Keynote Speaker, Averting our Gaze: The Imagery of Torture

Thursday, March 13, 2008, 7:00 - 8:30 pm, Plaza Ballroom EF
Sponsored by Eastman Kodak Company and University of Colorado Denver, College of Arts & Media

Susan Burke is a human rights lawyer who represents Iraqi torture victims. Ms. Burke's talk will focus on the power of photographic imagery to shape and change our world views. She will be discussing how the now-iconic Abu Ghraib images played a variety of roles: shocking the American public, creating international outrage, and serving as forensic evidence in the court martials and pending civil suits. But she will also discuss how the photographic images capture but a fragment of time, and have the potential to distort our understanding and to distance us from the human beings behind the hoods.

Susan L. Burke serves as the lead lawyer in a lawsuit by the Abu Ghraib torture victims. The lawsuit challenges the actions by defense contractors whose employees directly participated in the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Susan represents the families of those persons killed by Blackwater mercenaries. When Susan travels to the Mideast to interview the Iraqi victims, she brings with her photographers and artists in an attempt to let others capture the essential humanity of the victims.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 4:00 - 4:30 pm, Plaza Ballroom EF
Introduction by Bill Adams and Tricia O'Keefe

The format of the Honored Educator Presentation has changed from our traditional one-hour introduction and visual presentation/lecture format to a more focused half hour presentation. This presentation will include presentations by artists, Bill Adams and Tricia O'Keefe. Patrick Nagatani will then accept the award and share a few words.

Patrick Nagatani is a professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico. He taught for 36 years. In 1991 he earned the Outstanding Faculty Award, from the College of Fine Arts and from 1998 to 2000 he was honored with a Regent's Professorship. He received his MFA degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1979. He is a past recipient of two major National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist Fellowships. Some of his awards include: The Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer's Fellowship, The Kraszna-Krausz Award for his book Nuclear Enchantment, the Leopold Godowsky Jr. Color Photography Award and the California Distinguished Artist Award from the National Art Education Association. He is an honored recipient of the "Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts" from Governor Bill Richardson in New Mexico. Nagatani has given numerous public lectures, seminars and workshops and his work has been exhibited widely both nationally and internationally.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 4:30 - 5:30 pm, Plaza Ballroom EF

sponsored by Sprint Systems of Photography

I will talk about my ongoing project in the Arctic that focuses on indigenous human rights and land conservation issues. The Arctic, traditionally thought of as the "last frontier" or "pristine wilderness untouched by man"—today in my mind perhaps has become the "most connected land on Earth" through celebratory and tragic manifestations. Land conservation ideas in the United States from its inception adopted a dualistic philosophy that separated "man" from "nature" which has proven to be cruel to the Native Americans. My work attempts to understand and challenge such Descartesian dualism and instead approaches "land" from Heideggerian philosophy of "being-in-the-world." What is the role of "social documentary" in the 21^st century?

Indian born artist-educator-activist Subhankar Banerjee's photographs from his ongoing Arctic project have been exhibited in nearly forty venues including Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth, Milwaukee Art Museum, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and Bozar Center for Fine Arts in Brussels. Banerjee received Greenleaf Artist Award from UNEP and Cultural Freedom Fellowship from Lannan Foundation.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 6:00 - 7:00 pm, Plaza Ballroom EF

sponsored by Calumet Photographic and The University of Colorado Denver, College of Arts & Media

In a discussion of form and content in his work, Edward Burtynsky brings a challenging subject to life-his interest in our civilization's relationship to nature. After winning the prestigious TED award in 2005, his work toward raising consciousness for sustainable living practices took a vital leap into the public awareness. The subsequent release of Manufactured Landscapes, a feature documentary that largely focuses on his China work and the issue of global mass consumerism has brought his work and message international critical attention.

Burtynsky's talk draws from various threads throughout his career; from his early works and inspirations to recent projects and his current philosophy of image making while exploring ideas of how photography as art can impact cultural consciousness, and help develop new ways of thinking about humanity's relationship to the world.

Edward Burtynsky is one of Canada's most respected photographers. His remarkable photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes are included in the collections of numerous major museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Mr. Burtynsky's distinctions include the TED Prize, The Outreach Award at the Rencontres d'Arles, and Canada's highest civil honour: Officer of the Order of Canada.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 3:00 - 3:45 pm, Governor's Square 15

Landscape photographs are often presumed to be easily done, but they have always been part of a more complex dialogue. This talk offers a re-evaluation of New Topographics, one of the most influential photography exhibitions of the past half century, considering its historical precedents as well as its legacy among contemporary artists. What emerges is a body of work intended to carry not only emotional complexity, but often an overt moral position. Rather than representing a break with previous traditions, these artists emerge as part of a dialogue that began with the earliest photographic representations of the West.

Toby Jurovics is Curator of Photography at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Well versed in the history of American landscape photography, he has organized exhibitions by Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Barbara Bosworth, and Emmet Gowin. His current project is, "Framing the West: The Expedition Photographs of Timothy H. O'Sullivan."

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 1:00 - 1:45 pm, Governor's Square 14

Acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield is considered a preeminent chronicler of youth culture as a result of her groundbreaking projects Girl Culture, Fast Forward and THIN. At SPE, Greenfield will lecture about these long-term, multi-platform projects and how they developed and evolved creatively and professionally. Greenfield will discuss the sociological content of her photography as well as its educational component and use for outreach.

Her first feature-length film THIN, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO. Nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Direction, Greenfield will discuss her progression into video and how she currently works across multiple platforms (books, films, fine art, and internet) for creative impact and educational reach. Her new film Kids + Money has also been officially selected for Sundance 2008 and will be previewed at the SPE conference.

