

Philadelphia Photo Arts Center
1400 N American Street
Philadelphia, Pa.

Artist Lecture & Book Signing: Kelli Connell
Saturday, September 17th, 2011

Lecture: 6:00 – 7:00pm
Book Signing: 7:00 – 7:30pm


The Philadelphia Photo Arts Center is pleased to host a free lecture and book signing by photographer Kelli Connell. Connell is known for her well-crafted portraits that on first glance appear to be familiar scenes of two women caught up in tender, playful everyday moments. Upon further viewing it becomes apparent that these women are identical, and so perhaps sisters, who are engaged at times in such intimate positions as to create a sense of unease. Connell has actually been photographing one female model and then stitching together scenes which never actually occurred, where the model is twinned and interacting with her mirror image. Connell’s work moves beyond flawless Photoshop dexterity, though, and into a place of introspection about relationships, identity and “the multiple sides of the self in the overall human experience”.


Kelli Connell received an MFA from Texas Woman’s University in 2003. Her body of work Double Life has been included in numerous national solo and group exhibitions. Connell’s work is included in the collections of Microsoft, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Columbus Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Recent publications featuring her work include Auto Focus: the Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography, Photo Art: The New World of Photography, and Vitamin PH: New Perspectives in Photography. Connell teaches at Columbia College Chicago.


Connell’s brand new monograph Double Life will be available for purchase at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center.


This event is part of the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center free lecture series by visiting contemporary artists. Lectures are open to the public and serve the educational purpose of cultivating an active dialogue about photography.

West Mt. Airy

West Mt Airy, Philadelphia (2011)

Class Warfare

Class Warfare in Philadelphia
Moonstone Arts Center
110A South 13th Street
Philadelphia, Pa.

September 8th- November 3rd

Experience It Here

Edge

The current economic hard times Philadelphians and other Americans are experiencing share many features with earlier times like the Great Depression. In other respects, today’s problems are very different. During the Depression era, there was great interest in discovering how the hard times affected real people, which led to the rise of programs such as The Farm Security Administration, whose Photo Department became famous for thousands of images that profoundly changed how Americans looked at themselves and at the poor in their midst.

This upcoming photography exhibition evoking today’s economic hard times will be a backdrop to a five-part series of educational programs called Class Warfare In Philadelphia, which is being held between September 8th and November 3rd. There will be an official opening for the exhibit as part of the September 8th Forum on Foreclosures being held at Moonstone Arts Center, 110A South 13th Street in Philadelphia. Topics of additional forums will include vacant land; public unions; financial institutions (a la “Inside Job”); community organizations involved in local class warfare; and a debate by candidates for Sheriff of Philadelphia.

With photographers Ashley Angert, Justyna Badach, Angelo Benedetto, Kevin Cook, Harvey Finkle, Harris Fogel, Michele Frentop, Mira Gohel, Celeste Hardester, Chris Hill, Eric Mencher, Kevin Monko, Caitlin Morris, Christopher Paquette, Maria Petrone, Stuart Rome, Sherry Ruczynski, Horry Rumph Jr., April Saul, Daniela Sessa, Ed Snyder, Phil Taylor and Ted Adams

Goodwill

Moonstone Arts Center

Brad Moore

Family Rescue Center, Westminster, Ca
Brad Moore  (2006)

Brad Moore

Call for Work...."My Own Wilderness"

Toledo, Ohio  (2010)

PHOTO/arts MAGAZINE is pleased to announce its first juried photography competition as part of the fifth anniversary of the blog this coming November. PHOTO/arts MAGAZINE was started in November 2006, and to celebrate its fifth birthday is making an international call for work seeking photography related to the theme My Own Wilderness.

About the theme:

Wilderness has many meanings in this shrinking world we live in. The traditional definition is "an area of earth untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." Where there once were immense regions on the planet that could be defined in this way, today there are fewer and fewer places 'untrammeled by man'. But wilderness can also be more than a place. It can be a state of mind, a condition of loneliness, an economic or political status. It can exist within the most populated cities as a personal space created by the individual. How do you define wilderness?


I am inviting photographers to submit up to five images that illustrate a response to the meaning of My Own Wilderness. The best images will be presented on November 1st on PHOTO/arts MAGAZINE as an online exhibition and will also be published in a photobook. The top five photographers will receive a free copy of the book. The photobook will be published by Blurb in early 2012, and will include a bio and artist statement for each included photographer, and will be entered in Blurb's annual Photo Book Now competition for 2012.


