Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
“Camel Eye”, by Bill Collins, won second place in Advanced Monochrome Prints for the January competiton. See more on pages 4-7.
THE VIEWFINDER Comments From the President “Observe the life moving like a river around you… and realize the image you make may become a part of the collective history of the time that you are living in.” -- Eli Reed1
by Jeanine Cummins, President The importance of Black photography and Cheriss May, Simon Frederick, Jamel Shabazz, photographers influences my work by the way I Sheila Pree Bright, and Devin Allen; their purpose capture images, and what story I want my images to is to celebrate achievements, culture, history, and tell. Early photographs/images of African Americans contributions to American history. Image matters. had exaggerated features Photographers such as Robert Frank (1924-2019), an on advertisements, sheet immigrant to this country during the rise of Nazism music, including the infamous in Europe understood oppression and looked at “blackface” and souvenir America from another perspective; Hugh Mangum postcards that depict lynching. (1877-1922), photographed in the segregated South. It was those postcards that captured the horrors He is known for his portraits of African Americans, of lynching in America. Visual representations of where it was illegal to photograph Blacks and Whites African Americans were negative and demeaning. in the same sitting space. The ongoing themes from the early beginnings of For Black History Month, read a book about the Black photography, dating back to the 1840’s, were Black experience in photographs: Pictures with to change the racist portrayal of African Americans Purpose - Early Photographs from the National in images. From Jules Lion, James Pressley Hall, Museum of African American History and Culture Augustus Washington to James Van der Zee, Ernest (Double Exposure series), Reflections in Black: A Withers, Moneta Sleet, Gordon Parks to Carrie Mae History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present, Weems, Anthony Barboza, The Kamoinge Collective, Continued on page 3 Program Meeting p. 3 This Month’s Schedule Table of Contents: Competition Corner p. 4-7 Get Ahead p. 7 February 3 Competiton Theme: Travel Photo Books p. 8 February 10 Photo Talk Contemporary Photographers Out & About p. 9 February 17 Program Charles Bowers - Fine Art Photography Upcoming Events p. 9 February 24 How-To Hand-Coloring Photos PSA Contest p. 10 TBD Field Trip Charm City Roller Derby Photo Talk p. 11 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
Articles for The Viewfinder EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE THE VIEWFINDER is distributed via Articles should be sent via e-mail to President Jeanine Cummins ...... 240-461-2914 e-mail early in the month and at [email protected]. Attachments ...... [email protected] the first meeting of each month as MS Word, .txt, or .rtf files are VP Programs during the club year. Contributions of acceptable. Photos and illustrations Catherine Sheppard . . . . . 301-262-2819 articles of interest to photographers should be separate attachments...... [email protected] are welcomed. VP Membership Photographs should be submitted Bill Collins ...... 410-827-3369 The deadline for submitting articles electronically as JPEGs with a “high” ...... [email protected] is the second Monday of the month quality compression setting. The VP Competition Roz Kleffman ...... 301-464-1867 prior to publication (ie, articles optimal photograph will be no ...... [email protected] submitted in early October will more than 800 pixels in its greatest VP How-to be published in the November dimension. Stefan Kaben ...... 301-459-0955 newsletter)...... [email protected] VP Photo Talk Membership Rates Photographic Society Bob Matthews ...... 301-785-1151 of America (PSA) ...... [email protected] Individual . . . . $40.00 Treasurer Family ...... $55.00 The Bowie-Crofton Camera Club has Monica Hawse ...... 443-534-1160 been a member of the Photographic ...... [email protected] Meeting Nights Society of America (PSA) since 1977. Secretary Wanda Jenifer ...... 301-946-3090 The Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Denise Hill is B-CCC’s representative ...... [email protected] meets the first through fourth to PSA. PSA Representative Monday nights of each month For information regarding the Denise Hill ...... (301) 809-1399 September through May in the ...... [email protected] benefits of a PSA individual Fellowship Hall of the All Saints Newsletter Editor membership and Lutheran Church at US 301 and Mt. Vincent Ferrari ...... 301-249-2210 for PSA-sponsored events contact ...... [email protected] Oak Road in Bowie. Meetings begin Denise Hill (301) 809-1399 or Immediate Past President -Roz Kleffman at 7:30. Visitors are always welcome. e-mail [email protected]. STAFF Competition Assistant Open ...... Database Manager Dick Russell ...... 410-923-2022 ...... [email protected] Field Trip Committee Leaders Vincent and Leslie Ferrari...... 301-249-2210 ...... [email protected] Webmaster Bev Shomo ...... [email protected]
