A Very Fruitful Day

Music | Lived in Bars by Cat Power

A Business Summit and a Photo Critique in the same day, along with getting my daughter up and off to school, while also trying to fit in some printing for the critique, then picking up my daughter after school...

The great thing about these 2 events was that I considered the attendees of these events as some of the best in the business. During these economic times, everyone is feeling the pressure and downturn in business. Ironically, a bunch of competitors in the business of photography decided not to shun each other, but to embrace and share experiences and try to figure out what good can come out of moving forward together, as opposed to trying to go at things alone. We also had the presence of a few business minded people to give advice on how to sell, close sales and over all just think about where we would like to be 20 years from now and how to get there. I left the summit fortified and felt very much a part of a community that is trying to move forward, together.

My rush back to the city led me to pick up my daughter from school and finish one more print for the critique, which was less than 2 hours away. Having been printing the night before until late into the evening, it felt great producing art, in hard copy form. I hate to use that term, but a photograph has been used so loosely lately. After my 3rd turn at making slight adjustments here and there, my last and final print looked just they way I wanted. I produced 4 images, but was not at all feeling confident. The attendees of this critique are some of the best old school printers I know. I've seen 2 of their works and another I heard was and has been a dark room master for years.

I've heard about photographers getting together, having dinner, drinking wine, then sit over prints just talking, discussing... I've always wanted to have that type of relationship with others to be able to do the same. Ironically, I only knew one of the gents, Ray Bidigain well enough to call a friend. However, the rest of the photographers were quite welcoming and I felt relaxed enough to make my first presentation to them. Much more formal than I had anticipated, there was a easel under a spot light to really show off the photograph, one by one. As we went thru each print, I felt more comfortable as I felt my photography and skill as a printer were accepted among each of the gents there. It was gratifying to know that these highly skilled Platinum Palladium, Tin Type and Silver Gelitan printers were giving praise to my ink jets. It meant a lot.





So hopefully in the near future, I'll have a thriving photography business, while creating works of art, both in digital and traditional mediums. It certainly feels much better going at this as a ground, than solo...