Maxwell MacKenzie
From a different perspective: Maxwell MacKenzie's "Amor Township" will be on display at Fraser Gallery in Bethesda as part of FotoWeek DC, a celebration of the art of photography.
|
A thousand words.
No matter what turns the economy may take, regardless of the value of the dollar against the euro or the yen, a picture's worth remains the same.
"The whole idea," says Frank Van Riper, "was that Washington, D.C., is a world-class city that is largely ignored in terms of fine arts.
"The cachet goes to other cities – like New York – but this is an opportunity to put us on the map."
"I wouldn't be surprised," he says. "We've gone from thinking, ‘Hmm, who will come to FotoWeek?' to having just hundreds and hundreds of people wanting to be part of it."
Students, artists, amateurs, collectors and avid armchair travelers – Van Riper says photography is "the most accessible means of creating a picture.
"It is, in a sense, the most user-friendly of art forms, and yet people are aware that looking at the work of photographers at the top of their game is something marvelous."
Against the grain
Kate Fraser, who will host Van Riper and Goodman at a FotoWeek DC book signing on Sunday, Nov. 23, says she has always shown a lot of photography at her Bethesda gallery.
"I used to be a photographer, and so a lot of my shows are photography-based," she explains.
Fraser was excited when Theo Adamstein "came up with the idea. He had connections with all these fabulous photographers, and he wanted to celebrate them," she says. "It just got really big really quickly."
How big? Fifty galleries big – and that's just the exhibits. FotoWeek DC features other events, too, from classes, workshops and lectures to portfolio evaluations to a gala celebration. And while events take place primarily in the District, Montgomery County is definitely taking part, with FotoWeek DC events in Rockville at the Metropolitan Center for the Visual Arts (aka VisArts), in Silver Spring at Discovery Communications, and in Bethesda at Washington Gallery of Photography, Waverly Street Gallery and the Fraser Gallery.
"Everything is walkable," says Fraser. "You can reach all the Bethesda galleries on foot, and there are lots of locations in Montgomery County."
One reason Fraser loves photography is the ease with which art lovers can become collectors.
"For people who want to collect fine art, starting with photography is a great idea, she says. "It's less expensive than other forms of fine art."
The "urban decay" trend in fine art photography isn't necessarily to Fraser's taste, and she's OK with that.
"I kind of go against the grain of what's ‘hot,'" she admits. "I'm very much into technically superior, beautifully sophisticated, well-done photographs."
Photo reality
Joan Rosenstein sees her photographs as invitations, but not the kind you send in the mail.
"When I make a picture, I'm trying to get the viewer involved in an image," the Bethesda photographer says. "It's an opportunity for the viewer to move into the spaces I've created."
Those spaces will be on display at Bethesda's Waverly Street Gallery, where Rosenstein will be the featured artist during FotoWeek DC.
"I'm very excited about FotoWeek," she says. "I think this is going to be an opportunity for people who love photography to see a lot of photographs – and an opportunity for people to realize that photography is as special as any of the fine arts."
It's the youngest of the fine arts, despite having been around for well over a century and a half. Frenchman Joseph Niepce created the world's first photograph in 1926 – a landscape – and Rosenstein notes that recent advances in digital photography have armed photographers with increasingly sophisticated equipment with which to record the world around them.
"It used to be you'd do everything in the darkroom," says Rosenstein, who uses both traditional film and digital technology. "It gives the photographer the opportunity to be just as expressive as if they're painting, sculpting or making a print."
Rosenstein taught photography for 30 years at Montgomery College-Rockville before retiring to focus fulltime on her own photography and photo restoration. Her latest project involves photos of buildings by architect Frank Gehry, and she plans to share wall space with her friend and colleague Lucien Clergue.
"Ten prints that will show the breadth of his work" is how she categorizes the show. Indeed, the breadth of the art of photography is what Rosenstein – and others – hope FotoWeek DC will characterize.
"There's this saying: ‘The camera never lies,'" says Van Riper. "But it always lies. People see different things; they see the same thing differently.
"That's one of the things that makes photography so intriguing," he adds. "It's depicting the real world."
Sponsored by The Washington Post, National Geographic, Discovery Communications, DC Commission on Arts and Humanities and the Newseum, the week-long festival will culminate in a gala awards ceremony and reception at National Geographic headquarters in downtown DC on Saturday, Nov. 22.
If you go
Bethesda
Fraser Gallery — FotoWeek Group Exhibition of Six Notable Photographers ( Joyce Tenneson, Karen Keating, Frank Van Riper, Judith Goodman, Maxwell Mackenzie and Danny Conant). Nov. 14-Jan. 3. Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Nov. 14, 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, 301-718-9651, www.thefrasergallery.com
Waverly Street Gallery — "Architectural Kaleidoscope," Joan Rosenstein's photos, plus work by Lucien LeClergue, to Dec. 6, reception 6-9 p.m. Nov. 14, 4600 East-West Highway, Bethesda, 301-951-9441, www.waverlystreetgallery.com
Washington Gallery of Photography — Big Blue Marble and Images from NASA: Photos by Bill Ingalls, NASA lead photographer and D.C. area Camera Club members' work, Nov. 14-Dec. 10, opening reception 6-9 p.m. Nov. 14, 4850 Rugby Ave., Bethesda, 301-654-1998, www.wsp-photo.com
Rockville
Metropolitan Center for the Visual Arts — Photographs from the Washington Post (highlights from decades of photographs work by Joyce Tenneson, Jill Enfield, Sue Bloom, Bruce Barnbaum and Clay Blackmore Post), Nov. 14-23, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville, 301-315-8200, www.VisArtsCenter.org
Silver Spring
Discovery Communications — Lectures at Lunchtime: Industry leaders talk about the latest trends in photography and show their award-winning work, 12-1 p.m. Nov. 17-21, free admission, 1 Discovery Place, Silver Spring, 240-662-2000, www.dsc.discovery.com
