Right now, the book is being carried in the three locations below. An actual copy is being housed at each site. Of course, if you are in Portland, you can contact me at lauren@laurenhenkin.com and I will make arrangements for you to take a look also.

Cordon | Potts Gallery
49 Geary Street, Suite 211
San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: 415-781-0110
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 11am – 5:30pm. Open until 7:30pm on the first Thursday of each month.
Email: info@cordenpottsgallery.com

LÚZ | Centre for the Photographic Arts
977A Fort Street
Victoria BC
V8V 3K3 Canada
Phone: 250-590-7557
Hours: Tuesday – Friday 11am – 5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm
Closed Sunday & Monday
Open until 7pm on the first Thursday of the month
Email: info@luzgallery.com

Wessel and Lieberman Booksellers
208 First Ave South
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: 206-682-3545
Hours: Monday – Saturday 11am – 6pm
Email: read@wlbooks.com

Thank you all for your support. A new book with a series of images from within Acadia National Park in Maine will be out soon…

The exhibition will run from July 3-13. Details to follow!

To celebrate, I want to invite you all to a party in my new space on Mississippi Avenue. The party will be a combination of the following: Displaced book release, new studio space, and general celebration. It’s been a year and a half since I moved to Portland and I want to enjoy feeling at home somewhere again, the completion of the book, and closing a chapter in my life. I finally, after years, feel ready to smile again, and I’d like all of the wonderful people I’ve met in Portland to be there to see it.

The evening will also be a special night because I will have my niece Jamie staying with me for a few weeks. She’s my oldest niece, and I’m very proud of her. She’s an excellent event planner and she’ll be my assistant in party planning! I can’t wait to show her off.

I’ve also decided to attempt (if I can pull it together in time) to have a raffle at the party. I am in the process of developing a new book, title either to be Resting Place or Place of Rest (any preference?) and I will be giving away a copy of that book which will produced in the next few months. I also hope to get some of my friends at ProPhoto Supply and Framing Resource to pitch in some items. If you have any ideas or suggestions for raffle items, I’d be appreciative hearing them. I’ve never done an event like this before, in fact I’ve never done anything even close to this before, so I would be thankful for any your help. The purpose for the raffle is to raise money for a trip I want to take this fall with Kirsten Rian who has become one of my closest friends, a soul sister. She is a brilliant writer and poet. She also is an independent photography curator and has a keen sense for sculpting portfolios. Anyway, I was at her house a few weekends ago, and she said that we really should collaborate on something. She mentioned an idea that she had for a topic she wanted to write about. I said that I had always wanted to photograph a farm. The two ideas melded perfectly. And we looked at each and knew, this could be a really good project. We both have clear visions about what we like and don’t like and we both walked away excited and energized. This project has to happen. She’s also been trying to convince me to get on a plane to go to Maine where we want to do the work. In case I haven’t mentioned it before, Maine is where my soul is. It is my place of rest. When I’m there I feel at peace. I want to go and photograph a farm for two weeks and she wants to go and write about it. It will be a perfect project. I haven’t felt so strongly about a body of work in so long, if ever. The raffle, if it could raise a decent amount of money could pay for both of us to get out there. In November, it will have been 10 years since I’ve been on an airplane. It is time for me to let go, and lay to rest a lot of the fears I’ve had—about life, about death, about being alone. And I feel incredibly lucky that Kirsten wants to be there to help me unclench my fists.

I plan to show prints as well as the books at the event and I’m going to take the plunge and install some track lighting in my studio. I miss having prints on the walls and I want to be surrounded by them. The track lighting is expensive, but it was part of the long term plan for Vela Noche, so I’m going to leap and just stop thinking about it constantly. I’ve been obsessing about money all the time lately. Mostly, I think, because of all the projects that fill my mind all day. Is it wrong, to simply want to bring beauty into the world as a profession? Could someone pay me to do that? There are three people’s projects that I can think of that I’d love to publish. The only thing stopping me is money. So, I’m formally writing a business plan for Vela Noche. I really need to get a loan and get it off the ground. Again, massive panic has stopped that from happening too, although with the writing, with the plan to follow, I think it will be a little easier. I come from a family of entrepreneurs… I can’t help it, it’s in my blood.

