Elena Kalis is an interesting photographer I came 

across recently. She is underwater photographer

based in the Bahamas.

http://www.elenakalisphoto.com

Used Film Cameras and Camera Repair in Vermont

Looking for antique or used film cameras in Maine and can't find them?  There are two camera stores in Vermont that are a great resource for buying and selling old used cameras for reasonable prices.  I tried to find a medium format camera here in Maine a few years ago and was told by the folks at Photo Market on Forest Avenue in Portland that the market for used film cameras is dwindling because of digital photography.  You can find the camera of your choice on the internet but you will never know its true condition until you can physically look at it.  They suggested Lezot Camera in Burlington, Vermont, and Green Mountain Camera in Waterbury, Vermont.  When I called both places, they told me what they had in stock but that cameras are constantly coming and going.  I went to Lezot and found a Rolleicord TLR medium format camera for a very reasonable price.  They also had a Mamiya and a Hasselblad.  When I went to Green Mountain Camera, they had everything from 35 mm to large format to brownies.  

The other great thing about Lezot Camera is that they have a camera repair shop right in the store.  They have specialized technicians to make repairs on old film cameras.  They will also rent cameras if you want to try out, say a large format camera, that you may not want to purchase yet.

Green Mountain Camera

(802) 244-0883

Mailing Address:  PO Box 328, Waterbury Center, VT 05677

Physical Address:  14 Sunset Drive, Waterbury Center, VT 05677

sales@gmcamera.com

http://www.gmcamera.com

Lezot Camera

34 Church Street Suite #3

Burlington, VT 05401

p. 802-652-2400 ext 1

f.  802-652-2401

e.  lezotmanager@gmail.com

http://www.lezotcameras.com/

Also check out this show in Burlington, Vermont shown on Lezot's website

Steven Rubin's "Vacationland"goes up at the drkrm gallery in Los Angeles from April 28 through May 26.

"In 1982, with a camera but no car and little money, Steven Rubin hitchhiked around Maine, heading inland from the coast and finding his way to this remote region where the photographs in this exhibit were taken, living for a time in an abandoned cabin without electricity, heat, or running water.  When the winter proved too cold, he accepted a bare mattress in the corner of a family's mobile home.  He eventually became a fixture in the community and they embraced him, at least for a time.  Over the years he returned for numerous visits."

http://drkrm.com/vacationland.html

Wet-Plate Collodion Workshop with Keliy Anderson-Staley June 9th!

Registration for Keliy Anderson-Staley's Wet-Plate Collodion Workshop on June 9th has opened! You can sign up here to reserve your spot, or call us at 207-591-6675. Intermediate practitioners are encouraged to enroll as we will be using 7x7" and 8x10" plates.

Keliy is also our current Artist-in-Residence, and will be giving a Salon Talk on Thursday, May 24th at 7pm to present her work.

Gabriella Sturchio at June Fitzpatrick

Check out the senior thesis work of intern, Gabriella Sturchio, along with other Maine College of Art grads, at the First Friday Art Walk at June Fitzpatrick Gallery:

Cindy Sherman at MoMA

With the recent opening at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, photographer Cindy Sherman's retrospective has been attracting almost everyone's attention, so I couldn't help but be intrigued by the enormous amount of publicity, both through major news feeds as well as friends' and colleagues' word-of-mouth.

from moma.org

According to MoMA's website,

"The exhibition will explore dominant themes throughout Sherman’s career, including artifice and fiction; cinema and performance; horror and the grotesque; myth, carnival, and fairy tale; and gender and class identity. Also included are Sherman’s recent photographic murals (2010), which will have their American premiere at MoMA."

There is an interactive gallery to roll through if you cannot hitch a ride to the Big Apple.
The show is up from February 26 - June 11 on the sixth floor.

Cindy Sherman, Doll Clothes (1975) on Vimeo.

Photography books at Bowdoin College Library

 

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Bowdoin College Library's Special Collections, where they have an enormous and impressive catalog of rare books, including limited-edition artists' books. I only had the time to study few books, including Maine photographer Cig Harvey's The Hope Chest, which was assembled in 2011 as an edition of only 15. It was an incredible experience to be able to interact so intimately with these prints, and the worded sleeves they were in.

I highly encourage allocating a few hours to visit Bowdoin's library and see what they have to offer.

There is a link to the catalogue of photography books here.

Photo shows at the Boston MFA

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts is currently exhibiting two fantastic photo shows.
The first is
"Modernist Photography: 1910-1950"

(from mfa.org)

A new camera "vision"

"Modernist Photography 1910–1950" features approximately 40 American modernist photographs representing highlights from the Museum's own collection as well as The Lane Collection. Complementing the work displayed in several of the other Level 3 galleries in the new Art of the Americas Wing, this exhibition focuses on the concept that the camera was, in many respects, the ideal tool for modernist artists of the day and that this new camera “vision” resulted in some of the most truly groundbreaking work to have been produced in any medium.

 This show has been up since last July, and will close April 1.

