Third Thursday Photography Forum
Past Presenters
2008
May - Linda Wheatley of Sweet Mango Tours and Calais photographer Craig Line presented photographs of Thailand. Linda has been traveling to Thailand for over twenty years, including a three year stint in Bangkok as Associate Director for Health Programs for the Peace Corps. Craig Line has traveled to many parts of the world documenting local life through his camera lens. In November 2008, Sweet Mango Tours and Craig Line Photography of Calais are offering a two-week tour, "A Photographer's Journey to Thailand." More information is available on the website.
April - Wendy James presented photomontage. Her close up abstractions from nature, landscapes, and man-made structures captured with film in the 1980s are combined with more recent digital images. "Intrigued by the evocative photomontages of Jerry Uelsmann, and as the digital world made the process of combining images easier, I moved toward creating photomontages of surreal scenes. I pour through old negatives, captured decades ago, and new digital images to find compelling combinations. I enjoy creating new worlds and dreamlike environments." Galleries presently exhibiting James' pieces in Vermont include the Lazy Pear in Montpelier, and the Brickhouse Studio Gallery in Stowe.
March - Lisa Dimondstein showed photomontages -- the process of creating a new image by combining two or more transparencies in a new slide mount or by combining digital images using Photoshop. Lisa showed examples of three styles of montage (reversal montage, surreal montage and composite montage) and
shared student work from a recent CPS class.
February - Participants were invited to bring a book with the work of a favorite photographer to share with the group, as well as any personal work influenced by that photographer.
January -- Participants were invited to bring work prints, finished prints or raw ideas to get feedback and perspective from other photographers. The group shared black and white and color prints and digital photographs, landscapes and portraits.
2007
November - Memphis Barbree presented Tibet in Exile, a photographic view of the exiled Tibetan people and their spiritual and political leader, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. "On a journey through India in early 2006 I ventured on a long, winding, stomach churning, two-day drive through a cold downpour from near Delhi to McCleod Gunj, a Himalayan village perched on a steep hillside on the outskirts of Dharamsala, India. McLeod Gunj is home to the Tibetan government in exile, about 8,000 Tibetan refugees and the Dalai Lama." sfmemphis@mac.com www.memphisbarbree.com
October -- Center for Photographic Studies instructors Sandra Shenk, Jamie Cope, Andrew Kline and Pam Boyd presented a survey of upcoming fall classes, showing work including photo montage, portraits, pinhole photography and low light photography. The presentations were followed by critique of work shared by attending photographers.
September -- Professor Marjorie Ryerson described how for the past decade she has utilized her skills as an art photographer, magazine photographer and writer to help protect and heal the earth’s waters. Ryerson showed work from her photography book, Water Music, and talked about the creation the Vermont non-profit organization Water Music, Inc., which she directs. The book and the larger project use photography, music and musicians to raise awareness about water and to help raise money for global water-protection projects.
May -- Participants were invited to bring work prints, finished prints or raw ideas to get feedback and perspective from other photographers. Ed Pierce, Irina Markova and Jim Eaton shared black and white and color prints and digital photographs, landscapes and portraits.
April - With Peruvian crafts on display and Peruvian music for ambience, Sandra Shenk presented "In the Mountains of the Inca: Travels in Peru," a compilation of images by five Vermonters who hiked the Inca Trail in the fall of 2005. Sandra has looked through the lens of a camera on and off since high school. To jump-start her new career in photography, Sandra enrolled in the Rocky Mountain School of Photography after retiring from her "real job" three years ago.
March - Jane English began photographing while completing a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Wisconsin, ultimately pursuing a career in photography. Her black and white photographs of nature illustrate six books, including a best-selling translation of the Chinese classic Tao Te Ching, published in 1972 by Random House. Jane founded Earth Heart in 1985. After living in Mount Shasta, California for 15 years, Jane moved back to her native New England in 2002. Most of Jane's recent books and calendars have been published by Amber Lotus, giving her time to focus on creative work rather than on business matters.