I wish it didn’t cost so much to be a photographer. I wish I could add up every dollar I’ve spent on this passion. I think I’d be scared to see the total actually. I’ve got a show coming up at Marylhurst University in July. It’s a solo show, in a fairly large space. It could probably hold 20 prints. But I won’t show that many. Not because I don’t want to, or because there isn’t enough to show, but because I simply don’t have the money to frame that many pieces. And who does? I have found a wonderful framer in Portland, Framing Resources over on SE Stark and 13th. They’re wonderful, the best framers I’ve ever worked with. They give me discounts, they try to make it as affordable for me as possible. But hey, whenever you’re doing 15 of anything, it’s bound to add up. I was thinking today that someone needs to start a rental framing non-profit for artists. So, here’s how it would work, you could go to the website and see a picture of what frames were available to borrow, what the sizes were, etc. Then you could reserve and borrow them for a month or however long you’d need them. I’m serious about this, how amazing would that be? There would be no mats in the frames, just the frame itself and glass. You would still have to have a mat made, but think of the cost savings. It would be amazing. I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago who had a gallery call to ask for more of his prints. He had to tell them that he literally couldn’t afford to send any more because he couldn’t afford to frame. God that makes me sad and upset. To think of how hard it is to get to a point where you have beautiful pictures, where you can print beautiful prints, where you can find a gallery wanting to sell your work, and then having to turn them down because you can’t figure out a way to pay to put some wood and glass around the print. If anyone is seriously interested in starting some kind of Artist’s Frame Exchange (that works doesn’t it!), I would do whatever I could to help move it along. Man, that would make me happy, to save artists the 1-3K cost of framing for a solo show.

So… back to the event. Here are the details.

Location
My Studio
4039 N Mississippi Avenue, Suite 202
Portland, OR 97227

Date
Saturday, June 26th

Time
6-9pm

Food and drinks will be served.

If you can’t make it, but would still like to make a donation for my trip to Maine, I will be posting the project on Kickstarter.com soon and I will post it here as well. Any little bit will help.

I should also mention that 10% of the book and print sales from the evening will be given to Newspace Center for Photography as a donation.

I hope you all will come and celebrate with me and the Portland photographic community.

1 more thing! I’m looking for an intern to work in my studio with me one day a week to help mostly with marketing efforts. If you know of anyone responsible, professional, organized and proactive, have them send me a resume. Thanks!

More soon…

Displaced Book. © Lauren Henkin. All rights reserved.

Displaced Book. © Lauren Henkin. All rights reserved.

Displaced Book. © Lauren Henkin. All rights reserved.

I am often asked whose work inspires me? And in the past I have quickly rattled off the names of the famous photographers whose books I collect and work I follow. In truth, it is the people below who have provided the most influence, inspiration and help to me. To them I say sincerely, thank you. Without your guidance, the images themselves would not exist, the prints would not express the beauty in the images, the story of this period of my life would not have been told, and I would not be the stronger, more independent person that I am today. This work is as much yours as it is mine.

KAREN KEATING
I met Karen Keating sometime in 2005 or 2006. At the time, she was leading a critique group in Maryland at Photoworks, a center for photography servicing the Washington, DC community that houses a gallery, traditional and digital darkrooms, and work space. I went to her critique group for the first time, hesitantly. I had hardly shown my photographs before and while I had been through some brutal reviews in architecture school, I didn’t know what to expect. I was so nervous that I remember stuttering when I talked about the darkroom prints I was presenting from a series on Charleston, West Virginia. When I laid the prints down, I felt humiliated, my eyes roaming from flaw to flaw.

I think Karen could sense my fear. She gently encouraged me to just keep printing, that the flaws I was seeing, she wasn’t. Looking back, I think I was so nervous because I was desperate to make really good prints. I was losing control of other parts of my life and making photographs was one of the few things that I could control.

