DAVID ELLINGSEN PHOTOGRAPHY

Some exciting new stuff media from Polaroid was just announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I won’t re-post the whole article here, but if you’re still in love with instant film like me, this could be an inspiring read.

Photoshelter has published an updated 2010 version of their PhotoShelter SEO Cookbook. I’ve found this to be a great resource in the past and am eager to have a read through the updates…a very comprehensive and useful publication.

I spent last weekend in Victoria at an exciting workshop with Luz Gallery and instructor Dave Aharonian. Through a process of creating digitally enlarged negatives and contact printing them using the platinum/palladium process, it was a welcome return to traditional printing methods with breathtaking results. The fusion of modern and traditional tools in this process seems a logical hybrid for future work…I plan on incorporating this new process into my fine art work flow. Thanks again to Luz and Dave for the great weekend!
Here’s a few snaps from the darkroom…

Dave discusses the chemistry

Mix it up!

Applying the emulsion

Negative sandwich for contact printing

Into the contact printing frame

(looks like I got too excited here to photograph the exposure process in the light box)

Developing...

...and evaluating the print

And away we went printing our own work for the afternoon.

One of mine from the Pacific series...love.

“Survive? Think Thrive!”

One of the top career consultants for photographers is heading back to Vancouver.
Selina Maitreya has been here several times before to lecture, and offer private consultations for those interested, and she will be appearing at Langara College on the evening of June 17th. I had the pleasure of her advice years ago and will say I found it an invaluable experience.
Here’s the official notice we sent out:

We had a very successful event this past week with the 2nd Annual CAPIC Vancouver Portfolio Speed Reviews. I won’t go into great detail myself as I’ll re-post the official wrap up below, but this has to be the second best possible reason to join CAPIC (the first is getting those Canadian copyright laws changed!).

Without doubt, one of the most successful and rewarding events that CAPIC Vancouver has put together! There was a fantastic turnout of reviewers representing the best design houses and advertising agencies in the city including Cossette, Karacters, Emdoublyou Design, and Hangar 18. This was matched by a real cross-section of photographers showing their best work. According to the reviewers, there were some stunning world class quality portfolios being shown.
Reviewers repeatedly noted that artists that they had seen last year had taken and acted on their advice to greatly improve the overall impact and quality of their books. This was a clear indication to them of the value of the event. The designers all felt that this was time well spent. Meeting new talent, reacquainting themselves with others and being part of the community was worth every minute.
Each of the artists felt the quality of the reviews. Although five minutes often felt like only two, it created a focused and intense session which was truly like speed dating ( for those who have done that) after which they hoped that could lead to follow-up meetings and potential work.
There is no other comparable business environment that brings so many artists and buyers together to meet.
The event committee, volunteers and board members all worked hard to organize this event that saw virtually every participant in the reviews having their portfolio seen and commented on by every one of the 12 reviewers. To everyone’s real appreciation, that exceeded all expectations. A giant thank you to all of the reviewers for staying on to finish!

Comments and quotes from the evening:

It really was a fabulous evening. It was exhausting, but extremely
rewarding. The reviews are a great opportunity for us to offer some
guidance on how to get the most impact from a well designed portfolio
presentation.
Vida Jurcic – Hangar 18

It was a pleasure. Overall I found the night very organized and quality
of work shown to be quite high. A shame not one illustrators showed up.
Local reps should be slapped for not encouraging their clients to attend.
Thank you again for inviting us to participate,
Mark Busse – Industrial Brand Creative

Thanks for having me last night, it was my pleasure.
Calvin Ho  Vancouver  MacLaren McCann

“Good to see some new younger talent, not sure how you attract this and
even getting some of the more established shooters to attend.”
James Bateman – Karacters Design Group

“Thanks for the opportunity to present my work to a variety of art directors
in an atmosphere that is both relaxed and analytical. It has been invaluable
to my development as a photographer.”
Leanna Rathkelly – Whistler

“If you need a reason to join CAPIC, it is the Portfolio Speed Review. A must
attend event for both professionals and amateurs.”
Pooya Nabei -  Pooya Nabei Photography

Finally…Canada has it’s own source-site for our commercial photography industry. Industry veteran Anna Goodson introduces “The MEATMARKET™”.

“The MEATMARKET™ provides a high-end, online platform to showcase and promote the superb talents of the Canadian Commercial Photography Industry to the global advertising and marketing community.” With everything from studio rentals and prop sourcing to photographers and stylists, this site promises to be a great resource for art buyers specifically in this country.

Very proud to be invited to join and a part of this new venture. Yah Canada!

I’m very pleased to be included in a group exhibition opening today at the Robert Berman Gallery in Santa Monica, California.

Susan Baraz (who, among other things, is Co-Chair of The Lucie Awards and Head of Judges for the International Photography Awards) contacted me to see if I was interested in this event, Another Nude Show. Susan often refers fine art photographers to a selection of galleries including the Farmani Gallery and the Paul Kopeikin Gallery. Have a look at her Phototherapy site for details. An excellent resource for photographers and anyone interested in photography.

Anyway, after 1/2 a second, I agreed.

I am really excited…not only am I included in a show along with Joel Peter Witkin, Ruth Bernard and Tracey Emin, but this exhibition is running in conjunction with MOPLA Month of Photography Awards and the XTO Awards. I cannot make it down so if you happen to be there let me know how it goes…the details as listed on the gallery’s site are as follows:

ANOTHER NUDE SHOW
April 3 – 30, 2010
D5 Gallery

A Group exhibition exploring the imagery of the nude form including works by
Robert Graham, Ruth Bernhard, Horst P. Horst,Man Ray, Joel Peter Witkin, Francesco Scavullo, Sante D’Orazio, Raymond Pettibon, The Mac, John Altoon, Ben Talbert, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Frederick Wight, William Tunberg, Ralph Goings, Stephen Verona, John Colao, Ron English, Manuel Ocampo, Jorg Dubin, Ellwood T. Risk, Britt Ehringer, Eliza French & Jeff Charbonneau, Robert Sean Coons, Dennis Mukai, David Trulli, Greg Gibbs, Andrew George, Vic Huber, Rafael Serrano, Jon Cournoyer, Sally Mann, Jock Sturges, Marc Fichou, Ken Aronson, Brett Aronson, Steven Teitelbaum, Randal Haworth, Tiphaine Popesco, Eric Schwartz, Christine Lissman, David Ellingsen, Bill Durgen, Toby Burrows, Bill Phelps, Gail Greenfield Randall, Irene Hardwicke Olivieri, Edouard Chimot, Max Turner, Emil Jean Kosta Jr., Mel Ramos, Alejandro Gehry, Thomas Ruff, Nobuyoshi Araki, Tracy Nakayama, Tracey Emin, Vanessa Beecroft, Tom Wesselmann, and many more.

In conjunction with the MOPLA Month of Photography Awards & XTO Image Awards

Congratulations to the winners.

The results for Rodeo 2, CAPIC’s latest photography competition, have been announced. I was honoured to be one of ten judges from across Canada to adjudicate this contest. The whole process was executed on-line, a wonderfully efficient process for judges across the country, with almost 100 photographs to examine and rank. Nice to see such participation. Based on a scale of 1 through 5 we worked through them in the first round…with a tie-breaking vote for 2nd and 3rd place a week later (a tight race between 5 talented photographers!).