PhotoLucida 2009

This is an intense week for me, as I head into the PhotoLucida Portfolio Reviews here in Portland, Thur-Sun, April 23-26. There will be 160 photographers (of whom I am one) meeting with over 60 reviewers: curators, book publishers, gallery owners, photographers, magazine editors, etc. It's 4 straight days of reviews, lectures, shows, and more.

I'll be showing my Skeleton in the Closet series, both as a book dummy, and as a custom portfolio which I designed and created this past year.

I'd like to invite you to the Portfolio Walk, this Thursday evening, from 6-9 pm. Held at the Portland Art Museum's gorgeous Sunken Ballroom, you can view the work of all 160 photographers, spread out on a room full of tables. We'll have our work out in 3 1-hour shifts, beginning at 6 pm. I and my work will be out from 7-8 pm. Please come by! It's free, and should be quite inspiring and enjoyable.

New Images and Stories in the Skeleton Series

I've just updated the web gallery of my series on eating disorders, to include new images and stories from the past few months. They include a pregnant woman, a girl in London, a pink rock, and more. Check them out when you have time.

I also recently completed my first portfolio for this series, for museums and private collectors. It consists of 14 16x20 images, with their stories printed separately on translucent vellum. It also includes an introduction by myself, and a moving essay by accomplished author Gina Ochsner. All of this is assembled in a custom archival box with leather embossed title on the front. It's really quite stunning, if I may say so. This is a limited edition portfolio; please contact me for purchase information.

Critical Mass Winners

I received notice yesterday from PhotoLucida's Critical Mass Competition that I was selected in their top 50 list. The news isn't up on the PhotoLucida website yet, but one of the reviewers, Lisa Hunter--quite enthusiastically--posted the results on her blog. In time, PhotoLucida will put the work of the top 50 on their website for all to see.

Critical Mass is a competition entered by hundreds of photographers from all over the world. From those masses, 150 are selected to be shown to the reviewers (quite a long list of reviewers), who then vote and whittle down the list to the top 50, plus 3 winners of whose work they publish little books. So it's an honor to be selected in the top 50, and I'm hopeful about what may come of it, as other photographers, collectors, curators, and publishers look at the finalists' work.

For Critical Mass, I entered 10 selections from my documentary series on eating disorders, Skeleton in the Closet.

Skeleton at DaVinci

Selected images from the series Skeleton in the Closet will be on display at Portland's DaVinci Arts Middle School from November 13-December 8. These photographs (including new work recently completed) will be in the Library, and in display cases around the school. It will also be on display during the annual DaVinci Arts Fair.

During this month, I will be teaming up with their counselor to host 6 different small group discussions about eating disorders, art, and whatever else their brilliant adolescent minds come up with. Should be interesting!

Interview on Eagle and Child

Jeffrey Overstreet is a film critic, author, and connoisseur of and commentator on the arts. He has several very popular blogs. And on one of them, Eagle and Child, he's posted an interview he did with me recently, on my series Skeleton in the Closet. You can read the interview here.

I also noticed another blogger commenting on my work, and on this interview, at The Walrus Said. I've been quite moved lately by how this series is affecting those that view it, and Janet's thoughts are no exception. I'll post more on this subject soon.

Be Nourished

Today I am hanging a brief show, in collaboration with Be Nourished, for their open house. Come by Friday, April 20, from 4-7 pm, to see some work and eat some yummy food. I'll be there. The work should be up for a week or so, so stop by later if you can't today. If you can't come by at all, you can view the work online as well.

Be Nourished is located at 3808 N Williams, Suite F, in Portland.

You can also meet the women that run Be Nourished, providing wholistic help to those struggling with eating disorder and body image issues.

The RACC Grant...

Back in August I applied for a visual arts grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC). It was the first real grant I've applied for, requiring extensive preparation, a couple classes, lots of thought, calculations, and organization. You submit all of this, along with samples of your work, and then you wait. Three to four months. Wondering if you should be making plans for the following year, but not quite sure.

Well, I got home from rock climbing this afternoon, opened the mail, and...I got the grant.

I applied so I could pursue the documentary work on eating disorders (see posting below on anorexia and bulimia) which I began this past year. I have some goals set out in the grant, which need to be met by the end of 2007. Now I can (once the holidays pass...) jump in and get moving. Pretty exciting stuff. Can't wait to show you what I come up with.

Getting a grant is exciting and moving, not just to have the money to work with, but moreso to have the recognition from people you respect. It's more of a pat on the back that says, "What you're doing is valid and important. Keep moving."

A grant also seems to give validity to others that what you're doing is bonafide, genuine. I hope it might open some other doors as I move forward. Stay tuned.

Anorexia and Bulimia

I've been working for almost 2 years now on a photographic project about anorexia and bulimia. I'll give the overview of the project another time. For the moment, though, I have some new images about which I'm excited, and wanted to post one or two to share. There's nothing like having something beautiful in your back pocket, with no one to show it to....



The above image is new. This young lady, in our interview, shared how she both wants to garner attention by being the skinniest, most flexible dancer in her studio, while at the same time hates to garner attention from people concerned about her weight. A true Catch-22.
If this is something you struggle with, and you live in Portland or the Pacific NorthWest, I would like to talk with you. Please contact me; I would like to know your story, and consider including you in this project.
Alternately, if you have a strong interest in this subject as a writer or publisher, I would also be interested in talking with you. While I will soon be in the process of showing the work to publishers, I am open to discussing the matter with all interested parties.
More work in this continuing series may be seen on my fine art website, under the title Skeleton in the Closet.