Lauren Greenfield is an internationally exhibited photographer whose work is in many museums and private collections, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the International Center of Photography. A member of the VII Photo Agency, her work appears regularly in the New York Times Magazine, Time, and Elle. She has received many awards and grants including the ICP Infinity Award, a Hasselblad Foundation Grant, and the People's Choice Award at the Moscow Biennial. Author of the critically acclaimed Girl Culture, Fast Forward, and Thin, Greenfield was named by American Photo as one of the 25 most influential photographers working today. She lives in Venice, California, with her husband, Frank Evers, and their two sons.

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unremarkable (imagemaker presentation)

Saturday, March 15, 2008, 1:00 - 1:45 pm, Governor's Square 14

unremarkable is a journey through cancer, chemotherapy and radiation to recuperation and survival, showing that the journey can be one of physical and spiritual recovery instead of a spiral into illness and despair. unremarkable shows everyone how beautiful and strong the soul is even when fighting for its life.

When I was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2002 I looked for photographs that would show me my daily journey and my eventual return to health. What I found were many photo essays about loved one's journeys toward death not survival! My ultimate goal with this project is to become the supporter and advocate that I did not have when I was diagnosed.

Ruth Adams is an artist, professor, cancer survivor, and avid triathlete. She holds an MFA in Photography and Digital Art from the University of Miami, a BFA in Photography from RIT, and a BS in Computer Science from Syracuse, and is currently an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Kentucky. www.ruthadamsphotography.com

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 11:00 - 11:45 a, Governor's Square 16

While China has changed dramatically since the introduction of capitalism, its people are still governed by the rigidly hierarchical Communist system. In the absence of true freedom of speech and expression, artists whose work makes a commentary on society and politics are compelled to use methods that mask their criticism. I spent the last year making work in China, and not coincidentally, my own work uses similar techniques in an attempt to question the future of energy production. This presentation will discuss my project, Alternative Alternative Energy A[2]E, in the context of other artists that employ methods of positive protest.

Christine Chin has a BA from Princeton University, an MA in Fine Arts from Purdue University, and is a 2008 MFA candidate at the University of New Mexico. During the 2007-2008 academic year she had the opportunity to make work in China with the support of a US Fulbright Fellowship.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 2:00 - 2:45 p, Governor's Square 17

Fruit of the Orchard | Environmental Justice in East Texas (FOTO) addresses the sociological consequences of economic change, and examines the long-term effects of modern technology on the human condition. FOTO is an extended photographic essay, photographed with a Holga camera, on a small African-American community in Texas-- their struggles, some deaths, and ultimate triumph, with a toxic waste facility. With Environmental Justice in the USA, I will continue photographing mostly minority communities impacted by environmental injustices. I start with Seattle, WA; Houston, TX ship channel and New Orleans, LA; who have all offered me welcome to tell their stories.

Tammy Cromer-Campbell is an internally recognized photographer. She received an Associates degree from Kilgore College, Kilgore, TX. UNT Press published her book, Fruit of the Orchard/Environmental Justice in East Texas. She's received many honors and awards including Blue Earth Alliance's 1999 first ever cash grant. Her work is collected internationally.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 10:00 - 10:45 a, Governor's Square 17

Homelands investigates the contemporary landscape of rural, agricultural and industrial America, by examining our dependence on, and destruction of, the land. For the past three years, Erin Harper Vernon has documented hazardous waste sites, power plants, containment systems and poisoned communities. The photographs include infamous sites such as Three Mile Island, Love Canal and the Hudson River, however most of series documents sites that are not famous and are generally unknown to most people. Her images invite a dialog to discuss evidence of pollution in our own backyards, echoing larger ethical ramifications of the national crisis of the environment.

Erin Harper Vernon teaches photography as a visiting artist at Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Her work addresses environmental ethics, pollution, and conservation throughout the Midwest, along the Ohio River Valley, and has expanded to include sites in India and Japan.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 2:00 - 2:45 p, Governor's Square 17

What is the role a photographer, when the subject the artist is exploring cannot be caught in the sights of the camera lens? Artist Margot Herster will present her project, Guantánamo: pictures from home, which presents an indirect view of the detainees at Guantánamo Bay through image, text, video and sound collected from Guantanámo attorneys. At its core, pictures from home is a story about trust, in which U.S. attorneys forge relationships with individuals labeled as terrorists. Perhaps most potently, the project presents a metaphor for the barriers to representation in a wartime environment of information and image control.

Margot Herster is a photo-based artist whose work focuses on dynamics of interpersonal relationships. She holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and her photography and multimedia installations have exhibited nationally and internationally.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 9:00 - 9:45 a, Governor's Square 16

Grassroots: the 'shun' series derives its title from the political use of language to distort, rather than reveal the truth. The Grassroots Movement, which has become increasing co-opted by both parties and the media, uses a language of simple description that, when isolated from context, references an entirely different meaning. When taken literally, what do the words picture? When analyzed visually, what do the pictures tell? Grassroots plays with the associations of media, the implications of the photograph and the surprisingly suggestive and complex ambiguities of language.

Liz Lee was born in Memphis, TN, and received a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Calgary and a MFA in Photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She is currently Department Chair of Visual Arts and New Media at the State University of New York at Fredonia.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 3:00 - 3:45 p, Governor's Square 17

Since 1998, I have been photographing the Llano Estacado region of West Texas & Eastern New Mexico, concerned with human intervention/occupation on the landscapes there. The Llano, like a lot of good places, is simple and exasperatingly complex at the same time. Environmental and economic issues have produced steady depopulation. Managed depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer makes possible farming otherwise unproductive land. The Llano Estacado appears as if it is slowly emptying out, drying up and dying. At the same time it is both a beautiful and strangely uplifting place. Much of what happens out there makes it a good place to see ourselves, as we truly are, in the landscapes we create.

