Labor of Love

The Albuquerque Photographers’ Gallery is not only weathering the economic storm of the past couple years, we have recently moved to a larger space and added an eleventh member.

APG was founded in 2003 as Albuquerque's first cooperative photo gallery and has been a constant presence in Old Town’s Poco A Poco patio since then. When we decided to move we found no shortage of spaces available—fallout from the difficult economy. But as a co-op, APG is uniquely equipped to survive. There are eleven of us who have a shared workload and shared financial burden during difficult times. Co-ops foster a team atmosphere with a built-in support system and the effort it takes to make it work is truly a labor of love. Prospective buyers benefit as well by the generally lower prices and the variety of styles to choose from in one space, including innovative work that is not scripted by commercial constraints.

The eleven current member/photographers are; Peter Boehringer, Robert Medina Cook, Roberto Crespin, Bill d’Ellis, Rebecca Golding, Melissa Lea, Urey Lemen, Tom Spross, Gale Sutton, Kent Winchester, and Janet Worne.

Our new gallery opened on April 1, 2011, on the west side of the San Felipe de Neri Church in Albuquerque. Our address is 303 Romero Street, suite N208 Plaza Don Luis in Old Town. There will be an official Grand Opening Celebration on May 7, 2011.

Come and visit us soon!

--Janet Worne

WE ARE MOVING! – BUT NOT FAR

We are pleased to tell you that the gallery is moving to the west side of the Old Town Plaza in Albuquerque. Although our new location is only a couple of city blocks from the old, the move marks the great distance the gallery has come in its first decade. The new space is much larger, better lit, and more welcoming than our current quarters.
Beginning April 1st – and no, this is not an early April Fool’s Day joke – we’ll be in the Plaza Don Luis on the northwest corner of the Old Town Plaza, across the street to the west of the Church. (303 Romero St). We will occupy suite N208 upstairs. Served by an elevator and multiple stairways, we’ll be easier to find and have space for you to sit, have a cup of coffee, and look at the artists’ portfolios. Please come and enjoy our photographs of this land of clear light we’re privileged to photograph for you.

We’re busy preparing the space now, installing a new lighting system, erecting partitions, and planning new displays. We’re excited about the move and can’t wait to get to the new space. We’ll have a grand opening reception and will announce it here. In the meantime, we’re still open at the old location, ready to show you all our photos, including a perfect old adobe wall, a mysterious gate, or an endless southwestern horizon in which your imagination can roam, as free as the wind.

Introducing Peter Boehringer

Meet Peter Boehringer, our very newest member. His beautiful photographs will be added to our gallery in March.

Peter’s attraction to photography started very early in life and he had the good fortune of growing up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the breathtaking scenery was the backdrop for his first experiments in black and white. He received his first camera at the age of 14 and used his school’s darkroom for processing. However, with the lack of a personal darkroom and challenges of developing color film, as well as taking the time to pursue a career in the healthcare field, Peter put his photographic ambitions on hold.

Then in 2002 he moved to California with its captivating landscapes and discovered the tremendous improvement in digital photography. His passion for the art was rekindled. His main areas of interest are landscape, wildlife and nature, especially in the American Southwest where he now resides.

Welcome Peter, we look forward to having your work grace our walls.

Introducing Kent Winchester

Meet Kent Winchester, one of our two newest members.

Kent is a native New Mexican who has wandered the southwest – and other places – with a camera in his hand since he was ten years old. That was when his father, a professional photographer himself, first gave him a Kodak Brownie and showed him how to load film and click the shutter. After that he was pretty much on his own, but with Ansel Adams' books on photography never far away.

A trial lawyer, Kent's day job kept him from pursuing photography full time until recently. But backpacking vacations and work-related trips took him and his camera all over the western United States. Working first with film and now with both film and digital cameras, he continues to wander around the west, waiting for the light, and clicking his shutters.

We welcome him to the gallery and enjoy adding his individual style to our mix.

