This post, in a shorter version, appeared first as a part of my Feb.27th blog post, 'The Object Stares Back'. I decided to make a separate entry for it, with more details added. So, here it is....
I have several photography shows coming up this year, and wanted to talk briefly about one of them.
The show, which is a group photography exhibit of the 29 finalists of the 9th International Photography Competition organized by
Fraser Gallery based in Washington DC/Bethesda MD will open on March 12, 2010 at Fraser Gallery in Bethesda MD, and will show two of my architectural photographs.
Untitled No.1 (Rooflines. Performing Arts Center at Bard College designed by Frank Gehry. Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) 2008
Untitled No.2 (Skylight. Milwaukee Art Museum designed by Santiago Calatrava. Milwaukee, WI) 2005It is an amazing collection of works, and I am truly honored to be part of this show. You can see the selected works on-line
here. But it's the story behind the gallery itself I wanted to tell you.
Once upon a time, a young aspiring photographer, born in the UK, and living in the US had a problem on her hands: 26 of her photographs which had just been exhibited in Scotland were "mysteriously" lost in transportation. After two years of talks with the hosting gallery that led nowhere she decided to go to Scotland and see for herself. What followed was her suing the gallery, upon which all her works emerged intact from a dusty closet, as mysteriously as they had disappeared. Ignited by her travelogue, the young tenacious artist decided to create her own gallery, where works of art would not get "lost", and which would treat all artists with respect. Today, 13 or so years later, her inspired creation - Fraser Gallery - is a premier independent photography gallery in the greater Washington area, and a bustling hub of artistic activity. If you are in Washington/Bethesda this spring, please come and see the show, and perhaps I will see you at the opening on March 12th. And if I am not there, please say hi for me to the owner, Catriona Fraser, the young tenacious artist in my story. And don't go looking for dusty closets out there! All the treasures will be on the walls! ;-)
In the anticipation of the show, I was interviewed by The
Gazette reporter Jordan Edwards from Washington D.C. yesterday. The article, which will also include interviews with three other photographers participating in this show, will run in the Gazette on March 10. I was curious to know why, out of the 29 artists, he had chosen to interview me. He explained that he had wanted to focus on photographers from other states, on architectural photography, and on work of a woman photographer. Obviously, I fit the bill! But what was interesting to learn was that I was the only woman photographer from outside Washington DC whose work had been selected for the show. Like architecture, photography still remains a male-dominated field. Although, I am not a big fan of the word "domination". How about outweigh? At least when it comes to weight, we women don't mind to be on the losing side! ;-)
So, among other things, the reporter asked me how I had arrived at architectural photography, why I took these particular photographs (the ones you see above), why I hadn't chosen photography as my profession to begin with, whether I altered my photographs digitally, and so on. All these questions got me thinking. But I will leave this for one of my next posts...