February - Wayne Fawbush presented photographs from his 35-years of shooting everything from weddings to ice crystals. He showed photographs of the woods and lakes in Vermont, his own flower garden, and from travels throughout the U.S. and the world. Wayne began shooting 35 years ago during an intensive year of travel in Japan, where he shot primarily black-and-white, using Ansel Adams’ “Zone System.” Later, he ran a commercial darkroom for two years doing black-and-white and color development, copying and printing.
January - Montpelier photographer Annie Tiberio Cameron, has been taking solo wilderness camping trips for 15 years. From these trips, she has developed a retrospective slide show that has toured across the country called "Death Valley, Okefenokee and Beyond." Annie presented images that arose from these trips to destinations including the Okefenokee Swamp, the Rockies, Hawaii, the Florida Everglades. Annie discusssed her mode of camping, photo equipment, and why these trips became important to her photography work. Annie was an education coordinator for the Massachusetts Audubon Society for a total of 13 years. She has taught photography for Continuing Education at the University of Massachusetts and the National Wildlife Federation. After more than 35 years living in Amherst, Massachusetts, Annie recently moved to Montpelier.
2006
November - Craig Line has been photographing people and places around the world for more than 20 years. Craig showed selected images from South America, England, France, Italy, Belgium, Turkey, and the former Soviet Union. Some of the images are featured in his 2007 calendar of international images. If you purchase a calendar from his website and mention CPS, a portion of the proceeds will benefit CPS. Call 229-5621 for more information.
October - Liza Semler presented a photodocumentary essay, "The Last Morning Milking.". A graduate of Wheaton College, Liza was awarded a Watson Fellowship which sponsored a year of independent travel and exploration into industrialized countries where old farmers on small family farms are struggling to cope with competition from large-scale operations and a lack of interest in farming among younger generations. After a year of working on farms around the world, observing and documenting the lives and stories of older dairy farmers, Liza returned to Vermont with a collection of photographs to tell the story of farmers whose tales strike a similar chord to those of aging dairy farmers in Vermont. From cheesemaking on the Swiss Alps to a milking parlor at the end of a hot, dusty Australian road, the images represented the trials and triumphs of modern-day dairy farmers on small family farms in Ireland, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, Spain and Switzerland.
September - Bob Belenky of Plainfield presented Culture, Class and Race: Portraits of Haitian Children. Bob's enthusiasm for digital photography stems from the instant feedback possible, spurring an animated conversation between photographer and subject. In countries where few people can afford cameras, photographic portraits are highly valued. His portraits of Haitian childrent contain an excitement, an immediacy, and an intensity, and provide a way of saying, "I see you as a beautiful person." In Bob's opinion, digital photography is a conversation dependent on but transcending technology.
June - Barre High School students presented Across Generations: The Barre Portrait and Oral History Project. Sponsored by the Chittenden Bank Card for Kids Program, the students worked in the CPS studio two afternoons a week between February and May 2006 printing black and white photographs and developing interviewing skills with educator Carley Stevens McLaughlin. Each student paired up with a Barre elder to create portraits and record an oral history.The students displayed their work and discussed their experience with this intergenerational community project. Thanks so much to our generous sponsors! Chittenden Bank Card for Kids Program • AfterImage Photography • Allstate Insurance Company • Barre Technical Center • Hull Printing • Trow & Holden • City of Montpelier Community Arts Fund • Polaroid • Vermont Arts Council • National Endowment for the Arts
May - Burlington photogrpaher Gina D'Amico presented her photographs from various locations around the world. Gina's photographs have been displayed, published in newspapers, used for CD art and band press kits. She won 1st place at the 2005 Champlain Valley Fair Art Gallery in Essex and 3rd Place at the 2005 Art’s Alive Festival in Burlington.
