Bisti Wonderland

The Bisti Badlands are in Northwest New Mexico.  It is a wonderland of weird formations and visas.  This image was taken in an area commonly called the "egg factory".  My name for this image however is "On the Half Shell".  If you are ever in the area be sure to give the Bisti a look.  The badlands are on BLM land.  Most of the nicer formations are about a mile hike from the parking lot.
Urey Lemen

Added Incentive

We now have another great reason why you should come to the gallery this Friday, 6-9 PM, for the opening reception of Lee Marmon: "The Acoma Collection".

1)  You'll really want to meet the very personable artist and hear his many stories.

2)  You also don't want to miss seeing his amazing photographs.

And now:

3)  High Noon Restaurant & Saloon has graciously offered to provide a selection of mouthwatering hors d'oeuvres for the reception. Check out their facebook page for more information about the restaurant and to see some photos of their tempting food.

Lee Marmon: "The Acoma Collection"

His photos — historic and unique — are as diverse as the life he has lived. Best known for his iconic photograph “White Man's Moccasins”, which embodies the clash of two cultures, Laguna Pueblo photographer Lee Marmon has chronicled the history of his people for more than six decades.

Beginning on March 1st through April 30th, the Albuquerque Photographers’ Gallery presents “Lee Marmon, The Acoma Collection”, with a reception for the artist on Friday, March 1st, from 6 to 9 pm.

Lee Marmon embarked on his extraordinary career after serving in World War II when he started photographing tribal elders at the suggestion of his father. From that beginning, his work took him to Hollywood, the White House, Acoma Pueblo and back home to Laguna. Along the way he photographed presidents, celebrities, tribal elders, dancers, and sacred landscapes of the Southwest. His work is a unique visual record of American life and has garnered many awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Santa Fe Indian Market and The Czech Republic's Kantuta humanitarian award.

Marmon's work has been widely shown in galleries and museums throughout the world. Some are in the permanent collection at the White House. In 2009, the University of New Mexico acquired Marmon's collection of more than 40,000
negatives and many of his last silver gelatin prints now belong to Acoma Pueblo. Through a special arrangement with Acoma, Albuquerque Photographers' Gallery in Old Town is thrilled to show and offer for sale these rare works of art that are among the last of his personally printed and signed photographs. The gallery will also offer works from Marmon's personal collection, including original silver gelatin prints of “White Man's Moccasins”, as well as several high quality posters. And now, some of his work is available for purchase on our website.

His daughter, the writer Leslie Marmon-Silko, once wrote of her father that he served, “the most ancient of Pueblo imperatives: to honor all beings, but especially our beloved ones, gone before us”. These are not snapshots, she added, but “lively plays between sunlight and shadow to reveal the precious and beloved outside of time”.

The Albuquerque Photographers' Gallery is located at 303 Romero Street, NW in Old Town Albuquerque and is New Mexico's preeminent gallery of contemporary photography. More information is available from the gallery's website, http://www.abqphotographersgallery.com/

 

 

Reception

 

Don't forget, coming up this Friday.  



Three of our photographers, Bill d'Ellis, Elsa d'Ellis and Robert Crespin are among the photographrs whose work is featured in "Rio Vistas," a 2013 Water Conservation Calendar. This free calendar, which includes Bill d'Ellis' photo, below,

 

Rio Grande Sandbars
 

 

 

was produced by the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority. 

 

 

 

To celebrate, the Water Utility Authority will host a reception at our gallery on Friday, January 18th, 5 - 7 PM. All of the featured photographers will have work on display. 

 

Refreshments will be served.

 

We hope you can come! You can pick up your free calendar while you're there.

 

 

Black & White or Color?

Which do you prefer? There are arguments on both sides. Many "purists" make the blanket statement that they like black and white over color for everything. Others only shoot color. One answer to the question would be "It depends". The important thing is to consider your answer carefully and know why you've chosen one way or another. Remember, this choice is a storytelling tool like anything else.

Here are some examples to make the point about how color or lack of it can make a difference in the message a photograph imparts:

One of the biggest arguments for using black and white for people pictures is that it strips away colors that could distract from the emotion of the moment. Instead of your eye being drawn to the green trees or the yellow lettering in the t-shirt, it is drawn into the tortured expression on the faces and the body language. Perhaps since this picture has fairly subdued colors to begin with you could argue the other side, but imagine if the shirt was red.

This picture cries out for color for practical reasons as well as the fact that it just makes a prettier image. The plight of the Kentucky player is made much more dramatic and obvious by the fact that he is surrounded by a towering mass of orange. In the B&W version the viewer has to work harder to figure out what is going on.

When I started out in news photography, we shot slide film and B&W film. We didn't use color negative and convert later so we had to decide on the spot which to use. Each kind of film used a different approach--a different kind of thought process in order to do each justice. I think you can begin to see why in these examples.

-Janet Worne

Mary Ellen Mark Quote

"The difficulty with color is to go beyond the fact that it's color – to have it be not just a colorful picture but really be a picture about something. It's difficult. So often color gets caught up in color, and it becomes merely decorative. Some photographers use [ it ] brilliantly to make visual statements combining color and content; otherwise it is empty."

-Mary Ellen Mark

APG Workshops

The Albuquerque Photographers' Gallery is now offering workshops for photographers of all experience levels, starting with "Personal Vision: Taking Control of the Creative Process" on September 12th, 6-8 PM.

A camera can calculate mathematically the right exposure and focus the lens for you but it has no idea what feelings or messages you are trying to communicate in your image. What if you decided to take control and make the creative decisions based on what vision you have in your head?

"Personal Vision" offers 10 tools to help you make better and more creative images. These tools are not expensive and are not found in the latest high tech equipment or software. Remember, the most important piece of photographic equipment in the world is your brain—and you already own it.

This two-hour class is geared toward advanced beginners— those who are familiar with their own cameras and want to move beyond snapshots, or photographers at any level who want a little extra inspiration. Attendees may bring one of their own photos (either a print or a jpeg on a flash drive) for critique, depending on the available time at the end of the class.

Instructor:
Janet Worne has been a professional photographer for over 30 years, most of that time as a photojournalist. While working for newspapers in three states, she has covered a wide variety of subjects, including sports, news, features, and art. She has won numerous awards from ANMPAS, Associated Press and the National Press Photographers Association, among others. Some of her work is in the permanent collection at The National Museum for Women in the Arts in DC. She has taught college level photography and served as a mentor for NPPA. Janet currently lives in New Mexico, pursuing fine art photography.

Check our website, we will soon have details and updates on this or any other future workshops.