About

Posts by :

Why Believing in Yourself Matters in Photography

By in Photography

Why Believing in Yourself Matters in Photography

Being a creative is often anything but easy, and doubt in your abilities can creep in due to all sorts of factors. That can have serious consequences on your ability to produce images, and that can lead to a spiral of reinforcement that hinders your progress. This excellent video essay features an experienced landscape photographer discussing the issue and why a positive mindset can lead you to compelling photos even in poor conditions. 

Coming to you from Christian Irmler – Landscape Photography, this great video tutorial discusses the importance of self-confidence in landscape photographer. As Irmler discusses, it can be discouraging when conditions are not in your favor, but I firmly believe that compelling images can be made in any weather or environment. The key is not just having confidence in your abilities, as Irmler discusses, but embracing the light and weather you are given rather than working against it. Too often, photographers have a shot in mind and try to force it to happen when the light simply is not conducive to it, often missing out on better options and coming home frustrated. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Irmler. 

And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, “Photographing the World: Japan With Elia Locardi!” 

Twisted Arts launches inaugural ‘2-Spirit Fest’ to uplift indigenous Two-Spirit artists in Tulsa

By in Native

Twisted Arts launches inaugural ‘2-Spirit Fest’ to uplift indigenous Two-Spirit artists in Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Twisted Arts is proud to announce the inaugural “2-Spirit Fest,” a groundbreaking festival that aims to empower and uplift Two-Spirit Native American artists by providing a platform to showcase their talent, creativity, and cultural heritage.

The festival, which will take place in Tulsa on Oct. 14 and 15, features a diverse range of genres and artists, deeply rooted in their traditional cultures.

the ‘Two-Spirit Festival’ aims to educate and inspire audiences about the unique experiences and contributions of the Two-Spirit community while supporting and promoting the work of established and emerging artists.

This free event will showcase musical performances by local and non-local artists, video installations, and panels.

This diverse range of activities ensures something for everyone and creates an inclusive space where people can engage with and appreciate the unique perspectives and talents of Two-Spirit indigenous artists.

The full schedule and more information are available on Twisted Arts’ website.

Oct. 15 event lineup:

  • Noon – Doors Open
  • 12:30 p.m. – Wade Blevins: Opening Drums
  • 12:45 p.m. – John Hawk Co-Cke: Opening Ceremony
  • 1 p.m. Honoree 1: Tony Staton
  • 1:10 p.m. – Roger Kuhn
  • 2 p.m. – Panel: Indigiqueer
  • 3 p.m. – Honoree 2: John Hawk Co-Cke
  • 3:15 p.m. – Wade Blevins: Closing Drums

This event is located at 3306 Charles Page Boulevard.

Twisted Arts were founded in Tulsa, Twisted Arts was created to highlight local, national, and international LGBTQ+ artists through year-round programs which include an annual fall film festival, monthly film screenings and performances, a LGBTQ+ youth filmmaking Summer camp, members-only sneak peeks, access to year-round short films, special events, and private screenings with directors, actors, and other queer media icons.

A Photographer’s Review of the New Google Pixel 8 Pro Smartphone |

By in Photography

A Photographer’s Review of the New Google Pixel 8 Pro Smartphone |

The new Google Pixel 8 Pro smartphone is here, and the company continues to place some pretty neat photography innovations in their devices. This excellent video review takes a look at the new phone, particularly its photo features, and shows the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in usage.

Coming to you from Julia Trotti, this great video review takes a look at the photography features of the Google Pixel 8 Pro smartphone. While the Pixel series already had some innovative photo and video features, I find two of the newer introductions quite interesting, at least if they work well in practice. Best Take, which is meant for group photos, takes a burst of photos to increase the chances of capturing a shot where each person’s eyes are open and they are smiling. You can then automatically create a blended image that features everyone’s best expressions. Meanwhile, Audio Magic Eraser leverages machine learning models to identify distracting sounds in video, like the blowing wind or people talking in the background, and allows you to then remove them for cleaner and less distracting sound. They are some pretty neat features that should please both casual and power users. Check out the video above for Trotti’s full thoughts! 

Getting the most out of a photography conference

By in Photography

Getting the most out of a photography conference

Photography conferences are a fantastic opportunity for photographers of all levels to improve their skills, network with like-minded individuals, and gain inspiration from renowned professionals. These events bring together photographers from diverse backgrounds and styles, creating a melting pot of creativity and knowledge. To ensure that you make the most of your time at a photography conference, it’s important to be well-prepared and have a clear plan. I’ve just come back from my second-ever photography conference. I learnt a lot from the first one and even more from my second. Here are a few strategies that may help you get the most out of your next photography conference experience.

Set clear goals

Before attending a photography conference, it’s essential to establish clear goals. What do you hope to achieve during the event? Are you looking to improve your technical skills, build your network, or gain insight into a specific genre of photography? Having well-defined objectives will help you focus your efforts during the conference and make the most of your time there. While not always possible, sometimes having an open mind can be an advantage. Or perhaps, you’re just there to have fun and enjoy yourself. That can be a goal too.

