Tag: Photography

Party Report: DCist Exposed Photography Show

party sceneLast night was opening night for DCist Exposed, a gallery exhibit of some of the most interesting photos from around the Washington region. Read my FAQ to learn more about this interesting show which, by the way, runs until March 27 at Long View Gallery.

After hanging out there for a couple of hours, drinking beer and talking to photogs, what did I learn?

  • Long View is almost too cool to be in DC. It’s enormous, sparse and separated by historic Blagden Alley by just a glass garage-style door. Last year, it played host to the opening party of DC Week too. One drawback: only two little bathrooms in the back, not ideal for large crowds served beer.
  • I cannot tell the difference between the various varieties of Yeungling that they served last night.
  • Giving the photogs and DCist staff name tags was an excellent idea. You could easily spot the show’s participants.
  • From Samer Farha, one of the show judges, learned that Mpix was a good place for prints and Apex in Virginia was a great place for framing. We both agreed: insanely expensive to print at home.
  • Brian Mosley informed me that you don’t have to go too early down to the Mall on July 4th to get a shot like this. I find this hard to believe.
  • Art lovers bought photos on opening night, including this classic shot of a stunned-looking Mayor Fenty. The photographers don’t know who buys their pics.
  • Selling tickets in advance was a brilliant idea. No fire marshals and there was plenty of room for everyone.
  • Heather Goss, who started DCist Exposed, has about five different jobs. But not to worry, she’s apparently a machine.
  • People liked my line in the FAQ I wrote for the Pink Line Project about the DCist commentators being a “riotous crew of misfits.” That’s me literary background.

Be sure to check out these great photos of the night from Vincent Gallegos. Can’t wait til next year!

Update: more great pics from DCist!

Why I'm Not at SXSW This Year

SXSW 2007
SXSW in 2007

SXSW Interactive is an annual conference of social media and web geeks in Austin. It’s a huge, exhausting event that takes place over a long weekend in March and is popularly known as the conference that introduced Twitter and other new forms of communication.

The criticism now is that it’s gotten too big and too corporate, dominated by giant corporations trying to be hip. And that it’s gotten to be such a chaotic moshpit that it leads to network outages.

I went to SXSW in 2007 and 2008, just the right moment before it became mainstream. The conference taught me to love the brilliant minds at 37signals, whose radically hopeful ideas about the future of work cannot arrive soon enough. I learned that project management should be as simple as possible. Gantt charts and MS Project should be avoided in favor of clear goals that everyone can understand. REWORK is their vision for the ideal work environment, where meetings and busywork are eschewed in favor of collaboration and results. Their philosophy is subversive and attractive for anyone stuck in boring meetings or lengthy conference calls. Continue reading “Why I'm Not at SXSW This Year”

DCist Exposed Photography Show Returns March 15-16

dcist exposed
image courtesy of DCist Exposed

DCist Exposed is back! This fascinating photography show returns to the Long View Gallery from March 15 to 27, 2011.  Out of over 1,000 individual entries, 43 winning images were selected by a panel of judges to be included in this year’s DCist Exposed exhibit. DCist.com prides itself on engaging and promoting emerging local photographers through its daily use of images from the popular, reader-generated DCist Flickr photo pool.  Each day, DCist.com selects photos from the pool for use in its daily coverage of local news, arts and entertainment, food and sports.

The opening reception, held March 15 and 16, will be epic. In fact, it was so popular that last year I couldn’t even get in. DCist is attempting to remedy that by selling tickets in advance. Get yours now!

I had a photo in a previous year’s show. To see my pic hanging on the wall was inspiring, and I got to meet some amazing photographers who have broadened my concept of photography. The DCist community is awesome. They’re nice people who like a good drink and they all have their own unmistakable style. Just glancing at my Flickr contacts, I can pretty much tell who shot what – Samer Farha (beer), Erin McCann (coffee), Jim Darling (iPhoneography), Matt Dunn (portraits) and Chris Chen (street life).

To accompany the DCist Exposed show, there’s also a special edition magazine featuring the winning photographs from all five years of the show.  The issue can be purchased online at MagCloud for $27.50, which comes with a digital version, or at Long View Gallery during the receptions for $25.

DCist is also bringing back the popular special event for emerging collectors, Emerge Exposed, on Monday, March 21, 7 to 9 p.m. Co-hosted by DCist and the Pink Line Project, a panel of experts will share tips and ideas on how to begin collecting art.

What I like best about DCist Exposed is that it demystifies the art of photography. You don’t need to have expensive lenses or your own studio to be a photographer. You just have to take a decent photo.

2010: My Year in the Arts

Several years ago, I was sitting in a bar with a bunch of coworkers. We went out a couple times a week for beer, always to the same place. They were fine people but, good lord, how many times can you hear the same old stories?

While we were rehashing the same old petty little workplace dramas, a group of staffers from the Portrait Gallery came in. They had more interesting things to say than me and my coworkers, for they were talking about art.

It was then that I vowed to get more involved in the creative scene in DC.

In 2010, I was fortunate to not only sample a lot of what the city has to offer, but also participate in it. Continue reading “2010: My Year in the Arts”

Fall Fringe: What to See

scene from Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending

Check out the article I wrote for Pink Line on what to see at Fall Fringe. What’s great about Fall Fringe (which ends Nov 21) is that it’s only the best stuff from the Capital Fringe Festival. I saw a lot of theater, good and bad, as one of the official photographers for the festival over the summer.

I loved Ridgefield Middle School Talent Nite (it’s brilliant and hilarious) but I have soft spot for accessible Shakespeare which is why Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending was my favorite show of the festival.

Bonus: see a slideshow of photos from the show.