Slideluck Potshow on Saturday

PhotoLucida is going very well. And I was just notified that my work will be in the Portland Slideluck Potshow this Saturday, April 25. Come! Here's the lowdown:

The space is amazing. The slideshow is world-class. The weather is looking good. Both our master of ceremonies and our disc jockey are geniuses. The potluck will be off the hook. The crowd will be hot. And the afterparty is but a few steps away.

All that is missing is you and yours. Come join us on Saturday, April 25th, for night for an unforgettable multimedia slideshow and potluck dinner.

SLIDELUCK POTSHOW PDX III
Saturday, April 25, 2009
7pm Potluck | 9pm Slideshow
Sandbox Studio | 420 NE 9th Avenue | Portland, OR 97232 | http://sandboxstudio.com

RSVP Strongly Suggested: http://network.slideluckpotshow.com/events/slps-portland-iii
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=60422528982&ref=ts

Keep in mind that this is a potluck, so bring on that big pot of Hoppin’ John, those scrumptious little dumplings, that crunchy green papaya salad, those Krismer Family nachos, that spicy eggplant lasagna, or those red-velvety cupcakes. And please don’t forget a bottle of wine or some ice cold brew.

What makes this show unique is our collaboration with the participants of Photo Lucida. We want to extend a special invitation to everyone who’s come into town for the portfolio review. If you are not able to contribute to the potluck, which is understandable, you may be asked to make a small donation. In any case, it’s only an 8-minute cab ride, a 27-minute walk, or 15-minute bus ride across the Burnside Bridge. http://maps.google.com

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.

Interview with Kamela Cody of Modern Girl Style

Well, it's been quite the month for awards and interviews.

Kamela Cody writes an interesting blog about fashion, art, style, design, etc, called Modern Girl Style. She recently approached me, after seeing my photography online, and asked if she could interview me for her site. I was happy to oblige.

In this interview, I share stories about how I started in photography, talk about collaborating with stylists and models and art directors for lifestyle photo shoots, and talk about some fun weddings I've photographed. I also introduce some of my personal documentary projects, such as the series on eating disorders and adolescence. You can read the interview here, on the Modern Girl Style blog!

Interview on PNCA's Website

As you may know, I teach occasional photography and art workshops at Pacific Northwest College of Art. This past week, PNCA just published a brief interview with me, as I talk about teaching Photography and Art. I talk a little about artists and photographers who influence my work, the way I like to teach, and more. Enjoy.

Cimetiere Pere Lachaise

Paris has a famous cemetery, the Cimetiere Pere Lachaise, known primarily for its famous residents, such as Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde.

We went there on the recommendation of my friend Ben Poundstone, who visits France whenever he can get away. So we headed out to the cemetery, only to discover that it is one of the most fascinating places in Paris. At least for me. In fact, it was the one place that I found truly inspiring and interesting as an artist.

As we explored, I photographed, and am just now working with the images to realize the vision I had for them. The gravestones are little shrines, either for families or individuals, right out of a Tim Burton movie. Shannon and I were postulating that we could imagine the residents of this cemetery coming out of their fantastic little houses at night, after the gates are closed and locked, gathering together for potlucks, getting cranky with each other, returning home before daybreak.


As I’ve worked on the images the past couple days, meditating on them, there are other themes emerging about death and life, light and darkness, mortality and immortality, the temporary and the final.

A sample image from the set:



Visit my fine art photography website to see more personal work like this.

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 in the Closet at CameraWork Gallery

CameraWork Gallery Presents

Skeleton in the Closet~including new work not previously shown~

Photographs by Fritz Liedtke

February 23-March 21, 2008

Join us for the Artist's Reception:
Friday, February 29, 2008, 7 - 9 pm.

Peterson Hall, Lower Level
2255 NW Northrup St
Portland Oregon

9-5 M-F
1-5 Sat

www.skeletoninthecloset.net

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.

Skeleton in the Closet at Littman Gallery

www.skeletoninthecloset.net

Skeleton in the ClosetStories from the lives of those affected by eating disorders.

I'm pleased to announce the culmination of the past 2 years' of work on my photo documentary on eating disorders. Please join me for this exhibition in the beautiful Littman Gallery, at Portland State University. The show includes 42 photographs with accompanying texts.


October 4-24, 2007

Littman Gallery
PSU, Smith Center, 2nd Floor, Room 2501825 SW Broadway
Portland
Gallery open Monday-Friday, 12-4 pm
Please join us for the opening reception:
First Thursday, October 4, 5-7 pm



This body of work made possible in part by a grant from RACC.


For More Information:

Fritz Liedtke:www.fritzphoto.com/thinkontrol

Littman Gallery: (503) 725-5656

Jennifer Stoots Fine Photography:www.photostoots.com

Faces and Facades

Faces and Facades: London, Kenya, Israel

England, Kenya, Israel. Three continents, three cultures, three weeks.

While my work in these places was to photograph those I was there to serve (a medical relief team), my eye was constantly drawn to the local faces and façades.

Whether in Kenya, where the mud structures that have been built for millenia may begin to crumble in a few years; or London, where history crowds each street with magnificent stonework; or Israel, where rubble and ruins signify over 5000 years of culture; wherever you turn you see the texture of civilization.

In among these vestiges of the past, faces reveal themselves: at Hell’s Gate, in Ceasarea Philippi, the adolescent children of a kibbutz giggle and run rampant. In the slums of Eldoret, a woman caring for poor children speaks softly of her endeavors as she shows me her tiny schoolhouse. In Covington Garden, a young girl peers through the crowd at a street performer’s shtick.

While this is a disparate collection of images, there is the common element of the present interacting with the past: my feet on the Roman mosaic of Bet She’an, or a Kalingen elder draped in furs, or a Jewish man at the Wailing Wall with tallit and phylacteries talking on his cell phone. Past and present, stone and flesh, young and old, faces and façades.

Click here to view the gallery.