"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." - Dorothea Lange

Sunday, June 27, 2010

installation shots

Friday night was a blast and a big success! Thanks to all who attended and showed support of Change the Truth. There were 42 dolls and 50 paintings by the children in the silent and live auction. All the dolls were sold; there are a few paintings left. If you'd like to see jpegs of them, please contact me. You can have them for $65 each (and that's FRAMED!)

Here are some shots I took shortly before the crowd of 400 arrived. The installation of the dolls and paintings was done by Kathy Tracy, Lynne Melcher and me. The store was set up by Susie Corbin and her very able high school crew: Ali, Augi and Andrew.

Party pics by Michael Spillers will follow soon.



























Friday, June 25, 2010

matters of the heart

In the village of Buyingi (Rakai district) October, 2006

Little did I know in the fall of 2006 when I made my first trip ever to Africa that my life would change.

Well, a lot of people told me it might. I guess I didn't understand exactly (or even vaguely) what that could mean. The concept was way too abstract.

What changed was the way my heart beat. I was warned about the possibility of getting malaria or a bad sunburn or an upset stomach or crashing on a motorcycle taxi. But no one warned me about the heart thing.

I have devoted myself to helping 180 children who live at an orphanage. How could I have known this was going to happen? More than four hundred others have joined me in this endeavor. How could I ever have predicted that?

When I stop to think about it all, it really does take my breath away.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. I hope to see you tonight at the 3rd annual Change the Truth Friendraiser/Fundraiser.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

irene


I have been running a million miles an hour getting ready for the CTT Friendraiser/Fundraiser.

The installation of dolls and paintings at Leedy-Voulkos is well under way. The volunteers are ready to work. People in the community are looking forward to attending.

I'm tired, but feeling really good about the way things are coming together.

I just came across this photo of lovely Irene holding a doll that was made by one of the older girls during Team 2's visit to the orphanage in 2008. We all fell in love with Irene - how could we not?

Her warm, genuine and beautiful smile is what this is all about.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

ana stanovcic

AS 33

Ana is 10 years old and will be in the 5th grade at Pembroke Hill School. Her favorite things to do are drawing, reading, swimming and playing outside.

Ana believes knowledge about the world is important for understanding different cultures. Her doll is holding a book because she enjoys reading, and “books give us knowledge.” She said she wanted the skirt to represent fabrics from all over the world and the shirt to be international by including the names of the seven continents. She included a small selection of her favorite book titles on stacked books at the base of the doll. Some of these are "Harry Potter" and "The Anybodies".

She placed a butterfly in the doll's other hand to represent hope and encouragement.


At 10, Ana is the same age as some of the Ugandan children who made the dolls. Her life could not be more different than theirs, but she comes from a family that encourages her to learn as much as she can about the world around her and to care about others. She strikes me as the type of person who will work toward positive change based upon those differences and ultimately try to make the world a better place. Kids like Ana should give us all hope for the future.

Monday, June 21, 2010

sher pierson

SP32

"My art is a reflection of my personal experiences and explorations. My intention is to make work that is soul searching and honest, even in its mystery. The pieces are intended to speak with truths that are strong and adamant, but are not necessarily intended to tell a story. Some of the themes are born out of compassion for the dilemmas I see other people, especially women, stumbling through. In my paintings and sculpture, as in life, there are some unpleasant themes that are dressed up in pretty pictures and surfaces. Much of my work is about that - about the masks or 'faces' we put on for those around us. The inner nature that we hide, even from ourselves, and the joy and freedom we can find in the revelation of the truth.

One of the most important aspects of the process of making my work is the influence of poetry. I am in no way a writer myself, but I am obsessed with the written word. Although I read novels voraciously, it is poetry that especially moves me. I read a poem and it 'roosts' in my head and will not let go. This obsession leads to a painting or sculpture, and once that poem is purged, the next one enters, and so on. I am often compelled to integrate these poems into my compositions. As an added benefit, perhaps a few more people will be exposed to this beautiful form of expression.


