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Behind the lens of the Suns unofficial photographer

By in Photography

Behind the lens of the Suns unofficial photographer

PHOENIX — Gabe Chavez is the man behind the lens that has helped capture the essence of the Phoenix Suns from a unique standpoint.

“[It was] late 2016 and I was taking a few pictures everywhere else. I came to a game one day and I saw a lady had her own small camera. I figured you know what? Why not give it a try and bring my camera?” Chavez said.

So, he bought a cheap ticket and snuck his way into the lower bowl, snapping pictures and tagging players on Instagram. Little did he know that one game would change his life.

“Literally the very next day, I got a DM from one of the players that used to play for us,” Chavez recalled. “‘Yo, we like all the pictures you’re taking.’ He’s like, ‘We want to know if you can keep taking some for us.?’ And that’s when he was like, ‘We got a ticket for all the home games for you.'”

“As a Phoenix kid growing up, not being able to go that many games, that moment right there I was just jumping up and down. I was like, you know, a kid on Christmas.”

Under the Instagram handle @savagee, Chavez has gained more than 31K followers. His relationships with the players offer a different view through his photos.

“Cam Payne likes ones that show emotion,” he said. “Book’s transitioned to more of, I would say, like an old soul in a sense. He likes the black and white stuff now.”

“That’s probably one of the coolest things to me is being able to grow a relationship with these guys,” he said. “Even before I met Book, I was a fan of him for so long. And now, you know, we’re good friends.”

Just a kid from Maryvale who took his camera to a game one day and carved out a niche role as the Suns unofficial personal photographer.

“I still feel like it’s not real sometimes,” he said. “To be able to travel to away games, and getting the access I do, it’s just a blessing.”

If someone had told his high school self in his first photography class that he would now be doing this?

“I would have called you a liar,” Chavez said.

His truth for everyone else?

“Find a dream, chase it and don’t let nobody tell you, you can’t.”

Contemporary Lakota artist showcased at the Sioux Indian Museum

By in Native

Contemporary Lakota artist showcased at the Sioux Indian Museum

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City is showcasing a new Oglala Lakota artist, Gene Swallow.

June 16 through August 27 the Doll Revolution will showcase Swallows’ work. Some pieces will also be for sale.

Conor McMahon, the senior curator for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, said what made Swallow stand out as an artist is that the museum wanted to showcase a contemporary Lakota artist who is making something unique.

“It features a variety of his dolls; he’s created all these dolls, especially for this exhibit. It includes some traditional baby dolls, as well as his unique animal-human hybrid dolls, and then also some fashion dolls,” said McMahon.

About four exhibits a year are showcased at the Sioux Indian Museum featuring Native American artists.

Copyright 2023 KOTA. All rights reserved.

Brides claim a Middle TN photographer cancelled before wedding

By in Photography

Brides claim a Middle TN photographer cancelled before wedding

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Dozens of brides want to warn others about a wedding photographer based in Robertson County. Several people have claimed they spent months planning a wedding.

Then leading up to the big day, Madelynn Helm, the photographer they hired said she was not going to make it.

“It just felt, at that moment, like everything was crashing… Like what else is going to go wrong,” Caryn Crawford Brazier said as she described the frenzy, she experienced on her wedding day when the photographer who showed up was not the photographer she hired. “I was instantly shocked and kind of astounded like, what’s going on here and then she told me that Madelynn double booked herself which really floored me.”

The bride said she did not see this coming, especially when the contract she signed included a ‘failure to perform clause’.

The ‘failure to perform clause’ stated: “If the photographer cannot perform the services outlined in the contract due to illness or any other cause beyond the control of the photographer, the photographer will refund all monies paid, including retainer, and have no further liability with respect to this contract.”

Several other brides from a private Facebook group called, “Wedding Everything Middle TN” said wedding photographer Madelynn Helm canceled days before their big day. Then Helm scrambled to find someone to fill in for her. Many of those brides were left hoping a photographer would show up and create the pictures they had envisioned.

“The photography was something I was really really intent on getting right and now here we are,” said Kassandra Davers Wence.

Wence said Helm made the nearly four hour drive from Robertson County, Tennessee, to Sullivan, Indiana, for her wedding in October.

“I guess a red flag was that she seemed to be too good to be true in the beginning… Too good of a deal. Too good of a discount. Very very minimal travel fee,” Wence said she paid helm for a full day of photography, but was only sent photos from the ceremony.

She wants to get the rest of her pictures back or be compensated for those lost memories.

