One of the aspects of PhotoNexus that excites me is the talented group of people who have come together to share their knowledge, insights and inspiration with the small group of people attending the event. We have brought together an outstanding group of independent curators, galleries, photographers, and photography educators who will offer a broad perspective on the art of photography, as well as take you behind-the-scenes with their own personal experiences and commentary. Among the people behind the art, who PhotoNexus attendees will meet and engage with, are:
- a person who apprenticed under Ansel Adams and was selected to print his Yosemite series.
- among the photographers we have people whose work is in the National Portrait Gallery, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Center for Creative Photography, Tucson AZ– to name just a few
- we have a person world renown for his platinum palladium prints
- the galleries who are involved work with museums and private collectors. They also manage estates of some famous photographers
- an expert on the historical development of photography and how it has influenced the contemporary artistic medium
- the person who leads one of the world’s most prestigious and significant photography education programs, as well as a former member of the faculty of Art Center College of Design
- a leader in the world of fine art photography and today’s digital world who has developed new approaches to fine art printing, book making and exhibiting
- a pioneer in the photo books segment
On Saturday afternoon, we will make a special field trip to visit David Michael Kennedy’s studio and dark rooms. Here is a preview
Meet the Talented People: here is a little more information about the distinguished and talented people who will share their insights and inspiration at PhotoNexus:
(Update) Nathan Benn: Over the past fifty years, Nathan Benn has worn many professional hats related to photographic arts, including National Geographic Magazine photographer, Director of Magnum Photos, curator, Internet entrepreneur, and museum Trustee. He is currently vice-president of CENTER for Photography in Santa Fe and is working on a sixth solo museum exhibition of his photographs. Nathan’s photographs can be found in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, the Rijksmuseum, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Harvard Art Museums, and George Eastman Museum. In parallel to his career of making and managing photographs, Nathan has been a serious collector of photography and early American decorative arts. He will talk about the homes and collections in New York and Santa Fe that he shares with his wife, Rebecca Abrams, a fine arts photographer. His presentation will be about their evolution as collectors, what inspires them to live with photographs, and personal concerns and strategies regarding photography collecting and preserving one’s photographic legacy https://www.
Mark Berndt: Mark Berndt is a photographer whose work celebrates people and the circumstance of life. He brings the experience of a long and varied career in the visual arts, offering a select set of services in photography, filmmaking, design and teaching to professional and emerging imaging artists in Santa Fe and worldwide. With more than 20 years of teaching experience, he brings considerable knowledge about, and experience in, the art and business of visual image-making and communications. http://markberndt.com/
Reid Callanan has spent his entire adult life focused on photographic education — the past twenty-eight years as Director of the world renown Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and before that working at Maine Photographic Workshops. In addition to his role as director, Reid has taught a workshop named “Cameras Don’t Take Pictures.” While his business career is mostly all consuming, he also makes time to photograph every day and for his ongoing projects. Reid also founded the non-profit Santa Fe Center for Photography, now known as Center, and is currently an officer on its Board of Director. https://www.santafeworkshops.com https://www.reidcallanan.com/about
Natalie Christensen is a photographer based in Santa Fe, New Mexico and has shown work in the U.S. and internationally including London, Dusseldorf, New York and Los Angeles. She was one of five invited photographers for the exhibition The National 2018: Best of Contemporary Photography at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and has recently been named one of “Ten Photographers to Watch” by the Los Angeles Center of Digital Art. Her photographs are in the permanent collections of the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and the University of Texas at Tyler. In addition to pursuing her interests in art and design, Natalie has worked as a psychotherapist for over 25 years and has been particularly influenced by the work of depth psychologist Carl Jung. This influence is evidenced in her photographs, as shadows and psychological metaphors are favored subjects. https://nataliechristensenphoto.com
David Michael Kennedy. His body of work spans over 40 years and is held in both private and museum collections including The National Portrait Gallery, The Smithsonian Institution and The Harwood Museum, among many others. His impressive and vast body of work includes iconic portraits of musicians, actors and artists. Visitors often find themselves stumbling onto recognizable pictures of Bob Dylan, Debbie Harry or Willie Nelson –pictures that they have known well and for years-but now have the opportunity to meet the artist and hear the stories behind the famous images. Leaving New York and commercial photography in 1986 David Michael Kennedy moved to New Mexico and began to focus on his fine art photography. His name quickly became synonymous with New Mexican Landscapes and we are fortunate to see it through his eyes. Kennedy’s images are materialized through the traditional analogue technique of Platinum/Palladium printing, of which he is widely considered to be one of the best in the world. https://www.davidmichaelkennedy.com
Pilar Law has been in the business of photography and a photographer’s advocate for 14 years. She’s worked with photo stock agencies, technology companies and photo labs to bring them online and to develop new approaches to fine art printing, book making and exhibiting, social media marketing and sales. During the course of her work, she studied with photographers who encouraged her to hone her own skill and pursue fine art photography. http://www.pilarlaw.com/about.html. Edition ONE is a unique contemporary photography gallery specializing in editions of one. Edition ONE collectors will find exclusive access to new photographic works both from emerging and established photographers in Santa Fe and around the world.
