“Floating World” Visits the Fitchburg Art Museum, Massachusetts

This past weekend, seven images from my Floating World cruise ship project were put on display at the Fitchburg Art Museum, Massachusetts, as part of a group exhibit. Seven former students of artist and educator Frank Armstrong (Clark University in Worcester) were selected to show work in support of his major retrospective, American Roadsides: Frank Armstrong’s Photographic Legacy from February 12 to June 5, 2022. I studied under him in the early 1970s at the University of Texas at Austin, and we’ve remained close over the years.

Marjorie Rawle, Terrana Assistant Curator at the museum, helped me choose works that show the influence of Armstrong on my practice: a straightforward approach to examining the ways people occupy, influence and relate to their surroundings. For the past six years, minus about 18 months of pandemic hiatus, those surroundings have been the fantasy world of the cruise ships. I resumed work in October, and have several more outings planned for this year.

My photographs in the exhibit are shown below. (I printed for 20x24-inch frames.)

Red Passage, 2019

 

Stairway, 2019

 

Yoga, 2019

 

Solarium, 2018

 

Dolphin, 2019

 

Beach Hut, 2017

 

Coco Cay , 2019

 

Featured on Lenscratch Instagram Feed

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“Silent Disco, 2019” was recently featured on Aline Smithson’s Lenscratch “tellmeastory” Instagram feed, with my story about making the photo:

Most of the work on my “Floating World” cruise ship project has been done on the outside decks, where the bright daylight reveals the reality behind our headlong pursuit of manufactured joy. But sometimes I continue my exploration into the evening, when the quest moves indoors.

Last year, I noticed a silent disco on the evening activity schedule, and found a position where I could combine the passengers with the over-the-top architecture and decor. I watched and waited. And waited. And waited.

A child, long past his bedtime, bounced around the upper stairs. No… not right for what I was trying to express. Others danced with the woman in black on the round platform, but no, it created a visual hairball and my idea was about being alone in a crowd. Finally, as my arms and back were about to give out from propping the camera on the balcony rail, for one brief moment it all came together.

The child went away, replaced by a pair of legs starting down those stairs, a man sat down in the background with his glowing headphones, and the dancing woman was left alone in her dream.

Two Photos Accepted for Images 2020 Show

Polo Shirt, 2019

Polo Shirt, 2019

Solarium, 2018

Solarium, 2018

These two photographs from the Floating World project were accepted to the Images 2020 exhibit at the Marin Society of Artists in California. It was to run April 2-25, but alas, the show won’t take place now because of the strict stay-at-home order in the Bay Area.

Back from the Fotofest Biennial 2020

The Sunday evening “portfolio walk,” an open-to-the-public event where the photographers have table space to show their work for two hours.

The Sunday evening “portfolio walk,” an open-to-the-public event where the photographers have table space to show their work for two hours.

I recently returned from the FotoFest International Meeting Place Portfolio Review for Artists during the FotoFest event in Houston, Texas. The entire event lasts two weeks, bringing together 450 artists from over 30 countries, to meet one-on-one with nearly 200 national and international curators, publishers, gallerists, and photography industry leaders. It’s the most international and largest portfolio review program of its kind in the world.

I was there for five days, attending the first review session, and here are my initial thoughts.

The Reviews

All in all, was a great experience. It was just what I needed at the right time. I did about 17 reviews over four days, including Paula Tognarelli (Griffin Museum of Photography, Mary Virginia Swanson (consultant), Aline Smithson (Lenscratch), Christopher Rauschenberg (Blue Sky) and Anne Farrar (National Geographic Travel). The gist of the reviews was that my individual shots are mostly spot-on, and I’m just “one step away.” That step involves gaining skill at discerning which images work together to make a strong, purposeful and coherent statement. Of course, that also includes shooting with that in mind.

A few months ago, I Googled “discernment” to see what I could find on the topic, and all I found involved Christians discerning what they should do or not do. Nothing about discernment in making art, but it seems that’s a huge part of it.

The Photographers

At Fotofest there was a lot of time between the scheduled reviews to gather with other photographers (around 100 at the event) in the well-lit hallways, sharing portfolios and talking about the work. So, I learned a lot from the other artists, in addition to the reviewers, and made a few new friends with whom I’ll stay in touch. A few looked like they were still working on the basics, and some were further along than I am, using the reviews to make contacts in the museum, publishing and gallery world, rather than to get input on their projects.

It was perfect for me. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right.

Next Steps

My review with Gregory Harris, High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

My review with Gregory Harris, High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

Now I’m busy gleaning all the input (what I heard and what I saw) to guide my path forward. I’m listening to my recordings of each review, enhancing my notes, and putting actions in my task list. Mary Virginia Swanson gave solid advice on my web site, and I’ve already made some changes, with more to come soon. She also stressed Instagram, so here I am now, probably dropping my old blog and moving to series of Instagram posts instead.

I’ve built a Lightroom print template for the thank-you cards I’ll send the reviewers and some of the Fotofest staff, who did a fantastic job rescheduling when the pandemic prevented a few overseas reviewers from getting to Houston. And soon, I’ll start the tough work of analyzing the progress and future direction my “Floating World” project in light of the experience.

I think in the past I’ve been shooting whatever interesting images occurred to me, then reverse engineering to assemble some kind of statement. You can get a ways with that, but not the last mile.

Take-Aways

When I told someone last fall that I’d signed up for Fotofest, they observed it was a lot to bite off for my first review event. It can be harsh and discouraging. But at this point in my life, I can’t afford to wait two more years before getting the kind of input I could get at one of the biggest review events in the world. If I’m way off-track as an artist, I need to know NOW. And I didn’t hear anything like that. In fact, I seem to be just one step away from putting it all together. My individual images pass muster—I just need to get better at shooting and assembling to make a solid, consistent statement. It’s that “discernment” thing.

Pandemic

It was very, very lucky that last October I chose to attend the first of the three four-day sessions, because the second and third were “postponed” due to the pandemic. Sometimes the tiniest decisions can have a huge impact. But as Woody Allen said, “Half of life is just showing up.” And if you keep doing that, some good things are going to happen. So post-Fotofest, I feel good about being accepted in the community of those doing solid work, and getting credible, actionable advice on where I need to go next.