nex·us | \ ˈnek-səs \ :  CONNECTION, LINK a connected group

“Art does not depend on the tools used, but on how they are used; in the hands of an artist, the camera produces works of art.”

–Paul L. Anderson

Elegance of Flight. © Steven Begleiter
Canon R5, 200mm lens, f/3.5, ISO 400

The photographs of the Egrets were taken in the jungles of
La Fortuna near the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica.

Steven Begleiter has been shortlisted in the Sony 2024 World Photo Competition for his amazing series, "The Magical Habitat of Egrets and Herons." I will publish another announcement as soon as he wins first place, which I am certain he will.

Launch Date: April 9, 2024

Several people have asked if I took the photo on the cover of Donna's soon-to-be-published book. I did not. The photo was created by a fashion photographer in the U.K., Jingna Zhang. I did chose the photo and designed the cover. The cover of Donna's first book, House of the Moon, features a photo I made, along with my design.

The amazing thing about the photo is the model, Erin Taylor, looks exactly like Mary Magdalene, as depicted in the book, with red hair and green eyes. Even the halo around her head fits the subject matter of the story, as Mary is a high priestess of the goddess Asherah. The moment I saw this photo I knew it had to be on the cover of The Last Magdalene.

For those wondering about the subject matter, this is not a biblical story. It is a story based on historical research about one woman's voice, which refused to be silenced.

From my heart, thank you to everyone who has purchased a prepublication copy of the book.

St. Louis Literary Review

Pre-purchase The Last Magdalene

Register on Donna's site

Greater Burgan Oil Field Kuwait, 1991. © Sebastiao Salgado / @Sebastiao Salgado

Sebastiao Salgado is the greatest photo conscience of our time. He is the twenty-first century equivalent to W.E. Smith, taking his camera to places others fear to tread and returning with unspeakably powerful images.

This is not the first time I have featured him in Nexus, and it probably won't be the last. But with work this relevant to our age and time, we need to be continually exposed to his images and documentary essays.

Hoi An at Night

Hanoi - Hoi An -Hue - Phong Nha - Hanoi

If you have been waiting for the photography
experience of a lifetime, this is it.

The Vietnam Workshop is filling fast.
Register now to ensure your place in this workshop.

Prepare to immerse yourself in authentic Vietnam culture. With Hanoi as our starting and ending point, for ten days we will traverse the mountains and forests of the northern region of Vietnam. During that time, we will engage with the people of Vietnam in small towns and villages, photographing and experiencing their way of life.

From Hanoi, we will fly to the UNESCO World Heritage town of Hoi An and begin our way back through the beautiful Hai Van Pass to the imperial city of Hue. In Phong Nha, located on the Con River, we will have three days of homestay on a farm with daily excursions to photograph villages and the countryside. There will even be an optional day traveling on motorcycles on back roads (alternate transport will be provided for those who do not want to ride on a motorcycle). As a special treat, we will visit the spectacular Phong Nha Cave with underground rivers, passages, and Cham altars from the 10th century.

And finally, back to Hanoi.

You may work with digital or film capture with any camera, from a cell phone to a DSLR. I can help you improve your photography with either.

Vietnam Photography Workshop

Untitled, 2024. Lumen-Chemigram. © Kimberly Schneider.

Choose your preferred format:

DIY Darkroom, Lecture and Demo/Critique style Classes, and/or Private or Semi-private Instruction.

I am offering three April classes in the form of open sessions and am happy to design private instruction around your printing/learning goals. (No minimum number of students, and you have a couple of different options for duration).

Please visit my website to view the offerings (which include a new class that is open to digital photographers, as well as diy darkroom students).

Workshops with Kimberly

Sebastião Salgado. Workers. An Archaeology of the Industrial Age

In this new edition by Taschen Press, Salgado presents an archaeological perspective on manual labor, shedding light on practices that have endured from the Stone Age through the Industrial Revolution and up to the present day. He has created an elegy to outmoded traditions and the dignity and fortitude of those working in the face of the most dangerous conditions.

Hardcover, 9.6 x 13.0 in., 6.29 lb, 400 pages

Workers

FotoNostrum, sponsors of the prestigious photo competitions, the Pollux Awards and the Julia Margaret-Cameron Award, and FotoNostrum magazine, has announced their newest exciting venture, FotoNostrum Publishing. The publishing house offers a unique opportunity for photographers to publish their own photographic books, backed by a professional curatorial, editing, and design team.

