Now that the digital age is upon us, it’s also really easy to get hung up on computer and Photoshop issues.
That’s why I love the photography salon I am in. We are a group of eight or so. Most of us have known one another since the early 80’s when I started my gallery. We are a grab bag of professions – a surgeon, a lawyer, a baker, an architectural photographer, a photo curator/historian/author, a fine art/portrait photographer, etc. But we all have a passion for photography – whether it is making it, studying it or collecting it.
We gather every couple of months to look at each other’s new work, talk about new photo equipment, books, shows, and trends, eat and drink. We encourage and challenge each other, and we enjoy one another’s company. Often we invite other photographers from the area to share their work and their ideas.
Yesterday we met to look at work, but also to celebrate the 70th birthday of one of our preeminent members, Richard Loftis. Richard and I first met shortly after I opened the Baker Gallery in 1981. He made his way through the front door with a handsome portfolio of Adams/Weston-esque silver prints (landscapes and figure work) that were drop dead gorgeous. I took him on as my first “local” photographer, and we have been very good friends ever since. He has shown his work extensively throughout the region, has been a technical advisor to many struggling printers and has constructed many an incredible darkroom (including mine). His expertise in the ways of traditional silver printing is humbling. Not one to miss a beat, he has even become a trusted and knowledgeable advisor to those of us fumbling our way into the world of digital capture and image making.
We are lucky to have one another in our little group. I hope you have a support group, as well, no matter what you do for your passion or for your living.
Happy birthday, Richard!
2 comments:
This kind of gathering is what I sorely miss here in San Miguel de Allende. There are those who want to show their digital images on a laptop but that isn't the same as everyone looking at PRINTS. It is wonderful to have a place where you can put out new work, new projects and get some feedback AND to see other work. I know you are very thankful for this group.
Such a trusted group this must be, and brave, too, to place what comes from your heart into someone else's hands for their gentle guidance.
Happy Birthday to Richard!... and so close to my own, may I share a a passage about birthdays?
--from What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, Dave Eggers, p. 214
[Valentino has been robbed, everything taken, including his cell phone into which he had recorded countless birthdays]
"You'll have to reprogram all the birthdays into your phone," Achor Achor notes.
He is one of my few friends who did not laugh when he knew I was recording the birthdays of everyone I knew. To him it seemed logical enough, providing as it did a string of stopping points along the path of a year, sites where you could appreciate who you knew, how many people called you friend."
Post a Comment