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

We hope all photo friends enjoy the long weekend and celebrate in your respective ways! The PRC will be closed the 4th and through the weekend.

Today, I begin to take down the PRC Juried Exhibition (a great run! - but all good things must come to an end). The gallery will soon be given over to Summer Photo Camp, so there will be no exhibition on display until early September. Make no mistake, we’re still here, busy prepping for the next year and our upcoming 2008 PRC Benefit Auction!

Above is a Flickr montage for your enjoyment and here are some tips for photographing fireworks from the Boston Globe. Have a safe and happy 4th!

ABOVE: A montage from Drumnwhistle’s flickr stream created with a flickr toy

The PRC would like to announce that the New England Photo Events posting is an open post for anyone to put up any links or events that they are having in regards to photography. If you are interested in posting your events, please post them in the comments section of this entry.

SATURDAY, JUNE 21
Decordova Museum and Sculpture Park. Vanessa Tropeano. Meet the Artist: 3pm. 781-259-8355. Museum Galleries, 51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln, MA 01773.

Hallmark Museum of Contemporary Photography. Annual Spring Exhibition and Benefit Print Sale. Public Reception. 413-863-0009. 85 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA 01376.

Newburyport Art Association. An Artful Feast: NAA’S 7th Annual Art Auction. Preview: 10am-5pm. 978-465-8769. Sargent and Hills Galleries. 63 Water Street, Newburyport, MA 01950.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26
Mass MoCA. Eastern Standard. Artist Talk with Edward Burtynsky: 7pm. 413-662-2111. 1040 Mass Moca Way, North Adams, MA 01247.

FRIDAY, JUNE 27
Newburyport Art Association. Paul Osborne & Catherine Davis. Reception: 7-9pm. 978-465-8769. Hills Gallery. 65 Water Street, Newburyport, MA.

SATURDAY, JUNE 28
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Luisa Rabbia: Travels with Isabella. Artist Talk: 1:30pm. 617-566-1401. 280 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115.

Newburyport Art Association. Photo Interest Group. Reception: 7-9pm. 978-465-8769. Sargent & Hartson Gallery. 65 Water Street, Newburyport, MA 01950.

SUNDAY, JUNE 29
Cutter Gallery. Beauty in Transition: A Work in Progress. . Photographs by Roy Crystal. Closing Reception: 12:30 - 4pm. Gallery Talk with Roy Crystal: 2:30pm.1 Whittemore Park, Arlington Center, Arlington, MA.

PhotoSLAM!
Deadline for Submissions: Thursday, June 19, 2008
Event: Thursday, June 26, 2008, 6pm
Location: The Wonder Bar, 186 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA
Questions? Call 617.975.0600

It’s time for the PRC annual PhotoSLAM! The PhotoSLAM! is a digital slide show of ALL submitted photographs, a showcase of the work and talent within the PRC membership. Submit photos by CD or email by June 19th to cbrennan@prcboston.org, attention PhotoSLAM!. We are only accepting submissions in digital format. Limit 5 images: Images must be jpegs (labeled last name and # - i.e., Brennan1, etc.), formatted for PC (please include .jpg extension) at 150 dpi/ppi, no larger than 800 pixels in either direction. All entries should include a sheet detailing name, image information (title, year, media, etc.), phone number, email, and a brief description of the work or series. You must be prepared to attend, narrate your work, and cheer on friends the night of the event!

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.

The show is hung, the labels are up, and the carpet is vacuumed! If you are in the Boston area, stop by for some art, hummus, and good conversation TONIGHT from 5:30-7:30pm. The show looks great!

In addition the wonderful mention of the PRC in PDN this month and the current “web photo happening” this week and next week on flakphoto.com, we’ve been lucky to get a lot of attention about this year’s show, EXPOSURE: The 13th Annual PRC Juried Exhibition.

Online today is a super AV slideshow feature on BU Today. Our favorite BU reporter Kimberly Cornuelle spoke to 3 of the artists in the show - Lana Z Caplan, Claire Beckett, and Cree Bruins - and the slideshow features every image in the exhibition!

