From the “This Just In” department: Renowned photographer and uber educator Stephen DiRado has agreed to lead the Photographic Resource Center’s Fall 2008 installment of the Portfolio Project Seminar. This program provides an in-depth opportunity to share and receive feedback on your work in a small group setting and supportive environment. For this installment Mr. DiRado has offered up the use of his legendary personal studio, in which he has been conducting salon style photo gatherings for many years. More details will be available on prcboston.org shortly.

In the meantime check out Stephen’s website, stephendirado.com for more on his work. Read Alec Soth’s interview with Stephen or read an article published by Clark University, where Stephen has been teaching for more than 20 years.

The image above is from his “Dinner Series,” a wonderful long term project in which the artist captures intimate moments–partly candid, partly constructed–from meals shared with friends and families. Anyone whose grown up around a dinner table populated by a larger than life family can attest to how formative this space can for developing identity and relationships.

For all those of you who had wanted to but couldn’t get to the Friedlander retrospective at MoMA, do yourself a favor and pick up the exhibition catalogue. The show, which just closed at SFMOMA, was a mammoth representation of a prolific career that keeps on, keeping on. Well at least that’s what I hear from my wife who actually saw the show. Yours truly was, unfortunately, bound to his desk. But I couldn’t be happier with my catalogue consolation prize (which must have doubled the weight of her carry on). I’ve just begun to crack this massive tome (falls under the category of “books that can double as weapons”) but am already intrigued by the organization of this amazing photographer’s life’s work.

In other book-related business: Many of you know the PRC has an extensive library that houses in excess of 4,500 photo-related books. We are fortunate to receive donations from publishers, artists, and generous individuals who help to ensure that our collection keeps growing. We recently received 2 great books from the photographer Kristin Capp. Ms. Capp kindly donated her monographs Hutterite: A World of Grace and Americana. Swing by and check out these great bodies of work. I’ll periodically post new library additions to the blog and I am happy to say that we will have an on-line library catalogue available by this fall/winter.

PDN (Photo District News) just released their eagerly-anticipated Photo Annual. Besides announcing their Annual winners, providing an insightful year in review, and giving the amazing advice they usually do, they had a great feature titled “46 Reasons to Love Photography Now.” The PRC, along with our annual juried show, is thrilled to be one of the 46 things!

PDN wrote in part: “The economy got you down? PDN’s editors and writers have compiled a list of the innovations, inspiring people, innovations, and idiosyncrasies that make photography as rewarding and exciting as ever.” PDN- we heart you too!

A special thanks goes out to Jeanine Fijol, PDN Photo Editor, who was our juror for the 11th Annual PRC Juried Exhibition in 2006, who first contacted me. The PRC joins a whole host of diverse people, places, and things, reminiscent of our unique 30th anniversary exhibition, PRC/POV (the venerable Dashwood Books made both of our lists!). Below is a montage from the magazine (thank you Cara!) and a few of the other 46 favorite things. Get thee to a newsstand and buy one now!

* Lee Friedlander * National Geographic * ICP Infinity Awards
* on demand printing * Wired magazine * Arles
* Taschen Books * B&H’s overhead conveyors * Nadav Kander
* Columbia College, Chicago * 20×200 * The Eddie Adams workshop

From PDN magazine

Join Nubar Alexanian for a discussion of his new book, NONFICTION: Photographs by Nubar Alexanian From the Film Sets of Errol Morris, which chronicles his 15-year collaboration with Erroll Morris, an Oscar award winning and Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker. Alexanian has worked closely with Morris while creating the still images used in many of the filmmakers projects. The two reunited during Morris’s current film, Standard Operating Procedure, about the now-famous photographs of torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib. Not only does the book NONFICTION record the two artists’ collaboration, it also investigates the nature of truth and observation as well as our understanding about what it means to bear witness.

The Particulars:
Lecture takes place on Thursday, May 8, at 7pm, and will be in BU’s Kenmore Classroom Building, Auditorium 101, 565 Commonwealth Avenue. It is FREE

Visit Nubar’s website here.

Standard Operating Procedure has been getting really interesting reviews. At the core of the film are the photos we’ve all come to recognize from Abu Ghraib. It connotes the pervasiveness of digital photography and the ease with which people take and share personal or sensitive photos. If these soldiers didn’t have cameras and weren’t acculturated into a world where everything is documented and shared, who knows how the situation might have played out differently. Check out the trailer:

Image: Nubar Alexanian, Hooded Prisoner on a Box, from the film Standard Operating Procedure and Alexanian’s new book, NONFICTION

We just posted new pics on our PRC flickr page. So surf on in and check out photos from Aperture’s Lesley A. Martin’s seminar on book publishing from April 1st and snaps from the opening reception of New England Survey from March 27th. Just click the photomontage below!

A sneak peek, CLOCKWISE from upper left:
* Lesley A. Martin gave a superb seminar on publishing.  It was very well attended!
* The 2 Lesley/ies. Lesley of Apeture and the other Leslie of the PRC pose with the Boston Skyline.
* Exhibiting artist Barbara Bosworth (center) with Sage Sohier & Margot Kelley - both of whom have shown at the PRC! [in Group Portrait (2005/2006) and Land/Mark respectively (2005)]
* Some folks in this picture: photographer Bob O’Connor, Kate from MassArt and BU photohistorian and PRC board member Kim Sichel

School of the Museum of Fine Arts prof Jim Dow came to support his students at the 350+ packed opening for the 2008 PRC Student Exhibition, originally uploaded by PRCBoston. 

Did you know? All of our installation slides (well, now digital images) of our exhibitions are taken by THE Jim Dow? Since the PRC became a gallery in 1985, the amazing Jim Dow has been volunteering his time and film to take documents of all of our exhibitions. As a side bar,the Center for American Places just published his book, Marking the Land, featuring over two decades of his photographs from North Dakota.  (It was just named one of the best books of 2007 by American Photo Magazine.)

Here is Jim, pictured with Education Manager, Michael Christiano. Jim is legendary for his history of photography class given at SMFA and Harvard and is constantly going to NYC to photograph gallery shows for his inspiring lectures.  Jim and I have been giving an annual seminar on demystifying the jurying process dubbed “Answering the call (for entry).”  Usually given before the deadline for our juried show in January or early February, this is a great opportunity to hone your entry and see what happens after you send in your submission.  You can read more about this annual program here.  See you next year! - Leslie