News

Zuck Wins Reel Gold at Miami’s 48 Hour Film Festival

MMW film alum, Jonathan Zuck, and his non-profit performance troupe, DC Dogs, won Best Picture, Audience Choice, Best Editing, and Best Special Effects at the 2010 Miami 48-Hour Film Festival for their film, Palindrome.

In cities around the world between 7 pm on Friday and 7 pm on Sunday all creative work for the 48 Hour Film Festival occurs. Prior to the official start, a film company may organize their all-volunteer cast and crew, and can secure locations and equipment, with a three camera maximum. Added to the time challenge, each group is assigned a list of elements that must appear in their film. These elements may include the genre, a character, a prop, and/or a line of dialogue.

Jonathan recalls his Workshops experience, “The name ‘DC Dogs’ originated in 2001 at the Workshops! It all began in 4-week Film School with Brad Battersby and John Demps. The time I spent at the Workshops has had an incredible influence on my filmmaking and photography. Everything from my directing style to my cinematography and editing all had their origins in Rockport. Tamar Kummel, another member of the Dogs and frequent writer and star, considers Rockport her home away from home as well. It is a magical place.” 

Newman Prize Winner Schiffer Speaks at the Farnsworth Sep 15

Join photographer and MMW alumna, Emily Schiffer, recipient of the first Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture, as she speaks about her ongoing Cheyenne River project. Emily will share her winning body of work Wednesday, September 15 at 8 pm in the Farnsworth Auditorium.

Shiffer developed this collection while teaching My Viewpoint, a program she founded in 2005 on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. During her teaching there, Emily and her students photographed alongside each other and created images that “explore ‘play’ as a vehicle through which youth reveal and negotiate their emotions, traumas, and desires.”

The Newman 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 Art Museum.

The Farnsworth is at 16 Museum Street in Rockland, Maine. The cost for this special event is $5 for Farnsworth members and $8 for nonmembers and is limited to 70 people.

Vinny Award Winner Announced at Photoshop World

This week at Photoshop World in Las Vegas, Bessmarie "Beamie" Young was named winner for the coveted Vincent Versace Award for Excellence in Digital Photography.

Nicknamed “The Vinny,” this competition is open to all attendees of the conference and the prize is awarded during the opening keynote presentation.

The winner receives an extensive list of sought-after industry goodies from Epson, Dynalite, Xrite, Hoodman, Wacom, Lowepro, and Adobe, and includes a one-week tuition scholarship to Maine Media Workshops. "I'm thrilled that this prize includes a Maine Media Workshop experience for the winner," says Versace " Maine is all about intensive imaging education and moving forward as an artist."

MMW looks forward to welcoming Beamie, a Maine native, to Rockport in 2011. Vincent is back on campus October 17 - 23 teaching his workshop Return to Oz - The Environmental Landscape. 

Brenton Hamilton Cyanotypes and Gum Bichromate Works at the SMFA Gallery through Oct 23

Brenton Hamilton, Maine Media instructor and Photography Chair of the Professional Certificate Program, joins the ranks of Ansel Adams and August Sander at the Susan Maasch Fine Art gallery in Portland, Maine.

Hamilton’s exhibition, Brenton Hamilton Cyanotypes and Gum Bichromate Works, features a combination of his past works and new, unreleased works from 2010. “This is my inaugural exhibition with the Susan Maasch Fine Art in Portland. I am a new gallery artist there which is really exciting,” explains Hamilton.

An innovative, contemporary visual artist, Brenton is renown as a master of the 1840’s cyanotype process. Through expertly mixing anatomy, astronomy, and botany in his images, he creates dreamlike visions reminiscent of Renaissance paintings.

Brenton is an accomplished and dedicated teacher as well as photographer/visual artist and a founding member of Obscura, a non-profit organization that supports arts education for youth. His first monograph, The Blue Poet Dreams, was published earlier this year.

The Susan Maasch Fine Art gallery is located at 567 Congress Street in Portland.

Coyle's Kitchen Is the Hit of the Summer

This summer saw the first of the culinary stylings of new chef David Coyle. His cuisine has been the hit of the summer, refueling photography, filmmaking, and multimedia students through their intense workshops. Coyle joined MMW in early March and is enjoying a successful first season at the Workshops, feeding as many as 250 students, faculty and staff three meals a day. 

