Laura A. Watt’s "Natural Forms" photgraphy show

Flyer for Laura A. Watt's Natural Forms show

Don’t miss the Natural Forms show by one of my favorite Flickr photographers, Laura A. Watt’s. Her work is beautiful, subtle, and will take you someplace else if you let it. If you’re going to be in the Berkeley area this August, make a point of going!

Water, leaves, and other natural forms come together in Laura A. Watt’s Photos, straddling a fine line between straight representation and abstraction. Her fascination with curcing wave-shapes and subtle tones spans from vast skyscapes to tiny botanicals, with water flowing throughout.

The show runs at The Claremont Club, 41 Tunnel Rd., Berkeley, CA, US from 1–30 August, 2006.

Sign up for Strobist’s online lighting boot camp

Strobist have just started a virtual boot camp for anyone interested in improving their lighting skills:

The main point of SBC is to nudge those photographers out there who have not made the transition to actually trying this lighting stuff out to make the jump. Secondarily, we will hopefully all get a chance to see what many different photogs – from all around the world – do with the exact same assignments. You’ll also be able to ask "how’d you do that?" questions to your fellow photographers. Using Flickr, we will effectively become a virtual classroom.

Sign up and read the rules at Strobist

Via PhotographyBLOG

Shooting Rio childrens’ photography show

This captivating exhibition is the result of several months work by a group of Rio [de Janeiro, Brazil] Street Children who were given cameras and encouraged to express and document their lives through photography. Inspired by the idea of recording moments, for their beauty and excitement, rather than trying to forget, the children have produced a breathtaking body of work. The pictures that followed tell a tale of a city that is at once magnificent and violent, musical, passionate and brimming with color. But the photographers also portray the city and themselves in a sensitive light – asking questions of a community that is trying hard to come to terms with its own prejudices.

It will stand as testament to what the children have produced, an achievement all the more remarkable given their personal backgrounds. We hope the exhibition will truly inform our audience as much about the harsh reality of these children’s lives as about their genuine creativity, undeterminable spirit and the real potential for social change. In collaboration with LAB. Exhibition runs until 23 June [2006].

Shooting Rio opens in London on 15 June [2006] at Canning House in Belgrave Square, London, UK.

The BBC has a preview of photos from the show at bbc.co.uk.

Via Rio photographer Rodrigo Perez

mooncruise* June 2006 issue 2.01 is up

Cover of mooncruise issue 2.01, June 2006

The June 2006 issue (Vol 2, Issue 1) of mooncruise*, an online magazine featuring photography and music by international artists, is now up and ready for viewing.

In this issue

PHOTOGRAPHY by: po-pad / Mario Ardovino, Avi Cornfeld, Brian Lemond, Dorothy-Shoes, Felix Baumsteiger, Ina Jang, Jean Marmeisse, Jean-Pierre Rosa, Krystian Kujda, Kachain Bodinittidej, Maciej Dakowicz, Neil Burke, Robert Pallesen, Shin Yoshikawa, Steve Barry, Thomas Scott

MUSIC by: po-pad / Mario Ardovino

mooncruise.com (requires Flash 8)

mooncruise* | gallery is accepting international submissions for “PLASTIC” a group show of photography created with toy cameras.

Abandoned After Dark night photography show, Alameda, CA, US

Abandoned After Dark show flyer

Joe Reifer writes:

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, check it out! Featuring the work of fetching ("Tickets" – lower left), broken obelisk ("Time Machine" – lower right), lensflare ("Countdown Quonset" – upper right), and yours truly, guacamole airlines ("Third Floor Looking Out" – upper left).

The show is from 7–31 July, 2006, at Lucky Ju Ju Pinball Gallery, 713 Santa Clara Ave Alameda, CA, US. Opening reception on Friday, 7 July, 2006, 7–10pm.

The Birds and the Bees group show, AKL, NZ

The Birds and the Bees portrays a breadth of interpretations, as the photographers attach human states of being such as joy, sorrow, growth and death to this well-known phrase

Karen Crisp photographs exotic and invasive plants, investigating the unsettling qualities that can be present in these environments.

Paul Pachter portrays the immediate landscape of his garden of 20 years, expressing aspects of his personal history.

Isabella Pachter collects images of preserved and mounted animals and nature scenes to create collages that comment on the portrayal of nature in the west.

Kellie Gray explores the nature of existence and questions our individual realities using digital stills captured from hours of video tape.

Part of the Auckland Festival of Photography 2006 [blogged previously], this exhibition features a range of photographic approaches, encompassing ‘pure’ large format photography, pinhole photography, manipulated and re-photographed images, and digital stills capture.

Dates: 7–24 June, 2006
Opening reception: Tuesday, 6 June, 2006, 7:00pm

The show is at Artstation, 1 Ponsonby Rd, Newton, Auckland, New Zealand

Via Pinhole Visions

Cynthia Meadows’ "Mass.Romantic" photography show, NY, US

Cynthia Meadows' Mass Romantic show flyer

Mass.Romantic, Cynthia Meadows‘ debut show of color photographs, opens at the Kingston Museum of Contemporary Art on Saturday June 3, 2006, and remains on view through June 28.

An opening reception will be held on the evening of June 3, from 5 to 7 pm, at KMOCA, 105 Abeel Street, Kingston, NY, US. In the gallery after the opening, it’s time to dance! Come celebrate life with Kandykorn and her friend Erica, aka DJ Meow Mix.

Via Mr. Andrew Long

Verhoeven/Bell pinhole & Holga phototography show, Yokohama, JP

This show features color pinhole photographs done in Kyoto, Japan by Fred Verhoeven and black and white Woca Plastic Camera Photographs of northern Japan by Court Bell.

Fred Verhoeven is a photographer from San Francisco, CA. Court Bell is a American Photographer living in Sendai, Japan. This show is presented as Japan viewed through American eyes.

Gallery is located minutes away from JR Kannai Station in Yokohama.

Gallery Otamachi
3-35-2 Otamachi
Naka-ku
Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

Dates: Monday, June 05, 2006 – Sunday, June 11, 2006
Opening reception: Thursday, June 08, 2006 at 05:00 PM

Artist websites at www.fred-verhoeven.com & www.courtbell.com

Via Pinhole Visions

Auckland Festival of Photography

The Auckland Festival of Photography is a signature visual arts event that treasures a city abundant with great photographic talent. This fast growing annual festival programmes a multitude of exhibitions and events, encouraging more people to celebrate the art of photography through free public access. Photography is a powerful visual art form that the Festival celebrates with CULTURE, IDENTITY, ART and PARTICIPATION events. The festival celebrates photography which reflects the vital personality of Auckland and invites all residents and visitors to experience this through the lens of the camera.

The next Festival will be held from 2nd June to 24th June 2006.

Visit the festival Web site

Via GRINZ