Patricia Swanson says of her work, "I am interested in how identity is constructed through experiences of hope, failure, trauma, fear, and happiness, and how that is imprinted on the places we inhabit. 

Memories of experiences change, shift, and distort the more often they are remembered and as stories are recounted and shared. Each experience accumulates to form the layers that we look through to see the world and attempt to understand and find a place within it. My work focuses on the evidence of memories and stories that make up the layered parts of my identity and my understanding of how those layers change and build up over time.

Receiving Rooms is a series that investigates how interior spaces are a manifestation of my internal self. These domestic spaces reflect where reality and metaphorical presence can co-exist in the veil between the private and the public.

We each carry with us a story heavy, words that weigh on the lines of our novel existence.

Fragments that build and change, building up, particles that knit together forming layers. 

An evolution of strata, we find ways to stand upon the ever shifting ground.

Clean, bright, light.

A space of wholeness, formed in the dust of our sorrows, strengthened by our joy.    
There is a vast comforting silence within the places that remain a passage to a moment to an ache a dim beginning of truth."

Patricia Swanson's work examines the relationships between personal and universal narratives and how those become interconnected through the common ground of human experience and the act of sharing. Her work merges traditional and digital photographic techniques to explore the tactile properties of visual experiences in an effort to bring photographs away from the wall and into a physical space. 

Patricia Swanson is an artist from Bellingham, Washington and is currently living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She received her BA in Studio Arts and English Literature from Western Washington University and her MFA in Photography at the Tyler School of Art. 

Professional Experience: 

2016-Present    Instructor of Record: Art Photography Digital Darkroom, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 
Instructor: Street Photography, Tyler School of Art Continuing Education, Philadelphia, PA 
Assistant Newsletter Editor, The Photo Review, Philadelphia, PA
2016- Graduate Teaching Assistant: Alternative Process Workshop, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Secretary, Graduate Arts Community, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
2015- Graduate Teaching Assistant: Color Photography, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA 
2013-2015- Curator, Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro, Bellingham, WA 
2012-2015- Sever, Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro, Bellingham, WA
2014- Classroom Assistant, Introduction to Photography, Western Washington 
University, Bellingham, WA
2013-2014 -President, WWU Chapter of Society of Photographic Education Club, Bellingham, WA 

Exhibitions: 

2017- Visual Margins: Graduating MFA Group Show, The Glass Factory, Philadelphia, PA
Emerging Artists, Plastic Club, Philadelphia, PA
Not Here Not Home, Temple Contemporary, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Remain for a Time, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Temple Contemporary, Tyler School of Art,
Philadelphia, PA
Intimate View, New England School of Photography, Boston, MA (Juror: David Hilliard)
Alternative Processes: Handmade, PhotoPlace Gallery, Online Gallery, Middlebury, VT (Juror: Dan Burkholder)
Light Sensitive, Art Intersection, Gilbert, AZ, (Juror: Ann M. Jastrab)
2016- A Measured Absolution, Atrium Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Pinhole, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX (Juror: Amanda Smith)
2015- First Year Grads, Atrium Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Photo Palooza, WWU B Gallery, Bellingham, WA
Various works, Presence Studio, Bellingham, WA 

Print Media:

2017- Photographic Series Published, This Small House, The Hand Magazine, Issue #15, January 2017 
2009 - Photograph Published, Say a Prayer for Me, Vibrations Magazine, Everett Community College

Awards and Grants:

2017    Dean’s Grant, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
2016    Director’s Choice, A Smith Gallery Pinhole Jury Competition, Johnson City, TX
Dean’s Grant, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
2014    Outstanding Graduate: Art Department, Western Washington University, Bellingham, 
WA  

Collections:

2012     Shannon Point Marine Biology Center, Anacortes, WA

www.patriciaswanson.com

Paul Ivanushka says of his work, "My work looks at the environment from often overlooked perspectives. 

I focus on the beauty of the natural designs, patterns, textures and tonal ranges found in natural objects. Many people move through nature too fast and miss so many wonderful images and moments.

My goal is to find these overlooked images and moments in nature and share them with as many people as I can. It’s a challenge as Nature does not give herself up easily.

