03.08.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:04 pm by Michelle
This has been a really fun run of having my work out and about for people to see.
At the beginning of 2009, I dusted off one of my favorite series, “After the Fire,” and hung them at Office Nomads, where they looked great hung against the funky brick walls. They were last shown many years ago, perhaps 2001, and I would love to get them out again.
Thanks to the fabulous work of Christine So, with Holga Limited (the company in Hong Kong that makes the Holga, also know as Tokina), I, as part of a group of 10 Holga photographers, known as Holga Inspire, have been able to show photos in several places over the past year, starting in Bangkok last March, then Longview Texas at TCC Photo Gallery over the summer, and finally in New York at Umbrella Arts in December & January. Next stop is the Hallmark Institute Gallery in Western Massachusetts in May!
In September, for the first time, I made prints of a group of my digital images to show at a benefit for the Circus Project in Portland, OR. I printed up 15 images of aerialists, mostly taken at the Moisture Festival, but some other shows as well. It’s quite amazing to start looking at masses of photos that I have and realize that there are cohesive bodies of work there (this happened dramatically for me when my friend Mik Kuhlman pointed out that I had more than enough images of fire performers and fire art to do a show in 2001, which became “Celebration of Fire“).
A little later in September, I was back in Portland for a solo show at Camerawork Gallery. This was very exciting, as I combined an older series of images with a brand new exhibition, printed just for this show. “Exquisite Decay” is a group of photos taken all together one hot afternoon in July 2008 in Israel. The setting was a field outside a small village, where a local artist was storing parade floats he had created, which were in varying states of decay. See the blog entry for that show here.
A great surprise in November was the opportunity to hang the “Exquisite Decay” series at Benham Gallery, to be up for the SPE NW conference, and as part of the last show before the gallery closed its doors to morph into Benham Fine Art.
November also brought another new opportunity, this time to print more digital photos, of many of the images I’ve taken over the past 5 years for the Moisture Festival. John Cornicello, Mark Gardiner and I made up prints, and created a display in the lobby of Hale’s Brewery, our home base. It was celebrating the release of the Moisture Festival Book we created with the help of Corey Scheerer and Ron Bailey.
My photos of the Flaming Idiots graced 42nd Street in Times Square, NY for December, with one photo a mind-bogglingly 12 feet high, and a series of live photos from the Moisture Festival were featured as well! Their show at the New Victory Theater was a hit!
Starting out 2010 I had a photo at Newspace Photo in Portland, as part of their Carnival show, and currently have one in the Krappy Kamera Competition in NY and another at Rayko Photo’s Plastic Camera show.
What’s next? We’ll just have to see…
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01.07.10
Posted in Photography at 4:44 pm by Michelle
Back in March, during the Moisture Festival (Seattle’s fabulous vaudeville/variete festival), I did a photo shoot with a group called the Flaming Idiots. They were reuniting after 5 years apart, debuting at the Moisture Fest, where I also shot them live, in preparation for a run at the New Victory Theater in Times Square, New York City. I’ve been checking out the New Vic’s website and enjoying seeing the photos there, and looking forward to getting copies of the program and flyers. What I didn’t expect though, was a call from one of the Idiots, Rob Williams, telling me there was a 15′ x 60′ banner right on 42nd Street (off 7th Ave) with a dozen of my photos all over it! I saw some snapshots of the banner, but in the end couldn’t resist the temptation, and trekked to NYC for a few days to check it out, see the show, and do all that other good NY stuff.
It was a pleasure to work with the Flaming Idiots, and I’m so glad I got to see their show!
Here are some photos of the banner:
Me and the boys: Rob Williams, Kevin Hunt & Jon O’Conner
For more photos, showing the other end of the banner and the live shots, look here.
~Michelle
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12.10.09
Posted in Photography, NW Arts at 2:04 pm by Michelle
I’ve known Marita Holdaway since I moved to Seattle in the early 1990’s. It’s almost impossible to be in the Seattle photography community and not cross paths; with her seemingly limitless energy and passion for photography, she’s been making things happen for over 20 years here. Needing a change of scenery, she’s decided to close Benham Gallery, and keep working in the field through Benham Fine Art - stay tuned!
