Paul Caponigro, Yosemite Valley, California, 1972 • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Scott Nichols Gallery’s OUR NATIONAL PARKS exhibit is a stunner – and I can’t even begin to think how great these images  must look on the gallery walls. Putting the exhibit online for the rest of us poor winterbound eastcoasters is such a gift, so take advantage of this largesse and take a look. A long one.

William Henry Jackson, Mt. Harvard, Sawatch Range, View South On Arkansas River, Colorado, Circa 1872 • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Approx. 50 photographs from William Henry Jackson and Carl E. Watkins to Ansel Adams and our own Paul Caponigro are on view. The exhibit is up to see through March 27.

Michael Rauner, Inspiration Point, Yosemite National Park, California, 2005 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

And if you are actually going to SF in person and can see this exhibit before it closes on March 27, don’t tell me. I don’t think I could take it.

Rondal Partridge, Pave It And Paint It Green, Yosemite, mid 1960’s • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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I always get warm and fuzzy feeling when I visit the Smithsonian – finally our tax dollars at work in a way that I can appreciate. Love the free admission to OUR history and culture and arts.

And here’s a show to see: FRAMING THE WEST – The Survey Photographs of Timothy O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan, Timothy H., 1840-1882, photographer. Shoshone Falls, Snake River, Idaho.[United States], 1874.1 photographic print on stereo card : albumen.
Notes: Original negative number: 92.
Part of series: U.S. War Dept., Corps of Engineers; Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of 100th Meridian, Expedition of 1874; Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler, commanding.
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O’Sullivan was a young war photographer, working with Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner throughout the tragic Civil War, but in 1867 joined the team charged with surveying the fortieth parallel led by Clarence King (did you catch this amazing book about King? “Passing Strange – A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line” by Martha A. Sandweiss? You really, really don’t want to miss this one…) Then in 1871 he joined another team that set out to survey the one hundredth meridian. In 1873 O’Sullivan led his own expedition to document the cliff-dwellers and pueblos. We can never truly understand how amazing these expeditions of exploration and documentation were. But there are plenty of books out there to read and try and comprehend the  magnitude of it all.

SLIDSHOW: SMITHSONIAN/Timothy O’Sullivan – see it here!

I went two years ago and spent four hours walking up and down the aisles and had to rush the last hour to just get past every booth. I can’t make the trip this year but will definitely make it a priority next year.

A column by Jean Dykstra in the current PHOTOGRAPH magazine quotes Steven Bulger, Pres. of AIPAD saying that when AIPAD was founded in 1979 there weren’t many photographs selling for over $1000.

Well, how times have changed. With over 70 dealers from all over the world setting up shop for the show you can imagine, without too much effort, the diversity of work and price ranges show-goers will find.

But click here to download the 76 page catalog (only takes seconds) and see for yourself. If you love photographs and don’t spend at least an hour clicking through and reading the captions in this catalog, have a talk with yourself and straighten out your priorities. It’s a free tour through 170 years of images without leaving your couch. Although I wonder if, once you’ve reviewed the catalog, you might not find a friend to make the trip to NYC with and see the real thing?

Last evening we got together for dinner at Jim’s house and then went downstairs to commune with Edward Burtynsky.

Edward Burtynsky: Manufactured Landscapes is really two important parts and I’d start with the less visible part – on the main menu is a feature called Stills, or The Pictures, or something, and this shows 20 of his pictures on the screen one by one while he talks about them. Then go to the “play movie” and you’ll get more out of the actual film itself.

Other films we’ve enjoyed together that are available from Netflix -

William Eggleston in the Real World

Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens

James Nachtwey: War Photographer

Henri Cartier Bresson – The Impassioned Eye

Masters of Photography Series: Edward Steichen

These are all terrific and worth seeing again soon!

A quick, maybe too quick, overview film is: American Photography – A Century of Images. I can never get enough of photography history, so I would recommend you rent it.

On the list to see:

By the Ways, A Journey with William Eggleston

Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye

Masters of Photography: Diane Arbus (not yet available)

Masters of Photography: Andre Kertész

The Adventure of Photography: 150 Years of the Photographic Image

National Geographic: The Photographers

And Susan writes that she saw the American Experience special The Wizard of Photography: George Eastman and thought it was excellent.