I anchor my landscapes with a human artifact or evidence of mankind's presence on this planet. But it always amazes me how great we humans are...and at the same time how insignificant our achievements become when put next to nature. Nature will  always dominate…it will always endure."

As a result of a trip to the Grand Canyon and inspired by the canyon photographs of the Kolb Brothers, Paul developed his first roll of film when he was ten years old. Since then exploring the outdoors has been a major portion of his growth and life.

Paul was born an Army brat at the West Point Military Academy and was raised in various cities across the United States where he was exposed to the diversities of both people and nature.

After studying at Brooks Institute of Photography Paul spent most of his career in the printing industry learning and managing tone reproduction on high speed web offset presses.

Recently, Paul picked up a camera  creating action portraits of horses and riders in various equine competitions.  Paul now spends most of his free time shooting fine art landscapes with a large format camera.

Paul is a Software Business Analyst and currently resides in Inglewood, California.

Awards:

·“2016 Topanga Canyon Gallery - Juried Open Exhibition”, First Place Award 

 “2011  Equine Photographers International Juried Show” Honorable Mention 

Group Exhibitions:

2017

"Small Works" Kat Kiernan Juror
Center for Fine Art Photography - Fort Collins, CO

Center for Photographic Art (CPA)   2017 Members’ Juried Exhibition
Juror Elizabeth Corden and Jan Potts of Corden|Potts Gallery, San Francisco

"2017 Los Angeles Center of Photography 4th Annual Members Show" Paula Tognarelli Juror
dnj Gallery / Bergamot Station  -  Santa Monica, CA

 "Carrizo Plain" - Solo Show
Tag Gallery - Los Angeles, CA
  2016

"Los Angeles Art Association 2016 Open Show" Gallery 825 - Los Angeles ,CA

 "2016 Creative Portrait Exhibition" Los Angeles Center of Photography - Los Angeles, CA

 "2016 Los Angeles Center of Photography 3rd Annual Members Show",  
dnj Gallery / Bergamot Station  -  Santa Monica, CA

 “2016 Members Juried Exhibition”  Center For Photographic Art - Carmel Valley, CA     June 11 - July 24, 2016

 “2016 Topanga Canyon Gallery - Juried Open Exhibition”, First Place Award 
Topanga Canyon Art Gallery - Topanga Canyon, CA 

2015

"2015 California Open Exhibition",
TAG Gallery / Bergamot Station -  Santa Monica, CA

 "2015 Los Angeles Center Of Photography 2nd Annual Members Show",  
dnj Gallery / Bergamot Station  -  Santa Monica, CA

 "2015 Through A Curious Lens"
Santa Cruz Art League  - Santa Cruz CA

 “2015  Topanga Canyon  Gallery Juried Open Exhibition” Topanga Canyon Art Gallery - Topanga Canyon, CA   

 www.paulivanushkaphotography.com

Rachel Martin says of her work, "In 1969 my grandfather, his wife, and his two small sons moved into a house that was built explicitly for them.

In the style of the era, small homes in southern suburban neighborhoods were popping up everywhere.

Essentially “kit homes” each neighborhood had a few blueprint and finishing options. 48 years later, the family has spread, grown, lost members and yet, the house remains.

At 93 years old my grandfather still lives alone in that house, and its a living time capsule of his life, and by extension, all of our families lives. 

It’s this perfectly preserved sense of hard work and family and home that still draws me back to Shelby, North Carolina. Unlike so many new houses in the “keeping up with the jones’" driven style we often see today, this house was built for function; it was built for family and it was built for love.

Furnished over 48 years time, updated only when absolutely necessary, this house is still a homestead. An anchor and a gathering place for our family to reconvene. 

Although it was my father who grew up in this home, not myself, I am so strongly connected to these people and their history has so much shaped me, that it has become my home as well. There will be a day when we’ve all moved on to our bigger “better” places and roles in this world, but for as long as that home is filled with love and with family, it will always be home."

Rachel Martin is an artist based in Newton, MA. A recent graduate of the New England School of Photography, she has since spent a majority of her time working on documentary projects and cultivating a network of fine artists and industry professionals. 