The physical act of making art is cathartic for me.... I am gently exposing a theme as the painting or sculpture progresses. It may be about yearning or mystery or sexuality or pain or injustice of some sort, and it may be communicated in the layers of glazing or 'aging' that go into the surface. No face or element is left pure and clean, they always have a patina - that is, they are disguised, distressed, or diffused in some way. It is that patina that makes the piece a real and breathing thing to me, as I've found there are few people on earth without their own patinas. That may be why I am so drawn to objects that are old and show their age. I like the mystery of their history, and of giving discarded things a new life.... and ultimately - in transforming them into a lasting piece of art."

Sunday, June 20, 2010

father's day

My Father’s Gift to Me
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
The New York Times
6/20/10

"When I was 12, my father came and spoke to my seventh-grade class. I remember feeling proud, for my rural school was impressed by a visit from a university professor. But I also recall being embarrassed — at my dad’s strong Slavic accent, at his refugee origins, at his 'differentness.'

I’m back at my childhood home and reflecting on all this because abruptly I find myself fatherless on Father’s Day. My dad died a few days ago at age 91, after a storybook life — devoted above all to his only child.

Reporting on poverty and absentee fathers has taught me what a gift fatherhood is: I know I won the lottery of life by having loving, caring parents. There’s another reason I feel indebted to my father, and it has to do with those embarrassing foreign ways: his willingness to leave everything familiar behind in the quest for a new world that would provide opportunity even for a refugee’s children.

My father, an Armenian, was born in a country that no longer exists, Austria-Hungary, in a way of life that no longer exists. The family was in the nobility, living on an estate of thousands of acres — and then came World War II.

My father was imprisoned by the Nazis for helping spy on their military presence in Poland. He bribed his way out of prison, but other relatives died at Auschwitz for spying. Then the Soviet Union grabbed the region and absorbed it into Ukraine, and other relatives died in Siberian labor camps.

Penniless, my father fled on horseback to Romania but saw that a Communist country would afford a future neither for him nor his offspring. So he headed toward the West, swimming across the Danube River on a moonless night. On the Yugoslav side of the river, he was captured and sent to a concentration camp and then an asbestos mine and a logging camp. After two years, he was able to flee to Italy and then to France.

My father found that despite his fluent French and university education, France did not embrace refugees. Even children of refugees were regarded as less than fully French.

So he boarded a ship in 1952 to the United States, the land of opportunity — even though English was not among the seven languages that he spoke. His first purchase was a copy of the Sunday New York Times, with which he began to teach himself an eighth language.

He arrived as Vladislav Krzysztofowicz, but no American could pronounce that. So he shortened it to Ladis Kristof.

After working in an Oregon logging camp to earn money and learn English, he started university all over again at the age of 34, at Reed College. He earned his doctorate at the University of Chicago, where he met my mother, Jane, and in his 40s he began a career as a political science professor, eventually winding up at Portland State University.

Because he never forgot what it is to be needy, my dad was attentive to other people’s needs. Infuriatingly so. He picked up every hitchhiker and drove them miles out of his way; if they needed a place to sleep, he offered our couch.

Seeking an echo of his old estate, my dad settled us on a farm, which he equipped with tractors and an extraordinary 30,000-volume library: From chain saws to the complete works of Hegel (in German), our farm has it all.

At the age of 80, my father still chopped firewood as fast as I did. In his late 80s, he climbed the highest tree on our farm each spring to photograph our cherry orchard in bloom. At 90, he still hunted.

I know that such a long and rich life is to be celebrated, not mourned. I know that his values and outlook survive because they are woven into my fabric. But my heart still aches terribly.

As I grew up, I came to admire my father’s foreign manners as emblems of any immigrant’s gift to his children. When I was in college, I copied out a statement of his:

'War, want and concentration camps, exile from home and homeland, these have made me hate strife among men, but they have not made me lose faith in the future of mankind. ... If man has been able to create the arts, the sciences and the material civilization we know in America, why should he be judged powerless to create justice, fraternity and peace?'

I taped it to my dorm room wall, but I didn’t tell him. It felt too awkward. And now it’s too late. Even this column comes a few days too late.

So my message for Father’s Day is simple: Celebrate the bequest of fatherhood with something simpler, deeper and truer than an artificial verse on a store-bought card. Speak and hug from your heart and soul — while there is still time."