Andrew John Liccardo received his BA from Loyola University of Chicago and his MFA from Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, TX. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Photography at Northern Illinois University. He has exhibited work nationally and internationally in more than 70 exhibitions. He has work in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and is a 2002 National Graduate Seminar Fellow of The Photography Institute at Columbia University.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 9:00 - 9:45 a, Governor's Square 14

The canisters depicted in Library of Dust hold the cremated remains of mental patients who died at the Oregon State Hospital from 1883 (the year the hospital was opened, when it was called the Oregon State Insane Asylum) to the 1970s, and whose bodies remain unclaimed by their families. The copper canisters are at turns burnished or dull; corrosion blooms wildly from the leaden seams of many of the cans. Numbers are stamped into each lid; the lowest number is 01, and the highest is 5,121. The canisters in these photographs are silent meditations on elusive questions of both matter and spirit, whose answers remain always just beyond our reach.

David Maisel is a visual artist from the San Francisco area. He received his MFA from the California College of the Arts and his BA from Princeton University. Maisel was a Visiting Scholar at the Getty Research Institute in Fall 2007. His monograph Library of Dust will be published by Chronicle Books in Fall 2008.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 1:00 - 1:45 a, Governor's Square 17

Speak/Spoken is a video installation that ran on the canal walk in Indianapolis from September 2005 to August 2006. 24 hours a day, videos of people who spoke whatever they wished ran in the dirty concrete space under a six-lane bridge. Mallory Square is a three channel video projection depicting a group of people staring straight ahead and taking pictures of, through, or around the viewer. This talk traces the thinking that led to the public art project in 2005 and has continued as a series of video works exploring our relationship to the photographic image as spectator and spectacle.

Patrick Craig Manning's photographic, digital and video works invoke loss to explore the intersection of representation, language and history. Manning's work has been exhibited at galleries and universities throughout the United States, including the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Eiteljorg Museum. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 9:00 - 9:45 a, Governor's Square 12

Stephen Marc will address his interpretative approach to recording and re-presenting African American history. While completing his Underground Railroad project, he has further developed digital montages that utilize historical 19th and early 20th century documents and artifacts as points of departure. These constructed narratives incorporate materials such as handwritten letters, newspapers, illustrated magazines, photographs and Black Americana objects, which are woven together with elements from contemporary life. Marc will also present work created for public art projects, including two recent large scale site-specific installations in Chicago, at Avalon Library and the CTA 79^th Street Dan Ryan Station, that utilize this visual strategy.

Stephen Marc is a Professor of Art in his tenth year at Arizona State University and an Olympus Visionary photographer. For twenty years he taught at Columbia College in Chicago, where he was raised. His work bridges documentary photography and digital imaging, as he continues to explore the African Diaspora.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 11:00 - 11:45 a, Governor's Square 15

For five years, Brian Moss worked with cancer patients and survivors on a profound and transformative project teaching pinhole photography for creative purposes and as an aid in coping with the many life changes that accompany cancer and its treatment. Every year Moss and the participants build cameras and create photographs, then collaborate on the planning, design and installation of an exhibition. Despite the "seriousness" of this work, the project is a lot of fun, and the community we have established has become self-perpetuating as new people join each year based on recommendations from those who continue to participate.

Brian Moss earned a BFA from Tyler School of Art in 1984, and an MFA from Cal Arts in 1994. Since 1997, he has taught at many schools in Los Angeles, as well as online for the Parsons Graduate Photography Program in New York. His work has been exhibited nationally.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 2:00 - 2:45 p, Governor's Square 16

My artistic interests reside in exposing women's issues in ways that are both informational and confrontational. My current work links anatomy lessons with intentionally charged imagery, text and objects to produce a new forum of discussion on what it means to be a woman; physiologically, psychologically and sociologically. Individual pieces in this series encourage reflection on and reconstruction of accepted social definitions of "feminine," "womanhood," and "equality" and a questioning of who is and who should be in control of these definitions. I am excited by the prospect of a discussion that extends past the "image" to the "idea."

Libby Rowe (MFA, Syracuse University) is a photo/ mixed media artist. Her work is shown widely across the US and will be at the Leu Gallery in Nashville, TN in early 2008. Libby currently serves as the chair of the South Central region of SPE and teaches at Vanderbilt University.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 1:00 - 1:45 p, Governor's Square 16

Since the early 1980s I have taught photography to individuals marginalized by poverty, race and class. When I began my first workshop in a prison, I was met with resistance and had to justify the program. When I exhibited the prisoners' work in the community, the humanistic portraits challenged the stereotypes of inmates. This presentation will explore how the various participants, men, women in shelters and children, approach the camera and the ways the experience changes them, as well as those in the outside community who see the images. The presentation will include highlights from an upcoming film documenting the prison project.

Karen Ruckman is a widely published Washington, DC photographer who studied at The Corcoran School of Art. Aside from photographing politicians, Nobel prizewinners, and celebrities, she's used photography to change lives through her workshops. Recent projects took her to Northern Ireland and Asia. She's completing a documentary about her work.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 1:00 - 1:45 p, Governor's Square 16

Shank's artwork investigates the use of the narrative and the implication of story through place. In her current photographic series, she designs and constructs models of interior spaces that show the residual effects of a destructive event, then photographs these dioramas. The domestic spaces illustrate one fragment of a larger narrative, depicting stories of frustration and loss, implying a connection to personal relationships. These spaces have a constructed history that is manufactured in order to tell a story of human feelings and experiences playing with the idea of the real, the implied and experienced.

Christine Shank currently teaches at Washington University in St Louis. She is an artist working predominantly with photography to construct narratives tableaus. Most recently Shank's artwork has been included in the publications of: The Magenta Foundation's Emerging Photographers Flash Forward 2007 and was also selected for publication through the Booksmart Studio.

