Sugar community of Iberia Parish focus of Armentor exhibit

Photographs from NOPA member David Armentor that focus on Iberia Parish, La.'s once-vibrant sugar-producing community are currently on exhibit at the Cole Pratt Gallery, located at 3800 Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans. The exhibit began on Tuesday, Nov. 29 and will run through Saturday, Dec. 31.

The gallery will host an opening reception for the exhibit, "The Sugar Mill Sessions," on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 6 to 8 p.m.

The gallery describes "The Sugar Mill Sessions" as Armentor's attempt to provide a contemporary view of the local sugar-producing industry in Iberia Parish by documenting the work at three mills during harvest seasons, as well as by shadowing a  family of sugar cane growers whose roots in the sugar community are seven generations deep.

The exhibit is being held in conjunction with the sixth annual PhotoNOLA, New Orleans' festival of photography, an event coordinated by the Photo Alliance, in association with galleries, museums and photographers citywide.

The Cole Pratt Gallery is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  A preview of the Armentor exhibit can be found at the gallery website.

Image: "Smoke Stacks, Cajun Mill, 2004," by David Armentor.

Entry deadline extended for 'Name That Country Road'

Country Roads Magazine, a publication that focuses on the culture and places of the Great River Road region between New Orleans and Natchez MS, has extended the entry deadline to Saturday, Dec. 10 for its "Name that Country Road: A Louisiana Photographic Project," a series to run in the magazine's print and online editions in 2012. The magazine's staff also hopes to put together a poster that features all 12 images from the series at a later date.

 The original deadline was Wednesday, Nov. 30.

The editors are asking for photos of, as you might guess, the region's country roads. However, photos of lanes, waterways or other thoroughfares that do not fall under the definition of "road" can be submitted as well.

The magazine's series will not only feature photo work, but profiles of the photographers responsible for the work. One photo, and an accompanying profile, will run per month.

Country Roads editors suggest that the features are to offer hints of the location of the road (or waterway, lane, or the like) in question, then invite readers to suggest where the photograph might have been taken.

Meanwhile, photographers whose work is selected for the series will be asked for permission to use their photo on a poster, one that would be sold throughout 2013 and advertised in the magazine. Country Roads will offer an initial $100 for each photograph selected on a first print run of 1,000 posters, then divide 20 percent of revenue between participating photographers on all sales thereafter.

Participating photographers would retain copyright ownership of their work.

Interested photographers are invited to submit up to three images (at 150 dpi, 6" x 4", in jpeg format) by email to the photos@countryroadsmag.com. Entrants must include the phrase "Name That Country Road" in the subject line.

Asprodites work on exhibit at Cole Pratt Gallery in December

 

The Cole Pratt Gallery of New Orleans will exhibit new mixed media and oil paintings from New Orleans artist Randy Asprodites paintings during December, in conjunction with the sixth annual PhotoNOLA, New Orleans' festival of photography.

An opening reception will be Saturday, Dec. 3rd from 6 to 8 p.m. The gallery is located at 3800 Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans.

Image:  "Cover 30," by Randy Asprodites

CURRENTS 2011 opens at at Crescent City Brewhouse Dec. 5

The New Orleans Photo Alliance, in conjunction with the Crescent City Brewhouse, is pleased to present, "CURRENTS 2011," a NOPA members showcase. This portfolio-based exhibition, curated by Richard McCabe of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, will feature works by twelve members.

The exhibit will be on view at the Crescent City Brewhouse in the French Quarter from Monday, Dec. 5 through Monday, Jan. 2.  The opening reception takes place on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011, from 5-7 p.m. Complimentary draft beer and hors d'oeuvres will be served.

The exhibit is a highlight of PhotoNOLA, New Orleans' festival of photography, an event coordinated by the Photo Alliance, in in partnership with galleries, museums and other venues citywide.

NOPA members with work in the exhibit include: Renee Allie, Susan Barnett, Laura Burlton, Charles Franklin, Carolyn Hampton, Maria Levitsky, Hannah Neal, Don Norris, Valorie Polmer, Mary Quin, S. Gayle Stevens and Warren Thompson.

The Crescent City Brewhouse, the French Quarter's only microbrewery, is located at 527 Decatur Street in New Orleans.

Juror McCabe, the Curator of Photography at Crescent City's Ogden Museum, said: “I am always amazed at the quality and diversity of the work that is promoted and nurtured through the Photo Alliance and PhotoNOLA. As a curator, the Photo Alliance has become a great resource for familiarizing myself with the work of photographers not only here in New Orleans, but from around the U.S. and the world.”

