portrait work

Beginning the middle of August, I will once again start taking appointments for commissioned portraits. I had taken a bit of a hiatus from that, but am ready to get back into the full swing of it…. on location or in my studio, color or black & white.

assembling team 3

Sarah, member of Team 2

Unbelievably, it is time to put the finishing touches on the formation of the Change the Truth team that will travel to Uganda this December. We will again be at the orphanage around Christmas time; our dates on the ground will be December 19th through the 29th. At this point there are five volunteers (including me) who have made their plane reservations and five more who are inching their way closer to doing so. Of the former group, three are returnees.

This is the last call for interested travelers. There is a possibility that of the five who are still considering their options, one or more may not go, and this will open up spaces. Please contact me as soon as possible if you'd like more information about becoming a member of Team 3!

sam dog

Sam, our 15 year old Bichon Frise, who is losing his hearing and his vision, usually gets very anxious when we pack suitcases in preparation for a trip... pacing, whining, nervousness, sad eyes, the whole bit. These days he absolutely has no idea what to make of all the packed boxes having to do with the impending garage sale. Sam isn't sure if we're coming or going. We're trying to give him a lot of extra love.

a memory confirmed

I've told this story to friends and family before. But you know how memories sometimes get murky, and often the more you tell the story the more fictionalized it can become. Well, I found the proof that backs this one up. (One definite advantage of having a garage sale and therefore seeing years and years of your past stream in front of your face as you sift through stuff that has been boxed up for ages.)

My cool older brother was having a dance in our basement. This was pretty exciting, especially because my parents even hired a DJ. My brother must have been around 16; I was about eight. Before my bedtime, I managed to sneak onto the stairs to sit and watch the kids dance, but mostly to admire the good looking DJ, a guy named Nick Clooney. He was a news anchor in Lexington in the early 60's. He was probably the most famous person I had ever seen in real life. I was already into music then, and at one point I got myself from the basement stairs right up to the table where he was playing records and told him my favorite song was "You Talk Too Much" by Frankie Ford. Just before being shooed away by my brother and then told by my mom I had to go to bed, Nick Clooney fished inside his box of 45s and pulled out the very record about which I had spoken. Before I knew what had hit me, he signed it "To Gloria, Good luck always" and placed it in my little hand. I had a lot of trouble falling asleep that night.


Nick was from a famous family: Rosemary Clooney was his sister, and then he went on to have a son, George.

I identified with that song and still can sing all the words. Maybe it was because I talked so much more than my little sister did. But I also felt that if someone could record a hit song with the lines "You talk too much, you worry me to death, You talk too much, you even worry my pet" I could accomplish big things in life.

old letters, etc.

Going through boxes of old papers and memorabilia (in preparation for our garage sale) means coming across things I haven’t seen or even thought about for a long while. This has included a couple of boxes that hearken back to the Baker Gallery years (1981 – 1992.) Today I waded through lots of old cancelled checks, inventory sheets and invoices. I think the most fun was stumbling upon correspondence with various artists and photographers. (That, and the interaction I had with collectors and photo enthusiasts was the best part of the whole gig.)

My exhibition of Jerry Uelsmann photographs was one of the most enjoyable shows I did. Uelsmann was a cheerful, unassuming and delightful artist with whom to work. He sent me letters on the back of work prints. This was one of his notes, on the backside of a beautiful. but not quite up to par, silver print.


I've already written about my reverence for Helen Leviit. I put together an exhibition that included her, Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans - one of my all-time favorite shows. Of the three, Helen was the only one with whom I corresponded directly (Evans was no longer alive and Cartier-Bresson had a rep.). Helen was totally accessible and very dear to me. This is a postcard I received from her at some point after the show had come down.


One of the sweetest photographers with whom I dealt directly was Aaron Siskind. From the start, he reminded me of my dad.


This is a good example of how low the prices were in the early to mid 80's for photographs by well known photographers. Winogrand's work was available then for what now seems like a song. It was a great time to be collecting photographs! This work now, if even available, is several thousand dollars per piece.


The biggest jump in price perhaps (of the work I carried) has been the group of Arbus prints that I showed in the early 80's. Clients from back in the day often ask me, "Why didn't you, I, we buy the whole show?!" My response is, "It's all relative. $600 or $700 seemed like a lot of money for a photograph back then." Some of us were lucky and did buy them. They cost, of course, tens of thousands of dollars now... if you can even get your hands on one. Here is the inventory sheet for the show I did.


The two Annie Leibovitz shows I did really put me on the map in Kansas City. For the first show, in 1985, I brought her to town to do a book signing at the opening reception. That weekend was a blast! This photo of Annie was taken in front of the gallery by photographer John Trotter. I has completely forgotten about this gift from him until I bumped up against it in the box of Baker Gallery goodies I explored in my basement today!

doing the garage sale thing

Over the years we have collected a lot of stuff. Abbie’s father’s day gift to Eddie was a week of fierce clutter-control culminating in a major garage sale. Sifting through the things we have gathered over all these years is mind-boggling. Also fun. Today we found our old 45’s! If you live in the KC area, come by the Feinstein’s on Saturday. There will be quite the array of goodies: cookie jars, saddles, furniture, tons of books, old cameras, printers, a basketball goal and lots more. Oh yes, and a groovy collection of old music.

antiques

Now it’s time to show you the inspiration for the plate project I undertook at the orphanage. As I already explained, making a plate was an annual affair for the two kids growing up in the Feinstein household.

