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

“You can look at a picture for a week and never think of
it again. You can also look at a picture for a second
and think of it all your life.” –Joan Miró

Exhibition Dates: June 15 to July 13, 2024

David Levingston's portrait of DaisyVon has received an Honorable Mention in the Praxis Galleries Portrait competition. It will be displayed at the Praxis Gallery in Minneapolis until July 13.

The photo of David (on the right) was taken at an exhibit at the Springfield Museum in Ohio in June. It shows him standing next to the image that appeared in the exhibit.

Praxis Gallery

Cowboy Photographer

Jay Dusard inspires us all. He has spent his career documenting cowboys, ranchers, and the American West, where he lives. Now in his eighties, he's still active doing what he loves.

In The Darkroom Cookbook, you will find an insert on bleaching using potassium ferricyanide by Jay, who is known in film circles as "Captain Ferricyanide," acknowledging his mastery of the process. He is also well known on the gallery circuit as a master black-and-white printer.

In 1981, Dusard was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, allowing him to pursue the working cowboy, buckaroo, and vaquero as a photographic subject. The resulting body of work was published in The North American Cowboy: A Portrait (1983). His second book, Open Country, was awarded third place in the 1994 Photographic Book of the Year competition. In 2005, he collaborated with writer Thomas McGuane on Horses. A documentary by Michael Markee, Jay Dusard: Keeping the West Western, premiered at the Sedona International Film Festival in 2006.

In this video, made about 13 years ago, Jay uses a film camera. Since then, he has gone completely digital.

Jay Dusard

Invasion by Warsaw Pact Troops in front of the Radio Headquarters, Prague, 1968. © Josef Koudelka

Josef Koudelka is one of the most important photographers of our time. His unflinching eye has borne witness to many of the seminal events of our time at extreme risk to his own life. 

In 1968, Koudelka photographed the Soviet invasion of Prague, publishing his photographs under the initials P.P. (Prague photographer). In 1969, he was anonymously awarded the Overseas Press Club’s Robert Capa Gold Medal for the photographs. Koudelka left Czechoslovakia seeking political asylum in 1970, and shortly thereafter, he joined Magnum Photos.

In next month's Nexus issue, I will feature his feminine counterpart, Susan Meiselas.

Josef Koudelka Interview

During my more than 53 years as a photographer, I have used everything from an underwater Nikonos to and 8x10" view camera. Every camera has a different feel and a different way of recording the world.

I have been using toy cameras since 1983, beginning with a Diana camera that cost $3.95. Anytime I need to refresh my vision or overcome periods of creative stagnation, I pick up a Holga, Diana, or LOMO, and spend a few days working exclusively with it. While most toy cameras require film, at least one is digital, a Camp Snap Camera.

This documentary, produced by the BBC, explains how the toy camera, in this case the LOMO, can refresh your vision and broaden your connections with a world of toy camera users.

It will also help you understand the importance of joining me in Rome for a weekend Holga workshop to learn to visualize in new and unexpected ways.

© Jill Enfield

The collodion process, invented around 1850, was the first widely used photographic process that produced a negative image on a transparent photographic medium. It was an inexpensive process, especially in comparison with the daguerreotype.

Jill Enfield is a fine art photographer, educator, curator, and author who teaches photography with a concentration on historical techniques and alternative processes. Jill uses traditional processes to create experimental, cutting-edge images. Two of her books, Photo Imaging: A Complete Guide To Alternative Processes and Jill Enfield’s Guide to Alternative Processes: Popular Historical and Contemporary Techniques, are used in schools all over the world to teach alternative processes.

Sponsored by Main Media, this workshop will cover the entire process from cutting and preparing glass & aluminum, mixing and handling chemicals, safety procedures, making portable darkrooms, assessment of exposure time, evaluation of results, and all that goes into mastering wet plate collodion.

Wet Plate Collodion Workshop

Antique Car, Seligman, Ariz. 1986. © Steve Anchell

Diana Camera. Plastic lens. Exposure: "Click"

September 6 to 8, 2024

In September 2024, we will spend a weekend photographing in the streets of Rome with plastic low-tech film cameras. You will be amazed at how this will change your vision and how much fun you will have.

During the workshop, I will teach you how to develop your film without a darkroom using a Lab-Box daylight film developing tank.

