A Few Days in Philly

I had the privilege to go up to Philadelphia to give a small talk and presentation on my photography at Project Basho a gallery and darkroom complex set up by Tsuyoshi Ito in the Germantown district of Philly. (www.projectbasho.org). 

Ito San has created a wonderful space, where photographers can go to learn traditional darkroom practices, take in discussions and presentations on photography or see the current gallery show. Recently Project Basho presented ONWARD' 09, a show juried by Peter Barberie, who is the Curator of Photographs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

I was part of their NEP series (Night of Emerging Photographers) and went up to talk about my Streaming and Streaming Jam photos. I have to say, the event was poorly attended and may have suffered from the fact that Andrea Modica had an opening reception in Philadelphia that night and drew some of the hard core photo fans. At any rate those who were there, were very attentive, informed and enthusiastic. Special thanks to Kirstin Joyce Wagner, the Event Coordinator, who did her best to keep our spirits up.

I got together with the other photographer who was presenting,  Mark Fields,

http://www.markfieldsphotos.com/

and learned a little bit about his work and experience in the "art" game. Mark is a talented and personable guy, with a few horror stories to tell about mounting exhibitions and selling work. We did the Basho event in the spirit of comraderie given the small turnout.

While I was in Philadelphia, I took in the "Cezanne and Beyond" exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

http://www.philamuseum.org/. 

The Curators, Joseph Rishel, Michael Taylor, Carlos Basualdo and Katherine Sachs, did a masterful job of showing the symbiotic relationship among the Impressionists and how it informed the works of later artists including photographer Jeff Wall. Wall seems to be a favorite of the Museum and they have one of his large pieces "Dead Troops Talk" on prominent display in one of the main galleries. 

The exhibition was inspirational and neatly dovetailed with my visit with John Barclay. As all the Impressionists seemed to influence each other and actively shared subject matter, compositional themes and techniques,  I'm sure Barclays exceptional HDR technique will filter into my own compositions given a little time.