Boston Photography Focus

Another Image from the 2008 PRC Benefit Auction

Jim — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:36:23 +0000

This fall, close to 200 vintage and contemporary photographs go up for auction to benefit the PRC. Above is one of the amazing images on which you can bid. Keep checking back to see more auction images. Click here or on the above image for more information.

Image Credit:

Jon Edwards, Eggs, 2005/2007, Selenium Toned Gelatin Silver Print, 10×10 inches, Edition 7/25, Signed Verso

Another image from the 2008 PRC Benefit Auction

Jim — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:52:12 +0000

Image credit:

Guillermo Srodek-Hart, The House of 1000 Souvenirs, 2006 Archival Inkjet, 11×14 inches, Edition1/5, signed verso

Invasion of the Mimobots

Michael — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:22:08 +0000

Put away the Star Wars action figures and set your phasers to stun, the PRC is not hosting a Sci-Fi convention. BUT, we did recently receive a very generous gift of lil’ mimobots (thanks mimoco) for use in our youth education programs. I’m not generally a “Tech Geeking Out” poster but these little guys were just too cool so I thought a blog entry was in order.

So what exactly is a mimobot? When all is said and done, a mimobot is a designer USB storage drive. mimoco, the company that produces the toy/drive, commissioned a variety of artists and designers to develop the identity and design for each individual mimobot. The result, cute and cuddly mass storage devices that truly demonstrate the new convergences between art and commerce. The roster of artists commissioned by mimoco include some heavy hitters in the creative field such as artist/illustrator/ cartoonist/all-around madman Gary Baseman. And for all you sci-fi folks, they even have a new Star Wars series. Now if they could only hook up my floppy disks.

Another image from the 2008 PRC Benefit Auction

Jim — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:01:15 +0000

Image credit: Keith Johnson, Yuma Rocks, 2008, Digital Gelatin Silver Print, 16×20 inches, Edition 3/15, signed verso, printing courtesy of Digital Silver Imaging

Do you have issues? We want to know.

Michael — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:37:29 +0000

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.

Can’t wait to hear about your issues!

Image Credit: Sigmund Freud Museum/Associated Press

Another Image from the 2008 PRC Benefit Auction

Jim — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:56:58 +0000

Image Credit:

Bill Armstrong, Mandala #463, 2007, C-Print, 10×10 inches, Edition 3/10, signed verso, Courtesy of artist and Gallery Kayafas

Quick quiz, which famous photog are you?

Leslie — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:29:00 +0000

Since the “name all the photo songs you know” post a couple of weeks ago went over so well, I thought you all would enjoy this too. Although this quiz has been circulating a bit and it’s not too deep or rigorous, it’s still a perfect Friday post.

Answer questions such as this, “Which activity would interest you most?” and the quiz will spit out your photo doppelganger. I took it and was deemed Henri Cartier Bresson; Bruce took it and was dubbed Ansel Adams, go figure. Please share your photo-mate in the comments!

Click here or on the above banner to take the 7 question quiz.

Photo Camp 2008 Recap

Michael — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:27:22 +0000

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 Leise Jones 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.

Click here for more information on the PRC’s Summer Photo Camp. Or, check out this great story on Camp by Kimberly Cornuelle at BU Today. For a sampling of student work created during Camp, please visit our flickr page.

Image Credit: Students from the last week of Photo Camp pose for a quick photo before their opening reception. Photograph by Michael Christiano

Another Image from the 2008 PRC Benefit Auction

Jim — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:44:42 +0000

This fall, close to 200 vintage and contemporary photographs go up for auction to benefit the PRC. Above is one of the amazing images on which you can bid. Keep checking back to see more auction images. Click here or on the above image for more information.

Image credit: Jules Aarons, Father & Daughter - Paris Cafe, 1954, Gelatin Silver Print, Vintage print, 13 x 10 inches, Signed Verso, Courtesy of artist and Gallery Kayafas

A Must Subscribe: Edward Winkleman’s gallery blog

Leslie — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:26:03 +0000

Edward Winkleman, art dealer and owner of Winkleman Gallery, has an incredibly active blog. Not only does he thoughtfully blog almost every day, but he usually generates 100+ comments.

Edward’s honest and frank posts gives those on the other side an incredible insight into the gallery scene and business. Bravo for transparency!

Recently, he started a weekly post, Tuesday’s Aside, in which he answers people’s gallery and career questions.

Here are some recent gems:

1.) Investing in Yourself - what to do to advance your career when you come into extra $
2.) Political Correctness - in the gallery scene and artworld
3.) Studio Visit Strategies - what to do and not to do when a gallerist or curator visits and when, how, and even if to ask for one

and finally one of my favorites, Shifting Gears: Trust the Spiral
- what do to if your signature style & subject changes

In this last post, Edward introduces a fantastic metaphor, the art spiral pictured above, and goes on to share his insights on this process. It’s such a wonderful summation of the artistic process (which so often does have an artist coming back to the same themes and ideas again and again, just parsed differently) that I will quote it in full. Enjoy!

