In the 1960s, Martha Casanave left Southern California and moved to Monterey to study Russian at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She brought her camera with her.

Nearly 60 years later, Casanave is being interviewed in her Pacific Grove apartment, legs curled up on the chair, windows open for a resort-like ocean view. There’s an oversized, saddled giraffe figure standing at the open window, studying the beach. But it’s not the stuffed animal that surprises in this setting but the colors – deep violet, full turquoise, one wall taken over by a big ceramic lizard. It is clear that this mistress of black-and-white photography enjoys color.

“Black-and-white photography seems more evocative,” she says when asked about photographers’ love of black-and-white. “It’s one more step away from reality,” she tests another answer. Also: “Black-and-white photography makes you pay attention to the light.”

There are currently two opportunities to explore Casanave’s work: First, Carmel’s Center for Photographic Art displays 60 pieces, drawing heavily from the iconic portraits published in book form as Trajectories, A Half Century of Portraits (2014).

“Environmental portraiture,” Casanave labels the work. “People pictured in their own spaces.”

But who are those people? First and foremost there are other artists, and then – since her interest in Russia never ceased – Russian and Jewish emigres in the U.S. There are also local icons – photos of and with Ansel Adams, a portrait of late psychiatrist Lotte Marcus with her husband, and a Hungarian friend from whom Casanave got a recipe for chicken paprikash.

The second exhibit is at the Monterey Museum of Art. When MMA Director Cory Madden heard about the CPA exhibit featuring people, she suggested a concurrent one featuring places: Casanave’s two pinhole photography series called Explorations Along an Imaginary Coastline and Explorations Along an Urban Coastline.

The first is an unforgettable series with a mysterious man in a 19th-century suit, staring at the crashing waves “as if in a storm could be found peace,” Casanave says, quoting the Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov.

MARTHA CASANAVE: EXPLORATIONS runs to Aug. 20 at Monterey Museum of Art, 559 Pacific St., Monterey. 372-5477, montereyart.org.

MARTHA CASANAVE: FICTIONS runs May 20-July 9 at Center for Photographic Art, San Carlos and 9th, Carmel. 625-5181, photography.org

When I set foot in the cavernous Georgetown Steam Plant, it was like entering a time machine. The hulking tanks, pipes, and rows of gleaming pressure gauges all seem plucked from a steampunk Tumblr page. “Are these stairs up to code?” I joked to my friend as we ascended rickety wooden steps to the upper level. Dusk light cast the brass railings in shades of gold.

The steam plant is one of Seattle’s best-kept secrets. Built in 1906, just as Seattle’s population was skyrocketing, the plant once powered our electric streetcar system. But as Seattle shifted to hydropower, it soon became obsolete. When the Duwamish River was rerouted in 1911 to allow for larger ships, the plant lost easy access to its water source. It was ultimately decommissioned in 1977, and declared a National Historical Landmark in 1984.

Today, the space is an arts and education hub, with year-round circus, dance, and photography shows. On Saturday, May 13, local photographer and School of Art + Art History + Design professor Eirik Johnson’s show “Leviathan Rising” debuted there. It will be on display through Sunday, May 21, and is free and open to the public.

His exhibition uses the distinct moods of the steam plant to its advantage. The main turbine hall, with its high ceilings and echoey acoustics, is the ideal venue for Johnson’s sound piece. With its rumbling, pulsating tones, his score evokes industrial activity.

Visitors may be surprised, then, to learn that it’s actually composed of recordings from beneath the Duwamish River. Johnson spurs the visitor to step back in time once again and reflect on the river’s original path.

On the plant’s upper level, visitors cross a slender bridge to reach the dark, shadowy boiler room. In this more intimate space, Johnson has projected his gorgeous, beguiling photographs. It’s impossible to resist the urge to stick your head in the coal shoveling holes and shout, “Hello?”

