The Shaped by Time and Place showcase for ThinkingAboutPhotography is live and runs from August 3rd - September 6th.

This is the first of four “Conversations Across the Archives” exploring the intersections between the artists I’ve featured over the past five years. Up until now, my goal with each showcase has been to find new artists and see how broadly each theme could be interpreted. As part of my partial “curation sabbatical” this fall, I’m looking at what other connections can emerge when these artists are viewed in a different context.

I’m starting with a favorite theme - Time and Place.

We are all shaped by the times and places we have lived in, often in ways we barely notice while we’re there. Each has its own rhythms and unwritten rules that quietly influence how we see the world, other people and ourselves. It’s usually only after we’ve left that those influences become visible, distance has a way of revealing what once felt invisible.

Artist’s Projects:

Homeplace, 2005 - 2013 by Sarah Christianson
Growing Up Travelling by Jamie Johnson
Home Play by Lucas Leffler
St George: Ebb & Flow by Susan Lapides
Comalli by Lou Peralta
Oppenheimer's Chair by Meridel Rubenstein
Coahuila y Tejas by Kevin Tully
Tompo by Alexey Vasilyev

Use this link for the first conversation, featuring projects from a wide range of showcases: Community, Home Portraiture, Resistance, Staged, Object, Collage and How We Live. You will find a link to the original showcase at the end of each artist’s statement.

While you’re at the site, check out my most recent “Notables” post on Victor Schrager. I fell in love with his joyous use of color, then I found out what the Bee Line project is and loved it even more!

Last month, Ann Jastrab, Executive Director of the Center for Photographic Art, asked if I’d be interested in giving an online talk about my work. I’d recently won the People’s Choice Award at the Members’ Exhibition, and she thought people might enjoy hearing more about my process and the path that led me here.

It was an interesting coincidence because I’d just finished helping my mom, a painter, create a catalog for her retrospective at the Chico Art Center. At first, she wasn’t sure she even wanted a catalog, but as we worked through decades of artwork, she realized it gave her a rare opportunity to step back and make sense of the journey she’d taken as an artist.

That’s exactly the experience I’ve been having as I’ve put this presentation together.

I wanted to understand why I made certain choices, what keeps pulling me in new directions, and what has remained constant beneath all of it. Looking back, I can clearly see how formative my early experiences were—and how they continue to shape the work I’m making today.

Preparing this talk has been a reminder that our artistic lives rarely move in a straight line. There are detours, unexpected influences, and moments that don’t seem important until years later. It’s only in looking back that the journey begins to reveal itself.

If you'd like to join me, the talk is online this Monday, July 20, at 5:00 p.m. (Pacific). Registration is free for Center for Photographic Art members and $10 for non-members. You can register here, I hope you'll join us.

I have always loved the idea of doing a residency. Getting into a different environment with little to no “real life” baggage sounds heavenly. Unfortunately, the way I work, I kind of need a lot of my stuff with me. Plus, completely stepping out of your life is harder than you might think.

At some point it occurred to me that I could take the concept of a residency and create my own. While I understand that an important aspect of a “real” residency is the connections you make, what I really needed was a specific block of time devoted entirely to my art practice.

Most residencies require an application process. I think there’s actually value in that process beyond simply making you jump through hoops. It forces you to sit down and clarify what you want to do, why you want to do it, and how you’re going to spend the time.

Because I’d had several sabbaticals in the past, I went back and found one of my old applications. Filling it out helped me get organized and clarify what I wanted to accomplish. In a way, it became a contract with myself.

Here’s what I came up with. I’ve shared my answers to the first three questions; after that I’ve just written an overview of how I approached them.

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Residency proposal: February 2026

1. Why: briefly state the purpose of your residency.

• I’ve been working on a project inspired by insomnia (working title: Between Dusk and Dawn) for the past two years and I need to feel finished with it so I can both move on and start showing the work. I’ve done so much experimenting and exploration that I’m not even really sure what I have.

2. What: give all pertinent details of your proposed plan including research, activities, and desired outcomes.

• Create a list of all potential existing images from the series.

• Do a hard edit and bring it down to 15+ final candidates.

• Create a printed portfolio of the final images, while evaluating what method is best for each image.

• The bonus would be to start on the gum over platinum as well. Not sure if all are suitable for this method.

3. When: provide a timeline that indicates how the activities in your plan will be completed.

• Catalog and organize all existing prints and images.

• Clean studio and prep for working-check on chemistry and paper.

• Darkroom set-up, printing negatives, and then positives.

4. Describe how this will contribute to your goals.

This section turned out to be more valuable than I expected because it forced me to place the activity within a larger goal for the work. It’s easy to focus on tasks (editing images, making prints, organizing files) but stepping back and asking where those activities are leading can change how you approach them.

In my case, the larger goal was to move beyond a limited-edition portfolio approach and begin exploring what an installed body of work might look like. I also wanted to investigate which images might benefit from becoming variable or unique works rather than treating each image the same way.

5. Describe how you will share the outcomes.

What happens next? Will you apply for exhibitions? Schedule portfolio reviews? Create a book? Share the work online? Thinking about the next step helps ensure the work doesn’t simply return to a shelf when the residency is over.

6. Any needed preparation for the residency or obligations during this time?

If you’re like me, there are some real world obligations that need to be addressed before you can start this process. Basically, this is where you figure out how to clear the decks.

The whole process was surprisingly valuable. Filling out the application forced me to see where I was in the series, what was still missing, and what would actually constitute “finished.”

I gave myself ten days and accomplished a tremendous amount. Oddly enough, the catalog ended up being one of the most useful outcomes. Seeing all the work together helped me realize I had more finished pieces than I thought. It also revealed gaps and possibilities that were harder to see when I was looking at images one at a time.

Would I have gotten some of that done eventually? Probably. But having a defined period of time, a written plan, and a clear set of outcomes made all the difference. In many ways, the application was as important as the residency itself.

So, if a formal residency isn’t practical right now, consider designing your own. Borrow the structure, write yourself an application, define a time frame, and see what happens. You may discover that the act of planning is part of the creative work.

The Photography Looks at Childhood showcase for thinkingaboutphotography.com is live and runs from May 1st through July 31st.

In this showcase, I found myself drawn to projects that place children back inside the natural world. Most of the work here is observed — the quiet, attentive gaze of a photographer watching childhood unfold or the impact that culture has on identity. We also have one project that looks back at childhood through the lens of remembrance: an adult trying to make sense of a world turned upside down by war, returning to a childhood landscape that was lost. From PhotoBook Journal, we have six reviews of books examining a wide range of approaches and experiences related to our theme of Childhood. Many thanks to Hans Hickerson, Lee Halvorsen, Gerhard Clausing, Douglas Stockdale and their amazing team of contributing editors.