Rachel has spent her life divided between two very different cultures. With both parents hailing from North Carolina, she spent the majority of her summers and holidays from school visiting her grandparents in their farm towns, and the school year in an urban environment. This divide cultivated a small town girl who just happened to have been raised in a booming metropolis.

Due to this, Rachel has spent much of her career trying to reconnect to those small seemingly unimportant places that many people often overlook. 

www.rachelmartin-photography.com

Roberto Spotti (Milan 16 11 1955), says of his work, "I produce in almost pictorial interventions, which allow me to spell my identity, which may perhaps recall the delicacy of Impressionist painting, trying to translate the reality in a poetic way, trying to witness more fully my thoughts.

I find the sea in my deepest feelings, a sea that marks the absence of time and shows the fleetingness of life; So these pictures are looking for a moment in which quiet and absence are one together.

My first interest in photography started in 1970 and it was just a hobby until 1973.

In the summer of the same year I started my work as an assistant in different studios where I worked with the opportunity to follow photography and cinema.

In 1984 I collaborated with Mr Lanfranco Colombo's Gallery "Il Diaframma" in Milan, Via Brera and I started to exhibit in his and other galleries.

Afterwards I worked in the studio of the photographer Aldo Ballo where I could study in depth the technique of light in the studio and the optical bench of large size.
I made several reportages in Northern Europe, North and Central Africa, the Far East, Latin America and the United States.

Subsequently I collaborated as a freelancer to realize photographic services of still life, furniture and advertising.

Currently free from commercial works, I perform personal research addressed mainly to art galleries."

http://www.robertospotti.it

Robert Solomon says of his work, "I photographed the view from my studio window over a year, varying the time of day but keeping the camera position relatively static.

The results were surprising and intriguing:  the window frame, sky, and roof line made a simple but compelling composition of interior space, infinite tactile sky and industrial silhouette.

Several photographs have diagrams created by the French
psychoanalyst  Jacques Lacan.

I have used Lacan diagrams before for their evocative references to the phenomenology of seeing and pure abstract modeling. I am drawn to this concurrence of place and no place, a slowness and mysterious beauty that in itself is a portrait of an artist."

Recent Fine Art History:

2017

Center for Emerging Artists CFEVA,Philadelphia, February, Group Show new members
Inliquid Murano Lobby, Philadelphia, PA  Member Group show

2016

Blam Projects, Brooklyn, NY, group show (Sage Reunion), October. Recent paintings
group show, “Moonlight”, URBN Gallery543, headquarters Urban Outfitters
Philadelphia Navy Yard, Sept. 2016 recent paintings
One person show, Bahdeebahdu showroom, Philadelphia, PA, May-July
”forest-life”, recent painting

2015

Artistic Director for RRH Project, a dance/music adaptation of a fairy tale
Scene1 scheduled for May 2015, Christ Church, Philadelphia PA.

Select artwork licensed to Art and Fashion, Northern Ireland

2014

Rosemont College, Lawrence Gallery "accumulations" one person show Feb6-March14 2014, paintings, prints on paper
Grand Opera House Wilmington, De   "red cap or the book of olives" one person show installation   February-March 2014, a memory tale 

2013

Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ, November21-Dec.21 group show (artist and guest curator) "a random walk", seven abstract artists, pathways into abstraction

Education:

Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, B.A. Art and Design, Phi Beta Kappa
University of California, Los Angeles, CA, Graduate School of Architecture
Temple University, Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, PA, Graduate Sculpture

Residencies:

BAU Institute Otranto, Italy June 1-June15 2012 part Fellowship grant
La MaMa, Spoleto, Italy June-July 2015, Directors Workshop Residency

Organizations:

"Advocates for Public Art" LLC, founder and artistic director, 2014,a support group to help emerging and established artists seek funding for public art projects; self-initiate collaborative public art or site specific projects projects. Our Fiscal Sponsor is Fractured Atlas.

2017 Member CFEVA Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia PA

Robert Solomon lives and works in Philadelphia, PA

Artwork can be seen at www.inlquid.com
www.Saatchiart.com
www.artslant.com

​Ruth Grimes says of her work, "As an immigrant from Ireland, I find myself drawn to photograph scenes that mentally pinch me to remind me where I am living, to keep alive the places that represent the essence of what I see as America. 

