by Gail Ingis | Apr 30, 2015 | Events, History
Rough journeys
Pestilence and death accompanied the emigrants from across the seas. The 114 colonists who established Savannah on February 12, 1733, were transported to America aboard the Good Ship Anne. Captain John Thomas, who was in command, had the responsibility of getting these people to the new land of opportunity. They left Gravesend on the Thames on November 16, 1732. Danger surrounded them when their water turned foul and black, the beer soured, the daily ration was cut to about two cups a day, and molasses was used to sweeten what water remained. Two children died, chickens and animals died. Dr. William Cox, almost killed those still alive with the practice of blood letting. The people got preached to by the bastard son of the Earl of Torrington, Reverend Dr. Henry Herbert. Well, guess that wasn’t his fault, born a bastard, but in those days, people knew who the bastards were, and frowned down upon them. This didn’t sound like the trip of your dreams.
colonists
But all was not bad. Story says that one night flying fish landed on board. Strange birds were sighted, one was caught and eaten. James Edward Oglethorpe under a parasol, (hmm, that’s an umbrella) went fishing in the ship’s long boat. I wonder who held the umbrella? A dolphin was caught and given to the pregnant women. No one else ate, not Oglethorpe either, but to celebrate his birthday on December 21, Oglethorpe dispensed mutton, (guess he killed a lamb) broth and bumbo* to the merry passengers (actually they weren’t merry until after the bumbo). Toasts were made to the health of the success of the colony of Georgia. They seem to have plenty of alcoholic, imbibing liquids. Good thing, they should have used those liquids for cleansing, instead of blood letting . . .
ship 1703
By January 13, 1733, the Anne arrived off the bar of Charleston, South Carolina. Oglethorpe went ashore and obtained the king’s pilot, Mr. Middleton, to guide the ship southward to Port Royal. After a short stay in newly erected barracks, the colonists were brought up the Savannah River aboard six small boats and landed at Yamacraw Bluff on February 12, 1733, the anniversary that has been celebrated ever since as Georgia day.
This is an excerpt by John Duncan, Professor Emeritus, at Armstrong Atlantic State University, that I found on a paper placemat at the Boars Head Grill & Tavern on the wharf in Savannah.
*Bumbo–cold punch, rum, sugar, water & nutmeg. This–is a good recipe!
sailed into port
Do you have any relatives that fit the Good Ship Anne?
by Gail Ingis | Apr 22, 2015 | Events, History, News
1990 William’s funhouse
Same Gallery . . .Gallery 270 in Englewood, NJ, as my last Why Photography blog a couple of weeks ago. What makes photography so wonderful is, we get to experience the manipulation of an image through the artist’s eye using a camera, rather than a paintbrush, or other methodology.
In this case by photographer Michael Massaia.
According to Tom Gramegna, Director of the Gallery:
“It is commonly accepted that much of who we become as adults is often dictated by the indelible experiences we have in the formative years of our youth” writes Gallery 270 director Tom Gramegna about Michael Massaia’s current show “Scenes From A Childhood”
When we were young, most of us “experienced moments where we felt isolated, alone, with an inability to connect with reality”. Michael has used those experiences to push the envelope and come up with photography seen as an art not seen before.
Neapolitan Sandwich
In the rides and attractions of the Jersey Shore, seen by millions, there is a longing for simpler times evidenced by Michael’s analog pinball machines and in the simple recognition of the “whimsical and cosmic beauty” found in a melting ice-pop.
Michael is passionate about doing original work that has never been accomplished before. His photography is self taught. He controls the process and does not use Photoshop to alter or touch up his work. He creates his prints in multiple sizes, surfaces and techniques. His hauntingly beautiful and groundbreaking photographs are surprisingly affordable given the huge time and effort just one print takes for the artist to produce.”
The show at Gallery 270, Tom Gramegna, Director, runs until May 2, 2015, 10 N. Dean St. Englewood, NJ 201-871-4113. Call the gallery for prices.
Tom also has a fabulous camera store Bergen County Camera. Everything you ever wanted in a camera is there, plus an amazing, knowledgeable staff.