McCabe chose 69 images for the members showcase, from twelve artists whose work he saw as reflecting the wide range of styles, techniques, and subject matter seen in contemporary art photography.

A preview of select images from "CURRENTS 2011" is available at the PhotoNOLA website.

Image: Carolyn Hampton, "The Blooms Are Heavy," from "CURRENTS 2011"

'Silenced Suffering,' opens at NOPA gallery on Thurs., Dec. 1

The New Orleans Photo Alliance will present Jungeun Lee's "Silenced Suffering," an exhibit which metaphorically examines the experiences of Korean women subjected to sexual slavery during World War II, at its Lower Garden District gallery, beginning Thursday, Dec. 1. The exhibit will run through Jan. 29, 2012.

The exhibit is being held in connection with PhotoNOLA, the Crescent City's photography festival, a series of events and exhibits coordinated by NOPA, in partnership with galleries, museums and other venues citywide.

Lee won the 2010 PhotoNOLA Review Prize, which is given each year at the conclusion of the festival's portfolio review.

The opening reception for "Silenced Suffering: The Comfort Women Project," will take place at the NOPA gallery on Saturday, Dec. 10 from 6-9 p.m. The gallery is located at 1111 St. Mary Street in New Orleans’ Lower Garden District. It is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 to 4 p.m., and otherwise open by appointment.

Lee will also speak about her work during the "Picturing War" panel discussion at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans on Sunday, Dec. 11, from 6 to 8 p.m.

In her exhibit, Lee evokes the testimony of Korean women who were enslaved by the Japanese military during World War II. According to Melanie McWhorter, the Book Division manager for photo-eye, "This project does not deal with the descriptive nature of this unfortunate time in these women’s lives, but it is Jungeun Lee’s attempt at an empathic connection to the emotional torture that these women would have initially experienced and continued to experience throughout their lives.”

Lee is a native of South Korea. She received a B.E. from Hoseo University in South Korea and a MFA in Photography from University of North Texas in Denton, Tex. She learned about the "comfort women" during her time at North Texas. She spent all three years of her graduate career researching and making work about this history.She currently lives and works in Dallas.

Image: "Shrouds 6," by Jungeun Lee

NOMA talk focuses on museum's Centennial and future

The New Orleans Museum of Art will host a talk with NOMA Director Emeritus John Bullard on Friday evening. as its last Directors Dialogue of 2011. He will talk about changes in the operating environment for museums, and examine these within the context of the Crescent City institution's celebration of its Centennial, while looking toward its future.

The museum celebrates its 100th birthday on Friday, Dec. 16, 2011.

Bullard's talk will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. A live video stream will be shown at NOMA's website.

Image: NOMA Director Emeritus John Bullard. 

EXPOSURE competition offers NYC/Paris stay, cash awards

The popular vote winner of a portfolio competition in the 3rd Annual EXPOSURE Competition, a project of the Artists Wanted organization of New York, will receive an unusually lavish gift--for a photo competition, at least: A "Dream Getaway" vacation to New York and Paris, in addition to a $2,500 cash grant.

The competition's 2011 People's Choice Awards Package will, more specifically, include a stay in a loft apartment in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood during the New York Photo Festival in May 2012, and a one-week stay in Paris.

Some $50,000 in prizes will be awarded to winners in the competition, in total. The grand prize winner of the juried component of the awards will receive a $10,000 grant and an exhibit at The Aperture Foundation Gallery in New York. Meanwhile, photographers of all backgrounds will have a shot at receipt of $18,500 in cash grants.

Submissions for the competition may be submitted at the awards website.

The "standard entry" deadline for Exposure 2011 is Wednesday, Nov. 30th, 2011. Submissions will continue to be accepted through the Final Entry Deadline of Sunday, Dec. 20, but late fees may apply. Entrants may submit up to eight images for $10 per image. A discounted rate of $88 is offered for more than nine and up to 20 images.

Tickets available for PhotoGALA fundraiser, set for Dec. 8

Tickets are now available for the New Orleans Photo Alliance's annual PhotoGALA Benefit Party and Auction, scheduled for the evening of Thursday, Dec. 8, at the Musee Conti Historical Wax Museum in the French Quarter.

Tickets are $20, and may be purchased through the website of PhotoNOLA, the Crescent City's annual festival of photography. Tickets will be $25 at the door.

