It was an honor and privilege to photograph the very tiny wedding of my dear friends, Phil and Anthony. Here's to many more years of great joy and grand adventures for you both!
I wish you all the happiness in the world. XO!
Spring 2015.
It is 90 degrees on the desert floor today, and though much cooler at 7000 feet, Kitt Peak is a different mountain than it was in mid-winter. I was privileged to be able to photograph there in January, the time of year when fog and mist and clouds render the landscape dream-like:
From my journal: Driving west from Tucson that late January day... The mountain moving in and out of clouds... Sunlight stripes the desert, bright against dark skies. As we make the left off Ajo, looping the switchbacks up the access road, the landscape is suddenly three-dimensional: gleaming sun on one cliff against cloud-dark over another. The desert floor tinted a minty green. I am here in a different season. They've had rain.
Beautiful for photographs but bad for telescopes, weather kept the domes closed, and without the expectation or rhythm of a night schedule the mood of our stay shifted; we felt snowbound. Carrying my camera, I set out on walks. In the fog... at sunrise... in the air after rainclouds passed... I made photographs of what I thought was the landscape, but what I now realize was the breath of water moving through that landscape.
From the ledge we watch curtains of rain move toward us across the desert. Saturated colors. Rich ochres and grey-greens. Fog rolls up one side of the mountain on its way down the other and all I see is white. The twitter of birds — the only sound — bounces around this velvet-air bell jar we find ourselves in, and I am amazed: so this is what it sounds like in a cloud…
It was a beautiful time of year to visit. Stepping, now back in May, from the air-conditioned airport into the Arizona heat I can tell that the soft and moody season has passed. As always, I am thankful for any time I can spend here, for the privilege of being a guest on the mountain. I walk a little lighter into that bright Tucson sun.
Photographing in Tucson
photo courtesy of Kathleen Dreier
I sometimes regret not having gone to an art school or pursued an MFA, not so much for the classroom education but for the benefits of being immersed in the field, of networking with other photographers on a similar path, of making industry connections. It's up to me now to find other ways to create those experiences, and so I was thrilled to attend Mary Virginia Swanson's "Finding Your Audience" photography marketing workshop in Tucson last month (and grateful to the Greater Columbus Arts Council for the grant that made it possible).
I flew west via Salt Lake City --- what an amazing landscape from the air. I can only imagine it's just as beautiful on the ground (I've never been!). And Tucson… any time in Tucson makes me happy, and I loved having a little time to explore the city, do some hiking, try new restaurants, and visit places I'd never been before.
Our five day workshop covered everything: the changing gallery scene, alternative markets, image licensing, funding, and publishing. Guest speakers presented "shorts" on topics ranging from Kickstarter campaigns to public art projects to writing and creating new work. We visited galleries and the Center for Creative Photography, where we met with conservators, curators, and educators.
The gallery at Baker & Hesseldenz
The Etherton Gallery
Presentation on archival mounting techniques at the Center for Creative Photography
One of my favorite parts of the workshop was our portfolio sharing night. Inspiring! Such a diverse and beautiful range of subject matter, style, technique, and presentation! I felt humbled. It's been so long since I shared my own work with others in a professional peer group, and I was surprised at how fulfilling it was to do that again.
Anne Berry sharing her portfolio "Behind Glass"
Our final morning was spent at Swanee's house in the Tucson mountains. We poured over her immense collection of photography books and celebrated a birthday, enjoying more great conversation and delicious homemade pozole, all under the shade of desert trees and giant saguaros.
By far the most profound and unexpected outcome of attending this workshop is that I've come to a point of clarity about the intent and direction of my artistic projects: which ones matter the most now, which ones need to simmer a little longer, what needs to be done to move my work forward. One of my portfolios that has been stalled for years now has a vision, a name, and a potential format that has me excited about printing again. I think we all left Tucson with the feeling that our world had expanded. With a renewed sense of purpose and commitment not only to the making of our work, but to sharing it with others in any number of ways we might not have thought of.
What a life-changing five days.
