DENNIS DeHART: Spot Photography Gallery

Tampere Seating

Photograph © Dennis Dehart

Structure Voipaala

Photograph © Dennis Dehart

Triangulating

Photograph © Dennis Dehart

SPOT PHOTO WORKS, "THE" new Contemporary Photography Gallery in Los Angeles, opens with an exhibition of photographs by artist Dennis DeHart. "Compelled by the connections and conflicts of the natural and cultural worlds, Dennis DeHart's images weave together a mix of landscape, portraiture and still life into pristine color photographs. During a recent artist residency in Finland, DeHart traversed the countryside extensively. The resulting photographs are heavily influenced by Scandinavian aesthetics of light, design, craftsmanship and simplicity."

Dennis DeHart Photographs

SPOT PHOTO WORKS

6679 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles

Artist Reception: August 2, 6-9pm – September 16, 2014 

SPOT Photo Works is a partnership between Kathleen Clark and Russell Adams. SPOT’s Director Kathleen Clark, has mounted exhibitions at a variety of locations including Clark|Oshin Gallery, Leica Gallery Los Angeles and Month of Photography LA. She was the longtime Photo Director at Los Angeles Magazine and LA Weekly. Read SPOT Director Kathleen Clarks Lenscratch Mixtape here.  

Russell Adams has owned and operated Schulman Photo Lab (located next door to SPOT) since 1991.  The boutique analog darkroom and digital lab specializes in fine art exhibition printing as well as printing for photographic book projects.  

Spot Photo Works is located at Crossroads of the World one of Los Angeles and Hollywood’s architectural gems. Designed by architect Robert V. Derrah and built in 1936, Crossroads of the World was initially opened as America’s first outdoor shopping mall. Derrah’s unusual design features a central streamline moderne building resembling a cruise ship at dock between buildings reflecting an array of international village themes: Spanish, Moroccan, English Cottage. 

JANELLE LYNCH: Presence

"PRESENCE"

Photographs by Janelle Lynch. Essay by Nancy Weekly

"Presence celebrates my kinship with Charles Burchfield, which is based on a reverence for and anthropomorphic vision of the natural world, an appreciation for solitude as well as close relationships, and a commitment to creative freedom.”—Janelle Lynch 

"Lynch was first drawn to Burchfield’s work in 2006 due to a shared capacity to imagine human-like characteristics in nature; hence,she anthropomorphizes her subjects. Lynch, like Burchfield, was inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s nature writings and transcendental philosophy, which suggests the natural world is formed and informed by spirits, and that its elements are symbols of a great spirituality. Lynch’s work reflects a recent shift among artists away from secular concerns towards a renewed interest in the metaphysical in art." A selection of sixteen works made during her residency are being shown. Read more here.

JANELLE LYNCH: PRESENCE
on view through November 30, 2014

BURCHFIELD PENNEY ART CENTER

SUSAN KEISER: In Memory's Dream

from the series "In Memory's Dream"

 Photograph © Susan Keiser

from the series "In Memory's Dream"

 Photograph © Susan Keiser

from the series "In Memory's Dream"

 Photograph © Susan Keiser

"My parents weren’t much for taking pictures. The entire family archive fit into a small cardboard box—two barely started albums and a pile of photo envelopes from various drugstores. Growing up I’d spent hours studying and restudying those snapshots, looking for insights even in the badly blurred ones, hoping they could tell me what really happened. Part memory, mostly invention, the stories I wove became my history."
 

"The box sat unopened for years until a frozen pipe burst, flooding the basement of my mother’s empty house. While the ruined photos were irreplaceable, the history was my own, and the loss freed me to reimag(in)e my story on a larger scale, from a more universal point of view. The result is A River Made of Time and Memory, photographs that are not the record of actual events, but of emotional truths, shaped and colored by years of reflection. Fresh visions appear, images aggregate into chapters, and the river flows on. " – Susan Keiser (read more here)

SUSAN KEISER PHOTOGRAPHY

LISA ELMALEH: American Folk at Foley Gallery

Matthew Kinman and Moses Nelligan, West Virginia , 2013
Photograph © Lisa Elmaleh

 

 Janice Birchfield, Tennessee, 2013
Photograph © Lisa Elmaleh

Jim Costa's Porch, West Virginia, 2013
Photograph © Lisa Elmaleh

Lisa Elmaleh has been creating tintypes of traditional folk musicians who live in and around the Appalachian Mountains since 2010. Her project grew out of a love of the land, American folk music, traditional American culture and her own romance with this 19th century photographic process.

