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On Tuesday, Sotheby’s concluded the first part of a landmark multi-auction sale series for Pier 24 Photography from the Pilara Family Foundation, achieving an astounding $10.6 million – nearly 120% of the combined presale high estimate – with two thirds of lots outpacing their presale high estimates to benefit the Pilara Family Foundation in support of charitable initiatives in healthcare research, education, and the arts.
The exceptional sale results, attracting bidders from 23 countries, reinforce the unprecedented depth of the Collection, charting the historical intersection of modern art and photography and reflecting the power of the image in contemporary culture.
The two-part single-owner sale set numerous new benchmarks and auction records, including for Robert Frank, whose renowned Charleston, S.C. attracted the highest number of bids (32), leading the sale series for a total of $952,500 and shattering Frank’s previous auction record. Robert Adams’s Selected Images from Eden, Colorado marked another artist record, achieving 130% of its presale high estimate for a total of $330,200. Other notable accolades for the collection include new records for a singular work from Richard Avedon’s In the American West series for Juan Patricio Lobato, Carney, Rocky Ford, Colorado, August 23, 1980 and Clarence Lippard, Drifter, Interstate 80, Sparks, Nevada, August 29, 1983,both of which yielded 150% of their presale high estimates, each realizing $444,500 as well as a record for the highest price for a portrait of Bob Dylan from Bob Dylan, Singer, New York, New York, February 10, 1965, which trounced the previous record by more than double; Deborah Luster, whose One Big Self: Prisoners of Louisiana more than tripled its presale high estimate for a total of $101,600 in her auction debut; Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, which realized $609,600, marking a new record for the iconic image and the second highest price for Lange overall.
Auction records were also achieved for Larry Clark, Shomei Tomatsu, Katy Grannan, David Goldblatt, Bruce Davidson, Wright Morris, Josef Koudelka, and Erica Deeman, who made her auction debut.
Images :Robert Frank, Charleston, S.C.
Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California
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OREM — Utah Valley University is launching its new museum of art by unveiling The Art of Belonging, an initiative that features dozens of artists of color in Utah whose work explores themes of belonging in community and culture.
The UVU Museum of Art was formerly called the Woodbury Art Museum and was located at the University Place prior to 2023. It is now located at Lakemount Manor, which was donated to the university by the family of the late philanthropist and community activist Melanie Bastian.
“We’re excited to launch the museum on an innovative new platform based on community-based partnerships and designed to celebrate the contributions of our culturally diverse communities,” museum director Lisa Anderson said in a statement. “We’re proud to showcase these important artists’ work and to engage our audiences in exploring themes of belonging in art and culture.”
The Art of Belonging initiative will feature a handful of exhibits are the museum:
UVU is holding a grand opening of the museum and community celebration on Saturday, May 13, from noon to 7 p.m. It will feature a dance party and a multicultural showcase by “Remembering Our Culture” representing dances rom Native American, African, Polynesian, Latino and Asian cultures.
The museum is located at 240 W. 1800 S. Street in Orem. The Art of Belonging initiative will include a number of public programs ranging rom artists lectures, performance art pieces and film discussions through Sept. 16. More information is available on the initiative’s website.
The exhibitions and other programs are free; however, tickets are required and can be reserved on UVU’s website.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – The Memphis Zoo is partnering with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to create a new exhibit.
Starting Wednesday, the zoo will display “Artists and Animals” between the entrance and exit of the China exhibit.
The art will feature animals that currently call the Memphis Zoo home.
The art, made by patients at St. Jude, is apart of art therapy, designed to help patients suffering from cancer or other life-threatening illnesses to inspire hope and their spirit.
”We’re really excited about working with St. Jude on this initiative,” Memphis Zoo Chief Marketing Officer Nick Harmeier said. “It’s something we’re really, really passionate about and of course anytime we can bring children and art together, and animals at the same time, it’s just a really unique opportunity for us to place these artworks throughout our zoo.”
The display will stay up for the foreseeable future, allowing visitors to view and appreciate the work the patients put in to the art work.
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A semester’s worth of work was put on display in Stillwater’s Chris Salmon Plaza on
May 1, with the unveiling of Oklahoma State University graphic design students’ mural
“Building Sunshine.”
The mural — which highlights the life and work of former Stillwater mayor Christine
Salmon — was designed by OSU freshman Carlee Roddy. Roddy worked with her fellow Visual
Thinking Image and Surface 2D classmates to execute the design.
“It would have been a lot more boring without my classmates to help me both in the
beginning when it came to brainstorming ideas and during the last days of painting,”
said Roddy, who hails from Collinsville, Oklahoma.
