Color still life photos hang at Big Top starting Oct. 1

A series of large-scale, color still-life works from NOPA member Sara Essex Bradley, "Direct Sunlight:  2D3D2," opens this Saturday, Oct. 1, at The Big Top in New Orleans' Lower Garden District. The opening party for the exhibit will run from 6 to 9 p.m. at the gallery, at located at 1638 Clio Street.

The photos will hang at The Big Top, an event venue space, through October, along with works by sculptor Joe Kight.

Image: Selection from "Direct Sunlight: 2D3D2," by Sarah Essex Bradley.

Met curator to discuss Friedlander works at Tulane

Jeff Rosenheim, photography curator for New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, will lead a discussion this Friday, Sept. 30, on works of photographer Lee Friedlander that are now on exhibit at the Uptown campus of Tulane University in New Orleans.

The discussion, which will focus on Friedlander's Mid-20th Century photos of Crescent City jazz figures, will begin at the Newcomb Gallery at 3 p.m.

Rosenheim earned a master's degree from the Newcomb art program at Tulane in 1986. He has since organized exhibitions on Friedlander, as well as Walker Evans, Robert Polidori, Diane Arbus, and Thomas Eakins, among others.

The exhibit, curated by Newcomb Assistant Professor Stephen Hilger, features 39 black and white photographs. Included are photos featuring musicians such as "Sweet Emma" Barrett, Joe James, and George Lewis, along with images of the city's eternally vibrant street parades and other celebrations. The works are mainly drawn from Tulane's William Ransom Hogan Archive of New Orleans Jazz.

You can views photo online at the site of the "Jazz People" exhibit.

Image: "Joe James at Westwego Fireman's Hall, Westwego LA,1958," by  Friedlander.

Monthly Members Meeting | MON, OCT 3 | 6pm

The New Orleans Photo Alliance is reinstating its monthly membership meetings for the busy Fall season!  Members meetings will be held the first Monday of every month at 6:00pm with the next one being this Monday, October 3rd.  Meetings are held at the NOPA Gallery, 1111 St. Mary St. in the Lower Garden District.

Please join us for an evening of photo talk, community networking, and all things NOPA.  Come learn more about what the Photo Alliance has in store for the rest of 2011 and into 2012.   Are you interested in finding a darkroom?  Want to learn more about photo venues in the city?  Want to help us plan exhibitions?  Do you have an idea for a photo-based workshop?  Want to learn how to get involved with PhotoNOLA.  Come share your ideas with us!   Please note, you do NOT have to be a member to attend this event or a photographer for that matter.  If you love photography, or want to be around other people who love photography, this meeting is for you!  All are welcome.  Libations and snacks will be provided. 

If you would like any thing to be added to the agenda please email Morgan at administration@neworleansphotoalliance.org

NOPA Newsletter: Call For Info

MEMBERS:  Please send your photo-related news and events items to newsletter@neworleansphotoalliance.org by SUN, OCT 2 for inclusion in the next e-newsletter.

ASMP seminar on sales set for Tuesday, Sept. 27

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) will present a seminar on photography sales, "Strictly Business 3," by Blake Discher, on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 27 at the Professional Color Service offices in Metairie.

Among the topics Disher will discuss with attendees are the following:

• how to “work a room”
• positioning yourself to be successful
• the reasons photographers fail
• starting an accountability group
• the value in aspiring to be second
• overcoming fear of the sales process
• celebrate effort not just victory
• what it means to be a professional in sales

'The seminar will be held form 7 to 9 p.m. at the Professional Color Service offices at 604 Papworth Avenue in Metairie, just across the Orleans-Jefferson Parish border from Lakeview. A social hour will be held beforehand, at 6 p.m.

Admission is $25 for regular ASMP members, $50 for non-members, $40 for professional association members and $10 for students.