Portraits captured by tintype call for great patience from both the sitter and the photographer. An entire day is spent with each musician - each 8x10 plate is hand coated, exposed in a large format camera, and developed on-site. The tradition of American folk music echoes in the historic nature of the tintype photographic process, connecting photographer with subject, each with their pursuit of keeping their own respective histories alive and well in the 21st Century.

These warm-toned portraits combined with a selection of their natural landscape counterparts, provides a full setting for understanding a way of life.  The crops are garlic and tobacco and the wardrobe is dungaree and flannel.  Hands are well worn, larger from labor and the rigorous playing on their instrument of choice.  Elmaleh’s approach is simple and straight forward which echoes the lifestyle and the plain dresses worn by her female subjects.
 

Elmaleh lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.  She holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in NY.  Her photographs have been exhibited widely including a solo exhibition at Candela Books + Gallery in Richmond, VA. Group exhibitions include ArtCenter South Florida, Miami, FL; Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA; Bronx Biennial Group Show, Bronx, NY.  Her work has been published in Harper’s and Black & White magazines.  She is a past recipient of the Tierney Fellowship. (Text courtesy the Foley Gallery)

Lisa Elmaleh - American Folk

July 17 - August 9, 2014

FOLEY GALLERY, NY

INTERIORS: Flowers Gallery New York

JULIE BLACKMON

Hair, 2013. Photograph © Julie Blackmon
About Julie Blackmon

JASON LARKIN

Museum11. #3, 2009. Photograph © Jason Larkin

INTERIORS features contemporary photographers Tina Barney, Julie Blackmon, Edmund Clark, Jacqueline Hassink, Nadav Kander, Jason Larkin, Lori Nix, Robert Polidori, Hrvoje Slovenc, Richard Tuschman, and Shen Wei. Opens July 17 at Flowers Gallery, New York .

INTERIORS

July 17 – August 30

Flowers, NY

SVA MPS DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Book+Branding Class of 2014. Part III

 MARK ROUSSEL  Finding and Losing My Father

Photograph (c) 2014 Marc Roussel

 EVELINA REINHART  The Joy of Eating

Photograph (c) 2014 Evelina Reinhart

HENNY GYLFA  Park Hill Boxing Club

Photograph (c) 2014 Henny Gylfa

JAMIE SHIELDS Less Is More

Photograph (c) 2014 Jaime Shields

SHARRON DIEDRICHS Burden of Existence

 Photograph (c) 2014 Sharron Diedrichs

 WON KIM Stereotypes

Photograph (c) 2014 Won Kim

ERIKA VELASQUEZ  Below The Surface

Photograph (c) 2014 Erika Velasquez

ZILAN FAN Between Dream and Reality

Photograph (c) 2014 Zilan Fan

 TAYLOR MICKLE  Futurama

Photograph (c) 2014 Taylor Mickle

SVA Masters in Digital Photography 2014 Grads - Part III

Leading-edge Masters Degree program in Digital Photography at the School of Visual Arts, Chaired by "Photoshop Diva" Katrin Eismann (check out her Books on Amazon!), with Associate Chair and "Color Guru" Tom P. Ashe, (check out his Color Management book); and with an unbelievable faculty of photography professionals I'd list but do not want to leave anyone out! Congrats to all my students on their final Branding, Book and Portfolio Designs!

