Ok, I know most of you come here for the pictures, and I haven’t posted anything in a little while, but I have an excuse. And even better, I have a bit to tell you about how great an experience I had these past four days. Hopefully those of you who are truly serious about photography will get something out of this.

Last year, I signed up for a portfolio review called “The International Meeting Place” in Houston as part of the Fotofest 2006 Biennial. It cost $725 and lasted four days. It was worth every penny. I questioned that leading up to the event, because that kind of money could come in awfully handy right about now. And the funny thing is, my favorite part was meeting the other photographers and seeing their work. There was a whole review culture about that portion, just as much as the formal reviews.

Many people attend these events with the intention of having a gallery pick them up or buy their work, or a museum purchasing the work, or being published either by a book publisher or in a magazine. And then there are those of us who hope to get a good critique of our work, and if something else comes of it, then so be it.

The first two days were amazingly good on every level. To be honest, I didn’t have an outright bad review. Some were weaker than others, and that mostly happened on the final two days, but the first two were jam packed with goodness. Even the reviewers who didn’t have a real place or need for my work still usually praised it.

I went to The Meeting Place with essentially two incomplete bodies of work. The first was my series of environmental portraits that I’m sure you’ve all seen at this point. Most considered this work well printed (some even said expertly so) and the images were interesting, but the body was overall disjointed and seemed loosely connected to most. Also, commercial galleries have little luck with selling prints of people unless they take on some kind of iconic form. This was enlightening to me, as I’d have no other way to become aware of that fact. And think about it… it makes sense. Why would you buy this photo? That is, unless Nathan is your brother, son, relative, etc.

The second body of work was my images of Joe K. These were the most well-received images by far. As a documentary series, it was something I haven’t really tackled before. And since the work is less than six months old, I still have a significant bit to shoot and print. The good news is that I had a great bit of interest in this as becoming a published book. That’s something I’m extremely excited about. I just never thought people would really see it in that format.

A few highlights included meeting with Mary Virginia Swanson (wonderfully insightful, she suggested I submit a portfolio to Texas Monthly, and I will), Ellen Handy of the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Burt Finger of PDNB Gallery in Dallas and Kevin Longino of the Watermark Gallery in Houston (both gave me so much insight into the commercial gallery world). As I said, the photographers were also great, for the most part. I’ll list my favorites:

• Chris McCaw - the BEST work by far
• Dave Anderson - I was just excited to meet him, and the work was just as good in person
• Sarah Wilson - I’d love to have a portfolio like hers
• Scott Davis - no real way to appreciate these but in person
• Wyatt Gallery - I just loved his large color Katrina photos
• Lisa M. Robinson - “Snowbound” is great work
• Brian Lesteburg - these deserve to be seen in person
• Michael Rauner - publishes books as often as I print photographs
• Esteban Pastorino Diaz - his aerial work is great, but he showed his panoramas. These are not what you see online. They are actually three dimensional when viewed with polarized glasses, and that’s what makes them phenomenal… I mean it… they’re unbelievable and unique
• Felicia Megginson - her work consists of double exposures combining a landscape and her own visage at that place
• Barbara Yoshida - her standing stone photogravures need to be seen in person to be fully appreciated
• Jessica Todd Harper - great color family work

I hope that this experience has created the kind of turning point I think it has, because I feel like I’m pursuing something completely different, and in a whole new way, than I was just a week ago.

This entry was posted Tuesday, March 14th, 2006 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Text. Both comments and pings are currently closed.