Unicorn Warrior with Louise Sedgeman and Tia

Research the speakers and schedule

One of the key benefits of photography conferences is the opportunity to learn from industry experts and accomplished photographers. Research the list of speakers and their topics in advance, if possible. Identify the sessions that align with your goals and interests, and create a schedule to ensure you don’t miss out on any valuable presentations or workshops. However, if you have a jam-packed workshop schedule, this is not always possible. But try to fit in one or two if you can.

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Bring the right gear

Photography conferences often provide hands-on workshops and opportunities to shoot in unique locations. To make the most of these experiences, bring the necessary gear. Ensure you have your camera, lenses, tripod, spare batteries, memory cards and any other essential accessories. Don’t forget a notepad or tablet to take notes during sessions. Ask beforehand (if possible) on gear suggestions for the various workshops.

Network effectively

Networking is a significant aspect of photography conferences. Take advantage of the opportunity to connect with fellow photographers, speakers, and vendors. Attend social events, such as cocktail hours and networking lunches, to engage in meaningful conversations and exchange ideas. Remember to bring business cards and be prepared to follow up with your new contacts after the conference.

Ask questions and engage

During sessions and workshops, don’t be afraid to ask questions and engage with the speakers. Photography conferences provide a platform for direct interaction with experts in the field. Take advantage of this by seeking clarification, sharing your thoughts and participating in discussions. Your active engagement will enhance your learning experience.

Be organized

One of the biggest things I found was to make sure you stay organized. Write up a spreadsheet beforehand, of what events, workshops, and talks you are going to. Keep notes of who is the lecturer or instructor, the locations, the time (factor in travel time), what gear you will need and how you will get to and from each event. Leaving time between events for travel, breaks and such. Make sure all batteries are fully charged (and bring a charger with you) and all SD Cards are empty and formatted beforehand.

Attend hands-on workshops

Participating in hands-on workshops can be a great way to learn new techniques and improve your skills. These sessions often cover topics like lighting, post-processing, and composition. Look for workshops that align with your interests and be ready to get your hands dirty. Alternatively, look for workshops that take you out of your comfort zone and can stretch your creativity.

try something completely different
Try something completely different

Visit the vendor booths

Photography conferences typically feature a variety of vendor booths where you can explore the latest photography equipment, software and services. Take the time to visit these booths, ask questions and test out new gear. You might discover tools or resources that can enhance your photography work. This can also come under the heading of networking. You never know what connections you might make.

Stay inspired

Photography conferences can be overwhelming with so much to see and learn. It’s essential to stay inspired and motivated throughout the event. Surround yourself with the work of other photographers, attend creative sessions, and explore the location where the conference is being held to find new sources of inspiration. While it is possible that some of the workshops you attend are not what you expected, keep an open mind. Something may not be your ideal photography choice, but there is usually some tidbit of information or technique to obtain from each of them.

Enjoy the activities
Enjoy the activities

Review and reflect

After the conference, take some time to review your notes, the connections you made, and the knowledge you gained. Reflect on how the conference has contributed to your photography journey. Consider how you can apply what you’ve learned to your work and your goals.

Finally, photography conferences are invaluable opportunities for photographers to grow, learn, and connect with their peers. There’s a lot you can do to get the most out of these events. Set clear goals. Research the schedule. Network effectively. Ask questions and engage in workshops. Visit vendor booths. And if course, stay inspired. Remember to follow up with the contacts you make and apply the knowledge you gain to your photography endeavors. By approaching photography conferences with a well-planned strategy, you will be more organized, less stressed and more likely to get the most out of the events.

Flushed out? Father of conceptualism’s greatest work is fake, say historians

By in Art World News

Flushed out? Father of conceptualism’s greatest work is fake, say historians

For more than a century, the art world has celebrated Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain. His work, simply a urinal signed and dated “R Mutt 1917”, is widely regarded as a pinnacle of 20th-century art, with a replica on display in Tate Modern, London. For some, Duchamp is the father of conceptualism, the so-called art of ideas. For others, he is a charlatan responsible for the demise of traditional artistry.

Now two leading art historians are challenging “the whole foundation stone of conceptual art” after uncovering what they say is evidence that the urinal has been erroneously attributed to the French-born artist, who simply played along with the charade.

Research by Glyn Thompson, a former lecturer in art history at Leeds University, asserts that Fountain could not have been the idea of Duchamp and that he had instead stolen it from a German Dada artist, Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.

Thompson has identified her distinctive handwriting on the urinal, and he can now show that Duchamp could not have bought his urinal in a New York plumbing shop as he had claimed because it was a unique model from Philadelphia. It is a city that Duchamp never visited but where Von Freytag-Loringhoven was based at the time, escaping charges of shoplifting in New York.

Thompson has identified the actual urinal model submitted by Von Freytag-Loringhoven to the Society of Independent Artists exhibition in 1917 in New York, although it was not displayed and survives only in an Alfred Stieglitz photograph. He has even tracked down the only two surviving examples of the same make and model.

The evidence challenges Duchamp’s 1966 claim to have obtained his urinal from the J L Mott Iron Works in Manhattan in explaining his supposedly punning “R Mutt” signature. “Mutt comes from Mott Works, the name of a large sanitary equipment manufacturer,” he once said. “But Mott was too close so I altered it to Mutt, after the daily cartoon strip ‘Mutt and Jeff” with which everyone was familiar.”