The auction and benefit will be a highlight of this year's sixth annual festival, which will include a series of workshops, lectures and porfolio reviews from Thursday, Dec. 8. through Sunday, Dec. 11, and exhibitions to run through the month of December 2011.

PhotoGALA is scheduled for 7 to 10 p.m., with a live auction beginning at 8 p.m. The auction is to be feature works by renowned photographers including Jock Sturges, Thomas Neff, Lori Vrba, John Chervinsky, Louviere+Vanessa, Lori Waselchuk, Josephine Sacabo and Richard Sexton.

Examples of the work being auctioned are shown below. A full preview can be found at the PhotoNOLA website.

All proceeds will benefit the Photo Alliance, a non-profit organization created in 2006 to create unity and opportunity for photographers in the Gulf South region.

The event is not just an auction, however. Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns will be providing the music for the evening, for instance. Meanwhile, locally brewed beer will be served, compliments of NOLA Brewery, while hors d’oeuvres will be provided by Jazz Sushi, Whole Foods, Jacques-Imo's and La Divina Gelateria.

“Gala guests can eat, drink, and dance, bid on fantastic photographs, and feel good about the fact that all this fun will support the year-round programming initiatives of the New Orleans Photo Alliance,” said NOPA President Sesthasak Boonchai.

Cocktail attire is suggested. The Musee Conti is located at 917 Conti Street in New Orleans.

Priya Kambli - Blue Dibiya

Louviere + Vanessa - Muse

Lori Vrba - Cello

John Chervinski - Where Fruit Comes From 

Register for The [UN]Tour Workshop: "10 Tips for Instantly Better Photos"

The [UN] Tour workshops makes bikes its way to New Orleans! The New Orleans Photo Alliance will be hosting an hour-long workshop presented by The [UN] Tour Workshops and instructor Khara Plicanic entitled 10 Tips for Instantly Better Photos. The workshop will be held on Monday December 5, 2011 starting promptly at 7:00pm at the New Orleans Photo Alliance gallery (1111 Saint Mary Street – New Orleans, LA). Join us as we begin an exciting week that kicks-off PhotoNOLA 2011!

 The workshop is FREE and open to the public. Pre-registration is required at http://www.theuntour.com/schedule-registration

For more information about The [UN] Tour workshops please visit: http://www.theuntour.com/

 “Who knew that dramatically improving your photos could be this easy? (Or this much fun!?) Professional photographer, educator, and author Khara Plicanic makes getting better photos a piece o’ cake—no matter which camera you have. Inspired by the book Your Camera Loves You; Learn to Love it Back this fun, light-hearted class will arm you with at least 10 different ways you can instantly improve your photos, whether you’re a total beginner or a more experienced hobbyist.”

Center's deadline for 'Home' exhibit is November 16

The Center for Fine Art Photography of Fort Collins, Colo. has issued a call for entry for "Home," a juried exhibition set for March 2012. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011.

The photographers whose work is selected will receive prizes including the following:

• Juror’s Selection: $600
• Director’s Selection: $250
• 2 liveBooks Website Awards: Valued at $399 from liveBooks.com
• 1 Blurb Book Award: valued at $250 from blurb.com
• Honorable Mention Awards: 2 year membership and a three image submission for a Center competition.

The entry fees are $20 for members and $35 for non-members for three images. Additional images may be submitted for $10 for members and non-members alike. The exhibition is open to all photographers.

For more information, please see the call for entry announcement at the Center website.

Entries sought for Weinstein-juried 'On the Road' exhibit

The PhotoPlace Gallery of Middlebury, Vt. is seeking submissions for for "On the Road: Travel Photography," an exhibit for which NOPA member Sandra Chen Weinstein is serving as juror. The deadline for entry is Monday, Nov. 14.

The deadline for a second PhotoPlace competition, "The Four Seasons," is Monday, Dec. 12. The entry fee for either competition is $25 for five photos, and $6 for each additional photo.

The Vermont gallery will exhibit winning selections for "On the Road" from January 7 to February 11, 2012. "The Four Seasons" exhibit is to follow, from February 14 to March 5.

For more information on the competitions and submission instructions, you may visit the PhotoPlace Gallery website.

   

Before and after Katrina shots of Fair Grounds sought

If you have any photographs of the main structure at the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots of New Orleans, colloquially known as the New Orleans Fair Grounds, an unnamed, major insurance company may be willing to pay you for them. More accurately, it will pay for the right photos.

The insurance company seeks photos of the structure, which includes the grandstand and paddock area, as it existed before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as well as how it existed in the wake of the storm and flooding. It further seeks photos that show the facility after repair and reconstruction.

