Part II: A Personal History of Photography
An Illustrated, annotated chronology of
photography projects and related remembrances
2012 Exhibition Spectrum Gallery, Rochester, NY I exhibited my work at Spectrum Gallery in Rochester in January-February . This is the first exhibit I've had since retiring from teaching and leaving Milwaukee-Chicago area and living in Canandaigua, NY and the Rochester area. See the online version of the exhibition click here.
2012 Travel to Spain Gloria and I traveled to Spain in the spring to see more Islamic Art and architecture. Visit Crystalline Paradise.
2012 Hydrofracking Suite I created the Hydrofracking Suite which consists of 4 projects including the Meadow Series, Screenshots, Transformed Hydrofracking Photographs, and the Four-Fold Symmetrical Hydrofracking Photographs.
The Hydrofracking Suite came out of the website I have been continuing to update weekly with the newest research and essays, etc: visit NoToHydrofracking.blogspot.com
2012 Radio Interview I was interviewed by Tish Pearlman for her radio program Out of Bounds. You can find the interview by searching my name - Steven Foster - in the site's archive: visit http://www.outofboundsradioshow.com/shows.php
2012 Music Video My old friend from Milwaukee, Hen Hanson has created a new band Panalure and has written a song "I'm Not Thinking about You" which he turned into a music video using my images from my project Triadic Memories. (Look for the music video image with all the red dots.)
2012 Islamic Sacred Art Inspired Projects I began applying the four-fold symmetrical photograph construction process to earlier project material (Abstract Photographs, Meadow, Windswept Landscapes, Studies, River Songs). Also at a Commitment Party in Mass. this summer I took pictures of three paper globe lights hanging in trees . . . and from this material another little series of symmetrical photographs emerged entitled The Tree of Life, which is project #5 in the Islamic sacred art inspired projects. Then in October, 2012 I completed the sixth of the core projects entitled Infinite Beauty. These images, repeating pattern image fields, are related to my Chromatic Field photographs. In October I also posted my Preface to "An Imaginary Book" the larger title I have given the entire group of Islamic sacred art inspired projects. At the end of November, 2012 I posted the seventh project Ta'wil. All the Islamic sacred art sacred knowledge inspired projects have been collected under this one link: "An Imaginary Book"
December 25, 2012 David Travis used one of my Visual Poems for his ongoing series of video poems entitled Ta Theia Orao. He zooms into my image (Swan, leaves, light on water) as a poem is being read and music is being played in the background. Simple, Haunting, Beautiful. The poem is John Koethe's "Chester." I knew John in Milwaukee where we both taught at the University. All David's video poems are collected on a Tumbler page. You may need to sign up and login to get access to his webpage. Here is the link: http://davidbtravis.tumblr.com/
2013 February 14, Valentine's Day. Book Project I mailed off a hand bound artist book I had made back in 1966 for Nathan Lyon's Home Workshop to the Visual Studies Workshop. The book is returning as a gift to it's "source" after 47 years of sitting in boxes in attics. I had edited some pictures out and re-sequenced the book and added an Afterword before sending it off. It's all explained in my Afterword, and the book with all its 31 pictures can be seen at this link: Click Here
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HISTORY OF GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Spectrum Gallery, Rochester, NY As of late August, 2011 my work is being represented by Spectrum Gallery, Rochester, NY. Bill Edwards is the Director of the gallery which is located inside Lumiere Photo, 100 College Ave. My first solo show there (my first exhibition since 2004, three years before leaving Milwaukee and moving to Canandaigua!) opened January 6, 2012 - February 25. The first show in Bill's new space opened in July, 2011, with a retrospective of Ralph Gibson. (The Gibson show was great show. I was very happy to be invited to join a gallery that would show work of that calibre.) Other future shows will possibly include the work of Nathan Lyons, and Carl Chiarenza. Both are very important figures in the history of photography in their different ways, and especially in Rochester.
Digression: Eastman House is of course in Rochester, and an important place in the history of photography. I took the History of Photography Course at George Eastman House in 1965, when Beaumont Newhall was teaching it there. It was a required course for my RIT photography program. I loved going to Eastman House for Newhall's lectures, the exhibitions, all the newest photo books to browse through, the print collections. I remember lying under one of the big trees on the front lawn of Eastman House, looking up at the overarching tree limbs, and having the fantasy of one day having an exhibit of my own photographs there. At that time Nathan Lyons was curating ground breaking fine arts photo exhibitions for Eastman House. It was such an exciting time.
Interestingly, two of my photographs (made in Chicago after I left Rochester to finish school at the Institute of Design) were included in a George Eastman House exhibition, curated by Nathan Lyons entitled Vision and Expression. There was also a catalogue which included one of my images from the show. (To see the image and learn more Go back to Personal History part I , and look in the section dated 1968-69.)
Carol Ehlers Gallery, Chicago represented my work in Chicago from 1978-2001 first via the Frumkin Gallery – Chicago, and then later via her own Ehlers/Caudill Gallery. Finally it became the Carol Ehlers Gallery. She closed her gallery in 2001 and became director of the LaSalle National Bank Photography Collection. My Lake Photographs sold well in her galleries. Everything else didn’t. My last show with Carol was the Garage Series, coupled with the Harry Callahan's architectural facade photos.
The Fassbender Stevens Gallery, Chicago represented and my work from November 2002 through March 2003. The gallery closed in March, 2003 after an exhibition that highlighted my work in a large group show with other artists of the gallery. The economy was causing lots of gallery closings. The director of the gallery was thinking of moving to Berlin to start a new gallery there. I never heard from her again.
The Michael Lord Gallery, Milwaukee represented my work from 1983 through 2005, when the gallery closed. Michael was very generous with me. He paid for all the framing and announcements, allowed me to have shows whenever I felt ready, of whatever I wanted. He always had very elegant New York City quality gallery spaces.
The Michael Lord Gallery has reopened in Palm Springs, CA and holds several of my Studies, Garage and Lake Series photographs. You can see them posted on the gallery's website.
End of Personal History
To see a collection of stories, essays, and remembrances of extraordinary show openings & life events, philosophical and artistic ideas, visit: Selected Writings: Remembrances.