Artist’s Projects:

Mother Series by Jennifer Georgescu
Left 3 Days by Remissa Mak
Cowboy Girls by Karoliina Paatos
Portraits for Yayá by Irmina Walczak & Sávio Freire
The Pink and Blue Project by JeongMee Yoon

Book Reviews:

The Johnny Chronicles by Joe Doherty, reviewed by Hans Hickerson
The Children’s Melody by Eli Durst, reviewed by Hans Hickerson
Filling in the Gaps by Marcus Gustafsson, reviewed by Olga Bubich
Sister Moon by Siri Kaur, reviewed by Hans Hickerson
Puking Rainbows, Past and Future by Sean and Tennbo Lotman, reviewed by Rudy Vega
Notebook on Time by Richard Zybert, reviewed by Hans Hickerson

Use this link for the Photography Looks at Childhood showcase - and many thanks for reading! One quick note - after this showcase, I will be taking a curation sabbatical! It’s been over five years, and while I love curating and the wonderful artists I get to meet - my own practice has been calling for more time and commitment. Next month’s Substack will be focusing on that transition.

This past Sunday, I had a marvelous experience with my photo critique group — our second meeting, and somehow even better than the first. When so many regulars couldn’t make it, I worried the energy wouldn’t be there. It was.

At our first meeting, we each gave a short intro about ourselves. This time, we organically fell into a rich discussion around a theme that’s been genuinely bugging me: the editioning rule that has gripped photography for decades — this idea that you must create limited editions of an image. From there, the conversation expanded into something more liberating: the idea that a single image can be approached in many different ways. You can create unique prints, small editions — many different expressions within the same body of work — rather than simply making ten identical prints and calling it done. It turned out that two of us are actively “riffing” on our images, exploring how a photograph can grow and transform rather than just replicate.

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We met at the garden of Latitude for Art, a nonprofit run by a friend, which turned out to be a wonderful setting. Plus, he invited his current artist-in-residence and having a non-photographer in the mix was especially perfect for a conversation about breaking rules. That kind of outside perspective is gold.

There’s something irreplaceable about meeting in person to see physical work. My suggestion: be specific about what you’re showing. A focused selection from what you’re currently working on tends to work best. I got to road-test an artist statement I’ve been developing, seeing how it landed with a live group was genuinely valuable.

Want to Start Your Own? Here’s What Works:

• Two hours is the sweet spot — long enough to get to know each other and show work. We generally talk for the first hour, then show work in the second.

• You don’t need a crowd. We aim for around eight people — large enough for a real group conversation, small enough that everyone’s heard. It helps to include some people you know (photo communities can be wonderfully chummy) but the wild cards matter too.

• Plan for 2–3 people to share their work, giving each person around 15–20 minutes.

• Location matters less than you think. Years ago I hosted at home; this time I loved the idea of collaborating with an outside organization. A friend offered his nonprofit’s garden space (it’s SoCal — that’s a year-round option), but possibilities are everywhere: a coffeehouse back room, a library meeting space, a local gallery. For most organizations, it’s community engagement, and that’s a genuine draw.

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Here are the marvelous folks that showed up:

• Amandine Nabarra is a multidisciplinary artist that I met through a friend when I was curating my Photography and Artist Books showcase.

• Corina Gamma is a documentary film-maker and photographer

• Ellen Friedlander is a fine art photographer

• Martin Cox is also a multidisciplinary artist and Latitude for Art is the non-profit he started and runs.

• Ryan Hill does drawing and installation and is the current Artist in Residence, and was a terrific non-photographer addition to the group.

• And here’s my website

Finally, I want to share a personal joy - this month I am celebrating the Five Year Anniversary of www.ThinkingAboutPhotography.com. I’ve written about it and included tips on how to host your own.

Earlier this week I read a really great post by Jesse Paris Smith on how she is getting ready for the Lunar New Year, Happy Year of the Fire Horse. She talked about the preciousness of different objects - a book, a record etc., and how much they meant to her.

It got me thinking about a book, that I’ve had since childhood, that has been a lifelong inspiration and more recently a bit of an obsession. My mother found it at a thrift shop when I was a kid and my friends and I used it as our official “sacred book.” Just looking at it you can see what a great structure it has and what a wonderful object it is. I find that my interests of late have really been shifting to photography as object and storytelling.

Recently, I’ve been working on a fable (it’s more of an adult fable) and I can see the link to this childhood source. Beyond the storytelling, the artwork in this book is really magnificent. Originally, this was a play, first produced in Russia in 1908. Here’s a wonderful set of costume designs for that production. A few years later it came to London at the Haymarket Theater and Frederick Cayley Robinson did the poster, set and costume designs, as well as the illustrations for this book. Imagine my surprise, years ago, when I was seeing a play at the Haymarket and stumbled across the originals from this book! These reproductions don’t do the “real” color justice - but I still love them.

The book continues to be an inspiration for me: I love how Robinson designs the compositions - creating this inner framework that separates the interior and exterior spaces. I also love the cool tones against the warm and his use of light - so much so that I almost see these as photographs.

I’m wondering if there are precious objects that you have from childhood that, maybe you’ve forgotten about, but when you come across them, you see how their tendrils have worked their way into your practice?

The Photography and Portraiture showcase for www.thinkingaboutphotography.com is live and runs from January 1st through March 20th. This past year was so intense that I decided to start the new year with a showcase that grounds us back into how photography preserves our shared humanity and history.

In this showcase we have artists who take a broad approach to the idea of what a portrait can be.  Across their practices, it becomes a way of holding onto what is fleeting—identity shaped by place, time, and relationships; lives and communities marked by absence, change, and reinvention. Several projects use montage and acts of substitution to pay tribute to small communities, creating moments that feel iconic yet impermanent. There are also several that explore our private faces in public spaces. From PhotoBook Journal we include a series of book reviews that focus on connecting with forgotten or often misunderstood communities - as well as storytelling about unique individuals. Many thanks to Hans Hickerson, Lee Halvorsen, Gerhard Clausing, Douglas Stockdale and their amazing team of contributing editors.

Artist’s Projects:

Tales of Heroines by Tom Chambers
Dark Silver Threads by Renato Colangelo
Iriana by Mariceu Erthal
St George: Ebb & Flow by Susan Lapides
Crisis of Experience by JK Lavin
All the Dreamers by Nguan

Book Reviews:

The New Mexicans, 1981-83 by Kevin Bubriski, reviewed by Gerhard Clausing
The Wizard of Awe by Kevin Cooley, reviewed by Hans Hickerson
A Walk in the Park? by Amy Horowitz, reviewed by Lee Halvorsen
Call Me Lola by Loli Kantor reviewed by Steve Harp
Years Like Water by Nadia Sablin, reviewed by Hans Hickerson
We Will Not Be Removed: The People of King School Park by Alan Wieder, reviewed by Lee Halvorsen

Use this link for the Photography and Portraiture showcase - and many thanks for reading!