For years after that first meeting, Karen slowly helped me see what was good about my work, and what needed improvement. Through her informative discussions, constructive criticism, and keen eye, I began to learn not only about what is good work, but how to talk about images. Now, when I lead my own critique group, I am constantly measuring my own commentary to hers, Was that constructive enough? Was that too harsh? Was that not enough? Was it too much? Is that image too dark or too contrasty? Does this image fit in the body of work? Am I sure this image should go first?, etc. Mostly importantly, I try to treat everyone with a high level of respect and dignity, no matter what kind of work they bring, no matter what level they are at. Karen has taught me so much, but I think her biggest gift was an ability now to guide others hopefully as masterfully as she does…

TYLER BOLEY
Almost immediately after I left that first meeting with Karen, I decided I wanted to switch from darkroom to digital printing. I invested a lot in the darkroom I had at home, but I wasn’t getting the level of control that I wanted and wasn’t able to carve out enough time to be in the darkroom to make any real progress. I didn’t know what I was entering into, but figured that my experience in graphic design would at least make the transition easier for me than it was for others.

In my quest for achieving the best possible prints, I started reading about Jon Cone’s inks for Epson printers and the type of printing he developed call piezography. I didn’t know much about it, but I was immediately excited seeing how much of an improvement Jon’s inks were over Epson’s. Click here for an introduction… I wanted to learn more about piezography and digital printing in general. So in the Spring of 2007, I took a digital printing & piezography workshop with Tyler Boley up at Jon Cone’s studios in Vermont.

A few summers before that, I took a darkroom printing class with George Tice at the Maine Media Workshops. What I learned from him was how a black and white print should look. I needed to learn from Tyler how to achieve that printing digitally. The first day he spent hours laying out a ton of digital prints, some his, some from others’ work that he had printed, both in black and white and color. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I think I got goose bumps looking at the black and white prints, I had never seen such beautiful prints in my life, darkroom or digital. The tone of the prints and the perfect execution left me speechless. I was printing on glossy paper up to that point, and was stunned by the soft beauty of the work on the matte rag paper. I hadn’t photographed yet in Nova Scotia, but I think that seeing these prints helped me previsualize what the final prints could be when I did finally make it there in the summer of 2007. Seeing Harry Callahan’s work years earlier at the National Gallery of Art had confirmed for me what kind of photographer I wanted to be. Seeing Tyler’s prints confirmed for me what kind of printer I wanted to be.

During that week, and the years that followed, Tyler generously helped me reach the level of craft that I had dreamed of when I first showed my prints to Karen Keating. He helped me bridge the gap from merely having good negatives, to producing good photographs. I would never have been able to reach the point I have without his help. Whenever someone looks through the book or at prints and says, “I didn’t know prints could look like this,” I think of Tyler and how many people he has helped, people he’s never met, nor ever will likely meet—people who have no idea that they are benefiting from his expertise. All of us photographers that really care about the craft of printing are indebted to him and his willingness to experiment and push the boundaries of printing in ways that haven’t trickled down to the masses… yet.

JOEL PRESTON SMITH
I started talking to Joel through a fan letter that he sent me. He is originally from West Virginia and one of his uncles had seen my work titled The Other Charleston about the state’s capital, and told Joel about it.

When I read the letter, I decided to look up his work and was astounded by his images, taken just before and after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He has a completely different shooting style than I do—he goes for in-your-face drama, for impact, for power; I go for quiet, peace, and subtlety. I had never been so impressed, not just with the images, but with his incredible writing talent as well. I can’t think of any other photographer that I have ever encountered, who has his combination of abilities—for photography and writing. It is a unique set of skills and craft that will forever influence the standard by which I measure my own work.

Of anyone, Joel has been there guiding me from beginning to end in this work. He is a very confident viewer—he knows what he likes and what he doesn’t and is generous enough to share his opinion with the belief that it is a gift rather than a burden to truly know what people think when they look at your images. I deeply value and respect that. There aren’t many people out there that are brave enough to share what they really think. It is a offering Joel has given me time and time again, and he has made my work stronger and stronger. He has affected every part of who I am and I believe has made improvements in my ability to see, compose, edit, sequence and write.