Web Editor Vincent Ferrari . . [email protected] Exhibit Coordinator Bob Matthews . [email protected] Bowie-Crofton Camera Club P.O. Box 515 Bowie, Maryland 20718-0515
2 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
Comments From the President, continued by Jeanine Cummins, President
Songs of My People: A Self-Portrait edited by Eric Remember the power that our cameras have to tell Easter, Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the a story, whether we’re photographing landscapes that New York Times Photo Archives authored by Dana are changing or disappearing, endangered species, Canedy, Darcy Eveleigh, Damien Cave, Rachel L. Swan, documenting street scenes or protests, telling stories of Elder Grace: The Nobility of Aging by Chester Higgins, families and friends, or photographing cultures abroad. Jr., A Beautiful Ghetto by Devin Allen. Image matters.
This month’s competition theme is “Travel”. Photo 1 www.nationsphotolab.com/blog/celebrating-african-american-photographers/ Talk will ask the question – Where did “Rules” come Eli Reed is a Harvard-educated photojournalist, professor, and author, from? Program speaker, Charles Bowers will discuss and is best known for being the first black photographer to be employed being “Stuck between Two Worlds”, and club member, by the famed Magnum Agency. He has captured everything from the Steve Abramowitz will present his process for hand everyday life of African Americans in America to major historical events coloring photos. Our field trip will take place at the worldwide. Willis, Deborah, Ph.D. Reflections in Black: A History of Black Charm City Roller Derby. Photographers 1840 to the Present. WW. Norton & Co. Inc, 2000.
Program Meeting - February 17 Charles Bowers – Fine Art Photography by Catherine Sheppard, VP Programs
February’s Program Speaker will be Charles Bowers. of work that includes these and other areas of subject A professional landscape architect, Bowers chose matter. During the club’s Program Meeting, Bowers will photography to create art beyond designing and show a selection of his work and describe the origins of building beautiful gardens. Like many who started and intent behind his images. out in film, as he did decades ago, Bowers readily Our speaker’s photography has appeared in several moved into the digital world and embraced many one-person and numerous group exhibitions, as well new processes into his repertoire. For example, in the as being featured in local, national and international digital realm, he explores digital painting, texturing and publications. He has written articles which accompany collaging. His results then are printed or transferred the images shows in these venues. Finally, Bowers has onto canvas, wood, watercolor paper and other media, produced a photography book about a garden through using state of the art archival-pigmented inks. the seasons and years. Bowers’ subject matter includes people and their Bowers’ work can be seen at: relationship to their environment, architecture, landscapes, gardens, flowers and the natural world. www.cwbowers.com/gallers-list Over the years, Bowers has built an extensive collection
3 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
Competition Corner January 6 Competition Results by Roz Kleffman, VP Competition 2. Thank you to our judge, Mike Washington for judging have the theme “Get Outside”. The definition is: the January 2020 competition with the theme of “Eyes”. Any activities taking place outdoors. Examples: I think everyone will agree that Mike to a great job with sports, leisure, work, gardening, dog-walking, a good focus on “eyes”. We had some very creative sunbathing. The activity must be done outdoors, at entries. any season of the year. Images may include humans Kudos to the winners. or humans with animals; no animal-only images. Any There were only two Novice Monochrome entries. landscape or scenery is secondary to the activity. That meant NO Novice Monochrome Competition. You have a whole month to get those entries in for NOVICES take note: this is a great opportunity for you the March “GET OUTSIDE” theme. to win. Print, print, print. The March 3 competition will Photographer of the Year Race by Roz Kleffman, VP Competition
It is that time to start looking at the race for So start racking up the points by putting two images Photographer of the Year. That is the point score in in Monochrome Prints, two images in Color Prints and Novice and Advanced for each division of competition. two images in Digital. Frequently, at the end of the The points are adding up. Remember you will get one year, only a few points separate the winner from the entry point for each image you put into competition. runner-up awards. The current totals appear on page 5.