That seems to be the mantra for my life - and art - these days. Stuck is about facing frustration and opportunity, but it’s also a chance to define who you are and what really matters. These past few months, I’ve been navigating those “stuck” waters - brought on by my printer giving up the ghost just as I began printing negatives for a new body of work. Figuring out how to move forward has felt a bit like an episode of Severance: after countless turns left and right, I always seem to end up right back where I started.

Because printing negatives is so essential to my work, the dialogue between repair or replace took on a life of its own. The first saves money now but only kicks the can down the road. The second costs more now, potentially requires some retooling, but restarts the clock on my workflow system. Neither option felt easy.

One of the strange realities of working digitally is how little control we have over our tools. Our creative lives depend on hardware and software systems designed to expire - with “end-of-life” built in by the manufacturers. You find yourself creating this little island - a separate, dedicated computer that can never be updated because the new software doesn’t work with your old equipment!!! Grrrrr….

For me, part of the problem is it’s so different than the photography world I was “raised” in. With film cameras, if something new came out - a faster lens or film - that made what you already had better, not obsolete. Our professional lives once centered on mastery; now they revolve around a much broader “good enough” set of skills. Which is okay - but it’s just different and it can be hard to know when/where to draw the line.

So I made a choice about how I wanted to work. A big part of it was based on the physical space that I actually have: room for a single system - one computer that speaks to one printer. We move forward, making the best guess we can.

The above image is currently on view as part of the “Searching for Serenity” exhibition at the Sturt Haaga Gallery from November 1, 2025–January 4, 2026, 10am–4pm daily. The Gallery is at Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, CA

The Photography Looks at How We Live showcase for ThinkingAboutPhotography is live and runs from October 1 through December 27. With this showcase, I invite you to connect with others and experience the lives they are living. Some will be like mirrors, while others will be windows across the divide.

The photographers in this showcase have connected to the world in deep and meaningful ways. In several projects, we see how young people have responded to the worlds they find themselves in, while others examine how culture is reflected in the food we eat, and in the towns and landscapes we inhabit. From PhotoBook Journal, we include a series of book reviews that span both the globe and time, weaving together how we live with memory, the past, and the future. Many thanks to Lee Halvorsen, Hans Hickerson, Gerhard Clausing, Douglas Stockdale, and their amazing team of contributing editors.

Artist’s Projects:

TOP MODELS MAZAHUACHOLOSKATOPUNK by Federico Game
Buffalo by Jennifer Garza-Cuen
Growing Up Travelling by Jamie Johnson
Aridity as a Mirror of the Spirit, by Nicolás Marticorena
Daily Bread by Gregg Segal

Book Reviews:

Cheryomuski by Nikolay Bakharev, reviewed by Brian Arnold
Meat, Fish, and Aubergine Caviar by Alex Blanco, reviewed by Hans Hickerson
Máze by Céline Clanet, reviewed by Douglas Stockdale
Within the Bittersweet by Allison Grant, reviewed by Hans Hickerson
Searching for Sivagami by Hannah Modigh, reviewed by Hans Hickerson
High & Lonesome by Nathan Pearce, reviewed by Hans Hickerson

Use this link, Photography Looks at How We Live, if you’d like to go directly to the showcase - otherwise, continue reading for more about the curation process and the photographers.

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The goal of bringing these works together is not only to highlight individual projects, but also to create a shared space where viewers might recognize themselves in others, and others in themselves. In a moment when division dominates, these photographers offer community, empathy, and common ground.

Federico Gama - This was immediately an interesting body of work to me, because it’s always fascinating to see how the symbolism of fashion/style plays out around the world. I was impressed by the seamless nature of his observation of his subjects. You can really see the level of trust that he has created, in that the subjects are not merely posing so much as being themselves. He has captured their inherent soulfulness and his rich use of color adds a magical quality to the imagery.

Jennifer Garza-Cuen - It was quite hard to decide which of Jennifer’s projects I’d like to include in this showcase. Her work has a quiet dignity, and you have a strong sense that she has immersed herself in the spirit of each place.

Jamie Johnson - I didn’t have to go far to find her - she is a colleague and I have her Travellers (spelling is correct) book in my bookcase. Her career has focused on photographing children, which is evident in how relaxed and natural they are in front of her camera. That level of trust extends to their parents and the Travellers’ community as a whole - a task not easily achieved.

Nicolás Marticorena - I am transported by his imagery - he has captured the energy, the “vibe” if you will. Simply put, his spare and elegant images create a resonance that speaks clearly to the viewer. I connected with his reference to photographer Graciela Iturbide, who said, “When we photograph, we interpret a very subjective reality that somehow conveys our past experiences and emotions.”

Gregg Segal - I love projects that are both smart and have a strong visual impact. This is one of those times where I really wished my brain worked that way. He also has several other projects equally as strong - each with a sense of advocacy partnered with well designed visuals.

PhotoBook Journal - The original full list Lee Halvorsen sent me (10+ titles, of which I chose 6) was such a struggle to narrow down. With each book review I thought, “This is absolutely a yes,” and then I’d open the next and feel the same way. So, cutting down was difficult and made me really dig into what would best support the essence of the showcase.

Check out the Photography Looks at How We Live showcase - these are amazing artists - I hope you like them as much as I do.

Because I composite images - a big part of my creative life involves sitting at a computer - not my favorite sport. What helps is my use of music as an evocative creative aid. I saturate my spirit with music, and time disappears while I live inside my images. As I work, the music creates an immersive experience that helps me pull imagery together - looking for similar frequencies in different images, so that when they are edited together it feels seamless.

I have a few playlists on iTunes that I occasionally use for working, but my best tool is my record player. Yup, vinyl is a big part of my studio time. Not only is the music wonderful, but it also acts as a timer, making sure I move and shift my visual focus every 20-25 minutes when I have to get up and turn the record over. Instrumentals work best, but I’ve also got some vocals that work well. I especially love soundtracks because that music was specifically designed to amplify visuals, allowing me to get lost in where the image is taking me.

There’s a part of this experience that is also rooted in ritual - a series of steps that prepare me to step into a creative space. Turning on the tuner, selecting the album, pulling out the record, feeling the weight balanced on the edges as I turn to find the best side, then placing it on the turntable, lowering the needle (with a satisfying echo in the speakers) and finally, hearing those first few notes bounce off the studio walls. While it probably pales in comparison to Bob Fosse’s alter ego Joe Gideon’s morning ritual, it’s mine - and my brain knows it’s time to get its ass outta bed and get ready to work!

Here are a few of my favs:

Instrumentals

Jon Batiste: Beethoven Blues: side one is the most played, it’s got “Fur Elise,” “Moonlight Sonata” and “American Symphony Theme”…side two is a bit intense.

Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone: I tend to play sides A & B the most. Some of these are perhaps the most beautiful melodies ever written.

Chet Baker & Bill Evans: Alone Together - these are ballads. You’ll recognize many of the songs, but the two of them really take me to another world.

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue: my son gave me this - said it was a foundational album for jazz, and I agree.

