Well, who doesn’t but let me clarify. We’re not looking for your typical fear of abandonment/commitment/have to step over every other sidewalk crack, type of issues. Not that those aren’t valid, believe me I understand. Yours truly used to be an obsessive counter and reader of museum labels– nerdy, I know. But the issues we most want to hear about are those currently facing the world of commercial photography.
The PRC is investigating a program that would explore not only the current climate of commercial photography but its future trajectory. We plan on speaking with a whole host of folks to decide on the most effective course of action for this research and subsequent program. But before we get too ahead of ourselves we want to hear from all those of you in the trenches. So, if you’re a commercial photographer or shoot commercial work, if you work in an agency, if you’re a rep, sell stock, etc, please let us know what issues/challenges you face that you would most like to see addressed. What elements, germane to the future of this industry, would you like to hear about. Please list your thoughts in the comments section of this post.
For the past three weeks the PRC has been brimming with the resplendent sounds of the Summer Photo Camp! Fueled by their imagination, enthusiasm, and creativity (along with a steady flow of healthy snacks) our aspiring young photographers (8-14 years old) have been busy creating amazing images! During Camp the PRC’s galleries are transformed into multiple studios, photo editing stations, work and critique areas. The students spent their days shooting–both on location at the PRC as well as all around our surrounding neighborhoods. Once equipped with full memory cards they would confer with peers and teachers to select their best images, which they’d then edit and print at one of our Camp digital editing stations. Students also spent a great deal of time looking through photo books from the PRC’s Aaron Siskind Library for inspiration and ideas.
Our Photo Camp instructors did an amazing job inspiring our young students with a variety of fun, unique, and thoughtful activities! Led by educator Michelle Sheppard, the all star Camp team also included LeiseJones and Caleb Cole. I would like to thank them for their dedication, amazing passion, insightful instruction, and for creating such a supportive environment for the students.
The PRC would like to congratulate all of the students who participated in the 2008 Summer Photo Camp for their wonderful accomplishments! It was a pleasure to see all of their great work and we’re looking forward to what these art stars of tomorrow have in store.
Believe me, I’m the last person who wants to rush the summer along (despite today’s oppressive heat and no home air conditioning). But having just confirmed our fall speakers I can now say that I won’t be quite so despondent after the last leaves have fallen. We have the pleasure of hosting some pretty amazing artists this fall and I wanted to share the news.
Below is the list of folks and the corresponding dates of their lectures. But please keep in mind that dates may be subject to change so always check back to prcboston.org, for the most current information.
Polaroid Spotlight Lecture featuring Barbara Crane Thursday, October 23
The depth and breadth of work Barbara has produced is staggering. There’s not many people out there who can move so deftly between styles, materials, subjects, formats, etc., etc., as Barbara. Truly a Renaissance photographer!
Paul Fusco Thursday, November 13
One of the great Magnum photographers, Paul Fusco has traveled the world covering the stories that have defined our generation, including Robert F. Kennedy’s assasination and subsequent funeral train procession. He’ll share pictures from that story, which are included in his new book Paul Fusco: RFK, soon to be released by Aperture. A show of this work is currently up at Danziger Projects and was recently featured in the New York Times Magazine.
Larry Fink Thursday, December 11
Check out Fink’s current show and latest body of work, The Democrats, at Pace/MacGill Gallery. He’s applied that candid aesthetic, that we all came to know and love from his work covering black tie affairs in New York City, to the recent Democratic nomination campaign trail.
Image Credits, Top to bottom:
Barbara Crane, Santa Barbara and Refrigerator, “On the Fence” series, Tucson, Arizona, 1980, 8 x 10 inches
Paul Fusco/Magnum Photos USA. 1968, Robert KENNEDY funeral train
Larry Fink, Hillary Clinton, NC and IN, 2008. Gelatin silver print paper, 24 x 20 inches
This past Sunday the Photographic Resource Center hosted its 3rd Annual Portfolio Review Day. The event brought together 23 reviewers from museums, galleries, publications, and photo agencies. On the other side of the tables were artists from all over New England, and beyond, whose work ranged widely both in subject and approach. It was humbling to see such a bustling cross-section of our photo community under one roof and I am deeply grateful to our wonderful reviewers for being so generous with their time, energy, and insight.
I spent a great deal of time peeking over the shoulders of our reviewers and was really impressed with the breadth and quality of work I saw. All in all we served 40 artists during the reviews and that’s not including those folks who came exclusively for the portfolio sharing (a whole n’other ball of fun).
We’re in the process of uploading pics from the event to our flickr page so please check those out.
Image Credit: Jim Fitts reviews the portfolio of Rania Matar. Photograph by Michael Christiano
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.
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.
