News

BPPA Awards go to Chavez, Suarez

image: Dominic ChavezAmong the winners of the 2009 BPPA Photo Contest are MMW instructors Dominic Chavez and Essdras Suarez, who collectively brought home five awards for their excellence in news photography.

Chavez's image "Death at Birth" won first place for both the Feature Picture Story and General News categories, and his photograph “Airborne” won third place in the Portrait/Personality category. Suarez’s photograph “Mourning the Lion” won first place in the News Picture Story category, and he received an honorable mention for "Mirror Dance" in the Feature category.

The annual contest, put on by the Boston Press Photographers Association (BPPA), is judged by a panel of three working photojournalists and awards prizes in fifteen categories of news photography. The winners are listed on the BPPA website.

Suarez is a staff photographer at the Boston Globe and teaches Photojournalism: The Chameleon’s Approach at MMW June 13-19.  Chavez photographed for twenty years at the Denver Post and the Boston Globe, and is now a freelance photographer. This summer, he returns to MMW to teach Photographing the Human Condition from August 15 – August 21.

"Anonymous" Award takes Modica to Italy

image: Andrea ModicaJust a week after teaching her Intuitive Portraits workshop in Maine this June, Andrea Modica will board a plane for Italy to embark on a six-month photography project. As a 2010 winner of the Anonymous Was a Woman Award, Andrea will use her grant to spend time in Modena, photographing best friends in a high school for kids studying art.

The grant came as quite a surprise. The Anonymous Was a Woman Foundation annually distributes ten $25,000 no-strings attached grants to women artists more than 35 years old at critical junctures in their careers. True to its name, nominators and others associated with the program are anonymous, and the artists are unaware that they are being considered for the award. “I was not only surprised, I was thrilled,” Andrea says of her reaction upon learning she had been chosen as a grant recipient. “It’s a project I've been working on in the States and Italy, on an off, for a couple of decades, but now I'll get to pursue this in earnest.” Images of Andrea’s work, including selections from her best friends project, can be found at her website.

An established photographer with an international reputation, Andrea is a professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia. From June 13-19 she teaches Intuitive Portraits at MMW.

Schiffer Awarded First Newman Prize

image: Emily SchifferThe Arnold and Augusta Newman Foundation has named Brooklyn-based photographer, and MMW alumna, Emily Schiffer, as recipient of the inaugural Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture for her ongoing Cheyenne River project.

The prestigious prize, which recognizes an individual for their innovative approach to photographic portraiture, comprises $15,000 and a solo exhibition in August at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine.  

Schiffer developed her Cheyenne River project while teaching with My Viewpoint, a youth photography program she founded in 2005 on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. When teaching, she and her students photograph alongside each other, creating images that “explore ‘play’ as a vehicle through which youth reveal and negotiate their emotions, traumas and desires”. Schiffer’s exhibition will open August 14 at the Farnsworth Museum, and her work can be viewed on her website.

The prize was offered through the 2009 Photo Annual competition of Photo District News and is sponsored by the Arnold and Augusta Newman Foundation with support from Maine Media Workshops, the American Society of Media Photographers, Photo District News, and the Farnsworth Museum. Recognized as the “Father of Environmental Portraiture”, and acknowledged as one of the great masters of photography in the 20th century, Arnold Newman shared his wealth of experience as a teacher at the Workshops for over 30 years.

Bassano in Amalfi for "National Geographic Traveler"

Nat'l Geographic Traveler/Massimo BassanoMMW photography instructor Massimo Bassano recently traveled within his native country of Italy to shoot the cover story for April 2010’s National Geographic Traveler magazine.

The story, written by Elizabeth Berg, is an account of the author’s experiences during a solo one-week cooking vacation in the coastal hill town of Positano, along the Amalfi coast. Accompanying her article are Bassano’s mouthwatering images of quintessential Italian fare: colorful fresh vegetables and pasta in tomato sauce and herbs, as well as a variety of images of the people and places that make Positano special.

The story can be found in its entirety online at the National Geographic Traveler website, along with Bassano’s accompanying image gallery. A photojournalist with international publication credits, Massimo leads his workshop The Human Touch here in Maine June 6 - 12.

