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WHO:        19 Members of the Silver Spring Camera Club
WHAT:       Photography exhibit titled “Exploring Abstracts” showing a wide variety of approaches to abstract photography
WHEN:       Exhibition dates: Monday, April 20, through Friday, June 12, 2015. M-F 10am-3pm; weekends 10am-1pm.
WHERE:     The Tate Gallery of Christ Congregational Church
9525 Colesville Road,
Silver Spring MD 20901
PRICE:       Free; open to the public

PDF of announcement

In April, our competition covers only black & white/monochrome – no color! Since some members don’t yet have a lot of experience with digital black & white, it seemed like a good idea to bring in an expert to talk to us on the subject. Missy Loewe, the executive director of the Washington School of Photography since 1999, speaks to us this month on what makes a good black & white image. And next month, she’ll be back to judge our B&W competition – and see how much we learned from her presentation.

Missy is president and the CEO of Washington ArtWorks, which is home to Washington School of Photography in its new location in Rockville. She started in photography in 1997 and took the reins of WSP two years later. Her own work has appeared in books, brochures, magazines, government buildings, gallery shows, and museums.

At WSP, Missy teaches courses on such topics as figure photography and business and legal topics at both introductory and advanced levels. Artists and photographers frequently seek her expertise regarding model releases, copyright, contracts, and business issues. This makes a lot of sense, as Missy holds a law degree and a Master’s degree in business, which uniquely qualifies her to speak on these subjects.

Missy is not just sought after as a presenter and instructor. She has been writer and photographer for several books and numerous magazine articles. Her photos of historical artwork have appeared in a number of galleries and private collections. She is also the photographer for the “Virtual Pose” series of art drawing guides and has authored books on photography, art, and modeling.

Two years ago, to unprecedented acclaim by SSCC members, Tuan Pham did a presentation for us on “photos of nothing.”What he meant, he explained, was photos of the insubstantial rather than of majestic mountains, dramatic seascapes, vibrant urban views, or beautiful faces. In fact, one of Tuan’ photos was the painted traffic lines in a parking lot. Abstracts, yes! But abstracts coming from a place of deep understanding inside.

Though Tuan had a distinguished career in international banking, since retirement he has immersed himself in the practice of meditation. This perspective carries through in his photography. This month, Tuan comes back to us with a presentation he calls “Gift of Beauty and Peace.” Here’s how he describes it: This presentation is for anyone with a camera, any cameras, and an interest in the non-technical side of photography. The goal is use the camera to enhance the quality of life by strengthening the capacity for visual discovery. You will learn:

• True joy of photography lies in the process, in visual discovery and freedom of expression, not in tools and imitation.
• Everything has beauty when preconceptions and “elfing” stay clear out of the way.
• Yes, you don’t have to travel long distances, climb mountains, or wake up before sunrise to bring home the bacon – photographs that make the heart sing.

The presentation is between 60-75 minutes in length and consists of two parts. Part one is a hands-on “Relaxed Awareness”exercise to foster a mind-state known as the Zone in sport, Flow in positive psychology, and Samadhi in meditation.

Part two, a PowerPoint presentation entitled “The ABC of Visual Design,”is about the pictorial space and the relationship of objects in the visual landscape to one another, to the space they are in, and to the viewer. About 30 images, abstract and representational, taken with regular cameras in and around the Washington metropolitan area will be used to make the points. The Presenter: Tuan Pham is a member of Northern Virginia Photographic Society and Joe Miller’s GRC (getting it right in the camera). He trains in the tradition of Freeman Patterson and Zen Master/photographer John Daido Roshi, a student of Minor White.

Tuan likes to take pictures the easy way. His stylistic hallmarks are subjects that cameras often overlook. He calls them “Beauty of Imperfection.” He had five images in the recent 2014 Nature Visions Photo Expo, including a nomination for the People’ Choice and a special award. Retired from careers in banking and conflict resolution, Tuan now teaches Mindfulness Meditation and Photography as Zen Art at the Arlington Adult Education center and other venues. For more information, contact zenttl02@gmail.com or (703)855-8999.

Many SSCC members have visited the Eastern State Penitentiary or the Lonaconing Silk Mill. And lots of us have a fascination with the architecture of decay. Our speaker this month, Don Rosenberger, takes us on a virtual tour of structures well past their prime.