Having read about the project beforehand, I played a game with friends, asking them to guess what the photos depict. Most were totally stumped. With their swirling patterns and hues of burnt orange, cyan, and teal, the photos look more like abstract art than, well, photos. Forgive me for spoiling the answer: These are, in fact, the hulls of boats docked on the shores of the Duwamish. The buildup of rust, salt, and other debris create otherworldly colors and shapes.

One of the joys of “Leviathan Rising” is letting your imagination run wild and spin interpretations. To me, these pools of rust evoke flowers, while deep scratches look like claw marks. Either way, you won’t look at boats the same way after seeing these photos.

The art and steam plant have a symbiotic relationship, each informing the other. One woman wondered, as she poked her head into a dusty office, “Is this part of it?” Indeed, it’s hard to tell what’s art and what isn’t. Johnson’s work thrives off of just this kind of synthesis, marrying the industrial with the graceful. Whether you’re a STEM major or an arts kid, “Leviathan Rising” is a must-see.

More information on the Georgetown Steam Plant and “Leviathan Rising” can be found on their respective websites.

Reach writer Alison Jean Smith at arts@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @AlisonSmith1889

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Vase with yellow flowers

In 2021, while passing Riverside Church in San Antonio, Texas, Herman Ellis Dyal noticed an open door and, after not setting foot inside the building for half a century, entered. Over two years, Dyal photographed the interior of this church, which had been at the centre of his family’s life since the 1940s. He began to return regularly, to spend time with congregants, and document the many spaces no longer in use. The resulting photographs form his first monograph book.All colour images by Herman Ellis Dyal. The Things Not Seen Are Eternal, available via GOST

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) — 15-year-old Arianna Dupont won the prize for a photo she took entitled Rare March Snow in Sabino Creek.

The picture shows a beautiful snowy scene in the Catalina Mountains.

She was selected among nearly 200 Arizona photographers from ages 13 to 18.

Arianna says she’s always been drawn to capture the beauty of Tucson and she’s fortunate to live in such a beautiful city.

Corbin Rouette, another tucson student, won $1,000 for third place.

The Adventures in Nature contest is a partnership between Nature Conservancy Arizona, Arizona Highways Magazine, and Cox Communications

The contest hopes to encourage younger generations to go outdoors.

All of the winners of the contest can be viewed on the Nature Conservancy Website.

Cette année aura lieu la première édition du concours “La Muta”: Les candidats seront exposés dans les commerces du centre-ville et les gagnants seront choisis par le vote du public présent dans la ville La Biennale de Senigallia, votre nouvelle destination : Une ville de la Renaissance entre paysages marins et montagnes, plages de l’Adriatique, expositions photographiques, œuvres d’art accessibles, gastronomie curieuse. Rejoignez et rencontrez des collectionneurs, des conservateurs, des…

Photo by Derek Redd|

Guests peruse 6-foot cubes Wednesday that are part of a photography exhibit held by Bellaire High School photography students and their instructor, artist-in-residence Rebecca Kiger. The photos tell stories about the local environment, such as the progress of preserving the Great Stone Viaduct, water woes in Bridgeport and residents aiding in the efforts of their communities. The exhibit, which will be on display until the end of the month, was made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council and the Center for Contemporary Documentation.

Photos by Derek Redd

Guests peruse 6-foot cubes Wednesday that are part of a photography exhibit held by Bellaire High School photography students and their instructor, artist-in-residence Rebecca Kiger. The photos tell stories about the local environment, such as the progress of preserving the Great Stone Viaduct, water woes in Bridgeport and residents aiding in the efforts of their communities. The exhibit, which will be on display until the end of the month, was made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council and the Center for Contemporary Documentation.

When starting out in photography, you might want to purchase as much gear as possible. However, professional photographers who have been doing this for decades seem to have every lens in the world. It is natural to strive to buy as much gear to be as professional as possible, but the devil is in the details, as it takes decades to amass gear, and even then, the pros still have some things they want to purchase.