Without Joel continually pushing me (while kicking and screaming at times), I would not be the photographer I am. He has been one of the few to ever encourage me to face the fears that have plagued me for decades, and showed me, through actions of his own, and through faith in me (even when I gave him reasons not to)—how to be a better, kinder, more open and giving person. These are gifts that I sadly will not be able to repay in any way except with my own improvement and contribution to the world. I will continue to try…

KIRSTEN RIAN
I haven’t known Kirsten Rian that long. We met in March, 2009, just about a year ago when I asked her to review my work and give me some direction for the upcoming portfolio reviews at PhotoLucida. When I presented my Nova Scotia images to her, the first question she asked was, Why did you go there? When I gave some vague answer, she asked again, Yes, but why did you go there? Eventually, I answered her directly, I was separating from my husband, and I needed to reclaim myself. Aaaah, she said, yes, now I see it. I hadn’t been sharing that aspect of the work before that moment. I think she saw me tearing up and I could tell, there was some kind of understanding between us. I didn’t know if she had been married, or divorced, or had been in difficult relationships before, but she looked at me and I just knew she understood what the work was about, and what I was about.

Since that first meeting, Kirsten has been like a sister to me, the much-needed mentor and friend that I have longed for since I started photographing. As a writer, musician, painter herself, she brings a different perspective. As a photography curator and former gallery director, she brings a common understanding. She has an acute eye for imagery and for what works and what doesn’t and she is one of the few people that has actually, through example, been able to share the secret to how to sequence images. The ideas that I have about my own work, the insecurities that I have, are often set free by Kirsten’s mutual understanding.

I think she is the most overall talented person I know, capable of accomplishing anything she wants to. Every time I talk to her I learn about some new part of her life that I didn’t know before—some major book she edited, the indie music label she started, the book deal she helped secure for another artist. Her talents are vast, her commitment to fine art, unwavering. She is a model to me where there are few, of dedication and perseverance. As I move forward, her opinion, in life and in art become more and more invaluable. I can’t imagine not having her in my life.

Of course I will never really be able to thank them, or express how deeply their knowledge, kindness and generosity has helped me. All I can say is that the time during which I was creating the work in this book was the most difficult and challenging of my life. Each of these people, in their own way, offered a lifeline out of hopelessness. Any success that I may have in the future, they each have a hand in—and I am grateful for them.

MARKETING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS WORKSHOP
I will present a morning seminar on effective marketing strategies for fine art photographers. We will discuss how to develop relationships with curators and galleries, the benefits of portfolio reviews and producing effective marketing materials. Lauren will also make a presentation on the emerging book market, funding opportunities, logistics, and marketing for limited edition artists books.
Saturday, July 31st / 9:30am – 1:00pm / $75.00

PORTFOLIO REVIEWS
I will be offering 20-minute individual portfolio review and coaching sessions to assist photographers in their marketing and artistic development.
Saturday, August 7th / By Appointment / $60.00

BOOK LAUNCH &; SIGNING: DISPLACED
Saturday, August 7th / 7:00pm

To register for either the marketing workshop or a portfolio review time, please click here.

© Lauren Henkin, Central Park, 2009

I hope to see you there!

________________________________________________________________________________________

Here is the description of the program from Blue Sky’s website:
In July 2007, Blue Sky established a program to specifically feature the work of photographers based in the Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and British Columbia. While Blue Sky’s gallery exhibitions rotate on a monthly basis, photographs featured in the Drawers remain for longer periods.

You are welcome to have a look by simply opening any one of the Drawers. Should you want to see more work by a particular artist, please ask the Gallery Attendant for assistance. Artists provide prices for all prints that are for sale.


Displaced Update
I will be heading down to San Francisco shortly to deliver the final printed pages to John DeMerritt of John DeMerritt Bookbinding. I will be posting information on closing thoughts about the production of the book. It has been a journey… For those of you contemplating buying a copy, there are only a few left at the $350 price and I believe with the announcement of upcoming book launches that I will be making soon, the rest at that price will be gone quickly. Email me and let me know if you have any questions.


