Portrait of Italy photo book

Recently finish documenting our trip to Italy last year by putting together a photo book.  This is available on Blurb.  A pdf version is available at the following url:   http://www.jackahearnphotography.com/Italy.shtml

Some images from the trip that are in the book:

Florence

Todi in Umbria

San Marco in Venice

Flower photographs, Amherst Garden

Looking back at photographs for my proposed flower folio I was considering those made in 1999 and 2000, now more than 10 years ago.  Some of these were shown to John Sexton when I attended his Anderson Ranch workshop in September 2000.  He was unenthusiastic about the photos perhaps because of presentation or poor printing technique at that time.  His low enthusiasm level inhibited my view of these for a long time.  Having taken up digital printing in the meantime the photographs are now better rendered than when I made silver prints.  I want to go back to the darkroom to reprint them with the silver process where I should be able to make outstanding prints, with guidance from the digital rendition.  It is much more efficient to make modifications and craft the print with the computer than in the darkroom where there is a lot of waste in material and time.  Of course, the appearance of a print differs significantly with the inkjet process vs the silver process.  Both having significant merit.

Recent juried competitions

 Several events of interest occurred in the last six months in the world of my photography that are worth mentioning.  In September 2012 a photograph  was selected for the New Hampshire Art Association Parfitt show in Portsmouth NH sponsored by the NH Art Association.  The show ran for the month of September at the Levy gallery in Portsmouth.  The photograph was one I made at the Heald Tract in Wilton, NH of reflections and foam from flowing water in a brook.  I also submitted the photo Beaver Pond, but this was not selected.  If I were judging and had to select only one photo I would have chosen the Beaver Pond photo because of it's deeper content.  The reflection photo has perhaps more dramatic interest but not as much depth. (see http://www.nhartassociation.org/event/33rd-annual-parfitt-open-juried-photography-exhibition/)

Spring Brook, Heald Tract Wilton NH 2012

Beaver Pond, Heald Tract Wilton NH 2012

A photograph I submitted to the "Box Squared" exhibition for the Center of Fine Art Photography in Ft.Collins, CO was accepted for their show that is currently ongoing.  I submitted several shell photographs to that contest where a shell was enclosed in an open box; these were done several years ago and were included in my shell folio for the Sharon Arts Center in 2011. (see http://www.c4fap.org/exhibitors/2012BoxSquared/)

Conch Shell Odalisk #2, 2009

Conch Shell in a Box, 2009

Conch Shell Odalisk #1, 2009

The annual Sharon Arts Center membership show is ongoing and I have the Heald Track Beaver Pond photo hanging in there.

Ongoing projects include completion of a photo travel book from our Italy trip last November and the creation of a folio of photographs of flowers and another of forests.  Further details of these should be forthcoming in future blogs.

Mt. Washington Photographs

During an early morning visit to the top of Mt. Washington I had an opportunity to make some "snap shots" of the striking cloud formations with my Nikon point and shoot camera.  The scene was fast changing as the wisps of clouds would appear and disappear in a matter of moments.  These can be somewhat like a psychology exercise or like finding images in the clouds that evoke specific shapes of various objects or creatures.  The agility of the small camera was handy in this situation and the results stunning.  Being above, and sometimes in, the clouds provided an exciting viewpoint.

Heald Track Snapshots 2

In anticipation of a photo show at the Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Forests ( in the Fall of 2014) I am gathering photo "snap shots" of the Heald  Track with the intent to revisit the area with my view camera and make additional exposures.  These images are made with a Nikon point and shoot digital camera (Coolpix P510).  Here are some of the results of this activity this summer:

 

Recent events at the Currier Museum of Art

Two recent events associated with the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester are of some note.  I participated in a portfolio review where I received some nice feedback on my photographs.  Some photographs that I thought less  moving than some others received considerable positive comments, giving me some pause and leading me to look again at these photos.   In one session with a reviewer we edited the photographs down to a smaller set, again the ones that were selected were not always the ones I might have chosen;  I did receive some nice tips for exhibitions and now have two shows scheduled, one in the summer of 2013 at the NH Law Library in  Concord, the other in the fall of 2014 at the Friends for the Preservation of NH Forests also in Concord.

I also participated in the "Photo Slam" event at the Currier where twelve photographers are selected to present their photographs for five minutes.  The Currier had an exhibition of one each of the participants photographs.  The photograph that I showed is reproduced here:  Boulder and River Stones, Wild River Maine, 2008

CSArt Program, Sharon Arts Center -- Update

The CSArt program at the Sharon Arts Center completed in January 2012 with the sale of 36 shares(against a goal of 50). My submission was a folio of five shell photographs that were previously described in a blog post in October '11. The folio cover is shown above and I am including the five images in the folio at the end of this blog entry. By most accounts the project was a success. I currently have 14 folios that I am trying to find a home for.

The Sharon Arts Center has published a call for a second CSArt program with the art delivery required starting in June. I have submitted an entry to this and am waiting for the selection announcement after May 1. I proposed a limited addition folio of five photographs of the New Hampshire landscape and plan to go ahead with producing this even if not selected.