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Stormy Path: My Sudden Journey from Photography Educator to Urban Planner (imagemaker)

Saturday, March 15, 2008, 11:00 - 11:45 a, Governor's Square 14

Until I was fifty, I photographed place—open lands, rural houses and urban streets—and taught photography. But when Hurricane Katrina swept the Gulf Coast in 2005, everything changed. The people's lives and their place changed profoundly; so did my working life and that of countless others who were called to help. I'll tell the story of how the rebuilding effort made me into an urban planner and anti-sprawl advocate. I hope we can also talk about vocation, and how the sum of our experiences plus unforeseen events can be understood, in retrospect, to have brought us to particular places for particular purposes.

Sandy Sorlien is the author of Fifty Houses: Images from the American Road. In 2004 she chaired the SPE National Conference, Photography and Place. Later that year she became coordinating editor of the SmartCode, a design and development document. Sandy is co-author (with Andrés Duany) of the 2007 SmartCode & Manual, travels nationally and internationally to customize SmartCodes, and teaches classes in the analysis and coding of walkable neighborhoods. She uses photography extensively in her work.

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Frontier/Frontera (imagemaker)

Friday, March 14, 2008, 10:00 - 10:45 a, Governor's Square 14

The West is most often portrayed as a compilation of its romantic icons: grand vistas, rugged cowboys, savage natives and lonely cacti. The ongoing settlement of the western states is fueled by our collective investment in those icons. By contrast, the U.S./Mexico border currently exists as a militarized zone in our national consciousness: it is a state of politicized reality that is in direct conflict with our idealized image of the West. In this presentation Taylor will discuss his multimedia installations and photographs that address the nuanced and variable nature of the border region.

David Taylor teaches photography at New Mexico State University. His work has been exhibited at the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, SF Camerawork, the Society for Contemporary Photography and Northlight Gallery. Taylor's work has been collected by the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the University of Washington and the El Paso Museum of Art. He recently completed a commission for the U.S. Border Patrol and is working on a second commission for the United States General Services Administration.

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Pentimento: A Search for a Usable Past (imagemaker)

Saturday, March 15, 2008, 2:00 - 2:45 p, Governor's Square 12

Pentimento are a series of objects in book form incorporating mixed media and are specifically photograph(y) dependent. Pentimento represents a personal reexamination of life/history through the filter of my experience as an African American in contemporary society. Formally, I seek to contextualize found/fabricated objects and selected photographs into a juxtaposition that illuminates lived experience and personal truth. Pentimento is evidence of change, of historical revision and reflection on the connection to what has already been and an ever-evolving present.

Preston Wadley is an artist and educator working in Washington State. He received his MFA from the University of Washington and is currently a Professor and area Head of Photography at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA.

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"It's What We've Always Called It;" Toponomy, Race and the Landscape (imagemaker)

Friday, March 14, 2008, 3:00 - 3:45 p, Governor's Square 12

Carla Williams is a writer and photographer, and the editor of exposure. She is co-author of two books and numerous articles and essays on photography and culture. www.carlagirl.net

Deirdre Visser is an artist and instructor of photography and digital imaging at Mills College in Oakland, CA. Her own photographic work addresses the social history and transformation of the landscape. She is also interested in cultivating collaborative relationships with communities. www.dbvisser.net.

Williams and Visser are co-founders of the cadre $10 grant for visual artists. www.cadreart.org

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W. Eugene Smith: Advocate for Change (lecture)

Friday, March 14, 2008, 2:00 - 2:45 p, Governor's Square 16

In 1975, W. Eugene Smith delivered a paper entitled "The Responsibilities of the Photographic Journalist" to the 6^th International Meeting of Photography. Referencing the work of relative unknowns Larry Schiller, Larry Clark and Bill Eppridge, Smith himself admitted that the "photographs approached so close to the actual experience of drugs, they took me right down the roads of ecstasy and hell." Using Smith's essay as a starting point, guide and conclusion, this paper will re-position Smith within the canon of documentary photography as a driving force within the genre of social reportage.

Matthew Conboy is currently writing his dissertation on the link between W. Eugene Smith's "Pittsburgh Project" and Smith's correspondence with playwright Samuel Beckett. Before entering the PhD in Interdisciplinary Arts program at Ohio University, he completed his MFA in photography at Virginia Commonwealth University. He currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 1:00 - 1:45 p, Governor's Square 127

Although there have been debates on the representation of physical and emotional trauma in both academic discourse and popular media, little attention has been paid to the provocative relationship between trauma and photography. Within digital/new media studies, cultural studies and trauma studies, there has been little attempt to associate the experience of photographic images, irrespective of their subject matter, with trauma-like reactions. In this paper, I will assess the role that photographs play in reinforcing trauma. This assessment will offer an analytical key to understanding a certain aspect of contemporary, image-based culture.

Jessica Lieberman is Assistant Professor of Visual Culture in the Department of Fine Arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology and teaches in the MFA Photography program. She has published on traumatic images, hauntings in 19^th century America and cultural identity in contemporary Mexican painting.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 3:00 - 3:45 p, Governor's Square 16

Camille Seaman aboard the Ice Breaker "Kapitan Klebnikov" in Antarctica; Traer Scott side-by-side with animal rescuers in America and Mexico; Stephen Marc exploring Underground Railroad sites in thirty states; Skip Schiele revealing dire water shortage in the Gaza Strip; Nancy Burson addressing fundamental questions about perception with her experiences of the unseen -- these and fifteen other projects to be presented were chosen from 2007 submissions to the Not for Profit Photography Network. Founded in 1998, this organization showcases self-assigned, long-term photography projects that address vital social issues and include community involvement, innovative outreach, and ways to effect positive change.