I’m honored to be part of the last set of exhibitions at Benham, with my new series, Exquisite Decay. This series was taken in Israel in summer of 2008, in a field of decaying parade floats. To me, they’re a fascinating combination of my years of parade imagery and the series After the Fire, which I took at a friend’s house to capture the transformation caused by fire.
The show is up through December 12th (possibly a few days after - call to find out).
The reception was on December 3rd, and lots of fun!
A clump of friends at the reception
Me and Marita Holdaway
Friends and visitors checking out the show and the Moisture Festival book (which includes my photos)
Come by Benham on December 20th for the farewell party!
Thank you Marita!!
~Michelle
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11.24.09
Posted in Photography, NW Arts at 11:44 pm by Michelle
Its first year, 2004, the Moisture Festival was in a circus tent in a parking lot in the middle of Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. I went to one show, and mostly remember dancing to the band afterward, the cold air blowing in under the tent flaps. What a long way the festival has come since then, and I’m so happy that I’ve gotten to be a part of it! Since 2005, Moisture Fest’s home has been Hale’s Palladium, a warehouse that’s part of Hale’s Brewery on the west edge of Fremont. It’s grown to 40 shows over 4 weeks, at several venues, including ACT Theatre, with partners such as SIFF Cinema (with more venues and partners coming up for 2010).
I’ve been there with my camera since 2005, as have John Cornicello & Mark Gardiner, as the official festival photographers. It takes over our lives during the weeks of the festival, getting to as many shows as we can, hanging out with all the performers, and reveling in the fun atmosphere it creates, and for weeks and months afterward, editing the photos. After all these years, but the time has come for the Moisture Festival Book!!
Working in fits and starts throughout this year, we’ve had a fun and crazy process of collecting the best images from all three of us; for the last few weeks we’ve spent days at a time camped out in front of several computers and screens laying out the photos, making sure we have everyone included, doing the layout, captions, and editing.
Ron W Bailey has been our inspiration, cheerleader, visionary and sponsorship genius, and his infectious laugh has kept us going even after our eyes started to cross from looking at way too many images. Since the idea first came up, we all have had good intentions toward this project, but it probably never would have actually happened if Corey Scheerer hadn’t stepped up to the plate to do the real work of putting it together. It’s been a fun (and OK, sometimes frustrating) collaborative process, and I am profoundly grateful to Corey for making it real! The book is in its last editing phases, and ready to be born next week, November 25th, with a celebratory exhibition and reception at Hale’s, from 7-9pm (the night before Thanksgiving). Please join us! The show will be up for a while afterwards too, so stop in to Hale’s and check it out.
The first printing of the book (100 copies) is $30, and will be available at the reception, the Moisture Festival New Year’s Eve party at Hale’s, at Fremont Place Books, and at the festival in 2010!
Here is the cover and a sneak preview sample spread from my section.
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11.19.09
Posted in Photography at 4:11 pm by Michelle
Once again this year, I made it to NYC in October for Photo Plus Expo, the huge photo trade show at the Javitz Center. The weather this year was lovely most of the time, which made getting around the city delightful, and once it started pouring rain, we were all happy to be in the other-world of the Javitz.
Freestyle Photo was there again this time, and I spent a lot of time camped out at their booth, playing with their display of Holgas, chatting with Expo-goers, and meeting with people around their little table.
One group that gathered together was from the FAB, which started many years ago as an AOL chat group. Many of the folks have known each other online for all this time, and it was great for me to meet a bunch in person.
AnnMarie Tornabene
A Clump of FABsters at the Freestyle booth
Focal Press also had a great booth, so I stopped by there often to chat about my upcoming second edition with Cara Anderson, my editor, and to talk shop with the other Focal authors who were floating around.
A couple of fantastic surprises were meeting with representatives from Lomographic Society and Urban Outfitters, both of whom are now going to carry my book! These are both places I’ve dreamed of having the book in, and I’m thrilled to work with them to further the world of our beloved plastic cameras! And I chatted more with Superheadz, the Japanese company that’s creating new hits such as the Blackbird, Fly and Golden Half cameras.