Also in the MFA you can  visit
"Silver, Salt, and Sunlight: Early Photography in Britain and France"

(from mfa.org)

Celebrate the golden age of early photography

The invention of photography in 1839 was a pivotal achievement that changed the course of cultural history. The early years of the medium were rich in experimentation. As each process and technique was invented, artists enthusiastically explored new possibilities for visual recording and expression. This exhibition celebrates the golden age of early photography in France and Britain, the two countries in which the medium was simultaneously invented.
Arranged according to theme and exploring a range of photographic approaches, “Silver, Salt, and Sunlight” features some rare early photographs from the Museum's collection. Among the photographic pioneers included are William Henry Fox Talbot, Hill and Adamson, Roger Fenton, Edouard Baldus, Gustave Le Gray, Nadar, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Francis Frith.

 This show is in exhibition February 7 - August 5.

ARE YOU REALLY MY FRIEND?

"Dinner with Karin & Barry, Auburn, Maine" (2010)

Maine-based photographer, co-founder and member of the Bakery Photographic Collective Tanja Hollander recently began a complex and worldwide adventure called "Are you really my friend?: The Facebook Portrait Project" in order to examine "how we define friendship and who we let into our private yet very public online lives" through the social terrain of online media. 

"Ben Waxman, Washington, DC" (2011)

The Project began with 626 facebook friends, and has since grown as she continues to travel to her friends' homes revealing intimate portraits of her "real friends". She keeps the website updated in a blog format, chronicling in between shoots a Cambodian pig roast in Gray, Maine, late nights in New Orleans during Jazz Fest, the consequences of Matisse buying a portrait at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, as well as letters written in support of a pay-what-you-can sale. 

"What started out as a personal documentary on friendship and environmental portraiture has turned into an exploration of American culture, relationships, generosity and compassion, family structure, community building, story telling and meal sharing, the economy and class, our relationship to technology & travel in the 21st century, social networking, memory, and the history of the portrait. Following in the footsteps of the FSA photographers and Robert Frank she has out to see America and to record how our society uses photography, the portrait social media to create and define our existence."(*)

"J. Nordberg & Pamela Albanese with Fluffita the cat, Los Angeles, California" (2010)

"Nell, Peter & Deb Whitney, Portland, Maine" (2010)

"Emma Hollander, Boston, Massachusetts" (2010)

Still very much in its birth, the project has already been awarded a Good Idea Grant from the Maine Arts Commission, and is sponsored by Color Services (Needham, MA) and any individual who takes part in one of her fundraising efforts. 

Tanja also encourages anyone she can to "like" the facebook page in order to spread the influence.

Cheers,

Not to be disregarded

Many apologies for the lack of posting in the past year...
This will start again in the very present future.
With love, BPiC.

There is this amazing website out there called Yeah. Yeah allows anyone to post a picture from their camera on their site, which is just a constantly changing montage of cell phone pictures. Its pretty amazing, fascinating, and well genius I think.
to upload a picture email your photos to yeah@yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah.com

sooooo yeah, check it out.

Tonight for First Friday The Maine Historical Society is presenting ....

Photographs from 1860-1975
Exposed: Rare Photographs of Life in Maine
Black and White Historic Photographs

Don't miss it!

I've recently come across two photo books of portraits that struck a chord. Usually black and white portraiture doesn't really strike my fancy all that much. Part of the appeal of the two books here are the photographers personal stories. I suppose portrait photographers have to have an interesting story themselves in order to successfully translate other peoples stories through film.

Portraits from the Belly of the Whale by Michael Garlington is a sardonic collection of portraiture of the mad, the grotesque and the dramatic. He examines the dark peripheral of humanity. What makes his adventures in portraits so fascinating to me is that he would drive around in a "photo car." This was his car, but it was covered in his work. The car was part self promotion, part subject enticer, and part ice- breaker. A strange bird that one.

DISFARMER; The Vintage Prints, is a series of glass negative portraiture prints salvaged from the Barn studio of Mike Disfarmer in rural Arkansas. Disfarmer, born Mike Meyers legally changed his name to Mike Disfarmer in order to disassociate himself with the agrarian roots that connected him to his family and community. He even claimed that as a baby, a tornado swept him up and dropped him at his family's home. This book is a cohesive collection of his portraits. His story matches the intriguing and peculiar nature of his work.

Sorry about the extended delay in action here. It's been a while and there is plenty of news to post....

For starters I recently took an trip that landed me in Austin, TX for a hot second. One of the best thing that city has to offer is a little place called Domy Books. A well curated and merchandised selection of art books swallows you whole upon entering. The place really eminates a sort of charismatic chaos, chock full of comics, zines, photo books, collage, contemporary art etc. Essentially its a beautiful mess of a store full of cool. Not to mention the manager Russell took pity on our hobo-ness and landed us a great place to stay! Great staff, great books, great city. What more could you ask for!?

Check it out if you are ever in town.

EVENT - PHOTO TALK - COLE CASWELL & JESSICA GEORGE