"My Little Town" Exhibit at Photoworks, Glen Echo

I've been participating and learning from a great group of photographers at Photoworks, Glen Echo Park, in Maryland. (Click Here) to read more about the group.

 

Photoworks is hosting a juried exhibit from February 27 - April 13, 2015.

 

I entered the following images, but did not get selected for the exhibit. I shot all of these in DC, with my Rolleiflex 2.8F. Though they weren't selected, I'm still proud of these images.

 

 

It's important to remember that we don't only learn from our successes. In fact, some would argue that we only learn from our failures. I am looking forward to seeing the work that was selected for the exhibit, to help me improve my own photographic skills.

 

There is a reception at the exhibit on Friday, February 27.

 

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Meeting Frank "Tico" Herrara

Last night, I had the good fortune to meet master black and white photographer and printer, Frank "Tico" Herrara. I had shown up way early for the hanging of my images for the exhibit "Coffee and Critique: Exposed" at Glen Echo Park in Maryland. More on that below.

 

Happy to at least find the building open on this cold, windy night, I had to wait for a long while in the dark lobby, until someone showed up and unlocked the gallery and darkroom space where Coffee and Critique is held. Along comes this gentleman, who happens to have a key, and is willing to let me follow him in. When he asks why I'm there, I tell him I'm there for a hanging. He says "Oh, good. I haven't been to a good hanging in so long. I thought they were outlawed nowadays." or something to that effect.

 

Anyway, it turned out that this was none other than Frank "Tico" Herrara, the most senior staff member at Glen Echo Photoworks, winner of a Guggenheim fellowship, and excellent photographer and printer. We sat and chatted for about an hour, which gave me the opportunity to learn about his Guggenheim project, "The West Virginia Crosses," among other things.

 

In this project, Tico used the Guggenheim fellowship to "document clusters of Roman crosses that were being erected all over West Virginia by a millionaire businessman as part of a religious mission called "Cast Thy Bread.""

Image Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiZGouJYA1UUbb2WQ54ZVCSgFdbEaE-NN9YQHUTqfMPSMfAWMEaGb_d66MXvaG1Q-R3oI02LRjI1o2PLPs6brCPyi9UJwwXqUnifU7EeGXfND0NEOuyai_yVnFvmcjqYGiJEt21STQ0HO95Gfo1gomIzZ2XMoDelUepAGEbdiM=s0-d-e1-ft

 

After we'd talked for a while, I screwed up enough courage to ask Tico for input on the pictures I'd come to hang, those of my meditation practice, shot with large format film and old cameras, including a pinhole. I posted a slideshow of those images previously. (Click Here) to see that post.

 

I was pleased to hear that Tico sort of "got it," meaning the idea of what I was trying to communicate with the images. He said they definitely communicated a meditative message. That was really nice to hear.

 

So, all in all, I'm glad that I arrived so early to the exhibition hanging. My reward was to meet and spend some time with a real photographic master, one on one. Tico is a really nice guy, and I hope to get the chance to meet up with him again.

 

If you're interested in seeing my exhibition, along with about fourteen of my colleagues that take part in the Coffee and Critique sessions at Glen Echo Park in Maryland, you can (Click Here) for the details. My work will be up until January 5, 2015.

 

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Results From August's Agfa Record III (Skeletons From The Closet) and a New Critique Group, PhotoWorks!

I got invited to a great photo group, known as PhotoWorks. They meet monthly at the Glen Echo Park, just outside Washington, DC.

 

(Click Here) to learn more about this very welcoming group. In addition to critiques (one of which I attended), they offer gallery space, an incredible darkroom facility, and more.

 

I decided to bring along a set of five prints, three from a recent roll of film shot in my SFTC camera for August, the Agfa Record III 6x9 folding medium format camera. The two square format images are from my Minolta Autocord, May's SFTC camera. (Click Here) to read about the Autocord.

 

These were shot at a recent world war II reenactment event.

 

All of my images were well-received, and I had to push a little to get some critical feedback. I'll mention it under each shot.

 

While everyone liked this shot, the light is a little flat. The out of focus people in the background are somewhat distracting.

 

These guys may be too happy to be real soldiers.

 

There was a suggestion to crop this picture, leaving only the guys on the right (in bright light in). This was instructive to me, because the facial expression on the guy furthest left is the important part to me. Unfortunately, he's not in great light. What I see as most important really isn't emphasized in the shot. It was also mentioned that this image doesn't fit with the others.

 

I had to admit that I cropped out an air conditioner unit on the right of this image.

 

This is Mike. I emailed him this shot, and he really enjoyed it, saying he's always disliked pictures of himself. This one changed his mind. This shot was very well-received. The framed picture in the back is Mike's wife back home in the states (reenactor in character).

 

Here are a couple of shots from the critique session, just to give you a feel for the setting. These were shot on my Leica M9 with Voigtlander 28mm f1.9 lens.

 

 

This is a very experienced group, and I stand to learn a lot from them. I will certainly be back.

 

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