Perhaps because I grew up watching 1970s and 80s American TV shows, I feel that essence is best captured in the color palettes of that era and the textures of an old analog TV image as seen through the eyes of a child dreaming of living in America. 

The Certain Places I am connected to are only seen in glimpses today but a lot of the fun lies in seeking them out.  

I have been influenced by some of the greatest pioneers in color street photography; William Eggleston, Saul Leiter, Trent Parke, and more recent street photographers such as Philip Brookman, Valerie Jardin, and Marie Laigneau.

"Caboose", A root beer float and a plate of fries just do not taste the same if they’re not eaten in a diner.

"Chalk Wall", There is a sense of fun and humor that suffuses the American spirit and makes the people very endearing.  This makes me feel part of a secret community that the rest of the world cannot understand.

"Muscle Car",  The American Muscle car remains the ultimate American icon, not just for it’s looks, but also for the throbbing roar of the engine, the smell of leaded gasoline, the heat of the sun on the black vinyl roof, and the taste of sand in the desert air.  I also love the map of California painted on the wall, it makes me want to take that car and drive to every destination listed."

www.ruthgrimesphotography

Shelby Cude says of her work, "I’ve always found solace in nature.

Thinking back on my childhood isn’t easy, as for 17 years my family was tormented by my psychologically abusive, alcoholic father. Getting out of the house and into the quiet of nature with my camera was my reprieve, and I photographed what I felt at the time. These “certain places” are places where I could lose myself for the sake of saving myself.

Mammoth Mountain, started it all. I was five years old when my parents first took me skiing down the exact run in the photo.

I had no idea the difficulty of the slope when I was young and trusted my family to get me down the hill in one piece. It wasn’t until I went back for the first time in 18 years, that it was one of the most difficult slopes on the mountain.

I hope you notice the depth and never ending layers of detail, as well as the light overall tone. I felt proud of myself and proud of what I’ve survived the moment I took this photo, just before skiing the run for the first time since I was a child.

Bench was taken three years following my father’s passing, as well as one of the first places I would retreat to after moving back to Nashville for the third time.

Anytime I needed a break from reality, I’d drive twenty minutes from my home to Radnor Lake, in Brentwood, TN, and embrace the fresh air. I’d always stop at this bench, which is off the path a bit, and think of all of the other people who’ve sat there and what they were thinking about as they did.

It reminded me of a place I used to live in New Mexico when I was about seven years old and would entertain myself with acting out stories in my head, in the forest behind our house.

Looking past the bench, a place of reflection, the trees appeared to be a never-ending labyrinth of secrets, yet to be told, and every time I’d pass by it, my seven-year-old imagination would rush to the surface and I’d forget about being an adult if but for a moment."

Born in Palm Desert, California to a PGA Golf Professional, Donnie Cude, and mother, Joy Cude, she spent much of her childhood moving across the country as her father left the PGA Tour to manage numerous luxury golf and residential communities.

From Palm Desert, CA to Ruidoso, NM, to Nashville, TN, her family moved to the same places every two years, leaving Shelby with only snapshots of each place to hold on to.

The music industry found Shelby after she flew to California to photograph a wedding and met the editor of a production-geared trade publication based in Nashville, TN. One week later she was backstage interviewing the crew with Linkin Park (2015), and photographing their live performance at Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN). She continued in this capacity as a photographer and writer, interviewing crews with bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Fleetwood Mac, U2, and many more.

She made the jump from Nashville to Los Angeles April 2016, taking the job to be the Marketing Coordinator for an international production vendor, assisting the construction of events such as Beyonce's Formation World Tour, Guns N' Roses 2016 World Tour, Coldplay's Head Full Of Dreams Tour, Coachella Music and Arts Festival, Desert Trip, and EDC Las Vegas. 

Most recently she joined the crew with Linkin Park as the band's Live Video Director as they headlined 14 festivals and 4 arena shows in Europe and UK, following the release of their album, "One More Light," (2017), capturing the last shows of the late lead singer, Chester Bennington.

www.shelbycarol.com

Stevie Rosenfeld says of their work, "As an artist, I try to create images expressing that which is personal but also at once familiar to the viewer.  