Monroe Gallery of Photography specializes in classic black & white photography with an emphasis on humanist and photojournalist imagery. The gallery features work by more than 50 renowned photographers and also represents a select group of contemporary and emerging photographers, some of the best photography the 20th and 21st century have to offer. Sidney and Michelle Monroe maintain extensive personal connections with important photographers, clients, collectors, dealers, estates, auction houses, and archives world-wide. They have consulted with photographers, estates, and archives to curate and organize programs and exhibitions. They advise private collectors, museums and corporations with an emphasis on building significant collections with a variety of prudent focuses. They are acknowledged experts on the life and work of numerous important photographers, including several famed LIFE Magazine photojournalists, such as Margaret Bourke-White, Carl Mydans, and Alfred Eisenstaedt. http://www.monroegallery.com/
Photo-Eye was founded in 1979 by Rixon Reed. It is the world’s foremost online photography bookstore featuring over 30000 fine-art photography books. It has since grown to also become one of the world’s foremost website devoted to contemporary photography and the photo-eye Gallery was established in Santa Fe New Mexico in 1991 as a division of photo-eye and has been selling prints online since 1996. https://www.photoeye.com
Alan Ross is an internationally respected master photographer and educator who worked side-by-side with Ansel Adams. He continues to be the exclusive printer of the Yosemite Special Edition negatives, an assignment Adams selected him for personally in 1975. Alan makes each print by hand from Adams’ original negatives using traditional darkroom techniques. As an artist, Alan is known for his tonally exquisite black-and-white photographs of the American west. His photographs are in collections and galleries around the world including Houston’s Museum of fine Arts, The Yale Museum of Art and the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson. He teaches about the art of seeing and is also a master printer. https://www.alanrossphotography.com/
Scheinbaum & Russek, are celebrating 38 years in business and they specialize in 20th century vintage and contemporary photography as well as representing the Estates of Beaumont and Nancy Newhall and Eliot Porter. Scheinbaum & Russek have approached the gallery world through their roles as educators, artists, and collectors and bring to their gallery an appreciation of photographers, the fine print and the history of photography. http://www.photographydealers.com
Jennifer Schlesinger, Owner and Director of Obscura Gallery, is a Curator, Gallerist, Educator, and Artist. Schlesinger has approached her fine art photography with an interest in how the historical development of photography has influenced the contemporary artistic medium – mostly exploring the 19th century albumen and 20th century gelatin silver printing processes and combining them with contemporary landscape surrealism. Obscura Gallery represents the finest contributions to the history of photography both through contemporary and vintage works. https://www.jenniferschlesinger.com/ https://www.obscuragallery.net
Come join us. More information and registration at: https://binhammerphotographs.com/photonexus
The Idea of PhotoNexus and the Path to Reality: The thinking behind PhotoNexus was that I was a self taught photographer. Once I started down that path, I also became a self taught lover of photography as art. To understand photography as art (beyond making the photographs) I read books, such as: 