I have reserved 6 rooms at a hotel within walking distance of the Vatican and our daily meeting location. three of them are already taken. If you would like to join me, don't wait to register.

Immediately following the workshop is the Rome Street Photography workshop, where you may use any camera, film, or digital.

The weekend workshop is sponsored by ars-imago International, a premier camera store in Rome and Zurich.

Holga Camera Workshop

© Michel A. Smith / Lodima Press

Michael A. Smith was a highly influential and inspirational photographer. He was known for his contact prints of large format landscape photography using Amidol print developer and Kodak AZO contact printing paper.

Together with his wife, large format photographer Paula Chamlee, they established Lodima press. A stickler for photographic and reproduction quality, they published portfolios of photographers such as Brett Weston, Robert Adams, George Tice, Linda Conner.

Michael passed away in 2018 at the age of 76. Paula continues the publishing tradition. Recently, she came across a collection of Michael's silver chloride contact prints, some of them are the only remaining copies. She is offering a limited selection of Michael's images for sale.

For those who prefer to collect books containing multiple images, she also has a few copies of Michael's beautiful monograph, A Visual Journey.

You can use the link below to visit the sale page, or contact Paula directly at paula@michaelandpaula.com, t 610-847-2005.

Michael A. Smith Vintage Prints

Designed for modern mirrorless camera systems, this 18-liter pack features customizable dividers for a dedicated camera bag or a hybrid camera/everyday carry bag. Perfect for urban or light outdoor adventures, the pack comes in four stylish two-tone colors.

KEY FEATURES:

• Available in four exclusive colors.
• Designed to carry and protect modern mirrorless camera systems.
• Full divider set with built-in horizontal split to customize for full photo or partial photo combined with personal items.

Get a FREE Tote bag when you use this discount code: FreeTote20

(with $100 minimum order) Tote must be ADDED to your cart!

Mirrorless Mover Camera Backpack

S-Curve on Highway 22, 2021. © Steve Anchell
Sony a6400, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/250 sec at f/14, ISO 100

At its heart, photography is about capturing light. Try these four tips to ensure you get the best results.

1. SUNNY DAY
If you're photographing on a sunny day, the camera in Auto mode will do all the hard work for you. Just point the camera towards your subject, frame using the viewfinder, half-press the shutter button to lock the exposure and fully press the shutter button to take your photo.

2. LOW LIGHT
In a low light environment or during golden hour (just after sunrise or before sunset) or blue hour (twilight when the sun is below the horizon), you might see the hand symbol in the viewfinder to tell you there's not enough light and your photo might be blurry. Set your camera on a tripod or a steady surface for a sharper image.

3. BACKLIT DRAMA
Experiment with the light coming from behind your subject, placing them in shadow. Or, for more control, select Manual mode and play with the settings to find the correct exposure for the effect you want.

4. BREAK THE RULES
The classic approach – a well-lit subject – is to have the light source (like a window) facing your subject or coming from the side. But the more you move around your subject, the better you can understand what the light does and how to break the rules!

For more ideas and motivational projects pick up a copy of my book,
Digital Photo Assignments.

© Anatoliy Dyachenko

Street Photography magazine is accepting submissions for single images and documentary projects for inclusion in their online magazine.

Street Photography Submissions

Final Deadline: April 30, 2025

Las Laguna Art Gallery, located in Laguna Beach, Calif., is featuring a nine-month-long online exhibition exploring the role of Art in today's political landscape. This exhibition is looking for any work the artist considers to be 'political' or politically themed.

This online exhibition will run from July 1st, 2024, through the end of April 2025. 

Each artist who submits will have at least one image selected for inclusion in the show. Artist work will be added to the exhibition within 10 days of submission.

Politics and Art

Adrienn and Eva, 2022. © Steve Anchell
Sony a6400, 1/500 sec @ f/3.5, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, 18mm, ISO 1600

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 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

The Rome Street Photography Workshop is an immersive experience with four day and one-night street photography sessions, accompanied by Steve. The workshop includes presentations on the practice and ethics of street photography, each in a different area of Rome, a viewing of students' work, and a final critique. Steve will share his methods of street photography using the methods he has taught at the International Center of Photography in NYC, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, and Toscana Photography Workshops in Buonconvento, Italy.

If you want to extend your stay in Italy and maximize your experience, join me for five days of street photography in Rome immediately following the HOLGA Camera Workshop.

You will receive a discount if you enroll in both.

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