1st Place in the NM Magazine Photo Contest

"Riveting together History" by Tom Spross
Category: Sense of Place

New Mexico Magazine, a division of the New Mexico Tourism Department, is proud to announce the winners of its 10th annual Photo Contest.
The winning images appear in the magazine’s January 2011 issue, available on newsstands now.
“Not only is the New Mexico Magazine Photo Contest a showcase of the breadth and beauty of our great state, it also represents the photographic talents of people who love New Mexico, many of whom are our readers,” said Publisher Ethel Hess.
One grand-prize winner was awarded, in addition to first-, second-, and third-place honors in six categories. There were also 21 honorable mentions.
Twenty-four pages of the magazine’s January 2011 issue are devoted to 43 award-winning photos. More than 240 non-professional photographers submitted more than 1,100 images. Of those, more than half of the entries were from residents of 40 cities and towns in New Mexico. The rest came from residents of 31 other states.
To see all the winning photographs, go to: http://www.nmmagazine.com/photo_tour.php

NEW MEXICO CANCER CENTER "GALLERY WITH A CAUSE"

"Cold Springs Morning Glow"

One of our members, Bill d'Ellis, has ten images on exhibit in the Winter Gallery show, “Dreamscapes!” at the New Mexico Cancer Center "Gallery with a Cause," from December 12 to March 12, 2011, along with twenty other artists, exhibiting photographic images, ceramic mosaics, oil, watercolor, pastel and mixed media paintings. 35% of purchases are tax-deductible and benefit patients who are battling cancer.

The gallery is open to the public 9 to 6 Monday through Friday. It is located in the New Mexico Cancer Center at 4901 Lang N.E. From the intersection of Paseo del Norte and Jefferson, go south on Jefferson and turn left (east) at Lang, the first left turn opportunity. It is on the left at the end of the first long block. Please call Colleen at 828-3791 or Devona at 828-3789 to make arrangements to see the exhibition, as they prefer to take you around in order to protect the privacy of patients.

To give her patients a more peaceful and beautiful surrounding for their treatment, New Mexico Cancer Center founder, Dr. Barbara McAneny, started the New Mexico Cancer Foundation in 2002. She had the entire facility designed to be both a comprehensive cancer treatment facility and an art gallery. Many patients have expressed their appreciation for the art.

She recognized that, as vacation, sick leave and other resources were quickly exhausted, the burdens of their illness and treatment often left her patients without sufficient financial resources to meet their everyday needs. Families were unable to pay rent or mortgage payments, car payments, electricity and gas bills and other common expenses. With generous support from the New Mexico Cancer Center physicians, the Foundation began to provide patients with non-medical financial assistance. Thousands of other generous donors have contributed to this cause. Since its inception, nearly $450,000 in Foundation patient grants has eased burdens for hundreds of New Mexico families.

Not long after the Foundation was started, the art became a part of the Foundation’s mission. The Foundation sponsors four art shows each year at the New Mexico Cancer Center. Curator, Terry Dunn, selects each show around a different theme suitable for cancer patients, some of whom spend many hours there in chemotherapy or other treatment. As with any gallery, artists are charged a commission on sales. And the commission is, for the buyer, a tax deductible donation which goes to the Foundation.

Four shows a year; a great venue; pleasant art for cancer patients; and the commission helps deserving cancer patients. A Gallery With A Cause, indeed!

Cover Art

Check out the Winter 2010/11 cover of the internationally distributed Route 66 Magazine and you will find a stunning photo of the Route 66 Malt Shop by our own Melissa Lea.

Over the years, Melissa has turned her camera on the many, unique sights along Route 66. The subject has held a fascination for her since childhood when she traveled to California with her parents. In 2006, she drove the route solo from Chicago to Santa Monica. “When you travel Route 66,” she says, “you are able to see the uniqueness of America as it really is. It’s not like driving the interstate where you see mostly chain stores that look the same everywhere.” And she particularly likes the Malt Shop, because it is “still alive and taking a step toward the future. Most people only take pictures of the old and dying landmarks and don’t pay enough attention to the ‘Mother Road’s’ success stories.”

Melissa shot this picture at dusk with a tripod. Neon is a particularly difficult subject to photograph but she handled it like the master photographer that she is. You can view more of her Route 66 images in our gallery.