Mary Ann (Bruchac) Lynch, New York-based photographer/writer; founder, Combinations Press and Not for Profit Photography Network. Lynch has lectured at New York University, Honolulu Academy of Arts, and elsewhere; published and exhibited her work widely, and received scores of awards. Recent solo exhibits: Kalapana, a Hawaiian Place; Forever Marilyn.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 9:00 - 9:45 a, Governor's Square 17

A recent court case involving the photographer Philip Lorca di Corcia, who was sued by Erno Nussenzweig for exhibiting and selling a photograph of him walking in Times Square in 1999, will be the basis for an exploration of privacy laws and legislation as they relate to public photography. Tracing the evolution of the early spy camera to extensive surveillance systems in place today, "Public Views/Private Lives" will question what it means to possess and re-contextualize an image of a stranger and will use contemporary and historical examples to consider the rights of both the artist and subject.

Diane Meyer has had solo exhibitions at the AIR Gallery in New York and the Society for Contemporary Photography in Kansas City. Additionally, her work has been exhibited in numerous group shows throughout the US and Canada. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Loyola Marymount University and an artist-in-residence at the 18^th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 9:00 - 9:45 a, Governor's Square 17

Scientific imaging technologies have become increasingly commonplace in the studios of artists in the past three decades as the fields of medicine, physics, and electronics have come to profoundly influence western lifestyles. The work of notable contemporary artists who employ scientific imagery in their work to explore the themes of the scientific institution, genetic vulnerabilities and the state of the environment will be presented in order to reframe the question: What should the relationship of art and science consist of as we move forward?

Stefan Petranek is an emerging visual artist interested in the intersection between art and science, and how art can serve to decode scientific advancements to foster cultural understanding and personal awareness. A photo-based artist, his work addresses the implications of evolution, genetic mapping and everyday natural phenomena.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 2:00 - 2:45 p, Governor's Square 12

Across the country and around the world photographers have established numerous programs to provide photographic tools and the basic skills they require to those seldom able to access such equipment or fully benefit from their use. These programs typically describe their purpose as empowering and transforming the diverse and frequently disadvantaged populations they work with, offering life-changing opportunities for participants to shape and control their own representation. But how effective are these efforts? Who do they most benefit, and how, and for how long, and to what consequence? Do these programs fully permit participants to express and control their own experience? Or do they still default to suggesting or deciding which pictures are selected and defining an acceptable aesthetic? Is the issue of agency fully considered? And do teaching methods ultimately echo the participants' marginality, or alter it? This presentation explores these questions and examines the politics of using photography as an agent for someone's personal change in a situation in need of social and structural change.

Steven Rubin has received a NYFA Fellowship, a Soros Foundation Media Fellowship, a Nieman Fellowship and an Alicia Patterson Fellowship for his documentary photography. As a Community Fellow with the Open Society Institute, he established the program Healing Images, providing digital cameras, instruction and therapy to survivors of torture. A photojournalist for more than twenty years, he is now an Assistant Professor of Photography at Penn State University.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 10:00 - 10:45 a, Governor's Square 14

This paper critically considers themes and photographic strategies employed by contemporary European photographers concerned with issues of environmental management, use, conservation, crisis and change. My central purpose is to evaluate methods deployed by artists in engaging the politics of land. In order to be rhetorically effective, imagemakers need not only to transcend 'straight' documentation, but also to constantly interrogate and reevaluate the efficacy of photographic modes seeking new points of departure and routes into what may otherwise become well-worn as theme. The paper will particularly note the photography book as rhetorical agent.

Liz Wells writes and curates. Her book Land Matters: Landscape Photography, Culture and Identity, is forthcoming (2008). She edited The Photography Reader (2003) and Photography: A Critical Introduction ( 2004, 3rd ed.), and is co-editor for photographies, (issue 1, March 2008). She is Reader in Photographic Theory, University of Plymouth, UK.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 2:00 - 3:45 p, Governor's Square 14

The ecological degradation unleashed by the industrial revolution is increasingly leading concerned photographers to bear witness to the profound transformation of our world. John Ganis, David Maisel and David McMillan are among those whose images testify to the despoiling of the earth's surface, the mismanagement of natural resources, and the proliferation of radioactive and other toxic sites, many deemed irretrievably damaged. Following the lead of Rainer Maria Rilke, who asserted that "beauty is the beginning of terror," this panel intends to debate the controversial role of beauty within environmental photography.

Claude Baillargeon is Assistant Professor of Art and Art History at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan. He received his PhD from UCSB and both his MA and his MFA from SAIC. In 2005, he curated Imaging a Shattering Earth: Contemporary Photography and the Environmental Debate, which is currently touring North America.

John Ganis is Professor of Photography at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, where he has taught since 1980. He received his MFA from the University of Arizona and his BA from Ohio Wesleyan University. His monograph Consuming the American Landscape was published by Dewi Lewis Publishing in 2003.

David Maisel is a visual artist based in the San Francisco Bay area. He received his MFA from the California College of the Arts and his BA from Princeton University. His monographs The Lake Project and Oblivion were published by Nazraeli Press in 2004 and 2006 respectively.