Book+Branding Part I

 Book+Branding Part II

*all names are Website links

SVA MPS DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Book+Branding Class of 2014. Part II

 JAIME CODY  Recollection

VICTORIA HARDINA  Together

Photograph (c) 2014 Victoria Hardina
 

CLAREESE HILL  My Black Face

Photograph (c) 2014 Clareese Hill

AILIN BLASCO  Ourea

Photograph (c) 2014 Ailin Blasco

KEVIN WO  Announce

Photographs (c) 2014 Kevin Wo

 CHUCK ALMAREZ  A Time Gone By
Photograph (c) 2014 Chuck Almarez

 LACY KIERNAN  URBAN LANDSCAPES
Photograph (c) 2014 Lacy Kiernan

ANDRE AVANESSIAN  phobophobialand

  ADRIANO HULTMAN  Things We Can See 

Photograph (c) 2014 Adriano Hultman

SVA Masters in Digital Photography 2014 Grads - Part II

Leading-edge Masters Degree program in Digital Photography at the School of Visual Arts, Chaired by "Photoshop Diva" Katrin Eismann (check out her Books on Amazon!), with Associate Chair and "Color Guru" Tom P. Ashe, (check out his Color Management book); and with an unbelievable faculty of photography professionals I'd list but do not want to leave anyone out! Congrats to all my students on their final Branding, Book and Portfolio Designs!

Book+Branding Part I

 Book+Branding Part III

*all names are Website links

SVA MPS DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Book+Branding Class of 2014. Part I

 SARAH JUN   Mimicry

Photograph (c) 2014 Sarah Jun

BILO HUSSEIN  Never Home

Photograph (c) 2014 Bilo Hussein

HSIN WANG  De-Selfing

Photograph (c) 2014 Hsin Wang

MEG LAUBSCHER  Somewhere In Between

Photograph (c) 2014 Meg Laubscher

SVA Masters in Digital Photography 2014 Grads - Part I

Leading-edge Masters Degree program in Digital Photography at the School of Visual Arts, Chaired by "Photoshop Diva" Katrin Eismann (check out her Books on Amazon!), with Associate Chair and "Color Guru" Tom P. Ashe, (check out his Color Management book); and with an unbelievable faculty of photography professionals I'd list but do not want to leave anyone out! Congrats to all my students on their final Branding, Book and Portfolio Designs!

COLIN MURPHY
Photograph (c) 2014 Colin Murphy

Book+Branding Part II

 Book+Branding Part III

*all names are Website links

RICHARD GERE: Pilgrim

 Giza, 2005

Courtesy of the Gere Foundation

Photograph (c) Richard Gere  

EA: Your photograph of the Pyramids and the South Pole (not shown) are like two jewels. I’ve never seen a photograph of the Pyramids from that angle before.

Richard Gere: I was in Cairo in 2005 on the way to the Middle East to meet His Holiness in Jordan, in the ancient stone-carved city of Petra. Elie Wiesel co-hosted “The Petra Conferences” with King Abdullah II of Jordan. They brought together Nobel Prize winners with distinguished social and political leaders. His Holiness was there and I was invited to come, but on the way there I was speaking at a conference of Arab women, "Women, Creativity, and Dissidence" in Cairo, Egypt, under the aegis of the Arab Women Solidarity Association (AWSA). I was there for a couple of days and I befriended one of the key archeologists.

I asked to get to the Pyramids early in the morning. I got there in the morning at dark and waited for the light to come up. We were way out in the desert. I took a lot of pictures. Somehow it was out and around, way on another side, and I could see the Pyramids were almost lining up. When the light was coming up, all the lines were converging and I just had to move maybe ten or twenty yards over, then all the lines created these planes. I’d never seen that angle in a photograph before either.

Richard Gere is represented by the Fahey/Klein Gallery, L.A.

Richard Gere, 108 Stupas

Erdene Zuu, Karakorum, Mongolia, 1995

  Photograph (c) Elizabeth Paul Avedon

 Richard Gere and Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, Bodh Gaya, India 1987 

Photograph (c) Elizabeth Paul Avedon

AMERICAN PHOTO MAGAZINE

 read Gere Foundation Foreword here

As I've lost most of the negatives from the photographs above and on the Gere Foundation site, click through for a last look before they disappear completely! – E.A.