Outside of the show, I had a great visit with Gary Moyer, a fellow plastic camera fiend and toycamera.com regular, and got a tour of his extensive camera collection. I chatted with bookies Harvey Stein, James Balog & Ann Arden McDonald, and got the OK for a couple of very special additions for the second edition! I also attended the Lucie Awards, which is a fantastic combination of celebrating lifetime achievement of venerable photographers, and bringing attention to up-and-coming ones. Also a fun opportunity to get dressed up and go to Lincoln Center!
One of Gary Moyer’s many toy cameras
Unfortunately, I left NY right before two parties I would have *loved* to attend: Superheadz had their whole staff in town from Japan and had a big shindig, and Lomographic Society had an opening reception at its store for its display this month of Alan Deitrich’s collection of Diana cameras and clones.
Next month my photos will be up in NY, as the Holga Inspire exhibition makes it third stop at Umbrella Arts Gallery. Opening is December 9th, and it goes through January 16th, when Tammy Cromer-Campbell is teaching a Holga workshop. Stop by and check out the show!
That’s all for now!
Michelle
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10.29.09
Posted in Photography at 1:20 pm by Michelle
My website was featured in the November 2009 issue of Shutterbug Magazine, in the Web Profiles section, by Joe Farace (p 92):
www.michellebates.net
“This month’s Reader’s Homepage belongs to Michelle Bates, the fairy godmother of the Holga who wrote the definitive book on the subject, Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity. If you don’t already have a copy of this marvelous book, the first thing you should do when arriving at the site should be to click on its link and buy a copy. Clicking on the large Holga photograph on the splash page takes you to a gallery that contains collections of both Holga and “Other Series” images made with “real” cameras. The “Quirky Holga” collection is filled with the kind of offbeat images that almost define the way most people see the Holga - as a fun house camera - but her monochrome images (don’t miss “Fried Doughboys”) amp up the fun so much it will make you smile and run out and buy a Holga today.
The “Graphics” collection shows the other side of Holga, the fine art side, with images that are subtle (”Monument, Thailand”) and complex (Javitz Center roof”) and demonstrate that it’s not the tool but the artist who makes the image. In “Urban Oases” Bates takes that concept a bit further with mellifluous photographs that blend nature and nurture to create images that are abstract and realistic at the same time. I loved all the photographs in “Nature Holga,” especially “Beach Grass, NJ” that has a definite Solaris (Russian version) feel to it while others have the wistful feel of old glass-plate photographs. The funky and clever site design is by skyhand design (www.skyhand.com).”
It includes a screen shot of my site, and is featured alongside sites of Ted Orland (featured in my book), Erin Antognoli and Michael Bryant. The section is titled “A Holga-Eyed View of the World: Optics? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Optics!”
Thanks to Joe & Shutterbug!
~Michelle
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10.08.09
Posted in Photography, NW Arts at 3:10 pm by Michelle
The last weekend of September, I once again drove down to Portland, Oregon, this time with a van full of photographs, hanging tools, and other show paraphernalia.
I went early, to check out Alberta Last Thursday, which is an art walk crossed with a street fair, in Portland style. They close down the whole street from 7 til 10 or 11, and it’s full of booths, performers, people hanging out, the whole scene. And it was one of the last beautiful warm nights of summer.
On Saturday, with the help of one of my Penland students, who recently moved to Portland, I hung my new exhibition at Camerawork Gallery. And later that afternoon, we had the opening. Camerawork is a fascinating little gallery. It’s the oldest photo gallery in the country, started around 1970 by Minor White, to show work by the students he was teaching in Portland. Part of this is on the gallery website, but also, a man named Eugene Lee stopped by while we were hanging the show, and then came back during the opening, and he was one of those students. Fascinating to hear his stories of those days, and of studying with a master.
Eugene Lee, who showed at Camerawork Gallery over 30 years ago. Ian Dobson & Julia
The show is a combination of old and new for me. A black and white series of classic images, near and dear to me, and new to most of the people who’ve been coming in. On the other wall is a brand new series, taken last summer, of a bizarre spot I was directed to in Israel last summer. In this otherwise barren field, the remains of a collection of parade floats slowly decay. Colorful, full of artist beauty, yet crumbling and sad… It’s a strange place, but I’m in love with the photos, and can’t wait to go back another time.