David and his staff work tirelessly to provide workshoppers with the best dining experience. He has been incredibly accommodating to dietary needs, providing vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options at every meal. A weekly menu is given out to students at the time of their arrival on Sunday so they know what to expect from every meal. 

Lottie Hedley, a Photography Residency student, says of the food, "It has been such a joy being able to sit under the dining tent with my fellow students after a long day of classes and enjoy a delicious, hearty meal. The food has become quintessential to my experience here. Every meal brings us together as a community." 

Students Support Scholarships With Print Gallery Gifts

MMW has launched a new campus fund-raising initiative this summer: the Scholarship Print Gallery, offering student photographs for sale to benefit the school's scholarship fund.

We are working to build a fund that provides access to workshops for aspiring artists who could not otherwise attend. The print gallery, located outside the Haas Registration building, is a place for the school's community to take an active role in these efforts.

During each week of classes, students are invited to donate prints and post them in the Gallery. Each print is $25. The public is welcome to browse, make a selection, and bring home an original print as a souvenir of their time at MMW or of their trip to Maine.

Tom Martinet, summer workshop student from California, purchased several prints to take home. “When I travel I love going into a gallery and finding an image that isn’t too out of my price range; one that strikes my aesthetic sense. I was drawn to an image that reminded me of a Salvador Dali painting or a Jerry Uelsmann photo. As I was looking at it, a young man who was part of the group that created it gave me some background details and that sealed the deal. There is a real family feel to everything in Rockport. I so look forward to returning.”

Thank you to the many students and community members who have already participated in this growing effort!

MMW’s Postmen Produce 5-Star Film

Every Sunday evening, students arriving at MMW are introduced to the entire Workshops staff, all in about five minutes. Thanks to the 2010 Post production team, Staff Infection, a staff introduction and campus tour video, offers a hilarious kick-off to student orientation.

Filmed by Post Production Manager, Chris Lehmann, the short film features Staff Editors Nik Siefke, Ian Bibby, Kevin Brown and Post Intern Cole Christine, and takes viewers on a whirlwind tour of the school - with a little help from students in The Steadicam Workshop.

Kevin Brown, recalls, “We didn’t think anything would come of it. The Steadicam class shot us moving; they did some really professional work. We have a very enthusiastic and energetic staff here; we have a lot of fun while we learn.”

Enjoying his eighth summer at MMW, Joe O’Brien, Final Cut Pro student from Washington D. C., notes, “The environment at Maine Media Workshops is both intensive and fun. This video proves that you can have a great time working hard.”

Amelia Holmes, senior at Bennington College and Narrative Portrait student, describes the film as, “very catchy.” Interested in the relationship between people and the environment through art, Amelia views the video through a psychological lens, “It’s an amusing and wonderful way to give students information about who can help and how to find things.”

Robert Stevens, in Writing and Developing the Documentary reports, “The video makes it clear that this is a professional school. The media skills people have here are impressive.”

Go beyond your boundaries! View The Postmen in Staff (Infection) Introduction.

MFA Student Wins Prestigious Fellowship

Francie Bishop Good, photographer and Master of Fine Arts student at MMC, received the maximum award of $15,000 from the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship program. After submission to the competition, the collective body of work Francie submitted was judged by a national jury of artists, curators and educators, then by a regional jury, and then by artists in Palm Beach County. As described by the consortium, the only criterion for choosing the winners is “simply” artistic excellence. 

Francie’s work is anything but simple.  A graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art and the International Center of Photography, Francie earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from Arts for the Future, the Silver Medallion Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice, and the Crystal Vision Award from the Hollywood Art and Culture Center. 

Francie explains, “The thread that holds my work together is the unorthodox compositions and the interest in people together, but yet apart. People lost in their own world, their thoughts. My particular interest concentrates on relationships, both culturally and interpersonally.”

David Castillo of the David Castillo Gallery in Miami describes Francie's work as that which "employs the compositional structure of painting through photography to examine the psychological and cultural realms of the human condition." Francie's first solo exhibitiion with the David Castillo Gallery opens in February, 2011.

Maine Media College proudly extends their congratulations to this MFA candidate!

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