MSU IN SAN ANTONIO, TX...part 2

From the last post you know that the conference was going great. We were experiencing some new sights, sounds and tastes. This was expanded as we explored.

I am proud to say the Wyatt was the only undergraduate that received a SPESC [Society for Photographic Education South Central] travel scholarship! That was so cool! MSU students ROCK!!

We had the great experience of seeing the prints from the Helmut and Alison Gernsheim Collection at the University of Texas in Austin. It was a very special experience. To see the 1st photograph, View from the Window at Le Gras a Heliograph by Niepce was so AWESOME!! Plus seeing Steerage by Alfred Stieglitz was amazing. This was private viewing for MSU students. It will be something everyone will remember for a long time.

The students agree that Austin is a place to return to in the future. Here Nate poses for me with the infamous UTA bell tower in the background.

Once the conference ended we took an extra day to explore the area. I have to say that it is very dry in Texas is an understatement. Pond and lakes water levels are extremely low. The grass looks like kindling. It is natural that fires are popping up everywhere. We drove up to Bastop, TX to view the destruction from the recent forest fire. I could not photograph the charred remains of the homes and the burnt shells of the cars. I am saddened when I think about the lives that have changed. We left once we were informed that we were not in the Lost Pines Bastop State Park but on private property. All signs and fences were totally gone.

Learned later that the fire regenerated and crossed a nearby freeway... one I am sure we were driving one just the day or so before. You could smell the smoke on the interstate.

Another interesting location we traveled to was a vacant suburb of townhouses. The Tundra Village is a depressing site as you view homes that range in level of completion. Again, we left once we were asked by a neighbor. Frankly I think more images should be shown of this location so there is a clear understanding of the waste of the land developers fraud.

We then traveled to Medina River Natural Area and walked by the river. But there we knew what was public and private.

From there it was lunch a Whataburger and on to the next adventure. We swung around the town and ended up at Guadalupe River State Park. It was a nice relaxing way to end the day of shooting.

This was a great trip. I need to develop my holga film and see what else I saw while in Texas. This was great group of students would travel with them anytime!

MSU IN SAN ANTONIO, TX

October was very busy for I traveled to two conferences, presented a workshop, picked-up artwork and dropped off artwork. Early in the month I travel with a group of students to San Antonio, TX for the Society for Photographic Education [SPE] South Central regional conference. It was a great event with lots of adventures.

1st we took the wrong bus and ended outside of San Antonio and had to find enough change for everyone to get a ride back. But we did make the evening event but did come close to missing the last trolley back to the hotel. Good news all was fine and it was an interesting start to the conference.

Dominic Lippillo who works with me at Mississippi State gave a great presentation on his work at the conference. Both students and I loved it and were impressed by the research.

 If you go to San Antonio - go to the campus and have lunch at the red taco truck! It is awesome! Never stopped at a food truck before but will be looking for them now as I travel.

Tables were few and far between so we eat in the comfort of the van. Yes, we rode in this van from MS to the far reaches of TX for tacos! ... and the conference.

There is more stories from the this trip but will have wait for another posting. Must say it was a mix of seeing thoughtful / creative artwork, seeing new places and getting to know each other.

Poolside Film and Camera

I thought I would share with you a shot of my last box of Polaroid 809 film and the camera that I used to make the POOLSIDE series.

As you can see each box held 15 exposures which is a combination of 15 negatives and 15 paper / pods for the negative to be transferred too. I hope the Impossible Project will come out with the 8x10 version of this before the end of the year. Note that I added the 85A filter - you can tell by the fancy tape job. 

This is the camera I used to make all my POOLSIDE series. It was created by Eric Renner the Director of the Pinhole Resource. It is called Leonardo. This is the best large format pinhole camera that I know. I have tired others but always come back to this one.

So now you know some of the basic elements that I used to create the POOLSIDE series. Each exposure was about 2 minutes. This series is available for exhibition and monographs can be found on Blurb [search Gootee].

Check out this Great work!

This is a combination different approaches to the landscape. It has digital work to hand tinted images taken with a pinhole camera. It is a great way of seeing how different Wendy Roussin and I photograph nature. The show opens on Monday NOV 7th at 4:30. If in Meridian drop by......

Atlantan's mission: Put photos in America's viewfinder | ajc.com

Atlantan's mission: Put photos in America's viewfinder | ajc.com