So long Soho Photo

November 13, 2009

i’ve decided to move on from Soho Photo as they were not meeting my expectations or needs in a gallery. as Susan Sontag said “In America, the photographer is not simply the person who records the past, but the one who invents it.”

i found very few inventive photographic artists involved with the gallery. that’s not to say that there aren’t some very good photographers involved with the gallery. but some of the exhibits show a total lack of creativity, in my opinon.maybe it’s an age thing as the members seem to be much older than i but they aren’t really.

how one gets into the gallery is to submit a portfolio on their portfolio review day to the Booking Committee made up of members of the gallery who then reviews the submitted portfolio. the guidelines aren’t very specific other than saying ‘No books’ but a selection of your best work is suggested. what is not said i believe, is they want to see a portfolio of work that is ready to go on the walls.

i was rejected my first time as have been some friends of mine for having a too wide a range of subjects in my portfolio. by not giving specific instructions it gives the committee wiggle room to reject anything they so choose on any grounds. what may play an important role in acceptance to the gallery is who you know.some get accepted on their fist try while other very strong photogs are turned away.

i have been rejected three times by the gallery so far, once in the beginning and twice for a membership upgrade. once i was told the Committee reviewing my portfolio ‘didn’t feel like dancing’ after see my work to which Mary replied ‘because they are too old!’

in the two years i was involved with the gallery it seemed more a social club than a serious gallery. Soho Photo seems to have evolved into a vanity gallery with no serious press coverage or outside critical review.

i am sure i didn’t endear myself to the members when i asked at a business meeting ‘why would i want to be a member of Soho Photo?’ i think that’s a valid question. it’s a place to show your work only if the booking committee accepts your submission. they can reject your work on any grounds even after you become a member so there is a group censorship.they call it protecting other members.

with exhibit space at a premium in New York City it’s so hard for artist/photographer to be seen much less reviewed in the press that finding a clean lighted place to show your work can be critical in ones career, but so can association.

i have found in my life when one door closes another opens and it’s usually a better place as life is progressive. so it’s time to move one. where i don’t know but that’s not important. i have love in my life and i truly love what i do as well as the people around me.

i can now concentrate on the challenges at hand. working with a woman documenting her breast cancer journey.

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All i want to do is make art or color management gone wild again.

November 3, 2009

i never wanted to learn how to type on a typewriter because of my phonetic poor spelling.i wanted to draw.

i wasn’t sure i wanted to learn how to use a computer but it did help my spelling. so i bought an Apple CI computer.  but now i am being held hostage along with a few other thousand of people by code writers. i am not talking about the Navaho  peoples who helped this country during WW ll but the whizz kids writing computer code.

at photo expo 2009 i talked with the HP printer people trying to learn how to not have their printers color manage my pictures.it seems turning ‘off ‘color management on their printers isn’t easy. the salesman showing the HP 9100 products had a hard time finding the right places to look, so it’s really not intuitive because they hide it in the print dialog box- copies & pages> paper type> color>  application managed color. now why couldn’t they just say ‘no color management?’ well Epson says that.

i did have a nice exchange with another photographer wanting to learn exactly the same thing as i as we waited for the salesperson to learn how to educate us. he showed me some of his B&W prints to which i asked if he’d ever had them printed on Kodak’s metallic paper, i suggested Adorama prints whom i’ve always found quality work from. i also suggested he try the silver edition B&W prints they carry.one of my  shameless plugs for a friends company PTS who carries Fuji Frontier printers and off topic.

Ok but this is the least of the printing problems i have now under  Tiger OS. now we move onto the big cat Snow Leopard and that gets really strange. i come from using Epson printers since they were the only company that was producing fine art printers, well the only one i could afford, Roland was way out of my league.i learned how to make my own color profiles, well after i huddled in the corner for years at the mention of color management, i found print fix pro from Datacolor way cool and made my prints better.did i mention a free upgrade to my software, now how many companies do that?

so i go out and buy a new Apple quad core 2.93  with  Snow Leopard but thinking i am gonna keep my old G4 as a print server just in case there are printing issues. i am getting smarter in my old age. seems everyone is having printing issues with  Snow Leopard. my yahoo Epson printing group are all a buzz with issues and few soultions.

there is one web site i know of, remember my knowledge is limited, the Luminous Landscape has a work around posted at http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/solving.shtml. but why? how to print a no color managed print or you select the color management and not have it turn out some other color. this is the first they’ve heard of it? what planet do they live on?

don’t these people from Apple, Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung ever talk to each other? why can’t we have some standard to go by in printer drivers. is it such a dog eat dog world out there that we the user can’t have a dependable work tool.

