ALL THE BEST,

2013

mfaphoto.sva.edu

C R E D I T SCharles Traub, chair

Randy West, director of operations, faculty

Michelle Leftheris, systems administrator

(network and video), faculty

Seth Lambert, systems support specialist, faculty

Adam Bell, academic advisor, faculty

Kelly Sullivan, assistant to the chair

V I S UA L A R T S P R E S S

Anthony P. Rhodes, executive vice president

Michael J. Walsh, director of design & digital media

Brian E. Smith, art director

Sheilah Ledwidge, associate editor

S C H O O L O F V I S U A L A R T S M F A P H O T O G R A P H Y, V I D E O A N D R E L AT E D M E D I A

So, who is Alice?

If you missed the answer in our first issue

please call 212.592.2434 or follow this link

mfaphoto.sva.edu/alice

Cover image: Baoyang Chen, class of 2014

ZHANGBOLONG LIU CLASS OF 2015

JUDITH STENNEKEN  CLASS OF 2013

The proposal is a game plan as well as a creative

endeavor. It is the big idea that leads us to a

careful examination of a specific point of view.

Throughout the thesis year, the faculty will

help students achieve their thesis goals.

Collectively we will worry about getting them

through this process. We will witness their

excitement and struggle as they wrestle with

a demanding exploration. The reward is to

experience how each student’s thoughts

become transformed, built and actualized.

The steeled determination of our students is

paramount to their success and a good

reminder that they are drivers of their own ideas

and ultimately their works of art.

Randy West, faculty

T H E S I S P R O P O S A L S P O T L I G H T

Judith StennekenJessica Bandy

Judith Stenneken class of 2013Thesis excerpt

Over the past two years I have lived in three different countries and travelled 87,000 miles:

approximately 8,000 miles in cars, 6,000 in trains and 73,000 in airplanes. I am in motion. I am

in transition, in a permanent state of being between spaces and places. I am a contemporary

nomad. The outside world is one of constant change—landscapes, languages, temperature,

smells and tempi. The slow movement of the clouds is underneath me as I sit in the fastest of all

mass transportation vehicles; the fast movement of a countryside out of the window of a train…

green, brown and grey strokes. Everything is moving; everything is ongoing and never finished.

Yet, I try to interrupt this stream and pause. I take a moment. I take a picture.

I am sitting in the car. The tank is low. It must have been hours since I started driving. I turned

off the navigation system, the Google maps and the radio. I hear the car on the road. The

landscape is vast—stubbles from harvested grains to all sides. Where starts the unknown?

The horizon starts to flicker at the very end of how far I can see. How far is that? Fifty miles? An

hour in a car? Two days walking? Is it the Earth’s curvature or the limitation of my eyesight that

I see in the far distance?

I know this area. I have seen it in movies, pictures and on TV. I have read about it in stories.

I have heard about it through someone else’s description. So what is left to discover? I try

to disconnect from my knowledge of this place and replace it with my own experiences of

the landscapes in front of me, which I will try to see through my eyes only.

In the bus, on the airplane, I am surrounded by people. We do not see each other. We do not

have to talk. I enjoy this kind of anonymity and the play of distance and closeness. It allows

me to be alone in the mass, but not lonely. We share the same limited space, and we are free

to feel a sense of disinterest for the other. For a few hours, we are in a magical space and out

of reach—no phone calls, no emails.

I am at home in hotels that are designed to give me 24-hour comfort, using a set of common

tastes like soaps with citrus flavor, M&Ms and a flat-screen TV. Photos on the walls show images

of the city I am in but might not get to see. Who slept in this room yesterday? Who will sleep

here tomorrow? This room must be full of stories about closeness, exhaustion, happiness, tears,

love, anxiety and sleeplessness. It will be cleaned tomorrow at noon, and there will be no

trace that I lived here for one night.

It’s five miles to the next exit. I guess: McDonald’s, KFC, In-N-Out Burger, Pizza Hut, Starbucks,

Taco Bell and Subway; Shell, Chevron, Texaco and BP; Hyatt, Hilton and Hampton Inn. Unlimited

food, unlimited gas, and unlimited hotels—the endless options to make unlimited decisions

every day. I get lost in the vastness.

JUDITH STENNEKEN   

CLASS OF 2013

JUDITH STENNEKEN   

CLASS OF 2013

Jessica Bandy class of 2013Thesis excerpt

B E T H L E H E M S T E E LBethlehem, a quiet town in eastern Pennsylvania, was once the headquarters of the Bethlehem

Steel Corporation. The Bethlehem Rolling Mill and Iron Company was established in 1860,

and during the next 135 years it provided the steel used to build structures that included the

Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden and the Golden Gate Bridge. Being the second

largest producer of steel in America could not keep Bethlehem Steel from going cold in 1995,

and it officially went bankrupt in 2003 as a result of outdated technology in the plant as well as

management and union issues.