Wish I had time to source all these photographers for you with links, but I gotta get back to my Netflix queue and grab these before you do. And after that, the big fat book Jim loaned me – the newest Burtynsky tome.

If you stepped inside the recent exhibit at the University of New England “Going Forward, Looking Back – Practicing Historic Photographic Proceses in the 21st Century” you know that your heartbeat picked up immediately. Who knew so much incredible work was going on in New England studios? The exhibit stimulated a huge interest in historic processes – exactly what it was designed to do – and many viewers and artists returned again and again to study the works.

In fact the demand to understand these processes was so great that the Bakery Collective in Westbrook took action of its own. Coming up are the three remaining courses taught by highly accomplished Maine artists and you need to sign up and get your hands dirty. (Wet Collodion with Keliy Anderson-Staley was held Feb. 20-21, but will repeat May 8/9 and Pinhole Photography with Jack Nordby took place 2/27)

Mt. Mitchell © David Wolfe, 2009 (10″x16″)

On March 20, you can spend the day with VoxPhotographs artist David Wolfe to learn how platinum/palladium prints are made and make one yourself. David has had two shows at VoxPhotographs. He operates Wolfe Editions in Portland. He knows what he is doing.

Disembark © David Wolfe, 2007 (8″x10″)

Then on April 3, Brenton Hamilton will give you an opportunity to learn about cyan and bichromate prints. Brenton has been a fixture at the Maine Media Workshops for 20 years and in fact, the “Going Forward, Looking Back…” exhibit ends up there this fall after two venues in MA. At MMW the exhibit opens on October 22, 5-8.

Poet of Levitation © Brenton Hamilton

Brenton is a renaissance man. He was a guest artist at VoxPhotographs in October 2008 and the show was edgy, brilliant and totally original.

There’s no guarantee early May will be hospitable either, so plan on spending May 8 and 9 learning about Wet Collodion with Keliy Anderson-Staley.

Tintype © Keliy Anderson-Staley

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One of the best things Maine has going for it (besides September) is how many opportunities there are to learn about photography and meet the shakers and  movers of it all. So, if you live here and have to put up with our miserable spring, you deserve to give yourself total relief at the Bakery Collective workshops.

Mostly because on the way to that exhibit, I passed through the other exhibit of photography on the walls at the Museum…I hadn’t known about it because I’ve had a terrible time, with the personnel changes at the Art Museum, getting on any mailing list. Kevin Salatino, new Director at the Museum, assures me at long last I will be informed.

In Focus: Photographs from the Permanent Collection will be on exhibit until March 14, so here’s something really worthwhile to do for rainy day fun if you’ve looked at the forecast for the next eternity. For me, falling over dozens of photographs to look at unexpectedly was a big high.

My favorite in the exhibit was the Burtynsky – “Silver Lake Operations #1, Lake Lefroy, Western Australia, 2007.” Seemingly taken when Mr. Burtynsky hovered over the mine like a bird, it is a stunning example of his work. The clarity is something you need to take some time to study.

Just as unforgettable is the chromogenic print by Shai Kremer: “View of a Minefield, Abandoned Syrian Base, Golan Heights, 200?”. If you’re as tired of abandoned building shots as I am, here’s the ultimate panacea. Look at the photograph a while before you re-read the title. Be prepared to be stung by what you perceived vs. the reality of the scene. Isn’t this what photography is all about? No other medium, no words could say it like this. The lovely view out of the “picture window”. The ugly reality. Amazing.

Photograph copyright Shai Kremer. All rights reserved.

Another chance to study a complex photograph is provided by the Sally Mann image Untitled (Georgia), 1996. Almost next to it is a powerful ektacolor print by Richard Misrach – Diving Board, Salton Sea, 1983.

Photograph copyright Richard Misrach. All rights reserved.

You’ll see some wonderful classic images like Weegee’s Children Sleeping on Fire Escape, 1938, and images by Abbott, Bing, Cunningham, De Carava, Kertész, Strand, Sherman and R. Capa. Shore and Morell are there too. Two beautiful photogravures will stop you in your tracks: Alvin Langon Coburn’s The White Cloud, 1911, and one of my favorite Stieglitz images: The Hand of Man, 1902. I really appreciated seeing a color print from 1917 – a Hess-Ives color print by Karl Stuss – Untitled, from the Series The Female Figure, 1917.