Marketing Workshop
I have been working diligently preparing to teach this workshop on April 3rd. A general (very general) outline of what we’ll talk about includes:

1. Marketing for Photographers
a. What is marketing?
b. How to Market Your Work:
i. Before you Begin
ii. Exhibitions
iii. Alternative Ways to Promote/Sell your Work
iv. Getting Traditional Press Coverage
v. Getting Online Press Coverage
vi. Networking
vii. Promotional Mailings
viii. Web Presence
ix. Email Blasts/Updates
x. Lectures/Artist Talks
xi. Publishing A Book
2. Fundraising
3. Resources


More to come including new work…

I talked with Thom Sempere, the Executive Director of the San Francisco Photo Alliance about the differences between the two events and the thing that stood out to me the most was the intimacy of the event. At certain points throughout the weekend, I had wished that I had come to this event as my first portfolio event rather than PhotoLucida and it had nothing to do with the quality of the reviews or feedback. It had more to do with the intimacy of the event, and with half the number of reviews, I didn’t feel the need to collapse after the entire thing was over. After the 23 reviews I had at PhotoLucida (more if you add roving reviewers), I needed to lock myself in a quiet room for about a week to recover. I didn’t know what to expect before PhotoLucida and I think I would have been better prepared for the whole experience if I had gone to a smaller one like the one held this weekend in San Francisco.

Below is a list of who I met with and what if anything I can take away immediately. I did learn from PhotoLucida that you should wait at least a year to track all of the results from these events and what may appear to seem unlikely to provide any lasting results could drastically change in a short period. So, as things progress from this event, I will update you.

Day 1

Anne Kelly, Associate Gallery Director, photo-eye Gallery
I knew early on that really wanted to meet Anne Kelly. photo-eye‘s web site gets between 7,000 and 8,000 hits a day. I had met Melanie McWhorter, the Book Division Manager for photo-eye in April at PhotoLucida. She responded well to my work and to the book dummy I had created for Displaced. When it was time to start marketing the book, I contacted Melanie and she responded by adding it to photo-eye’s collection of books for sale, as well as posting it as the “Curated Selection of the Day” about a month ago. So, I thought that by meeting Anne, I could gain another connection at photo-eye, and see what we could do to help the sale of the book, possibly through their gallery. She looked through everything I brought and seemed to respond the most to Displaced. We had a nice conversation and at the end of our 20 minutes (which feels like 20 seconds) she suggested that I submit the Displaced series for photo-eye’s Photographer’s Showcase. This is something, that if accepted, will have made the whole trip worthwhile. The amount of exposure and validation given to the artist’s jury-accepted into the Showcase is extremely high. I will be submitting my work this week…

David Maisel, Photographer
When I went to PhotoLucida, I went hard after the gallery owners and book representatives. I didn’t give myself the luxury of meeting with any other photographers who were reviewing and I regret that. So, I decided in San Francisco, that I would actually give myself the chance to see what these successful photographers thought. The questions I was most interested in having them answer were: Am I on the right path? What flaws do you see in this work? What could I be doing differently? I have to say that David Maisel gave me the most encouragement. He said I am definitely on the right path, that whatever I want out of photography will come, and that I need to be patient enough to let it happen organically. I am a big fan of his work so, hearing this really gave me a lot of confidence. There is a different dynamic talking to other photographers. There seems to be at the least, an appreciation for the effort and perseverance. They understand how hard it is, how competitive it is. In the future, if I went to FotoFest or another big portfolio review event, I would definitely mix in a few photographers whose work I respect. If nothing else, it is a wonderful break from the worry and stress of going from one gallerist to another all day…

Anne Veh, Art Consultant & Independent Curator
Again, at PhotoLucida, I hadn’t met with any independent curators or consultants, so I really didn’t know what to expect. Anne is a very warm, outgoing person, and we fell easily into conversation about my work. She was also heavily interested in the book as she has been involved in curating for books as well. She was very enthusiastic about the possibilities. Sometimes during these reviews, you’ll see a reviewer look off, like they’re trying to think about opportunities or other artists to look at. She did that during our meeting, and I felt optimistic that something would come from this meeting. I’m not sure yet what that will be, but she told me she wanted to keep in touch and to keep her informed of any new or updated work.