From landscapes, to portraits to narratives, my art is a culmination of delving deeply into my own creative process which asks how am I connected to my subject and what can it express through me.  

Inspiration for my work comes from many different places.  From viewing other people’s work to contemplative practice, few things are as fulfilling as creating engaging images that offer a sense of connection to the viewer."

www.take2films.wixsite.com/throughmylens

Stuart Zalka says of his work, "These photographs are part of an ongoing project exploring  an intimate relationship between ourselves and the huge, stately,  impassive trees beings among us."

Zalka, Born 1953, and living in Brooklyn, NY since 1976 considers himself a serious amateur photographer.

Exhibitions:

2016

Tammy Gromer Gallery, Dallas Tx.
Exhibitor at 6th Annual Holga and Friends International Photo Competition Exhibition
Juror Harvey Stein

Darkroom Gallery
Essex Junction, VT
Exhibitor at "Haunted" theme Photo Competition Exhibition
Juror Russell Joselin

Soho Photo Gallery
New York, NY
Exhibitor at multiple solo shows

Rayko Photo Center
San Francisco, CA
Exhibitor at Plastic Camera Competition Exhibition
Juror Ann Jastrab

2014

Center for Fine Art Photography
Fort Collins, CO
Exhibitor at Still Life theme Photo Competition Exhibition
Juror Rebecca Senf

2014
Rayko Photo Center
San Francisco, CA
Exhibitor at Plastic Camera Competition Exhibition
Juror Ann Jastrab

stuartzalka@gmail.com

Suzanne Williamson says of her work, "Returning to Florida last summer, I began photographing along the wide horizon of Tampa Bay each morning, picturing storms and extravagant forms that unfold before me.

The variations in atmosphere and color are rich and surprising, imprinting themselves in my memory as soon as I photograph them.

These elements of shifting light and weather along the water trigger memories of a happy childhood spent on sunny beaches splashed by bright blue waves. And they form new memories that are dark and full of questions about the rising tides that are higher after each big storm."

Photographic artist Suzanne Williamson works in the landscape altered and enriched by human habitation.

Her photographs have been shown nationally in solo and group exhibitions. In 2011 at the Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, she created an installation with writer John Capouya that re-envisioned the past with words and images inspired by their exploration of Florida's Native American mound sites.

Williamson’s awards include multiple fellowships to the artist colonies MacDowell and Yaddo and Florida Creative Capital workshop grants.

Her photographs are in a number of museum and private collections, and her work has been published in such media outlets as ARTnews, Arts Magazine and the Tampa Bay Times. Williamson studied photography at SUNY, College at Purchase and at the International Center of Photography.

During her professional career in New York City, she was the Photo Editor of ARTnews, directed photography galleries and managed a private contemporary photography collection. Today she provides marketing, PR and mentoring services to artists in New York and Florida.

www.flmoundsproject.org
www.suzannewilliamsonphoto.com
 

Tim Creamer says of his work, "'Landscapes through my phone', This small collection of work is created with an iPhone 5s/6s, Stackables, iColorama & Snapseed apps.

Previously, I've been caught up with notion that I needed a "real" camera to develop my vision, the iPhone has turned that dynamic for me upside down.

Using new apps and techniques, images are developed rapidly on the iPhone eliminating the extra step of downloading to a computer.

That with almost instant feedback from other artist through social media, provides me with the ability to evolve rapidly the images that I create.

Several years ago I was introduced to a Facebook group "Tintype Hipstamatic", which features works created using the Tintype filter pack in any combination. Just as important as creating images, this community offers feedback and encouragement. 

From there I began to explore other groups and methods, always building upon my vision through the mobile device.

Social media is a boon to my creative process as I no longer work in a creative vacuum. I find myself pushing the limits as other international artists in this group are now doing, we show, share, and encourage each other. This small body of work is a testament to this process.

With a new eye the world is fresh again!"

