Hey ya'll,
Sarah here, again. Trying desperately to keep up with the blog posts. It's hard work; you shouldn't envy me.
Now that we've cleared up the White Sands Adventure of 2011, I'm going to move on to our time in Santa Fe. Aj and I were involved with different things there, so I'll just discuss how my weekend went.
The weekend we were in lovely and sunny Santa Fe just so happened to be the weekend that the Porfolio Bootcamp took place at Center, a wonderful photography nonprofit organization. I decided a few months ago it would be a good idea to participate in this event, which was dedicated to refining one's photo portfolio by providing one-on-one reviews, lectures, meals (food helps refine everything), and mingling events.
Portfolio Bootcamp was held at the IHM Retreat Center, which was situated partway up a hill, about two miles from "downtown" Santa Fe. The Retreat Center was a lovely place to call home for a few days. Although, as it used to be the oldest Tuberculosis hospital in the U.S, it did cast some eerie feelings over me at night. But all in all, my time there was filled with beautiful light, nice beds, filling meals, and fun company.
The events over the weekend were at once exhausting and exciting. From Friday afternoon until Sunday morning, I was either learning about photography (be it the making of pictures, the promoting of my work, or the editing/sequencing/writing about my work), receiving personal feedback about my photography, or talking to peers and professionals about all aspects of photography. I haven't been that engrossed in my field since graduating college two years ago. It was absolutely wonderful, but also a bit draining.
The presenters for the weekend were Rob Haggart, David Bram, Maggie Blanchard, Joanna Hurley, Melanie McWhorter, Michele Penhall, Robin Fisher-Roffer, Amber Terranova, and Katherine Ware. They varied from publishers to editors to curators, from all around the country. Their presentations were informative and thoughtful, and the one-on-one reviews were even more helpful.
I received pretty great feedback about my work, and I think some exciting things will be happening in the future, which I'll discuss in the coming months.
I definitely had some hesitations about participating in a portfolio review/boot camp event, but it was well worth the extra money and effort. It was very important for me to receive critical feedback, especially because I'm currently photographing around the country. And, it was just as important to meet other photographers who are as passionate about the medium as I am.
So most of my time in Santa Fe was spent at this Bootcamp. I did go out into the city a few times, once for a lovely dinner with Aj and once for some celebratory drinks with fellow Bootcamp-ers.
I also visited the Fisher Press Gallery, which is owned by a friend of one of my old coworkers, and photo-eye, which is a gallery and photo bookstore in Santa Fe. I bought a beautiful Todd Hido book, which I've long admired and pined over. I also tried to soak up some of the lovely autumn Santa Fe light when I could.
All in all, it was a great weekend. Quite productive, and also fun. Plus, I think I have a new outlook on my career, with potential new opportunities.
As for Aj's time in Santa Fe--I'll let her tell you about that. Stay tuuuuuned!
Yours in a blogging frenzy,
Sarah
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