LBCC Photo alum published

Robert Wells, a LBCC photography alumni, has had his work chosen for the Spot Literary Magazine Blog. The image chosen was one from a series Rob did on "Bar Life". His work combined experimental approaches with photography as well as beautiful zone system print-making. Rob is now at CSULB finishing a degree in English Literature.

http://spotlitmagazine.net/9.html

Instructional Associate Hired

Welcome back, it's been ages. The LBCC Photography program has been undergoing a lot of changes. We're just finished updating all of our classes. Part of that update will be to include digital technologies.
We've also just hired a new full-time Instructional Associate. His name is Jeff Smeding, you may have met him last year as the part-time sub. Jeff's an excellent photographer, here's a link to his work:
http://jeffsmeding.com/
Jeff will be working primarily at LAC, but you can catch him on Wednesdays at PCC. His weekday schedule is 8-4, and he'll be there to help you with either traditional or digital work.

Good to be back!

Summertime...

Sorry for the gap in posts, the end of the semester gets a bit crazy. We had a very successful Photo Contest and Open House - the winners are on display over the summer at the Kbuilding on the Liberal Arts Campus.

For this next year we're making a lot of changes, bringing digital into the entire program in a much more active way, increasing the professional content of our courses and instruction and just looking at many ways to create a photo community here at the college.

Have a great summer, consider signing up for a Phot 281 or 291 lab over the summer to keep your skills up. The lab will be open 5 days a week - mostly mornings - it should be a fun place to be.

Check out the following websites for interesting photography:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/slideshow/page/0,,2083188,00.html
Peter Walker talks to North Korea expert Nick Bonner and photographer Charlie Crane, who have produced a book of photographs from the country's capital, Pyongyang. The pair travelled to the city three times to photograph people, tourist sights and hotels.Laid out as a guidebook, the pictures in Welcome to Pyongyang are accompanied by commentaries from North Korean tourism guides.

http://pdnedu.blogs.com/
This is the Photo District News educational blog site. There are many contests listed as well as a very interesting list of blogs.

http://www.horvatland.com/pages/entrevues/07-moon-en_en.htm
When I was starting out in photography (before the dawn o'time) my favorite photographer was Sarah Moon. When everyone else was doing very straight glossy imagery, she was doing these grainy little narrative images that gave me the freedom to go my own way. Here's an early interview with her where she talks about working with models on location.

http://www.davistim.com/
Tim Davis, a graduate of Yale University, has a very interesting take on what might be quite mundane objects/locations.

Best to all...

Photographer Barbara Smith to visit

On Wednesday May 2nd is room EE250 at the Pacific Coast Campus of
Long Beach City College, photographer and author Barbara Smith will
speak to the Photo 41 class at 6:30pm. All are invited and
encouraged to attend. Barbara was recently a lecturer at the WPPI
convention in Las Vegas.

The subject at WPPI (Las Vegas) was "Beyond the Photographic Print."
Here's the course description:
"In this tantalizing workshop, photographers learn how to transform
their images, whether film- or digital-based, into personalized
products such as custom business cards, promotional materials, client
publications, stationery, and handmade books. "Beyond the
Photographic Print" utilizes the powerful features of Adobe
Photoshop as the basis for digital imaging and simple graphic
design. Layouts are then printed on suitable papers for an elegant,
professional presentation with a fine art flair."

Barbara has authored two 'how to' photography books. She has a
wonderful mind for business and promotion and is very creative and
talented as well. She was recently filmed for an upcoming piece for
HGTV's 'that's clever' to be aired in early 2008.

Please email Suzy Skaar (sskaar@earthlink.net) if you have any questions.

Photo Lucida

This week I'm up in Portland for Photo Lucida, a photography conference which features 4 days of portfolio reviews (see above). Imagine spending the day either having a crit, or waiting to have one.

Why am I doing this?

Besides the obvious reasons, it's the land of opportunities in ways you might not think of. First, I've learned a lot about the current work I'm doing. Four to five times a day I've got to sit down with a stranger and explain who I am and what they're looking at. There's something about that process that helps you understand what you've been doing and why. Second, as a teacher I spend most of my time on the other side of the table and it's important to remember what it feels like to be scared of how others will receive my work. Finally, I get to meet a group of people who "get" me.