Ruth photos in Miss. Delta art event Saturday, Oct. 1

NOPA Member and photographer Euphus Ruth will be one of four artists to have work featured in "Chasing Aphrodite," an event dedicated to studies of the nude female form, set for the evening of Saturday, Oct. 1 in the Mississippi Delta town of Leland MS.

The exhibit is to be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the offices of the Leland Progress newspaper, at 113 Third Street in Leland. It is being sponsored by HobNop, an art, pottery and antiques shop in Leland.

Ruth, who has lived in the Delta for the past three decades, is a self-taught photographer who has focused exclusively on black and white film and collodion wetplate photography. He uses vintage cameras and lenses. You can see more of his work at his website and at Flickr.

Image: Euphus Ruth, courtesy of "Chasing Aphrodite" organizers.

Frese talks on 'Pacha Mama' book set for Oct.-Dec.

NOPA Member Lynda Frese will discuss her work "Pacha Mama: earth realm," at several talks over the next few months in New Orleans, culminating with a talk associated with the PhotoNOLA festival of photography in December.

The talks, slide shows and book signings will be held on the following dates. All will feature Frese and "Pacha Mama" contributor and yogi Michele Baker:

Friday, Oct. 6, at Press Street's Antenna Gallery in the Bywater, beginning at 6 p.m. (3160 Burgundy St.) 

Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Swan River Yoga in Mid-City (2940 Canal St.), beginning at 7 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 10, at Swan River Yoga Shala in the Lower Garden District (2130 Magazine Street), beginning at 6 p.m.

Frese's book features 35 of her own artworks, including photographs, along with essays, prayers and poems, by contributors including Baker. The book is meant to invite readers to consider ways of living harmoniously with nature. For more information on Frese's work and "Pacha Mama, "please see the artist's website. 

Clarence John Laughlin Award Finalists

Congratulations to the ten finalists for the 2011 Clarence John Laughlin Award:

Angela Bacon-Kidwell, Chris Bennett, Aaron Blum,  Rachael Jablo, Isa Leshko, Neil Loughlin, Donna Pinckley, Kathleen Robbins, Joni Sternbach and Anderson Wrangle .

George Slade is the juror for NOPA's second annual $5000 award for fine art photography. The winner will be announced on November 1, 2011.

Angela Bacon-Kidwell: Close to Twilight

Chris Bennett: Antelope, Oregon

Arron Blum: Lifetime Resident

Rachael Jablo: Sharp

Isa Leshko: Kelly, Irish Wolf Hound, Age 11

Neil Loughlin: Undercurrent

Donna Pinckley: William with Cat

Kathleen Robbins: Brooklyn Chapel

Joni Sternbach: Ed

Anderson Wrangle: Three Axes

Sacabo works on exhibit in NOLA, beginning Oct. 1

A Gallery for Fine Photography of New Orleans will present work from NOPA member Joséphine Sacabo, beginning Saturday, Oct. 1 and running through the remainder of 2011. The exhibition will include hand-made  photogravures from three series, including "Con Los Ojos (Hear Me With Your Eyes)," "Noche Oscura (Dark Night)" and "Water & Dreams."

An opening reception for the exhibit will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 1, at the gallery, located at 241 Chartres Street in the French Quarter.

Works featured in the exhibit may be viewed at the gallery website. For more information, you may write to  joshuamann@att.net or call (504) 568-313.

Image: "La Rosa" by Joséphine Sacabo.

Ariaz works featured in Jacksonville FL group show

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville FL is exhibiting works from NOPA member and photographer Jeremiah Ariaz, an assistant professor of Art at Louisiana State University, beginning today, Friday, Sept. 16. The photographs are featured as part of a group show, "No Place in Particular: Images of the American Landscape."

An opening reception will be held from 6-9 p.m. at the museum on Friday in connection with the PhotoJax, billed as the inaugural photography festival for the Jacksonville area. Among other works featured at the museum are photographs from Larry Clark, Walker Evans, Alec Soth and Sally Mann, among others.

