Pictures at an Exhibition

I just took a look at my photography resume. This is something that mostly lists the exhibition and publication of my photography, plus things like awards and prizes that my photos have earned.

The last publication of my work was September of last year, with my eight-page feature in the premiere issue of Carrie Leigh’s NUDE magazine. That was less than a year ago, which is not too bad.

Exhibitions, though, are another story. The last time one of my photos was up on a wall somewhere for the public to see was in 2005, at the Community Zoe exhibit in Flagstaff, Arizona. That’s a long time ago – and the last time one was in a juried show was some years even further back.

Thankfully, that should be changing in several months. A number of weeks ago, I happened to notice (probably through something I saw in Camera Arts magazine) that the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado, was having a call for work for an exhibition titled The Artful Nude. The juror was to be Kim Weston, grandson of the great Edward Weston and someone noted for his art nude work, too.

Well, I thought, this is something so obviously up my alley that I just have to submit some photos. Naturally, I nearly missed the April 8 deadline for on-line submission, but on that last day (even though I wasn’t feeling that well) I did send through five images along with my credit card number to pay the submission fee and also to become a member of the Center.

It’s a good thing I did find the time to sit down in front of my computer that day, as I found out a few days ago that my work was selected to be in the exhibition. According to the message I received, over 1,650 photos were submitted but only 54 were chosen. Not only that, I’m one of only four photographers to have two photos included in the show!

So, as you can imagine, I’m feeling pretty pleased right now.
As for the two photos chosen, you can see them here with this posting – and they were made under very different circumstances. The one at the top was made on a private photo shoot with a model at a ranch outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1998. The other photo was made the following year at a glamour-type group photo shoot in (of all places!) New Jersey.

Despite these differences, both images share one thing: they were both made late in the day with the sun very low in the sky, close to horizon. In the New Mexico image, the sun was behind me, and I chose to use it to project the model’s shadow on the wall of the adobe-style building. The model herself put her hand to her face to shield her eyes from the sun – and it looked so good to me that I just asked her to keep it there.

In the other image, the sun was not behind me but behind the model. This is something I like to do if I can, as I love the halo effect that appears around the model’s frame when this is done. I also like the way that she appears to be rising from the field of grass here, like the ancient goddess Demeter rising from the earth.

Fortunately, I’ve got both of these images printed (and matted) in both the 11×14 and 16×20 inch sizes. (Two of the five images I submitted were made during the past two years and have not yet been printed.) So, I’ll try to send in the bigger prints for the exhibition.

The show itself will be on the wall at the Center for Fine Art Photography from July 11 to August 9. The reception for the show will be held on Friday, August 1, from 6 to 9 pm at the Center, located at 400 North College Avenue in Fort Collins. I’m thinking of attending, but I haven’t yet decided.