April - Nature and Landscape Photographer Fred E. White of Northfield presented a slide show entitled: Good Photographs and Better Photographs. Fred discussed the elements of good photographs and how to improve your photography. He showed examples of subjects shot in varying manners to improve results.
March - CPS Instructors Bill Steinhurst, Sandra Shenk, Craig Line and Andrew Kline showed examples of their work in the context of upcoming classes they each offered in Digital Camera, Polaroid Transfers, Landscape and Nature Photography and Portraiture, respectively.
February - Photographer Michael Belenky of Cabot showed black and white portraits from his work in the mid ‘80s in New York City. Michael Belenky began his “Studio of the streets” in the summer of 1984. Inspired by direct and powerful work of photographers like Diane Arbus, Weegee, August Sanders and Irving Penn, he created a nomadic portable photographic portrait studio that he set up throughout the city at night. The pictures are intimate formal studies of people who made up the life of the streets during this particular time in New York City.
January -- Bob Eddy showed work spanning his twenty-year career as a photojournalist and freelance photographer. He discussed the trials of photography for publication: what works; what can go wrong; and what to do about it. Bob Eddy is photo editor for the Randolph Herald where he has served on the staff since 1986. In addition to his work for the paper, he travels New England shooting for Cabot Creamery and is known for his natural portraits. His credits include Reader's Digest, The New York Times, and Vermont Life.
2005
November - During a trip to the remote region of Ladakh in northern India, Dylan Kelley recorded the physical and cultural landscape. Employing a unique sense of light and shadow, Dylan's photographs capture the disappearing culture of traditional Ladakh while providing a portrait of modern Ladakh. Dylan is a recent graduate of Chelsea High School and plans to enter college in the fall of 2006 to major in photojournalism.
October -- Participants were invited to bring work prints, finished prints or raw ideas to get feedback and perspective from other photographers.
September - CPS hosted a field trip to the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury to view an exhibit of the work of master documentary photographer, Neil Rappaport. Produced in conjunction with the recent publication of Messages from a Small Town: Photographs Inside Pawlet, Vermont by Susanne Rappaport (Vermont Folkllife Center, 2005). The exhibit will be at the Vermont Folklife Center Gallery through November 12.
May - Morrisville photographer Orah Moore spoke about her publishing business, Haymaker Press and her commercial work, shooting weddings and special occasions, portraits, creating black and white and fine art prints, installation art and stock photos. Orah sells her matted and framed original photography, hand-tipped photo cards and Haymaker Press products featuring her photographs printed on posters, greeting cards, blank journals, tee shirts, tote bags, magnets, and key chains. Orah spoke about her move from a home-based wholesale company to a retail presence at her store in Morrisville, and now to a web shopping cart. See Orah's work at Haymaker Card & Gift Shop at 84 Lower Main St. in Morrisville or on her website, www.haymakerpress.com
April - Local photographer and photography educator Carley Stevens-McLaughlin presented slides of her black-and-white portraits and a restrospective of photographs. Dedicated to giving a voice to youths and their self-expression, Carley’s book Public Faces, Private Places is a collection of portraits and quotations featuring Montpelier High School students. For the past 15 years, Carley has taught in two Vermont schools, in after-school programs and at Johnson State College. Her work, featuring women, youths and life in Puerto Rico and Mexico has been exhibited extensively throughout New England. Carley's second book, Public Faces, Private Places: Expanding Our Vision, is due out Fall 2005.
March - Recovering architect, industrial designer, inventor of Pan Scenic Photography, and pinhole camera lover Howard Romero showed experimental cameras he has designed and built, along with the photographs they produce--some up to 15' long. Romero's PanScenic images tumble mulitple aspects of a scene into one photograph--without digital manipulation. His love affair with the soft feel of the pinhole camera image has led him to develop pinhole lenses on high-end digital cameras . . . the sublime mated to the superb. Howard Romero has exhibited in 12 solo shows.