A pilgrim is defined as a person who travels on long journeys. Richard Gere’s book of photographs, Pilgrim (published by Bulfinch Press, ISBN: 978-0821223222), is available from Amazon.com. All proceeds are donated to the Gere Foundation that supports humanitarian causes throughout the world. 

SEAN PERRY: The Wonder of Asymmetry

LensCulture

PhotoNOLA

photolucida Critical Mass

CENTER Review Santa Fe

  

On the Wonder of Asymmetry, Part Two

by Sean Perry

In 2008, at the dawn of the greatest stock market panic and decline in nearly 80 years, I started trading in earnest. I had loosely followed financial markets for 7 years prior, mainly investing as most do via mutual funds with the small deduction from a part-time paycheck. Shall we just agree, trial by the fire of Hephaestus is a considerably understated depiction of the escapades that would follow.

I cannot help but find this experience a most interesting proxy for navigating the world of photography call for entries and competitions – which are seemingly unending and certainly no less harrowing. Unexpectedly, trading has informed my practice and teaching in many ways – including adopting comparable strategies for opportunities that require a financial investment. As I am certain you are aware, nearly all do today. Hence my reverence for the organizations and calls that reside in a photographers favor, such as the aforementioned Critical Mass, as well as the exceptional PhotoNOLA, LensCulture and Review Santa Fe among the select few.

Still the labyrinth and spectacle of finance both delights and flummoxes me, including it's many fascinating characters cast as heroes and villains alike. I confess at times this strange hobby just bewilders all of my synapses – conjuring visions of multidimensional chess against doyens speaking in tongues. Yet I persevere, and continue to look for the sages and their keys who have traversed these dark pools.

Allow me to introduce you to one such gentleman.

Paul Tudor Jones is the quintessential bad-ass. Seriously. He imagined and then built the Robin Hood Foundation and the Excellence Charter School. October 19th, 1987, careers, egos and wealth were alight in a most spectacular fashion as companies of the Dow Jones Index lost a combined $500 billion in value in a single day. Meanwhile, Mr. Jones calmly procured a cool $100 million on an asymmetric bet. He had anticipated Black Monday with the adeptness and moxie to bank it.

Asymmetric bets – I like that.

I first discovered Mr. Jones in the 1989 title by Jack D. Schwager, Market Wizards – a sublime collection of back stories and interviews with elite traders and financial minds. He is introduced under the heading of The Art of Aggressive Trading, and though his investment prowess is exceptional, equally so are his philanthropic endeavors and accomplishments. At the time of the books publication, the newly founded Robin Hood Foundation endowment had grown to an impressive $5 million. Now twenty five years later, it has distributed more than $1.45 billion into various initiatives and programs to alleviate poverty in New York City. Remarkable what can be fostered with desire and tenacity.

 Watch Video: Paul Tudor Jones

I am grateful for Mr. Jones and the nourishment found in studying his life and work – his deceptively simple discipline renders so powerful in practice. He readily consumes his failures and like a phoenix, ascends. I leave you with this passage from a speech he gave to the graduate class of the Buckley School, 9th grade boys commencing a new chapter in their young lives. I accept that pursuing the work I love, entwined with the necessity of refining opportunities to sustain it, will always be laden with the dragons he speaks of below. Asymmetry is a welcomed companion in these formidable times. I brave on.

"Some things happen to you that at the time will make you feel like the world is coming to an end, but in actuality, there is a very good reason for it. You just can’t see it and don’t know it. When one door closes, another will open, but standing in that hallway can be hell. You just have to persevere. Quite often that dragon of failure is really chasing you off the wrong road and on to the right one. Some of your greatest successes are going to be the children of failure." – Paul Tudor Jones, 2009

On the Wonder of Asymmetry, Part One

Sean Perry Photographs

Sean Perry is a fine-art photographer living and working in New York City and Austin, Texas. His photographs and books center on architecture, space and light – the ambiance felt within built environments. He is currently completing three series on New York City entitled Monolith, Gotham and Fotopolis, as well as exhibiting a recently completed body of work on the dreamscape of temporary environments, Fairgrounds. read more