March 2 Competiton Judge Our judge for the March competition, with the theme of “Get Outside,” is Merry Plocki by Karen Ackermann, Competiton Assistant
Merry has always loved nature and discovered through photography. Photography is now her full-time photography was the best way for her to share how avocation and vocation. she feels about the world around and within us. She Merry has shown her work in several exhibits and was born and raised in Michigan, moving to the events over the last two years, including the 2018 11. Washington, DC, area to pursue a career in finance Maryland Photography Alliance Annual Photo Contest and an MBA while continuing to explore and shoot (juried) at the Maryland State House in Annapolis. She photos whenever she could. received her Maryland Photography Alliance judges’ In 2017, she completed her lifelong dream of hiking certification in early 2019. She is a member of the the roughly 2,000-mile Appalachian Trail (with her Professional Photographer Association of America and dog, Leif, along for the entire trip!) and, in 2019, she the Montgomery County Camera Club. walked the Camino Francis with her teenage daughter. Check out her website at: On her trips, she discovered that people walk for all manner of reasons and fell in love with the concept www.mjplocki.com/ of helping others discover and share their stories
More Competition news on page 5.
4 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
Competition Corner January 6 Competition Results, continued
Competition Novice Digital (13 Entries) Advanced Digital (36 Entries) Standings 1st A Lot to See...... Jeanine Cummins 1st BabyBlues...... Monica Hawse 2nd HS6292 contest . . . . Bruce Edwards 2nd Now I’m Really Mad!. . Beth Fabey Following 3rd Santa Eyes...... Sherry Woodmancy 3rd Kenetic Duo...... Stephen Bruza the January HM Ukiah Eyes...... Patti Becker Competition Novice Monochrome Prints (0 Entries) HM A Quiet Machine . . . .Mark Laster HM Crumpy Butterfly. . . .Glenn Thompson Advanced Color Prints HM My_Dominant_Eye. . . Stanley Turk Glenn Thompson . . .36 Novice Color Prints (7 Entries) HM Wooden_Horse_Head. .Bill Collins Robert Howard. . . . .28 2nd Goat Stare...... Monica Hawse HM looking everywhere . . .Robert Eubanks Beth Fabey...... 23 3rd An Eye For An Eye. . . Jin-chung Hsu Bill Collins...... 19 Advanced Monochrome Prints (16 Entries) Novice Color Prints 1st A Father’s Love. . . . .Jeanine Cummins Monica Hawse...... 38 Jin-chung Hsu...... 33 2nd Camel Eye...... Bill Collins Karen Smale ...... 16 3rd Single Lens Reflex Eye. .Robert Howard April Lane...... 14 HM Nutcase...... Stanley Turk Advanced Digital HM These Eyes...... Glenn Thompson Robert Howard . . . . 26 Bill Collins...... 25 Advanced Color Prints (14 Entries) Ann Krumrein ...... 22 1st Parrot Eye ...... Beth Fabey Beth Fabey ...... 18 2nd Eyes On The World. . .Bill Collins Novice Digital 3rd Cat’s Eyes...... Glenn Thompson Jeanine Cummins . . 35 HM Blue Dasher Dragonfly.. Robert Howard Jin-chung Hsu...... 28 Karen Smale...... 28 Sherry Woodmancy.26 Advanced Monochrome Glenn Thomspon. . . 37 Bill Collins...... 22 Wooden Horse Head, HM Advanced Digital, Stanley Turk ...... 22 Bill Collins Beth Fabey...... 18 Novice Monochrome Monica Hawse...... 34
Karen Smale...... 18 Deenice Galloway. . .10 Jin-chung Hsu...... 10
More Competition Photos
on page 6.