has greed and fear taken over the entire world? i thought it might have subsided a bit, with our newly elected president, so we could believe in creation again, and building a better world.

but old habits are slow to die off. one of the reasons i keep old computers around, remembering when i was young i’d get into all kinds of troubles loading some new software on my computer and being asked by customer support ‘why’d you do that?’ and not having a good answer for them.

oh well

 

 

 

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Hell’s Kitchen Artist Studio Tour Nov 7-8 2009

October 30, 2009

well for those of you who would like to meet me i’ll be opening my studio during this event located at

Youtt, 427 51st Street, 3A, New York, NY, 10019 between 9th & 10th Ave., 212 664 1039

hell's kitchen artist studio tourHKArtiST(2)

the tour actually begins on Nov 6 with an opening party at Bar 9 on Tenth Ave but i’ll be at Emmanuel’s opening that night.

as this is the first event of this kind in the neighborhood i am hoping to meet some of my fellow artists whom i pass on the street anonymously. so far i’ve met a few very talented artists, one woman had a postcard of one of her watercolors which i recognized immediately as the lobby of the Paris Opera house. how cool is that?

maps will be available at Fountain Gallery, 702 9 Ave, NYC on the corner of 9th Ave & 48th Street. beginning Nov 6, 2009.see www.artistinthekitchen.org for more information.

i am hoping mary will baby sit a bit so i can visit some other studios.

so if you’d like to meet me and say hello or better yet buy one of my prints, actual SALE of some odd sized prints returned from a show i had in Kyoto, Japan do stop by.

i had suggested we buy balloons to display aiding location for the visitors. if lost give a call.

see you then.

jene

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Thomas Barbey exhibit

October 30, 2009

hi guy & gals

a friend and curator Emmanuel Fremin at his gallery of the same name is having an opening of Thomas Barbey’s work on November 6 thru 26 2009 at his gallery at 546 Broadway, PH 5B , NYC, NY opening reception 6-8p.SowingtheSeedsofLove

ODUOMOMIOCrashCourseinItalian

emmanuel always has interesting artists and it’s a pleasure to see him back on the boards in new york city again. especially with pictures from our favorite city.

welcome

jene

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canon cameras believing their own press releases

October 29, 2009

canon camera counters were jammed at last weeks photo expo. to look at the crowd one would have thought they were giving away cameras.

i am sure they didn’t like my conversation about the delay in writing software update for the 5D Mll so that it can shoot at 24 fps. they said it wouldn’t be available on the web until after the first of the year. my response was swift calling then jerks or was it assholes. i am not sure but i was pissed.
they been going around releasing cameras left and right with better software than the 5D Mll.

so what is the big deal? why the delay? if you think this is wrong as a consumer write to the company. it’s first on my list of to do’s.

will report on photo expo when i get time. don”t think i am just upset with canon hp is right in there as well.

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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 »

wasting time is my pastime

October 21, 2009

i just spent hours changing the password on my wireless dlink network, first logging in, configuring the software, then after not doing this for a number of years, i suggest if one is security consensus to do this more often as one forgets how to or take concise notes. need to really learn to listen more closely as tech support isn’t located in this country so the accents are sometimes hard to understand, i am sure they feel the same way.

getting the wireless router configured  i lost my computer ip address. thank goodness for assistants and apple software. i don’t know how windows people survive especially the ones on high floors.so now onto the business at hand.

i bought a hp 9180 printer which so far has reminded me of a sherman tank running into a wall. i’ve never had a printer shake the table so violently as this one does as it moves the carriage side to side. whoo nelly. but they say this is a good printer so i’ve got a learning curve for sure, especially after all these years using epson printers.

hey what’s life without some sort of challenge. did i think i could just sit down at my desk and create. where did the simplicity of pencil and paper in hand go? tonight i go look see at all the wonderful changes snow leopard has even though my new computer is still in the box with nowhere to go,  because i’ve been wasting my time with security issues. but this is tekserve’s schedule and what the heck it’s only an hour presentation.

meat loaf for dinner is all i can think of right now, guess i must be hungry.

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Busy weekend

October 20, 2009

last weekend was pretty busy running around to different galleries and participating in the hoboken open studios at the monroe center. we, mary & i, met some interesting people to talk with and i always like these things because i meet other artist talk about each others work and share the day. i like to see other artist work as it gets me to thinking about things i’ve never thought of before.

here is mary meeting people, i am the guy behind the curtain, oh camera

mary show our work

mary showing our work

add my pixs

add my pixs

another bus load

another bus load

mary’s jewelry which surprised us didn’t sell. heck she sells it off her body at some of our openings.

