Canvas to the Imagination

I was thrilled to learn one of my shots was accepted into the juried holga show at Saans Downtown Gallery in Salt Lake City, Utah. There is also a limited edition book published along with the show. Opening night is tomorrow, November 21st, and the show continues until January 5th, 2009. If you live in the Salt Lake City area please check it out.

The Holga Show 2008
Saans Downtown Gallery
173 East Broadway
Salt Lake City, Utah

A weekly collage from a few weeks ago.

A Few Good Things:
- Watching the little yellow goofball play around on my mug as he tries unsuccessfully to drink from it
- Enjoying a very relaxing and lovely Remembrance Day
- Working on my “Scenes from a Movie” shot for most of the day, and reminding myself I have excellent photoshop skillz
- Getting into the routine of writing two pages in my journal every morning
- Having my work accepted into two Holga/Toy Camera shows at the same time

A few weeks ago I came up with the strange looking portrait of myself for my 52 weeks series. The idea was inspired by double-exposure shots, which can’t be done with digital as far as I know. I decided to take four shots of myself, one sharp, and the others as I shook my head from side to side, and then overlay them in photoshop. I liked the resulting surreal effect so much I’ve decided to shoot other people in a similar manner and create a series of these portraits. Kirsti was my first model, and she looks just as strange as I do. Who shall be next…?

The problem with looking back at what I was up to this time last November is realizing I was a much more productive artist then, and I was actually selling work. It’s easy to focus on the things I’m not happy with when comparing to last year and I think it’s a counterproductive thing to do. I need to reflect, but not compare so much because a year later often means different circumstances that factor into artistic productivity.

And on that note, I do have a few things to be pleased about with my work. I have one photo published in the current issue of Geist Magazine that doesn’t seem to have translated well into print but in print it is nonetheless. I’m also pretty sure I have some work in the Plastic Photographer – Low Tech Photo Show , opening Thursday at 2221A Artist Run Centre. I say “pretty sure” because the person I talked to about whether or not my work had been accepted wasn’t very clear with me. I’m planning on checking out the opening regardless.