They provided busses to haul us around to various openings after the reviews were done.
People eating meals in Nigeria on video.
Polluted Mai Tai at Rice University, pallet walk celebrating Katrina in back.
Awareness-enhansing posters at the Katrina exhibit.
A Joel Satore shot I helped assist at some cavernous warehouse animal show. Actually taped up the background and set up the Dynalites.
Very interesting. Sounds fantastic.
Thanks for posting.
20 minutes to explain your life isn't long. I had to get inside the time and slow things down. (Talking faster doesn't help) After day one I cut my portfolios by 1/3 and flipped the order on my two portfolios. I got to where I could stroll up, ask them if they needed a moment, run through my presentation and beat the time limit. A couple of sessions we shook hands early and both walked out for a break...though of course I didn't have a break, I was prepping for the next session.
My secret weapon was my notebook. Everyone was getting a bigger picture of what they had just seen, plus I had gallery sheet from Albany show. Nobody else was giving out notebooks. I gave it to reviewers I met without a session. Had two left at the end and those just went out in the mail to folks who heard about Fotofest.
I tend to think a little "contra," so my other technique was to take others along on my session. There are two chairs on both sides of the tables. Day one, Len Kowitz, a Houston Center for Photo founding member and well known local face went along to listen to me work. Day two I took a couple different folks....and went along with a few others. At one point, I was with the photographer who was at the table in front of me, talked to the reviewer during the break, and then had my 20 minute session immediately following. Another time I was at a table through two 20 minute sessions back-to-back though I didn't have an appointment at all. I actually introduced the second photographer. I'm at the table to help, not compete, so I just went with folks I respected and admired. This takes a certain sang froid, but a couple of times the folks running the room commented that I seemed to be the most relaxed person there. One morning I had been on three sessions before I had a scheduled appointment.
You can also pick up extra sessions as people start not showing up. They announce these and try to spread them around. You can also see people after the day is over. Several reviewers including Chris Rauschenberg, Joan Morgenstern asked to see me after hours once the buzz started getting around. The Museum of Fine Arts new director came by, with assistant and a member of his collections committee during the open portfolio night.
In the mean time, I was meeting photographers outside the sessions, passing out cards, et.
Solid advice and description of how to network and make friends.
Wow. Thanks so much for all of this insight. I remember when you did your artist n residence, you were also quite generous in sharing the details. It says a lot about you, Robert. Thank you.
One evening the bus trip included the Menil, where my favorite piece of art in the whole world lives. First I made a beeline for the Rothko Chapel, but it was closed, then I headed inside for my favorite...gallery locked. Then I walked into the Henri Cartier Bresson show. There are few things as delightful as an HCB image that you have never seen before. Only 40 prints or so, but really a great room of art. We had a lecture afterwards by whoever the emeritus HCB scholar is. Got to hear a lot of inside baseball stories about HCB.
Billie: Glad you find this helpful. There aren't as many large format folks in the world as there used to be...but we can all find each other in one place. Everyone in here has self-selected to come together, so I always remember that we are more alike than we are different and behave accordingly. First guys I ran into were Graves and Johnson from here on LF, and we hit it off from moment one.
Two of my former students drove over from St Edwards in Austin to see a few shows and drop by to see the Meeting Place. With a little help from Fred Baldwin I got them both in the review room on the reviewers side for six presentations. Three with one reviewer, then flipped and had three with another. They staggered out with their minds slightly blown. They hadn't ever seen anything like this.
Image that came up during Vollmer review. Cards dancing on end of bone.
Who is this guy?
--Darin
http://www.loeildelaphotographie.com...est-session-1/
Just wanted to point out that the guy in the photo (above post) is Robert Langham himself, if you didn't catch that, as photographed by reviewer Elizabeth Avedon. She wrote several vignettes (see link, above) of her reviewees and photographed them and samples of their work. An interesting resource for those interested in these events.
--Darin
Originally Posted by Darin Boville
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