Hills and Sky from Zabriski Point. Death Valley. 2013. Canon 1Ds III. Click to order a print. Next Workshop Death Valley Workshop January 10-13, 2015.
Welcome to the December 2014 Edition of the Stephen Johnson Photography Newsletter.
This month's View From Here column discusses some recent exhibition impressions, travels and new photographs. We hope you find the column interesting and will consider sending us some comments. Our Tutorial Section is on paper photo corners. LATEST NEWS:
Steve with Fine Art Printing class students and guest Ted Orland. 2014. Scholarships and Mentoring As part of our ongoing commitment to photographic education, there is one student scholarship spot in many of our classes. Please pass the word along. For discounted time studying with Steve, keep in mind our Mentoring Program. With all of our busy schedules and limited budgets, destination workshops or classes become a challenge, but many of you still have questions you need answered, or feedback on some new work. We want to remind you of our Virtual Online Consulting Program. This service allows all of you out there around the globe to consult online live with Steve on technical, aesthetic and workflow issues using Skype and your webcam. Our Essays and Tutorials from the past couple of years can now be found on Google Blogger. We hope you can come by the gallery and see the new Panoramic Prints we've added to the National Parks Gallery, and the Exquisite Earth exhibition with its accompanying very special Exquisite Earth Portfolio 1. We invite you to join us on a workshop, rent lab space, or just say hello and let us know what you are up to photographically and what you might like to see us offer. We value your input.
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FEATURED PRINT December 2014
Moonrise over Mono Lake. 2014. 11x14 Pigment Inkjet Print on Cotton paper Stars still shining and moon rising in the east over Black Point on Mono Lake's north shore.
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Tower Two Fountain. World Trade Center Site. 2014 |
World Trade Center Two Memorial Fountain. |
THE VIEW FROM HERE A Few Days in New York City: Photo Plus, a few Museums and Ground Zero When we returned home from our late October New York trip, the short five days there was filling my mind... Late October
It is very true that an artist must react however their aesthetic moves them, and Salgado has made many memorable and important photographs. There are many here. His output and photographic career rise high in my esteem. But I almost felt as though I was looking at another planet, not earth. Of course I couldn't help but wonder how this line of thought jives with the influence and admiration I have for Ansel Adams' dramatic B&W landscapes that so moved me that it helped influence my commitment to photograph. I can't say that black and white landscape work in the 1930s and in the 2000s are really any different in their distance from the human vision reality. Maybe the times we are in now gives me a different view. Perhaps the material and technology we have available now makes more realism possible to hold of this magnificent earth. I know the constituency for land conservation has changed, and building public support is ever more critical. I know the hyper-saturated digitally enhanced color views we now see are often counter-productive in their unreality. Perhaps I also sense it is long past time to move on from dark black and white views of the world being so dominant. Yet I still love black and white photography. I often ask my students if they love black and white, then perhaps they should consider making all photographs in black and white, unless the color is actually important to the image. It starts to separate common place color from extraordinary color, removing what I call the facade of ordinary. Additionally, black and white's added abstraction often makes the photograph more about design, pushing it into art rather than only record.
I also saw some very large prints on display while I was in New York. They planted an idea I had to act on when I got home. I've made very large prints for a long time, usually from very large-format cameras of files like the BetterLight Scanning back on my 4x5. I do not generally make large prints from moderately sized files or sensors. They just don't normally hold up very well. As I am already in the middle of making a show of 40 inch wide prints from my Canon cameras for the Life Form exhibition, I came home determined to try something even larger, more akin to my large-format landscape work. Just to try.
On news from the Life Form Project, I have been commissioned to create a Portfolio from the work and have made the initial choices of the photographs included. I am currently working on logo and box design and will make the 10 print set available for pre-order shortly. Of course, the best prices will be in the pre-order sets and the lower number first sold of the portfolio.