Children Sleeping on Fire Escape, 1938 © Weegee. All rights reserved.

While you’re at the Museum, take the time to enjoy the “Learning to Paint” exhibit on the same floor. The forecast is rain, remember, so plan on spending a while to soak up everything the Museum has to offer these days.

Chansonette Stanley Emmons’ archive is at the UNE Maine Women Writers Collection (MWWC), I think, but I’ve not been able to get an appointment to see it. So, I was glad to see this set of six small images gifted by Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. to the PMA. Five of the images are landscapes and lovely ones.

Chansonetta Stanley Emmons
United States, 1858 – 1910
Dorothy [Emmons] on the Rocks at Ogunquit, Maine, 1910
gelatin silver print
4 x 5 1/2 inches
Gift of Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr.

The sixth Emmons is an interior titled “Shelling Corn, Kingfield, ME, 1901″ as only Ms. Emmons could do an interior. The picture is as sweet as the corn they were shelling.

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Paul Strand
United States, 1890 – 1976
Tailor Apprentice, Luzzara, Italy, 1953, 1994
platinum print
8 x 6 1/4 inches
Gift of Owen W. and Anna H. Wells

Another big winner was the exquisite Paul Strand “Tailor Apprentice, Luzzara, Italy 1953″. I am a big fan of Strand’s work. Diane Arbus’ “Mrs. T. Charlton Henry in an Evening Gown, Philadelphia, PA 1965″ was a joy to see and we went back to look at it again – what a great image to have in the Museum’s collection. Can you honestly look at this without grinning?

Diane Arbus
United States, 1923 – 1971
Mrs. T. Charlton Henry in an Evening Gown, Philadelphia, PA, 1965
gelatin silver print
14 1/2 x 14 3/4 inches
Gift of John S. Ames, III

There’s a really good set of Jon Edward’s work as well as a Cartier-Bresson, Todd Webb, and images from the Vernon Reed series “Operation Potato”. And so the collection grows – and nicely.

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There are two gems in the Museum these days and I didn’t expect to see them. I should have seen them at the Committee of 100’s pre-opening gathering for the Objects of Wonder exhibit a couple of weeks ago, but I was too busy gabbing to spend serious time in the exhibit, I confess. However, I’ve been back twice this past week to give the exhibit my full attention and was rewarded especially by the two gelatin silver photographs (of about 8 photographs included in the exhibit) by Lilo Raymond and Robert Mapplethorpe.

“Peony”, 1984 by Raymond is one of those perfect photographs – always fresh, and just what you want to see sometimes when everyone is complicating their work to the nth degree: simple. Lovely, perfect, wish I owned it. In my ignorance, I’ve never heard of Raymond and her website is very spare. There is bio info. on the card next to the photograph and you can read more about her and see a few more like images here as well. (2/25 update: I just noticed while flipping through the Jan/Feb PHOTOGRAPH magazine that Raymond passed away last year.)

When I look at Mapplethorpe’s “Carnation” 1982 I just marvel. How he did he do it time after time – giving us totally unique images of whatever he chose to photograph? This photograph is worth studying – he was a fanatic about everything when setting up a photograph I’ve read, but the result is like a Sargent portrait – these geniuses make it look so easy, the viewer sees none of the tension and utter mastery behind the final product. “Carnation” – it’s wonderful to have it there to visit again many times before this exhibit ends on June 6.

In August, the Friends of the Farnsworth Collection of the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, a group formed to donate to a purchase fund and then decide which piece(s) to purchase, selected a simply amazing image by Eliot Porter – “Maine Forest”. Why is it “amazing”? Several reasons:

It is a stunningly gorgeous photograph.

It was taken in 1958 of the woods right outside the photographer’s home in Great Spruce Head Island, Maine.

At the artist’s request in 1973, Ansel Adams made a print of Porter’s 4×5 negative.

THAT PRINT IS 51 X 40.5 INCHES. Let me repeat that: In 1973 Ansel Adams made a print of Eliot Porter’s 1958 “Maine Forest” negative and that print is 51 x 40.5 inches.

