Photography enthusiasts in Old Lyme are in for a treat as the Connecticut Valley Camera Club (CVCC) gears up to host a hands-on workshop focused on mastering technical lighting indoors. Scheduled for March 4, at the Old Lyme PGN Library, the event promises to illuminate the art of creating studio-quality lighting conditions in confined spaces.

Workshop Overview: A Beacon for Budding Photographers

The upcoming workshop is designed to cater to photographers interested in tabletop and reflective object photography. Under the guidance of skilled photographers, participants will learn how to manipulate small off-camera strobes to achieve their desired lighting outcomes. Drawing inspiration from David Hobby’s renowned “Strobist” series, the session will delve into the versatility of using compact lighting solutions to craft a variety of lighting environments within a small workspace.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their cameras to the workshop. The session is structured to be interactive, with photography stations set up for participants to experiment with achieving the perfect shot. It’s highlighted that cameras equipped with a flash Hot Shoe are necessary for activating the remote flash trigger, a crucial component for participating in the workshop. While not mandatory, a good grasp of manual exposure settings is advantageous, and the use of tripods, although not required, is suggested.

Expanding Horizons: The CVCC’s Commitment to Photography Education

The Connecticut Valley Camera Club’s mission extends beyond just one workshop. With a robust schedule of in-person and Zoom presentations, the club is dedicated to nurturing the skills of photographers at every level. The emphasis is on technical and creative skill enhancement, facilitated through a mixture of presentations and interactive workshops. Club members also have the opportunity to exhibit their work, fostering a community of shared knowledge and growth.

Photographers of all experience levels find a welcoming community within the CVCC, one that encourages exploration, experimentation, and expression through the photographic medium.

Seizing the Moment: A Call to Photographic Action

As the workshop date approaches, photography aficionados in and around Old Lyme are encouraged to seize this unique opportunity. Not only will participants walk away with a deeper understanding of indoor lighting techniques, but they will also join a community passionate about capturing the world through a lens.

This hands-on experience is more than just a workshop; it’s a doorway to the vast potential of photography. Whether you’re a seasoned photographer or someone just starting out, the CVCC’s Technical Lighting Indoors workshop is poised to be a pivotal moment in your photographic journey.

The United States Postal Service celebrates iconic photographer Ansel Adams with a special capsule full of stamps. It honors his impact on photography and the environmental conservation. His work is done in black and white, capturing the American West while preserving memories of the natural landscapes in his photos.

This includes views of Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park. The stamp collection honors his legacy and also brings his perspective of nature right to the public. The tradition of honoring America’s cultural heritage is an important topic to Adams. His work has played a role in bringing awareness to the vulnerable beauty of the wilderness across America. The capsule features 16 stamps in total.

Image Credit: US Postal Service

Tupelo resident Merrell Rogers has once again captured the essence of beauty through his lens, securing a spot in the prestigious American Rose Society calendar for the third time in four years. His remarkable photographs of roses have been selected from hundreds of submissions, making it into the calendar that features 60 images each year, showcasing the main image above and four featured on the calendar page.

Artistry in Bloom: The Journey to Recognition

Rogers, known for his keen eye for detail and his ability to capture the subtle nuances of color and light in roses, has dedicated years to perfecting his craft. His passion for photography, combined with his love for roses, has led to his repeated success in the American Rose Society’s annual calendar. The selection process, highly competitive and rigorous, evaluates hundreds of entries each year. Rogers’ commitment to capturing the beauty of roses in their natural state has distinguished his work among his peers, earning him a coveted spot in the calendar for three of the last four years.

Behind the Lens: The Inspiration of Merrell Rogers

Rogers’ journey in photography began as a hobby, gradually evolving into a passionate pursuit of capturing the ephemeral beauty of roses. His work is not just about photographing flowers; it’s about conveying the emotions and stories that each bloom represents. Rogers believes that each rose has a unique story to tell, and through his lens, he aims to share these stories with the world. His success in the American Rose Society calendar is a testament to his skill, dedication, and the emotional depth he brings to his work.

Implications for the Future: What Lies Ahead

The recognition of Rogers’ work in the American Rose Society calendar not only highlights his exceptional talent but also contributes to the wider appreciation of floral photography as an art form. As Rogers continues to explore and capture the beauty of roses, his work inspires both aspiring and established photographers to pursue their passions with dedication and perseverance. The future holds promising opportunities for Rogers and the field of floral photography, as more people begin to recognize the intricate beauty and artistry found in nature.

Rogers’ achievements serve as a reminder of the power of passion and dedication in the pursuit of artistic excellence. His photographs, featured in the American Rose Society calendar, not only celebrate the beauty of roses but also the enduring spirit of creativity that drives individuals to capture the world in new and captivating ways.