February - Jane Walker Richmond: Adventure Travel Photography
Jane presented a program about the challenges and rewards of adventure travel photography. Involved in photography for over 45 years, Jane Walker Richmond managed both Country Camera and Pro Cam. Now retired, she continues to teach nature photography and composition for the 4H Family Outdoor Weekend and for the Vermont Fish and Wildlife's Becoming and Outdoor Woman Program.
January - Daniel Neary, Jr. practices fine art photography. He presented his photographs of Vermont through the four seasons. A retired Associated Press photographer, Dan set up the original AP darkroom in Montpelier. He has published his photographs and shown his work in the area, most recently exhibiting at One Main Street in Burlington and at City Hall in Montpelier.
2004
November - Michael T. Jermyn presented a digital slide show entitled: The Survival of Pictorialism in the Digital Age. Michael is a photographer/artist residing in Montpelier for the past three years. Before that he and his family lived in New York's Hudson Valley. Greatly influenced by photography's old masters such as Alfred Stieglitz, Bill Brandt, Edward Steichen, Clarence White, the great P.H. Emerson, and Edward Weston, Michael has been trying to keep the flame of pictoriarism alive in a rapidly changing photographic landscape. Michael has had numerous solo shows the past 10 years from NYC down to Charleston, SC.
October - Craig Line presented photographs from the recently released book, Vermont 24/7. The photographs were all taken as part of the America 24/7 book project. The producers of the “Day in the Life of America” series of books, Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen, hired at least 20 photographers in each state, and set them loose photographing whatever they saw that week. They also solicited photos from students and other amateur photographers, resulting in a collection of more than a million images, from which a national book, America 24/7, and books for each state were produced. This project is the largest digital image publishing project ever undertaken.
Craig Line is a professional photographer who worked as a newspaper photographer for the Associated Press for many years. He lives in Calais with his wife, Tinatin, his daughter, Nina Isabelle, and his dog, Lila.
September - Doug Shane presented a program entitled, "Unclaimed Heirlooms: The Romance of Abandoned Architecture." Doug has been photographing abandoned architecture throughout North America since 1970. His presentation of color transparencies considered the "meaning" of these magnificent derelicts
and included discussion of photographic technique as well as ghost stories! Doug's photography has been published and exhibited worldwide. A portion of his work is represented by Photo Researchers, a New York-based stock photo agency.
May's Presenter was Chelsea resident Ethan Hubbard. Ethan showed slides of black and white portraits of traditional people from around the world, from small villages in remote places. Hubbard is a former English teacher and deputy director of the Vermont Historical Society, and has traveled for more than 20 years to more than 40 countries. He has mounted 40 photographic exhibitions and has produced 9 books. RavenMark Press of Montpelier has just released his most recent book, Salt Pork & Apple Pie. This collection of warm and tender portraits of rural Vermonters is accompanied by short essays revealing the rich but unromantic lives of these contry people.
April's Presenter was David Middleton. David created, co-directed and contributed photographs to Ancient Forests, The New Key to Ecuador and the Galapagos. He helped to produce The Nature of America, the largest nature photography book project ever undertaken, and was the principle author of American Vision, a tribute to amateur photography. He has written books on nature photography in Vermont and Maine. David teaches workshops on photography, writing and creativity.
The March presenter was Annie Van Avery. Annie creates contemporary photographic portraits using traditional black and white and color prints. Annie has a studio in Montpelier where she specializes in fine art portrait photography. She conducts community workshops and classes in photography to students of all ages and abilities. Annie is currently completing a Master of Fine Arts degree at the Maryland Institute of Art. She works at the Onion River Arts Council, developing community and school art programs. Annie was formerly director of the Center for Photographic Studies.
February's presenter was Mitch Moraski, a photographer for over 25 years, Mitch talked about his business experience as a nature photographer, showed slides of his work and discussed digital photography and the impact it has had on the photo industry. Mitch is owner of Last Frame Photo Lab and Gallery in Waterbury, specializing in film and digital imaging technology.