Photography Archives - Page 17 of 20

FotoWeek DC 2010: “To Publish or to Self-Publish?”

Only three years old, FotoWeek DC has blossomed into a city-wide event encompassing gallery shows, competitions, lectures, workshops, portfolio reviews and parties.

There’s a lot of great free stuff to attend. In addition to gallery shows, there are some interesting lectures and workshops going on this week.

One of them was “To Publish or to Self-Publish” held at the Corcoran over the lunch-hour today. While it was billed as a comparison of traditional photo book publishing against the new on-demand model, the discussion was much broader than this. Continue reading “FotoWeek DC 2010: “To Publish or to Self-Publish?””

Lessons from the Fire – Part Two

cleanup — Fans and a large dehumidifier cope with some water damage on my floor.

So, late one afternoon, my building caught fire. My apartment was fine; other people weren’t so lucky. This is part two of lessons learned. Check out part one for my initial thoughts on having a backup plan and other realizations.

Stuff Matters!

It would be nice if I had a zen-like approach to material possessions. I think I lead a fairly minimalist life but when I couldn’t get back into the building, all I thought about was my stuff. I knew the fire didn’t reach my apartment but I was worried about water damage. I pictured water pouring down on my brand new MacBook Pro and soaking the pillow-top mattress that I like so much. Plus, books, photos, art, letters from friends, keepsakes, personal items, clothes and everything else.

I’m glad that I have renters’ insurance (that’s really a must) but so much of the analog stuff that really matters is irreplaceable. Continue reading “Lessons from the Fire – Part Two”

DC Shorts Screenplay Competition Summary

screenplay reading — A table read at the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition.

The comedy Interview Date won the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition. This was a funny script, with some great lines highlighting the similarities between looking for a job and finding love. It was performed with five other scripts on October 16, part of the ScriptDC screenwriting weekend. The audience at the reading voted for their favorite and selected Interview Date, as a I wrote for the Pink Line Project.

I’m glad that they won. The writers, Grant Lyon and Mike Lemcke, are really nice guys from San Francisco. Grant is a stand-up comic, which was really evident from the script and how they performed it. Continue reading “DC Shorts Screenplay Competition Summary”

Would Self-Publishing Have Saved John Kennedy Toole?

A Confederacy of Dunces is one of my favorite books. In this picaresque novel, John Kennedy Toole creates a vivid and hilarious world, the French Quarter of the 1960s, and populates it with unforgettable characters and fantastic scenes. His protagonist is Ignatius J. Reilly, perhaps the first slacker in American literature. He disdains work and the modern world, longing for the Middle Ages when his genius would be appreciated.

I read A Confederacy of Dunces in college and loved it from the very first pages. It’s a broad comedy, expertly told by someone who clearly knows every inch of his beloved New Orleans. Moreover, Toole was familiar with the slang and patois of the city’s residents. He portrays them as corrupt, flawed, confused – but always well-meaning, in their own way. Continue reading “Would Self-Publishing Have Saved John Kennedy Toole?”

Urban Exposure Exhibition

Four of my photos were selected for the Urban Exposure exhibition at the Carriage House Gallery and Studio. Photos in the exhibit documented the “changing urban landscape of our capital” and included one of my favorite photographers of all time, Matt Dunn.

Urban Exposure was curated by the DC Photo Coop, which aims to provide a workspace and gallery for area photographers with a focus on the D.C. urban landscape.

The exhibition is over now but here are the photos I had in it:

Writing and Taking Pictures at the Capital Fringe Festival

I’ve been busy for the past couple weeks as an official photographer for the Capital Fringe Festival. It’s been a great experience, giving me the chance to use my new camera, the Canon Rebel T2i, and the opportunity to take pictures of performers, which I really enjoy.

And I’ve gotten to see a lot of theater in tiny spaces, where you’re inches away from the actors – that’s part of what makes Fringe so special. From women in passionate embrace to remixed Shakespeare, it’s an intimate experience that can be uncomfortable, strange or delightful, depending on the performance. Sometimes you just can’t look away, try as you might.

But Fringe is more than just theater. It aims to create community in DC, striving to be a citywide celebration of the arts. Fringe wants everyone to be involved.

For people interested in creativity, it’s hard not to be drawn into the Fringe orbit. For example, I attended a discussion on Does Art Matter as a photographer but ended up writing about the workshop for the Pink Line Project.

The Capital Fringe Festival runs until July 25 in Washington, DC.

Capital Fringe Festival Preview

Fringe is fun. I went to the preview of the Capital Fringe Festival last week. I got to see sneak peeks of upcoming shows while enjoying my favorite beer (Bell’s Two-Hearted) all under the big tent of Fort Fringe. Singing Austrians, half-naked women, magic acts, rowdy bands – it was all there.

It’s hugely inspiring to be around so many fearless, creative people who have brought their visions to the stage. Plus, the festival is put on by my good friend Julianne Brienza, who I interviewed last year for the Pink Line Project.

The Capital Fringe Festival runs from June 8-25 across Washington. The shows are numerous and fast-paced so you’re bound to find something you’ll like. It’s not your typical theater experience.

There Are No Rock Stars

You do not need to take a class with a “rock star” to be creative. This faith in the magical ability of experts to transform lives is ironic in our secular society. Gurus, rock stars, life coaches, Oprah – they can make you change. Most people don’t go to a priest for career advice yet believe that taking the workshop of a famous person will cure their creative funk.

I was thinking about this after reading comments by a talented photographer friend of mine, Mary Kate McKenna. She was writing about “rock star” wedding photographers and their high-priced workshops:

REALLY tired of newbie photogs (I still consider myself a newbie in the industry!) doing workshops for other professionals, charging a lot of money, with no real business skills and embellishing the amount of money they make in the industry. Before attending a “rockstar” workshop, do your research. Continue reading “There Are No Rock Stars”

Snow Globe at Transformer Gallery

Transformer kicked off 2010 by inviting DC based artists Jessica Cebra and Zach Storm to transform their project space into a snow globe winter wonderland. Incorporating painting, drawing, and collage to create a whimsical, winter-themed environment, this unique collaboration featured a live ballet performance choreographed by Washington Ballet Director Septime Webre.

I also wrote about this cool event for the Pink Line Project.

Things Fall Apart: The Photos of Kerry Skarbakka

Kerry Skarbakka, Window, 2009. C-Print. 50 X 60 in.

Check out my Pink Line Project review of Kerry Skarbakka, The Struggle to Right Oneself: A Survey. The photos really have a dark humor to them that I really enjoyed. They’re big prints of absurd scenes – like a man in a suit leaping through fire – that tell a story, of people surviving unexpected catastrophe.