Archive for the ‘photography teachers’ Category

reading Minor White books instead of making photos

April 5, 2011

i’ve been buying photography books and reading them lately. i’ve an old time relationship with books, walking into a used book store smelling paper just overcomes any hesitation i have to spend money. i usually walk out of the store with an arm full of books. yes one could say all the books on my shelves are useless until one picks them up and opens them.

i get dizzy remembering them, my copy of the ‘Rainbow book’, put out by the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco explaining everything you wanted to know about rainbows is just so cool sitting on top of Hollywood Glamor Portraits , next to Barbara Morgan’s dance photography, see the list goes on. be still my heart.

one of my favorite teachers whom i never had the chance to meet is Minor White. his name has been spoken reverently around me by photographers i’ve known and liked so that has created in me a hunger to learn about him.

my first purchase was Minor White’s ‘Rites & Passages’ an  Apeture foundation book, which i found very interesting, because in included his photographs and excerpts from his diaries and letters and biographic essays by John Baker Hill.

minor white 'rites & passages'

i don’t think by reading a book one can get close to the teacher but maybe some word or phrase might make a wheel or clog move and mesh causing a connection. looking at pictures stimulates my imagination because i am sort of seeing through the photographers eyes. not always do i get it but it’s like sex, the fun is in the doing, not the final outcome.

for anyone interested in Minor White’s work and opinions this is a worth while sit down. i really enjoyed this book

the second Minor White book is ‘The Moment of Seeing’, Minor White at the California of fine arts, by Stephine Comer & Debroah Klochko with an essay by Jeff Gunderson is printed on lovely paper but most of the book was a disappointment for me. i really don’t care who attended California Fine arts school when. i am sure by now a lot of them are dead and gone as i soon will be.

the moment of seeing.great cover  photo reminds me of cartier bresson’s work

there is a twenty page pedagogy of some Whites teachings but just getting to page 79 was a chore. maybe i should have sped through the beginning chapters  but i didn’t.  i did like reading minor white’s ‘seeing a photograph’ in the pedagogy but getting there was a big boring chore as i was looking for information about minor’s teaching’s, not who he taught. what he thought and taught was what interested me. the portfolios of the students and teachers are nice, not cluttered with words just pictures and who was there is history in itself.

what happened in the school started by Ansel Adams who then went off doing his Zone system landscape work and left to minor white and other great names in photography is pretty cool but i wanted to hear from the various creatives their views on working.

oh well not everyone likes everything. spring is here time to explore the world around us again lovely flowers poke their fragrant bodies in the air.

have a good day

jene

http://www.jeneyoutt.com

Posted in educational, Photography, photography teachers, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

New Orleans Photography Workshops w Joyce Tenneson

July 28, 2010

New Orleans Photography Workshops
Scholarship Application

Bringing your photographic vision to a larger audience with Joyce Tenneson
September 18-19, 2010

Please send the completed application, letters of recommendation and digital portfolio on a disc
(labeled with first and last name) to:

The New Orleans Photography Workshops
Attn: Scholarship Applications
1927 Sophie Wright Place
New Orleans, LA 70130

Application Deadline: Applications must be received by August 21, 2010.
Notification: Applicants will be contacted via e-mail by August 23, 2010.

About the scholarship: The scholarship is open to fine art photographers interested in
introducing their work to galleries or museums and photography educators who are in a position to
teach these skills to their students.
For more information about the workshop: http://www.neworleansworkshops.com (see
“Upcoming Workshops” tab)

To apply, please submit the following:
1. Scholarship application: see page 2.
2. Two letters of recommendation: The recommendations should be from people who are not
related to you.
3. For photographers: Digital portfolio of 10 images
• Image files should be formatted as 72 dpi jpgs at 10” long dimension.
• File names must include your first and last name (ex: John_Doe_4.jpg).
Note: Educators are not required to submit a portfolio.
For questions or more information contact: info@neworleansworkshops.com or 877-316-
0009
New Orleans Photography Workshops
Scholarship Application
Bringing your photographic vision to a larger audience with Joyce Tenneson
September 18-19, 2010
Please send the completed application, letters of recommendation and digital portfolio on a disc
(labeled with first and last name) to:

The New Orleans Photography Workshops
Attn: Scholarship Applications
1927 Sophie Wright Place
New Orleans, LA 70130
1. Last Name: _________________________________________________
2. First Name: _________________________________________________
3. Street address: _______________________________________________
4. City, state, zip code: __________________________________________
5. Telephone 1: ________________________________________________
6. Telephone 2 (optional): ________________________________________
7. E-mail: _____________________________________________________
8. Website (optional): ___________________________________________
9. For educators only:
Institution Name: _________________________________________
Institution Address: _______________________________________
Subject(s): _______________________________________________
Grade(s): ________________________________________________
10. Please attach an explanation of how a workshop on introducing photography to galleries and
museums will benefit you and the development of your career. (maximum 300 words)

Posted in art, photographic opportunity, Photography, photography teachers, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Photographic intern opportunity

March 18, 2010

here is something that, if i were a young man or woman interested in a photographic career, i would love to do. but since i am not i’ll pass this along to you my readers. maybe someone out there will benefit from this opportunity.