MMW Instructor Horn On MediaStorm Project

"Take Care" on MediaStormMultimedia faculty Brad Horn is fresh off the site of a recent documentary he helped produce in March as part of a workshop run by multimedia production studio MediaStorm. Take Care follows 22-year old Virginia Gandee, a single mother living in Staten Island, NY. One is initially struck by her appearance, with bright red hair and a dozen tattoos, but over the course of eight minutes the film quickly pulls in its viewers with a deeper story of Gin’s personal history, hopes for her daughter’s future as well as her own, and the love and care she has for her family.

As Associate Producer, one of Brad’s main roles was to help gather good sound for the piece. Acknowledging that in multimedia, sound is the most important vehicle in communicating a story, he says “we basically started with a radio piece, and then added visuals”. The resulting story is a well-composed, compelling account of one woman’s struggles and hopes which challenges viewers to look beyond initial stereotypes and get to know Gin as a complex, caring person. “This was just a great example of what you can do with such a talented and energetic group of people”, he remarked, citing the contribution of New York Times Magazine photographer Gillian Laub as especially valuable.  Currently Brad is working on another MediaStorm piece in Georgia. 

When he’s not teaching at MMW or producing for other multimedia projects, Brad works as a reporter, producer, and anchor for National Public Radio member station WAER in Syracuse, New York. Here in Maine, Brad teaches Introduction to Audio Storytelling.

Bloxham's Road Trip "Shootapalooza"

Shootapalooza imageAndy Bloxham is on his way to Maine from Louisiana, but he's taking a round-about route. This photographer and MMW instructor is turning a three-day trip in to an 11-day, 3,000-mile photo journey he's calling "Shootapalooza".

"Starting out on May 26, I'm going from Louisiana to Springfield, Missouri, then Des Moines, then Minneapolis, then Chicago, then Pittsburgh, then NYC, then Boston, then finally to Maine," says Andy, an LA native who received his MFA in photography from Louisiana Tech University. "At each stop, I'll be creating cinematic, constructed still images, each telling a unique fictional story, with area actors and models at various regional locations. Current estimates are for a total of 15 new images from the trip as I roll onto 70 Camden Street," destination Rockport.

Andy will also blog each step of the way on his website with production photos, video interviews, and travel insights.

Once in Maine, Andy will prepare to teach a series of summer workshops including From Lightroom to Photoshop June 6 - 12, Photoshop for Photographers June 13 - 19. In July, he leads Photoshop for Video July 4 - 10 and a 2-week Advanced Young Digital Photographers workshop July 11 - 24. Safe travels Andy - we'll be watching!

CIFF 2010 Calls for Entries

CIFF LogoThe Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) is now accepting submissions for the 2010 fest.  Documentary features and shorts of any length will be considered.  Fresh off a very successful 5th edition last October, CIFF has recently been recognized as one of the Top 25 Film Festivals for Documentary Films and Filmmakers Internationally and is quickly gaining serious attention from the film industry worldwide.   

"We love films that push the artistic boundaries of the form. We also love films that shed light on the important issues in our world. Most importantly, we love a good story," says Founder and Director, Benjamin Fowlie. Rough cuts and work-in-progress films are also invited for submission.  

There are several deadlines between now and the closing of submission on August 1st:  the early bird deadline is May 1, the regular deadline is June 15. For more information on how to submit, visit CIFF's website.

Trudell's Film Career Rolls in Boston

image: Shea RichardsMaine Media College graduate and MMW Young Artists film instructor, Travis Trudell, has built a steady filmmaking career for himself in Boston.

Since graduating in 2001, he has consistently gained industry experience on the East Coast, working as rigging grip and rigging electrician on films like 21, The Women 27 Dresses, and more recent projects like Edge of Darkness and Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island.

Several films he's worked on will be released later this year, including Grown Ups with Adam Sandler, Salma Hayek, and Chris Rock, and Ben Affleck's The Town.

Travis leads his two-week MMW Young Filmmakers workshop for high school students June 27 - July 10 and returns to Rockport August 8 - 21 to teach Advanced Young Filmmakers.

 

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