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
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
There are a few key things that I’ve come to associate with summer in New England - longer and (slightly) warmer days, azure blue skies, gorgeous sandy beaches, more parking downtown (schools are out), Will Smith’s Summertime (alright, I can’t directly associate this “ode to summer” classic with New England but it is inextricably connected to my youth. If you too are of this generation and want to reminisce click here), and, of course, the PRC’s Summer Masters Workshops.
We’ve heard our members loud and clear. You’ve asked for increased portfolio review opportunities so here it is - the (much) bigger Annual Portfolio Review Day! This is, by far, the most substantial portfolio review event we’ve ever offered. It is a great way to receive direct feedback on your work from respected, influential, and insightful curators, gallerists, directors, editors, and others! The accompanying Portfolio Sharing event is another great way to share your work and network with peers.
What happens when a group of aspiring high school art students meet with photo legends? processTHIS: Conversations in Photography. If you haven’t heard, processTHIS is an after school program for area high school students to study, discuss, and create art, inspired by our visiting lecturers, such as Arno Rafael Minkkinen pictured above. The students also prepare questions for the guest artists, which they ask during an Inside the Actor’s Studio meets NPR style interview. All of the interviews are archived on the Youth Education page of the PRC’s website. So drop by and listen in as the students get all James Lipton on our very special guests.
No, the PRC is not planning a full-blown existential dilemma (well, not all of us anyway). But we are thrilled to host a lecture by the person who helped define contemporary photography during its rise to super-stardom in those quirky postmodern years. This Thursday night (Thursday, March 20, 7 p.m.) Andy Grundberg-critic, writer, curator, educator-will deliver the second presentation in the Photographic Resource Center’s Spring Lecture Series. The talk is titled “Collecting Photographs, Collecting the World” and will address the notion of collecting as a theme in contemporary photography, along with other prevalent trends in the art world. The image above (Cindy Sherman, Untitled #21, 1985) was used on the front jacket cover of Grundberg’s book Crisis of the Real.
Please join the Photographic Resource Center for 3 special events during April, May and June. These events are open to a limited number of people on a first come, first served basis. Space is limited for each of these events, so please call 617.975.0600 to reserve your place today.
You can purchase the three “Behind the Scenes” events as a package for $300 per person or you can purchase the individual events at the event price listed below.
The first “Behind the Scenes” Event Lecture and Private Dinner Reception with Tina Barney Thursday, April 17th, 2008 Lecture at 7pm with dinner to directly follow
The Photographic Resource Center at Boston University
832 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02215
Enjoy a private dinner reception with one of America’s most influential and respected photographers. The event will take place on Thursday, April 17 and directly follow her lecture. Limit for this event is 20 people. The price of the event is $125 per person. RSVP by April 7th.
The second “Behind the Scenes” Event Photography at the Fogg Art Museum
Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 11am
Fogg Art Museum
32 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Harvard University’s Fogg Art Museum will be closing for renovations on June 30, so take advantage of this opportunity to view selections from the Fogg Art Museum’s photography collection in the Agnes Mongan Center for the Study Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. The event time will be on Saturday, May 10 from 11-12 with a talk by the Richard L. Menschel Curator of Photography, Deborah Martin Kao. Following the tour, join us at a special restaurant for lunch. The price of the event is $125 per person. Limit for this event is 15 people. RSVP by May 5th.
The third “Behind the Scenes” Event A Private Collection Becomes Public ISM.
Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 6:30
745 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
ISM, a travel and leisure marketing company, is allowing a limited number of visitors to view their never-seen-before corporate collection.Guests will enjoy a guided tour with ISM’s President and CEO, Gary Leopold and enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on its roof-deck, with a spectacular view of the Back Bay. Gary has been an avid collector of photography and a member of the PRC Board of Directors. The price of the event is $100 per person. Event time will be Thursday, June 12 from 6:30 to 8:30pm. RSVP by May 31st.
If you’ve answered yes to at least two of the above, then I’m happy to say that the PRC is offering a workshop you might be interested in! I am also happy to say that this workshop is the first (and certainly not the last) collaboration between the PRC and Grub Street. (A non-profit writing center where Boston Gets Writing)
The workshop is called Staring and Wonderand will meet at the PRC on Saturday, May 3, 2008, from 9am – 4pm. It was inspired by the PRC’s upcoming New England Surveyexhibition, which, in turn, was inspired by Amherst poet Robert Francis’s poem, “New England Mind.” We’ll begin by discussing some suggestive and provocative statements by a host of writers who care about staring—W.G. Sebald, Flannery O’Connor, John Gardner, Cesare Pavese, Wallace Stevens, George Szirtes, Mark Strand, and Elizabeth Bishop, among others—and then spend the rest of the first part of our day engaged in acts of staring ourselves. The objects of our attention will be the astonishing landscape–based photographs in New England Survey. (Such as the above image by Barbara Bosworth) We’ll dedicate the second part of our day to what happens after that something becomes interesting. We’ll allow these images of the New England landscape to enlarge of our sense of place and our capacities to pay attention, to wonder, and wander in our writing. We’ll follow our eyes-and our imaginations-in words. This workshop is open to all writerly appetites: narrative, poetic, memoiristic, essayistic, imagistic, and beyond.