My dad and me

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Friday, June 18, 2010

stephanie leedy

SL31

Stephanie grew up at Lake Lotawana in Missouri. She graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in the sculpture department where her father, Jim Leedy, had taught for over forty years. She continued her graduate degree at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and then stayed for a couple of years to run a hot glass studio. She moved back to Kansas City and, during an apprenticeship, learned to bend neon. Stephanie opened “Downtown Neon” and ran a sign shop and then a gallery.

She now helps oversee and manage the buildings that contain artist studios and the much loved Leedy-Voulkos Art Center. I took this picture of Steph and her really cute rescued dog, Winston, on the front steps of Leedy-Voulkos, a place I hope many of you will be next Friday night!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

sonie joi ruffin

SJR30

Sonie is a contemporary fabric artist, fabric designer and writer based in Kansas City. Sonié grew up in a family of seamstresses and clothing designers. She started sewing at the age of four.

Her vibrant quilts draw from a centuries old wellspring that explores humanity through the crux of the black African American experience.

Sonié’s designs and stories are distinctive, her stories embrace and inspire, the mastery of her writing shares stories from her life’s experiences, the black African American culture, hardships, triumphs and the courage to celebrate life.

She designs from the heart, paints with fabric and embellishes with her needle revealing universal truths. She is a master at incorporating the boldness of African fabrics such as kente cloth, mud cloth and korhogo cloth with American print fabrics to create striking designs with an engagement of color dialogue.


She has conducted lectures and workshops on quilting at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery. Sonié has been invited to exhibit of her artwork in museums and galleries across the United States. She is the visiting curator at the American Jazz Museum.

Her fabric collections “My African Village and Drums of Afrika”, can be found in fabric shops internationally. Both collections have appeared in Better Homes and Garden Quilting, McCall's Quilting, Fons and Porter Quilting, and Designer's Quarters Magazine.

To date she has two books to her credit “The Soulful Art of African American Quilts: Nineteen bold Improvisational Projects” and “Opening Day" which is about the Negro Leagues Baseball teams.

Sonie is a 2010 Charlotte Street Award winner - a very impressive achievement.

Check out this short You Tube video that features her amazing quilts.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

joline el-hai

JEH

The artists involved in The Doll Project are all from the Kansas City area - with the exception of Joline.

She had learned about the project on Facebook and immediately contacted me.

She wanted to be part of it.

When I looked at her website, I was surprised to see that I actually had one of her pieces! It was a nightlight my sister had given Eddie and me as a housewarming gift over ten years ago. I've always loved it.

I think it's amazing and wonderful how things/places/people always seem to kind of circle back. I was thrilled to make an exception for Joline and include her as our out of town "guest" artist. She did not disappoint. Her doll came back from Seattle as a lamp!

"Raised under the sun-soaked skies of Southern California I developed an enduring passion for light and vivid color. In 1975 I fell in love with the medium of glass -- its ability to convey emotion and touch the soul -- and began a 35-year journey of designing and fabricating glass panels.

My glass panels are sometimes naturally-lit as stained glass windows or electrically illuminated from behind as glowing tabletop, shelf or wall sculptures.


A gardener with deep roots in the earth, the drama and intimacy of the natural world often inform my designs. Through grainy reductive glass painting and incorporation of layered fused glass elements in my glass panels I celebrate life’s fertile mystery.

Old suitcases and odd antique wooden boxes are the frameworks for my glass panels in most of my current work. I cut holes in them, edge the openings with copper scraps, insert my fused and painted glass panels, and illuminate the pieces from the inside with low-wattage compact fluorescent lights. Most of them use no more electrical energy than a night light.

More and more I enjoy mixed-media combinations of all sorts, as long as they can be lit-up. For the Change the Truth project I sandwiched frosted mylar and theatrical light gels to fashion a dress for the doll with which I was entrusted. The dress is illuminated internally with a 4 watt compact fluorescent bulb.

I am fortunate and grateful to have lived my life as an artist and to have earned my livelihood that way for 25 years."

Treat yourself. Visit her website.

Monday, June 14, 2010

marie mason

MM28

"I love dogs, cats, the garden and the great outdoors. The sunsets, the bad weather, the beautiful flowers that grow with encouragement, the seasons, the starry nite and the sunny day. In all of what is nature and natural there is inspiration for my paintings.

