Introducing Ed Wilson from Cave Creek, AZ

I have had a brief and long distance relationship with the SL7 group. However I've known Kent Miles since forever. I remember we talked about going to Art School together. And, how exciting it was when Kent actually had the guts and self confidence and family backing to actually go to one of the best schools around at the time. I remember just prior to his leaving for school he bought a brand New Calumet 4x5 view camera and set it up in his living room. We walked around it in awe and wonder, neither of us having a clue as to how to use it. I really wanted to go too, but, well, parents being parents I ended up staying home at the U of U.

Anyway, I've been an admirer of the Miles clan since I met them some 40 plus years ago.

As far as photography goes, I've been doing it since I can remember.

I am now a professional photographer in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and a coat-tail member of the SL7. When Kent told me about it I couldn't wait to become involved. I shoot weddings, portraits, and some wildlife. My vast preference is portraiture. I operate a small free lance studio in a 2 horse village by the name of Carefree a little north of Phoenix.

I am including a recent portrait that I like very much. It is difficult to balance the mercenary requirements of photography as a business, and the personal expression and passion of creating art. The hardest thing is to not start repeating yourself and taking an overly formulaic approach....

I want to participate with the SL7 group to the fullest extent possible with a nod to the obvious distance and logistic impediments of living 500 miles away. If you are curious as to my current work, you can visit me at www.bridephoto.net (currently being redone) and www.ed-wilson.blogspot.com


Edward Wilson, Principal Photographer

www.BridePhoto.Net
www.ed-wilson.blogspot.com

ed.wilson@BridePhoto.Net

Photograph: Tianna, ©2009 Ed Wilson

Fascination & Motivation

I have always had a fascination with cameras. However, my ability to get good images has not always equaled my fascination on the mechanics of the device. With the advent of digital photography and my need to use this tool in my work, I have experienced a renewed interest in learning to move beyond snapshots towards creating more refined images. It is amazing that with a minimum investment in a camera and a computer and anyone can have an opportunity to learn to produce great photographs. While I have great admiration for those who develop and print using traditional methods, for me the technology has brought more convenience and ease of use. The photographs we use everyday on the job are critical in our mission to provide 24 hour a day /365 days a year connectivity to those we serve.

My friend and neighbor Bill Patterson approached me about joining the Salt Lake Seven Group. If I remember right he said: “we get together once a month and discuss and show our work. Its not a competition just conversation about our passion for photography”. For about 18 months I have been attending the monthly presentations and discussions. I find the opportunity to meet with others and share work of great benefit on a couple of fronts. First, it is motivational because in order to have something to discuss you need to take pictures. That in and of itself requires one to get out and do some work, try new things, learn new techniques. By doing this you can’t help but improve--experience becomes a great teacher. Secondly, participating in the discussions at the meetings gives one more insight into the processes to become a better photographer. In reviewing the work presented each month we are all able to see differing perspectives. That will make us all collectively better. Looking forward to March 10………


Steve Proctor

Photograph: Requiescant In Pace, St. Mere-Eglise, France
©2008 Steve Proctor

Currently On My Nightstand

In our monthly meetings we have often talked about the importance of looking at the photographs of others for the purpose of learning and inspiration. With this is mind I would like to share two books that have been a great source of inspiration to me over the several months.

The first is The Roma Journeys by photographer Joakim Eskildsen, text is by his wife Cia Rinne and with a introduction by Gunter Grass, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.
At over 400 pages this is a very large book. It details the six year journey of the photographer and writer through Hungary, India, Greece, Romania, France, Russia and Finland as they explore and live with the Roma (Gypsies) in each country. What originally caught my attention of this book was the black and white panoramic images that introduce each chapter, I have used them as guides to help me see panoramically. However, it is the color portraits that keep me going back to this book. Taken with a Pentax 6 x 7 camera, the images have such warmth and detail that after months of looking through the book I always find something new. Many of these color images are what I imagine would happen if you were to combine Justin Hackworth with Josef Koudelka.
The text adds to the photographs and a CD of Roma folk songs is included with the book.