Thompson has established that the company neither made this particular model nor sold it to the general public. “The pseudonym Mutt could not have come from the name Mott,” he said. Instead, he said that “R Mutt” reproduced on the urinal in the hand of Von Freytag-Loringhoven, who died in poverty in Paris in 1927, was a pun on the German word for impoverishment, armut.

Julian Spalding, former director of galleries in Sheffield, Manchester and Glasgow, will include the research in his forthcoming book, Art Exposed, to be published by Pallas Athene Books in November. “This evidence absolutely disproves Duchamp’s authorship of the urinal,” he said. “It means that the whole foundation stone of conceptual art just collapses. A work of art is not a work of art just because somebody says it is.

“This changes the history of art, and has huge implications for the contemporary art market, and the millions that have been invested in it.”

Spalding’s track record includes establishing award-winning museums, with Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art among them. In his 2003 book The Eclipse of Art he criticised Duchamp’s urinal for effectively saying that anything can be a work of art if an artist says it is.

Yesterday, he voiced frustration that the art establishment had refused to accept Von Freytag-Loringhoven’s authorship, as originally proposed by Irene Gammel in 2002, and ignored evidence in a 1917 letter in which Duchamp told his sister that “a woman friend” had submitted “a urinal as a sculpture” to an exhibition.

Over the years, Spalding has tried in vain to stage a public debate over whether a urinal could be art: “Nobody will discuss with me what they see in all this stuff. I’m now proved right.”

In his book, he argues that Von Freytag-Loringhoven’s work was more complex than Duchamp’s, and that she had submitted her urinal to an exhibition as the world expected America to declare war against her motherland, Germany. This, he claims, explains the signature R Mutt – mutter in German meaning mother, as well as armut, meaning poverty. “She was saying to America ‘don’t piss on my country’. Elsa’s urinal has many layers of meaning. These are all hidden under Duchamp’s puerile misappropriation.”

Artist Marcel Duchamp in 1960. He leans on a sculpture and stands in front of an abstract paining. He looks into the distance.

Von Freytag-Loringhoven appears in Memories of the Future, the acclaimed 2019 novel by Siri Hustvedt, who has previously argued that she was the real artist behind Duchamp’s Fountain. Responding to the latest discoveries, Hustvedt said: “Strong arguments for reattribution of the urinal to [her] are bound to be met with intransigence from the art industrial complex. There are too many careers, too much money, and a whole historical narrative at stake.

“There is also the simple fact that, had the work been attributed to Elsa from the beginning, it would never have reached art heaven. The perception of it would have been entirely different. Contextual reality, including the masculine enhancement effect is part of perception.”

In 1964 Duchamp reproduced more urinals, one of which is in Tate Modern, whose website says of Von Freytag-Loringhoven: “It seems improbable that she would have not have vaunted her creation of a work that had caused such a flurry of press interest.”

Spalding argues that Duchamp’s own paintings were “laboured artifices, self-conscious, cubist-cum-futurist concoctions un-enlivened by any imagination, let alone by any sparks of inspiration”, and that it is hardly surprising that he gave up painting: “His claim to have made the urinal was his revenge on art.”

Ruth Weisberg’s ‘Touchstones’ Exhibition Reveals a Dialogue with History

By in Printmaking

Ruth Weisberg’s ‘Touchstones’ Exhibition Reveals a Dialogue with History
The essence of exploration and reflection in contemporary art finds poignant expression in “Ruth Weisberg: Touchstones,” a forthcoming exhibition at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts in Pasadena, opening on October 22, with a reception from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.  The artist, Ruth Weisberg, will be present to inaugurate this immersion into her artistic dialogue with history (a theme persistent in her works). The exhibition will continue through December 23. Located at 600 South Lake Avenue in Pasadena, Jack Rutberg Fine Arts has curated a space where visitors can traverse through Weisberg’s decades-long investigation into the personal and collective memory, set against the backdrop of art history. Her works, whether they be paintings, drawings or original prints, echo the whispers of past masters like William Blake and Titian, while engaging with the contemporary narrative. A focal point of the exhibition is “The Blessing,” a piece that previously graced the Norton Simon Museum in 2008 when Weisberg was invited to create a series inspired by the museum’s collection. This initiative marked her as the first contemporary artist to hold a solo exhibition at the museum, a precedent she set once more at the Huntington Museum in 1999. Through layers of color and texture, Weisberg creates a conduit between the past and the present. Her pieces such as “La Comedia e Finita” (1977) and the more recent “Brief Encounter” (2023) illustrate the enduring conversation between different art forms and historical epochs. Among the collection is also “Waterbourne” (1973), a symbolic rendering of a personal journey into motherhood and a broader reflection on women’s empowerment. This piece, alongside others, underscores Weisberg’s significant role in advancing the narrative of contemporary women artists. The thematic landscape of Weisberg’s work extends to reflections on diaspora, homecoming, and rites of passage. Her depictions evoke memories of her own
«< 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 >»