Boston Camera Club Education Programming

The Boston Camera Club includes members having a wide variety of interest, experience, and capability. 

The BCC Education Program is designed to educate and inspire all members – of all capabilities and interests - by offering presentations on a wide variety of subjects from experts in the field.

Our 2022-2023 Programs are listed below.

ALL PROGRAMS ARE ON ZOOM

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September 20, 2022

Paul Ratje - Immigration as Seen through the Eyes of a Photojournalist

Join Paul Ratje as he discusses what it is like to work as a photojournalist in 2022. Paul will discuss his work covering immigration on the at the Mexico-Texas border

Paul is an independent photojournalist born and raised in southern New Mexico. His work focuses on social issues in the American Southwest and Mexico. He is fluent in Spanish and has a deep understanding of the history and culture of the region he works. He lived in Taiwan for six years, where he covered topics like migrant labor, China’s influĀ­ence on Tibet, and extrajudicial killing in the Philippines. Presently, he documents the ever evolving situation of immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border. His work is regularly featured in publications like the Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Visit Paul online at https://www.paulratje.com.

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October 25, 2022

Cotton Miller – Creating Your Own Website

At its core, photography is about sharing images with others. Throughout the history of photography, prints and books have been the time-honored way to showcase work and get it out into the world. More recently, websites have taken center stage for sharing photographer’s images. When done well, websites should showcase your creative work professionally and communicate your personal style and individuality, helping you to stand out from the crowd. This cannot be achieved with a standard page on a free site, using a template that looks like a million others.

Designing your own website, regardless of platform, allows you to start with a great design theme and customize this in a way that matches with your own style and vision. There are many options available to create a basic portfolio site, but unless one has a foundational understanding of web development, these various platforms often seem intimidating. This online workshop led by photographer and web designer Cotton Miller demystifies building your own website and provides a step-by-step process through the terminology and workflows that translate through all web platforms. Cotton discusses the information and structure that is needed to have a well-designed, and user-friendly portfolio site.

Cotton received his MFA in Photography & New Media in 2013 from Lesley University College of Art and Design, in Boston. In addition to being honored by The Boston Globe as one of six artists to watch in 2013, he had multiple exhibits in Boston and won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.

Cotton is the current Web Manager for Santa Fe Workshops and a former research assistant for The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes (third edition), by Christopher James. His personal work combines traditional methods with digital, alternative process, mixed media, and multimedia. Cotton does a lot of project consultation with a variety of artists, and has designed websites for Nevada Wier, Alison Wright, Elizabeth Opalenik, and Santa Fe Workshops.

You can learn more about him by visiting www.cottonmiller.com  

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November 22, 2022

John Barclay – Through the Lens of Love

Join John Barclay as he discusses his personal photographic journey. 

From John: "If you are like me, you’ve probably chased after images, even images you might have seen searching for inspiration on social media. You may have even created checklist to be sure you got exactly what you planned for. You have likely gone out with expectations only to be disappointed when the conditions were not right, or you did not find what you had hoped for. Realizing that photography is a creative art form, I am constantly exploring new ways to connect with my subject. Over the last few years, I have been learning to fall in love with rather than just photograph what I am drawn to. Love? Really? What does love have to do with it? That is what this presentation will disclose. How does the love of my subjects influence my photography? It boils down to this I photograph what makes my heart sing!" In this presentation, John will share stories and thoughts from a 20 year journey to where he now looks through the lens of love. 

John is an award winning freelance photographer based in Bucks County, PA.  John is a passionate photographer, enthusiastic workshop leader and inspirational speaker, presenting his programs to audiences around the world.  John’s work has been published in a number of books and magazines and is treasured by a number of private collectors.  Recently, John was the recipient of an excellence award from B&W Magazine and was chosen by Dewitt Jones to participate in his www.healingimages.org program. You can learn more about John, his work, and, view his workshop schedule at www.barclayphoto.com.

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January 3, 2023

Aline Smithson – Creating a Fine Art Portfolio

Aline is the founder of Lenscratch, a daily photography journal that explores contemporary fine art photography and offers opportunities for exposure and community. She will speak to us about how to create a fine art portfolio. On January 3rd, you will get a double dose of learning. The first presentation, Creating a Fine Art Portfolio, helps photographers understand that in today's fine art market, work needs to be created in projects. She will share lots of ideas for mining your own lives for making work that is meaningful and significant. The second presentation, Presenting Your Work to the Fine Art Market, shares ideas on how to launch your projects in a professional and meaningful way.

Aline Smithson is a visual artist, editor, and educator based in Los Angeles, California. She has exhibited widely including over 40 solo shows at a variety of international institutions and her work has been featured in publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, and PDN.

Aline has received the Rising Star Award through the Griffin Museum of Photography and the prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award from CENTER. In 2014 and 2019, Smithson’s work was selected for the Critical Mass Top 50. In 2015, the Magenta Foundation published her retrospective monograph, Self & Others: Portrait as Autobiography, and in 2016, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum commissioned Smithson to create a series of portraits for the upcoming Faces of Our Planet Exhibition. In 2018 and 2019, her work was exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of the Taylor Wessing Prize. Kris Graves Projects published her book, LOST II: Los Angelesand included her work in SOLACE and On Death. Peanut Press released her monograph, Fugue State, in fall of 2021.

