NEWS

**UPDATE** SOLO EXHIBITION AT VAN GOGH’S EAR GALLERY

A big Thank You to everyone who attended the opening reception for my recent exhibition. I’ll be on the radio for a post-opening “review” and discussion of photo-digital surrealist art. I’ll be a guest on Sandy Moss’ radio show on KPPV (106.7FM) at 4PM on November 10. To see some of the artworks from the exhibition please visit: http://www.vgegallery.com/3/miscellaneous4.htm and also see: http://www.vgegallery.com/3/miscellaneous8.htm

We’ve posted my TV appearance on YouTube, it’s a six-minute interview & some of the artworks are shown, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tktVu6fjGhY to see it. We’ve also posted a few minutes from the Opening Reception, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSYhj6UGlbQ

BRIEF OBSERVATIONS FROM THE SOCIETY FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC EDUCATION SOUTHWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE, “ALTERING PERSPECTIVES,” AT PRESCOTT COLLEGE, OCTOBER 22-24, 2010

I will write more extensively about this in the near future; but here’s a few thoughts: Although I’m not presently teaching (aside from a few private lessons) I attended some of the recent regional conference at Prescott College. I enjoy all aspects of photographic art and since the theme of the conference was “Altering Perspectives” I had hoped to learn about the current state of photographic education, visit with like-minded photographers and enjoy various and “altered perspectives.” Unfortunately I didn’t find any alteration of perspectives whatsoever.

The digital revolution of photography is recognized, accepted and addressed (although with some acrimony). This is good. What’s not so good is the unchanged attitudes and elitism of “fine art” photography educators. The conference was very narrow in scope and only addressed the fine-art side of photography to the complete omission of any sort of “practical” photography. I find this limiting and one-sided. Perhaps there are conferences where “practical” or “commercial” photography is addressed, but how about a little balance? It’s not all about gallery openings and “meaning.”

Bill Jay famously wrote in his book, Occam’s Razor, (Nazraeli Press, 1992), the “Chasm between Artist and Commercial Photographer is Wholly Destructive;” sadly, that chasm remains as wide as ever. I detected a profound feeling of “separateness” from the “fine art photographers/educators” at the conference. They struck me as narrow-minded, exclusive, and uninterested in any sort of photographic art outside their narrow view of “acceptability.” I can’t imagine their students receiving a broad-based education from them. I believe, in terms of photographic education, the student must be exposed to all aspects of photography. It seems to me if a student’s instructor has only a narrow perception of photography and is biased against other forms of photography they can only provide a limited education. Instructor bias becomes student bias and the Chasm widens. This has been going on in photographic higher education for decades and no one is doing a darn thing to bridge the chasm. It’s like we’ve got a fortress of commercial photographers over here, a fortress of fine-art photographers over there, they’re separate and don’t mix. Can’t we all just get along?

There were six exhibitions held during the SPE conference, three at Prescott College, one at the local Community College, on at a local bar/restaurant and one in a downtown gallery. All the exhibitions except for the one at the downtown gallery were exhibitions of SPE presenters and students. The downtown exhibition was of my works. Although I attended the SPE exhibitions, none of the SPE people attended my exhibition. My gallery is but a mere half mile from Prescott College and was heavily promoted, including in the SPE participants’ information packets. Time and proximity was not an excuse for nonattendance. Why did they dismiss my exhibition? I suspect it was because I’m not one of them or they had no interest whatsoever in any “art” that’s much different from their own.

This is the sort of insular elitism that’s detrimental to photography. A narrow view, closed-mindedness and elitism are not positive traits for a photography-educator. Really folks, I’m open-minded enough and curious enough to attend your shows, what’s wrong with you?

I will delve deeper into this topic a little later; it deserves much discussion and analysis. But sadly, although photographic technology has changed, educator-artist attitudes have not.

Dale

November 2010