Work by graduating Maine Media College students will be on view from May 21-28 at Asymmetrick Arts in Rockland, ME. The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, presents work developed by the students over the past nine months as part of their completion of MMC’s Professional Certificate (PC) program.
Among this spring’s PC graduates at Maine Media College will be the first PC students in the school’s multimedia program. "It's been an exciting inaugural year of the multimedia program at Maine Media College,” says Tim McLaughlin, Multimedia Program Director at MMC. “Over the past 30 weeks, our students have learned the importance of storytelling with any medium, and I'm pleased to be able to share their experience with the public at large."
The multimedia work will debut at a public reception and graduation celebration scheduled for Thursday, May 27 from 6-8pm. Asymmetrick Arts is located at 405 Main Street in Rockland, Maine, and gallery hours are Monday-Saturday, 10-5:30pm.
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A selection of photographic prints by MMW instructor Terry Abrams will now greet patients and visitors at the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center at the University of Michigan.
The Center, which on March 1st opened the brand-new Brehm Tower to expand the university’s capacity for eye care, research and education, recently purchased thirty of Abrams’ prints for permanent display in public areas and patient rooms throughout the building. Dr. Paul Lichter, director of the new building, personally visited Abrams’ studio to select the prints, which include both color and black & white images of landscape and architectural subjects.
This fall, in preparation for conducting a 2011 college photography course, Abrams will travel to Turkey on a grant from the Turkish Cultural Foundation (TCF). During his trip, Abrams plans to travel, photograph and study in Istanbul as well as in smaller villages in the south and east of the country.
Terry Abrams is an experienced teacher and photographer, and since 1990 has taught at Washtenaw Community College and The University of Michigan.
This summer in Rockport he teaches B&W Digital Photography June 27-July 3; Introductory Digital Photography July 4-10 and August 1-7; and From Lightroom to Photoshop August 8-14.
Photographs taken during a recent trip to the Ukraine will be the focus of an upcoming two-person exhibition featuring MMW instructor Sylvia Plachy. The exhibition, Sylvia Plachy & Gyorgy Beck [Metaphysical Landscapes] will be on view through July 1, with an opening reception on Saturday, May 15 from 6-8pm at the Salamatina Gallery in Manhasset, NY.
The exhibition features two friends, Plachy and Beck, who are both well-known Hungarian-born artists in their own right. In addition to photographs they produced during their January 2010 trip to the Ukraine, a selection of both black and white and color images from throughout each artist’s career will be on view.
Sylvia Plachy is a celebrated photographer and photo essayist whose work is in many of the world’s major collections. In February she was given the prestigious Dr. Erich Salomon award for lifetime achievement in photojournalism. This summer she will teach her third workshop at Maine Media, Where the Thread Leads, from June 20-26.
MMW's newest video, which highlights our popular Young Artists "YO" Program, has just been released and is available for online viewing.
Produced and directed by Maine Media College Professional Certificate Program graduate Kevin Carragher, with production and post production assistance from Chris Lehmann, the project is the result of a summer-long effort to document the dynamic and intensive high school workshops here in Maine.
Kevin, MMW 2009 Post Production Manager, worked with his Post team to interview students and faculty, shooting documentary footage of the students at work – and at play – while overseeing to the daily operations of a busy post production department. They've captured the magic of a teen summer in Maine, where talented young artists come from around the world to share and expand their passion for media arts. The short film culminates in a display of stunning photographic and film work by the YOs themselves.
Like all things Maine Media, this video is a collaboration of talents. In addition to extensive video footage, still photography from MMW faculty and staff, including Massimo Bassano, Tim Broekema, Carrie Pratt, Shea Richards, Kendrick Disch, and Brendan Bullock, is also incorporated in the piece.
Kevin has just returned to Maine to assist Anelisa Garfunkel in teaching the first Seven-week Film Workstudy session of the year.
Doug Hart returns to Rockport in June to lead the Camera Assistant for Film & HD workshop. This is his 31st year at the school, demonstrating his dedication to education while pursuing a rewarding freelance career as a first camera assistant in the industry.