Mitchell Maher - Film Stills

Tuesday night I ended up at the PCC lab with Tom Paiva's/Kireilyn Barber's color class and Dean Hadlock's b&w class. Ran into Mitchell Maher working on several projects at once. The above images are from his new website which features a personal "film stills" project. He's also responsible for the image on our Photo Contest (see Photo Events sidebar) poster. www.mitchellmaher.org

Next week I head out to Photo Lucida and will be uploading stills on that experience. It's speed-dating meets photo-critique in Portland.

Best to all, enjoy your break,

Ann

Get out there

Enjoy Spring Break...while you've got some time you might consider the following opportunities to get your photography out into the world.

The Center for Fine Art Photography has multiple "calls for entries" right now. An International Student show which is open to all students from high school through university levels, a Black and White show and an Alternatives show. The Center is located in Ft Collins, Colorado and is dedicated to photography as a creative form of expression.


Another great opportunity is being offered through The Photo Review, which is a highly acclaimed journal of photography. Their 2007 Photography Competition will be judged by Toby Jurovics, Curator of Photography at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Winners will be published in the Exhibition issue...which means thousands of people will see your work.

Entering competitions is a bit of a numbers game. When deciding what types of competitions to apply for: avoid high fees (over $30) and look for locations or jurors with good reputations.

Exposure 2007

Joseph Franklin's beautiful image is one of the many photographs you'll see by LBCC students and alumni during the Exposure 2007 event in the East Village Arts District this month.

Small steps add up

I guess I'm still thinking about how we make the jump from amateurs to professionals. It can feel like an overwhelming task . . . to the point where we become immobilized. My suggestion is that you try to do one "outreach" each week - start now while you're a student. It doesn't seem like much, but at the end of a year you would have 52 points of possible success.

Here's a suggestion for your first week:

Russell Joslin is editor and publisher of SHOTS Magazine. This quarterly publication is dedicated to b&w photography and combines unusual imagery with interesting interviews. Right now they have a call for entries, and it's an open themed issue - so you might consider it. I met Russell a few years ago and was impressed by his love of photography and his interest in promoting newer artists. Here's a link to his website: http://www.shotsmag.com/ . Submissions are due May 1st.

Good luck,

Networking - aka "it's who you know"

One bit of advice most newcomers receive is on the importance of building a "network" to help promote their photography. Often they are left with the idea that it's "who you know" that will be the key to their success...and they don't know anyone. So, how does a newcomer create a set of people who know their work? One of the best ways can be portfolio reviews. These are often free and are offered by a wide range of groups and events.

At the end of this month there's a great opportunity to have your work reviewed by a professional at the SILVER CONFERENCE (see the sidebar for more info). Think of it like speed-dating for photographers. You generally get 20 minutes to present your work to a reviewer and often you can sign-up for more than one. This is a good start on the process of starting to have a "network".

Here are a few tips for success:

1. Bring approximately 15-20 pieces that are all from a related group of work. Too broad a selection makes it difficult to address your "vision".

2. Loose prints are often the best way to go because the reviewer can pull individual ones out to compare or discuss. These can be in a clamshell box or other simple container.

3. If you do oversized prints (larger than 16x20) it's a good idea to make a smaller set with maybe one full sized version you can have off to the side. I know one photographer who shows a small portfolio but has one full-sized image that has been cut into quarters and can be easily reassembled to give the impact of a larger image without the bulk.

4. If you're showing transparencies or other work that has special needs, speak with the organizer ahead of time to see if you can set-up ahead of time.

5. Practice a short introduction to yourself and your work, then shut up and let the reviewer do their thing. It's okay to mention a few items as they look through, but most reviewers need time to process their thoughts.

6. Bring a notepad and business cards. If it's more of a professional situation, bring "leave-behinds" also.

7. Be on time. Good luck.

March 18th, 2007

First day of blog. I have no idea how to create a blog...so it's going to be an experiment. I started out to revive an old newsletter when it occurred to me that it was time to think in new ways and so...we're blogging!

My goal is to create a space for student galleries, announcements of school and industry events, tips, trends and techniques...you name it.