Anonymous you note: “I know the direction I’m (already) moving in, which is quite different.” In my experience, though, the direction most artists are moving in only seems different for a while. Here’s a simplified version of how I imagine most artists’ journeys/interests (as opposed to careers) would look if charted. [see above]

The spiral is the path I see/hear about repeatedly in studio visits. Obviously there are many more spokes to this spiral, different subjects that reemerge from time to time, points along the path where you adopt the influence or return to a subject (marked with the red asterisks) and others when some idea/subject/concern occurs to you but you press on ignoring it (where the spiral crosses a spoke but there is no asterisk).

I find this image useful, though, when I recognize during a studio visit that an artist has “returned” to an idea or introduced something that might seem entirely new until I see much older work and realize that for many artists they keep returning to the same ideas again and again, only with more insight/ experience than the last time. At such junctures, certain ideas might seem to be threatening what you’ve built perhaps because it’s been a while since Subject A was part of your practice/ consciousness. You might have dropped it off at one asterisk. But generally it’s radiating through your overall practice all the while. If you need it again, you can pick it up and use it.

An artist I showed this diagram to the other day suggested it’s actually much more complex than this. Rather than one two-dimensional spiral, each artist’s journey is actually a three-dimensional series of multiple interwoven spirals, and the intersections are not always so chronological. I suspect he’s right, but the whole point of illustrating this is to note that I don’t think dealers (or anyone else) should associate changes in an artist’s practice with a lack of seriousness. Not if they’re taking a long-term view.

It may not be easy even for the artist, at the point marked “Today,” to see how it’s all related (and how a drastic change in medium or practice will later be combined with other more thoroughly examined spokes and bring one’s audience back round). Personally I think what seem like dramatic shifts are OK so long as the artist has interesting ideas, is rigorous about exploring them, and has a solid studio practice. It will all come together again, and probably be much more interesting for pushing further out along the spiral, rather than sticking in one spot along it.

Do you love Photography, Conversation…Cocktails? Then this is the group for you!

Cate — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:49:10 +0000

The PRC wants to invite you to a kickoff event for our new group, The Young Professionals. From emerging artists, to collectors, to photo fans, The Young Professionals is an exciting new hub for the Boston photography scene.

Join us on October 16th from 6 - 8 pm for the first Emerging Collector’s Event. We’ll have cocktails and hors d’oeurves and get the chance to talk first hand to a few of the artists whose work will be in the 2008 PRC Benefit Auction.

Thursday, October 16, 6-8 pm

808 Gallery, 808 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215

Admission: $10

Please RSVP by October 3rd. Call Cate Brennan, Programs Coordinator, at 617-975-0600 or email cbrennan@prcboston.org with questions or if you would like to join the Young Professionals of the PRC.

Another Image from the 2008 PRC Benefit Auction

Jim — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:07:59 +0000

Image credit:

Martin R. Anderson, Provincetown, C-Scape 2005, Self-Portrait #5, 2005/2006, Selenium Toned Gelatin Silver Print, 5 1/2 x 8 inches, Edition 3/30, signed verso

Another image from the 2008 PRC Benefit Auction

Jim — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:08:47 +0000

It is not long now until we host the 2008 PRC Benefit Auction.

On Saturday, October 25th at 808 Commonwealth Avenue close to 200 vintage and contemporary photographs go up for auction. Above is one of the amazing images that the audience will be able to bid on. Check back to see more auction images. We will be posting them regularly. Click here for more information on the event.

Image Credit: Matt Siber, Citgo, 2003, Archival Inkjet. 22 x 18 inches, AP, signed verso

Boston Young Contemporaries

Leslie — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:46:14 +0000

This is always an exciting time of year on Comm. Ave. While the rest of Boston is quiet, there is a beehive of activity going on at the BU West T-stop!

We have given over our gallery to the imagemakers of tomorrow (PRC Summer Photo Camp is halfway through!) and right next door there are young graduate students about to blossom.

Boston Young Contemporaries, organized by BU studio art graduate students, takes over the former Cadillac Building from mid July - mid August. Now in its third year, you can see witness vibrant talent, juried from 12 regional graduate and post-bac programs. You can read the Boston Globe’s review right here, or stop on by yourself! It’s up until August 22nd.

Quick… Name as many songs about photography as you can

Leslie — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:05:48 +0000

Do they include any from this excellent list of 10 songs with photographic themes courtesy of Photo Shelter’s most excellent Shoot the Blog?

Besides Outkast’s Hey Ya! and their iconic “shake it like a Polaroid picture” chorus, what else, pun intended, develops? (Be sure to also check out the above post’s comment section for even more photo songs and photo punniness.)

A mix of such tunes might just be the perfect soundtrack for the next PRC PhotoSLAM! What do you think?

While you contemplate, you can listen to Jack Jackson’s F-Stop Blues!