The Snow Fairy

A couple weeks ago I photographed at a local middle school during Spirit Week. The particular day I was there was Create Your Own Superhero Day. What a delight to watch the kids come in with their own superhero costumes, names, and superpowers. I took a lot of photographs.

One particular favorite, above, is of a demure young lady who came in as the Snow Fairy. Her superpower is to magically take the coldness out of people so their hearts are warm. My heart is warmed just looking at her and her lovely costume.

View more from this photographic series at www.fritzliedtke.com.

Junior High Hugs

Isn't Junior High just a wonderful memory?

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Musee de l'Elysee

I just received this photograph, an installation view of one of my images on display at the Musee de l'Elysee in Lausanne, Switzerland. It's part of the show "All Photographers Now","from February 8th, 2007 to May 20th, 2007. If you happen to be in the Lausanne area, be sure to stop in!

Zoe

I find myself more and more drawn to faces, alone. I love to watch people, but usually in photographing them I'm making some statement about who they are, utilising their environment, dress, body language, action.

But faces. Like a butterfly hunter with his swinging net, searching constantly for something intriguing, out of the ordinary, or even something lovely in its ordinariness, I begin to collect faces. Eyes, really. And light.

In Mexico, I met a local man with the most beautiful green eyes. His name was Fili, and we expected to spend a day or two with him. Unfortunately, due to illness, we never saw him again, and I grieve the loss of the image of his kind face and those beautiful green eyes. So I become more diligent, capturing what intrigues me, swinging my net about for those rare beauties that come along the path. Pinning them to velvet for remembrance, inspiration.

Georgia O'Keefe's teacher taught her to "fill the canvas with beautiful things," so I shall.

View more at www.fritzliedtke.com.

SPU Choir and Symphony in Concert

SPU's Gospel Choir Director Stephen Newby

I had a job this evening photographing the Seattle Pacific University Choir and Symphony. Tough job to shoot creatively in an hour. But I managed to knock out some favorites with their spirited choir and director. Here you go:

This girl saved my bacon; just the enthusiasm I needed for some energetic shots.

Ever wondered what a choir looked like from the backside on stage? I hadn't either.

But it's pretty cool, and the whole stage shakes when they dance and sing....

Looking for one of the most experienced Portland photographers for an editorial magazine assignment like this?  Look no further.

The Virgin of Bucerias

I spent the past week or so in Mexico, in the town of Bucerias. It's near Puerto Vallarta, on the Bay of Banderas. While there, we were able to enjoy the town's annual week-long fiesta. On the last night of the fiesta, a procession wends its way through town toward the cathedral, with music, dancers, and a float featuring the young Virgin Mary and the Christ child. This is all followed by a spectacular fireworks display in the town square.

My favorite image, above, is of the young girl playing the Virgin outside of the cathedral. Here are a couple more:

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Through the Shadow, February 1-27

Through the Shadow

February 1-March 26, 2007

Photo Print Gallery

Pacific NW College of Art

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Opening: First Thursday, February 1, 6-8pm

Come by and say hello! There's always a lot happening at PNCA on First Thursday!

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This show features work produced while on a 2 week
art residency at Caldera's Central Oregon facility.

Benham Gallery Show, January 10 - February 10, 2007

If you are in the Seattle area this month, I have a piece in a group show at the Benham Gallery, January 10 - February 10, 2007. They're located just around the corner from the Seattle Art Museum, at 1216 First Ave.

Perfecto Glass Jewelry

Local artisan Bryce Tiffner makes this beautiful glass jewelry by hand. He and his wife Paola own Perfecto Glass Jewelry, and we had fun photographing it with some excellent models. If you like it (and Valentine's Day is coming right up...), you can find it online here.

As Portland photographers, we love photographing for local artisans like this!

Photo Weblogs Webring Next Random List

Adaliah is off to Tibet

We have some friends who have been living and studying in China and Tibet for some time now. They recently returned to the states to have their first baby, by the name of Adaliah. They asked me to take a few photos of them before heading back to Asia.

I don't photograph babies too often, but boy can they make for goofy pictures. (There are many touching, beautiful porttraits as well; I'm just showing the goofy ones here....) Here are a few samples; I should set up a Caption Contest for them....

"Yo, Homes, wazzup?"