Howard Schatz
Beverly Ornstein
Schatz/Ornstein Studio

www.howardschatz.com

The photographs of Howard Schatz are exhibited in museums and photography galleries internationally and are included in innumerable private collections.  He has received international acclaim for his work.

H2O, Schatz’s seventeenth book of photographs, is the third in his series of explorations of imagery made on, over and underwater.  Published in the fall of 2007, it is a breathtaking feat of underwater photography and a visionary celebration of movement and form. Working with uncommonly graceful and aquatically gifted dancers, models, and performers, photographer Howard Schatz has found joyous inspiration underwater. The images in H2O  take advantage of water’s unique properties- light, clarity, buoyancy, and reflectivity-to create a delightfully serene and otherworldly aesthetic. At once uncanny, lithe, athletic, and mysterious, the figures in Schatz’s photographs transform the pool into studio and stage. Howard Schatz first established a following in the 1990s with two collections of underwater photography, Water Dance and Pool Light. With H2O, Schatz takes the magic of weightlessness and the beauty of dance to new heights. Whether in single portraits or as part of a larger, spectacular ballet, his dancers are as utterly elegant as they are phantasmagorical. They appear before the camera as though borrowed from a dream.

In Character: Actors Acting  Schatz’s sixteenth book of photographs, was published in April 2006 by Bulfinch Press. Schatz photographed 100 actors of stage, screen and television, directing them in one-on-one improvisation. Botanica (Bulfinch 2005) and Athlete, (HarperCollins, 2002) were Schatz’s two other most recently published books of photographs.  Schatz’s books are known worldwide; other titles include:  Nude Body Nude; Body Knots, Passion And Line, and Pool Light. Schatz’s editorial work has been published in magazines around the world, including Time, Sports Illustrated, Vogue, Vogue Italia, GQ Italia, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Stern, Life, Black/White, American Photo, Photo France, and Photo Italia. His work has been featured on the Today Show, Good Morning America, NPR, Fox Sports Network, the Discovery Channel and widely in Europe.

He has made extraordinary images for such advertising clients as Ralph Lauren RLX, Escada, Sergio Tacchini, Nike, Reebok, Wolford, Etienne Aigner, Sony, Adidas, Finlandia Vodka, MGM Grand Hotel, Virgin Records, and Mercedes-Benz.
Howard Schatz’s fine art work is represented in New York by the Staley-Wise Gallery, in Denver, by Gallery M, and in Los Angeles by the David Gallery. A full listing of other galleries in the United States and abroad can be found in the Galleries section of the website.

Schatz Ornstein Studio Internship/Apprenticeship
Howard Schatz is a fine art and commercial photographer who, along with his wife and business partner, Beverly Ornstein, owns Schatz Ornstein Studio located in Manhattan.  Each year, we choose one young photographer, artist or videographer for a year-long, non-paying internship.  

During that year we commit to the following goals for the intern:
1. Thorough familiarity with principles of still photography
2. Thorough understanding of studio/imaging workflow
3. Working knowledge of studio lighting
4. Working knowledge of medium and small format digital cameras

These goals are accomplished (among others) through the following:
1. Regular review of work created in the studio And discussion of esthetics as well as technique.
2. Regular review of the work of photographic masters through study of their work
3.  Intern to take primary responsibility for all archiving and logging of shoots
4. Intern to take primary responsibility for transfer of files to photographer and digital studio
5.  Daily hands-on assisting in setting up of medium format cameras and sets in studio
6. Assisting on location with the handling of 35mm digital cameras

The goal for this internship is to learn, in a professional, working environment, the business, the art and the science of photography.  During the course of the year, the intern can learn to master not only a wide range of highly sophisticated technical equipment, but to develop a well-tuned understanding of the subtleties of lighting and camera work in the studio.  With training, the intern will take over full responsibility for workflow management of all digital imagery. With demonstrated skill, intern can also function as photo assistant on shoots.