Deadline for Entries: October 1st, 2011

Notification of winners: October 21st, 2011

Publication of winning entries: November 1st, 2011

Publication of Book: Early 2012



Submission Guidelines:

1. Submit up to five images related to the theme My Own Wilderness. All formats are welcome including film, digital, color or B & W. If you send more than one image, they should all be part of a single series. Please do not send multiple images showing different interpretations of the theme.

2. Do not send large sized files. Please send files no more than 1000 pixels on the largest side, and set to 72 dpi resolution. Winners will be asked to send full sized files for book publication.

3. Please name your files with your own name like this... JaneSMITH_01 JaneSMITH_02 etc.

4. Send a short bio about yourself. Winners may be asked to elaborate on their bio for publication. Include link to your website or blog with your bio.

5. Send a brief statement describing how your images define My Own Wilderness. This statement is not a requirement for entry, but will definitely help your chances of selection.

6. By submitting images you are agreeing to allow publication of your work on PHOTO/arts MAGAZINE and in the Blurb photobook to be published in 2012. You retain all copyright and ownership of your work. All published work will identify you as the photographer.

7. There is no entry fee. Top five photographers will receive one free copy of the book. All photographers selected for book publication will be able to purchase the book at the author's price set by Blurb at the time of publication.

8. Winners will be selected by Christopher H. Paquette, Editor of PHOTO/arts MAGAZINE

9. Send Images, bio, and statement to:

MyOwnWilderness@gmail.com

Call for Work

2001- 2011      A Decade of Insanity: Still Searching for Healing

Hope by Ruben Natal-San Miguel

This is an opportunity to participate in an online group show with some well known names in the photography world. Artist, blogger, and collector Ruben Natal-San Miguel is curating an online photography exhibit to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11, celebrate life, and to show ways in which photography has changed the face of America and the world. Photographers are being asked to submit up to three images that fit this overall theme, with the opportunity to have one image selected for the exhibit. Chosen images will be presented on Ruben's blog Art Most Fierce starting on September 11th, 2011. Art Most Fierce is widely read and highly respected among the photographic community.

Submitted sample images should be no larger than 480 pixels on the longest side, and 72 dpi resolution. Images should be sent to Artmostfierce@aol.com before August 31st, 2011. Best of all, there is no entry fee !

Have a look at Ruben's blog for more details...

Art Most Fierce

Gone

This building stood in a half-demolished state for several years... three exterior walls... no roof... no front facade... just a modern day ruin. Over the weekend I noticed a bunch of construction equipment on the site and the structure is completely gone.

Late Socialism

"It's the rich people... the people who've got businesses. We're just showing the rich people we can do what we want"

The world is going to pieces and people like Adams and Weston

 are photographing rocks! 

       - Henri Cartier-Bresson ( 1930's)

*Collection of images from a "London Riots" google search

The more things change...

the more they stay the same.

1978

2011

Ellen Jantzen

Point & Shoot @ 70 MPH

Photographer Ellen Jantzen has produced a beautiful series of images taken with a point & shoot camera while on a 3000 mile road trip through the American West in 2010. The series moves beyond the cliche of what we typically see from road trip images of the west, reducing the landscape to the simple blur that is left in our memory banks when we return home. The panoramic views Jantzen captured become gorgeous contemporary interpretations of classic western landscapes.

Wyoming

California

Utah

New Mexico

Point & Shoot @ 70 MPH by Ellen Jantzen

Sarah Bloom: Totally Exposed

Totally Exposed: A Solo Exhibit by Sarah Bloom
Sept 3- 30, 2011
Opening reception Sept 3rd, 4-9PM

Da Vinci Art Alliance
704 Catherine Street
Philadelphia, Pa


Sarah Bloom's website

Escape Into Life

I feel so honored to have my work featured today on the gorgeous art website Escape Into Life. Many thanks to Teia Pearson !

Poetry of Nowhere on Escape Into Life

A Photographer's Journal

Introducing the first in a series of annual Photographer's Journals. Based on the tradition of photographer day books, this field journal is meant to be used to record a year's worth of project notes, road trip details, and assorted accomplishments and failures. The journal is divided into twelve monthly sections, with four weeks of double page note space per month. At 5" X 8" in size, this paperback journal is big enough to record all of your notes, yet small enough to easily fit into your camera bag or coat pocket. What a great gift for your photography friends!

Inspirational Photo Quote Starts Each Month !!

Four Double-Sided Note Pages Per Month

Only $10 from my Blurb Bookstore...

How to purchase A Photographer's Journal

Street Rebuttal

After the recent posts about Bruce Gilden and Thomas Leuthard and the questions regarding the level of exploitation in the methods utilized by these photographers, the reaction from readers covered all ends of the scale. One comment in particular was by photographer Jim Sabiston, who disagreed with my opinion that Leuthard was exploitive in his approach. I asked Jim to expand on his thoughts, and his well considered rebuttal is as follows.