Christopher McCall, Director, Pilara Foundation
When I researched the Pilara Foundation in preparation for the reviews, I came across this:

“Pacific Waterfront Partners (PWP) was engaged to identify and secure a location for the storage, management and curation of the Pilara Foundation’s photography collection. PWP negotiated and secured approval for a 10 year lease from the San Francisco Port Commission and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, secured all necessary permits and entitlements for the project, performed pre-development consulting services, oversaw the design process, bid and selected the general contractor for the project, oversaw and managed the construction.

At 27,000 square feet, the Pilara Family Foundation at Pier 24 is one of the largest buildings dedicated to the collection and preservation of photography in the U.S.(By comparison, New York’s MOMA dedicates about 7,000 square feet of gallery space to displaying its photography collection.) The building is used for the curation and active storage of fine art photography.

The Pilara-PWP renovation of Pier 24 achieves the Department of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Rehabilitation, and represents a major turnaround for one of San Francisco’s long-forgotten waterfront gems.”

This new space will be close to 4 TIMES the size of what MoMA dedicates to photography. When I read this, I knew this was a huge opportunity. I have to say that in terms of critical feedback, Christopher McCall was probably the best I got all weekend. When presenting your work, do you ever look at maybe one image here, an image there that you feel insecure about, or maybe a little flaw that you hope no one will see, but then cast those little fears aside as paranoia? Well Christopher picked up on the ones that I had perfectly and we talked about them, productively. I was grateful for the feedback. He also said that by far I had the most exquisite presentation that he’d seen and was genuinely grateful that I had taken the time, expense and effort to show my respect for the work and for the people seeing it by presenting it all so beautifully. He seemed to really like my work and wanted me to keep in touch. I definitely will.

Linda Connor, Photographer & Educator
I selected Linda as a reviewer mostly because I admired her work, but once I got to San Francisco, I realized that of all the reviewers there, she seemed like someone who could end up being a good mentor or just a trusty pair of eyes for future projects. We didn’t have much time to delve into how she got where she was, but we were able to scratch the surface. She looked at all of my work and had many positive comments. One criticism she gave me was she thought I was being too ambitious with the Displaced book. It may be that she didn’t think the Holga work should have been paired with the images from Nova Scotia. I know that may be a doubt in some people’s mind about whether it is was an appropriate decision to make, but I believe the longer you can spend looking at it all, the more it makes sense. She has a show coming up in Portland during August at Newspace Center for Photography and asked me I’d like to have lunch when she’s here. I said yes, and hope to build a friendship with her. I already get the sense that many look up to her as an excellent educator and photographer.

Paul Schiek, Artist, Publisher TBW Books
I met Paul as the last review appointment on Saturday. As packed as my schedule had been that day, I believe the reviewers were even more booked. He seemed tired. I was tired. Mostly we ended up talking about St. Louis and our backgrounds. He was from the midwest, I studied there and we were just sharing information about the region and how we got into photography. Honestly, I was so tired, I didn’t feel like even talking about my prints anymore, I just wanted to relax and have a normal conversation. I didn’t think Paul’s work would necessarily be a good fit for me, but what I was really interested in was how he went about getting representation from the Stephen Wirtz Gallery. I was so tired, I forgot to ask. I hope we’ll be able to stay in touch and maybe I’ll get my answer…

Day 2

Whitney Johnson, Associate Picture Editor, The New Yorker
I have to admit, I wanted to meet Whitney purely for the excitement of being able to get some time with a Picture Editor of a huge publication, who sees thousands of images and who I could never imagine being able to get 20 minutes with under normal circumstances. Whitney explained the process by which she ends up searching for images and the database that The New Yorker maintains. She is able to search by artist name as well as with keywords. She felt that of all my work, the series of the abandoned yard sale called Remnants could be the best fit. She said it varies greatly what the time requirement is for her to identify imagery for a particular feature, usually from 1 day to 1 week. I really think this would be a long shot, but you never know…