The opening was very fun, with friends, photography folks, and Camerawork regulars coming in. I wish I could spend more time hanging out in the gallery while the show is up!
Hurray for Portland!
~Michelle
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09.14.09
Posted in NW Arts at 9:37 pm by Michelle
This past weekend I had a full complement of circusy fun on the road in Oregon. Two days included a New Old Time Chautauqua performance, a killer benefit for Portland’s Circus Project and the classy Cirque de la Symphonie. Awesome!
NEW OLD TIME CHAUTAUQUA in McMINNVILLE
Starting off, I trekked down to McMinnville, Oregon to meet up with the New Old time Chautauqua. It was a lovely little reunion of some of the tour folks from this summer with other old-time Chautauquans. We roved through a little town park, did our parade (yes, I played my clarinet) and two half-hour shows in the September heat.
CIRCUS PROJECT *ANIMARE*
The Circus Project, started by my dear friend Jenn Cohen, wowed everybody who was lucky enough to attend the Animare benefit night on Saturday at Disjecta in Portland. The night was long and the weather hot, but I’ve never been to an event so well designed, that kept everyone happy, entertained, engaged, and reached their fundraising goals.
We started off outside with a performance by the Sprockettes, the audience happily lounging on comfy couches.
Inside was a silent auction as well as gallery shows, one up in Disjecta’s gallery, and my showing of photographs of aerial performers from the Moisture Festival, as well as Solstice Parade photos made with my Holga camera.
The night of performances featured several sections, each with one of Portland’s best circus acts (Kazum, Bellini Twins, Nanda & March Forth Marching Band), and one of the Circus Project’s graduates premiering their pieces. Each of the Circus Project acts blew the audience away, not just because we knew they’ve only been working on these acts for 8 months (or, in one case, two), but because all three acts were superb and the performers confident and beautiful. Jenn was the proud leader of the group, but the magic was in seeing the students shine, and hearing their stories in the video (produced by one of them) that left not a dry eye in the house.
Nicolette Render, Jessica Dennis
Jessica Dennis
This project, which teaches circus arts to homeless and at-risk youth, brings together several elements that create magic: use of the arts to give people focus for their energies, the caring of a dedicated mentor, the opportunity to perform for their communities (and eventually, for money), and accountability to earn their place in the group. Circus Project is a non-profit organization which is looking for a new home to host aerial and circus arts classes in Portland, and can always use financial and other assistance. See www.circusproject.org for more information.
Petra de la Rocha
Aaron Guerrero & Nicolette Render
Jenn Cohen & the Circus Project graduates
As the crowning glory of the weekend, the Circus Project and a few of us who volunteered were treated to free tickets to Cirque de la Symphonie. I love the melding of worlds, and seeing the aerialists twirling away high over the symphony orchestra and the clown messing with the conductor just made me smile.
Another fabulous Portland weekend down.
~Michelle
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Posted in Photography at 4:52 pm by Michelle
My second week at Penland was indeed lots different from the first week.
I had the chance to really get to know the students, their work, and personally, from spending huge amounts of time in different situations together. We took a road trip to Asheville on Tuesday, and the students really put everything they’d learned to work, creating lots of images that they spent the last few days printing. They worked super-hard, and I kept throwing more information at them, mentioning matting and framing in the home stretch, which all of them tried to do for works in the auction and show ‘n’ tell.
I think the magic of Penland is in that second week. I can’t speak for all of the classes - the pace is completely different for clay, for example, which stops work and spends the last several day firing. But in the photo lab, everyone was off and running with everything they’d learned, turning out awesome prints, and getting into some advanced dodging and burning techniques, when a few days before they didn’t know what fixer is. Just amazing! Even getting frustrated that they couldn’t get this or that print (from horrible Holga negatives) perfect, I had to remind them that these things take time to master, and that they all were doing incredibly well.
Stretching the Holga’s range in the studio, and photographing art swiped from the clay studio
One student declared that he was going to make a 10 print portfolio, which seemed kind of crazy to me, but he took images he’d shot on Tuesday, stayed up pretty much all Tuesday and Wednesday nights, then learned matting, and hung a beautiful display of 10 matted prints on Friday - just amazing! That’s really the way to take advantage of a place like this.