David McMillan is Professor of Photography at the University of Manitoba School of Art in Winnipeg. Since 1994 he has made annual visits to the Chernobyl Exclusion zone to photograph the consequences of the 1986 accident.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 1:00 - 2:45 p, Governor's Square 15

Artists of color have frequently been underserved by mainstream programs. This panel will showcase a multitude of professional opportunities for artists of color, such as artist residencies, awards and grant. Through this session artists will gain an in-depth understanding of services and opportunities at En Foco, Light Work and The Center for Photography at Woodstock, and a general overview of other opportunities in the country. While the emphasis is set on opportunities for artists of color, a wealth of material will be made available that is pertinent to photographers of any background. Sponsored by the Multicultural Caucus

Hannah Frieser is the Director of Light Work in Syracuse, NY, and currently serves on SPE's national board of directors. She has curated exhibitions and/or written essays on photographers such as Suzanne Opton, Ben Gest, Pipo Nguyen-duy, Kanako Sasaki, Larry McNeil, Sama Alshaibi, Dulce Pinzon and Susan kae Grant. www.hannahfrieser.com

Miriam Romais is En Foco's Executive Director and Nueva Luz editor. She has curated many exhibitions and has served as panelist/reviewer at FotoFest, Santa Fe Center for Photography and many art councils. As a photographer, she has received awards and residencies from the Puffin Foundation, Light Work, the Photographic Resource Center and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. www.romaisphotos.com

Ariel Shanberg is the Executive Director of The Center for Photography at Woodstock. As director, he has defined CPW's mission and creative offerings, and has curated countless exhibitions. He has contributed essays on the work of artists Hillerbrand & Magsamen and Angelika Rinnhofer; and has been a portfolio reviewer at Fotofest, Rhubarb-Rhubarb and Photo Lucida.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 9:00 - 10:45 a, Governor's Square 16

Barbara Houghton, Professor at Northern Kentucky University, has been making artist books obsessively for the past 1.5 years using blurb.com as her publisher. Prior to this, she made one-of-a-kind digital artists' books by hand and using Apple's iPhoto software. She teaches an artist book course using blurb.com and also hand-binding techniques.

Darryl Curran graduated from UCLA in 1964 and went on to a thirty-year teaching career at California State University Fullerton. His creative work has been collected by museums such as MOMA, MOCA, L.A. County, Oakland, Philadelphia and others. He published "All About Doris" in 2001.

Eileen Gittins founded Blurb in 2005 when she could not find an easy and affordable way to publish a photographic book. Having been at the intersection of software, imaging and photography for 20+ years, and having been CEO of two other software companies, Eileen is now putting all that know how to work by democratizing publishing for the rest of us.

Michael Peven is a Professor of Art at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. His creative work in the areas of unique and limited edition artists books, photography and installation have been exhibited widely over the last 30 years and have been placed in numerous national and international public collections.

Jim Stone is Associate Professor of Photography at the University of New Mexico. His photographs have been exhibited and published internationally and he is the author or co-author of seven books.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 1:00 - 2:45 p, Governor's Square 15

Countless photographic artists have an urge to document issues of social importance. But success requires far more than good intentions and talent. This panel discussion, presented by Blue Earth Alliance (BEA), will in concrete terms help photographers turn their aspirations into successful documentary projects.

As BEA has helped to guide its project photographers, it has developed a large and uniquely focused set of informational resources about how to make documentary photographic projects succeed. In this panel we will offer insights to aspiring documentary photographers.

Audience members will receive a copy of BEA's technical manual, Shooting from the Heart. www.blueearth.org

Dan Lamont, moderator - During his 30 year career in photojournalism, Lamont has covered issues of the environment, land use, and social change for many publications. Lamont is former Director of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), and immediate past-President of the ASMP Foundation.

Subhankar Banerjee a BEA project photographer, has focused all his recent efforts on indigenous human rights and land conservation in the American Arctic. His photographs from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge were instrumental in Congress to defeat oil drilling legislation. He has lectured extensively to educate the public on these topics.

Marita Holdaway has owned and operated Benham Gallery in Seattle since 1987. Dedicated to emerging and mid-career fine art photographers, she reviews over 1,000 portfolios annually. Holdaway has presented workshops nationally and internationally, helping artists further their careers by developing their professional tools for finding and successfully approaching appropriate venues.

Alejandro Tomás, a BEA project photographer, is committed to the practice of visual sociology. He believes that the art of photography remains a highly effective method for raising political concerns and combating social injustice. Tomás has been an internationally recognized photographer and artist for over 34 years.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 9:00 - 10:45 a, Governor's Square 15

This panel presentation encapsulates an exhibition entitled Three Gorges, organized by Minnesota Center for Photography artistic director George Slade, which ran at MCP from November 2007 to February 2008. The exhibition features 22 Chinese and non-Chinese photographers who photographed along the Yangtze River in the years prior to and since the construction of the gigantic Three Gorges Dam and the subsequent growth of a reservoir spread across more than 400 miles of the river upstream from the dam site in Sandouping. The exhibition reveals both the damages wrought by this enormous undertaking and the differing viewpoints of photographers inside and outside the cultural milieu affected.

Three Gorges curator George Slade has been at Minnesota Center for Photography as its artistic director since 2003. He visited China in 2006 to meet photographers and gain firsthand experience of the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges region.

Linda Butler has worked as an independent art-photographer for more than 25 years. She has published four books: Inner Light: The Shaker Legacy©1985, Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary©1992, Italy: in the Shadow of Time©1998, and Yangtze Remembered: The River Beneath the Lake©2004. She lives near Cleveland and is currently working on videos about global warming.

Steven Benson received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Solo exhibitions of his photography include the Centre Georges Pompidou and photography festivals/biennials/triennials in Argentina, South Korea, Germany, Syria, Poland, China, Denmark and FotoFest 2004 & 2008. He teaches at the University of Michigan-Flint and is Chair of the Midwest Region of SPE.