Getting Max (Jeffrey the first five years) to sit still long enough to make a plate drawing was always a challenge. He had better things to do - like eating dirt, trying to flush various found objects down the toilet, banging on various found objects with his drumsticks, wreaking havoc on our dog… that kind of thing. Abbie, on the other hand, would sit for long periods of time considering her small masterpiece. She was the kind of kid who stayed with a project until she completed it and moved onto something else. Suffice it to say, there are more “Abbie plates” than “Max plates” stacked in the cupboard.

Regardless, they are some of my favorite possessions. They bring back great memories of my kids at different stages in their young lives.

more plates

These plates by Isabella, Sam, Amanda, Catherine, Godfrey and Brian are among my favorites.

circling back to change the truth

Ooh, sorry. Couldn't resist.

When I went to the orphanage in December, I carried along several Make-It Plate kits so that the kids could make drawings that would later be transferred to melamine plates. These plates are the coolest. I have a whole set made by my own children. Once a year I made them do a plate drawing. I love eating my lunch on a plate made by Abbie when she was six and then dinner on one made by Max when he was thirteen... you get the delicious picture.

The children at St. Mary Kevin's loved the challenge of drawing within a circle. Some really took to it, including Willy, Brian, Nicky, Ivan and Annet. Their plates were among the best sellers at our Friendraiser/Fundraiser earlier this month. I figured I should share them here on the blog so that my readers can see how beautiful they are. If anyone would like to purchase one, two, a complete set for six or more (!) please contact me. They are $20.00 apiece.

I can't wait to return this December with plates in hand for all the artists who participated in this project. They will go nuts! Maybe even run around in circles...

a loose park morning

A few blocks from my house is one of Kansas City’s most beautiful open spaces, Loose Park. These 74 acres are home to a lake, a shelter house, Civil War markers, tennis courts, a wading pool, picnic areas. an arboretum, a Japanese tea room and the famous Rose Garden. The park is one of my studio spaces, if you will. (The other is in my home.) I have taken countless portraits at the park over the years.


I like to arrive a little early for my appointments at Loose Park on Saturday and Sunday mornings during the summer. That’s because there’s always a wedding going on in the Rose Garden. This weekend was no exception. I took this shot just before the couple walked down the aisle and my client arrived.

kutuuka

Kutuuka, my new book, is now available at Photoeye.

In the Kansas City area, it can be found on the shelves of the Nelson-Atkins Museum bookstore, Leopold Gallery, Dolphin Gallery and Rainy Day Books. Remember, all proceeds from the sale of this book go to Change the Truth and will assist the children at the orphanage in Uganda.

The supply of hardcover books is being quickly depleted (only 150 were printed.) Of the 50 limited edition copies (which come with a drawing or one of my photographs) 23 have already been sold. So... get 'em while they're hot!

a whole lot of magic back then

“I only came in contact twice with Michael Jackson, who died today at age 50. Both times occurred 25 years ago in Kansas City, where he and his brothers launched the 55-concert Victory Tour, the Jacksons’ final tour of the U.S. and Canada.

I had been sent to Kansas City by a San Diego newspaper to cover the sold-out opening performance, which turned out to be a rather muddled and effects-driven event that attracted 45,000 fans to Arrowhead Stadium.


The concert wasn’t particularly memorable. But what happened earlier that day was unforgettable.

After a ceremony at which Michael and his brother Tito accepted an award, several young female fans sneaked into the drab and nearly empty conference room.

To them, however, it was an extraordinary place, a hallowed site where the Gloved One, also their loved one, had recently been. They walked giddily around the interior of the room, touching the walls lightly with their fingertips as if they were in a palace adorned with gold and jewels, or perhaps a sacred shrine.

‘Michael was here - I can’t believe it. Michael was really here,’ said one of the teenagers. ‘Michael’s the greatest, the absolute greatest.’

In a sense, he was.

At that point, before his personal life got seriously creepy, his looks became truly freaky and his career tanked, Michael Jackson was more than the Elvis of the ’80s. He was the King of Pop, the exalted singer-dancer-songwriter who was revered for his landmark album ‘Thriller’ and was instantly recognizable around the globe.

I had never encountered that kind of adulation before. Not with classical music or opera stars like Leonard Bernstein or Placido Domingo. Not even Luciano Pavarotti, the King of the High C’s, had such fame.

That afternoon in Kansas City taught me about the power of pop culture and the emotional connection between a superstar and his or her fans. Though you can dismiss what those young girls felt as a case of immature infatuation, it was meaningful and real to them and to millions of others who felt the same way.