If you have such photos, or know of anyone who might have them, please write Jeff Hodnett at cedarframe@gmail.com.

PhotoNOLA/ A&I Books Workshop

“THAT PHOTO BOOK YOU WANTED TO DO… DONE!”

On Thursday, Dec 8, 2011 A&I Books will help you get your work into print.

The four-hour hands-on workshop will be limited to twelve students. Each will receive individual feedback on their book’s design, then finalize and order their book by the end of class.

$30 fee gets you personalized advice plus two copies of the your new self-published book.

Advance preparation required for all participants. More information and registration here.

Cycling photo educator leading photo tips seminar on Dec. 5

Coming to the New Orleans Photo Alliance gallery on Monday, Dec. 5: Free photo classes, geared toward beginners and hobbyists, as well as wedding and portrait photography professionals. They will be led by Khara Plicanic, a wedding photographer, speaker and author from Lincoln, Neb., who is now at the beginning stages of what she is calling The [Un]Tour.

The tour that is to take her some 3,100 miles, from San Diego to St. Augustine, Fla. She will lead seminars in eight cities along the way. 

Also of note: She is doing all this traveling by bicycle, in stretches of 50 to 75 miles a day. 

You read that correctly. She is attempting to cross the entirety of the Southeast and Southwest of the United States, by bicycle. (She is show below with web developer Emir Plicanic, who doubles as her cycling partner and husband.)

By no means do you have to be into cycling--or skilled in carbohydrate loading for eight-hour excursions, an old hand with fixing flat tires, or what have you--to join the couple in the Crescent City, nor do you have to be an experienced photographer. You do not even have to own a remotely advanced camera. There will, however, be a class aimed at experienced, professional photographers.

The NOPA gallery classes, scheduled for Monday, Dec. 5, will include:

• "Wickedly Fast Wedding Workflow," set for 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The decidedly immodest goal of this class is to show participants how to finish editing wedding photographs, as well as design a wedding photo album, in only six to eight hours. Plicanic suggests that the class lessons can be easily adapted for portrait photography.
• "10 Tips for Instantly Better Photos," set for 7 to 8 p.m.. This is the seminar aimed at beginners to advanced hobbyists. According to Plicanic, the aim here is to educate and inspire, and to let people know that they can take great photos with whatever camera they have.

You may register for and learn more about the classes, as well as read about the couples' beyond-merely-epic cycling tour, at The [Un]Tour website.

The NOPA gallery is located at 1111 St. Mary Street in New Orleans' Lower Garden District.

Plicanic has led classes and workshops on photography for many years, including ones held at events such as the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) conventions and trade shows. She is the author of a photo guide, Your Camera Loves You: Learn to Love it Back, recently published by Peachpit Press, a division of Pearson Education. Peachpit is a publishing partner for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPA), Adobe Systems and Apple, among other organizations.

The [UN]Tour classes are being presented in part by the online photography print service Mpix.

Frese exhibit, talks on calendar in Lafayette, Mid-City NOLA

NOPA Member Lynda Frese will discuss her work "Pacha Mama: earth realm," at talks in New Orleans and Lafayette LA over the next couple of weeks, while an exhibit of her work is to be hosted by the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayete.

The New Orleans talk will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Swan River Yoga, located at 2940 Canal St. in Mid-City. The event will also feature a reading by "Pacha Mama" contributor and yogi Michele Baker.

Meanwhile, an opening reception for her exhibit in Lafayette will be held at Acadiana Center on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 6 to 8 p.m, with an artist talk and book signing set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15.

At this event, Frese will talk about her book and share images from the Amazon rainforest region that shaped the environmental themes of her work. She will also discuss her use egg tempera paints over her collaged photographs.

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.

Image: Selection from Frese's "Pacha Mama: earth realm."

Luster discussion set for Thursday at The Front collective

A conversation with New Orleans photographer and NOPA member Deborah Luster will be held at The Front, an artist-run collective in the city's Bywater neighborhood, on Thursday, Nov. 3. Doors for the free event will open at 6:30, with the discussion to begin at 7 p.m.

The Front is located at 4100 St. Claude Avenue in the Crescent City.

Image: Photo from "A Tooth for an Eye," by Deobrah Luster.

NOPA News | Call for Info

MEMBERS:  Please send your photo-related news and event items to newsletter@neworleansphotoalliance.org by SUN, NOV 6 for inclusion in the next e-newsletter!