I have lived in the Kansas City area since 1980. I was born in California, raised in Seattle and have spent lots of time in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Corvallis Oregon. I have a BFA from UNLV, and taught school for ten years in Las Vegas before moving to Kansas City. I now called Weston, Missouri home."


Marie is represented by the Strecker-Nelson Gallery in Manhattan, Kansas. She is well known for Bella Company, a store that has been in business since 1994 and which features dog/cat themed clothing and gifts. Marie is very involved in pet rescue organizations and often uses her artwork to help with the various needs of people, cats and dogs.

Be sure to check out Marie's lovely work here. Eddie and I have been fans of Marie's for years; one of her large paintings is the centerpiece of our kitchen, and we recently commissioned her to do do a painting of our beloved 16 year old dog, Sam.

And yes, her doll is accompanied by a painting! The doll appears to have just danced out of the scene depicted on the canvas. It's a really joyful piece.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

3 1/2 years


I spend a lot of time thinking about my first trip to Uganda in 2006 and where that journey has brought me. Here I am, three and a half years later, staying up way too late into the night or getting up way too early in the morning to work on the next Change the Truth volunteer trip or the next Change the Truth fundraiser. The focal point of my work life has shifted. The emphasis of my photography has been realigned. My perspective has been broadened, and my priorities have been redefined.

All of this is due to the children I met and the dire situations in which they find themselves.

The mind boggling part of this story is that so many of you have also been moved to help these kids. When I consider the number of generous people who have chosen to stand in their corner, I am deeply moved and grateful.

Tony, Billy, Claire Faith and Rosemary - the children pictured here - are but some of the orphaned kids whose lives have improved because of our efforts. Believe me when I tell you that they are moved and grateful, as well.





Friday, June 11, 2010

marcus cain

MC27

I first met Marcus when I showed my work at Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art in the late 90’s. He was on staff there. I loved his quiet but determined demeanor, and I adored his artwork. I’m still crazy about both.

Marcus is a Kansas City based artist, writer, and Curator of the Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art. He is the founding co-director and owner of Satellite Exhibitions, an independent contemporary art curatorial project, and the former Editor of Review, a regional, monthly visual art magazine based in Kansas City, Missouri. He has served as Lecturer in the painting department and Coordinator of the Corporate Partnership Exhibition Program at the Kansas City Art Institute and as Assistant Director for Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art. He frequently serves as guest juror, artist, and lecturer for universities, art fairs, and organizations throughout the Midwest, and he has produced and curated exhibitions for the University of California, Long Beach, CA, Bridge Miami Art Fair, Miami, FL, Stray Show Chicago, Chicago, IL, and the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO.

Marcus has written for publications including American Ceramics, Bridge, Ceramics: Art & Perception, Venus, and Review, authored articles on art critic Robert Storr and artists Do Ho-Suh, Rosemarie Fiore, Adriana Arenes, and Peregrine Honig, and he has contributed exhibition essays to the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art and the Kansas City Artists Coalition. He has also been written about in such publications as Art in America, New American Paintings, The New York Observer, Miami New Times, Oklahoma Gazette, Review, My Midwest Magazine, Kansas City Star, and Pitch Weekly, and online at MW Capacity and Present magazine.


Marcus’ artwork includes painting, drawing and installation. He has exhibited nationally, and his work may be found in numerous public and private collections including the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, BBC Worldwide America, American Century Investments, H&R Block, Sprint Corporation, Westin Hotels, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, and Designer Todd Oldham. He is represented in Kansas City by Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art.

You'd be hard pressed to find a harder working artist or a nicer guy.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

lonnie powell

LP26

Lonnie is a graduate of Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri where studied with the late James Dallas Parks. His occupations over the years have ranged from dishwasher at the Villa Capri Restaurant to Xerox sales representative, but the vast majority of his career has been as an art teacher in the Kansas City, Missouri School District.

Though he is not presently a member, he is a charter board member and past board president of The Black Archives of Mid-America and a cofounder of Euphrates Gallery. He is a past member and past president of the Friends of Bruce R. Watkins Culture Heritage Center. Lonnie is also president and founder of The Light In The Other Room, a collaboration of 19 African-American Kansas City based artists.

“As an African-American artist (raised in Kansas City, Missouri), it did not take long to see that I did not have the luxury of being just an artist. On the contrary, I had to be all things related to art and African-American art. I had to be an art educator, an art critic, an art agent, a gallery operator, an art booster, a pickup and delivery man and anything else that might pop up.”