Verve, The Genius of Coleman Hawkins: originally I had this on CD and it was one of the first vinyls I searched for when I got my turntable.

Shirley Scott: Hip Twist with the help of Stan Turrentine - this is such a dreamy, jazzy space, I can’t recommend it enough!

John Coltrane Quartet: Ballads - some I knew, others were way before my time. I would like to call out the amazing portrait/album cover though. That’s something you miss with digital music - getting to devour the album from the cover through to the liner notes while you listen.

Stewart Copeland, Rumble Fish: great soundtrack, energetic and very percussive (obviously).

For Vocals:

The Moderns: soundtrack that I play when I’m imagining I’m living in Paris. There’s an especially scratchy, lovely “Parlez-Moi D’Amour” on side two.

Phoebe Snow: Both Phoebe Snow (her first) and Second Childhood have her beautiful voice and flowing melodies. On Phoebe Snow I start with side B - “Take Your Children Home” is a dream.

Frank Sinatra: In the Wee Small Hours: from the back cover “as he sang, he created the loneliest early-morning mood in the world.”

Joni Mitchell and the L.A. Express Miles of Aisles: this live album was recorded at Universal Amphitheatre in the ‘70s…side four is my fav, but I play the whole double album.

Coldplay: Moon Music - more contemporary and joyful

Verve: Great Women of Song, Astrud Gilberto - OMG, she’s beyond cool. “The Girl from Ipanema” with Stan Getz on tenor sax is such a classic song - definitely in the joyful category. Love both sides.

Sade: Promise - I’ve loved this forever, her beautiful voice is beyond atmospheric.

Suggestions?

Image-Making with MidJourney

Because I want to create my own images, I thought I’d see if it could be used as a brainstorming tool. Midjourney is one of the best AI for making images - I chose the $30 level because it’s got faster processing times. The method is fairly simple, you create a “prompt” for the image with the following elements:

Medium (photo, painting etc.), Style (artist, time period, B&W/Color etc.), Subject, Activity (what they’re doing), Environment (where they’re doing it), Art Direction (cinematic, color palette), Composition (camera angle, long/wide shot etc.) and Aspect Ratio.

In general, I found it has a “woman” problem… can you see it? They all look like models! I did find the use of 1920s prompts helped reduce the bust size…but let’s face it, these are amalgamations of what’s online - they’re beautiful, sleek and polished. There were so many times I felt like asking “did you READ the prompt?”

Next I tried making “pieces” that I could use for my composites. For the set below, the first is part of an image I’ve been working on, where I thought it would be interesting to have a lighter horse added to the group and I didn’t have any in my library. Below that is one of the (many) variations I tried creating that, unfortunately just didn’t have the right feeling for me.

In general, I found, that the visual style/mood/imprint of Midjourney was too strong to use either in brainstorming or as parts. Additionally, it takes a LOT of time to get even halfway decent imagery. Before you know it, you’ve spent hours upscaling and adding new variations to your prompts, and this just adds to the time I already spend on the computer compositing my images.

Finally, I actually love using only my own imagery and while some of what I got was interesting…it wasn’t me or my process. I do know several very good artists who have been working quite successfully with AI and they tend to be people who often use outside source materials, mixed media and/or love working with technology.

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Art Marketing with ChatGPT

So…here’s what I have found AI to be quite useful for: one of my goals for this year was to put together an overall social media and marketing plan that I would actually use. ChatGPT can answer questions, create written content, translate languages etc. I had already been playing with the free version, using it for things I needed help with:

• Prompt: “write a letter declining a position because I already have too many commitments to participate. Make sure it sounds friendly and warm.”

• Prompt: “what are 10 art-related places between santa fe, nm and los angeles that I could visit?”

• Prompt: I uploaded my doctor’s notes from a visit and asked it to “explain it to me as if I was an 8th grader.”

Then I decided to upgrade to the paid version, which gives you better software. MasterClass had a series on GenAI that gave me a good foundation and taught me how to make a custom ChatGPT for more personalized responses to my prompts. Here are the essential elements to create a customized GPT:

• Who the GPT is: “You’re a marketing professional that specializes in mid-career artists….”

• Who you are: You want to give it the relevant facts - but also a sense of your written voice. I created and uploaded a PDF that had a wide range of my written materials: artist statements from three bodies of work, my bio & CV and several curatorial essays from my Thinking About Photography site.

• What you want it to do: “I want to create a gpt that can work with me to create a marketing plan for my fine art photography.”

Once my “Art Marketing Assistant” GPT was created, I worked with it to make a year-long marketing plan. By the way, I usually do my input verbally - it’s just so much easier than having to type everything - you get a transcription and then a written answer. Here’s the first steps I took with my Art Marketing GPT:

• Purpose (what do you want it to do): “I am a mid-career fine art photographer specializing in narrative, cinematic composited photos printed in alternative processes. Design a marketing strategy that includes a social media component.”

• Expand on your ideas by having it ask you questions: I used this approach multiple times, telling it “I'd like to start each one of the phases with you asking me questions that will help us develop solutions that will be relevant for me. I'd like you to ask at least four questions and feel free to ask follow-up questions as well.”

• Fine Tune with limitations: one of the problems with AI is it can give you unlimited answers - so I generally limit it to 4-5 and often limit the word count as well.

• Urgency: This last one is a bit strange for me - but apparently chats are influenced by a sense of how crucial this is for you. So… “This is life or death for me” might give you better results. I’m not that extreme, but I do emphasize how important it is for me.

So that’s how I’m starting to find AI a useful tool to work with. I am continuing to develop my marketing plan - to get an idea of what it’s like communicating with a GPT, I’ve uploaded a sample from the plan I’m working on. I do want to stress that working with AI, whether it’s imagery or business, is never just “push a button and boom, it’s done.” It takes time and commitment to get good results. Please feel free to leave a comment on how it’s worked for you!

The Photography and the Photo Book showcase for thinkingaboutphotography.com is live and runs from July 1st through September 22nd.

This showcase starts with three independent small presses that have made the discovery of new talent an essential part of their missions - even helping to grow regional publishing. Then we have a hybrid - a partnership between a photographer and a designer, connected by their love of Polaroid and bold graphics. Next, a photographer shares their journey from project inception through running a successful Kickstarter campaign. Finally, we peek behind the curtain at PhotoBook Journal to highlight their editors and team of contributors, sharing their approach to reviewing, with links to their own work and a recent review.

Use this link if you’d like to go directly to the Photography and the Photo Book showcase - otherwise, keep reading for more information and resources on publishing your own photo book.

In May, I attended the Los Angeles Art Book Fair, held at Art Center’s South Campus in Pasadena, CA. It was wonderful to see how alive printed matter still is … and Printed Matter is the name of the organization that sponsored it - a great resource. The experience was the genesis for this showcase and many of the publishers featured were folks I met at the fair. Another terrific resource is Archetype Press, California’s largest letterpress printing facility. While they’re not usually open to non-students, they do have a hands-on speaker series. Follow them on Instagram @archetype_press_artcenter to get notified of public events.

