It's funny where the casual phone call can land you. Five years ago fellow OCAC alum Blue Mitchell gave me a ring to ask if I'd be interviewed for a new venture he was starting. When I asked him about the project I was, I'll be frank, stunned. Blue wanted to start a magazine about alternative photography. A magazine. On paper. Printed in full color. A magazine that was taking for its theme one of (at the time) the most misunderstood areas of fine art photography (which, naturally, is where I'd put most of my energy for years). 

Long story short I was thrilled to be a part of the first issue of Diffusion, which has grown to have a significant following, and I am perpetually grateful to Blue for his enthusiasm, dedication and incredible networking skills. He's done quite a bit to shape a continuing dialogue about what constitutes a photograph, and has generated a real community of creatives who might not have found each other without Diffusion.

This Friday night is the opening of an exhibit at the rightly esteemed VERVE Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe, where I am part of a group of alternative photographers who have been featured in Diffusion over the past five years. It is an honor to have selections from my SUBJECTIVE series included and I'm looking forward to meeting others whose images I have so admired over the years. If you're in Santa Fe then you should stop by between 5-7pm and then, on Saturday, you should return to hear a presentation at 2pm by Blue on Diffusion's growth. I hope to see you there!

For those interested in reading my initial interview in Diffusion, Issue 1 a second edition reprint is now available.

Additionally, I wrote an article in Diffusion, Issue 4 titled Transient Reflections and Fixed Impressions: Thoughts on the Physical Photograph in a Digital Age which explores the importance of the photograph as a physical object; wandering from reflections on Talbot, the Smithsonian, historical happenstance and Vera Lutter.

Today and tomorrow are it for Newspace's 2013 themed exhibition about images that exist at the perimeter of what is commonly accepted as photography. Or, to be more specific, fine art photography, which is perhaps a term better left vaguely defined so as not to ruffle any proverbial feathers. 

Within the exhibit there are conceptual investigations of what constitutes a photograph, as well as materials explorations with alternative processes like liquid photo emulsion. Many of the photographers on display (like yours truly) are really dealing with the conceptual framework through material process, which is probably the most unifying element to what is essentially a very visually disparate exhibit.

There is a heavy digital component to the show, as apparently the validity of digital images/manipulations continues to be a contentious subject among the photographic community (despite the fact that much of the world now produces images using digital means).  

In fact, the work that resonated most profoundly for me was a digital composite by Amy Elkins titled 11 Years out of a Death Row Sentence (river) which perfectly conveyed its spiritual tenor through a very knowing homage to the cathartic Pictorial tradition that is so rampant in landscape photography. This image alone is worth the visit to Newspace this weekend, but there are also great works by J. Swofford, Buzzy Sullivan, Shawn Darwent, Emidio Puglielli, Lauren Grabelle and Ben Panter.
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Photography at the Edge | 2013 Themed Exhibition
Newspace Center for Photography
1632 SE 10th Ave. Portland OR 97214
Mon-Thurs: 10am-9:30pm
Fri-Sun: 10am-6pm

There are so many subtleties to gray and few better places to appreciate this fact than Oregon. This photograph is both homage to Harry Callahan and an excellent candidate to be the sample image I'll use in teaching acrylic transfer techniques this coming spring in Portland.

With spring in the air you might be turning your thoughts more towards the great outdoors than to the hallowed white walls of the art gallery but I tell you now that it is possible to marry both in the upcoming weeks if you are at all near historic Astoria, Oregon.

An excursion to this coastal town, situated at the ferocious mouth of the Columbia River, will not only get you that blast of salty sea air, but can also stimulate your aesthetic consciousness with a group exhibit of Portland photographers held at Lightbox Photographic Gallery. Some stalwarts of the PDX photo world are taking part, including urban minimalist TJ Norris, antiquarian advocate Blue Mitchell, Blue Moon Camera's Zeb Andrews, and silver gelatin master Stu Levy to name just a few. They even let yours truly sneak a piece on to the wall as well.

The exhibit is presented in honor of Portland Photo Month, a bi-annual celebration of photography in the Rose City that honors the diversity of photographic talent world-wide through exhibits, lectures, and workshops on all things related to the capture of light by a lens, chemistry, code or any combination of the bunch.