At Mr. Paquette’s suggestion, I went back and watched the Bruce Gilden video that he had posted, as I was unfamiliar with his work. I had already watched the Thomas Leuthard video, the result being my initial response to The ‘More Street ‘sploitation’ article that prompted this communication. I will confess to having a better understanding of the concerns expressed in the article after watching the Gilden video – but it did not change my general opinions on the subject. Here is why:


The first thing that struck me about the Gilden video as compared to the Leuthard video was the clear difference in behavior between the two photographers. Leuthard tries to remain as discreet as the photography permits, only hovering when the subject is obviously welcoming of – or even excited by - the experience. Gilden, on the other hand, is far more aggressively ‘in-your-face’. My first reaction is to wonder at the difference in culture demonstrated by these differing approaches. As a fellow New Yorker – I work in mid-town Manhattan – I recognize the ‘standard issue’ Brooklyn personality exhibited by Gilden. It is really a textbook example of the type and when you watch the video most of the New York subjects just take it in stride as they recognize it for what it is. Leuthard, on the other hand, with his Swiss roots, is far more relaxed, smoother and ‘go with the flow’. People being exposed to the aggressive NYC/Brooklyn cultural personality for the first time will simply not understand that this behavior is not considered unusual in these parts. Of course, that very same behavior might get Gilden punched in another part of the world! Leuthard shoots street photography internationally and, accordingly, seems a bit more sensitive as to how to minimize the possibility of causing discomfort in his subject.


With the cultural aspects covered, let’s consider the broader aspects. Mr. Paquette states that “The images taken by Gilden and Leuthard are all about the camera and therefore, all about the photographer. The people in these images become secondary to their reactions to the photographer.” This is where I strongly disagree. The actions of the photographer might call this into question, especially in Gilden’s case, but the images say otherwise. The ideal street photograph shows either a subject totally unaware of the photographer or in the process of recognizing that something unusual is going on as they are in the process of focusing their attention on the photographer. Either has the potential to give an interesting result. It can’t be about the camera or the photographer if the idea is to get the shot before they know you are there! Gilden can even be heard to comment on this in his video. As far as the photography goes, it is still about the subject and the moment.


As inferred by the title of the article, some feel that street photography exploits the subject. I disagree with this position as well. To exploit something means to use it for personal gain. No one is getting rich off of street photography. I don't know Gilden's financial situation, but Leuthard has a day job in IT and street photography is a serious hobby which from which Leuthard derives little or no money from. Leuthard does not even copyright or watermark his images. Leuthard even released a free ebook about his street photography recently. A case could be made that they exploit their subjects to produce their art, and while there is unavoidably some truth to this, somehow that argument lacks any real bite, especially when you realize that the subject is usually entirely unaware they have been photographed or actually enjoys it. I prefer to think of the individual being photographed as someone being explored and studied, not exploited.


Street photography has the rather unique challenge of capturing what I call little ‘slices of life’. Here you have real people in real places living their lives in real time. No setup, no artifice, no fancy lighting or storyline, no fantasy. This is the aspect of the medium that calls to me and why I was interested in trying it. As I mature as photographer, I have come to recognize the power and importance of a good street photograph. Bear in mind that, like all photographic processes, most of the shots are pretty lousy and get tossed. Street photography has a very high percentage of poor shots, understandable given the serendipitous nature of the process and the brief seconds available for any given opportunity. But when all the elements of chance and skill come together, great images can result that speak directly to the nature of mankind and his relationship to his self constructed environment. These images cannot be obtained any other way.


I would suggest that a more meaningful conversation could take place regarding the artistic merits of this type of photography. While I agree that much of the imagery that is posted does not reach the high watermark required to be considered art, street photography does have enormous potential to make art and I’ve seen street photographs which, in my opinion, clearly reach this level.

I want to thank Jim Sabiston for his contribution to PHOTO/arts Magazine. I am always looking for open dialogue here, and essays such as this are always welcome. Here is a bit about Jim Sabiston...

I am a very active amateur photographer. My work is shown and sold in a number of Long Island galleries. My primary work started with Landscape and Nature photography, but has since expanded to include many classifications of the photographic medium, especially Fine Art and recently even Street Photography. A more extensive bio can be found on my web site if you are interested. I should also mention that I had the pleasure of meeting Thomas Leuthard and even did a little street photography with him in New Your City recently. This leaves me in the unique position of seeing the process and the reaction/interaction of the subjects first hand, both as an observer and a participant.

Jim Sabiston's Blog