Re: Report from APIS. loooonnnnggg

[stephen wasilewski <steve_wasilewski@yahoo.com>]

Great review, Chris.  I heard the suggestion and agree
that two years between meetings is too long.  With
attendance down, could we get expanded participation
by encouraging some regional get togethers for  one to
two days?  An "alt" year meeting may be the groundwork
to spawn more presentations and participation in Santa
Fe for 2009.  

I know you could present on many topics and others
could get encouragement for presentation through
trying out ideas at a more local get together.

Many people would travel a couple hundred miles for a
weekend.  Now, for some leaders to volunteer hosting a
meeting....

If not, see you in two years.

Steve
   
--- "zphoto@montana.net" <zphoto@montana.net> wrote:

> Well, APIS is over and sad to say we'll all part for
> another
> two years.  I thought I would give a little gossip
> update
> for those who couldn't attend--certainly a lot of
> you
> because it was the smallest group this time ever!  I
> know
> gas is expensive and flying these days is a b---h
> but we
> missed a lot of the regulars for sure. I've been
> coming
> every time since 1999 and the group seems to have
> dwindled
> down to the hard core alt addicts...
> 
> The most important update was a good lesson for us
> all.  Art
> Chakalis, brave man that he is, took a trip into the
> wilderness to photograph a remote pueblo, and ended
> up
> "spraining his ankle" there and had to walk out on
> his own
> (no cell phone coverage, no other people anywhere)
> on it for
> 2 hours.  A trip to the hospital ER room revealed
> not just a
> sprain, but quite a bad break and he had to fly
> home,
> missing the entire APIS.  He is awaiting news of
> whether
> surgery and plates are in order or if the cast he
> now has on
> is sufficient.  Fresson will have to wait until he
> heals. 
> What a stupid thing--Mark Nelson and I took him to
> dinner at
> 11 PM while waiting for his meds--where did we
> choose to
> eat?  IHOP.  And Art was.  Send him blessings.
> 
> Rondal Partridge's talk was wonderful as was his
> showing of
> his platinum prints that he passed around and
> through the
> audience like they were work prints.  Beautiful
> imagery and
> very inspiring as well as funny talk.  Kenro Izu's
> talk was
> really heartfelt.  What a man--travels with this
> huge camera
> all over, still doing analog work and printing pt/pd
> with in
> camera negs--no digital.  Barret Oliver gave an
> inspiring
> talk on his 7 year research on the Woodburytype and
> his book
> is just published.  John Guider who traveled some
> 2800 miles
> in a canoe on the Mississippi etc. rivers and
> photographed
> showed his huge pt/pd prints and was the most
> wonderful
> story teller of all he encountered in his months of
> solitary
> paddling.  Kim Weston did a retrospective of his
> work--primarily the nude--and those lately that he
> handcolors with oil paints, scans on a drum (?)
> scanner and
> prints HUGE.  Ron Reeder (great wry sense of humor)
> clearly
> delineated the several different ways of skinning
> the
> digital negative cat and even was brave enough at
> the end to
> compare the different methods and mention names. 
> He's a
> sweetie.  And as usual, Howard Efner is tinkering
> with
> chemistry and coming up with the
> Physautotype--you'll have
> to ask him about it--and Joe Sarff lectured on the
> importance of vernacular photography.
> 
> Two evening events were really delightful--a
> cocktail
> reception at the Sullivan house, and a free dinner
> for APIS
> participants in the Andrew Smith gallery--have you
> even
> eating BBQ right beneath $5000 prints???
> 
> My favorite part of the whole symposium is
> networking and
> blabbing away, putting names with faces (and calling
> Paul
> Lehman "Wayne" the entire time because I have a
> friend back
> home named that).  And the "5 in 5" where we see a
> bunch of
> people's work, 5 allotted minutes apiece, including
> some
> newbie APIS people such as Daniel Belknap who
> printed for
> Irving Penn and prints for Mark Seliger (HUGE pds!!!
> 50ml
> pt/pd per print!!) and Sal Lopes who prints for Mary
> Ellen
> Mark and others I forget.  
> 
> Oh, and did I say there were pt/pd printers there???
> 
> 
> How about gummists?  Hardly. 
> 
> I am always especially interested in tracking female
> participation, sometimes feeling like the lone
> female wolf
> in a forest of male alt-ees.  This time there was
> about 20%
> female participation--about normal it seems--but
> some of the
> quality of the work out of these women was really
> wonderful.
>  Elaine Querry did large cyanotypes of sculptures
> framed
> with neat fabric patterns to complement the
> sculpture, Nina
> Pak photographed easily 100 shots of women in
> costume for a
> Tarot deck, etc. etc.
> 
> OH and Bernie (what is his last name??) developed a
> copper
> cyano process that he HAS to name the Bernietype but
> I
> unfortunately did not get the formula which he so
> freely
> shared; Bernie is a chemist and the coppertypes are
> lovely
> pink.  
> 
> I hope that next time more will come.  Talk of ideas
> to
> share/processes to teach ended  this symposium.  If
> y'all
> have any input, email the Sullivans and show up in
> 2009!  
> 
> The rest of the listees that attended will jump in,
> I am
> sure, with their experiences of APIS this time.  
> I'm
> looking forward to a nice, pricey dinner downtown
> Santa Fe
> before I go back to reality and 2 days driving.....
> Chris
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Assistant Professor of Photography
> Photography Option Coordinator
> Montana State University
> College of Arts and Architecture
> Department of Media and Theatre Arts, Room 220
> P.O. Box 173350
> Bozeman, MT 59717-3350
> Tel (406) 994 6219
> CZAphotography.com
> 
>