Jamason Chen is a photographer, videographer and new media researcher. He currently works at the University of Minnesota as a network multimedia professional. He has been involved in many exhibits both in the US and Asia. He is an essay and photograph contributor for many Asian and the US publications.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 9:00 - 10:45 a, Governor's Square 15

In March 2007 the exhibition TERGLOBA opened to the public. With the understanding that TERGLOBA means pervasive divergences, this exhibition explored the role of contemporary artists in globalization and stimulated the emergence of multiple and contradictory conclusions. One year later, we come together again to readdress similar topics under a different format. In addition to introducing the exhibition's themes and participants, this panel will discuss the roles/responsibilities of contemporary artists in a tumultuously globalized society, the relationship of art and agency, and ways in which one articulates their viewpoint as catalyst for change (and not regurgitation) through art. www.oakland.edu/org/tergloba

Brazilian artist and educator Vagner Mendonça Whitehead works with time-based media. His work employs original and researched texts (in Portuguese and English), photo-based imagery (found and created), their translations and his interpretations as allegorical devices that reframe trans-cultural experiences. TERGLOBA is his first international and multimedia curatorial project.

Carola Dreidemie was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Working primarily in photography and video, her work has been recently exhibited at Museo de Las Casas Reales, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Galeria de Las Monas, Guanajuato, Mexico; Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Global Arts Village, New Delhi, India; and Edgezones Gallery in Miami.

Robin Lasser is a Professor of Art at San Jose State University. Lasser produces photographs, video, site-specific installations and public art dealing with socially and culturally significant imagery and themes. Her award winning work is exhibited and published internationally.

Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, a photographer and video artist, lives and works in NYC. She has exhibited internationally in group and solo shows, participated in artist residencies in the US and abroad, and has received nationally recognized grants. She is an Assistant Professor of Art at Lafayette College, PA.

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Backyards & Playgrounds (graduate student track)

Saturday, March 15, 2008, 10:00 - 10:20 a, Governor's Square 17

The context of my current work is domestic and is centered on a visual investigation of my family, which includes my wife and 2 sons. Through constructed activities, I generate images that describe the delicate middle ground between success and failure, where possibility and potential exist. I am interested in quiet and minimal moments that examine dualities between the natural and spiritual, the specific and the universal, the childlike and the mature as sets of propositions to consider human experience and behavior.

Zack Bent was born in 1975. He received a BARCH in Architecture and a BS in Environmental Design in 1999, and an MA in Photography in 2004 from Ball State University. Bent has exhibited photo and video works nationally and is currently pursuing an MFA at the University of Washington.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 10:25 - 10:45 a, Governor's Square 17

My talk centers on my imaging experiments using a portable, modified flatbed scanner. Over the past two years, I have scanned an entire tree, TV shows, neighbors' medicine cabinets and the life span of a garden. Recently, I have narrowed my approach to three distinct techniques: working in the landscape where the scanner light clashes with its natural counterpart, creating bizarre light-streaked impressions; using custom brackets that help control depth of field and light, which creates architecture out of the insignificant; and scanning the television, where narrative is both revealed and distorted within one image. My experiments explore ideas of abstraction, the moment and the space where intention and chance meet.

Minneapolis native Jonathan Johnson received his BA from the University of Alaska, and is currently working towards his MFA at the University of Iowa where he serves as a teaching fellow. In addition to experimenting with scanners, Jon is engaged in photo workshops for immigrant teens in the Iowa City area as well as an extensive documentary project in post-tsunami coastal areas of Thailand.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 10:50 - 11:10 a, Governor's Square 17

"Thousand Dollar Dress" is plainly pertinent to the exploration of my own identity and its curiosity regarding the arcane concept of marriage and its socio-political implications. I intend to photograph 1,000 women wearing my $1,000 wedding dress within the context of their own or chosen environment. I will be traveling throughout the course of the project to ensure a diverse range of participants in an effort to reflect a multidimensional identity. I hope to facilitate an open dialogue concerning the institution of marriage and seek to explore the diverse views attached to its conception amidst the current culture war regarding its exclusive definition.

Sonya Naumann is completing her MFA at the University of Iowa. Portions of her work on "Thousand Dollar Dress" were published in The American Scholar Journal, Spring 2007. She is the 2007-08 Bodine Fellow at the U of I School of Art and Art History.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 11:15 - 11:35 a, Governor's Square 17

There is a valid argument for the use of visual arts as a medium for social transformation and healing. The primary characteristic that validates the image as a catalyst for change is the narrative it relays to the spectator. When it resonates, the narrative caresses the imagination and calls one to reflect. In the process, there is the possibility of reaching understandings that provoke new ways of thinking and acting differently. Additionally, the language of the image is global and possesses the capability to communicate with a myriad of cultures, thus crossing language barriers and uniting seemingly different people.

Maria Palmo lived in Italy for five years. Her international experience prompted a desire to promote cultural awareness. She is currently pursuing her EdD at the University of San Francisco. An amateur artist, her research inquiry is the use of art as a medium for social transformation and healing.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 11:40 - 12:00 p, Governor's Square 17

The French Broad River in Western North Carolina is the third oldest river in the world, behind only the Nile and the New River in Virginia. It is even older than the Appalachian Mountains that surround it.

This work documents the uses of the French Broad River floodplain, its development and the constant change brought on by man's presence and natural causes. By looking at the river itself and the landscape of industry and inhabitation, this project emphasizes the need for responsible stewardship of the land to ensure its sustainable future.

After receiving his Bachelor's degree in the Film program, Jeff Rich went on to pursue his MFA in photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA. Jeff's work has been shown at galleries in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, New York and Massachusetts.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 10:00 - 10:45 a, Governor's Square 16

This paper presents one educator's efforts to refine his student's skills in talking and writing about art through the integration of online social networks. Online social networks are ubiquitous phenomena. Traditional art and photography courses use digital media primarily for production purposes. The integration of online social networks presents a unique opportunity for art faculty to incorporate existing technology that students are very familiar with and expand the boundaries of the traditional critique to a venue that students are more comfortable talking and writing in.