Don has a long and unusual photographic background. In 1983, he sold all his camera gear and walked away from photography. (Maybe he’ll tell us why!) Then, in 2005, he found another camera and has spent most of his weekends and vacation time since then trying to make up for those years away.

Since his return to photography, Don has worked with and been mentored by a great group of well known – and some not so well known – photographers. Today, he is driven by the passion and urge always to create something better and to take his work up to the next level. Don is drawn to a variety of subjects but considers landscape photography to be the core of his work. Spending a great deal of time outside – often in remote locations – gives him an appreciation for our natural world. It’s Don’s hope that his images bring others that same feeling.

What about equipment? Don shoots with everything from the iPhone to high-end DSLRs and infrared. However, he emphasizes, it’s not the camera that’s important; that’s just a tool of the photographer’s vision.

Don is the former presentation manager for the Nature Visions Photography Expo. He’s also a partner in Road Runner Photography Tours, leading national and international photography travel adventures.

APRIL 2014 – CHRIST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Silver Spring

ELIGIBILITY

All SSCC members in good standing, including novices and advanced members.

EXHIBIT PARAMETERS

• Thirty-two images will be in the exhibit.
• An outside judge will select the images.
• Selection of winners will be announced at the end of February.
• Requirements for preparing images for exhibition will be provided.
• Framing will be at the expense of each member juried in to the exhibit.
• Christ Congregational Church hosts the exhibit and will hold an artists’ reception.
• Publicity will be sent to local media.
• Christ Congregational Church does not take a percentage on images sold; however, gifts to the church are welcome.

NUMBER OF ENTRIES

Members may submit up to three (3) images to be considered for the exhibit.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

• Entries must originate as photographs (See Competition Rules for more comprehensive definition).
• All photographic techniques are permissible with the exception of photo collages or mixed media.
• Work from any year may be entered.
• Images must be the original work of the member.
• Images may be manipulated either in camera or in post-processing.

HOW TO ENTER

• Entries follow the same sizing conventions used for SSCC competitions: jpgs of a maximum of 1024 pixels on the longest side (See the Cable Release or the Members’ Handbook for details on sizing.)
• No border, watermark, copyright, or other embedded information.
• Naming conventions as follows: Abstracts ~ Your Name ~ Image Title
• Submit images by email to: SSCCcompetitions@aol.com

DEADLINE

All images for consideration must be emailed no later than Thursday, February 5, 2015.

ENTRY FEE

To cover the costs of the exhibit, entrants are required to pay a fee of $10 to submit up to three (3) images. The fee must be paid by check, made out to Silver Spring Camera Club. The fee may be paid in person at an SSCC meeting or mailed to:
SSCC Abstracts Competition
c/o Doug Wolters
9218 Manchester Road
Silver Spring, MD 20901

The $10 fee must be received no later than the deadline for submitting entries: February 5, 2015. Payment in advance of this deadline is strongly encouraged!

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Please contact the SSCC curator of the exhibit, Coco Simon, by email: SSCCcompetitions@aol.com

This coming February, our competition theme will be “architectural elements.” To help us orient our minds and our cameras toward this topic, our speaker this month comes to us from the faculty of the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation of the University of Maryland. Our speaker, Professor Robert Lindley Vann, will talk about photography as a way to learn to analyze a structure and its components.

Professor Vann, whose background is in both architecture and archaeology, teaches two survey classes in architectural history as well as advanced lecture courses in Greek, Roman, and Pre-Columbian architecture. Recently, he’s also begun offering seminars that focus on the city in the classical world, the town of Pompeii, and architecture for entertainment in the Roman world.

But teaching in the classroom is only part of Lindley’s activity. He also participates in archaeological field work – for example, at Sardis in Turkey, Carthage in Tunisia, and other sites in Jordan and Sri Lanka. He has even co-directed underwater excavations in the harbor of Herod the Great in Israel and directed a survey of ancient harbors in Turkey. One especially interesting project in Pompeii investigated the role of food and drink in that ancient city. These days, Lindley also involves his students in this field work and research.

Lindley lectures widely, presenting research papers here and abroad. He also publishes in numerous scholarly journals. His own education prepared him perfectly for his professional life: As an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin, Lindley studied architecture and archaeology and then received his PhD at Cornell.