270 Westwood Avenue, Westwood, NJ 07675, 201-664-4113×202
Contact and website info:
tomg@bergencountycamera.com
tomg@gallery270.com
www.bergencountycamera.com
www.gallery270.com
Do you enjoy/love photography? What’s your opinion? Let’s let Tom know what you think.
by Gail Ingis | Apr 15, 2015 | Events, History, News
Yellow Sac Spider
Spiders, ghosts and botanicals. You might find any of those at our old, built in 1867, sixty-two room Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum anytime. I have found some, especially botanicals, and right now I want to tell you about the current art show, in the Billiards Room, in collaboration with the Contemporary Center for Printmaking, (CCP) an art center right here on campus. This exhibition explores the beauty and relevance of botanical art through the medium of printmaking, in connection with the newly refurbished Conservatory at the Mansion, historically decorated by Danna Dielsi of The Silk Touch floral shop in Norwalk, CT. The art show was curated by Trustee Gail Ingis, included are renowned printmakers and members of CCP, Margot Rocklen, Betty Ball, Jane Cooper, Deidre de Waal, Sheila Fane, Sally Frank, Cynthia MacCollum, Joan Potkay, Eve Stockton and Ruth Kalla Ungerer. The works included cover a variety of techniques including: etching, monotype, intaglio, woodblock, and solarplate, to name a few.
Monotype by Deidra de Waal
This image by Deidra de Waal is a Monotype. Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The image is then transferred onto a sheet of paper by pressing the two together, usually using a printing press. Monotypes can also be created by inking an entire surface and then, using brushes or rags, removing ink to create a subtractive image, e.g. creating lights from a field of opaque color. The inks used may be oil based or water based. With oil-based inks, the paper may be dry, in which case the image has more contrast, or the paper may be damp, in which case the image has a ten percent greater range of tones.
Eve Stockton, Woodcut
Woodcut, is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that the artist cuts away carry no ink, while characters or images at surface level carry the ink to produce the print. The block is cut along the grain of the wood (unlike wood engraving where the block is cut in the end-grain). The surface is covered with ink by rolling over the surface with an ink-covered roller (brayer), leaving ink upon the flat surface but not in the non-printing areas.
Come visit to see this most unusual art show representing the twenty-first century interpretations of nineteenth-century art of botanicals. I did run into a spider, the yellow sac kind, but I thought it was Mr. Lockwood, much to my chagrin, when I looked up he was gone.
Come and visit this most amazing venue. The show will run through May 3, 2015, at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, 295 West Avenue, Norwalk, CT. 203-838-9799. General Admission April 9 through May 3, 12-4 p.m.: $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $6, 8-18.
Hurry, don’t miss it!
Have you been to this old house (mansion) where the TV show “Dark shadows” was made? Remember Joan Collins? Think you’ll find any ghosts? You might . . .
by Gail Ingis | Apr 8, 2015 | Events, History, News, Technical
Gallery270 Michael Massaia
Last week my visit to Gallery270 in Englewood, NJ proved to be magical, once again. Tom Gramegna, owner of the gallery sure knows how to pick the images to interest us viewers. Today’s blog though is not about that show, you’ll have to wait until another blog time.
On the left, here’s a tease . . .
Why photography? Goes back to my own stint as a photographer for my design and architectural work, then on to experimentation in the art of photography. Working with photo images led me to full-time painting those images. My work as an artist led me to Hudson River artist, Albert Bierstadt. His brothers were into photography in 1859. They traveled to Yosemite with Albert and took many of the images that Albert painted. In those years, cameras were big and bulky and travel was less than convenient. Only way to California then was by coach, the one with horses.
Coney Island parachute jump 1950’s
The 1990’s saw an explosion of the craft with digital photography. Today, everyone is a photographer with the smart phone. It’s always easy and convenient to turn the phone into a camera. No more do I have to lug along my camera, unless I have a special project that needs professional work. I still use my Nikon D200 to take photos of images to paint. Like my Coney Island project, I have photos from 1986-2013 of Coney Island before restoration and after restoration. This one is the 50’s when I played in Coney Island.
I have a heart for the venue of photography and thought I would share some pieces of history and processes.
Site: Half Dome, Yosemite by Ansel Adams
Group f/64 was a small group of 20th-century San Francisco photographers, like Cunningham and Adams, who shared a common photographic style characterized by sharp-focused and carefully framed images seen through a particularly Western (U.S.) viewpoint. In part, they formed in opposition to the Pictorialist photographic style that had dominated much of the early 20th century, but moreover they wanted to promote a new Modernist aesthetic that was based on precisely exposed images of natural forms and found objects.
