The Art and Business of Photography, August 26 – September 1 2012. For information and registration:  Maine Media Workshops

The Enhanced Portfolio Review - Madison, Wisconsin September 8^th and 9^th 2012. The Center for Photography at Madison, 303 S. Peterson Street (near Williamson) Madison, Wisconsin.  Register

This two-day intensive workshop is designed to evaluate and strengthen your photography portfolio. Whether your goal is a personal project, exhibiting your work or pursuing photography professionally, this workshop will give you a concrete guide to improve the presentation of your work and outline steps to achieve your artistic objectives.

What you will go away with.

• Identify the goals and objectives of your work
• Skills for articulating the strengths of your work
• Action plan for improving your portfolio
• Direction on pursing you goals

What do you need to bring?

Each participant should bring a minimum of 30 prints. Prints can be any size and can represent a single or various projects and/or styles.  Prints do not need to be matted and they should NOT be mounted in a book. You need to be able to reorganize and edit the work throughout the weekend.

The workshop will be held at the “Center for Photography at Madison” and run in conjunction with an exhibition of Susan Carr’s photographs at the Monroe Art Center. Carr’s opening reception in Monroe is a perfect way to start the weekend. The opening reception runs 5 pm to 7 pm at 1315 11th Street, Monroe, WI 53566.

Workshop Details:

• Price $300.00

• 10% discount to members of Monroe Art Center, The Center for Photography at Madison, American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), Society for Photographic Education (SPE), Advertising Photographers of America (APA).

• Enrollment limited to 10 participants. This limit ensures that proper attention is given to each participant. It also means you should ACT NOW and register here.

• Schedule: September 8, 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM / September 9, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

I have respected photo consultant Mary Virginia Swanson for years. She offers straight forward practical advice to photographers pursuing careers in photography. I also respect Jeff Curto who runs the photo department at the College of Dupage here in Chicago and serves on the National board of the Society of Photographic Education. Jeff keeps his students focused on learning the art of photography while simultaneously making sure they know the realities of building a career in the medium. So, given all that, you can imagine how happy I was to be extended an invitation by Jeff to speak with Swanie this coming Monday evening.

Join us this Monday – open to the public and free – College of Dupage Student Resource Center Room 2800 at 7 pm.

Morell is best known for his camera obscura photographs, although the range and beauty of his other subject matter is highlighted in the film. He first collaborated with Humenuk on the film In Camera: The Making of A Camera Obscura Photographs that shows the intricate process required to create these images.  Rebecca Richards, in an In Camera Magazine profile “Allie Humenuk: A Film Makers Journey” writes about this first collaboration and how it spawned the making of Shadow of A House. “After that first successful filmmaking collaboration, Humenuk knew she wanted to continue. ‘I knew there was something else there,’ she says. ‘Abe was finding magic in places that most people overlooked. He was making us see the ordinary as something extraordinary.’ “ (1) The result of this second collaboration is an engrossing documentary on the work and life of this Cuban born photographer. The film opens with Morell setting up a camera obscura photograph, and from here Humenuk takes us into Morell’s world, poetically revealing his relationship to his subject matter and the family that is so much a part of his creative endeavors.

(1.) Richards, Rebecca “Allie Humenuk: A Film Makers Journey”, In Camera, Number Sixty-Seven/ Volume Six October 2003

One of Walker Evan’s photographs from Let Us Now Praise Famous Men punctuates the way of working Winogrand articulated. The Evans photograph I wrote about is, perhaps a lesser known example, Kitchen Wall, Alabama Farmstead, Hale County Alabama 1936, but it is one that I believe is an elegant expression of Evans’ vision.

“Evans’ use of form flowed from his subject matter. His photographs (Kitchen Wall) is another example of his descriptive style… The wall and the implements, carefully placed there by their owners, speak of balance and delicacy that reflects their sense of beauty. It is Evans’ attention to the significance of those objects and his visual response that reveals essential form.” Cialdella 1989.

…The importance of Evans’ work is that it demonstrates that photography flourishes as art when the artist explores deeply the real world while controlling the medium to communicate a personal vision.

I never tire of looking at the photographs of Walker Evans, his skill in making the ordinary extraordinary.

The talk will cover my inspiration to write the book, a fast past look at the professional history of the industry, as well as, candidly discuss the realities of working as a professional photographer today.

© Susan Carr "Kitchen, Bouldin Home, Philadelphia, Pennyslvannia"

I will also discuss the need to pursue genuine personal work in order to develop as an artist and strengthen your business. The image shown here is published in a portfolio in the book and is part of my project “Personal Spaces: Details of American Homes”.  I will also share images from Richard Kelly and Sean Kernan who were interviewed extensively for this book. By showing real world business and art examples from all three of us, the critical nature of pursuing creativity is highlighted.