Aline has been a juror for a host of organizations and galleries and reviewer and educator at photo festivals around the U.S. Besides her iPhone, she only shoots film.

Learn more about Aline at www.alinesmithson.com

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February 14, 2023

Susan Burnstine – A Discussion of Creative Intent

From Within Shadows to Absence of Being to Where Shadows Cease, join Susan for a discussion about the elements of creative intent and how to apply them to a long-term body of work. Susan’s talk will be part personal journey and part mini-workshop

Susan Burnstine is an award-winning fine art and commercial photographer originally from Chicago now based in Los Angeles. Susan is represented in galleries across the world, widely published, teaches workshops internationally, and has also written for several photography magazines, including a monthly column for Black & White Photography Magazine (UK).

Susan’s website is www.susanburnstine.com

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March 14, 2023

Brooks Jensen – Beyond the Single Image

Brooks will talk about project-oriented photography. The core ideas in this talk are how to think in terms of multiple images, selection and editing, sequencing, titles and text. Brooks will show examples from his publications “Seeing in SIXES”, “Trilogies”, and “Kokoro”, as well as other book projects. 

DON’T MISS THIS ONE AS IT WILL GIVE YOU SOME ADVICE FOR OUR APRIL 18TH MEMBER PRESENTATION – TRILOGIES

Brooks Jensen is a fine-art photographer, publisher, workshop teacher, and writer. In his personal work he specializes in small prints, handmade artist books, and digital media publications.

Brooks is the owner, co-founder (in 1993, with his late wife, Maureen), editor, and publisher of the award winning LensWork, one of today’s most respected and important periodicals in fine art photography. With subscribers in more than 70 countries, Brooks’ impact on fine art photography is truly worldwide. His long-running weekly podcasts on art and photography are heard over the Internet by thousands every day. All 1,200+ podcasts are available at LensWork Online, the LensWork membership website. He also publishes a daily Here’s a Thought… video with short inspiration for creative photographers.

Brooks is the author of thirteen books about photography and creativity: Photography, Art, & Media (2016); The Creative Life in Photography (2013); Letting Go of the Camera(2004); Single Exposures (3 books in a series, random observations on art, photography and creativity); Looking at Images (2014); The Best of the LensWork Interviews (2016); Seeing in SIXES (2016); Seeing in SIXES (2017); Seeing in SIXES (2018); Seeing in SIXES (2019); and Our Magnificent Planet (2020). 

Brooks also publishes Kokoro, a free bi-monthly e-publication of his personal work.

You can learn more about Brooks at his personal website www.brooksjensenarts.com and about Lenswork at www.lenswork.com

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April 11, 2023

Meghan Dhaliwal - Gray Whale Mystery

Meghan will discuss her work documenting Gray Whales. On a grant from the National Geographic Society, Meghan explored the "Unusual Mortality Event" (UME) occurring within the population of Eastern Pacific Grey whales through the eyes of a community that lives alongside these animals three months each year. 

You can read the National Geographic story “Why are so many Gray Whales Dying in the Pacific” written by Kate Linthicum here.

Meghan Dhaliwal is a freelance photojournalist based in Mexico. Her work has been published in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, The New Yorker and more. She is the recipient of funding from the National Geographic Society, the International Women’s Media Foundation, the International Center for Journalists, and the International Reporting Project. She is a former employee of the Pulitzer Center. She works as an educator with Pulitzer Center’s education program as well as National Geographic Photo Camp. 

She has lived in Mexico for the last seven years, six years in Mexico City and one year on the coast of Baja California Sur (where she lives currently with her husband, two dogs and rabbit).

 Meghan’s Website is: www.meghandhaliwal.com   

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May 9, 2023

Doug Chinnery – Seeing What Isn’t There

Doug will be taking us on an exploration of photographic expressionism along with his thoughts and ideas around working in abstraction. This talk is a deep dive into ideas designed to encourage us to question why we make the images we do, what is important to us as photographers, what are we putting into our work and to help us understand and work in abstraction. We will look at making work which bridges the gap between art and photography. We hope you can join us for this thought-provoking discussion.

Doug Chinnery has been described as a “pivotal artist who has redefined the creative photographic landscape”. Primarily influenced by and drawing inspiration from Abstract Expressionist painters such as Hodgkin, Feiler, Rae and Ryman, his gestural work eschews topography, aiming to distil the rhythm, rhyme and flow of the landscape through poetic visual expressions. 

With the camera as his principal medium and mirroring his painted mixed media abstracts, these intuitive abstracted works layer texture, colour and form to create a deeply emotional and expressive response to the natural environment. Doug devotes much of his time to teaching, and his passion for creative thinking has helped students worldwide to express their own unique artistic voice.

He exhibits widely in the UK and overseas, is in demand as a public speaker and his first book, ‘Abstract Mindedness’ has now sold out. When not making art, he enjoys making furniture (badly) and spending with his wife, Beth and their two dogs, Eddie and Lily.

Doug’s Website is www.dougchinnery.com 

 



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