He humbly refers to himself as an art activist.

“I have always sought to keep my art separate from my occupation so that it is free of financial influences. This separation of art and money has allowed me to steer clear of the trends, traps and compromises begrudgingly faced by many of my contemporaries. Although, this course proved to be less lucrative, the art remains true to my heart and shall remain so. Rewards and awards have come to me a little later in his life, but they have come without compromises, and to me that is what makes them special. I never refer to my art as my work. My art is not work. My art is my very self and therefore cannot be separated from the rest of my life.”

Lonnie has shown in and around his beloved city of Kansas City, Missouri in many venues including solo and group exhibits at: The Ethnic Art Gallery, The Central Exchange, The Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and The American Jazz Museum.

He has exhibited at a number of area universities including: Park University, Parkville, Missouri, Western Missouri University, St. Joseph, Missouri, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri and Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Missouri where he spent a year (1969-1970), as an artist in residence.

His work is included in numerous private collections as well as the corporate collections of Sprint Nextel Corporation, The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, H & R Block Corporation, The American Jazz Museum, The Fishnet Corporation, Sports Association Management Inc. The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, The Truman Medical Center and The Federal Reserve Bank Of Kansas City.

Lonnie was named one of the "Ones To Watch" by Watercolor Magic Magazine in 2006.


In December of 2007, Lonnie traveled with other members of Change The Truth Team 1 to the orphanage in Uganda to give a series of art workshops to the children. He was truly touched by the experience – in ways he is still processing three years later.

Lonnie and his wife, Brenda, have been married for forty-three years. They worked on this doll together.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

who we are helping


Before I continue posting the dolls and artwork that will be the centerpiece of the CTT Friendraiser/Fundraiser on June 25th, I'd like to remind you that the children we're helping have truly benefited from what we've done so far, and that they continue to desperately need our assistance.

The kids who live at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage have experienced devastating loss.

Some watched as their parent(s) died of AIDS or malaria. Some watched as their parent(s) were murdered by the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda.

Some lived with extended family before coming to St. Mary Kevin Orphanage. Some lived on the streets.

All of them have been touched by pain, loneliness and despair.


Because of our help, these children really do now have a chance. They are well-fed. They know where they will sleep at night, and they know they have a very good chance of continuing their education.

They also know that they have many friends in America because of Change the Truth. They understand that, with our continued assistance, they will be able to look forward to each new day with a genuine sense of hope.

** I submitted this post last night, and today I received the following message from Nelson, one of the students sponsored by CTT. Here is what he had to say to his CTT friends and sponsors:

"I always think about you and i do a have alot to learn from you. You changed my life!!!
I love you today tomorrow, the day after - and always you are in my heart!" - Nelson

Monday, June 07, 2010

review wrap-up

Review SF Part One

Review SF Part Two

Review SF Part Three

I've hit the ground running now that I'm back in KC. There is much to do as we enter the homestretch preparing for the CTT fundraiser. Santa Fe Review was a really good experience for me; I'm glad I went. Laura Pressley, Center's Executive Director and Jessica Taylor Watts-Parker, Operations Manager, are to be congratulated on a weekend extremely well organized and executed.

I was especially glad to have had the opportunity to meet and see the work of fellow photographers Doug Beasley, Dana Popa, David Rochkind, Sora Devore and Eileen Kennedy.

I also felt especially privileged to meet and get constructive critiques from Michelle Monroe (Monroe Gallery), Jamie Wellford (Newsweek), Josh Haner (New York Times) and Laura Valenti (Newspace Gallery).

I'm looking forward to lots of good things coming from these encounters. Will keep you posted!

Saturday, June 05, 2010

wow


What an amazing evening last night at Review Santa Fe. Several HUNDRED locals people wove their way through aisles and aisles of portfolio cases and eager photographers. The fact that so many people around here are interested in/love photography is impressive and well, pretty mind blowing.

I don't have much time to write, as I'm preparing for my busy day of reviews, but I will list some highlights from last night:

Many reviewers made a point to get around and see everyone's work, which is impressive considering that they'd been looking at images all day long.