We all crave feedback. Personally, without daily feedback from my wife I’d run the risk of leaving home thinking I look good in my severely mis-matched clothes. (I do try and rectify my mistakes before leaving for the PRC)
I do know how difficult it is for artists to find a forum that can offer consistent and objective feedback on their work. This is why the PRC has launched the Portfolio Project, a sequential program, offered twice a year, designed to offer guidance and insight for those interested in refining their portfolio and progressing in their practice, while working with members of our photo community.
We’re thrilled that Cig Harvey, an amazing fine art and commercial photographer, will lead this installment of the Portfolio Project. In addition to teaching at AIB, Cig travels the world showing her work (most recently at Photo 50 at the London Arts Fair) and shooting on assignment for folks like O Magazine, kate spade, Ralph Lauren, and Health Magazine. She was recently named one of Photo District News’ 30 “New and Emerging Photographers to Watch.” Below is one of Cig’s images. Check out cigharvey.com to see more.
Your friendly PRC Education Manager here. When I first stepped out of the Auditorium at 6:30 last night I found myself taken aback by the site of hundreds of people waiting to enter Arno Minkkinen’s lecture. I knew how Roy Scheider must have felt when he stumbled back past Quint on the Deck of the Orca and mumbled those now famous few words, “You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat.” Well last night, for the PRC’s inaugural lecture in our Spring Lecture Series and our premiere Polaroid Spotlight Lecture, we needed a bigger auditorium.
Last night was truly a milestone in the history of the PRC. Arno was, as always, inspiring and his talk will be remembered for years to come. We are truly fortunate to have someone as genuinely kind and giving as Arno in our community. The attendance at the lecture was staggering! The demonstration of support for Arno and the PRC was humbling. I can’t thank everyone enough for coming out. I also want to say how heartbroken I was that we couldn’t fit everyone into the lecture hall (including yours truly). I am happy to say, however, that we will have an audio recording of the lecture available at the PRC within a couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can listen and watch the super AV slideshow that BU Today did on Arno here.
And be sure to check out photos from the event on our flickr site, courtesy of our all-star event photographer Mike Howard.
We’ve got a big week coming up, with some tough choices to make on Thursday. Of course, we hope you choose Arno Rafael Minkkinen’s first public lecture in Boston at the PRC. Don’t forget the leap year, one extra day of February for your enjoyment, and First Fridays deferred a week to March 7th.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26
Rhode Island School of Design. Visualizing Black Culture. Lecture by Dr. Deborah Willis, Chair of Photography and Imaging Department at NYU Tisch School of the Arts: 7 pm. RISD Auditorium, 17 Canal Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02906. 401.454.6500. www.risd.edu
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28
Photographic Resource Center. Arno Rafael Minkkinen: unplugged, as always. 7pm, BU’s Photonics Center, Auditorium 206, 8 St. Mary’s Street, Boston, MA. 617-975-0600. www.prcboston.org $10 Members/$15 Non-Members/$5 Full-time Students/Free for Students of Institutional Members. [meetup]
Foster Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts Boston. SMFA Traveling Scholars. Artists’ talk by Bill Durgin, Mathew Clay Freeman and Elizabeth H. Wallace: 11 am. Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115. 617-267-9300. www.mfa.org
Harvard University Art Museums. Moyra Davey: Two or Three Things I know about Her.Lecture by Catherine Lord: 6 p.m. Carpenter Center Auditorium. 24 Quincy Street. Opening Night: 7 pm. Fogg Art Museum, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA. www.artmuseums.harvard.edu
Griffin Museum. Photographs of Immigrant Station on Ellis Island from the Social Museum of Harvard University. Gallery talk by Beth Pugliano: 7 pm. 67 Shore Road, Winchester MA 01890. 781-729-1158. www.griffinmuseum.org
We hope to see you at as many of these great events as possible!
Boston Photography Focus is a blog dedicated to Boston photographers, Boston photography exhibitions and education, photo enthusiasts, and all manner of photo-based activities, news, happenings, topics, and ideas in and around Boston, New England, and beyond. It is sponsored by the Photographic Resource Center (PRC) at Boston University, New England's center for photography. The PRC is an independent non-profit organization that serves as a vital forum for the exploration and interpretation of new work, ideas, and methods in photography and related media.
Boston Photography Focus is a blog dedicated to Boston photographers, Boston photography exhibitions and education, photo enthusiasts, and all manner of photo-based activities, news, happenings, topics, and ideas in and around Boston, New England, and beyond. It is sponsored by the 
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