FotoNostrum Publishing offers an all-in-one solution for artists, guaranteeing a smooth and thorough process in bringing your photobook to life, from the initial idea to the finished printed edition—a high-quality, perfect binding hardcover at an unmatched price.

While anyone can submit a proposal, FotoNostrum Publishing is selective in who they accept. When published, your book will be included in their international catalog, which means it will represent them as much as it represents you.

Publishing with FotoNostrum is not free. You will be expected to cover some or all of the costs, but your book will be designed, marketed, and represented by one of the most respected names in the world of fine art photography.

If you feel you have a body of work worthy of publication, I recommend you take a look at the FotoNostrum Publishing website.

FotoNostrum Publishing

© Mike Mezeul

Simple steps for outstanding prints from Lightroom & Photoshop

“The best photographers in the world will be the best printers. But the best printers are not always the best photographers.” –Ansel Adams

Nikon Ambassador and DSI Print Ambassador, Mike Mezeul, will provide a rare glimpse into his post-production process. With his extensive experience as a teacher and workshop leader, Mike will guide us step-by-step from camera RAW to final print. Renowned for his stunning images capturing nature's most powerful and awe-inspiring moments, Mike will delve into his recent photoshoot of Iceland's erupting volcanoes and more.

Register

“If you want to change your photographs, you need to change cameras. Changing cameras means that your photographs will change.” –Nobuyoshi Araki

When I was young, I used a tripod-mounted 5x7" Agfa-Ansco view camera for street photography, landscapes, and nudes. The photo on the left, Monster Show, Hollywood, 1981, was taken at a street carnival in Hollywood with my 5x7.

One day, I wandered into a toy store located on Hollywood Boulevard near my studio, where I did work for Max Factor Cosmetics, IBM, and other clients. There, I found a plastic toy camera that took 120 rolls of film for $3.95. That weekend, I loaded a roll of color negative film into the camera and took it for a walk. I came across a street carnival and made the image below, left, Red Ride, 1983. The light distortions around the edges are caused by light leaks and the film not being held flat in the camera. I love it!

I still use my 5x7 Afga-Ansco for landscapes.

As Araki says, change your camera, and your photographs will change.

Camp Snap Camera

The Monster Show, Hollywood, 1981. © Steve Anchell
5x7" Agfa-Ansco View Camera, 300mm Symmar lens
Kodak Tri-X, ABC Pyro.

Red Ride, Hollywood, 1983. © Steve Anchell
Diana Camera, Kodak color negative film
Exposure: "Click"

are back!

These are interesting times for photography. Instant cameras are outselling Mirrorless cameras and DSLRs, and there is a worldwide resurgence of interest in film and darkroom. So much that my publisher, Focal Press U.K., contacted me last year and asked for an unprecedented fifth edition of the bestselling Darkroom Cookbook. I never expected there would be a fifth edition.

Last week, I shipped the first draft of the DCB to my editor at Focal, and two days later, I received an email from CineStill Film that Kodak is once again marketing their iconic chemistry, black–and–white and color. How cool is that?

Kodak Professional Chemicals

© Gavin Hoey

The closer you look, the more you’ll see. That simple truth is what makes macro photography so appealing to me. The best part is that you don’t even have to travel very far to enter this amazing, alien world. A garden, backyard, or park is the perfect place to explore the tiny world of macro bug photography. Check out this guide to garden photography using a macro lens and accessories.

for Garden Photography

Your macro journey all starts with the lens. With so many true macro lenses to choose from, how do you decide which to get? Well, for starters, make sure it can do 1:1 or life-size images. That’s the secret to focusing super close. Next, look at the lens focal length measured in millimeters. More millimeters means you get the same magnification but at a longer distance. If you also find a macro lens with a manual focusing ring, it’s well worth it.

Read More

© John Sarsgard

Deadline: April 15

Street photography is a unique art form associated with a photographer's skill in capturing a moment that would have gone unseen without their intervention. A street photographer thrives in a time and place where the mundane transforms into the extraordinary, with their surroundings serving as a canvas for artistic expression. Whether it's capturing the energy of bustling streets or the quiet solitude of hidden alleyways, we invite you to share your vision of the human condition with us.