5 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
Competition Corner January 6 Competition Results, continued
Camel Eye, 2nd Advanced Monochrome Prints, Eyes on the World, 2nd Advanced Color Prints, Bill Collins Bill Collins
A Father’s Love, 1st Advanced Monochrome Prints, Jeanine Cummins
A Lot to See, 1st Novice Digital, Jeanine Cummins
More Competition Photos
on page 7.
6 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
Competition Corner January 6 Competition Results, continued
A Quiet Machine, HM Advanced Digital, Looking Everywhere, HM Advanced Digital, Mark Laster Robert Eubanks
HS6292 Contest, 2nd Novice Digital, Kinetic Duo, 3rdAdvanced Digital, Bruce Edwards Steve Bruza
7 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
Photo Books You Should Own An article from the January Photo Talk meeting by Bob Matthews, VP Photo Talk
January’s Photo Talk was inspired by a monthly series mother of 10 children. in the British Black+White Photography magazine on The History of Photography, by Beaumont Newhall. the 100 photo books that everyone should own. The First published in 1937 as catalog for an exhibition put series started sometime in 2010 and ran for several on by Newhall for MOMA. Covers the aesthetic and years. Unfortunately, in a rare fit of cleaning and technical evolution of the art of photography. organizing, I threw out most of the magazines. That gave me the chance to come up with my own list of Reflections in Black - A History of Black Photo Books You Should Own. Photographers, 1840 to the Present, by Deborah Willis. Willis, an artist, photographer, curator of To put together this list, I surveyed the internet for photography, photographic historian, author, and similar lists and talked with members of the B-CCC. educator presents the first comprehensive history of Early on, I decided to make the list mainly about black photographers. Nearly 600 images offer rich, “fine art photography” books. I mostly stayed away moving glimpses of everyday black life, from slavery to from “how-to” books, but did include a couple of the Great Migration to contemporary suburban life. historical survey types of books for their contributions to the understanding and appreciation of fine art Looking at Photographs, by John Szarkowski. photography. Szarkowski, photographer, curator, historian, and critic, discusses what makes 100 images from the MOMA Below is my Top 9 “Photo Books That You Should photography collection outstanding and significant. Own”. I chose these nine based on how many other lists they showed up on, the impact/renown of the Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic photographer/artist, and my personal opinions. I Landscape, by Galen Rowell. Mountain Light explores tried to put together a “top 10” list. But 9 books really the differing qualities of mountain light in eight stood out from the rest. There were a handful of other exhibits. Rowell explains how he made each image candidates for a number 10, but none of them stood - what he “pre-visualized”, how he prepared for the out from the others the way the ones in the top 9 did. shoot, and the physical challenges of getting the right So, here are my Top 9, and “Other Books of Interest”. shot at the right time. Sierra Nevada/The John Muir Trail, by Ansel Adams. Magnum Contact Sheets, by Kristen Lubben. Contact Seminal, influential work by probably the most famous Sheets contains 139 contact sheets and resulting prints landscape photographer of all time. At the time of from 69 Magnum Photographers. Provides insights publication, it was considered the highest quality photo into how famous photojournalists worked a shoot and book possible. selected final images for publication. The Decisive Moment, by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Some other books of Interest - The following books Collection of the best works of the father of street didn’t quite make my list. But each of them is well photography. Cartier-Bresson’s explains what he meant worth owning and reading, and rereading many times. by “the decisive moment” in the forward. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by James Agee and The Americans, by Robert Frank. Frank, born and Walker Evans raised in Sweden, pioneered a raw, candid, and honest The Negative, by Ansel Adams style that remains popular to this day. The book A Harlem Family 1967, by Gordon Parks includes a forward by Frank’s friend Jack Kerouac. Why People Photograph, by Robert Adam Tiny, Streetwise Revisited, by Mary Ellen Mark. Tells Examples, the Making of 40 Photographs, by Ansel the story Tiny (Erin Blackwell), first seen in Mark’s Adams Streetwise, published in 1988. Traces the story of Tiny from a 13-year-old homeless prostitute to a 43 year-old The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron
8 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
Out and About What B-CCC members are up to this month by Vincent Ferrari, Editor
Six club members, Gary Kohn, Monica Hawse, JC Reckoning of Time” photo displayed there which won Hsu, Karen Smale, Stanley Turk, and Jeanine Cummins, 3rd place in the statewide still life competition. Glenn all have work that was accepted for the current show Thompson has also sold his photo on exhibit there of at Bowie City Hall. The show is called “Water Colors”, an “Egret Fishing”, which won 3rd place in the statewide and runs until February 21. Bowie City Hall is located at black and white competition. 15901 Excalibur Road in Bowie. The show can also be After the close of the MPA exhibit at Bohrer on seen at the following website: January 20, the photos will be moving to the Maryland www.tinyurl.com/t7col8h State House of Delegates to be displayed until April Beth Fabey has an ongoing exhibit of photos at the 20, 2020. The date for an artists’ reception is to be University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland determined. in California, Maryland, where she has sold three Vincent Ferrari has had an image selected for the photos - one of a painterly butterfly on a flower, one annual “Focal Point” exhibit at MFA’s Circle Gallery, of two baby osprey treated with a spherize filter, and in Annapolis. The exhibit will run from January 23 to a tongue-in-cheek rendering of backlit tall-masted February 22, 2020. There will be an artist’s reception ships crossing the Solomons Bridge before plummeting on Feb. 9, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. You can see all of the down a waterfall into the river during “rush hour” on images that will be in the show at the following link: the Solomons Bridge at sunset. Beth also had a three- www.tinyurl.com/yxxnqos8 month exhibit at Smartronix in Hollywood, Maryland, running until the beginning of January where she Vincent also has images in two other shows. One sold a floral still life photo and a painterly version of image was selected for a show of Prince George’s a rose garden at Ginter Botanical Gardens. And she, County artists, to be shown at the Lowe Office Building along with other club members, has a photo in a juried in Annapolis from January 6 through April 6. The show exhibit ending January 20 at the Bohrer Park Gallery is called “Perspective”. He also had a image selected for in Gaithersburg as part of the Maryland Photography the annual “Nude Nite Orlando” art show in Orlando, Alliance (MPA) exhibit. She has sold two copies of “The Florida, which will take place this month.
Upcoming Events News about non-club related photographic events by Vincent Ferrari, Editor
The 37th annual D.C. Antique Photo, Postcard and The Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibit Camera Show Show will take place on Sunday, March 8, of the works of photographer Shan Wallace, from at the Holiday Inn Rosslyn, in Arlington, Virginia. There March 1 through June 28. The show is titled “410”, and will be more than one hundred tables of steroviews, is, in the photographer’s words, a love letter to the CDV’s, daguerreotypes, photographs, postcards, and beauty, complexity, and resilience of her hometown of cameras. For more information, visit: Baltimore. For more information, see: www.artbma.org/exhibitions/upcoming.html www.antiquephotoshow.com/
9 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
PSA Member Results Congratulations to our B-CCC winners! by Denise Hill, PSA Representative
Congratulations to Roz Kleffman, Stanley Turk, One gallery at: and Monica Hawse for placing in the November www.psa-photo.org/index.php?2019-20-pid-interclub- Photographic Society of America (PSA) Projected Image round-one Division (PID) Interclub Competition. The competition 2 deadline is fast approaching (Feb. Award Roz Kleffman for Pensive Moment Bronx Zoo 15). Photos are still needed for the Feb. 15 and April 15 (below, left). competitions. Please send photos to Denise Hill. Please Award Stanley Turk for Eagles in Snow (below, complete a Release document if you permit submitted bottom). images to posted to the PSA web site. Horizontal images will be no more than 1400 pixels wide or 1050 Honorable Mention goes to Monica Hawse for Gray pixels tall. Vertical images will be no more than 1050 Tree Frog (below, right). pixels tall. Save the file in jpeg format only. sRGB color You can see the wonderful photos from the Round space is recommended for optimum results.