Donna Bassin: Portraits of the Precarious Earth

Shortly after my last showcase, Photography and Our Environment, was published I received this beautiful gift from one of the featured artists, Donna Bassin. I absolutely loved the book and wanted to know more about the design process. Here’s a condensed version of our conversation:

She had entered a zine contest sponsored by The Docks, an Italian book and zine company. While she didn’t win, they loved her work enough to offer her a deal…and that’s how the process started. They worked over Zoom, making choices about paper and design remotely. Because using recycled paper was important to her, she chose images that weren’t dependent on high saturation. One of my favorite elements came about as a solution to a design problem. The book has several fold-outs, leaving the center of the book empty - so she decided “I’m going to use it as a piece of activism” and had a postcard printed (Moo printers), attached it, and used a gold marker to encourage the reader to “send the postcard, start a conversation.”

A Smith Gallery

Amanda Smith and Kevin Tully are the Gallery Directors for A Smith Gallery and very supportive of the photography community. They produce several types of photo books from their exhibitions. My favorite is The 27 Fine Art Books series, a limited edition photo book comprised of the 27 photographers juried into the exhibition. I was the judge for the Interiors Exhibition - they shipped me the book plates to sign and then a few weeks later I received this beautiful piece in the mail. I asked about their printing process and Amanda was generous with her information (has been edited).

“The books were designed by Jace Graf at Clover Leaf Studio in Austin. He produced the first version of the book (1-10). Jace is very much in demand... eventually, I took that over, converting the design into a smaller Blurb version. This let us dramatically reduce the price of the books.

We add the image glued to the front cover of the book and the book number on the spine of the book. Jace still does the foil stamping on the image and spine tag. We also tip in the signature book plate. (The original version of the book was signed on the page by the juror and directors). Then we make the book wrapper with the seal. Then wrap them up in tissue paper. It's a production.”

MagCloud & Blurb for Books & Catalogs

These are “print on demand” (POD) companies that allow you to print a single book at a time. Photographers often use POD to create a limited edition photo book that they sign and sell - often including a print. Magcloud is a resource that I combine with Lightroom, making it extremely easy to create soft-cover books and magazines. For me, a part of each new body of work has been to make a catalog for it. This helps me see the imagery in a different setting and get a sense of how the images work as a group. PDFs created in LR can be easily adapted to work with MagCloud’s magazine format.

Thanks so much for reading! Use this link for the Photography and the Photo Book showcase!

Photography is an unusual discipline. Unlike many creative practices that move in a linear fashion from idea to execution, photography loops back on itself—fluid and open. It begins with an idea, and often a camera, but it doesn’t end there. It's a process made up of many decisions, each one layered with meaning, each one shaping what will eventually be called your “voice.”

It starts, often quietly, with a feeling. Or a question. Sometimes a structure is imposed from the beginning. In his series “Chance Encounters” Doug McCulloh, one of the most original voices in contemporary photography, cut up the pages from a So Cal Thomas Guide and would randomly selecting a piece to determine where he would shoot each day.

Other times, the structure is looser. You may call yourself a street photographer. You may walk without destination until something speaks to you. Maybe you always carry your camera, or maybe the act of photographing is set aside for certain hours—ritualized, almost sacred. These choices are more than habits - they are the early awakenings of your voice.

Then comes the taking of the image—and again, it splinters into choices: Film or digital? Vintage lenses? Will you pause and compose, or shoot in motion? Do you look through the viewfinder, or let the camera float at your waist, detached? Or do you even shoot at all - choosing to work with found imagery, collage or public archives instead?

Then comes editing and output - unlike painting or sculpture, photography invites a second and third act, ones that are just as creative, just as personal. Some photographers do the bare minimum, treating the original like a document. Others rework their photographs until they become something else entirely—a new language formed over time.

For the past year, this has been the stage I’ve found myself in. In making my composites, much of my photographic life is rooted in the digital world. So, I’ve found a need to balance that with the mark of the hand - making the print into a unique object - a handmade one that’s imperfect.

The images/stories I’ve been working on are set in the hours between dusk and dawn and I want that twilight feeling to live in the print itself. At first, I tried adding cyanotype over my platinum palladium prints — drawn by its cool tones — but it overwhelmed the base. The two processes competed rather than conversed.

More recently, I’ve been experimenting with gum bichromate. It’s a 19th-century process where watercolor pigment is the coloring agent. What captivates me is its flexibility: you can pull the color into the shadows or let it live in the mid-tones, allowing the warmth of the original platinum to breathe underneath the veil of blue. Sounds perfect right?

Well the downside is it’s wildly unpredictable and temperamental - every print is in flux! It reminds me of ceramics — once you put that piece into the kiln…almost anything can happen. Some days I wonder if I’ll ever master it—or if I even want to. But for now, I’m in the darkroom, stumbling and learning, following the thread.

If you’re curious to see the process at its best, I recommend looking at the work of Keith Taylor and Diana Bloomfield. I recently took a workshop on gum over platinum with Kerik Kouklis and now that I’m home, I’m supplementing that with Christina Z. Anderson’s wonderful book on the process.

We often think of finding our voice as something fixed—something waiting to be discovered. But maybe it’s more like this: a series of quiet decisions, of subtle leanings, of process and patience. We don’t find our voice all at once. We grow into it.

At the beginning of the year, I was invited to speak to a photography group in Canada and afterwards, during the Q&A, a member asked “how do you get started on a new body of work?” While I did my best to answer - it stuck in my mind and now that I’m back in the studio after a bit of an absence, the question is back.

It’s the space creatives must continually return to: the writer’s blank page, the painter’s empty canvas. “How do I get started again?” is the record that’s playing in my head. So, I asked several photographers, whose work I admire, “how do you get started on a new project?”

Amandine Nabarra

Amandine is a book artist who continually stretches to find new approaches and is in the process of co-writing a book on creativity.

“Finding an idea for an art project isn’t about waiting for a lightning bolt—it’s about tuning into the world around you. Inspiration is everywhere: in conversations, books, travel, dreams, music, and even the way light filters through leaves. Pay attention.”

Sandra Klein

I’m fascinated by Sandra’s photography - she manages to make imagery that feels personal and yet is still open enough for the viewer to want to take the journey with her.

“I often come up with a general idea in response to some experience I have had that I'm obsessing over. I try a lot of different options until I come up with a final plan. For example, during the pandemic I continually photographed flowers in my yard and neighborhood. There were many many iterations to this project. Months of iterations, until I realized that the shadows, rather than the flowers were the best way to portray my response to the pandemic.”

Lori Pond

I love how observational Lori’s photography is - you can sense her thinking as she looks around the world, finding patterns we may have missed in our own spaces.