Saul’s display at the Show ‘n’ Tell - see other students’ displays here
I also got much more of a chance to visit the other studios, get to know the instructors a little, and even arrange visits to a couple of them after the end of the session. Being part of the crew of instructors was very interesting, since we were all teaching different subjects. Hence there was a respect and an interest in what the others were doing, without the need for any comparison or competition. We all in fact wished we had the chance to sit in on the other courses and learn some new techniques!
Teaching at Penland was a unique experience; for what I have to teach, it was a very fun and effective set-up. The studio facility had everything we needed (and it’s got a whole new set of enlargers waiting to be installed), and two weeks was a gloriously long amount of time. My first darkroom class (back in 1991 at Maine Photo Workshops) was also two weeks long, and you really need that long to absorb the information and learn it by practice, which of course, is the only way. If I had had more advanced students, we could have also explored camera modifications and gotten into advanced darkroom techniques. Maybe next time at Penland!
The Toying with Creativity class photo
The class, taken with the Holga Pinhole Wide camera
More photos of the Penland workshop
I hope to make it back to Penland again, and I can’t wait to see what the participants do with their Holgas!
~Michelle
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08.18.09
Posted in Photography at 5:06 am by Michelle
Week 1 at Penland School of Crafts
I had never heard of Penland School of Crafts before I was invited to teach here (actually, I’ve since been told that I did have a brief conversation about it with the person who subsequently recommended me to teach here, but, um, I don’t remember it…). It took me a while to find anyone in Seattle who had heard of it, but once I did, I only heard great things about it. So, last August, I committed to teaching a two-week class here, and after all my recent travels, found my way across the country to the mountains of western North Carolina.
Penland is an old place, started in the 1920s, with a broad collection of studios and classes: glass, clay, metals, textiles, painting, drawing, printmaking, letterpress, woodworking, etc. This session also has an encaustics class, belt-buckle making, sculptural animals, glass flameworking (in addition to hot-shop), velvet weaving, etc. We are the only photo class, in the real old-style darkroom! The class is based around the Holga, but also is turning out to be photo and darkroom 101, since all my students (except my studio assistant) are beginners.
The first week has been intense. In fact, it’s been a lot like my week teaching in Maine last year, but the difference here is that instead of leaving, now we have another whole week to go!
The first day was my standard one-day or first day; showing slides of work by bunches of people and talking about the different things you can do with a Holga. Then taping up and getting our Holgas ready, and going out to shoot. Day 2 started with an introduction to processing film, which began with teaching how to roll film onto the reels - not an easy task! After everyone got their first rolls processed, we got into the darkroom and made contact sheets. Again, more basics such as how to use an enlarger, what those funny numbers on the lens are, and the fact that photo paper should not be opened up in room light!
Learning to roll film on reels, and processing film.
On Wed, I talked more about ways to shoot the camera, and then we started making prints! All of this from square one. By the end of three days of talking, I was a little fried, but satisfied that now the students would be able to keep shooting, processing and printing, gaining knowledge and confidence with guidance as they work. And I’m super-thankful to my studio assistant, Courtney, who helped get everyone up to speed.
The last couple of days we’ve taken shooting field trips to local towns and a little carnival, kept going in the darkroom, learning more about exposures, contrast adjustments, burning and dodging, and started doing class work reviews. All the while, I’ve tried to make it to the instructor (and studio assistant) slideshows each evening, in addition to instructor gatherings and the like.
Now that things have calmed down, we’ve had some time to start visiting the other studios, which is a major social pastime and method for cross-fertilization and collaborations here. And, finally, we made it to the yoga classes that happen every day right above out studio. I’m hoping I can make it to the rest of them (the afternoon ones, anyhow; I’m not too useful at 7am).
My students are starting to generate some interesting images, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they come up with. With so many ways to focus, I’m sure some will work on their shooting subject matter, while some will concentrate on improving their printing skills. I still have some new information and techniques to introduce during the second week, just to keep things interesting!
Reviewing negatives on the light table.
I’m very thankful to have the opportunity to be here, and encourage everyone to check it out and make the trek here if you have an interest in any of the crafts they teach! More to come after the workshop, and I’ll get photos of the class posted soon as well!
~Michelle
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