“I want the photos of me and my family and me and my extended family because I can’t just do that again. There will never be pictures of me, my mom, and my dad and my husband on my wedding day. If the pictures are gone, then they are gone,” Wence explained.

Helm told WSMV4 she sent that bride all the photos worth editing.

“I never included eyes closed/ blurry/ things that you wouldn’t want anyways,” Helm said.

Helm did admit, she owes people money after overbooking and setting her prices low.

“I’m working on paying them back because I work minimum wage outside of this. I am working on paying them back,” Helm said.

She has taken down her photography website and is not booking weddings at this time.

“I messed up. I know I messed up, but I am human and I am fixing it,” Helm said.

The Tennessee Professional Photographers Association sent this advice for those looking to hire a photographer:

  • Always ask about a business license and liability insurance. All legitimate professionals will have both.
  • Do not hire based solely on photographs seen on social media sites. A Facebook page with a few photos is not the mark of a professional.
  • If the work seems inconsistent from wedding to wedding, use a reverse image search on Google to see if the posted photos are from another photographer. Scammers often steal photos from other photographers and post them as their own.
  • Google Reviews! Always check reviews to learn what others have experienced.
  • Most pro photographers will schedule an in-person or online consultation prior to booking to ensure that they are a good fit for your special day. If you are being asked for a deposit before the meeting, it’s a good indication they are only looking for your money.
  • Check with your venue to see if they have worked with the photographer or if they have any recommendations. Other wedding vendors are also great resources such as florists, musicians, and caterers.
  • The Professional Photographers of America offers multiple accreditations, look for a Certified Professional Photographer or a Master of Wedding Photography for someone who has proven skill and serious dedication to the art and craft of photography. PPA hosts https://www.findaphotographer.com/ for a list of professionals in your area listed by specialty.
  • Ask for references and to see work from recent bookings. They should be able to show printed work or have a website with a portfolio to view.
  • Never place a deposit without a written contract.
  • Ask a local photographer that does not specialize in weddings for a recommendation. Many photographers belong to networks and associations and are happy to refer you to another professional that is a specialist.
  • A professional will offer multiple options for your finished work including a variety of albums, prints, & wall art and some may offer finished files for social media.
  • Ask for referrals from friends, family, and coworkers who have previously hired a photographer they loved.
  • A great wedding photographer is someone you will have a rapport with and will inspire confidence. If you don’t feel comfortable with someone, trust your instincts and walk away.
  • Always remember that hiring a photographer for your wedding is an investment in something that happens once in a lifetime. Someone who is experienced in wedding photography knows the amount of work involved and will charge accordingly. The extra money spent will save heartache later.

Copyright 2023 WSMV. All rights reserved.

Juneteenth photography collection to elevate black women

By in Photography

Juneteenth photography collection to elevate black women

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – The Sports Bra in Northeast Portland will showcase an exhibit in recognition of Juneteenth.

It’s a photography collection to help elevate women in the sports industry, featuring sports images from black women photographers.

“It is always important to advocate for black women photographers especially for sports photographers because there’s not a lot of us,” Curator Amanda Cain explained.

Amanda is the NHL’s first black female photographer and says the exhibition is a celebration of black women photographers. With over 250 photos submitted, she narrowed it down to 25 pieces done by 15 artists.

“It was mostly based off of feel. It was like yes, I want to show showcase women’s hockey, because that is a thing that needs to be advocated more of,” Cain said.

One of the artists displayed, Dominique Whittaker, a photographer for the Portland Timbers and Thorns for two seasons.

“I shoot a lot of matches where I’m the only woman or only black woman. And to know that this space and Amanda has put together, this group has been… It’s just heartwarming,” Whittaker said.

Whittaker is showcasing a photo of Thorns Forward, Sophia Smith in a match against the Houston Dash.

“I love a good pun, so it’s called So-phisticated,” says Whittaker. “I show her and all of her strength and brilliance. In that moment, you can see is the focus and the determination and how she approached situation, and you can feel joy.”

Whittaker says she takes dozenS of shots in a match, but when you know, you know.

“There’s a perfect storm. I would say a perfect storm. I would say I’ve just you being in the spot on the side as a photographer and you see the action coming and kind of know what’s going to transpire in front of you and it’s just making sure you’ve got all your settings and you’re just going feel when I am taking photos where I just capture what is the women’s pass to kind of come back and you’re like I got it.” says Whittaker.

The photos are for sale and prices start at $150, just contact The Sports Bra.