“Thinking up a new body of work for me has never been a process where I sit down, think of an idea, then get down to it.

What happens for me is rather random. I got inspired to make “Bosch Redux” after I bought a huge book of all Hieronymus Bosch’s works. I stared at each image for a long time, and then decided to celebrate some of the characters he painted by recreating them.

After I read Frank Ostaseski’s book, “The Five Invitations,” I was inspired by a poem in the book. I could instantly visualize an image for each line of the poem.

“As I See It” came about while I was simultaneously playing around in Photoshop and reading neuroscience articles.

Overall, to be an artist for me means observing everything around me, from the plebeian to the sublime—I like to call it deep seeing.”

Like I wrote earlier - I’m back in the studio struggling to get back to the place of welcoming new imagery. There’s an internal sense that I’m tidying up, reorganizing mentally, all the while keeping an eye out for the new pathway.

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The Photography and our Environment showcase for ThinkingAboutPhotography.com is live and runs from April 10th through June 30th.

The theme for this showcase is very dear to me and I’m so pleased with the wonderful group of featured artists and book reviews. One photographer blends insights on mental health with a passion for visual storytelling, while another turns the lens toward our inland seas - examining the fragility and resilience of complex ecosystems. Several have found photography is a passport - exploring the many vistas that people around the world call home. Whether they journey to the world’s last truly wild places - or the wild spaces found outside their door, all these projects celebrate and honor our natural environments.

Reviews from PhotoBook Journal features an exceptional set of books on: life in the Russian Arctic, climate change, our wild seas, animals, the melancholy of everyday landscapes and creativity inspired by our natural spaces. Many thanks to Gerhard Clausing, Douglas Stockdale and their amazing team of contributing editors.

Artist’s Projects:

Environmental Melancholia: Precarious Places by Donna Bassin
Shifting Ground by Lori Kella
Earth is Home: A World of Photographs by Kerik Kouklis
The Nest by Lynn Alleva Lilley
Island of the Dragon’s Blood by Beth Moon

Book Reviews:

Hyperborea: Stories from the Russian Arctic by Evgenia Arbugaeva, reviewed by Rudy Vega
Niemandsland by Daniel Chatard, reviewed by Matt Schneider
Aqua by Maria Elisa Ferraris, reviewed by Hans Hickerson
The End Sends Advance Warning by Todd Hido, reviewed by Paul Anderson
Why We Photograph Animals by Huw Lewis-Jones, reviewed by Gerhard Clausing
Creatures Found by Adam Thorman, reviewed by Hans Hickerson

I am especially thrilled that this showcase features my 100th individual artist! WooHoo! Use this link if you’d like to go directly to the Photography and our Environment showcase - otherwise, keep reading for more about the showcase process - and Earth Day!

Curating the Showcase

Earth Day is April 22nd - organized 55 years ago by EarthDay.org’s founders, they have mobilized over 1 billion people in over 192 countries to “drive positive action for the planet.” Check out their website to see how you can help.

As I said earlier, this is an important showcase theme for me - full disclosure, I have someone dear to me in the National Park Service and I know the damage that happened to our natural resources when there have been cuts in the past. That said, my last showcase was (literally) about resistance - so I wanted my emphasis on this showcase to be about embracing the richness these spaces have for us. Not just that the views can be amazing…but that our natural environments truly are a resource for so much that is essential to our wellbeing.

I found Donna Bassin through a terrific site, LA Photo Curator which should be on your radar, if it isn’t already. Donna brings an imaginative, mixed-media aesthetic to her work, which I hadn’t thought of when I first starting working on the showcase theme. It’s a good example of how the curation process is really about learning - your ideas on the theme expand as you learn more about it.

Lori Kella’s Vanishing Shoreline project was on LensCulture and I was fascinated by her sculptural approach and had saved it to a spreadsheet I keep on interesting artists. In addition to the project included in this showcase, I think you’ll love seeing this one that Lenscratch featured several years ago. In both cases, her work is a good example of how photography can be just one step in a much larger process.

I first met Kerik Kouklis at a Platinum Palladium workshop he taught at The Image Flow Photographic Center in the Bay Area. I’d been struggling with trying to learn the process on my own and right from the first print, I knew this was the “voice” I’d been looking for. While his project in the showcase makes use of traditional Palladium process, he is also a master of various mediums and has created some very interesting documentary short films.

Lynn Alleva Lilley’s project was originally was considered for the PhotoBook Journal reviews section - but it seemed like such a perfect fit for the larger showcase. What she found by just crossing the street is magical and I’m so glad to have it. PBJ is a great place to look for interesting photography and it’s very easy to search for themes and artists.

Beth Moon has been on my shortlist for a very long time - I love both the concept and the execution of her projects. She was one of the first artists I thought about when starting this showcase because it seemed like a strong foundation to build on. I love her use of black and white, it’s such a good fit for the ancient trees she’s searched the world for.

PhotoBook Journal sends me a list of possibilities for each showcase, and since one of them was moved to the larger galleries I was able to include more of their artists. I do their page after I’ve settled the rest of the featured artists so I can make sure to include a broad range of concepts and approaches for each topic.

Check out the Photography and our Environment showcase - these are amazing artists - hope you like them as much as I do.

My latest curated showcase, Photography and Resistance for Thinking About Photography [dot] com is now live and runs from January 6th - March 20th. The photographers in this showcase are giving voice to those who have been silenced. They celebrate lives and cultures that persist despite outside forces to conform. They document changes to our fragile environment and the impact it has on the land and those that inhabit that land. From PhotoBook Journal we have a collection of six book reviews that remind us of the human cost and impact of world events. ​

Artist’s Projects:

Flores de Femicidio by Natali Bravo-Barbee
Living Proof by Mercedes Dorame
Phthalo Blue by Corina Gamma
Nature Morte by Florence Iff
Tompo by Alexey Vasilyev

Photo Book Reviews:

The Uyghurs: Kashgar before the Catastrophe by Kevin Bubriski, reviewed by Gerhard Clausing
“Alive and Destroyed by Jason Francisco, reviewed by Steve Harp
displaced by Ara Oshagan, reviewed by Steve Harp
We Cry In Silence by Smita Sharma, reviewed by Gerhard Clausing
TESTAMENT ’22: A Visual Road Diary Through a War Zone by Byron Smith, reviewed by Lee Halvorsen
Look at the U.S.A.: A Diary of War and Home by Peter van Agtmael , reviewed by Gerhard Clausing

Use this link if you’d like to go directly to the Photography and Resistance showcase - otherwise, keep reading for more about the featured showcase artists.

Curating the Showcase

“Our Existence is Political - Mickalene Thomas

These are interesting times, and I wanted to respond in a thoughtful way. As I considered my response - the idea of resistance came up and immediately stuck as how I wanted to start 2025. My emphasis was on giving “voice” to those who had refused to be silenced - and I knew I wanted to take a broad view. That clarified when I was listening to an interview with artist Mickalene Thomas on Fresh Air, which crystalized what I was feeling - our very existence is political - in and of itself, it is resistance and so I looked for artists that were giving voice to the voiceless.