IMG_9659-

sometimes i get locked into an idea or work space and can’t easily see my way out of it. that’s one of the values of the Artist Way book by julia cameron and mark bryan, but mark has disappeared from the amazon book page and the web site. maybe some sort of riff between them. i did meet him years ago as he was doing sessions about the book and how to use the information given. i do recommend the book or should i say the system it teaches., although i can’t say i know anybody who’s ever finished the book and all it’s exercises. but the ideas are top notch and it generates an idea of ‘self care’ and appreciation, that can open many a closed door or window. of course now there is an artist way web site.

one of the things i got from mark and out of the book was journal writing . i’ve got somewhere close to 150 legal pads of writings which they call morning pages. i’ve no way of knowing if they’ve helped me or not.but i haven’t thought of walking half way across the george washington bridge lately.

i do remember this nutty girlfriend who was so insecure about our relationship that she would read them when i wasn’t around. well between my comments on that relationship and her reading my private musings it wasn’t very good. that whole relationship was wacky from the beginning but my comments and her insecurity weren’t a good mix.

well maybe i shouldn’t say that exactly because the woman i am with now doesn’t even bother to read them or if she does she doesn’t bring them up in conversation. as painful as breaking up with someone is, and that one was because i thought i loved her, i’ve found that life does get better as i do. so that girlfriend, as i was for her, was the way to move onward with our lives. she left her husband and i found someone who learned to love me, sometimes i don’t make it easy. what i learned from that relationship was that i could try and love again, we should never forget how to love one another.

so the morning pages are a pretty powerful event.

well i was going to write about art and photography and how the printer gods are frowning on me, but i’ll have to do that some other time. my finger are sore.

we did see an interesting young artist photographer at daniel cooney gallery named tim roda who does these ‘creations’ is all i can describe them as. he gave a talk sat attended by a few people and a couple of his friends. mary an di went down to hear him because his work is so different. we dropped in on cooney’s gallery, gallery mega opening day this fall when the streets were alive with wine drinking harpies wandering from gallery to gallery. fine arts halloween evening for sure. some tricks some treats. boo

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curator looking for artist

October 16, 2009

here is a link to a small gallery on the edges of williamsburg brooklyn called cccp run by a friend of mine, john, who is always looking for emerging artists. do contact him if you’re looking to show in a small funky gallery setting. let him know you saw this posting here.

jene

Posted in art, Artist, dance photography, galleries, modern dance, nude, Photography, photography exhibits, photography presentations | 2 Comments »

a day in the life

October 16, 2009

wandering around new york galleries on wed after an all day sitting at soho photo looking at the lighting system they have and are thinking of replacing as they have received a proposal from the contractor who painted the gallery this past summer. what an improvement over the dingy, paint peeling walls and ceiling. for an art photography gallery to look that run down i thinks reflects on the artist who show there.

i guess i should say the photographers who show there. this distinction i make with my work being art as opposed to just photographs. i create my pictures while i think most photographers capture theirs. i’ve always thought that the proof in my work was the print, that’s where i spend most of my time in creating, not that taking the picture isn’t just important because it is.

i did stop by Madame X, 95 houston St, nyc, ny to see Catlin Mitchells semi nude fashion exhibit. Madame X seems an appropriate place for the show except for the lighting but the decor of red wall paper and golden couches, can we say whore house look, seemed to the welcome the exhibit. i did look to introduce myself to Catlin who was not hard to find in her silver sequined dress, but didn’t have time to talk, who ever does at ones opening, greeting guest, friends and what not. love her carbon prints on cold press paper.

speaking of artists and galleries in the evening i continued around the corner to ward-nasse gallery where i have four prints hanging to re-lable two of them with the awards they have received, Blue the 2009 Prix de la Photographie, Paris (PX3) and Ascending the 2009 International Photography Award. because there is an opening reception at ward-nasse this saturday 10/17/09 at 7pm for this lovely young artist who paints hearts. She usually sells out and has a large following. i sold two prints at her last show. woohoo.

the next sunday 10/18/09 mary and i are showing our work in Hoboken at the Monroe Center for the Arts for their open studio tour, 12 noon to 5 pm affair.if you’re in the neighborhood stop by or better yet make the trek to the center and say hello. we are showing some of our bump, wedding and children laboroflovepixs hoping to drum up some more business.mary makes sure there’s lots of wine and popcorn, don’t ask. she will also be bring some of her wearable art, which women seem to like, as that’s what the conversation always seems to move to at our gallery openings etc.

where does our life go? mary the energizer bunny and me, i get tired just watching her, are getting ready next month for a friends art/gallery shop opening on 231 Bedford Ave in williamsburg Brooklyn called Barking Lizard. some of the art works there are fabulous. do stop by and take a look.

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