The integration of new technologies into existing or evolving curricula represents one of the most compelling areas of education that exist today and Keith Adams's work reflects a commitment to the advancement of teaching, learning and creativity through these efforts. Adams teaches photography at Rowan University as an Assistant Professor.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 1:00 - 1:45 p, Governor's Square 12

This presentation is a guide for teachers who wish to extend the classroom experience into an interactive online learning space. The critiquing method utilizes Blackboard or similar learning management software to provide a structured means for displaying and evaluating student work. Project guidelines are discussed in class and published online. Students are then asked to critique assignments outside of class with reference to the guidelines. This critiquing methodology was featured in the Spring '07 issue of pdnedu magazine as part of an article by Jill Waterman exploring innovative critiquing methods at various institutions of higher education.

Kenneth Hoffman is Professor of Communication at Seton Hall University where he supervises the curriculum in computer graphics and teaches digital photography, multimedia and computer animation. He has an MFA in filmmaking and PhD in Media, Culture and Communication from NYU. He is co-author of Computer Graphics Applications published by Wadsworth Publishing Co. in 1990.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 2:00 - 2:45 p, Governor's Square 14

As media boundaries dissolve, it is incumbent upon us to respond to the interdisciplinary practice that is emerging. At Southern Illinois University Carbondale, we acknowledge the importance of broadening the artistic, critical, and theoretical scope of our students and their ability to deal with intermedia arts. They should have the opportunity to create their own interdisciplinary programs or be able to deeply explore a specific medium as appropriate to their goals. In approaching this challenge we must keep in mind student competencies we wish to foster, general program requirements we find critical to a well-rounded education, and our resources.

Gary Kolb holds a BA in Religions and an MFA in Photography. He is Interim Dean and Director of the New Media Center in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He has been involved in redesigning curricula for several years.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 1:00 - 1:45 p, Governor's Square 12

Beginning photography is filled with non-majors completing arts distributions. It deals with technical issues and questions about aesthetics and meaning, which make grading difficult. In Effective Grading, A Tool for Learning and Assessment, Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Johnson Anderson articulate a method for course grading and assessment that addresses these problems. In 2003 I adopted their recommendations for my classes. The process clarified the scope of the courses, simplified assessment and improved my teaching. In this workshop, I will use student images and course materials to describe my adaptation of the process to a beginning photography course.

Brian Steele teaches photography and electronic art at Adrian College, a small, teaching-centered college in Adrian, MI. Brian holds a BFA in photography from the University of Arizona and an MFA from the photography program at the University of New Mexico.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008, 10:00 - 11:45 a, Governor's Square 12

To be an effective visual communicator a digital photographer must have the creative skills to make a compelling photograph and the technical acumen to translate this vision to print, the Web and multimedia. How can you, as an educator, strike a balance between teaching camerawork and creativity with the increasing responsibility to inform students of the technical aspects of digital photography? This diverse panel comprised of educators and professionals will offer insights into ways educators can stay current with the rapid pace of technological innovation and offer advice to educators on blending existing curriculum with real-world digital workflow scenarios.

Jay Kinghorn is an Adobe Photoshop Certified Expert, Olympus Visionary photographer and co-author of Perfect Digital Photography. He is a digital workflow consultant, trainer and lecturer for clients like the Rocky Mountain News, Cabela's, Olympus, American Photo and Popular Photography Magazines, Microsoft and Sony.

Patricia Russotti is an Associate Professor in the School of Print Media, College of Imaging Arts & Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is an artist, educator, curriculum developer and international presenter. Russotti provides imaging services for corporations, public service organizations and individual artistic commissions.

Erika Gentry is an Imaging Artist and Educator focusing on digital imaging, photography and multimedia at the institutional, organizational and individual levels. She is a full-time professor at C.C.S.F. Gentry completed her MFA at RIT and serves on the Board of Directors for Fotovision.org and as Co-Chair of the SPE West Region.

Tim Keating is a Professor of Photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA. A graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design he received his MFA in 1982 from UCLA. Mr. Keating worked as a commercial photographer In New York for over twenty years.

Marie Griffin has been a member of SPE since 2003. Griffin received her MFA in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2004 and a BA from Cornell College in 2001. Griffin currently works at Rocky Mountain News as Photographer, Assistant Features Photo Editor and Imaging Specialist.

Angie Buckley is an alumnus of Ohio University, 1996, and Arizona State University, 2001. Buckley teaches at University of Colorado, Denver, and is a high-end portrait photographer. Clients include Denver Mayor Hickenlooper and The Coors Family. Recent publications including her fine art work: Tricycle, The Buddhist Review and Coup Magazine.

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Friday, March 14, 2008, 9:00 - 10:45 a, Governor's Square 12

The Internet continues to grow as the technologies behind it mature, and a web presence is quickly becoming a professional photographer's greatest asset to gain exposure and assignments. The strategies used by educators of photography are evolving as well. Web-based critiques and presentations are common, and tapping into the network of websites and online resources is an effective way to inspire and inform students. This panel discussion will inform educators of the most current and effective methods of online exhibition, distribution and promotion being used by visual artists today thus helping educators best prepare their students for success after graduation.

Kathryn MacDonald joined liveBooks in February 2007 as the Education Marketing and Development Manager after 17 years as a commercial photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Kathryn studied photography at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and earned a BA at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jeff Curto is Coordinator and Professor of Photography at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL, where he has taught since 1984. Curto earned his BFA from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1981 and MFA from Bennington College in Vermont in 1983.

Mark Malloy is an Assistant Professor of Photography in the Technical Photography program in the Department of Technology at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, and currently serves as Chair of SPE's Southeast Region. His work has been exhibited internationally, and he's the proud husband of award-winning photojournalist Heather McClintock.

Robert Milne operated a commercial photography studio in Seattle for 25 plus years with a specialty in location and studio photography, specifically product and people, for advertising agencies, design firms and catalog companies. He is a full time, tenured faculty in the Commercial Photography Program at Seattle Central since 2000.

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