For example, I have been toying with the idea of owning a medium format camera for a while now. I’m not saying I will purchase it, but I just might. It all depends on how well work goes in the summer. I digress. While the natural instinct for many beginners would be to simply buy gear, there is an alternative few consider: renting. Renting costs way less, and you can rent any piece of gear you want. For example, if I want to try out something particular before buying, I can just rent it and do the testing. In this article, I will suggest some high-end pro lenses that you should rent and test out as a beginner photographer. These mainly apply to portrait and fashion photographers, however, any image creator will find these lenses useful to some degree in their line of work.

Starting with the king of 50mm lenses, this goes directly against the first piece of advice every photographer gets: get a 50mm f/1.8. While it is a great lens, it is nothing compared to the pro version, which is sharper and more accurate. When I tried that lens out, I noticed that it was quite heavy, which made me realize that I would probably not invest in it.

The second lens that always caught my attention when I was a beginner was the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. It just seemed like a perfect piece of gear that I am simply missing out on. In fact, when I saved up, it was the first piece of real pro gear that I bought back in the day. I still have that lens. It’s a beast. Nowadays, though, I rarely use it as, once again, it is a heavy piece of gear. Another reason is that it forces me to be naturally distant from the subject, which is not desirable if I want to make a connection and really work with the model in front of my camera. The only reason for not selling the lens is that if a client requests to have a shallow depth of field, I end up using the f/2.8 at 100+mm to get it.

The most boring lens, which I coincidentally reviewed as well. The reason it is boring is that it has none of the cool features that other lenses do. The zoom range is average, the narrow depth of field is almost nonexistent, and the excitement is mild. At the same time, this is the lens I use 95% of the time. While the zoom range does not offer super wide or super-telephoto images, it offers enough to produce fashion, beauty, and other work. I can get full-body, half-body, and close-up images with the 24-70mm. I strongly believe that this is a lens every photographer should try and use.

Going to wider apertures and focal lengths, this is a lens that many photographers enjoy using for full-body portraits. No wonder, as it offers both a relatively wide field of view, as well as a wide aperture which can help create shallow depth of field. Such a lens can be great in an event, wedding, portrait, or fashion photography bag. The high-end versions of this lens offer extremely good sharpness and accuracy, as well as fast and responsive autofocus.

This list would not be complete without this lens. I mean, can we honestly skip this marvelous piece of gear that so many portrait photographers use to capture their images? It offers everything needed to make interesting images: long focal length, wide aperture, and, what’s more, sharpness. At the same time, if you try out this lens, you will quickly find out that it is not all sunshine and rainbows, and it, in fact, has a few downsides, such as weight and focusing. If you shoot a close-up portrait at f/1.2, you will quickly realize that the subject’s nose disappears, as well as the ears. The 85mm is better used for half-body images as then you get the subject more or less in focus. Then again, sharpness and focusing are big problems with this particular lens. The elements are huge, and if you get your hands on the older versions of this lens, you might quickly be disappointed with the results. For Canon 5D Mark II owners: forget it. I have never seen anything focus worse than a 5D Mark II with an EF 85mm f/1.2. This is where I have to admit that having a mirrorless camera is much better than a DSLR. Due to the focusing technology that modern cameras and lenses have, you can easily get incredible shots with f/1.2 at 85mm. It really helps you focus on shooting and not the tech.

Closing Thoughts

In conclusion, as a beginner photographer, it is a must to test out lenses before making any big purchases. Renting gear is an affordable and effective way to determine which lenses work best for your style of photography. I strongly recommend doing this. I think that selecting the right lenses can make a significant difference in your photography. It is important to consider your style and the type of photographs you want to create before making any purchases. Remember that it takes years for pros to amass gear, so take the time to test and experiment before buying gear. With time, practice, and the right gear, you can take your photography to the next level.

What lenses have you tested out throughout the years? Did you end up buying them? What were the best and worst lenses that you tried? We would love to know in the comments.