Program

(Virtual Meeting Only)

Description: What do documentary photographs say about their subjects and what do the decisions photographers make affect how we interpret them?

In this lecture and discussion, we will analyze some iconic and lesser-known photographs from the documentary tradition and discuss the stories that they reveal through the lens of history, fine art, culture, politics and purpose of their creation.

Dorothea Lange, W. Eugene Smith, James Nachtwey and Michael Kenna are some of the photographers whose work we will analyze as we explore the messages and meaning that reside in documentary photographs.

Bio: Phyllis Berger BFA MFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, is a faculty member at the Center for Visual Arts at Johns Hopkins University where she started the Photography Program 26 years ago.

She taught interdisciplinary courses at JHU including Writing Seminars, History of Science, Political Science, Museum Studies and at the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

As a practicing fine art photographer, Phyllis brings her love of photography into the classroom and has inspired hundreds of students throughout the years. She received an excellence in teaching award from The Maryland Institute College of Art School of Continuing Studies.

Phyllis led the summer study abroad program in Photography at the Burren College of Art in County Clare, Ireland for ten years as well as at the Photography Studies College in Melbourne, Australia. She has just received approval to teach in Umbria Italy for June 2022.

She is a recipient of two artist residencies in Rochefort en Terre, Brittany, France and has been awarded numerous teaching grants through JHU (Arthur Vining Davis, Arts Innovation).

Her work has been exhibited worldwide including three solo shows at the Evergreen Museum and Library, the Museum of Rochefort en Terre, in Brittany France, the MICA Biennale, The Baltimore Museum of Art, the Banneker Douglas Museum and resides in many private collections

Phyllis has lectured on Photography in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, The Galapagos Islands and Croatia as part of the JHU Alumni Journeys program.

Judge: Jennifer Bishop - Jennifer has more than 35 years of experience shooting for publications, hospitals, schools, design firms, nonprofits, foundations, businesses, and individuals all over the world. She especially loves shooting portraits, both on location or in her Baltimore City studio. She also writes and photographs for projects that advocate for better lives for people with disabilities. 

Jennifer Bishop PhotographyPortraiture and Documentary Photography by Jennifer Bishop

Member Critique Night

One image per member. Upload image to Visual Pursuits/ “Member Programs – Critiques” Gallery/’Member Critique, February 9, Critique Gallery Upload Instructions

Judge: Ed Palaszynski

According to Ed's website, Ed Palaszynski Photography

Ed’s photographic journey has taken him into the areas of historical documentation, architecture, motor sports, nature and fine art photography. He enjoys studying a subject or scene to determine how shapes, tones and textures relate to each other and how the resulting image will look when printed.

Ed’s images have appeared in national juried shows that include the Circle Gallery in Annapolis, Photoworks, Washington Art Works, Delaplaine and the Allegeny Arts Council.

He is a Gaithersburg Camera Club Grand Master and his images have been used for online and print publications. He is also a member of the Maryland Federation of Art, Nature First, NANPA and is a MPA certified judge having completed Judge Training for the Maryland Photography Alliance. He has developed and taught numerous photography classes at Montgomery College and workshops for individuals and clients of Mac Business Solutions and Capital Photography.

Before switching over to digital photography, Joe shot film for over 25 years, mostly Kodachrome and Tri-X which he is starting to digitize.

One of his more recent projects is called “Life Forms” where black and white images have been compiled to answer the question, “What Does Life Look Like?

Susan is Ed's wife and shooting companion. She has a wonderful eye and prefers to shoot without a tripod so she can move around.

Bio & Artist Statement: Up until the present “selfie” era, flowers were the most photographed subject.  What attracts us to flowers is a combination of their variation of colors, shapes and emotional meaning(s) - love, friendship, peace, joy, beauty, death, transformation, and devotion that have a universal appeal which transcends all of humanity. Flowers are mentioned in both the New and Old Testament, and commonly in poetry, and songs. They brighten-up our day and remind us of the frailty of life.

As photographers we need to create images beyond the “snapshot’ with lasting impact. We need to create something that people (other than our family) want to put on their wall and admire daily. Our flowers never die but we do not want them to collect dust in an old shoebox, CD disk or SSD drive. 

I consider myself a successful flower photographer who is passionate about all aspects of photography from: ideation, capture, post-processing and presentation. During my journey I was at first thrilled to capture an image that resembled what I saw. As my technical photographic skills evolved, I was able to see more than just the form and fascinating colors. I treated my flowers as human models with shape, texture, varying tones, and creative lighting. I “worked the scene” and allowed my feelings to drive the capture. Eventually I developed post processing skills that would allow me to refine and reshape my subjects and their environment and recreate my “capture-emotion”. Finally, I was able to pre-visualize how I could post-process and present my image. 

In modern photography our cameras range from in-phone to very technical and costly devices. Many of the venues where there are beautiful collections of flowers are crowded and do not allow camera stabilizers (tripods/monopods) or artificial lighting (flash/continuous light) or holding flags or reflectors. Those that do have restricted times are usually overcrowded with similar photographers further limiting shooting time. How can we mitigate this to allow for the best possible outcome?

https://lesterpickerphoto.com/

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Theme: Landscape Photography

Judge:  Michael Donovan

https://bobkrist.com/

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https://richardtuschman.com/

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