The Art of Street Photography is an international open call for photographers ages 18 and older. All forms of traditional and non-conventional media, and conventional or alternative processes with a subjective analog or digital photographic base are welcome for submission.

The Chateau Gallery

© Dai Nakamura

Deadline: April 28

Winners of the Pollux Awards: The Jurors of the 21st Pollux Awards will select four Winners: two Photographers in the Professional Section (Series and Single Image) and two photographers in the Non-Professional Section (Series and Single Image).

Fully-paid Exhibition: The Gala Awards will organize an exhibition for each of the above-mentioned four Winners in the respective sections (Pro and Non-Pro), taking care of all exhibition expenses, including printing and framing up to 20 photographs each. The exhibition will be held in the FotoNostrum Gallery in Barcelona in July 2025. A curator designated by The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards will assist the Winners in selecting the work to be exhibited and will take care of the exhibition setup.

Gallery Representation: A non-exclusive consignation representation contract for 18 initial months with the gallery FotoNostrum will be offered to the four overall winners.

Exposure in Artsy and ArtEndipity: Represented artists will be exhibited online for sale in Artsy. Artsy attracts millions of unique visitors each month. Since 2018, is one of the top-ranking art marketplaces on Google with visitors from more than 160 countries.

21st Pollux Awards

The Flying Dutchman, 2021. © Donna D. Conrad.

Deadline: April 14

Though we often focus on the new and shiny, there is amazing beauty in the decayed, the corroded, the rusted and it can make images of those items so much more compelling and interesting.

Consider the textures and colors in an abandoned, dilapidated factory or prison, the rust on an old bike, contrasting plaster and lathing on a corroded wall, and the myriad of possible captures in a junkyard.

Neighborhoods, disparagingly called "run down", are treasure troves of "decayed" tumble down houses, "corroded" discarded toys, "rusted" cars, trash cans and so on.

Decay, Corrosion, Rust.... can take many forms; black and white, color, abstract - all photographic media are welcome.

As with all calls, all 2D photographic art is accepted.

NYC4PA

 Untitled, 2012. Holga with Flash.
© Steve Anchell

September 6 to 8, 2024

Limited Enrollment

Sooner or later all artists begin to repeat themselves, their work, however good it might be, becomes predictable. When this happens, and it does for all of us, the way to reawaken your vision is to try something new.

Photography is dependent on technology, whether it is film or digital. Are you always using a Leica? Do you only use a Fujifilm digital camera? Are your images always sharp and in focus? Time to shake up your game.

In September 2024 we will spend one weekend photographing in the streets of Rome with a plastic Holga film camera. During the weekend we will develop the film using a Lab-Box and digitize it for enlarging and printing, creating images that are a melding of the best of film and digital.

You will be amazed at how this will change your vision and how much fun you will have.

As part of your tuition, you will receive a Holga camera.

The weekend workshop will be sponsored by ars-imago, a premier camera store in Rome. "Holga Weekend in Rome" is not yet posted on my website. If you are interested in attending send me an email as enrollment is limited.

Keep Me Posted

If you want to extend your stay in Italy and maximize your experience, immediately following HOLGA weekend, join me for 5 days of street photography in Rome

If you enroll in both the Rome workshop and HOLGA Weekend, you will receive a discount on both workshops. Street Photography in Rome is not yet posted on my website. If you are interested in participating, email me, as enrollment is limited.

Keep Me Posted

© Steve Anchell

Street photography is a genre that records unmediated chance encounters and random incidents in public places. The very publicness of the setting enables the photographer to take candid pictures of strangers, often without their knowledge. Street photographers do not necessarily have a social purpose, but they prefer to isolate and capture moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. The street photographer is an outsider, a voyeur in the true sense, in that they watch and wait until the right moment occurs and capture it using a camera.

The workshop will begin Friday evening with a presentation that will guide you through many techniques and pitfalls for creating successful street photography, followed by a Q&A session. On Saturday and Sunday, we will visit two different areas of Portland to practice street photography with Steve’s guidance.

The Oregon Society of Artists sponsors this workshop.

Taking It to the Streets