The show run through Sunday, Nov. 6.  For more information about PhotoJax, please see the festival website

Roma at Tulane this week for exhibit events

"Found in Brooklyn," by Thomas Roma

As noted recently on the NOPA blog, photographer Thomas Roma will be appearing this week the Uptown campus of Tulane University, in connection with an exhibit of his work, "Pictures for Books," at the campus' Newcomb Art Gallery.

He will take part in first a conversation about the creative process, billed as the "Making Books Symposium," beginning today--Wednesday, Sept. 14--from 3:30 to 5 p.m. p.m. at the Freeman Auditorium of the university's Woldenberg Art Center.

He is to lead a walk-through of the exhibit at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15. The following photos were shown on the front covers of the books to be discussed today, and which are the focus of the exhibit. The associated book titles are listed under each photograph.

"Come Sunday"

"On Three Pillars"

"Sicilian Passage"

Waselchuk lecture, book signing in Philly on Oct. 1

Documentary photographer and NOPA member Lori Waselchuk is to give a lecture, as well as sign copies of her book on the inmate hospice system in Louisiana, at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center in Philadelphia, PA on Saturday, Oct. 1.

The lecture is to begin at 6 p.m. The book-signing will follow, from 7 to 7:30 p.m. 

Waselchuk's book, "Grace Before Dying," focuses on the inmate hospice system of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. You can read more about the book and photo series at her website, as well as the site for the photo series.  (She also did an an interview about the series and book for the PhotoNOLA blog earlier this year.) 

For more information about the lecture and book signing, you may contact the center's Sarah Stolfa at sarah.stolfa@philaphotoarts.org. 

Image: Selection from "Grace Before Dying."

ACLU Article: "You Have Every Right to Photograph That Cop"

"Taking photographs and video of things that are plainly visible in public spaces is a constitutional right — and that includes the outside of federal buildings, as well as transportation facilities, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties.

However, there is a widespread, continuing pattern of law enforcement officers ordering people to stop taking photographs or video in public places, and harassing, detaining and arresting those who fail to comply. The ACLU, photographer's groups, and others have been complaining about such incidents for years — and consistently winning in court. Yet, a continuing stream of incidents of illegal harassment of photographers and videographers makes it clear that the problem is not going away."  Read more...

Vid series opens with Sept. 11 photographer Q&A

Pulitzer Prize-winning photo editor and NOPA member Stella Kramer has launched a new, photography-oriented Internet video series, "In the Loupe," with colleagues Julie Grahame and Allegra Wilde. The series opener is an interview with John Botte, a New York police detective, about photos he took in the hours and days immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center.

The videos can be accessed through the In the Loupe blog, as well the video-sharing website Vimeo.

CJL Award Update

Thanks and good luck to the eighty photographers who submitted work for NOPA's 2011 Clarence John Laughlin Award. All of the entries are now in the competent hands of our juror, George Slade.

Finalists will be announced on October 1 and will be expected to send print portfolios to Mr. Slade.

Stay tuned!

Competition fees to benefit flooded Vermont museum

Something NOPA members should be able to relate to, especially when making preparations for Tropical Storm Lee for the Labor Day weekend:

The PhotoPlace Gallery of Middlebury, VT, which survived Hurricane Irene, is planning to use a portion of proceeds from submissions to an upcoming juried photo competition to help a fellow art institution,the Main Street Museum of White River Junction VT. The museum, described by PhotoPlace as an alternative museum of material culture, was inundated with six feet of water from Irene-related flooding. The water destroyed museum storage areas, as well as supplies and its parking lot.

The deadline for the competition "Reflections in Photography," is Monday, Sept. 19. Images are sought that involve reflection--not the consideration or meditative type, but the sort resulting from light that bounces off reflective surfaces.

The entry fee is $25 for the first five submission, with $6 for each additional image submitted.

Other PhotoPlace photography competitions, including ones focusing on surrealist and travel photography, have deadline of October 17 and November 14, respectively. For more information, please see the gallery's website.