Stephen Johnson to give free lecture at the School of Visual Arts NYC 12/4/2007

The Master of Professional Studies Digital Photography department at the School of Visual Arts is hosting its first open to the public lecture on December 4, 2007 with renowned photographer, author, and educator Stephen Johnson. The lecture begins at 7:00 PM at the SVA Amphitheater, 209 East 23 Street, 3rd floor. The talk is sponsored by Canon’s Explorer of Light Program and is free and open to the public.

Before the lecture, the winners of the 2007 Real World Color Management Equipment Scholarship will be announced, and their winning prints will be shown. The scholarship is available to students enrolled in the Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Digital Photography program at the School of Visual Arts (SVA). The scholarship is sponsored by Epson America and MPS faculty member and co-author of Real World Color Management, Chris Murphy. I’m also very honored to have been asked to judge the competition.

The lecture explores the state of digital photography today, from being a photographer in the 21st century, to cutting edge cameras and software techniques, to engaging discourse on the history and future of digital photography. Stephen Johnson has developed and spurred-on cutting-edge techniques for producing and reproducing images of the highest quality. This lecture is firmly based in his core belief that photography is fundamentally a light capture medium, rather than a pixel manipulation party.

Using his new book with O’Reilly Media: Stephen Johnson: On Digital Photography as his organizational structure for the talk, topics will include: making art, empowerment, ethics in the digital age, and some aspects of the digital darkroom. His lectures include very high quality digital image examples with which he can hone in on “uniquely digital” techniques and fundamental breakthroughs in photography that digital improvements have provided but which many have yet to realize. The talk includes a history of electronic imaging and details the transformation of the darkroom to the computer taking us all way up to the future trends in digital photography.

Stephen’s book and posters will also be available for sale and signing. I’ve had a number of opportunities to see Stephen Johnson’s pigment-based inkjet prints “up-close and personal” over the years and they are spectacular.

I look forward to seeing some of our readers there!

For more information about Stephen Johnson, visit his website here. For more information about this lecture, visit this page on SVA’s website, and for more information about the MPS in Digital Photography Program at SVA, visit this page.

Links to books mentioned in article on Amazon.com:

Stephen Johnson: On Digital Photography
Real World Color Management by Bruce Fraser, Chris Murphy and Fred Bunting

Editor and Publisher’s incredible 2007 Photos of the Year competition

I’m a bit in shock while writing this, and that’s because I just looked at all the winners and honorable mention images from the 2007 Editor and Publisher Photos of the Year competition. The contest showcases a wide range of imagery from around the world, and I highly recommend taking a look. It may not be clear at first, but to navigate, I recommend starting at the very top left of the screen (click on Grand Prize) and then click on each section, followed by the circulation numbers that will appear. The captions, which can be seen on the left side of each image, are very well written and help to tell the story .

Screen shot from EditorandPublisher.com Photo © Bill Greene, 2007 Grand Prize winner

Two recent award announcements from the APA

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m a member of the APA (Advertising Photographers of America (New York Chapter)) and I’ve benefitted greatly over the years from my involvement with the organization. There are many benefits of membership, including savings on insurance and software, free resources such as sample contracts, as well as the opportunity to attend a variety of educational programs held around the USA at photo studios, Apple Stores and schools where APA members come to speak. Often, the talks are free, or a nominal cost to APA members. Even non-members are almost always invited to attend APA-sponsored events.

Virtually all of the people who help run the APA are volunteers, and it takes a lot of time and dedication to put events together and to run the day to day operations of each chapter. This year, the APA is celebrating its 25th year anniversary, and they are marking the event in part with the APA 25th Anniversary Recognition Awards. As explained in APA’s press release “the APA 25th Anniversary Recognition Awards were created to honor leaders within the organization who have made significant contributions to further APA’s mission while helping to strengthen the photographic community. Voted on by their peers, six recipients were honored at APA’s 25th anniversary party co-hosted with Digital Railroad at the Sandbox Studio in New York on October 19, 2007.

Voted on by their peers, the recipients are:

Jeff Sedlik, APA Advocacy Award;
Bobbi Lane, APA Education Award;
Michael Grecco, APA Professionalism and Integrity Award;
Peter Krogh, APA Innovation in Technology Award;
George Fulton, APA Creativity Award; and
Will Mosgrove, APA Leadership Award

Complete bios of all the award winners can be found on this page.

Another 25th Anniversary event was the 2007 APA National Photography Competition, “Silver to Pixels,” unveiled at APA’s 25th anniversary party, co-hosted with Digital Railroad at the Sandbox Studio in New York on October 19, 2007. APA’s press release gives an excellent overview: “Winning competition images were displayed digitally throughout the event with over 1,100 in attendance and at the APA Booth at PhotoPlus Expo. APA sincerely thanks each photographer who submitted work for the competition. With over 2,000 entries, they gave the esteemed panel of judges a real workout in making their selections.”

“The judges had the difficult task of settling on the winners and APA is extremely pleased with this opportunity to highlight outstanding work representing the extraordinary talent of photographers from around the country,” comments Constance Evans, APA National CEO. “Many thanks to our generous sponsors, prestigious panel of judges, and a special thank you to Digital Railroad whose technology powered the competition.”

The 2007 National Photography Competition Winners for the Silver to Pixels competition were:

Grand Prize Winner – Steve Brooks (APA)
Lifestyle – 1st Place – Adrian Hyman (APA)
Portrait – 1st Place – Adam den Haene (APA)
Fashion- 1st Place – Michelle Joyce
Action (Sports / Adventure) – 1st Place – Steve Brooks (APA)
Still-Life / Food – 1st Place – Miles Keep
Landscape / Architecture – 1st Place – Douglas Hill (APA)
Personal / Fine Art – 1st Place – Carlo Van De Roer
Legacy (images made before 1997) – 1st Place – John Deane (APA)
Student – Best of Students – James Cole (APA)

Winners will be featured in the December issue of Rangefinder Magazine and will also have a liveBooks Gallery for all the images.

To view a fantastic slide show of winning images from the competition, visit this page on the APA website.