Dennis Kiel, Chief Curator, The Light Factory Contemporary Museum of Photography
The biggest part of making a portfolio review event a successful one is trying, as best you can, to figure out who are going to be the people that will respond to your work, and that is nearly impossible to do. Reading bios, seeing what a Museum is currently showing, and just knowing someone’s personal taste can make all of the difference in making these meetings productive. I really didn’t know much about Dennis Kiel. I researched, but still felt going into our appointment that it was going to be a wild card. He actually ended up liking Still Standing, Standing Still the best. He said he liked “simple” projects, ones that focused on a single idea or concept and were well executed and easy to view. That work was last in the box to get shown, so not much conversation had been generated up to that point about the work. After hearing what other reviewees were saying about how he responded to their work, I got a very clear understanding of what to send Dennis in the future. This is part of the task also, to get to know these people, what they like not just for what you’re showing now, but for future work…

Stefan Kirkeby, Co-owner, Smith Anderson North Gallery
Next, I met with Stefan Kirkeby, co-owner of the Smith Anderson North Gallery in San Rafael, CA. Stefan has a great personality, very outgoing, friendly and upbeat. He actually liked everything I showed him and saw the connections I hoped for throughout all of the work. Luis Delgado happened to be free during that time slot, so he joined in. Bonus! Stefan seemed to be the most interested in getting moving on a show. He asked me to send him images (which I included on my leave behind). It’s always a good thing to be asked for files… We’ll see what happens, but I really enjoyed the time with Stefan, it was relaxed and fun.

Joanna Lehan, Associate Editor, Books, Aperture Foundation
Joanna, like Whitney Johnson, was another review I signed up for simply to have the opportunity for her attention to my prints for twenty minutes. I knew the chances of that happening on my own were next to none, so I was definitely interested to see what she had to say. She liked the work I showed, but particularly responded to Still Standing, Standing Still. It was strange because the first day of reviews was all about Displaced and Remnants, but day two was all about Still Standing, Standing Still. She talked about seeing it on a wall in a grid. We also discussed the importance of knowing how much, or how little to reveal to your viewers about the work. I told her it seemed like a fine line between letting people know how invested you are in the work, but not drowning the experience of viewing for them either, and allowing something to be taken away. The other interesting suggestion Joanna had was for me to try and get on a symposium or teach a workshop in how to finance your self published book. She was very interested in how I won the grant, got Moab Paper involved, and pre-sold a number of books to end up with a minimal financial investment in the Displaced book. I hadn’t thought about it, but she said that almost every person she talks to at the reviews asks her about self publishing and how to finance the project, find buyers, etc. I think this is a great idea and maybe, the Regional Arts & Culture Council will let me propose a program…

Some other thoughts…

I had lunch on Friday before the reviews started with Ed Carey, Director of Gallery 291. It was my second time meeting him (see earlier posts). The last time we met I presented work and this time he suggested we head out and get a bite to eat which we did at a nearby Japanese restaurant. We had a really nice, relaxed lunch talking about why he decided to open the gallery, whether he missed doing more photography himself, and the state of the fine art photography market in general. It was wonderful to be able to relax and talk about each of our interests and work. I proposed that when the book is done, that I come down, give an artist talk and have a book launch. He seemed open to that idea and we planned to meet and/or talk some more when I head back down to San Francisco in a few weeks to drop off my finished pages to John DeMerritt to bind. Ed has a lot of insight into the gallery world and he’s genuine and kind and I look forward to getting to know him and his wife better who I was able to meet that evening at the Photo Alliance lecture. Thanks Ed!

And a special thank you to Thom Sempere.

This is my second portfolio review event. The first one I participated in was last year’s PhotoLucida conference in Portland. It’s been fascinating to track what has come from it. It is a good lesson in marketing and being open and aware of how to lead a flow of events when you’re unsure of where it’s all heading.