During the unveiling presided over by current Stillwater mayor Will Joyce, Roddy explained
elements of her abstract design that were meant to represent Salmon’s architectural
and interior design career, as well as her accessibility advocacy work.
“I struggled with how to depict Chris’ passion for supporting communities with disabilities,
but I’m really happy with the way it turned out,” Roddy said, specifically pointing
out shapes on the right side of the mural that represent a deconstructed wheelchair.
“I want people to look at the mural and get to know Chris through it. Not just that
she was a mayor, but her bright personality that she poured into her work and eventually
into Stillwater as a whole.”
Kate Kinder, a Department of Art, Graphic Design and Art History teaching assistant professor, began the mural project with her classes after being
approached by the Prairie Arts Center and the City of Stillwater. Kinder’s students submitted 54 designs for consideration,
which were narrowed down through rounds of voting by the students, Prairie Arts Center
staff and City of Stillwater employees.
“I was surprised with how many different approaches to the project there were,” Kinder
said. “We have a lot of students with different backgrounds, so it was inspiring to
see them inject their own perspectives into the work.”
The final design was drawn out onto four large pieces of parachute cloth and completed
with weather-proof outdoor paint. The morning of the mural unveiling, the pieces were
adhered to the brick wall on the corner of Ninth Avenue and Main Street where it will
remain on view to the public semi-permanently.
“I have the utmost confidence that even if the audience can’t understand each little
detail of the work, they will enjoy it for its color and specificity to Stillwater,”
Kinder said. “I hope Stillwater can appreciate the hard work my students put into
the design and execution, as well as the unique dedication and skill it takes to create
something like this.
“With abstract art, the secret is not to be intimidated by not knowing what it means,
and allowing yourself to enjoy it for what you see in it. Art is meant to be interpreted,
so that means there’s no real wrong reading of it.”
CAMDEN – On Thursday, May 11, at 6:30 p.m., the Camden Public Library, 55 Main St., welcomes Rockland photographer Jim Dugan for an illustrated presentation about his photography and videos of Maine’s magnificent windjammers, many of which will be familiar to Camden residents and visitors.
“Pretty Ladies Dancing Around the Bay: Photography of Maine’s Windjammers” is a hybrid event and will take place in the Picker Room and on Zoom. Register to attend on Zoom here.
Do you struggle with creativity? In the first of this two-part series, we will look at what science and psychology have discovered about people who are creative. The good news is that they are habits that you can learn. Here are some exercises to help you with that.
Creativity is an elusive thing. It’s so easy to take a photo that is nothing more than a recording of what we see. However, research has discovered creative people’s common traits and behaviors and, with learning, practice, and exercise, we can become more creative with our photography.
I am a great believer that commonly held beliefs should be challenged. If we don’t challenge them, we don’t think for ourselves. Unless you live in an autocratic and oppressive society, thinking for yourself is generally considered a good thing. Challenging the world around us is an important aspect of creativity. Every human progression has resulted from people thinking differently.
Dean Keith Simonton, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychology, University of California, found that the quality of creative ideas is directly related to quantity. In other words, the more ideas a creator generates, the higher the probability that they will eventually produce a masterpiece.
Those that think differently take risks and are not scared of failing. Failure is important because it means we will try repeatedly until we get it right. The more attempts we make, the more chance there is of creating something incredible.
Experimenting with different ways of photographing means you will probably make mistakes. If you expect that to happen, then it allows you not to let caution get in the way of your creativity.
Go out and take the photos that you usually shoot, but change everything about the way you do it. You could experiment with different camera positions and settings. Or, maybe, try a different lens that you would otherwise consider to be inappropriate for your subject or genre. You will be forced to approach your subject differently. Remember, if it fails, it doesn’t matter. But ask yourself, why did it fail? What are the good points? What could you do differently again?
Someone recently commented I was the most contentious writer at Fstoppers. I happily accepted that as a badge of honor. It meant that I was thinking differently. Moreover, writing is a form of art and if art doesn’t provoke an emotional response and debate, it becomes worthless.
However, in the comments of another article, someone referred to my response to that and said I had admitted to being a troll. That demonstrates a misunderstanding of what I said and what a troll is.
The Collins Dictionary says this about trolling:
If you troll someone, you deliberately try to upset them or start an argument with them, especially by posting offensive or unkind things on the internet.
The Oxford English Dictionary describes trolling as writing false or offensive messages on the internet to make other people angry. That is very different from offering up a point of view and challenging commonly held beliefs, especially about an inanimate object like a camera.
I’ve met hundreds of successful talented artists and musicians. The vast majority always challenge the status quo, but at the same time, are supportive of others. They exhibit compassionate behavior. That is the opposite of trolling. Compassion toward others is central to becoming creative. It is one form of sensitivity, a heightened awareness of the world around us and the people within it, something that is essential for creativity.