The Environmental Portrait Workshop at PNCA

Manuel Izquierdo, Sculptor

Portland, Oregon, 2004

This Spring, I will be teaching a new workshop at Pacific Northwest College of Art, called The Environmental Portrait. It's a natural class for me to teach, since I love and have been making location portraits for a couple of decades now. Here's the class description:

When a photographer takes a portrait of someone in their natural surroundings, we call it Environmental or Location Portraiture. Environmental portraits are a way of saying more about a person than is possible in the artificial confines of the photographic studio or a simple headshot. Photographers have used environmental portraiture to document figures in popular culture (Annie Liebowitz, Arnold Newman), social commentary and documentary (Dorothea Lange, Milton Rogovin), and the expression of personal vision (Keith Carter).

In this class we will look at the work of master location portrait photographers, current and past; review and critique each other's work; and discuss how location portraits say much about the subject, but also about the social and political context in which they live. We will be working with models, model and property releases, available and artificial lighting techniques, the portrait as a series, composition, camera and media choices, output and presentation, and more. We will also go on location with models for demonstrations, and for time to photograph in class with instructor oversight. Both film and digital shooters in any medium are welcome. The class will culminate with a portrait series as a final project.

Prerequisites: A firm grasp of basic photographic technique, and a passion for portraits.

The class is on Saturday mornings from 10:00am-12:30pm, and runs Apr 07-May 12. You can find out more and register at the PNCA Continuing Education Program site.

Heather

A portrait of photographer Heather Hawksford, in the new James John Cafe in St Johns. Quintessential Portlandiana. I love being a Portland photographer.

Talitha Koum

A photo for the day: really a combination of photography and encaustics, which is an ancient form of painting involving beeswax, pigment, and mixed media. You can see more in this series here.

Morgan, and a Taste of Summer Sunshine

Summer seems long ago. At least now we're past the solstice, and on are wending our slow way back to more sunlight. Speaking of which, here are a couple of summer senior portraits, of a young lady from Lake Oswego. Doesn't that sunlight on her shoulders make you warm all over? It makes me want to head to Mexico for a while....

View more Lake Oswego senior portrait photography on our website!

Sarah's Christmas Party

Every Saturday night for the last couple of years I've driven out to East Portland to Sarah Modrall's house. Within a short time, 30-50 street kids converge on her house, and we spend the next several hours eating a good meal, talking, studying the Bible, singing, hanging out. It's an amazing time, really.

This weekend we had our annual Christmas party. What a hoot! We played games, ate food, and had a gift exchange. A fun celebration of relationships built and hope restored at this special time of year.

The kids find it hilarious that I am able to take the group pictures, and be in them at the same time....

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.

Laura's Silvery Eyes

I love watching people, and faces are what make my artistic boat float. Last week I met Laura, who works at Print Arts Northwest (a wonderful gallery in Portland's Pearl District), and decided I ought to include her in my Women's Faces portrait series (which just became a series, because this is the second one shot in the same style). (See this post for another.) She's a novelist, and she's the same age as me. I haven't decided which of these 2 is more striking; leave me a comment, and tell me what you think:

Kenya and Israel

Goatherder, Nellore, India

In the spring of 2005, I had the opportunity to travel to southeast India to photograph medical teams working in coastal villages hit by the tsunami. I documented teams giving free medical clinics; helping rebuild (from the ground up) a destroyed, relocated village; dedicating new wells; and working in an orphanage in Nellore, India. I was with a group from Open Arms International. It was a hot, exhausting, and exhilarating two weeks.

I just received notice that I will be accompanying Open Arms again, this spring, to Kenya, Africa, and to Israel. They will be doing similar work in Kenya, as well as dedicating a site they have been preparing to build a medical clinic and orphanage. The trip will be in March.

Do Kenya and Israel seem like an odd combination? I think so, too, but I'm sure excited to go.  Being a travel and editorial photographer can be exhausting, but very rewarding.

Here are a few more images from India:

Awaiting medical aid, a woman watches as Jodhi writes her a prescription.

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.

Beach Observations

A few more images from shooting on the beach in San Francisco. These contemplative observations take in the light and land.

There's a poem here, about love, forgotten, remembered.

Let me know if you hear it; I'd like to read what you write....

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This sign was posted along the boardwalk at regular intervals. It reads:

"People swimming and wading have drowned here."

The light was so beautiful on the water, warm and soft and silky....

See more of my San Francisco photography at www.fritzphotographic.com.