Special Guest:   Jay Ball

Topic:   Sight Gags – A book of photographic humor!

Note: Until further notice, our meetings will be via Zoom.

We have a special guest speaker, Jay Ball, for our October 5 Education Night (rescheduled from September 28).  Jay will be talking about his recently published (with his son, Alan) book of photographs: Sight Gags.

Jay and Alan have a lot in common, including their love of photography and wordplay.  Some 25 years ago, they came up with a way to combine the two – a technique they call photopuns.  As seen in the example below, the title of each photograph and its subject are connected via creative wordplay.

Jay will be sharing with us the inspiration for this ongoing project, some of his creative techniques, and an assortment of images from the book.

From Jay: In these days of COVID-19, climate change, gerrymandering, election interference, massive unemployment, Roe v. Wade under siege, nuclear proliferation, world hunger, racism, overpopulation, marine pollution, social unrest and … what have we forgotten? … we thought you might like something to make you smile.  Hopefully, this will do the trick.

Jay got his first camera – a Brownie Reflex – as a gift on his 12th birthday. That was 73 years ago, and he’s been hooked on photography ever since.

If you are new to the group or have any questions, please let me know. We look forward to seeing you.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com

Note: Until further notice, our meetings will be via Zoom.

As discussed at our November meeting, December 14 is our Virtual Holiday Dinner – on our regular meeting night (2nd Monday). In lieu of our usual image review, you can bring your dinner to the virtual meeting and we can discuss the impact of COVID-19 on our artistic lives and (as usual) anything else that tickles our fancy! If you have images you’d like to share, I’m sure we’ll have time for that too. Chinese food is traditional for our holiday dinners, but since we’re all isolated we can each bring whatever we’d like to eat.

I’m looking forward to a successful end to 2020, a swift roll-out of one or more safe and effective vaccines, and a return to a semblance of normal as early in 2021 as possible. My hope is that we can have our traditional restaurant Holiday Dinner in 2021, and that by then the stresses of 2020 will be a fading memory.

I look forward to seeing you on the 14th, and wish you a healthy and safe holiday season.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}

Optional theme:  Cocktail(s)

Note: Until further notice, our meetings will be via Zoom.

We usually have a holiday party in December instead of our Image Review meeting, but COVID rates are too high for some of us – so the holiday party will be held in the spring instead.  In recognition of this holiday season, you all are encouraged to bring your favorite takeout meal and your favorite beverage to the Image Review, and we can celebrate on Zoom while we review each others’ images! See you then.

Please join us for our monthly image review night. This is a great opportunity to share your work with other artists and receive useful feedback. Feel free to ask for our thoughts in specific areas, or to seek general impressions of your artwork. Some of our artists bring more than one variation of a piece, or several stages of a work-in-progress. Let us know what you’re seeking, and we’ll do our best to provide it.

The “optional theme” for each meeting is just that … optional. Some of our members enjoy finding or creating images that fit the theme, while other members have specific images or projects that they would like feedback on. Whatever works for you is fine.

Our general guideline is that each artist may bring up to 8 images for a typical review. Prints are encouraged, as this is the best way to see an artwork as its maker envisions it. Digital images are (of course) welcome, on USB memory sticks and a variety of other digital media. If you bring more than eight images, we’ll need to go through them quickly. If you want to spend more time discussing an image, just bring fewer. We want to make sure everyone has time to present their work.

Our digital display is 1920 x 1080 resolution. You may want to optimize your image for this size, though our display software will scale your image if it is larger or smaller. The JPG file format is preferred, to keep file size down and ensure compatibility with our software.

If you are new to the group or have any questions, please let me know. We look forward to seeing you and your photographs.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}

Hold the date … details TBD.  We will discuss options during the November meeting.

Holiday dinner @ Restaurant.
Virtual holiday dinner.
Regular image review.

I’m looking forward to a successful end to 2022, a look forward to getting together in person if we feel it will be safe to do so.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}

After several years without an in-person holiday party, we’re bringing back this annual tradition. It is great to meet you in person and to discuss photography over a good meal.

Please join us at 6:30 pm at Minado Restaurant in Natick for an all-you-can-eat buffet that includes sushi, cold entrees, salads and hot entrees. The cost for this dinner is $40/person (including tax and tip).

Please let me know if you plan to come, so I can make the necessary arrangements at Minado.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}