Category: New Photo Projects

Sunday, April 24^th, 2022 was Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day! This event takes place every year, and I was thrilled to get together with my good friend, and like-minded photographer, Richard Rinker, to do some pinhole photography to celebrate the day. We both gathered with our many pinhole cameras down at Bemis School of Art at the Fine Arts Center. I will say, Richard is an expert Pinhole Camera Maker – he had cameras made from paint cans large and small, a 5×7 paper box, an old Agfa Clack camera, and an oatmeal box among others!

I brought out my trusty oatmeal box camera that I made years ago for a kid’s workshop I did, and a newer beer can camera I made recently. I use these two to make paper negatives. I also brought my beautiful, custom made Zero 612F gifted to me in 2009 by my dear friend Don Jones. He bought this for me when I managed his studio, to celebrate 6 years with him at that point, and had it engraved with my name. My camera is a limited-edition serial number 003/1000, and it shoots 120mm film from 6×4.5 up to 6×12 formats. You can look at the beautiful styling and production of these cameras at the Zero website,

http://www.zeroimage.com/

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day happens each year, and all who participate may upload their one favorite image, made on this day, to the worldwide gallery. Check out the submissions here:

https://pinholeday.org/

My pinhole photo is submission number #280, and I made sure to get my entry in on the day of the celebration. I used one of my favorite paper negatives for the submission.

You can look back many years, and from countries all over the world, to see the submissions. And, you can see who submitted from your very own city for this year’s celebration. When you are perusing the website, also read about the numerous and creative ways each of these artists made their own pinhole cameras – from an antique lunchbox, to a Christmas cookie tin. You can use just about anything. Even an Altoids tin! This has me inspired to keep searching around my house for all kinds of camera options! My next idea, a camera with multiple pinholes!

I’ve attached the paper negatives and contact prints I made Sunday. As for the 120mm film that I shot, I will be processing it this week, and I’ve reloaded and I’m inspired to take advantage of any sunshine we get and shoot a few more rolls through my Zero…it’s been awhile as I’ve been in 8×10 Collodion mode for a couple years.

Hope you enjoy these abstracts from the Fine Arts Center! I love architecture, and given this is my favorite building in Colorado Springs, I had fun distorting it with the pinhole. The 5×7 print was made with the Oatmeal Can Camera, and the 4×5 prints were made with the Beer Can Camera (a tall Fat Tire can!). Mark this on your calendar for next year and start building those unique pinhole cameras!

Rhyolite Press – A local force in creative book making

I met an amazing and creative talent about nine years ago. He called me by way of Bemis School of Art to donate some darkroom equipment. He shared with me a project he was working on at the time, that he thought I might be interested in. He had me hook, line and sinker, and we became great friends, and colleagues!

Donald Kallaus owns Rhyolite Press here in the Springs. He is also a photographer, and avid designer. After sharing with me his acquisition of the Glenn Wesley Murray historic negative collection, and two Murray exhibitions at Regional Building, he asked me to join him for a third Murray project. We conceived the idea for Colorado Springs, A Changing Landscape. With the help of eight talented students from my photography classes, we produced an exhibition and book that will be around for years to come. I learned a new term in the publishing/bookshop industry, “an evergreen book,” as that is how local bookshop owners have described our book. It means, the content stays fresh and relevant for years to come.

At publication, we had a fantastic exhibition and book release party with all the students and their friends, family, and colleagues in attendance, as well as a huge attendance from the community in Colorado Springs. El Paso County Administrator, Henry Yankowski, made this an affair to remember as we had the whole of the El Paso County Administration building downtown, a jazz band, and food for all. The students and their achievements, and our book and our publishing efforts were recognized by the El Paso County Commissioners.

As I mentioned previously on my 2020 post, I was thrilled to have a second project come along and keep me busy at home during our COVID year. I designed and did the layout for Rich Carnahan’s Louis Charles McClure, At the Foot of Pikes Peak. And I was asked to write the appendix which was also a lot of fun research to do while working from home. That book has been a big success for Rich, as he has sold out of all the printings we’ve ordered so far. Look out for Rich around town, and in Denver, as he does talks with his book and his extensive knowledge of the Louis Charles McClure photography archives at the Denver Public Library (DPL).