10 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020
Photo Talk for February - Feb. 10 Top Contemporary Nature/Landscape Photographers - New Topic for February 2020 Photo Talk by Bob Matthews, VP Photo Talk
The topic for the February Photo Talk meeting will be millions of people taking and sharing landscape and “Top Contemporary Nature/Landscape Photographers”. nature pictures. But of course, some of these are This was originally scheduled to be the topic for much better than others. For the February Photo the March meeting, but due to personal scheduling Talk meeting, we’ll look at the work of some of the conflicts, there will be no Photo Talk presentation for top landscape and nature photographers working March. But I still wanted to cover this topic prior to today. We’ll discuss what makes them stand-out April’s Nature photo competition. from the crowd and how they stand up to the Most of the Photo Talk presentations over the classic photographers. If you have some favorite past several years have centered on old, historical contemporary landscape and nature photographers, photographers and photographs. Looking at them, one send their names along to [email protected]. might get the idea that all of the great photographers And of course, the bulk of the night will be spent on a are either already dead, or at least really old. And that review of the previous week’s competition photos. We’ll they all shot in black-and-white. discuss not only the prize winners, but we will go over With the advent of affordable, high resolution everyone’s photos. For you novices in the club, this is a digital cameras and powerful cell phone cameras, and good chance to get feedback on your images. Plus, it’s the mushrooming of social media, there are literally a good chance to practice looking at images critically.
Sneak Preview of the 2020-2021 Competiton Themes Peabody Library and Camden Yards by Roz Kleffman, VP Competiton
The definitions have not been written yet BUT the March 1, 2021 - Photojournalism- Let the picture tell a proposed themes for the next club year competition story. are as follows: April 5, 2021 - Nature- NO evidence of the hand of man (examples are: no fences, plowed fields or roads). October 5, 2020 - Open- Any Picture taken anytime. May 3, 2021 - Open - Any Picture taken anytime. November 2, 2020- Close-Up- No restriction on lens used just get in close. Time to start planning for next year’s competitions. December 7, 2020 - Shadows- The shadow must be the Get those creative juices flowing. subject of the image. January 4, 2021 - Architecture- Building inside or out, The rules will be simple. No wordy definitions. Use partial or entire structure. your imagination. February 1, 2021 - Travel- Greater than 50 miles from Bowie AND must portray some kind of transportation.
11 The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 6 • February, 2020 Parting Shot
This month’s Parting Shot is from Joann Mikellian. If you would like your image and story presented here, send it to: [email protected].
The story is that my friend and I found the industrial side of the Inner Harbor of Baltimore very interesting. This one is interesting to me because of the juxtaposition of the buildings, one on another. It made an interesting pattern of sameness of shape and style, varied by color and s i z e . S o m e w h a t l i k e a c h i l d ’s b u i l d i n g b l o c k e x e r c i s e .
-- Joann Mikellian
The Viewfinder Bowie-Crofton Camera Club P.O. Box 515 Bowie, Maryland 20718-0515
Viewfinder printed by: www.b-ccc.org • [email protected] Member Photographic Society of America since 1977
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