A case in point… At PhotoLucida, I left two different postcards out for people to pick up as well as business cards. I honestly didn’t think anything would come of it, but a few months after the reviews ended, I got an e-mail from Aline Smithson who wanted to interview me for a piece that would run in an upcoming issue of Light Leaks magazine. I never actually met Aline. But the issue has just now come out and it’s a beautiful feature piece with about 10 images from my Displaced: Part II portfolio. What is even more interesting is that a few days after the issue was released, I got another e-mail from Quinton Gordon, the director of the LUZ Gallery in Victoria, British Columbia expressing an interest in possibly including some of that work in a group show in 2010. I don’t know if Quinton saw the Light Leaks issue (shame on me for not inquiring yet), but the timing was right for me to make the assumption. What is the lesson here? Never assume anything about what will bring exposure. One of the best things to come from that event happened because someone I never met picked up a card, kept it, and contacted me later for an interview.

Another follow-up story from PhotoLucida… One of the reviewers that I met with was Thom Sempere, the Executive Director of the San Francisco Photo Alliance. I would say he was one of the reviewers that understood and appreciated my work the most. I remember leaving our session wondering, what if anything, could come from it. They don’t have a gallery, they don’t represent artists, but it was nice to get the feedback none-the-less.

Then, last December, a good 8 months after we met, he sent me an e-mail asking me to donate a print for their annual auction. I agreed mostly because I respected Thom and wanted to help him. I knew he had kept me and my work in the back of his mind and I felt that by donating a print, it would support someone who had already given me a lot of encouragement. After the auction occurred, he followed up with me saying that he had spoken to Ed Carey, the director of Gallery 291 and that I should get in touch with him to schedule an appointment to show some prints. Gallery 291 (www.gallery291.net) is a gorgeous gallery, right on Union Square in downtown San Francisco. I was amazed that Thom had been able to make such a perfect match for my work. Ed shows beautiful work, and all of the pieces I have seen have an attention to craftsmanship and printing that is extremely important to me. I made a trip down to San Francisco last November, met Ed in the gallery and presented my work. It was a good meeting, he seemed genuinely interested in the work, and me, and it gave me an opportunity to explore the gallery, see the prints they were showing, how the space was broken up, etc. The other work that was being shown was elegant and well executed. The space was beautiful, the location, ideal. I left the meeting feeling optimistic. I’m meeting Ed Carey for lunch for our second meeting tomorrow (today I should say) at 12:30p.m. I bring this story up because again, I was surprised. I really had no idea what, if anything, would come from my initial meeting with Thom Sempere, but my work must have stuck with him, and he has gone out of his way to help me. The point here is no matter who you meet, what your initial impressions of them are, you should treat everyone as if they were going to give you a big break in your career.

As I prepare for this second portfolio review event, I thought I would share some tips from what I have learned thus far in this awkward process of having what feels like 5 seconds to describe work that has taken a lifetime to produce. First, be very careful about how much information you give. You don’t need to forcefeed what the concept behind your work is. If you do feel that urge, it may be that your work isn’t strong enough to convey the concept in the first place. Give the reviewer enough to be interested, and then let them have their own time and space to experience the photographs. Periods of silence are helpful, they give the reviewer time to become lost in the images. The twenty minutes goes very quickly so if you can seduce them into the story in that amount of time, you’re ahead of the game. Second, although many of the instructions for the review say to bring one full and complete body of work, I recommend bringing more. At PhotoLucida, I brought 2 portfolios, here I have brought 3. There were many times when I was presenting when there was time to go through another body. You will get a sense of whether the reviewer is into the first body of work pretty quickly. If they’re not, you’ll be thanking yourself immensely for bringing another series. I recommend bringing something that might show a different side of your abilities, to be able to make the point that you have range as a photographer and let them see that you have two completed portfolios, both spoken with the same voice. This is a big point to make in such a little amount of time, but bringing extra work can do that for you. Third, if possible, have something available that you can pass around that is a small, portable way for people to view your work. At PhotoLucida, I brought a book dummy for Displaced. I can’t tell you how many more people saw my work because I had something that could easily be passed around. It also pleased the reviewers to see that I had thought the project through to that level, and opened up a whole new way for them to see my work. It was not something I had thought through, the bringing of the book dummy, but I was incredibly happy to have it there.

The reviews start tomorrow morning. I will post more shortly!

I am moving into a new studio on Monday. The new space is right on N. Mississippi Avenue and is in a beautiful new building. Details to come on an opening party!

More soon!