For Christmas this year I was given a signed copy of Paul Fusco RFK. Already I consider it one of the best gifts I have ever received. This is also quite a large book, but while The Roma Journeys is from a six year project the images from Paul Fusco RFK are from a single day, June 8, 1968, the day of Robert F. Kennedy's funeral.
Paul Fusco was commissioned by LOOK magazine to accompany and document the funeral of RFK at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York to his internment at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.
There are several images of the funeral and internment that are interesting but it is the images of the funeral train that are the heart and soul of this book. On the day long train ride Fusco took thousands of images of the crowds that lined the tracks to pay their respects to Kennedy. At first glance these images seem quite alike and even redundant, assorted people, often blurred, standing track side. It is only after several viewing that the details start to come out. The layout of the book has the feel of being on the train itself, looking out the window as the world goes by. I now find myself looking intently at each image and seeing the details such as clothes people wore, their houses in the background, their gestures and respectful mourning representing all of America. Recently I have come to think of this book as the opposite of Robert Frank's The Americans. Frank showed an isolated, cold and distant view of America. Fusco shows the better side of America, one in which the color of someone's skin or standing in society doesn't matter, especially in the face of tragedy.

I have seen these images on the Internet and this is one example where the images are lost online, I strongly recommend getting a hold of the book itself.

Images from The Roma Journeys can be found here;

www.joakimeskildsen.com

Images from Paul Fusco RFK can be found here;

www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/c.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.BookDetail_VPage&pid=2K7O3R18ZDN5

Carl Oelerich

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Get Ready for the Springville Salon

I just wanted to touch base with you SL7 stalwarts and remind you that the Springville Salon entry dates are rapidly approaching. You can download the entry form here. Entries will be received from April 7-11, 2009. Your next assignment for our meeting on the second Tuesday of March (the 10th) will be to have a good selection of what you are thinking of entering in the Salon. I'd like to see SL7 dominate the photography entries.

Meanwhile, I have been thinking about the importance of being able to talk about your art. There is a fine line between allowing your work to speak for itself, and being able to speak about art and what it means to you. It is worthwhile to explore ideas and concepts and to discover relationships within your art and between your art and the work that has and is being done in the world. Can you express your philosophy of art? Cultivating this ability to talk about your work may even improve your ability to think about and create the work you do. At the very least, you will become more informed and knowledgeable about your craft and about how you fit into the world of art, which will only help you as you talk to clients, gallery owners and collectors.

What do you think? Please let us know.

Kent Miles
Photographer

Photograph: William F. Buckley at Alta Lodge, Utah ©1993 Kent Miles

February Meeting Re-Cap

The February meeting evoked in me a mixture of excitement, discouragement, inspiration, and motivation.

I have taken my share of "pretty pictures". And while I have enjoyed them and appreciated the "oooh's and ahhh's" from friends and family, I am now at the point where I desire and aspire to move beyond that skill level. I am striving to gain a vision and understanding of what a truly artful photograph is.

And the effort to see what is, and then capture, artistic images is a challenging and elusive task.
But, our group is helping me (i.e. pushing and prodding – in a very professional, tactful, and caring way) to do that. I sense that my horizons are expanding (at least a little bit).

Brian Buroker
Salt Lake Seven

Photograph: Stairs In My Eyes, Chicago ©2004 Brian Buroker

New Portfolio Site for Kent Miles

It finally happened. I took the plunge and have entered the world of online portfolios.

I first set up my website 15 years ago. Maybe more. It was an outgrowth of my ad in the Black Book. They were on the forefront of starting an online portfolio service and they started with current advertisers. The same images I sent them I used for pictureline's initial visionary effort to start a portfolio service. Pictureline designed the page for me. The world wasn't ready right then for what Jens and his crew envisioned. When Jens pulled the plug on that first effort, I got the page they had built and put it on my own domain. And it has been there ever since.