Succulent by Imogen Cunningham 1920
Ansel Adams
The term f/64 refers to a small aperture setting on a large format camera, which secures great depth of field, rendering a photograph evenly sharp from foreground to background. Such a small aperture sometimes implies a long exposure and therefore a selection of relatively slow moving or motionless subject matter, such as landscapes and still life, but in the typically bright California light this is less a factor in the subject matter chosen than the sheer size and clumsiness of the cameras, compared to the smaller cameras increasingly used in action and reportage photography in the 1930s.
Digital photography has come a long way since it started to catch on in the 1990s. While even your high-end smartphone may take pictures that look like crap, a real digital camera can make even the stodgiest photographer forget about film.
The Hasselblad H4D-60 is probably the most expensive digital camera in the world. This DSLR camera has an astonishing 60 megapixel 40 x 54 mm sensor. Aided by the Absolute Position Lock processor, Hasselblad’s True Focus system allows the photographer to focus on the composition without constantly fiddling with the focus. The camera has a capture rate of 1.4 seconds per capture and shutter speed ranges from an 800th of a second to 32 seconds.
This pro digital camera costs in excess of $40,000, but that price will also get you membership in the Hasselblad Owners’ Club. The exclusive club promises to hook you up with a considerable network of professional photographers to increase your exposure and expand your client base.
Do you take photographs, and with what, camera or phone? What kind of camera? Do you have one of those $40,000 digital cameras? No kidding . . .
by Gail Ingis | Apr 1, 2015 | Events, History, News
Photo by Imogen
Creativity! Isn’t that what art is? Art comes in millions of variables. Art is everywhere, in nature, in architecture, in human creativity–in a leaf.
Last week, I visited a renowned photography gallery, Gallery270, Englewood, NJ, to view some prints by Imogen Cunningham. The gallery is owned by Tom Gramegna, who also owns Bergen County Camera, Westwood, NJ. His photography exhibitions will enrich you, and perhaps inspire you to make art, collect art, especially photo art.
Photo by Imogen
Imogen Cunningham’s early to mid 20th century photo art is pure, no digital technology to enhance her work. All the enhancements, finishes and spatial concepts were done by her, no tricks. Pure creativity. She knew how to use her medium.
She understood the components of creativity. She knew how to divide space. She knew what would translate into beauty, what we hope for in art. Below is the brief story about this intriguing, creative woman, who, in spite of women barely being recognized professionals in her lifetime, forged ahead in her craft.
Photo by Imogene, Martha Graham (dancer)
Imogen Cunningham (April 12, 1883 – June 23, 1976) was an American photographer known for her botanical photography, nudes, and industrial landscapes. Cunningham was a member of the California-based Group f/64, known for its dedication to the sharp-focus rendition of simple subjects.
In 1901, at the age of eighteen, Cunningham bought her first camera, a 4×5 inch view camera, via mail order from the American School of Art in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She soon lost interest and sold the camera to a friend.
It wasn’t until 1906, while studying at the University of Washington in Seattle, that she was inspired to take up photography again by an encounter with the work of Gertrude Käsebier. With the help of her chemistry professor, Horace Byers, she began to study the chemistry behind photography and she subsidized her tuition by photographing plants for the botany department.
Cunningham was said to take after her father: “a self-taught freethinker who didn’t confine himself to one profession,” which led Cunningham to experiment freely with cameras, photographic printing techniques and styles.
In 1907, Cunningham graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in chemistry. Her thesis was titled “Modern Processes of Photography.” She focused on a career in photography, and won a fellowship for foreign study.
Imogen
In 1915, Cunningham married etching artist, printmaker and teacher Roi Partridge. They had three sons. The couple divorced in 1934. A granddaughter, Meg Partridge, has cataloged Cunningham’s work.
As of 1940, Cunningham lived in Oakland, California, though she had studios in various locations in San Francisco. Cunningham continued to take photographs until shortly before her death at age 93 on June 23, 1976, in San Francisco, California.
Imogen
What form of art/creativity is your preference? Architecture, body art, car art, crochet, dance, Disney art, fashion, floral design, embroidery, furniture, graphic design, hair art, jazz, jewelry, knitting, music, nail art, oil painting, pastels, photography, piano, rap, sculpture, sports movements, voice, writing, watercolor painting? Did I miss your favorite? Fill it in . . .
There’s a new show going up at Gallery270 at 10 North Dean St. Englewood, NJ, tomorrow, April 2nd, 7-9 pm. 201-871-4113. Another brilliant photographer, young and with it! Michael Massaia. See you there?
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