Elizabeth Avedon

2016 Fotofest: Day 3+4

Fotofest 2016 Biennial From March 12th to April 24th, 2016 Houston – Texas L'Oeil de la Photographie, March 24, 2016 “Unspoken Conversations” Mothers & Daughters © Rania Matar Over its 30-year history, FotoFest’s Meeting Place Portfolio Reviews have been a launching pad for the careers of hundreds of photographic artists. Many artists have been discovered by this program and many reviewers have found new talent to exhibit, publish, collect, and represent. In 2016, FotoFest brings 165 international, professional reviewers to meet one-on-one with registered artists. They include museum curators, editors, publishers, gallerists, collectors, and photo agency representatives to review the work of 450 registered artists. I was honored to be one of the reviewers for the 1st of 4 Sessions for FotoFest’s Portfolio Reviews from March 12–April 24th. There were almost 50 Reviewers present for Session 1; all reviewers for Session One listed here: http://home.fotofest.org http://www.loeildelaphotographie.com/en/2016/03/24/article/159896257/fotofest-portfolio-review-2016/ Fotofest : Session 1 – Day 3 Reviewer : Elizabeth Avedon Over its 30-year history, FotoFest’s Portfolio Review has been a launching pad for the careers of hundreds of photographic artists. Many artists have been discovered by this program and many reviewers have found new talent to exhibit, publish, collect, and represent. In 2016, FotoFest brings 165 international, professional reviewers to meet one-on-one with registered artists. They include museum curators, editors, publishers, gallerists, collectors, and photo agency representatives to review the work of 450 registered artists. I was honored to be one of the reviewers for the 1st of 4 sessions for FotoFest’s Meeting Place Portfolio Review. This is a daily record of the 15 or so photographers work I viewed. Whether they were looking for practical results for a completed body of work, or feedback on work in progress, the Meeting Place Reviews offered the opportunity to present their portfolio to a wide range of photography professionals who could assist in their future career development. Rania Matars’ “Unspoken Conversations – Mothers & Daughters” is a work in progress after her great success with her 2016 book, “L’Enfant-Femme” and the 2012, “A Girl and her Room.” Akira Seo originally from Tokyo, received his Masters in Photographic Science from California’s Brooks Institute of Photography. His earlier work is a series on Surfing. Shelley Calton caused a stir with her second book, Concealed, She’s Got A Gun, released last spring 2015. Many awards and featured articles followed. Kris Sanford‘s Through the Lens of Desire “creates implied narratives using snapshots from the 1920s- 1950s. By purposefully selecting images that picture men together and women together I am creating an imaginary queer past.” Vanessa Powell is an “emotional illustrator of the self and of the soulful. Her work cultivates gesture and connection to ones surroundings through moments of realization and self discovery.” James Stoicheff art explores light, shadow, and texture in nature, typically using natural light. His process often includes digitally deconstructing and reconstituting his photographs. Finished pieces can be representational, abstract, or both. Keron Psillas’ series of images created from her unsettling experience of visiting Bergen-Belsen. Her book awarded ‘Best of Show’ at the Griffin Museum of Photography in 2005. “Putting the camera to my eye provided a thin protective layer between what I was seeing and what I was feeling. It allowed me to photograph.” David Haltom is a native of Mississippi and a resident of Texas, previously living in both Scotland and the United Arab Emirates. Talya Arbisse, based in Houston, is a documentary photographer. Her specialties are working with and photographing children with special disabilities with an emphasis on blindness, sports photography. Additionally, her photographs of her aging grandparents she is sole caretaker for, are a must-see. Kirk Crippens & Gretchen LeMaistre series “Live Burls” reminds us about the vulnerability of the thousand year old Redwoods in our National Parks. Molly Block’s focus is on photographing vintage signs. She appreciates each sign’s uniqueness and the craftsmanship involved in making them. “Each sign truly is a work of Art.” Mao Li, “Preserving the Memoirs,“ this group of photographic work has an interesting historical background. “折and 迁” are two ordinary looking Chinese characters, but in the recent decade they have become the most sensitive characters to Chinese. Farah Al Qasimi travels between Dubai, UAE and New Haven, CT, currently pursuing an MFA in Photography at Yale. Vadim Gushchin, born in Novosibirsk, lives and works in Moscow. He graduated at the Moscow Energy Institute in 1986. His very