And where is that remarkable print? On view, right now, at the Farnsworth Art Museum. I just found out about it by reading the Farnsworth’s Winter 2010 news magazine and I’ve got to say it was a swooning moment when I saw the image reproduced on p. 17!

Please remember back to 1973: as the magazine says, “[the] large-scale print of the image…is a remarkable technical achievement.” This is not 2010 when 1) every photographer is addicted to BIG prints whether or not their work is supported well by BIG prints, and 2) this BIG print was made in the darkroom. Remember those? Porter had the right instinct on this baby – this image is a stunner as a BIG image.

Well, due to the Museum’s cautious approach to intellectual property copyright concerns, I couldn’t get a reproducible jpg from them to share with you. And I’m glad, because this is one photograph that HAS to be seen to be loved.

So work in a nice trip to Rockland, take in the Museum’s other exhibitions from their permanent collection (finally we get to see some of this buried treasure!): The State of Printmaking since 1940 and Real and Abstract – Contemporary Art from the Farnsworth, and enjoy the city’s vibrant main drag. See you on Saturday!

On March 27 ARNOLD  NEWMAN opens in the Craig Gallery at the Museum and it’s up for viewing until August 8. So we can go and soak it up several times and take summer visitors, too.

Arnold Newman sure had something special when it came to photography, and in particular, portraits. Some of his images are join the list of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century. Who doesn’t know the one of Igor Stravinsky or Picasso, or one of my favorites, Yasuo Kuniyoshi?

All photographs by Arnold Newman © Getty Images. All rights reserved.

The Farnsworth Art Museum exhibit will celebrate Newman’s entire career, but with a special emphasis on his Maine connections: his students at Maine Media Workshops over the years and his portraits of a who’s who list of Maine artists.

Newman attended the University of Miami as an artist but couldn’t afford to continue after two years there. So, he moved to Philadelphia and started making 49-cent portraits. And well, the rest is history. It’s good to remember the often humble struggles of photographers who have worked hard to become the best in the business.

“Influences come from everywhere but when you are actually shooting you work primarily by instinct. But what is instinct? It is a lifetime accumulation of influence: experience, knowledge, seeing and hearing. There is little time for reflection in taking a photograph. All your experiences come to a peak and you work on two levels: conscious and unconscious.”- Arnold Newman, Interviews With Master Photographers

At the Farnsworth Art Museum, Craig Gallery, March 27 – August 8. (207-596-6457) As you know by now, I really appreciate NOT having to travel to NYC to see terrific photography exhibits. Thank you to the Farnsworth for a little trundle up or down the coast of Maine to see something world-class.

Look, we toured only the South Island. Before I get into how beautiful it is, let me just say New Zealanders or Kiwis are so good-natured and helpful, plus they know how beautiful their country is and have tremendous pride of place. Even better? They love sharing it with visitors. They love sports, so if you are a photographer AND enjoy hang-gliding, trout fishing, bungee-jumping and any other sport (how could I forget RUGBY/SOCCER/FOOTBALL?) you have two reasons to book your flight. Now. And two reasons to stay forever.

Everyone who had already been to NZ told us it was the most beautiful place on the earth and we believed them. I will tell YOU that there is no word in the English language to describe such a place. Every day we figured we had seen the best, most jaw-dropping beauty this earth had to offer, but then the next day…. it was “OH MY GOD” all day long. Déja vu of the best kind. Except every day offered something totally different.

Here’s the closest I can get: PRIMORDIAL. There is something about every type of landscape on the South Island that just gets you in your soul in an atavistic way. Here’s what you see driving along any old road, for example:

From the side of the road…

Whether it’s the plains, valleys, mountains, rolling hills, pastures, seascapes, beaches, coasts, farms, trees… it’s just too, too beautiful to imagine.

One morning, we drove 45 minutes up to Glenorchy from Queenstown to go on a 3 hour horsetrek in (almost) Lord of the Rings country (we’ve never seen the films, but will get them out now for nostalgia’s sake) and I took this from the van window:

En route to Glenorchy from the van while moving…

Are you getting where I’m going with this posting? If I, in a split second, with a whatever-little-digital-camera and trust me, NOT being a photographer AT ALL, can take pictures like this, don’t you just have to wonder what YOU could do with a camera?