The Artists:

Natali Bravo-Barbee: I met Natali in 2019, when we both were curated into Bostick & Sullivan’s The Handmade Photograph: Contemporary Photographers Working in Historic Processes. As a companion piece to the exhibition, they also invited photographers to participate in a “marketplace” event - and that’s where I saw her marvelous work. It was one of those perfect intersections of art and content and she was one of the first people I considered when I started my curation website. So, I’m thrilled that finally, we’ve been able to work it out to show her project. It does show how you’ve got to play the long game when building your photography community.

Mercedes Dorame: Last month, my husband and I visited the Autry Museum of the American West and were so impressed by the exhibitions and how they were looking at the American West with an unflinching eye. A big part of that was about giving voice to those who’d been silenced / pushed aside. Mercedes had several poetic works in one of the exhibits and was one of the first people on my “wish” list for the showcase.

Corina Gamma: We’ve know each other since our time at Claremont Graduate University - she is both a photographer and a documentary filmmaker. I’ve always loved her work and in 2016 she completed Gatekeepers of the Arctic, a documentary examining climate change at Greenland's research station Swiss Camp, and the impact of global warming on the Inuit communities. I love how lush and poetic her imagery in the showcase is.

Florence Iff: I had seen her work in LensCulture’s 2023 Emerging Talent Award Winners and when I visited her website, I found Nature Morte, her most recent body of work. It’s still life, which is unusual for anyone to do…much less do it so well. Across all her work there’s a connection to the environment and a concern about loss of diversity, which I felt would be a good fit for the showcase.

Alexey Vasilyev: Alexey was also in the same LensCulture Emerging Talent exhibition. On his website he had several series that caught my eye, one I want to direct you to (besides the showcase) is Sahkawood, which explores the filmmaking community in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which is one of the most remote regions from the center of Russia. With temperatures that drop to -76F degrees below zero, it’s astounding that they have a thriving film community, producing seven to ten feature films per year and have won a bunch of awards.

PhotoBook Journal Reviews: For each showcase, the editors and contributing editors come up with a list and this time they handed me a “baker’s dozen.” Culling it down to six books was extremely difficult - especially because the entire showcase is about bringing forgotten/buried/ignored issues and groups to light…and it felt darkly ironic to be making choices on which would get a voice in the showcase.

I’d also like to announce Notables, a new feature for ThinkingAboutPhotography.com. Each month I’ll post on an individual artist with an image, short description and a link to their website. This gives me the ability to go beyond thematic showcases and bring new artists to you!

Check out the showcase - I hope you enjoy their work as much as I do. Here’s the link for the Photography and Resistance showcase.

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My latest curated showcase, Experimental Photography for Thinking About Photography [dot] com is now live and runs through the end of the year. The artists in this showcase are actively engaged in practices that expand what photography can be. Some show us that the essence of photography, drawing with light, does not require a camera or even a print. Others have used the medium in joyful and emotive ways with visual layering to obscure details while embedding meaning. Additionally, from Man Ray to A.I. we have a very interesting selection of book reviews from PhotoBook Journal featuring artists who are also expanding our ideas about photography.

Artist’s Projects:

Experimental by Susan Bein
Crystal Cities by Wu Chi-Tsung
Meeting the Shadow by Sandra Klein
Elemental Forms: Landscape Rearticulated by Nadezda Nikolova
How the Light Gets In by Linda Plaisted

Photo Book Reviews:

Computational Photography by Darin Boville, reviewed by Paul Anderson
Man Ray: Liberating Photography by Nathalie Herschdorfer, reviewed by Gerhard Clausing
Machine Learning by Phillip Kalantzis-Cope, reviewed by Paul Anderson
Experimental Relationship Vol. 1 (2007-2017) by Pixy Liao, reviewed by Gerhard Clausing
High Water by Emily White, reviewed by Douglas Stockdale
Studies of Falls by Magdalena Wysocka, reviewed by Paul Anderson

Use this link if you’d like to go directly to the Experimental Photography showcase - otherwise, keep reading for information on my upcoming Workshop and more about the featured showcase artists.

Photo Compositing Workshop: Storytelling through Visual Art

Join me in an immersive Photo Compositing Workshop designed to elevate your photography and storytelling skills. This hands-on workshop will guide you through the art of photo compositing, emphasizing the creation of compelling visual stories that engage the viewer’s imagination. Use this link for more info!

Sunday, October 20, 2024, 9:00am - 3:00pm
Viewpoint Photographic Art Center
2015 J. Street, Suite 101, Sacramento, CA

Curating the Showcase

This showcase was a departure from the editorial calendar I had worked up at the beginning of the year. While it was great to know in advance what I was going to curate over the year - I also wanted to make sure that the showcases respond to “what’s in the air” - and everywhere I looked experimental work was catching my attention. This was especially true with the Experimental Photography Festival in Barcelona, created by photographers Laura Ligari and Pablo Giori in 2018. I loved what they were doing and it felt like a perfect fit for the showcase intro essay.

The Artists:

Susan Bein: I fell in love with her work on Instagram and even got her book Slightly Totally Bonkers which featured images she had made during Covid. Looking at her response to this time period was inspiring, and made me feel hopeful - which is what I was needing. There’s a directness in her imagery that draws me in and I feel like her experience as a graphic and book designer is part of that.

Wu Chi-Tsung: I’ve created a large list of potential artists and he was in the “Undefined and Interesting” category. Originally, I was looking at these amazing cyanotype collage paintings he’d created. When I saw his installations, they felt like an important element to bring into the showcase - no camera or print is needed to still be the essence of photography.

Sandra Klein: I’ve known Sandra for a while and always found her work to be poetic, engaging and smart - which is a fantastic combination. Recently, I was invited by the Los Angeles Center of Photography to be a “special guest” at their Member’s Portfolio Night and Sandra was showing new work. Her use of intense color, the subject matter and the dimensionality of the work all felt perfect for this showcase.

Nadezda Nikolova: She was also in my potential artists list - under “camera-less” which I knew I wanted to have represented in this showcase. I also follow her on Instagram and really love how she uses the materials of photography, in fluid ways, to create unique works.

Linda Plaisted: I found this body of work through the Center for Fine Art Photography’s Words & Pictures exhibition. One of the things I really love about the Center is that they have links for all of their artists in this group show. Her piece in the exhibition was interesting, but her collage work (on her website) felt like it would stretch the showcase. I love how she incorporates so many different elements - and somehow all they all fit together and work as a single piece.

PhotoBook Journal Reviews: The editors and contributing editors come up with a list and it’s often very hard to make the selections because I love photobooks and the work is always very strong. This time was especially difficult - and I normally decide in favor of living artists (to help promote them), but the idea of going from Man Ray (whom I was going to put in the essay) to AI helped finalize my selection.