Here is some other press for you to check out - but do come by and see the work in person if you can!

* Boston Phoenix last week
* Boston Phoenix, this week, May 22, 8 days a week/ critic’s pick
* Boston Globe, Sidekick, Friday, May 23

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

Sunday, June 22, 2008, 10:00am – 5:30pm
Boston University’s George Sherman Union, Academy Room, first floor towards the back of the cafeteria, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
FREE with PRC membership
Please RSVP by Wednesday, June 18th. Call Cate Brennan at 617.975.0600 with questions or to RSVP

Want to get together with other artists and talk photo? Come to a Member photo sharing on Sunday, June 22nd from 10:00am – 5:30pm. Bring your photographs, portfolios, or laptops and share your images with fellow members. Tables will be set up for you to display your work. This informal sharing is meant to encourage discussions of technique, visions, and collaboration.

Every year since 1996, the PRC has presented a juried exhibition with a nationally-renowned juror. We were honored to have as our 2008 juror, Lesley A. Martin, Publisher, Aperture Book Program.

For this year’s exhibition, Ms. Martin selected 14 artists out of a total 376 international submissions—the largest number of entries ever received in the exhibition’s history. A special spread will appear in the summer issue of the PRC’s newsletter, in the loupe and the exhibition will run May 23 - July 2, with the opening reception on Thursday, May 22, 5:30 - 7:30pm. Click here for more information on the PRC Juried Exhibition and its history.

Here is a sneak peek at the selected artists with links to their web sites. CONGRATULATIONS!

Mariliana Arvelo (Cambridge, MA)
Clint Baclawski (Boston, MA)
Claire Beckett (Jamaica Plain, MA)
Cree Bruins (Cambridge, MA)
Lana Z Caplan (Boston, MA)
Talia Chetrit (Providence, RI)
Martine Fougeron (New York, NY)
Robert Knight (Newton, MA)
Molly Landreth (Seattle, WA)
Marta Labad (Providence, RI)
Benjamin Lowy (New York, NY)
Eric Percher (Brooklyn, NY)
Erik Schubert (Cambridge, MA)
Ellen Susan (Savannah, GA)

ABOVE IMAGE:

Mariliana Arvelo, Beatriz and a branch, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, from the series “Generations,” 2007/2008, C-Print, 30 x 40 inches, courtesy of and copyright the artist

I am delighted to report that Mark Feeney, resident art, photo, and culture critic at the Boston Globe, has won the Pultizer Prize in Criticism! I just learned about the great news. Congratulations Mark! You so richly deserve it!

I am also honored to report that one of the 10 stories with which Mark was nominated and won was his review for the PRC exhibition Picture Show. You can read all of Mark Feeney’s nominated, prize-winning stories here.

This series of 10 reviews includes his musings on the photographic efforts of several PRC friends, including Kim Sichel’s aerial photography show, Arlette Kayafas’s Charles Teenie Harris show, and Abe Morell’s Mead Art Museum show. Being that we are a smaller non-profit in a largish city, I am thrilled and humbled that Mark has written about our shows so often, or even at all. You can read 5 of Mark’s reviews of PRC exhibitions here.

I so very much appreciate the time that Mark spends in understanding an exhibition and I know the artists do too. He always asks for all of the wall text and artist statements. I have long admired Mark for his insightful commentary and ability to create brilliant turns of phrases. In his writing, you can tell how much he enjoys pondering ideas of all stripes.

ize="2">Here are some excerpts below from the Boston Globe story and above, a photo by another of our favorite Globe staffers, Dominic Chavez.

From the Boston Globe, Globe writer wins Pulitzer for Criticism
By Don Aucoin, Globe Staff, April 7, 2008

Mark Feeney, an arts writer and photography reviewer for The Boston Globe, today was awarded the 2008 Pultizer Prize for criticism.

It is the 20th time the Globe has won the Pulitzer, which is considered the most prestigious award in journalism, and the second time in the past seven years that the newspaper has won the award for criticism.