Copyright 2023 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.

Young artists display their ‘Circular Stories’ in art exhibit

By in Art World News

Young artists display their ‘Circular Stories’ in art exhibit

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After participating in a three-weekend art workshop, young artists in San Benito County presented their completed pieces at a student art exhibit titled “Circular Stories” on June 9 at the Leslie Garratt Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6359 in San Juan Bautista. 

Local artist Graciela Serna Nutter instructed the workshop series, which was offered to youth ages seven to 15 for three consecutive Saturdays in May at El Teatro Campesino in San Juan. 

“It turned out to be a lot more amazing than I anticipated,” Nutter said of the exhibit. “This is the very first time I put this on.”

Nutter, who has also taught art at Calaveras and Spring Grove schools, said her approach to teaching art shifted post-pandemic. 

“There is a distinct change and difference—it almost breaks my heart—to enter into the classroom,” she said. “What worked prior isn’t working today. They’re coming from a deeper place now. There’s a lot more they’re carrying.” 

She said students did a lot of structured “ice-breaker stuff” on the first day of the workshop. 

“It was structured in a particular way to open that door, like ‘Ahh, this is a safe space,’ and those are exactly the words I used with them,” she said. “I said, ‘I’m going to let you know that as artists, this is your space. I was very fluid to allow them to go, ‘Oh wow, this feels good.’ It truly made a difference.”  

Nutter grew up in San Juan Bautista and has been active with El Teatro Campesino for many years, holding the title of playwright, director and producer with the company. However, she said she has only recently begun putting her own art on canvas, which also led to her opening her own art company, Desert Seed Custom Canvas.  

“I called it ‘Desert Seed’ because like the desert seed, it can stay dormant for 50 years and then bloom,” she said. “And like the desert seed, I began to do canvas art at a later stage of life. So I bloomed after 50 years.”

Nutter used supplies from her business and home studios for the workshop, which was made possible from a grant she received through the San Benito County Arts Council.

“She’s one of our Arts Express grantees,” Arts Council Director of Marketing & Outreach Heidi Jumper said. “It’s a call for artists and community organizations to apply for funding for arts projects that serve San Benito County residents. She had applied for that specific project last cycle and then was awarded the grant.”

Just like the exhibit, the workshop was titled “Circular Stories.” Students were guided in creating multimedia art that was divided into four sections, reflecting their family, selves, friends and community. 

“My family and friends really inspired me,” said student artist Julia Navarro Ruiz, who was explaining the written names of her best friends in one section on her canvas. 

She then pointed to another section with a small building in between a row of big buildings. 

“And that represents my small house full of big love, compared to a big city,” Ruiz said. “The buildings really aren’t that high, it’s just Hollister, but I just love the expression.” 

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Major Morris Photography Opening Reception

By in Photography

Major Morris Photography Opening Reception

Major Morris

Anne-Grethe Morris

Major Morris

Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 2 PM

Mission Valley Branch Library

N/A

Free

As a photographer in the 1960s, Major Morris (1921-2016) captured scenes of inner-city life and protest marches. After the Civil Rights era, he earned a master’s degree from Harvard University and became an educator, training teachers in diversity and cultural sensitivity and working as a university affirmative action officer.

Audience: This event is recommended for adults. Children are welcome!

Event Supported By

Mission Valley Branch Library

858-573-5008

Pojoaque Farmers’ Market showcases Native performers

By in Native

Pojoaque Farmers’ Market showcases Native performers
image

On a recent, breezy Wednesday at Poeh Cultural Center in Pojoaque Pueblo, guitarist and songwriter Ailani played music while people sold tomato plants and Frito pies.

It’s part of a weekly farmers market that has taken place for several years. Since last year it has also hosted performances by Native musicians and dancers.

Museum specialist Jazlyn Sanchez started inviting Native artists and dancers to play at the Wednesday market after the center, which showcases Indigenous history and art, received a grant.

“They love to be in our market, they love to perform, they love to just be around the Poeh Cultural Center,” she said.

Sanchez said lots of people hear something they haven’t before.

“I think the people that come here definitely don’t know the majority of the artists that we have and the performers that we have, but now they do,” she said.

She said as the center showcases Native art and history, it makes sense to expand its scope to the performing arts at the weekly event.