The world has changed since then, but it has taken this old dog a while to learn some new tricks. Pictureline revisited their original portfolio service and it is remarkable. You can see it at http://www.pictureline.com/community/ . If you click here it will take you to my own portfolio there. Justin Hackworth, another member of Salt Lake Seven, has a portfolio here. It is a pretty big community, with photographers from all over the place. Some of them are very good. I recommend that you consider putting together a portfolio for the pictureline community. It is free. It is good experience. Who knows what might come of it?

This last weekend, though, I was resolved to take the steps needed to update my own website. And by chance I got some information about an online portfolio service called Parade. I went to it, tried it out, and voila! I have a legitimate online presence. I still need to create the link on my website to my portfolios at Parade, but that is a relatively small matter and should be done in the next few days.

So, do you want to see what's up? Check it out at http://kentmiles.paradepro.com/ The have a free service or upgraded service at a very reasonable cost.

And for the rest of you Salt Lake Seven, get with the picture. Load up!

Kent Miles
Photographer

Photograph: Eeka The Swamp Thing With Amber Her Pet Anaconda, Bangor State Fair, Maine ©1988 Kent Miles

Salt Lake Seven - New Blurb Book "Time Machine"

The regulars of SL7 have recently completed a new book, Time Machine, published through Blurb. It is available online at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/570616.

The intent of this book is to provide a year end retrospective of where we have come from, and to have a cooperative piece to share with each other and with friends. Since most of us have not published a book before, it was an adventure and a learning experience. One of the best parts of the process of creating the book was the time spent reviewing each others contributions. The opportunity for feedback on the images we were thinking about including was valuable, and every one of us benefited from the process.

The following is the introduction for Time Machine:

Time Machine
Salt Lake Seven - Two Thousand Eight

You may notice that our numbers do not correspond to our name… there are eight visual artists represented in this collection. Last year, when we did our first book there were six of us. Next year the number may change. So you see, seven as we use it is something of an ineffable number, representing the nature of our group rather than the number of chairs at our table.

Meeting since the mid-1990s, we are accumulating a weight of yesterdays, and, hopefully, have become a force for encouraging new and better photographic work. New faces have joined us this year. These members bring new images and ideas that help keep all of us fresh. For those who are just now being introduced to Salt Lake Seven, I quote from our website [www.saltlakeseven.com] as a way of helping you understand who we are and what we do:

Great things happen when a small group of committed practitioners of any art form gather on a regular basis to show their work and share ideas. These gatherings become an arena in which creative, technical and philosophical challenges are made and accepted. Ideas are voiced, tried on for size, and kept or recycled. The group becomes a sounding board wherein people you have learned to trust respond to your offerings honestly, thoughtfully, fairly, passionately. Criticism is never an attack, merely a response. Therefore, you don’t feel threatened. Mistakes become keys that open doors to new possibilities. Successes become validations that give you confidence to take greater creative risks. Over time, as part of such a group, it is impossible to avoid growth.

For our group, as for everyone, another year has come and gone, like the opening and closing of a camera’s shutter. As photographers, what we really hold in our hands is a time machine. Time is the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past. John Szarkowski, photographic curator, historian, photographer and author has written,

“All photographs are time exposures, of shorter or longer duration, and each describes a discrete parcel of time. This time is always the present. Uniquely in the history of pictures, a photograph describes only that period of time in which it was made. Photography alludes to the past and the future only in so far as they exist in the present, the past through its surviving relics, the future through prophecy visible in the present.” (John Szarkowski, The Photographer’s Eye, Museum of Modern Art, 1966)

Our cameras hold particular moments in suspension, keeping them from belonging solely to the past. Our photographs – time exposures all – preserve the present within fractions of a second, defying the inevitable and irrevocable sweep of the clock.

And we thought all we were doing was taking pictures.

This year, as we sought new challenges, we wanted to have our own venue for sharing our vision, our experiences, our discoveries, and our creative journeys. This book is our annual venue. We hope that many more will follow.

Kent Miles
Salt Lake City
November, 2008

Photograph: The Garden, Buenos Aires ©2001 Kent Miles