We’ve all met people who lack compassion and are forever trying to pick holes in others. I have yet to meet any of them that fall under the heading of talented creators. They seemed to have lost the art of conversation and debate and that it is okay to disagree with others’ opinions. Instead, they accuse anyone who has a different point of view of offending them. Absurdly, at the same time, they will not debate but abuse others and claim freedom of speech when their abusive words are challenged. Creative people are the opposite of that. They show respect for each other’s points of view and opinions, even if they disagree.
Find some photography online from an unknown photographer that isn’t to your taste; you will find plenty on Instagram, Flickr, and in the galleries at Fstoppers. Ask yourself why that photo appeals to the photographer and not to you. Get in contact with the photographer and ask them to tell you about the photograph and what it means to them. Tell them you have difficulty understanding why they chose to shoot it that way, and ask them to explain. Learn to see it through their eyes.
Although the story of Newton being hit on the head by an apple is a myth, his theory of gravity is said to have come to him by daydreaming and seeing an apple fall from a tree. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books occurred to her when she was staring out of the window when stuck on a train. Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer came to him in a daydream too, and Paul McCartney woke from sleep with the song Yesterday in his head. Einstein is said to have allowed his mind to wander, and he came up with his Theory of Relativity.
I think people are losing the ability to daydream. So, many people I know are continuously tied to their phones, watching YouTube videos, or listening to podcasts that they don’t allow their minds to drift.
As photographers, new projects or ideas of approaching how to carry out a photo shoot can occur to us in a daydream. An ongoing project of mine is about capturing the shape of birds’ movements using longer exposures. That idea first came to me some 10 years ago. One afternoon when I had a post-lunch nap. I had previously been thinking of the two genres of artistic photography I really enjoy: long-exposure seascapes and wildlife. Sitting in my office chair, with my head starting to nod, it suddenly occurred to me that I could use an ND filter and take longer exposures of the seabirds here to examine their shapes.
I’m sure others have also done this, but it’s something I still enjoy doing once in a while. It’s especially easy now there is the Live ND filter on my OM-1, so I don’t have to screw a filter in front of the lens. I’ve also started to add other creative techniques to the images.
Next time you are trying to start a creative project, put aside some time to daydream. Keep a pen and paper to hand, and if anything comes to mind, jot it down. Daydreams can be as fleeting as those we have when we are asleep.
All of us have experienced loss or suffering at some point in our lives. Somehow, we find a way to grow past it, which changes us.
Suffering and loss make us re-examine our lives and think about what is important. That can be a great source of inspiration for creative thinking. Paradoxically, so can enormously happy events.
If you think of the greatest songs, poems, stories, and works of art, they are all built around emotionally charged human experiences, either good or bad. The same can be true of photography. Moments of intense feelings can motivate and inspire us to take photos. Here’s an example. I’ve recently had two major losses. One of the things that upset me was the meaningless platitudes uttered by others. “I’m sorry for your loss,” or “My thoughts and prayers are with you,” seemed crass clichés when uttered by people whom I believed couldn’t give a flying fruit bat. I’ve since taken that thought and it’s become a foundation of a personal photography project I am starting.
Whether you are grieving or just met the love of your life, think about how that experience has made you notice things you didn’t before. Even if it’s painful and your life is turbulent, try to let the experience inspire you to start a short photographic project of twelve pictures.
As we become adults, we often forget to play. Children do it all the time and they are far more creative than we are. Our jobs and our responsibilities are serious. We are told we are grown up. So, it’s easy to believe that we adults have lost that ability to play.
Yet we still watch movies and read fiction, and enjoy experiencing the excitement, suspense, fright, love, and a myriad of other emotions that we feel when we do that. We put ourselves in the minds of the main characters and sympathize with them.
Even as adults, imaginative play brings joy, and that, in turn, sets our creative juices flowing. Being childlike in our imagination leads us to explore and discover new ways of doing things. We question why things are the way they are and consider different approaches. We imagine ourselves walking in the shoes of other people and thinking about how they would approach a subject.
Imagine you are a character from your favorite work of fiction, as you might have done when you were a child. This could be anyone from Jane Bennet to James Bond. Think about how that character would approach your next photoshoot. I’m not suggesting you dress in clothing from the turn of the nineteenth century or a tux, nor that you should do this for a commercial shoot. Next, try a very different character. Would they do it differently?
Those are just the first five traits that top creators have in common.
What do you do to increase your creativity? Have you tried any of these techniques before? Are you going to give any of them a go? Please let me know how you get on and whether you find your creativity improving.
The following article will look at five more attributes common to creatives, including the most important one of all.