So say what you will about him. Love him or loathe him. Respect him or reject him.

The truth remains: Michael Jackson once had the magic.”

- by Valerie Scher, San Diego News Network Arts & Entertainment editor

Eddie and I were among the throng of 45,000 at that Arrowhead Stadium concert back in 1984. We, unlike Valerie, thought it was a pretty amazing performance. Of course, we grew up on the Jackson 5 and all those magical things that were mid-career Michael.

Tonight we're on our way to see Stevie Wonder, who apparently was so shaken yesterday by the news of Jackson's death that he couldn't speak. Rumor has it that he's going to do a special tribute to his friend tonight.

another blast from the past

In memory and in honor of Farrah, my friend and amazing photographer Ken Rosenthal posted this photo of himself (from back in the day) on his Facebook page today. Gotta love it.

on a much lighter note

This has to be one of the best old photos I've ever seen. Wish it was from my family's album (though the kid with the hose does look a lot like my brother.) I found it at one of my new favorite places on the web, Awkward Family Photos. I love how the hose cuts across the baby's face, but best of all is the guy watering his lawn in the background. Look how perfectly it echoes the hose in the foreground. Besides all that lucky composition going on, the kid who is the subject of the picture is hilarious.

important mission

I am on the board of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education. This sixteen-year-old organization endeavors to teach the history and lessons of the Holocaust to people of all races and religious beliefs throughout the Midwest to perpetuate understanding, compassion and mutual respect for generations to come.

I first became involved with this not-for-profit when I worked on the project “Portrait 2000.” The photographs and subsequent interviews became the material for the book entitled “From the Heart” which documented the stories of fifty Holocaust survivors who lived in the Kansas City area at that time.

In honor of those survivors, I’d like to share with my blog readers this column by Steve Penn published in yesterday’s Kansas City Star.

“The way the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education sees it, the shooting at the Holocaust museum in Washington might just as well have been a shot across its own entrance.

The local center sees the assault as an affront against all Holocaust education.

Educating the public on the reality of the Holocaust is what the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education is all about. This week, a group of teachers will participate in classes given by the center aimed at increasing their knowledge of Holocaust history.

The classes have taken on a heightened sense of urgency after a white supremacist entered Washington’s Holocaust museum recently, fatally shooting a security guard.

The suspect is James W. von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist from Maryland.

Jean Zeldin, executive director for the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, said the center’s goal is to teach the history of the Holocaust, applying its lessons to counter indifference, intolerance and genocide.

‘Our purpose … is to educate people so that when the deniers put forth their propaganda, that people know better,’ Zeldin said. ‘We’re probably not going to change the minds of deniers themselves. But we can equip the people who are hearing that stuff with the truth.’

Zeldin said von Brunn was beyond educating.

‘Here you have an 88-year-old man who wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow at airport security,” she said. “But he was so full of hatred. This had been festering for years.’

Zeldin said the Midwest Holocaust center is in solidarity with Washington’s Holocaust museum.

‘I’ve personally been to the Holocaust museum dozens of times,’ Zeldin said. ‘Chances are I met the security guard on one of my visits. You were walking into a place that’s pretty much hallowed ground.’

The wide media attention the story received is a testament to Holocaust education.

‘The fact that so many people feel connected to this and not just Jewish people is amazing,’ Zeldin said. ‘It grabbed the attention of the world.’

Zeldin said the shooting is an example of why the center’s mission is so important.

‘All that our center can try to do is reach those people who minds are still formative,’ she said.

Society can be lulled into complacency. But every now and then an incident occurs that serves as a wake-up call. The shooting at the Holocaust museum only inspires the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education to continue its message.”

frightening stuff

Look what greeted those who went to local synagogues for services last week in Kansas City. The Fred Phelps/Westboro Baptist Church group of protesters hoisted these signs in hopes of getting the word out about their beliefs.


Tell us how you really feel, Fred.

father's day

I spent the day shooting portraits of fathers and grandfathers with children and grandchildren. It was the first time in awhile that I have done portrait work in my studio. I had a lot of fun! Here are a few of my favorites.

party pics: finale

If you weren't able to attend our event this year, do make plans for next year. You can begin that endeavor by getting on the Change the Truth mailing list. Please contact Gloria.

If you are interested in getting information about going on the next CTT trip to Uganda, that's another good reason to get in touch. Plans are now being made.

Here is the last batch of photos taken at the Friendraiser/Fundraiser. Enjoy!

Ann and Rob Thomas

Paula Shteamer

Jesse DeMartino and Amy Duke

Bob Tostevin, Sarah Deacy and Lisa Tostevin

Wynne Wurster Winter

Harold Melcher and Gloria

Kit Smith, Kelsey Smith, Brooke Vittor, Laura Gibbons and Vicki Reisler

Xavier, drummer from the Traditional Musical Society

Lee Winter at work in the Kajjansi Marketplace

Brenda and Lonnie Powell

Wesley Blann