Bucks County Project Gallery-Photographs From Beyond Borders.

Bucks County Project Gallery

Congratulations to Stephanie Lisle for opening this Doylestown photography gallery. Stephanie has a good knowledge of photography, and I always enjoy discussing the state of the art with her.  I stopped by the gallery today to see the current exhibit "Photographs Beyond Borders."  One of the photographers in the current exhibit, Mary Richardson Miller, spent several years on a humanitarian mission in Guatemala in the village of Candelaria.  During those years Mary photographed the women of the village, the subject of her photographs.  The portraits show the lovely saturated color of traditional film, without the photoshop over saturation of color sometimes associated with the digital world.

For Sociedad Hispana members who haven't visited the Project Gallery it is worth a visit.  As the announcement post card above indicates there is an opening reception for Photographs Beyond Borders on Friday September 20th from 6:00PM to 8:00PM.

The Bucks County Project Gallery is located at 252 West Ashland Street in Doylestown, right in the heart of Bucks County. Our mission is to give photographers, both local and international, their own forum to exhibit and interact with their community, giving the art of photography its own special place to shine while making it accessible and affordable.

Current hours: Thu 12-4pm, Fri 1-5pm, Sat 1-5pm, Sun 11am-3pm and by appointment.

  Gallery Website:  http://www.buckscountyprojectgallery.com

36 horas en Mérida, Mexico y la ruta de las cenotes

Algunas fotos de Mérida, Mexico en el New York Times hoy.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/12/04/travel/04MERIDA.html?

Bien cerca de Mérida se encuentra naturaleza interesante-Las cenotes.  La historia de la Maya/cenotes se encuentra aquí:

http://wikitravel.org/en/Cenotes_of_the_Yucatán#b

http://www.google.com/search?q=las+cenotes&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xMLeTpiSB4Lv0gHI6NGoBw&ved=0CDsQsAQ&biw=1852&bih=957

Living it up in Death Valley, Charles Manson and the 49ers

This post is made for many of my skype friends in Spain and South American learning English and who have shown an interest in US National Parks, and anyone else interested in the amazing geology of Death Valley.The National Park Service link can be found here:

http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm

The old Borax mule trains are a long past occurrence, as are the myriad of folks taking the southern route to get to Sutter's Mill during the California gold rush.   Many of the latter died trying to avoid the snow laden passes across the Eastern Sierra further north, preferring the sweltering heat of Death Valley.  Of course as the attached Wall Street Journal  article points out cult leader/murderer Charles Manson was arrested in DV, following his unbelievable murder spree.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903791504576589171895713098.html?KEYWORDS=death+valley 

On an only slightly happier note some modern day tourists get into trouble as they go unprepared for eventualities that occur while visiting Death Valley, the largest US National Park outside of Alaska.   Such was the case of tourists leaving a broken down car-never to be heard from again.  These stories happen every year.  As of yesterday there were still lost tourists, who didn't understand the weather change from the Valley floor to the 11,000 foot passes where the transition is fast.

Then there are the mentally questionable people participating in the Badwater Marathon described here: http://www.badwater.com/ Badwater is the lowest elevation in the western hemisphere-a fascinating spot on the valley floor.

If one ever visits Death Valley National Park and is lucky enough to see the desert floor in bloom (once every 5,6  years-usually early March) it is a sight not soon forgotten.



In many ways it  is our European friends who discovered The Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley Junction several decades ago.  For this reason I have linked a prior post with the story of Marta Becket and her opera house.
http://www.sociedadhispanadoylestown.com/2011/03/amargosa-opera-house-death-valley.html

I certainly hope Marta Becket is still living and that I can spend a few minutes with her during my upcoming trip to Death Valley Junction. She is an inspiration.

Death Valley photos from wiki can be found here: http://www.google.com/search?q=death+valley&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvnsu&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=vjyHTpKhGYzG0AGptpEE&ved=0CDAQsAQ&biw=1710&bih=941

La Lista Latina-Brooklyn Museum

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders es famoso por su trabajo fotográfico claramente detallado.   Sin duda alguna, no he visto retratos como los que se encuentren ahora en el Brooklyn Museo de Arte.  La exhibición se llama La Lista Latina, y consista en 25 retratos  de gente latina, en forma vertical.  Dentro de su estilo conocido, Greenfield-Sanders siempre entra en el mundo de la gente famosa.  Por ejemplo, entre los 25 retratos hay Eva Longoria,  Chi Chi Rodriguez, Sonia Sotomayor, America Ferrera, Gloria Estefan y Pitbull-todos en gran escala de 40X55 pulgadas.

Ademas Greenfield-Sanders es un cineasta de reputación global.   HBO pasará el programa The Latino List el día 29 de septiembre.  Durante ese documentario cada latino hablarán de su vida in los estados Unidos, y como su suceso ocurrió.

El enlace del museo se encuentra aqui:

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/latino_list/

Edward Weston-Photographer and Philosopher and his cats

The historical video linked below discusses the Weston philosophy of life as it relates to his photography.  I have posted this for many of the international friends of Sociedad Hispana Doylestown who may have an interest in the beautiful California coast and US National Parks such as Yosemite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4aE2f07ON4&feature

In the next few weeks I will get another opportunity to visit that part of the US where I enjoy taking my large format 5"X7" camera following in the footsteps of Edward Weston, hopefully to include Yosemite National park should the highly unpredictable snowfall not close roads.

A year or two ago the Michener Museum in Doylestown (  http://www.michenermuseum.org/ )  had a major Weston exhibition celebrating the life and work of this pioneer black and white landscape photographer.  (see bio here: http://www.edward-weston.com/edward_weston_biography.htm )

Magnum Photographer Cristiana Garcia Rodero

Sociedad Hispana member Amanda (thank you!) has been linking a New York Times current series on Galicia and Spain. She made reference in social media to Spanish Photography, and an interesting article about Magnum Photographer Cristina Garcia Rodero. The history of Magnum reads like the history of photography.  A good read on the photo agency: Magnum: Fifty Years at the Front Line of History: The Story of the Legendary Photo Agency

A prior post: http://www.sociedadhispanadoylestown.com/2011/03/robert-capa-spanish-civil-war.html   debates the authenticity of a most famous Robert Capa (Co-Founder of Magnum) photo taken during the Spanish Civil War.

The article from the NYT that generated this web entry about Cristina Garcia Rodero is here:
http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/in-madrid-exploring-galicia-through-photography/
I do not believe she was the first woman member of Magnum, as the article indicates, but will explore it further.

None of this detracts from the great Garcia Rodero photography found on the Magnum website here:
http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3R1V204V&nm=Cristina%20Garcia%20Rodero

Garcia Rodero won the prestigious Eugene Smith Humanitarian Photography award in 1989.