Reviewers whom I had hoped to get twenty minutes with (but didn't due to the lottery) stopped at my table, and we were able to, in a couple cases, spend even more time together.

Everyone was there to become genuinely engaged with the photographs and the photographers.

The curator of The George Eastman House stopped by for a wonderful conversation (I had shown him work at a previous review) and informed me that he will be purchasing some of my work for the collection!

I met a young couple who had just returned from Uganda and who actually work for DIG, the organization that helped us put in a garden at the orphanage two years ago. The knew all about Change the Truth. Such a surprise encounter!

A man who was profoundly wise and thoughtful, who spent a long time looking at my work and who engaged me in a deeply philosophical dialogue about photography in general (and what I am doing in particular), turned out to be the extraordinary William Clift.

I was asked to participate in a group show about Africa at a gallery in San Francisco for next fall.

I met the editor of a fabulous on-line photo zine who asked me to be in the fall issue.

After talking about and looking at my own work for such a long period of time, I realized which project is the most important to me and that which I am most passionate about, and ultimately, which project is probably the most successful.

The woman who was hawking her wares next to me became my friend during the course of the evening, and we went out to dinner together afterward. A margarita from Coyote Cafe Cantina and conversation with a new photo pal were the perfect ways to end a perfect day.

More later...

Friday, June 04, 2010

tired eyes/happy ears

Mostly what you do at Review Santa Fe is look at other photographer's pictures (and give them feedback) and listen intently while they and the reviewers give you feedback on your own pictures.

There are a lot of pictures here in Santa Fe this weekend. My eyes are getting bloodshot. But I'm seeing some really nice work.

The best part of today, though, has been the positive response I've received from the three reviewers I saw. (There are 40; the matches between photographer and reviewer are made through the process of a lottery. We photographers ranked our picks for review sessions. I got appointments with 9 of my top 12, for example.)

I schlepped three portfolios with me: the Streetcar Series, Uganda and The Sea Series. I show whichever work best fits the reviewer and whatever addresses that which I hope to gain from the meeting.

My reviews with The New York Times and Newsweek were fantastic. It's not that you'll be seeing my byline on the pages of either publication anytime soon. It's that a good introduction has been made, and they know about my work now. In both cases, they also really liked it (Sally Field-ish I am this afternoon!) and want to be kept abreast of my projects.

Both involved really thoughtful, productive, informative and positive conversations.

I'm even going to be recommended as a NYT Kansas City shooter. So... if anything newsworthy happens in KC, something which the Times wants to cover, I'm their woman!

Here are some photos of people looking at work - the first is of one of two rooms where the review sessions take place, the next is a reviewer and photographer during a session and the last one shows participants looking at each other's work.






Tonight the community of Santa Fe is invited to view our photographs at an open portfolio viewing event. It's been well publicized locally and was even mentioned in Art in America, so hopefully we'll have lots of interested collectors and art lovers on hand for the 2 1/2 hour browsing session.

Tomorrow is round two of photo review speed dating. I have six appointments scheduled.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

review santa fe

As many of you know, I wear a few different hats. For the next few days, I'll be donning the one that has the word PHOTOGRAPHER emblazoned across the front.

A few months ago my work was juried into Center's Portfolio Review in Santa Fe. I've been a little distracted by dolls since then, but by tomorrow morning I need to have my suitcase and portfolios packed.

I'm hoping to continue blogging while I'm in the land of enchantment. It will be a grueling three days, jammed pack with some high profile review sessions (me on one side of the table shaking in my boots while someone on the other side of the table gives me a critique - and hopefully a show or an assignment or purchase of my work for a collection or some encouragement or maybe just some kind words.) I'll also have the opportunity to meet 99 other photographers, all of whom are working on interesting and worthwhile projects.

Over the course of my time there, I'll have nine 20 minute review sessions with people from places like The New York Times, The New Yorker, Haggerty Museum of Art and Newspace Gallery.

Stay tuned for more doll postings when I return early next week. For now, if you are interested, follow along as I experience the emotionally and physically draining, exhilarating and humbling experience known as Review Santa Fe.

Check out the program and the work of the other participating photographers here.

Oh, and if you'd like to see all the dolls, they are now posted here. No bios or photos of the artists (those will come later on this blog) but at least you can get an eyeful of the whole amazing collection. It's very impressive!