sophisticated photographs were meticulously created. Websites: http://www.raniamatar.com http://akiraseo.com http://www.shelleycalton.com http://www.krissanford.com http://www.vanessapowellphotography.com http://www.studiostoicheff.com/ http://www.keronpsillas.com/ http://www.davidhaltomphotography.com/ http://photosbytalya.arbisser.com/ http://www.kirkcrippens.com http://mollyblock.org/ http://www.alyssamiserendino.com http://www.limaoart.com http://www.farahalqasimi.com http://vadimgushchin.ru/en/ http://www.loeildelaphotographie.com/en/2016/03/24/article/159896260/fotofest-session-1-day-3/ 2016 Fotofest: Session 1 Day 4 Reviewer: Elizabeth Avedon Over its 30-year history, FotoFest’s Portfolio Review has been a launching pad for the careers of hundreds of photographic artists. Many artists have been discovered by this program and many reviewers have found new talent to exhibit, publish, collect, and represent. In 2016, FotoFest brings 165 international, professional reviewers to meet one-on-one with registered artists. They include museum curators, editors, publishers, gallerists, collectors, and photo agency representatives to review the work of 450 registered artists. I was honored to be one of the reviewers for the 1st of 4 sessions for FotoFest’s Meeting Place Portfolio Review. This is a daily record of the 15 or so photographers work I viewed. Whether they were looking for practical results for a completed body of work, or feedback on work in progress, the Meeting Place Reviews offered the opportunity to present their portfolio to a wide range of photography professionals who could assist in their future career development. Sarah Butler shoots with a 5X7 view camera. She writes, “it’s great as it slows me down. I love every step of the process, seeing that thing that for some reason grabs you. Shooting, unloading the film, waiting for it to be developed getting the surprise, the negatives and contact sheets, in the mail. Then in time maybe months, maybe years, something new comes to life.” Martin Holmes is a self taught photographer. After serving 4 years in the Army as a Paratrooper in the 82d Airborne, he rekindled his work with the camera in 2010. He works digitally now and he is actively creating his art-based portfolios around people and urban settings in downtown Houston. Daisy Kwan divides her time between painting and photography. Her work focus’ on color and texture and she is passionate about flowers. Tatyana Bessmertnaya arrived in the USA from Russia with two suitcases and her camera. She studied English through photography textbooks. Her work was very imaginitive. Victoria Piersig tells a contemporary tale of shipping and the perils of the sea as they exist along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. Mabry Campbell is a fine art photographer from Houston, Texas. He works in black & white fused with very long exposures to create images of an altered reality shaped both by his vision and his desire to impress an initial moment of confusion upon the viewer. Vanessa Marsh “explores the intersections of man made, natural and cosmological power through a mixed media process based in photography.” Julie Mardin series features souvenir dolls from all over the world within neighborhoods of New York City. They suggest a sense of dislocation and search for one’s space, exploring the idea of the foreigner and the exotic. Check out her hand-made snow globes also. Rose Marie Cromwell, an award-winning photographer and videographer, is based between New York City, Panama, and Cuba. Yuri Boyko took up photography in early childhood with a simple Lomo camera. His work has now been shown in the US, Ukraine, and Russia. Jungkeun Park’s series is on Haenyo, women divers on Jeju Island in South Korea. They’ve been diving for their livelihoods for hundreds of years in order to survive in barren environment. Patricia Morgan photographed her series “ICE: a fragile force,” near the top of the earth in Greenland and further south in the Antarctic. Erin Malone works primarily with film, vintage, plastic and lensless cameras and in historic and alternative processes,the final print process as an extension of the intent of the imagery. Jen Barrows project explores the community where she grew up in central Maine; an area that has been hard hit by the economic downturn that continues to affect the prosperity of year round residents. Websites: http://sarahcbutler.com http://www.mholmesphoto.com http://daisykwan.com http://www.besstphoto.com http://www.victoriapiersig.com http://mabrycampbell.photoshelter.com http://www.vanessamarshfineart.com http://www.juliemardin.com http://www.rosemariecromwell.com http://www.yuriboyko.com http://www.patriciacarrmorgan.com/ice http://www.erinmalone.com http://jenbarrows.com/#/homestead http://www.loeildelaphotographie.com/en/2016/03/24/article/159896261/fotofest-session-1-day-4/