He is known throughout the industry as the man who “wrote the book” on camera assisting. In The Camera Assistant: A Complete Professional Handbook, he describes the important facets and duties of the first and second camera assistants' jobs, whether in feature films, episodic television, documentaries, commercials, or music videos. Teaching notes for his Maine class became the book in 1996, because until then, there was no textbook for this work.
Doug has worked as first camera assistant on feature films, documentaries, television shows, and commercials for more than 35 years, including 10 years (and 10 films) as working with Gordon Willis, ASC. Projects include Presumed Innocent, Stardust Memories, Hannah and Her Sisters, NBC's The Cosby Mysteries, and CBS's Central Park West. He is a member and former president of the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600, IATSE, and currently serves on their National Executive Board and National Training Committee. He is also currently teaching Cinematography at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
“I came to Rockport first as a student at the Feature Film Lighting Workshop 30 years ago, and fell in love with the place and the idea,” Doug recalls. “I've been back every year since, first as assistant instructor and now as instructor. I love teaching, but I always learn something, too, from the other instructors and from the students. We never stop learning, and MMW is the best place I know of to do that.”
Doug stays in Maine after his Workshop to assist with Camera Operator. These classes can be taken individually, in sequence, or as part MMW’s Cinematography Residency program.
MMW film instructor Ziad Hamzeh has a packed travel schedule this spring and summer, which includes stops in Maine, Los Angeles, Tunisia and the Middle East. Along the way he will make appearances at several locations to receive awards before getting to work on his new film project, Asmahan.
After spending a weekend in Rockport at the spring MFA retreat, Ziad flew to Tunisia where his contribution to the world of cinema and art was recognized with a medal of honor at the Tunisian Spring Film and Arts Festival. After that he returns to Hollywood to be honored by the Open Fist Theatre Company, a top theatre in LA that he founded and ran until 1995.
Following this, Ziad will be back in the Middle East for pre-production meetings regarding his new film Asmahan. The film, he explains, is “about a Druze princess with eyes so green, who became the toast of Cairo in the 1930s…only to be killed at age 26 for her defiance of traditions.” In between all of this, he will teach two film directing workshops in Rockport between June 20 and July 3.
Ziad, President/CEO of Hamzeh Mystique Films, is an award-winning director, producer, and writer. He teaches The Director’s Craft June 20-26 and Directing Actors for the Camera June 27-July 3 at MMW.
June is one of two spectacular months in Maine that are often overlooked by visitors (September coming in a close second). Early summer in the Pine Tree State is a time for stunning new growth in gardens, along costal routes, and in the countryside; the transition from a Maine winter to summer is always exciting and (usually) quite pleasant!
Now, if you were in Rockport mid-June last year, we know: rain, rain – and more rain. But we were not alone; most of the country experienced similar record precipitation woes. Actually, our students seemed philosophical about working in rainy weather – foggy mornings provided fascinating lighting configurations for class field trips. Imagine the budget needed to provide such special effects on a real-world production!
We’re pleased to report that this year’s Farmer’s Almanac predicts a drier than usual June for Maine, so don’t overlook our early workshops when making your summer plans.
The George Eastman House has recently acquired for its permanent collection two photographs by MMW instructor Jesse Kalisher. The new acquisitions include an image from his Mona Lisa series, Mona Lisa at the Mona Lisa and another of the pyramids at Giza, Pyramids at Dawn, both silver gelatin prints.
The George Eastman House, located in Eastman’s former home in Rochester, NY, is an international museum of photography and film with an extensive collection of photographs, negatives, films, and technology. “That I can play a small role in the evolution of photography and The George Eastman House's collection is a wonderful distinction that I will work hard to live up to,” Kalisher says.
Kalisher has photographs in permanent collections of many other museums around the world, and was recently named one of 28 Lexar Elite Photographers for 2010/11. He will be in Maine this summer to teach his workshop, The Art of Black & White Photography from June 13-19.