10.13.2009

Fawn Potash & Danielle Correia : Encaustics & Photography 2

The second of our two encaustics workshops was just as jam packed and productive as the first! We again had a full class and lots of students who were eager to get their hands into wax. Since my first encaustics blog post was so lengthy, I thought I would keep this one less full of words and more full of pictures...as well as focus on the cyanotype processes that we practiced. We began with a group demonstration on a large sensitized sheet. Fawn brought a ton of her little boy's toys along for us to scatter all over the surface. The sheet starts out light green and turns dark with sun exposure.




Once the sheet is exposed, you simply develop it in water. It turns from the dark green to a beautiful cyan.




Here is our final sheet...

Then we moved on to digital negatives and printing on sensitized paper.





The best part of cyanotypes is that you can do them wherever you want - it's so nice to be able to develop prints outside! The process is chemical-free, too, so it's easy to do with kids.

(We also found these great nametags!)

Fawn demonstrating hand coloring.

Our results! This class got really creative with toning and came up with some really well exposed final products!

10.06.2009

Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb : In the Street / Personal Photojournalism

The weekend with the Webb’s was an extremely full one! We had a full 15-student class, all 4 interns, 2 instructors, and Liz together for the entire weekend. For such an inspiring class, it was really nice to have everyone together instead of split up in a bunch of different directions.

Alex and Rebecca were a wonderfully balanced team to bring to CPW. Alex has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1976 and has published 8 photographic books. He has also worked for a number of major publications ranging from National Geographic to The New York Times Magazine. Alex has worked as a photojournalist in a wide variety of countries. One of my favorite things that he said in regard to street photography was that “it is a way of collaborating with the world,” as opposed to straightforward documentation. As a color photographer, he has a really remarkable sense of light, tonal range, and contrast.

Rebecca Norris Webb is originally a poet and journalist, with her interests recently turning to include photography. Her first book, The Glass Between Us, was published in 2006 with support from a Blue Earth Alliance Grant. Coming from a graphic design background, I really appreciate when photographers can use text in a meaningful, non-distracting way. Rebecca’s series uses text and image to look at the complicated relationship between animals and people, specifically in the contained environment of city. Many of the photographs in her book look at aquariums and zoos, where animals are kept in a contained, fabricated environment. Her newest series, My Dakota, looks at her idea of the American West. She was gracious enough to give the class a preview of these photographs, taken in the area she lived in her late teens.

From the moment the Webb’s walked in the door they were quite relaxed and ready to take on the weekend. They both seemed happy to be with us and excited about the potential the weekend held. They maintained this comfortable feeling throughout the entire workshop, being very open and honest with their stories and advice.

Alex and Rebecca were a really great compliment to each other in their teaching and opinions. They held a nice balance of conversational dialogue between two highly qualified artists and varied background in their approach and experience. During critiques, they gave great suggestions that ranged from artistic ideas to technical advice. I was also impressed at how they evenly balanced time and interest with individual student critiques with such a wide range of work.


At one point during the weekend the Webb's went through a list of their influences. It was really exciting to see who influences a pair of highly established artists. Their presentation ranged drastically from Henri Cartier-Bresson to Andrea Modica, Eugene Richards to Sylvia Plachy. Rebecca also mentioned how their influences also go beyond photography, including filmmakers, novelists and painters. They discussed how everything in your life, all of your experiences, is absorbed and can subconsciously come out in your artwork. While I think this is especially true for a conceptual artist, I found it interesting to think about how that comes out in photojournalism.

One of the group exercises we did was looked at editing. The students were put into small groups and given a bunch of slides. In these groups they were told to edit the images, rejecting images if necessary, into a cohesive sequence. (I may have gotten a bit excited about the light emitted from the light boxes…but I narrowed it down to just 4 images for you to see!).





After the groups finished, Alex and Rebecca went through the selections and gave their input. It was really nice to see how the two of them work together, their thought process, and the balance of styles. They emphasized how editing and sequencing can be just as important as initially capturing the images.

Overall, Rebecca and Alex were wonderful. I enjoyed their presence and thought they had great suggestions that went far beyond critiques. The variety of stories, bits of advice, book information, and influences made the entire workshop feel really well rounded. Rather than focusing in on one detail of photography, we covered a range of information that gave the students a glimpse into what the Webb’s lives as successful photojournalists are like.