Exhibitions & Awards:
2017 

Mira Mobile Prize
Portugal

2015

Current
3 Pieces of Public Art
Athens, Ohio 

2014

Foto Focus 
Cincinnati, Ohio

2013

Hipstography Magazine
Featured photo of the day

EXPERIENCE:

Multi Media Designer / Photographer 
Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
Athens, Ohio
1988-present
Photographer
Cincinnati Milacron
Cincinnati, Ohio
1986-1987
Photographer
Procter & Gamble 
Cincinnati, ohio
1984-1986

EDUCATION:

Art Academy of Cincinnati BFA
1982/2001

Ohio university MA candidate, 
Current 

www.TimCreamer.Com

Tom Ridinger says of his work, 'Channeling Gene Smith', "I met W. Eugene Smith just once, very briefly. He'd come to our office at Popular Photography to see Jim Hughes, my friend and boss, his friend and biographer.

When introduced he kept his right hand in his lap, his glance so fleeting it likely never reached my face. To me he seemed barely there, as transparent and fragile as a bubble drifting by. I might be wrong but I believe he was gone the following year.

As time passed I was as much taken by the jam sessions he'd hosted at his loft as I'd been with his work.

During the early Eighties I'd pass his former building on Sixth Avenue on my way to my office at Camera Arts magazine and imagine the ghosts of master jazz men pulling up to the curb then pulling open the rickety door on their way up to Gene's third floor crib.

Decades later when I was planning the images for my Confabulations project I knew that locale was a must, even though now days there's not much of interest there, just a few metaphorical dogs and cats digging the vibe that is still there to be dug if one can dig it. 

'Ground Zero'-I'm seated on a hot slab of stone, facing north, roughly equal distance from where the North and South Towers once stood, a storm of recollection blowing through by brain.

Although I'm doing what I've done for five years I'm fumbling my equipment like it's my first time out.

Finally, I manage to get the camera set to the tripod, the tripod positioned correctly at my feet. I squeeze the cable release, spot the position of the legs with a marker, pick up the camera and check the angle of view. I see I'll get a full figure, tête to toe, at a distance of about eight feet, give or take. Close to perfect, I figure, based on the mainstream of people passing by. I place the camera back at my feet and immediately she appears in the corner of my eye.

Although she's closer than eight feet and moving much faster than most of the strolling tourist, my trigger finger is fast enough to catch her dead in front of me. It's only after the shutter falls I see how pregnant she is and I can't help but take it as a sign.

Being in the vortex of a real-life disaster is nothing like what one usually sees on film. In reality it's all slow motion, no fast cuts, just a flash of action so surreal it's impossible to understand, followed by scenes of tedious chaos that stretch out for hours and days and months and years. For many who were there, as I was, or who lost loved ones, it continues to stretch out, likely to the very end.

After my office at Dow Jones had been gutted and cleared of contaminants and human remains then rebuilt; and after the recovery and reclamation had dragged on for five years; and after pushing my way past tourists every day on my way to and from work, I was assigned to a position at Smart Money magazine, taking me out of the neighborhood, and free of being compelled to pick at the wound of what had happened on September 11, 2001, as part of my daily life.

I stayed away for years. Until one day not long ago, my wife suggested we make a pilgrimage to the site, that it would help me if I was to see it now—how it had finally been transformed from a place of death to a place of life — suggesting that perhaps it was time I included that life at Ground Zero in Confabulations. 

We did make that pilgrimage and I must say that the transformation is truly amazing.

Since the event, one of the most troubling images that has haunted me is that of the South Tower falling, not with a great explosion but as a thousand-foot waterfall. In my opinion much of the architecture at Ground Zero has too much standard 21st Century glass and steel.

But the water now falling to eternity from the footprints is perhaps the greatest piece of conceptual art I've ever seen, forever cleansing my brain of the vision of the South Tower's muddy river. 

'Summer of Love, Day of the Psycho'-
If people still think of that summer fifty years ago I would guess they think first of Height Ashbury.

Supposedly, that’s where the phrase was dreamed up in the spring of ‘67, a prediction of what was in store for San Francisco the coming summer.

But I think the spirit of that particular summer could be felt with equal intensity in many locales in the U.S.; places from Yellow Springs, Ohio to Madison, Wisconsin; from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Topanga, California.