Check out the showcase - I hope you enjoy their work as much as I do. Here’s the link for the Experimental Photography showcase.

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Drawing inspiration from Katsushika Hokusai’s 100 Views of Mt. Fuji, my project captures a quieter side of Southern California, away from the usual glamour and fame. It focuses on the simplicity of daily life, revealing moments of stillness that offer a deeper connection to the place. These moments are quiet slices of mundane life that allow the viewer to connect to this place in a layered way. I’m also incorporating pages from the iconic Thomas Guide, a series of spiral-bound paper atlases that could be found for decades in almost every SoCal glove box. The project will eventually have a total of 100 Impressions.

When it came to exploring the book-making aspect of the project I started by going to Hiromi Paper which has an extensive selection of Japanese papers and bookmaking tools. I finished with three versions of my project: a folio with prints, an accordion book and the last is a more traditional book with drum leaf binding. The Opening Reception for the show is this coming weekend (Sept 8th) - see below for more details.

Handmade Book Resources:

• Coptic Stitch Binding: this was an early trial run - and I hated it. Big problem here is my lovely thick digital fine art paper just doesn’t do a fold (which is why I later switched to Japanese paper), plus there’s an awkward gap between the folded sheets when you page through the book. I do love the look of the woven binding on the spine and how the pages lie completely flat. Here’s a great “how to” video by Sea Lemon.

• Accordion Books are one of my favorites and I used this method a few years ago to create The Five Elements, from the Buddhist concept of the Five Sovereign Elements that make up our existence. How to Make Books by Esther K Smith of Purgatory Pie Press takes you though a great range of experimental approaches to one-of-a-kind books.

• Book Building by Dayanita Singh is a great one to read before you start your project. This thoughtful manifesto was a good way for me to start thinking about how I wanted to approach the content / layout. For more from her, here’s an interview with her and her publisher.

Opening Reception, Portfolio Reviews and Workshop:

Correspondences / Corripondenze, An International Exhibition of Artists’ Books. Featuring artists from Italy and the Greater Los Angeles Area. Roswell Space, 3050 Roswell Street, Los Angeles, September 8th - October 6th.

• Opening Reception: Sunday, September 8th from 3 to 6 pm

Exposure Portfolio Reviews, Los Angeles Center of Photography. I’ll be a reviewer for this online event which offers artists and creatives an online platform to showcase their portfolios and receive expert feedback from renowned, international professionals. Reviews run from September 11th - 15th.

• My Reviewing days, Thur. Sept. 12th – AM, Sun. Sept. 15th – AM

Lightroom Book Module Workshop: creating family yearbooks, magazine and portfolio catalogs. This in-person workshop will be held at Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, 2015 J. Street, Suite 101, Sacramento, CA, 95811-3124

• September 29, 2024, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

It was the early 80s and I had just started a commercial photography program at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Honestly, I don’t know what I expected, but I was having a lot of doubts about whether it was a good fit. Everyone…and I mean everyone, was engaged in the pursuit of the perfectly sharp, high resolution image - one that hit you over the head with product placement. Girls draped over fancy cars, Bell motorcycle helmets shot on plexi with perfect droplets of water (really glycerin)… it all was shiny, shiny, shiny, sharp, sharp, sharp. I felt completely adrift and disconnected from this strange antiseptic environment that I found myself in. Not what I imaged an “Art” center would be.

Then one day, I find this book of grainy (and at times) out of focus images. Who knew what the #$# they were selling? They were vague, gauzy (without being too sweet) story-telling images, and I felt reborn - I’d found my place in the world. It remained an uphill climb for the rest of my time there but, Sarah Moon opened my eyes to a world that I’m still exploring. She helped me break that “sharp/shiny” barrier and bring a larger sense of storytelling to my work. If you’re in the SoCal area, I recommend you head over to Peter Fetterman’s Gallery at Bergamot Station - turn left as you walk in and you’ll see the most staggering piece of her work!

L’album de Francois Gillet

This book was also published in the early 80s. It was a lot of money and I was dead broke, but bought it anyway. While Francois Gillet had a very artistic approach, you could also see the connection to a commercial market, which was my task at hand. Instead of sterile studio settings, he was painting on surfaces and products - blurring the line between art and commerce. Both Gillet and Moon had left the “mark of the hand” on their imagery and that started me on a path to approaching advertising/editorial work in a way that would fit my sensibilities.

Luis González Palma: Poems of Sorrow

I first saw Palma’s work in the 90s at the Los Angeles International Photographic Print Exposition (which later became Photo LA). He was being shown at Lisa Sette’s Gallery - across the board she had the most interesting artists, many of whom were expanding beyond the traditional matted single image. His work became a logical next step for me, with his use of collage, mixed media and thinking beyond the rectangle. More importantly, I was struck by the strong evocative mood emanating from his work - each piece had so much room for the viewer to explore.

I have mixed feelings about my photographic education - on one hand, it gave me a really strong grounding in technique, which was essential in the film days. On the other hand…maybe it wasn’t so essential and it set me down a path that took a long time to break free of. Or…maybe I was expecting too much from an institution and we’re always responsible for our own education.

It’s my belief that every birthday you should go see the ocean. There’s something about taking that step into another year and going to a place that’s so much more than you. More space, more power, more calm - timeless and endless. Most of the time I take at least one photograph. Not necessarily anything fancy, sometimes just the random stuff that photographers get caught by. I feel like this ritual connects me to the passage of time with attention to the day and preparation for the upcoming year.

For some artists there is little difference between ritual and routine. The painter who turns on classical music and paints for several hours each morning, the writer who gets up early, pours a cup of coffee and sits down to write…maybe the first draft by hand… etc. These are blends of ritual and routine. My life just never seems to fit into any type of predictable pattern to create a routine - so I rely on ritual to slip me into the creative process. If I’m going to be doing image-making, then it must be in the morning and before I can start, I slowly clean/clear up my studio space. For some reason, I must start at the entrance and then move clockwise around the room. Just the experience of stacking papers and clearing surfaces, attention and preparation, seems to echo within and by the end, I’m ready to start working.

One of my favorite books on the topic is Mason Currey’s second book Daily Rituals Women at Work. It’s an engaging read - Isabel Allende starts each new book on January 8th while Lillian Hellman started each day milking cows and cleaning out the barn (then smoked 3 packs of cigarettes and drank 20+ cups of coffee throughout the day!). Art 21 has a video series on artists’ Routines and Rituals, and Twyla Tharp shares her practice in The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life. Here’s Joan Didion’s response when asked if she had any writing rituals:

“The most important is that I need an hour alone before dinner, with a drink, to go over what I’ve done that day. I can’t do it late in the afternoon because I’m too close to it. Also, the drink helps. It removes me from the pages. So I spend this hour taking things out and putting other things in. Then I start the next day by redoing all of what I did the day before.” Paris Match, 1978.