2021 would also bring some wonderful news for our collaboration with the photography students. The Friends of the Pikes Peak Library District named our book, Colorado Springs, A Changing Landscape, the 2021 Golden Quill Award winner! How cool is that! We had a wonderful reception, and all our student photographers were recognized by the Friends as well. Now that they’ve all graduated and moved on from school, many live out of town, but a few made it to the reception. It was fun to see Susi, Jen, and Margaret and catch up!

Moving forward, Don and I have a lot of projects in the works, and many planned. We founded Art Papers Press, which will be an imprint of the publishing company that specializes in art books. We published the COS19Century Project exhibition catalog under that imprint.

I am very fortunate to have forged my friendship with Don Kallaus. Rhyolite Press is continually growing, we are expanding the catalog and our goal is to be a major player in the book publishing industry along the Front Range and in the West. To be a part of this growing creative collaboration continually gives me inspiration and motivation to keep making art, writing about art, and researching the wonderful art and history of our region.

Creative Collaborations

I enjoy talking about creative collaborations, and working with gallery owners, like-minded photographers, and other artists and creative types. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate – on photo shoots, on exhibitions, on books, and brainstorm ideas with an amazing group of friends. I am very fortunate to have had numerous photographs shown at Abigail Kreuser’s Kreuser Gallery. Abby is the brightest star in the creative community in Colorado Springs and a tireless artist and gallerist who promotes established and up-and-coming artists in the Pikes Peak Region. She is a champion for the arts here, and because of Abby, I envision that our city will be much like Santa Fe, or Sausalito, in the coming years, a haven for artists of all types, a creative gathering place. I wanted to share a link to her gallery, as well as a link I’m very proud of. Here is a link to my artist’s page on her website. I am honored to hold a position on her website among so many amazing creatives in our area.

Another collaboration that I was recently invited to join is with my friend Dan Russell. Our shared love of 19^th century photographic processes, and the history of Colorado has made this a great fit. Dan has conceived a new project idea to expand on our COS19Century Project and take it statewide. He has created a new website to feature our work. Keep an eye on this site, as there will be much more to come with Dan’s vision and persistence. I am honored he selected me to be the second artist to hold a space on his new project website.

Working with creatives, whether in your own medium, or in others such as writers, painters, or graphic designers, creates a positive force in our own work. Collaborating on new ideas, letting old ideas come back to the surface, getting creative feedback and critique from one other, and saying – out loud – our most outlandish ideas helps me keep pursuing my vision. A favorite quote from a Colorado Springs photographer, Myron Wood, reminds us to allow ourselves to think outside of our own boxes…

“. . . And I must say that an appreciation and, more than that, a deep interest and knowledge of other art forms, if you are going to work in an art form, is very important. Because the more you know about the other art forms – literature, music, painting, sculpture – the more easily you move within your own art form. It gives you solidity, an ease, which you cannot otherwise have. You are just a cardboard photographer otherwise, if all you know is photography.” – Myron Wood (1921-1999)

More to come… collaborations with wordsmiths and publishers.

27 Years

Atlanta, The Rolling Stones and our Anniversary. Who could resist, the best rock band in history playing our old hometown, on our anniversary, we had to go. I did manage to capture some fun iPhone architecture at the High Museum of Art, and the CNN Center in Atlanta. It was a whirlwind visit, just two days, but seeing the Rolling Stones for the fifth time was all worth it!

A great trip with friends!

Vegas! Who can resist a trip to Vegas to enjoy and cut loose? Well, we did just that on November 3^rd with friends, and not only saw an amazing Rolling Stones concert in the beautiful new Allegiant Stadium built for the Las Vegas Raiders (seems weird saying that since I grew up liking the Oakland Raiders when I lived in CA as a kid). Then we took in a show at the House of Blues to see Santana. I grabbed one decent shot of some cool architecture in the very dark House of Blues!

Architecture and a concert!

Randy and I had the opportunity to fly to Pittsburgh by way of Nashville. We attended two concerts at the famed Ryman in Nashville, and then flew to Pittsburgh for a last-minute purchase of another concert ticket!

While in Pittsburgh, I got to explore the amazing downtown area and shoot some of the architecture both with my Leica, and my iPhone. Lots of fun! A reminder that the best camera you have, is the one that is on you, oftentimes, the iPhone!