If you follow me on Instagram then you’ll already know I participated in the George Eastman Museum’s Photo Finish 5K last weekend with my co-worker Amanda Chestnut. This annual fundraising event has raised over $100,000 so far this year to support various organizations and causes in our community. Here at Genesee Center we are raising funds to help support our Artist-in-Residency program. So far we have raised $610 out of our $1,500 goal. Donations are accepted through November 1st so please consider donating and helping us support these amazing artists!
Also, I already have our 2nd Photography AIR lined up! I’m thrilled to have Stephanie Mercedes join us this January for a 3-month residency. 2017 is going to be a busy exciting year here in the Photography program.
Interested in supporting our Artists-in-Residence? Donate >>
Good morning! Over the weekend I had the pleasure of interviewing Floyd Gibson. His exhibition I’m Every Woman: Fashion of the Ages is on view here at the Center through Saturday, October 29th.
Want to learn more about I’m Every Woman? Join me this Wednesday, October 5th at 7pm for Floyd’s artist talk. Model, and collaborator, Rebecca Holtz will be present to discuss what it was like researching and portraying women’s fashions from the 1920’s through the 1970’s. In the meantime, check out the interview below:
Megan Charland: Wow! We had such a great turn-out at your opening reception last month – what was it like for you as a first-time exhibiting artist to share your photographs with so many people?
Floyd Gibson: I was absolutely “blown away” by the opening turnout. I’m happy I decided, reluctantly, to show this work after speaking with you and feeling the project was worthy. I knew that the work told a story but was really surprised at the interest shown by the community.
MC: In your artist statement you say this project was inspired by watching old movies on the Turner Classic Movie channel. Is there a particular time period that you favor? A favorite movie from that period?
FG: I watch many movies on Turner Classic Movies channel but I’d say that gangster movies are my favorite genre, and I favor the films from the 1930’s right through the godfather series. I enjoy them all & if I had to pick one, it would be Godfather I.
MC: This project took you a little over a year to complete – do you prefer these long-term projects or was this a challenge?
FG: I simply enjoy photography & don’t necessarily think in terms of time. I do however prefer telling a story & when it ends, it ends. Obviously with this project the time is not defined but the timeline is.
MC: So, what’s next? Are you currently working on another body of work? Will it be another long-term project?
FG: I am working on another project that will involve many people & will take some time but not nearly as long as this one. One of the benefits of producing this work is that I learned a lot about myself and processes that I can apply going forward.
While on assignment this week for POST Rochester magazine, I captured an iPhone image of a little girl whose family is living in poverty. After posting the photo to Instagram, the response was overwhelming, within several hours donations were being offered to the family… a pack and play, diapers, winter clothing, food and furniture.
One photo.
Today the power of photography combined with social media platforms allow a reach unfathomable less than a decade ago. The socially engaged artist has many tools at their disposal. What is the change you would like to be in your community? Capture that image, create that piece of art and be the change, the possibilities are endless, art has the power to change the world.
One night Mark Watts and I were working in the darkroom together while he was making test prints for an upcoming exhibition showcasing his pinhole camera work. Prior to meeting Mark, I had been fairly disinterested and dismissive of pinhole photography which to me felt like another far-reaching “lomo” trend. I think it’s time to give pinhole cameras a second chance.
Seeing Mark’s pinhole prints in the darkroom for the first time, I was captivated by their sharpness and clarity, though not perfect in those respects but, certainly fair for artistic work. Now I’m scratching my head as those rusty pinhole knowledge gears start breaking into motion.
Meanwhile that same night Megan Charland had been coincidentally perfecting her pinhole skills in preparation for a Friday Fling in pinhole photography class. I discovered this running into her in the hall where she was inspecting a freshly developed pinhole contact print. To create her pinhole images Megan was using a handmade tubular oatmeal can as a camera; the image was fairly sharp and rich with details. Fast forward to Friday night, I jumped-in on that pinhole class to get my mitts on one of those cameras. After viewing my first pinhole picture I was impressed with the acceptable level of detail in the image – though my exposure time definitely needed an adjustment.
In these moments enters certain realizations:
My artistic photography subject consists of perfectly still structures and stable tripods making shutter-speed a non-issue. In fact I want breeze swept trees and all scene motion to blur away slightly.
I always shoot with a near infinite depth of field as my subjects are often expansive.
I really only ever shoot with a fixed 35mm focal length for my subjects of interest.
I don’t really have the “fun” money to dump into a large format field camera and lens right now, but I could get into this pinhole stuff DIY style, as I happen to also be a carpenter (though I’m not far off from building a view camera also).
One problem was that I needed the use of rise and fall camera movements which are crucial when shooting architecture. Also Mark had complained about the guesswork involved when trying to frame a composition without a viewfinder. However implementing those improvements seemed like an exciting challenge.
At this point a normal person would transcend gradually into a healthy obsession; perhaps google pinhole cameras for a while, join pinhole Flickr groups, follow pinhole culture boards on Pinterest, etc. I skipped all of that and still not knowing what a real well-made 4×5 camera even looked like. So I snagged a 4×5 film holder and my trusty micrometer, and started doing math to figure out my own design. The only thing I googled for was a useful pinhole size calculator and immediately found this site, no pictures, just all the calculators I would need.
A screen shot of the final numbers I went with for this project
So, here is my challenge: build a vertical shift capable 4×5 view camera with an accurate viewfinder that compensates for raising the front standard frame shift. First step: build a cardboard proof of concept prototype.
After a week of visualizing various designs and crunching numbers I settled on building the Frankenstein pictured at the beginning of this post. Looking past that duct taped “weather sealed” exterior there’s a precision gaffer’s tape lined interior that accepts 4×5 film holders, gives me a 35mm format equivalent focal length of 28mm, and offers about 33mm of rise. I’m not worried about the viewfinder challenge just yet in this prototype, instead I’m only testing various pinhole sizes and actual shift ranges.
Stay tuned for part two where I create the actual pinhole and study some test shots.
I’d like to introduce myself to the Genesee Center for the Arts and Education community, my name is Arleen Thaler and I am the new Photography Resident. For those of you who do not know me, I am a Rochester, NY based socially engaged photojournalist. As I begin my second year as the NW Team Leader for Flower City AmeriCorps, I will be sharing the work I do as a foot soldier helping to raise an awareness of poverty, homelessness, addiction and those issues our community struggles to find answers to. Through my lens, I use photography as a conduit to engage the community and elicit conversations that will hopefully create solutions. I look forward to working with friends new and old while sharing my passion, my vision and my heart work.
Hi Everyone! Megan Charland here. I’m the Photography Program Manager at Genesee Center and I’m excited to launch our brand new blog to highlight all of the amazing activities we have going on throughout the year.
Our fall session begins on September 19th – only a couple of weeks away. This season we are proud to offer over 25 photography classes! Classes are filling up quick so give us a call soon to register: 585-271-5920.
A feature of this blog I am excited to launch in the next couple of weeks is our online exhibitions. Interested in having your work featured? Submit your proposal online to be considered.