Go and find out. And when you do, I’ll post them here. If you ever come back.

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Horsetrek scene from the horse! While moving!

Lake Hawea, from the van while moving…no Photoshop color adjustment here!

There are 36 artists included in the show and that’s a feat in itself to pull it all together and stay sane, but I gather Mary Harding is an old hand at that. The end result makes the process look seamless.

Aroostook Song © John G. Kelley

My first impression of “PHOTOGRAPHY” was the WOW one. Walking in the front door on a sunny day, the gallery is full of reflected light and the show is so well presented it’s hard not to feel pretty delighted. I really appreciated two things – the variety of work styles, and the fact that Mary didn’t take the easy way out in selecting participating artists – there are many with whom I wasn’t familiar and should be, and the artists start as young as 17 years old, so she did her job and got digging, not skimming the obvious off the top. Yes, you’ll see work by Jeffrey Becton, John G. Kelley (you MUST see John’s photograph “Aroostook Song” in the bathroom -one of my favorites in the show!) and Sean Alonzo Harris, but I bet you’ll enjoy work by artists you don’t know yet as well.

I was immediately struck by two Corey Daniels images: one is on the right in the first room and the other beautifully “framed” by two doorways that lead into the back room. I e-mailed Corey and he has a website in progress, but here’s the image in the back room at George Marshall Store Gallery (note its size). I’m sorry no reproduction of these two images will do them justice. You have to go and see them in person to understand how successful they are:

Untitled II © 2000 Corey Daniels (44×34.5)

To your left in the front room is a huge image from Denise Froehlich – 4′x6′? I really like what Denise did with this and would love to see a group of her images similarly presented. I don’t see “Old Port Road, Kennebunkport” on her website, but sure had fun looking at everything else – some terrific work there.

Old Port Road, Kennebunkport © Denise Froehlich

A discovery is Nancy Wilson Fulton – she is doing some different things and her two images “Two, but not a pair” (very painterly when you see it at the gallery) and “Cloud Study” are strong testaments to her talent and eye.

Cloud  Study © 2008 Nancy Wilson Fulton

Two, but not a pair © 2009 Nancy Wilson Fulton

I first saw Elizabeth Cecil’s work this fall at Aarhus Gallery in Belfast – the Bug Jars (canning jars with gum bichromate images of bugs on vellum slips of paper inside) and they are again on display (perfectly) in a sunny window on the lower floor of the gallery. However, close by are four exquisite 4.25″x4.25″ “Tomatillo” printing-out-paper (POP), gold toned pieces. I would love to have these on my own walls. They are beautifully presented as a group of work.

Tomatillo #6 © Elizabeth Cecil

One of the best things in this show is Mary’s willingness to include young photographers who deserve the limelight. Elizabeth Ellenwood, a photography student at the New Hampshire Institute of Art has a couple of original urban landscapes on view that show a maturity and design sense that is unusual in a young artist. They are quite powerful.

Two of my favorite images in the show are by 17 year old Cameron Karosis. Check them out in the lower gallery room. I think they are beautifully rendered pieces and I hope he keeps working at his craft. (Cameron’s dad is also in the show with two beautifully rendered black and white landscapes…)

Coral Weed © Cameron Karosis

Sea Lettuce © Cameron Karosis

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Before I reproduce the entire show in this posting I’ll talk about two more artists and button up.

I was delighted with Sara Gray’s two square format images – have seen much of her commercial work in Down East magazine and elsewhere, and figured her work leaping across commercial photography lines in such a show as this could possibly be dismissed. Uh-uh. Take the time to read them closely – they’re gorgeous and well-deserving of the inclusion. I’m just surprised I haven’t seen more of her fine art photography work around.

Open Gate, Morristown, VT © Sara Gray

And finally, Jay Goldsmith’s two 10″x10″ pinhole platinum/palladium images are to die for. This type of work really gives me the ol’ “art endorphin rush” and the one below is perhaps my favorite image in the show. Jay is a commercial photographer who is making successful leaps over the fence into fine art photography by the looks of these images.

American Slide © Jay Goldsmith

The images reproduced in this review are a mere whisper of the real prints on the wall at the gallery. So treat yourself – GO. Tell Mary I sent you…