DIY camera stabilizer!

Fred Crown forwarded this link with instructions on how to make a compact, cheap and light camera stabilizer.  As a bonus, it won't take up much space in your gear bag!
The link is here

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Monday Morning Musings - Sylwana Zybura

Sylwana Zybura a.k.a. "Madame Peripetie" combines fashion, make-up and a Surreal eye to make eye-catching and sometimes bizarre portraits.  You can see more work on her website:  http://madameperipetie.com.  There is also a nice feature on the Romanian website Oitzarisme.ro with many of her images if you are interested.

all images ©Sylwana Zybura

Monday Morning Musings - As seen on the NY Trip - Julie Blackmon

Beautiful weather and great photos!  What's not to love?  I thought it might be a nice time to share one of the group's favorites from the NY Trip on Friday.  Julie Blackmon's most recent photographs were on view at the Robert Mann Gallery.  Blackmon cites Dutch 17th Century painter Jan Steen as one of her major influences.  Her carefully staged images combine just enough order with just enough chaos.  For more images, you can visit her website.

All images below ©Julie Blackmon, enjoy!

Monday Morning Musings - RIP Ray K. Metzker

Modernist photographer and Philadelphia resident Ray Metzker died last week.  He was 83 years old. Metzker was well known for his high contrast black and white images rich with light and pattern.  He created dizzying and sometimes elusive photographs both in-camera and using multiple negatives in the darkroom.  The New York Times has a complete biography and obituary here.   A few images to enjoy below. . . 

Monday Morning Musings - Nicholas Nixon, 40 years of the Brown Sisters

©Nicholas Nixon - The Brown Sisters, 1975

©Nicholas Nixon - The Brown Sisters, 2014

In 1975, photographer Nicholas Nixon turned the lens of his 8x10 view camera towards his wife and her three sisters.  Although he did not know it at the time, he was about to begin on a 40 year project.  This year, Nixon made the 40th yearly portrait of the four sisters.  While each photograph is powerful as a singular image, the project is even more so when viewed as a series.  The NY Times has a nice description of the project along with all 40 images on their website here.  Enjoy.  

Congratulations to Suzan Gottshall and Ann Marie Luyando!

©Suzan Gottshall - "Passing Through" 2014 - will be exhibited as part of the InVision Photo Festival

Both Suzan and Ann had work selected for inclusion in the 2014 InVision College Photography Exhibition at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, PA.  The exhibition is part of the InVision Photography Festival.  Works were selected by Juror Larry C. Price.  An opening and awards ceremony will be held on November 7 from 6-9pm.  For more information:  http://www.bananafactory.org/events/olympus-invision-photo-festival/olympus-invision-photo-festival-exhibitions/

Photography Exhibitions!

The fall is a great time to go out and see a photo exhibition.  If you are looking for something to do this weekend, here are a few suggestions:

Paul Strand

• Philadelphia Photo Arts Center - 1400 N. American Street, Philadelphia
Three Themes - Contemporary Connections with Paul Strand
Photographs by Doug Rickard, Tanyth Berkeley and Paul Salveson
Through November 8

• The Print Center - 1614 Latimer Street, Philadelphia
Day Job:  Steven Ahlgren, Justin Audet, Larry Fink, Chelsea Griffith, Bill McCullough and Benjamin Pierce
Through November 22

• Red Filter Gallery - 74 Bridge Street Lambertville, NJ
And Here We Are. . .  photographs by Kelli Abdoney and Sandy Alpert
Through November 2

• The Michener Museum, 138 S. Pine Street, Doylestown
Nuit Blanche:  Photographs by Wendy Paton
Through December 7

• The Philadelphia Museum of Art
In Dialogue:  Wolfgang Tillmans - Through October 26
Paul Strand:  Master of Modern Photography opening October 21
The museum is "pay as you wish" on Wednesday evenings!

Welcome back & Open Lab Hours!