And of course in the East Village of New York—in fact, perhaps more intensely in the East Village than anywhere else, the national media anxious to spread the news (or myths) to the rest of the world, headquartered little more than a couple miles north of St. Marks Place and Tompkins Square Park.

That’s where I made this image last Sunday, a beautiful morning maybe fifty years to the day, standing within sight of one of the most dreadful events of my life—that had little to do with summer and absolutely nothing to do with love.

In the image the blond bundle, frame center-right, might be third generation removed from her Polish or Ukrainian immigrant grandparents who once populated the tenements surrounding the Park.

The approaching couple, arm in arm, could have met at a hippy crash pad that year, fell in love, found work, found a crib of their own and never had good reason for leaving the neighborhood.

The woman pushing the shopping cart could have come to New York around that time, as well, shortly after the immigration laws for Asians had been eased during the 1960s.

Now consider the triangle formed by her blouse, her arm and the cart’s handle. Can you find the manhole cover? The same manhole cover I’ve seen in my dreams for fifty years.

That summer I’d come to New York to be an artist. I’d never thought of myself as a hippy.

Since the early 1960s, to me, a hippy was a young African-American who lived in Philadelphia and who hung out on South Street (where all the hippies meet).

By then I thought it was much better to make love rather than war but what I was most interested in was not so much getting hip but finding a job. I was twenty-two with a wife and three-year old kid and although art was calling me, practicality had me by the balls.

However, in the meantime I’d discovered Danny Lyon and Bruce Davidson and thought that their way might be the way I could go from subsidence work to art work. So I purchased a used SLR, a telephoto lens, loaded the camera with my first roll of Tri-X and one sunny Sunday noon, set off for where it was all happening.

Now as then there’s a playground in the park just to the right of where I stood while making this image.

Not now, but then there was a large sandy pit with monkey bars, that day fifty years ago loaded with squirming monkey-kids.

These were to be my first subjects. Standing in the street I raised my camera to my face, focused and took my first frame. I’d taken three more when what I thought was a passing cloud blanketed the sun. Just as I began to pull my camera from my eye, all hell broke loose.

We were eye to eye as close as two can get and still focus. He was older than me, maybe thirty something, dressed in rags.

He was bigger than me, maybe 6’2”, maybe 220 pounds. His hair was long and matted, his beard the same. There was a fresh wound carved on his face from his brow to his chin, that glistened with infection. His eyes were wide and blue and bloody. He was screaming something I couldn’t understand, my ears ringing so.

But it wasn’t so much what he looked like or what he was saying that concerned me, but his filthy hands, both of which were grasping my neck so I couldn’t swallow or even breath. 

I’d been a physical kid with a quick temper who’d been in my share of fights during my teens.

But the only practical way I was prepared for the situation that day was I had learned not to let adrenalin gush, making me herculean for one moment then in the next about as lively as a herring laid out in the fish store on Avenue A.

Back-peddling I realized that instead of me it might be the camera or the film that was the source of his anger. Somehow I managed to pop open the camera back, dig out the film and throw it to the street.

I remember it landing at the edge of the manhole cover, a foot of the exposed film snaking out of the bright yellow cartridge against the old iron cover. Immediately my attacker commenced jumping up and down on it rather than me, the sound of his boot heels cracking the cartridge.

By then I was walking quickly away never to look back, never to raise a camera to my face on the street again. Now dig the shaded character at the extreme left. Do you see a camera anywhere near his face?

As a babe in arms I was carried off from my ancestral home of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to the less hallowed ground of Rahway, New Jersey, Concord, North Carolina and Levittown, New York.

After serving time in a college in the midwest I escaped to New York City where over the years at various publications I was referred to as a paste-up kid, a layout guy, a graphic designer, an art director and finally a photo editor winning a box full of awards along the way.

Most notably I was a cofounder of the original Camera Arts magazine, winner of The National Magazine Award and considered by many to have been the best consumer photography magazine ever published in the U.S. 

tom-ridinger.format.com

Click on link below to continue to Exhbition #3

www.laphotocurator.com/certain-places-curator-karen-klinedinst/exhibition-4/1