Misha Vallejo Prut had just finished a class at the London College of Communication where he was studying for an MA in photojournalism and documentary photography, and headed to a nearby cafe. It was 2014 and he was using an iPhone 5. “The degree of pixelation in the image shows the inexorable march of time since I took this,” says says Vallejo Prut, who is now based in Quito, Ecuador.

“Even so, I think the essence of that moment, the serendipitous intersection of lives within the shared space of the city, continues to echo the relentless pace of contemporary life.”

The juxtaposition of different characters was created by reflections in a window, he says. “The elderly man’s direct engagement with the lens becomes a compelling anchor and stands in stark contrast to the younger individuals absorbed in their phones.

“The subjects create an interplay between overwhelming complexity and a serene focal point, with the man’s gaze emerging as a singular, grounding force – a quiet oasis within the visual tumult.”

As his three subjects “materialised and dissipated within the blink of an eye,” Vallejo Prut didn’t speak to them, but he’s happy for them to remain anonymous.

“It invites viewers to project their own interpretations of the story before them,” he says.

Irving Penn’s direct, expressive portraits are celebrated among the most recognizable photographs of the 20th century. In a career that spanned 70 years, Penn was a regular contributor to Vogue magazine for more than six decades and revolutionized fashion photography in the postwar period. Exclusive to the de Young museum, this major survey of Penn brings together 198 works including portraits of celebrities, cultural luminaries, laborers with the tools of their trades, abstract nudes, street scenes, nature, and of course fashion. In his most comprehensive retrospective to date, a section of the exhibition will be solely dedicated to Penn’s photographs from his 1967 trip to San Francisco.

PORTRAITURE

After working for a short time at Harper’s Bazaar and Saks Fifth Avenue, Penn traveled and took photographs before accepting a position in Vogue’s Art Department. As one of Vogue’s top photographers, he created a record of 20th-century cultural history in images. Woman in Chicken Hat (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn) (1949) is a classic example of Penn’s fashion photography and its keen sense of balance in composition and light. 

The portrait Joe Louis, (1948) shows the famous boxer in his uniform as a triangulated figure propped up in a narrow corner-like sculpture. Similarly, Penn had photographed artist Marcel Duchamp and writer Truman Capote in 1948 and 1949 backed into that same corner, eyes confronting the viewer. In both his fashion photos and his representations of cultural figures, Penn presents form in a minimal style combined with the directness of the subject’s gaze. This style of photographic representation became commonplace in the 1950s and 1960s, but Irving Penn popularized the approach.

THE SUMMER OF LOVE

In 1967, Look magazine commissioned Penn to travel to San Francisco to record the Summer of Love. While on assignment, he snapped images of Hells Angels, hippie communities, and local rock bands. An expanded selection of images from San Francisco in the late 1960s during its moment at the epicenter of the countercultural movement will be given a special emphasis in the exhibition. “Penn’s images of West Coast residents capture a moment of electrifying social change, which forever altered the cultural landscape of the Bay Area,” remarked Emma Acker, Curator of American Art at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and organizing curator of the exhibition.

In Rock Groups (Big Brother and the Holding Company and The Grateful Dead) (1967), Penn looks into the faces of the “new” San Francisco. Instead of the brightly colored, psychedelic scene one might expect, the photographer instead memorializes its subjects in black and white. The group, which includes Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia, gaze with intent into the camera with deliberate expressions lending the image a sincerity and sense of immediacy. Hells Angel (Doug) (1967) has the same strong sense of individuality and documentarian characteristics.

TRADITIONAL ART AND COLOR

Though he was known for his black-and-white photos, Penn did experiment with color. In an homage to the style of Dutch still life painters, Still Life with Watermelon (1947) is a traditional color image of a still life from the bowl of fruit in the upper register to the folded napkin and crust of bread in the foreground. Fast forward to 1986, and Mouth (For L’Oréal) (1986), a cropped image of nose, and lips splashed with diagonal hues of lipstick in pinks, browns, and reds exist as a nod to the style of 1980s fashion and advertising. 

Also on view are Penn’s rarely seen experimental photographs of nude workshop dancers performing American choreographer Anna Halprin’s The Bath.

THE ICONIC AND THE EVERYDAY

Penn approached photography as fine art long before the medium was recognized as such. The exhibition presents his photographs of such leading lights of the screen as Marlene Dietrich and Audrey Hepburn, renowned designers Gianni Versace and Yves Saint Laurent, architect Le Corbusier, writer Joan Didion, and others. Penn lent that nuanced sense of composition and human expression to his portraits of everyday people also — tradespeople, street vendors, and residents of Cuzco, Peru are seen through the egalitarian spirit of Penn’s lens so that familiar faces and strangers are equally powerful.

Irving Penn: Tue.–Sun., 9:30 a.m.–5:15 p.m., March 16–July 21, $32, de Young Museum, 50 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., 415-750-3600, famsf.org

Sharon Anderson is an artist and writer from Southern California. She can be reached at mindtheimage.com.