Photographer Sam Abell Tues, Feb. 28 7PM RCC Photo Studio

Sam Abell's thirty-year career has been dedicated to achieving artistic expression through documentary photography. He has pursued his goals primarily through his lengthy, in-depth coverages for National Geographic magazine and its Book Division. At the same time, he has maintained a career as an artist, teacher, and author.

The material of Abell's photography comes from close contact with the world, especially austere, remote regions. To affirm and, in fact, emphasize his commitment to what actually exists, he has chosen to work in and in a strict documentary tradition. He has applied himself, particularly, to the photography of cultural: He explores ways in which places can be purely recorded, with images simultaneously shaped by the Photographers's imagination.

In addition, he has maintained a personal black-and-white photographic diary that documents the life behind the artistic process. In 1990 Mr. Abell's work was the subject of a one-man exhibition at the International Center of Photography, New York City. A companionbook, Stay This Moment, was published at that time.

In addition to his photography Mr. Abell is a member of the board of the director of the Santa Fe Center For Photography, the George Eastman House, and the University of Virginia Art Museum. In 2002 he collaborated with Leah Bendavid-Val on a retrospective of his life and work titled Sam Abell:The Photographic Life., published by Rizzoli. He is also the author of the book Seeing Gardens, published in 2001.

Currently Mr. Abell is photographing the Amazon headwaters for a book project. An extensive online interview with Mr. Abell and gallery of his images can be found on the Journalist website (Journalist+Sam Abell). Mr. Abell is represented by the Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington DC.

Sam's website address: http://samabell-thephotographiclife.com/

RCC Photo Students Explore China

A group of 10 students traveled with RCC Photography instructor John Rash on a photo exploration trip to China during their winter break December 2011. This trip, the latest in a series that Rash has been organizing since 2009, carried the group through Beijing, Nanjing, Guilin, and Shanghai with stops at the Great Wall, Yangshuo County, fashion photography studio Studio5 in Shanghai, and the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Museum.

Each photo exploration trip Rash has organized to China has offered its own unique path and photographic opportunities, the highlight of the most recent being 3 days spent in the small rural city of Yangshuo which neighbors the larger, more developed Guilin. Students were able to ride bikes through small villages and interact with Chinese citizens who live a much more traditional lifestyle than that in the more industrialized cities of Beijing and Shanghai.

Rash and the students plan to organize a show of printed works later in the year, once the participating students have had time to select and prepare their images for exhibition. For the time being, students such as Mollie Trivette and Helen Gorlesky have already began posting images from China to their own blogs and websites. If you have a moment please visit and leave comments on their respected sites.

Rick Smith Retrospective Opens at RCC January 12, 2012

Randolph Community College Photography Department

& American Society of Media Photographers/NC

Present:

Rick Smith Photographer

Still Hanging in There - A Forty Year Retrospective

Opening Reception -Thursday January 12, 2012 at 6 P.M.

Randolph Community College, Photography Department

(exhibit will remain up until Feb. 29)

"After attending Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, Rick returned home to his native Michigan and began what he calls “ my real education into the photo biz.” That was the experience of working in one of the largest and busiest studios in the Detroit area, first as a photographer’s assistant and later as studio manager overseeing the daily activities of a staff of more than twenty. Rick says, “ I wouldn’t take a million dollars for that education.”

In the 1970’s he and the family moved to North Carolina where he owned and operated a commercial advertising photography studio for more than twenty-five years working with such clients as Eastman Kodak, IBM, Remington Arms, Farm Rich, McDonald’s, US Treasury Dept., The National Archives, and the US Marine Corp, to name a few.

After closing the studio in 1999, he continued, on a limited basis, to do commercial work, however spending more time exploring and creating his personal work.

Rick draws inspiration in the stillness and silence of his subject matter. Being especially drawn to the pastoral countryside he is fascinated by forms and textures in nature with the ability to see the complex unpretentiousness in everyday objects and visually transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Using what he calls his “intuitive vision” he creates messages originating in the heart and revealed by the light; meticulous compositions of substance, tone and texture with an uncompromising attention to detail.

Rick has won numerous regional and national awards for his work including his personal favorite, selected for inclusion in ‘Professional Visions; 40th Anniversary Exhibit of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) at Photokina in Cologne, Germany. He is also included in a permanent collection at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York (1 of only100 images selected from over 27,000 submittals) and has lectured at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) College of Photographic Art. He is also a regular lecturer, workshop leader and contributor in the North Carolina Randolph Community College photographic program.

For more information contact: Chuck Egerton 336-633-0283 caegerton@randolph.edu

“The Lumen Project: Building Working Relationships”

Biocommunications Photography Creative Problem Solving class presented Dr. Robert Shackleford, RCC President, with an autographed copy of their new book entitled “The Lumen Project: Building Working Relationships” and the companion calendar.

The book and the calendar were collaborative projects created by the students under the leadership of their instructor, Kevin Eames. This is the first year the Creative Problem Solving class has been part of the curriculum for Biocommunications Photography. “I am so proud of this class,” Eames said. “The students demonstrated remarkable teamwork in creating the images, designing the book and calendar, working out copyright and publication issues, and producing great products.”

The book is available for purchase through Blurb, the publication company, at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2670463

Profits from this project go to the Randolph Community College Foundation for photography student scholarships. The RCC Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides a margin of excellence for Randolph Community College by building a strong relationship with the local community, acquiring and managing contributions, and funding activities which support the College. For more information about the RCC Foundation, visit http://randolphccfoundation.org.

Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar

Photojournalism students and instructors attended the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, Dec. 2 and 3. The two day event featured workshops, portfolio reviews, speakers and vendors. (photo by Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez)