[alt-photo] greetings from SPE

[Christina Anderson]

Dear All,

Update on SPE since 596 aren't here...

How fun!  Mark Nelson (photopolymer indistinguishable from pt/pd), Gayle Stevens (wet plate collodion in a Holga), Connie Begg (wet plate Holga 4x5), Francis Schanberger (VDB), Hans Klemmer (haven't seen your work, Hans!) and a U Arts booth with Sarah Van Keuren, Scott McMahon, Sandra Davis, lunch today with Kay Kenny who's been doing gum since the 70's and whose work is in Antiquarian Avant Garde...Bostick and Sullivan and Dana at the trade show who did a practicum on pt/pd and diginegs....fun alt stuff going on at SPE despite the prevalence of large digiworks. I feel...good! And alt is alive and well. I cannot tell you how many people/educators asked me about alt these last couple days.

We also had dinner with Yasu who is the Pictorico rep.  Hilarious guy.  He is Japanese, but astute cultural sizer-upper (don't know how long he has lived in NY) and was better able to do a bottom line cultural read in two seconds on some stuff than most people.  He hit the nail on the head a number of times with his comments.  

I am MOST proud of my student Stephanie Obernesser who showed her gum prints at a portfolio review and the person doing the review BOUGHT one of them off of her right then and there for their collection at their university, saying it was the most beautifully tonal gum print they had seen.  For $500 even!  That was way cool, and validated alt to my students, 7 of whom made the trek all the way from Montana (and several graduated ones here, too).

Always bucking the trend tho--can't say my portfolio review was quite so overwhelmingly positive...but good constructive points nevertheless. At least the reviewer didn't say as, if I remember correctly, Diana (?) said her friend was told "Your work is so bad I don't want to waste breath telling you why."

I bought Kay Kenny's book on her gum prints right out of her purse...she was doing gum prints back when Judy was and knows of you, Judy.

But alas, I have to also say the flip side, that the conference jury did not select my talk on alt EVEN with Christopher James and Sandra Davis on the panel...so always the good with the bad trying to spread the alt gospel. But it is impt. to keep on trying.

And WHY, I ask, WHY, do people who give lectures read from their notes?  This is prevalent in academics and CAA.  I feel like, if you can't talk off the cuff and with fervor, don't give a lecture!  Dry is NOT inspiring.

Oh well! i'll probably get my head chopped off for saying this, but I know I am not the only one bored to tears at times with this practice.
Chris


Christina Z. Anderson
christinaZanderson.com