Feeney, 50, won for 10 essays on visual culture that ranged from photography to painting and film. A self-described Globe “lifer” who began working at the newspaper shortly after he graduated from Harvard in 1979, Feeney noted today that the Globe has long made arts criticism a cornerstone of its identity.

“More than anything else, it’s about the paper,” he said of the Pulitzer. “There are so many people who are deserving who don’t get it. It’s a crapshoot. I’m just amazed, overwhelmed, and really, really pleased that the dice came up for me this time. But it’s not just for me. It’s for the paper.” The awards were announced this afternoon at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. …

Feeney won the Pulitzer for 10 critical essays that suggest the fluency and brio of his writing style, and the range of interests on which he brings that style to bear. …

“The Globe has a great tradition of reviewers, not just such prior Pulitzer winners as Robert Campbell and Gail Caldwell, but so many others, going all the way back to Michael Steinberg, Robert Taylor, Richard Dyer, Margaret Manning, and several current colleagues whom I will not embarrass by naming,” said Feeney.

Feeney was born in Winchester, Mass., and raised in Reading, Mass. His mother,
Agnes, who still lives in Reading, will turn 90 on Saturday.  “I’ve been at a loss as to what to get her for a present,” Feeney said. “I guess I’m all set now.”

I’ve been rabidly collecting photographs for over 30 years and my collection has ballooned to the point where most of the images are lined up against walls or in closets or under beds.

One drawback of having a large collection is that there are precious few opportunities to present it to an appreciative audience. All my friends have seen it and they do not even try to feign attention any longer. So when an opportunity to air a portion of the collection to a new public was presented, I was thrilled.

The invitation came as part of a private event hosted by Panopticon Gallery in Boston featuring Andy Grundberg. I was asked to bring a few photographs from my collection to an event where Andy could use the images as part of a conversation about collecting.

The first kafuffle was trying to figure out which images to select. The best? My favorites? The dogs? As you can see, a dog ended up as part of the final selection.

Knowing one of the other contributing collectors, and the stellar quality of his collection of vintage photographs, I chose to contribute a few of the more affordable, contemporary pieces.

The selection process behind me, the fear of public ridicule set in. Here was one of the world’s most significant voices in art criticism looking at the images I’ve collected and commenting on them. What if he broke out in loud laughter? Or worse, delivered a remarkably astute critique of the photos under the title of “What not to collect.”

The William Wegman print titled “The Duck” was selected and I thought that this would be his chance to let ‘er rip.

But to my surprise there was not a chuckle or a sneer. Instead he spoke insightfully about Wegman’s early videos, his sense of humor, and his – and others - use of the Polaroid 20×24 camera.

Perhaps I wasn’t in my underwear after all.

Andy Grundberg ponders “The Duck”.
Photograph by Shannon McDonald

Member PhotoSLAM!

Deadline for Submissions, Saturday, June 12th
Event: Thursday, June 26, 6pm
Location: The Wonder Bar. 186 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA.

The PRC will be hosting its annual PhotoSLAM! The PhotoSLAM! will be a digital slide show of ALL submitted photographs, a showcase of the work and talent within the PRC membership. Submit photos by CD or email by June 12th to cbrennan@prcboston.org attention PhotoSLAM!. We are only accepting submissions in digital format. Limit 5 images: Images must be jpegs (labeled last name and # - i.e., Brennan1, etc.), formatted for PC (please include .jpg extension) at 150 dpi/ppi, no larger than 800 pixels in either direction. All entries should include a sheet detailing name, image information (title, year, media, etc.), phone number, email, and a brief description of the work or series. You must be prepared to attend, narrate your work, and cheer on friends the night of the event!

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 Wonder and will meet at the PRC on Saturday, May 3, 2008, from 9am – 4pm. It was inspired by the PRC’s upcoming New England Survey exhibition, 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.

For more information on the program, including how to register, please visit the PRC’s website.

On January 26th we held a portfolio sharing for all our members. We had a great turn out of about 25-30 people, sharing their portfolios, images on their laptops, and a small group of members shared what they had done during the semester with the Portfolio Project. Here are some photos of the event that you can check out.