Posts Tagged “PRC”

It’s an incredible time for Boston photo fans. I’ll never blog it all properly, but here’s a passel of updates on photography stuff of the recent past, present and near future.

The DeCordova (sculpture park and) Museum has three (three!) photography shows up right now: a solo exhibition by Lalla Essaydi, a wonderful collection of Jules Aarons‘ work, and an array of portfolios curated by ace photographologist Leslie K. Brown.

The Photographic Resource Center just opened an exhibition of the winners of the Leopold Godowsky, Jr. Color Photography Awards, named in honor of a co-inventor of the recently canceled Kodachrome film.

Also at the PRC, the Fall photography lecture series continues next week with Roger Ballen.  Ballen follows Keith Carter, who last week delivered a charming lecture that conveyed and illustrated “seven mantras” for creativity and life.  Carter observed, “The search for beauty is huge in peoples’ lives. Not so large in graduate schools.” It reminded me of both Arno Minkkinen’s bus station and Andrea Robbins and Max Becher’s travel philosophy, both observed at past PRC lectures.

Gallery Kayafas is showing the work of Caleb Charland right now.  Charland makes beautiful prints that play with concepts from physics using elemental substances like water, ice, fire, and oil. The work reminds me a bit of that of John Chervinsky, whom I first met at the PRC satellite gallery at the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics.

Continuing a line from Charland through Chervinsky, we can’t help but arrive at the MIT Museum’s new Harold “Doc” Edgerton Digital Collections, opening this weekend.

And lastly for the moment but surely not leastly, next week, the MFA opens an exhibit of Harry Callahan’s photographs.

After a brief tour of St. Lucy’s feast, I was joined by Professor M at Nebo, a a nice little enoteca and restaurant at the cusp of the North End.  We enjoyed a crisp Gavi bianco, eggplant timballo and a pizza bianco con rucola.

Next to the bar was a painting that looked oddly familiar and we racked our brains but couldn’t quite place it except that it had something to do with the PRC.  We asked the waiter and he brought us the names of the artists of both sets of paintings in the restaurant.

On the far wall were three by Arlayne Peterson, landscapes with an inset of another version of the same landscape, but those weren’t the ones we were wondering about.

Next to the bar, the painting was by Richard Ehrlich, depicting the interior of a house filled several feet deep with sand.  Both artists are represented by the Miller Block gallery on Newbury street, but neither one quite rang the bell.

Hours later with a little googling and distance, I finally realized — I had seen photographs of the same sand house (in Namibia) by Cary Wolinsky at the PRC’s satellite at the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics.  Small art world indeed.

I suppose the sand houses of Namibia might be like the Slot Canyons, one of those iconic spots that lots of photographers have shot over the years.  A quick Flickr search shows enough slot canyons and sand houses to fill a class on postmodernism.

If you’ve been following my microdrivel lately, you know that I’ve been actively fundraising for the Photographic Resource Center at BU. On Monday, we (by which I mean all my donors and I) hit the $2,000 goal. This is a big step, achieved ahead of schedule, and I wanted to take a moment here to recognize that.

Thank you to all 40+ donors. There were several gifts of $10 or less and some of $100 and more, and some came from people whom I know are out of work right now. I’m also especially grateful to those who gave even though I didn’t email you specifically, probably from a referral or a tweet or facebook status message.

A special shout-out to some of the businesses that donated. If I’ve missed yours, drop me a line.

• Ziplens, online rentals of Canon and Nikon lenses
• Frame 38 Studios
• Brilliantpictures photography and Brilliantplaces (real estate in JP and beyond)

If you gave – or are about to – and work for a company with a corporate matching program, I encourage you to take advantage of it. I know that many of my donors do, notably those at Ipswitch and Firstgiving. You’ll need the PRC’s EIN, which is 04-2610466.

Persistence and some use of social media paid off, but mostly it’s all about people’s generosity even in tough times. $2,000 will make a difference at the PRC but more is needed there and elsewhere. I’m going to keep the fundraising page open at least through my next birthday, and will continue to offer print raffles at every $1000 raised. I hope that limeduck readers will be generous and also visit the Photographic Resource Center and enjoy its programs.

The Photographic Resource Center is an organization that’s very important to me, and one that serves fans and practitioners of photography around town and around the world. If you haven’t been, I urge you to visit. There’s a lot going on.  I had planned to raise money this summer for the PRC, but times are tough for all nonprofits, and I’m concerned that if we don’t raise some money now, the PRC won’t see my 29th birthday again.  So I am advancing this year’s birthday fundraiser, and I hope both of limeduck’s loyal readers can be generous.

Please visit www.firstgiving.com/11th29th or use the fundraising widget in the blog’s sidebar to learn more and make a donation.  Every dollar you donate to this page will serve as a raffle ticket for a photograph from my collection that I will give away when we raise the $2000 goal.  [UPDATE 3/30: I'm going to raffle one photo at $1,000 and another at $2,000 so the earlier donors will get two chances!]The more you give, the better your chances. The winner will have his or her choice of these three framed and matted photos.  [UPDATE 4/3: hit the $1k point, did the first drawing and Jason chose the Stupich print - two prints left, next drawing at $2k!]

Frazier King -  Brassia ondontglossam Longlen, selenium-toned GSP, Ed. 8/20, image 18.5″x14″

Mary Parisi – Boiled Chicken, 2005, ed#1/20, C-Print, signed in pen on front of print, 19½x20” (actually, this one isn’t framed right now but I can fix that easily enough)

Martin Stupich – Old Colony Rolling Lift Bridge, Fort Point Channel, Boston, 2007. K3 Inkjet print on rag paper, open edition, signed recto, 22×10.5″ [4/3 TAKEN!]

Please spread the word to others who might be interested and able to help.  And remember, the raffle won’t happen until we hit the $2000 goal!  www.firstgiving.com/11th29th

Earlier this week I was lucky enough to see and hear photographer Larry Fink show and discuss his work in a lecture sponsored by the Photographic Resource Center.  The event was beset by awful weather and several technical difficulties but Fink’s genius and geniality shone through it all.

The man is a legend and deservedly so.  I remember meeting him in a similar setting in Woodstock many years ago.  He advised students about how to get close to subjects who seemed intimidating, for example, to photograph a member of the Hells Angels, one might open with “hey that’s a nice bike…”

Fink showed a body of work called The Democrats, shot on the campaign trail with Obama and Clinton.  Not quite a part of the regular press corps – he was working for Vanity Fair – Fink was seldom able to get as close to the subject as he likes, so he developed new ways of working and created some impressive pictures of the relatively ordinary people on the margins of the candidates’ lives.  He held forth on the various types of security guards and their characteristic postures and hand positions.  He found a sign attached to an Obama podium with the words “white balance” on it.  (It’s a photographic thing)  He found new ways to make Hillary Clinton look scary.

He shoots only film, only black and white, and he uses a short lens and an off-camera flash.  Like many great photographers of the decisive moment, Fink has incredible timing, both photographic and comic.  Contrasting himself with digital colleagues shooting hundreds of frames, he said, “I shoot like a frog” then very slowly scanned the crowd and then just as we were getting nervous and wondering what he was up to, he flicked out his tongue, capturing an imaginary fly.  They don’t make guys like this anymore.