Grant Writing Workshop With Donald Weber

April 25, 2010 | Filed Under Gallery & Workshop | Leave a Comment 

Spent Saturday learning about the ins and outs of the world of grants in another Luz Gallery sponsored workshop with Donald Weber.  It was all interesting and it was a busy and intense day with a great deal of information being offered. The bottom line though, is that like most things in life, there’s a lot of work and time involved in the process. Anyone looking for or expecting information that will result in a quick handout of cash would have been very disappointed.

There is the thought as well that if we’re all starting to pursue the grant world as an alternative to the disappearing editorial market, won’t the grant world become more of a challenge to access? It’s not like there are a huge amount of new grants appearing every year but more photgraphers are applying for the existing grants.

It’s all food for thought though and each photographer has to try and figure out how to blend all the elements of the photo world to make it work for them.

Donald Weber – Workshop – Chernobyl, Russia and the VII Photo Agency

April 21, 2010 | Filed Under Gallery & Workshop | Leave a Comment 

Last weekend I attended a two day workshop presented by Luz Gallery with Toronto photographer Don Weber, a member of the VII agency. We had a diverse group of twelve workshoppers (if that’s a word). There was the legally blind Anglican minister, the woman who’d had Ansel Adams drop by her house when she was a child and critique her photos,  a philosophy professor who had just returned from a workshop with Mary Ellen Mark and the motorcycle riding government lawyer. The others were equally interesting. There was even a few of us pro photographers.

The first day focused on looking at various projects shot by Don as well as work by his fellow VII photographers and others. Don showed his Ukraine images including those from Chernobyl that are featured in his book Bastard Eden as well as images from Russia and other eastern countries. I’ve attended a fair number of lectures as well as short seminars but never a weekend workshop. Looking at it from the perspective of someone who teaches now and then I was impressed by the way Don was able to keep the day on track while allowing people to ask questions even if they were slightly off topic.

The second day we spent time looking at each other’s projects with Don doing an edit of our images. It’s always interesting ( and a good practice) to have someone else look over your images and provide feedback. Don was quite good at distilling everyone’s pile of images down to a select few.

I found the workshop allowed me to look at my own work with fresh eyes and perhaps seek a slightly different direction with a couple of projects. I was also extremely impressed with Don’s organization and his focus on his career. He appears to have a very solid understanding of where and how he wants to have his career advance and how to make that happen. That’s awfully rare I think,  so it was very useful to see it explained.

This coming Saturday I’ll be attending Don’s grant writing workshop and I’ll be looking forward to that and having the mysterious world of grants simplified.

I have to say that Luz Gallery’s Diana and Quinton’s hard work at promoting shows and putting on workshops like these have made Victoria a far more interesting place for photographers. A year ago there was simply no chance to spend a weekend with a photographer of the calibre of Don Weber.  Now we have someone coming in every few months, and sometimes weeks,  for a new show or workshop.

Creating Art Is More Than Just Technique

April 7, 2010 | Filed Under Gallery & Workshop, Online Learning, Photography | Leave a Comment 

I mentioned a few posts back that I’d attended a show opening and artist’s talk with Thomas Bartlett at Luz Gallery. All the images posted here are from the show.  Bartlett talked a bit about how he creates his images, he uses a digital camera and long exposures and focuses on common objects often in his house or in motel rooms when he travels. He won’t tell what the original objects are as he prefers to let the viewer use their imagination. It all sounds simple. point the camera, set it for a long exposure and let fly or at least move the camera around a lot.

It sounded so simple I thought I’d fool around with the techniques mentioned over the weekend and create some ‘Bartletts”. The reality is that like most art, technique is more than camera settings. I tried a variety of settings and focused on a number of objects but just ended up with a series of rather ugly smears none of which I’ll bore you with. I’ll obviously have to keep practicing and experimenting if I want to start creating images as arresting and colourful as those Bartlett creates. It’s a good lesson that we should all remember.

Thomas Bartlett – Transformations

April 1, 2010 | Filed Under Exhibition, Gallery & Workshop | Leave a Comment 

The Luz Gallery had an artist’s talk and opening for the work of Saskatchewan photographer Thomas Bartlett tonight. Bartlett works with digital cameras creating his abstract images, images that he likens to colour field paintings.

Wilf Schmidt and The Little Photo Shop – Photographers’ Work Spaces and Studios

March 29, 2010 | Filed Under Gallery & Workshop, Photo Studios and Work Spaces | Leave a Comment 

I was in Kamloops this past weekend, the first time I’ve spent anytime there in at least three years.  One of the last times I was there I’d come across this gallery/store on 3rd Avenue run by photographer Wilf Schmidt and I was curious to see if  he was still there, and he was. Schmidt calls his place The Little Photo Shop and claims it’s “The World’s Smallest Photography Supply Store’. The former high school photography teacher sells prints of his own work but also stocks black and white film, Holga cameras and has a group of pinhole cameras in the back of the shop as well as other photo odds and ends. It’s a very cool space and it’s tiny which just adds to the charm. The shop is currently a little more crowded than usual as he is selling off his darkroom equipment and has the boxes stacked there. Hidden behind him is an antique safe, part of the original furnishings in the heritage building his store is located in.

Wilf  in the  ‘office’ section of his shop.

Wilf shows off a tiny camera that actually works. It originally came with rolls of film.

A few of Wilf’s photographs

Second Western Academy of Photography Faculty Show – i2i

November 5, 2009 | Filed Under Gallery & Workshop | Leave a Comment 

The opening for the second i2i show, an exhibition of photographs by faculty from the Western Academy of Photography opened in Victoria at the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria gallery.