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The memorials are an extraordinary site to see. Not surprisingly, it turned out to be a very emotional experience. I will return many times I'm sure. There is too much to feel in any one visit.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday we made a point of hiking the hills along the Pacific coast here in Pacifica where I live. It had been way too long since I had been on some of these trails, reminding me how we take for granted our immediate surroundings.
The Red Tail Hawk experience was completely unexpected. As we arrived at a beach overlook, this beautiful bird flew right above us and landed in front of our car . As the camera was already set up from the hawk the previous day, all I had to do was grab it, turn in on and start pressing the shutter. Even the zoom was already set all the way in, as was continuous exposures and focus tracking. It was breathtaking to see it so close, so casually, and so prepared. The photograph instantly made it into my 2015 Pacifica Calendar.
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Tidbits |
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Consulting Programs and Speaking Events Virtual Education: Our Virtual Consulting and Mentoring Program is working well. Readers of this Newsletter can still get a discount by mentioning this reference when you enroll. Our One on One Program links you up with Steve at his bay area studio, or when he is on the road near you. Keep an eye on when Steve will be near your town. Catch Steve Live: Steve will be speaking here and there over the next few months, such as his up coming talks in New York City at Photo Plus.
Canon Sponsors Steve to speak at Universities, Colleges, Photo Groups and various events around the country. If you would like more information on arranging for Steve to do a Canon sponsored event, go to: Canon SJ EOL talks
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Steve Lecturing at Photo Plus. New York City. October 2014. |
Matting Photo Corners I take matting and framing very seriously, even though I don't enjoy doing it. The permanence of the presentation must equal the beauty. For me, this carries through with a very traditional approach to matting and framing, acid free, nothing adheres to the artwork. Those are my mantras. That has meant that my approach to matting of photographs does not involve mounting a print to board. I use over matts with photo corners holding the print in place, and the pressure of the over matt to hold the print in the photo corners. Over the years, this has worked well, but the last few years have presented challenges. Primarily, traditional paper photo corners seem to have disappeared from the market, except for small old-style photo album types that are too small for my bigger prints. The replacements I've been able to find, polypropylene and polyester corners, with acid-free self adhesive strips have not proven durable, and simply rip along their fold after time. It is not the adhesive that fails (I reinforce that with linen tape anyway), it is the fold of the plastic itself. So I've gone back to making my own corners from an old scan or old photo corners I used to buy, or a new eps file I print and then cut out of acid-free paper. It's too much trouble, but it is solving the problem. They don't fall apart. If you know of other options, please let me know. For now, here's a design, I hope it is helpful to you.
You can also go with something much simpler, just cut a strip of acid-free paper into about a 1 inch by 4 inch strip, and fold a 45 degree angle up on each side to make a very simple corner.
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Plastic Photo corner with Linen tape reinforcement.
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The Stephen Johnson Photography Gift Shop Featured Products
Holiday Gift Certificates for Prints and Workshops! |
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| 2015 Pacifica Calendar
12 selections from Steve's Pacifica, CA work. 11" x 17"
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2014 Life Form Note cards 12 image Note card set with envelopes featuring photographs from Steve's new Life Form work. Printed by Steve in his studio in very limited numbers on a color laser digital press |
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National Park Note cards
National Park Color Note card Set From "With a New Eye" Beautiful 300 line screen offset reproductions with envelopes in clear box. A great gift. |
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PLEASE VISIT US!  Please come visit us at our gallery and see our original prints in person. The subtle detail of the prints and the beautiful texture of the fine art paper have to be seen to be understood. And while you're here, browse through our books, cards, posters, and specially priced prints. We're happy to mail you a copy of our product catalog, just send a note to info@sjphoto.com or call us. We're located at: Stephen Johnson Photography at the Pacifica Center for the Arts 1220-C Linda Mar Boulevard, Creekside Suites, 5-7 Pacifica, CA 94044 (650) 355-7507 http://www.sjphoto.com |
We're open by appointment. To find us, use our map online at: |
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Stephen Johnson Photography at the Pacifica Center for the Arts Gallery Hours are by Appointment. |