Email a letter of interest and your resume to  bjo@schatzornstein.com

Posted in howard schatz, Photographic intern opportunity, photographic opportunity, photography teachers, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

the american’s, robert frank

November 24, 2009

a friend was in town the other week whom i don’t usually get to spend time with but he had a day to kill so we decided to try and see la danse the weisman dance film of the paris opera’s dance company. both his daughters are ballerinas in a european company so we thought that might be fun.

we showed up to the theater to be met with a very long line half way down the block , oh well i don’t like crowded theaters nor crowds in general. so kenny suggested we go up to the metropolitan museum of art and see the robert frank exhibit ‘the americans.’

on the way up on the subway kenny told me why he had an interest in robert franks work. kenny used to work at baldwin pottery on la guardia place a long long time ago. i knew it from my chip monck days because he had a loft  in the building down the alley behind baldwin pottery. kenny worked as a potter before we met working at the filmore east. i met chip as a daily hire for his rolling stones tour of europe in 1970 to take care of the follow spots. long story…….

the owner suggested kenny to mary frank’s who was looking for someone to mix and kneed her clay as she spent many years as a sculpture artist. kenny said she had given him a schetch which now hung in his mothers house. really odd how these connections happen.

what i learned abotut the show is totally different than what kenny walked away with. see the link for pics etc. no they are not mine as pictures are forbidden in traveling shows besides i didn’t have my camera with me, we were going to the movies.

seeing the actual first prints, working prints etc in a way is pretty neat, but what struck me is how far we, photographers, have come with printing. this is also true of a show earlier this year with fred steins work. the new archival prints are so much better than the originals.

now i’ve never seen any ansel adams prints that were created under his supervision, but think they too would show their age now. everything paper, well actually everything is decaying right before our decaying eyes.

but i guess what’s interesting to most people is seeing the originals. the show was certainly crowded enough but lots of tourist wander through new york on any given day. there was a quotation from jack kerouac on the wall which caused me to smile because i knew jack when he was living in northport, ny. i don’t remember the quote but i do remember drinking and closing many a bar with jack and friends.

i remember driving into the sun with jack in the seat besides me, more on that later.

Posted in film cameras, galleries, Photography, photography exhibits, photography presentations, photography teachers, printing, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

lost another point of light in photography, John Daido Loori Roshi

October 28, 2009

this month October we, the world at large, lost another great photographer and teacher. John Daido Loori 1931-2009.

it was my priviledge to have a few conversations with John Daido Loori Roshi zen priest , teacher, photographer and human being.

I’ve only met him a few times in a casual setting, once at a Change Your Mind day sponsored by Tricycle magazine where he was speaking about his Mountains and Rivers order to the assembled buddhist group sitting on the grassy field in central park. i found him to be a very generous man.

i had asked him a question about reincarnation which other buddhist traditions teach and had been brought up earlier that day. as i recall he said that as far as our atoms being released back into the primordial soup to begin again as some other entity that was about all one could expect.i think he respected all creation and i know he fought hard to preserve his sanctuary and woodland around zen mountain for all beings. his art reflected his spiritual life.

john was an artist/photographer who had studied with Minor White i had always wanted to do a workshop at Zen Mountain Monastery with john. but you know how life is, there was always something getting in the way of taking the time for myself either be it work or money but it never came to be. that is one of my regrets in life.

i have all two of his photography books which if you ever get the chance to do buy. they are still in print at the Monastery Store and the one on creativity.

Making Love With Light is a wonderful study of John’s photography, Zen poems and essays.

Hearing With the Eye are photos from Point , California, makes one remember wandering all sorts of beaches

The Zen of Creativity is about John’s insight on creativity and life. not so much about color photography but more on the creative process as a whole.

i’ve linked these to the monastery store because i believe in supporting the teachings that have helped me. i am sure they can be had from amazon books but i’ve never looked for them there.

I’ve never sat at the monastery nor with john. i do belong to other Buddhist groups namely the Insight Meditation Society and New York Insight but Zen teachers have had a large influence on me beginning with Alan Watts and a non buddhist teacher J.Krishnamurti whom i did see give talks in new york way back when. all of their teachings are still available on-line and in printed form.

i have a very good friend who is a member of the Mountains and Rivers sangha whom i talked to as soon as i learned of john’s illness which even though it’s a big part of the teachings imperemance of this world and time his passing did make me sad. it gives me some comfort to know there are good people in the world even though i don’t know them nor see them regularly it’s just nice to realize they are there.

it’s a big part of metta practice and teachings, to know there are other people in this world wishing me happiness and a good life, even though i don’t know them, they are there. i can be connected to then and this world, even though it’s just a ball of mud and water waiting for its time to evaporate and us along with it. we might as well have some fun and laughs along the way and know that we are loved for who we are.

i just wanted to acknowledge my special feelings about john and other people i’ve come across on my path. yes i felt the loss of this lost point of light, but life goes on until it doesn’t.

Posted in art, Artist, buddhist teachers, film cameras, Magazines, Photography, photography teachers, Zen teachers, Zen teachings | 4 Comments »