MCA Denver’s summer exhibitions investigate the histories of Black and

By in Native

MCA Denver’s summer exhibitions investigate the histories of Black and

Large collages of layered red paint, diagonal lines and faint silkscreen images stick out from the walls as a video of two people reenacting stress positions on street pavement plays. It’s difficult for the eyes to reconcile the images within these collages, but the longer one looks, the clearer the layered histories become.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) is now hosting two summer exhibitions featuring the works of Tomashi Jackson and Boulder-based artist Anna Tsouhlarakis.

The exhibitions will be on display until Sept. 10 and visitors can also plan to attend talks with Jackson on Aug. 1 and Tsouhlarakis on June 27 at MCA’s Holiday Theater.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Tomashi Jackson specializes in creating research driven work using paintings, printmaking, video, photography, fiber and sculpture. Titled, “Across The Universe,” the exhibition both celebrates and investigates the experiences of American communities of color as they pertain to issues of voting rights, housing, redlining, access of transportation and police brutality.

“What makes this show special is that she’s done these projects and investigations in Texas, Ohio, Georgia, the Hamptons. But this is the first show to bring the projects together,” said museum curator Miranda Lash.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

In her silkscreen print, titled “Make Two Black Property Owners Look Like One,” Jackson plays with color to bring together two histories of Black property ownership in New York.

On the left is an image of Albro Lyons, a nineteenth-century abolitionist and resident of Seneca Village. The Lyons family owned property in one of the first free Black communities in New York before residents were displaced for the construction of Central Park.

On the right is an image of McConnell Dorce, a Brooklyn man who lost his property to New York’s Third Party Transfer program in 2018, which can declare buildings derelict, seize the building and hand it to developers for a nominal fee or, in some case, for free.

“When you look at these histories in juxtaposition, they become almost indistinguishable,” Lash said. “These are actually two different reds. [One] is more orange and [the other] is more purple. Something that she’s really great at is applying color theory to social history.”

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Jackson’s work is heavily informed by Josef Albers’ theory of Color Relativity, which is based on how colors are seen relative to its surroundings.

“When you see two colors in juxtaposition in a painting, the colors inform each other.” Lash explained. “If you see orange next to black, it looks lighter or brighter next to white.”

This idea has then been incorporated in Jackson’s work over the years by layering and collaging images of landmark court cases, such as 1965’s Brown v. Board of Education, which questioned society’s perception of skin color with contemporary examples of police brutality.

Jackson will often use colors in high contrast that are opposite on the color wheel to intentionally make it difficult for the eyes to translate what they are seeing.

“These are intertwined legacies. They are not separate. It applies to how we operate in society too. When you have ideas in high contrast, that’s where the tension is,” Lash said.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

The artist also uses materials in places she’s investigating, such as soil from Texas and election ephemera from Georgia, as backings for paintings. She most recently employed marble dust as part of her most recent work on Colorado.

The exhibit features 9 years of work by Jackson and begins in the upper level. It concludes with her most recent work in the lower level, featuring a video she recently filmed in Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

The first level will also feature an exhibition by Boulder-based artist, Anna Tsouhlarakis, who uses minimal text, color and humor to subvert non-Native expectations of what Native art should or shouldn’t be.

Titled “Indigenous Absurdities,” the Navajo, Creek and Greek artist gives the viewer an inside look into her own identity.

“Humor is kind of an inroad into looking at community, it’s a way of marking that you’re part of a group, when you have a joke that you understand,” said museum curator Leilani Lynch.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

In her sculpture titled, “She Must Be A Matriarch,” the artist plays off of a 1918 sculpture by James Earle Fraser that depicts a slumped over Native man on horseback. Fraser’s piece has become an iconic symbol of Native identity since it debuted. Tsouhlarakis turns this image on its head and presents a female-forward piece that depicts women’s hands pointing forward.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Works in the exhibition often use prototypically Native materials, such as binding leather, bead work and tobacco lids, which are traditionally used for Native jingle dresses. But there are also many instances of contemporary materials, such as blown up condoms, a metal wrench, beer kegs and Ikea furniture.

Each work is titled with a joke, pulling from modern sources like billboards or social media memes.

“In her perception of what is expected of Native artists today is a lot of traditional, craft based work. She’s pushing against that with a more minimal aesthetic, as well as humor too,” Lynch said.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Tsouhlarakis’ exhibition is different from Jackson’s in that color is mostly absent, but it similarly attempts to investigate the ongoing narrative of community groups by challenging or resurfacing the histories that have shaped today’s experience.

“When we were thinking about how these exhibitions would fit together, we wanted to work with artists that had through lines and complemented each other,” Lynch said. “They both look at histories and communities in a deep way, just through their own approaches.”

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