LensWork Portfolio and Interview

I’m thrilled and honored to be featured in issue #97 of LensWork magazine, with both an extensive interview and a portfolio from my Return to New York series. LensWork, the premier international magazine covering photography and the creative process, is published six times annually and is available as a high quality 96 page print edition, an extended DVD version and is also available online by subscription.
  

  
My interview consists of a ten-page discussion with Brooks Jensen concerning street photography in general and with reference to my accompanying portfolio, Return to New York. The print portfolio contains twenty beautifully crafted duo-tone images, and also includes my brief biography and a project description. 
  

  
The extended DVD and online versions of the publication, available in mid-December, will include an additional images in the portfolio as well as a video interview.
  
The rest of the issue is also not to be missed. It includes a portfolio by the late Vivian Maier, the recently discovered street photographer who privately created a compelling body of work during the 1950s to 1990s in Chicago, where she was employed as a nanny. Also included is an essay on imaginative photography by Brooks Jensen and the 2011 year end gallery. 
  
LensWork #97 is available from their online store as a downloadable pdf.
  
Ever since seeing LensWork for the first time when I began my photographic journey back in 2003, one of my long-term goals has been to have my work appear in this prestigious publication. I am now most delighted to have achieved that benchmark.
  

Flor Garduño Exhibition in Oaxaca

On my last full day in Oaxaca I spent some time visiting the Flor Garduño exhibition Trilogía at the Santo Domingo Cultural Center. The show consisted of over 85 large black and white digital prints which spanned over three decades of work by the Mexican photographer and filled nearly the entire lower floor of the former convent. Like her newest book, Trilogía, the exhibition was divided into three parts. Bestiarum showed images of people and animals and included many of her iconic images. This was my favorite part of the show. The second section, Mujeras fantásticas, consisted of nudes, which I found less compelling than her other work. Many of the images were repetitive in nature and this section would have benefited by a tighter edit of the work. The final section, Naturalezas silenciosas, contained quite a few interesting images, including some of her newest work. Overall, this was a wonderful way to end my trip to Mexico.
   

Ernesto Bazan Workshop in Oaxaca

I arrived in Oaxaca from Mexico City on October 17 to begin another photography workshop with my friend and mentor, Ernesto Bazan. That evening at Centro de Fotográphia Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Ernesto presented a video, produced by Juan De la Cruz, detailing the story behind the creation and production of his latest book, Al Campo. The book contains 88 gorgeous color images from the Cuban countryside, which Ernesto captured during the many years he lived there. After the video, Ernesto was given an award from the Center and answered many questions from the audience.
  
The following morning, the workshop began with participants from the USA, Mexico, Spain, Turkey and Romania. Ernesto’s approach to teaching make his workshops a unique and truly wonderful experience. In the morning we photographed in Oaxaca and then went to the nearby village of Atzompa where we were invited to view and photograph a Día de los Muertos play and procession at the elementary school.
  

Atzompa playground - Photo by Juliann Petkov
  
In the evening we returned to Oaxaca in time for the gala opening of an exhibition at the Centro de Fotográphia featuring the work produced by Ernesto’s students during the previous nine years of workshops in Oaxaca. The 86 images from Ernesto's students were beautifully framed and presented in three rooms with each person’s worked grouped together. I was pleased and honored to have five prints in the show.
  

Opening at Centro de Fotográphia - Photo by Sorin Frasina
  

Visitors at the exhibition in Centro de Fotográphia
  
After breakfast the following morning, we began the portfolio reviews and critiques of the previous day’s shooting. Only one of the eight participants had not previously done a workshop with Ernesto and she had the privilege of having her portfolio of several dozen images reviewed first. All of the students are involved in this process, and Ernesto generally asks them to comment on the images before he gives his own evaluation. This is an amazing learning experience and it allows everyone to train and refine their photographic vision.  Disparate opinions often arise and are discussed in detail to provide a tight edit of the work. During the next few days, all of the other participants also presented their portfolios for review and critique by the entire group.
  
Each morning students show selected photos captured on the previous day and, just as in the portfolio review, everyone is involved in evaluating the images. Only a few photos make it through the preliminary culling process, and every day the bar seems to be set a little higher. At the end of the workshop, the previously selected photos are reevaluated, culled once again and sequenced to give a final cohesive group of around 20 images, which Ernesto then posts in student galleries on his website.

  

Critique session

  
Ernesto also showed his work to be evaluated and critiqued. In previous workshops, his students helped him to selected and sequence images for both Bazan Cuba and Al Campo. In this workshop, we saw and critiqued wonderful black and white panoramic work from Cuba. Editing one’s own work is always a difficult task and this collaborative process greatly improves the selection of only the strongest images.
  

  

  

Viewing and critiquing Ernesto's panoramic work
  
During the following days we had the opportunity to photograph a variety of Día de los Muertos events, including an all-night stay at the cemetery in Atzompa and many delightful processions in Oaxaca and surrounding pueblos.  On November 5, the Bravo center presented another video by Juan De la Cruz which highlighted Ernesto’s previous workshops in Oaxaca. The workshop concluded the following day with a marathon editing and sequencing session of everyone’s images.  All in all, it was a magnificent experience, with lots of excellent photography, delicious food and wonderful camaraderie.