After a bit of a hiatus, the blog is back.  Shortly we will be posting some info on photo shows in the area.  In the meantime, here are the open labs for Fall 2014:

Digital Lab (Hicks 120)
Mondays:  8am-9:30pm
Tuesdays:  12:30-9pm
Wednesdays:  12:30-9:30pm
Thursdays:  12:30-5pm
Fridays:  10am-6pm

Darkroom (Hicks 118)
Mondays:  12:30-9:30pm
Tuesdays:  9am-9pm
Wednesdays:  8:30am-6pm
Thursdays:  9am-5pm
Fridays:  10am-6pm

Lighting Studio (Hicks 104)
Mondays:  9am-9:30pm
Tuesdays:  9am-5pm
Wednesdays:  8:30am-noon & 6-9pm
Thursdays:  12:30-5pm
Fridays:  1-6pm

End of Semester Camera Gear

We are winding down for the Spring semester. I hope you all had a great term.

As a reminder: all camera equipment is due back May 9th. No other gear will be checked out beyond that date.  Large Format cameras are extended by a week.

WORLD PRESS PHOTO

Drexel is sponsoring an event that is free and open to the public on Wednesday April 30th from 6-8pm. Please feel welcome to attend this incredible event. There will be speakers and winning photographers in attendance.

Student exhibition winners

Congratulations to the following students!  There were over 100 photographs submitted for the student exhibition this year.  The judges had a VERY difficult time narrowing the selection!  Many beautiful photos were not included due to space restrictions.  We simply can't show all of the beautiful work which was submitted. Please do not feel badly if your work was not selected.

The following pieces were selected - in no particular order:

Bucks Student show 2014 – accepted photos.

James Lyon- "Mourning Mother"

Lori Patano- "Waiting for someone"

G. Josef Armstrong- "Portrait of Karl Beck"

Cindy Fatisis- "Bridge Shadow"

Victor Rothernel- "The Ghost of Victor"

Freddie Reed- "Speaks 1000 Words"

Josh Hannold- "The Pilot"

Margo Greb- "Connections #1" and "Face covered with Leaves"

Janice Watson- "Cafe Windows" and "Rustic Relic"

Kelly Bilger- "Where Do I Go From Here?"

Carolyn DeSautel- "Heather in jasmine"

Jim Guy- "Stream"

Christina Spiro- "Shot"

Philip Rothenburg- "Lag Bolts"

Tatiana Louiogene- "Mechelen"

Susan Kott- "Untitled, Navy Yard" and "Untitled, Shipyard"

Bill Kraus- "The Waiter"

Richard Hackman- "Praying by the Window"

Margarita Kenis- "Ben"

Jennifer Marquis- "Velvet Rose"

Katie Brownell- "Hands"

Jettie Sailor- "Count to Ten" and "Street Musicians"
Caren Baciga, "Untitled"

Irina V. Tachkova- "untitled"

Please contact Julia with any questions regarding the print size as we have limited gallery space. Accepted work should be printed and matted with a white matte as soon as possible. 

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS MUST BE PICKED UP BY MONDAY, APRIL 22.  WE DO NOT HAVE ROOM TO STORE ALL OF THE WORK.  

49th Annual Student Exhibition

Our annual student exhibition is coming up soon!  Keep an eye out for submission deadlines beginning in April. 

Spring Break Lab Hours

Monday 3/17
Tuesday 3/18
Wednesday 3/19
Thursday 3/20

11am-3pm

Amy Elkins: Visiting Bucks March 14th

Spring Lab Hours

Jen Davis at PPAC

Lecture & Book Signing

SATURDAY, MARCH 29TH, 2014 6PM

In conjunction with the 2014 Book Fair, please join us for a lecture and book signing with Jen Davis as we celebrate the release of her first monograph Jen Davis 11 Years (Kehrer Verlag). The culmination of over a decade’s worth of work, 11 Years dives into the complex territory of self-portraiture in order to reveal aspects of contemporary society that are overlooked, pushed aside, or ignored all together. Using a blend of biography and fantasy, Davis deftly weaves a narrative that threads beauty, body image, desire and identity through a focused meditation of her own personal story. Jen Davis (b. 1978) is a Brooklyn based photographer. Davis has exhibited widely including at the Indianapolis Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Center for Photography at Woodstock; Light Work Gallery, Syracuse; Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne. Davis’s photographs are in many public and private collections, the Art Institute of Chicago, The Sir Elton John Photography Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and The Library of Congress among others.