In April 2011, SteelStacks, a mixed-use development, opened on the site, which is now home to

a welcome center, ArtsQuest branch (a non-profit arts organization), the local PBS39 studio, a

Sands casino and hotel complex and the Smithsonian’s Museum of Industrial History. One small

section of the old steel plant remains open and functions under the new name, Lehigh Heavy

Forge. About 300 workers continue to make products there. The site is a hodgepodge of new

and old, and has become a cultural attraction visited by tourists and locals alike.

The site of the steel mill developed gradually and over decades, overtaking rows of houses

in South Bethlehem as it spread out along the Lehigh River. It was a living, breathing machine:

alive with sounds, smells, and the thousands of people who worked there. Now, sitting aban-

doned for more than a decade, this place is experiencing a rebirth of sorts. What does it mean

for a symbol of American industrial might to be transformed into a commercial and cultural

center? What does that say about the past, present, and where we go from here? There are

also the lives and deaths of the employees to consider. These men and women devoted their

lives to the steel, some died on the job, others died from the job, and still others are living out

their lives on what they earned from the job.

This past summer, I interviewed former employees of the steel company. I met the first, Richie

Check, at a blueberry festival two years ago, where he was sitting at the Steelworkers Archives

table. Months later, when we met at his home in South Bethlehem, Richie proceeded to tell me

his life story, beginning with his parents’ arrival in the United States from Czechoslovakia. Between

Richie, his father, eight brothers and one sister, the family devoted 441 years to Bethlehem Steel.

Since then, I have met other workers through Richie, the Archives, and through further contacts

I made in Bethlehem.

I see the story of Bethlehem Steel as a metaphor for what is happening today as technology

changes at a rapid pace and old industries in America are unable to keep up. By examining the

life of the steel plant through the stories and memories of those who knew it best, I hope to better

understand the mark that it has left on history and the ways in which it has shaped the future.

JESSICA BANDY CLASS OF 2013

JESSICA BANDY CLASS OF 2013

C R I T I Q U E

Are you bored with your own work? Confused about

where to go next? Do people nod off during your critiques?

Are you comfortable with your process even before

you’ve found one? Have you read “The Work of Art in the

Age of Mechanical Reproduction” at least 25 times? If

so, you could be failing. And we all could be failing better.

Critique is a place where questions such as these are

pivotal. It is a time—a stage—to court failure, take risks

and to acknowledge the possibility of success.

YINTZU HUANG CLASS OF 2014

MAGGIE SHANNON CLASS OF 2013

BENZ THANACHART CLASS OF 2013

YAEL EBAN CLASS OF 2014

JOEY SBARRO CLASS OF 2013

JEAN BETTINGEN CLASS OF 2014

SINAN TUNCAY CLASS OF 2013

DAVID BROWN CLASS OF 2013

NOAH McLAURINE CLASS OF 2014

DAVID BROWN CLASS OF 2013

GEMMA LOPEZ CLASS OF 2013

FLORE ADELE GAU CLASS OF 2014

ANNA BEEKE CLASS OF 2013

AARON WAX CLASS OF 2014

DALIA AMARA CLASS OF 2013 ELLEN SILVERMAN CLASS OF 2014

CECILIA SALINAS RIOS CLASS OF 2014

BARRY SALZMAN CLASS OF 2014

NIKO J. KALLIANIOTIS CLASS OF 2013

ANGELLE MYERS CLASS OF 2014

KHANH XIU TRAN CLASS OF 2014

MELODY MELAMED CLASS OF 2013

YOAV FRIEDLANDER CLASS OF 2014

HILLARY BASING CLASS OF 2013

A L U M N IS P O T L I G H T

BRIAN CASSIDY AND MELANIE SHATZKY ALUMNI 2006

STILL FROM FRANCINE, 2012

A c

onv

ers

ati

on

bet

we

en

alu

mni

Bri

an

M. C

ass

idy

(20

06),

Me

lani

e Sh

atz

ky (

2006

) a

nd fa

cul

ty m

em

be

r Ed

Bo

we

s

Bria

n M

. Ca

ssid

y a

nd

Me

lan

ie S

ha

tzky

ca

me

to fi

lmm

aki

ng

wh

ile p

urs

uin

g th

eir

gra

du

ate

de

gre

es

in th

e P

ho

tog

rap

hy, V

ide

o &

Re

late

d M

ed

ia D

ep

art

me

nt

at t

he

Sc

ho

ol o

f Vis

ua

l Art

s. B

oth

be

ga

n th

e p

rog

ram

ma

kin

g s

till i

ma

ge

s; a

fter t

aki

ng

vid

eo

cla

sse

s w

ith fa

cu

lty m

em

be

r Ed

Bo

we

s, th

ey b

oth

dev

elo

pe

d

a lo

ve fo

r th

e m

ovi

ng

ima

ge,

an

d b

eg

an

co

llab

ora

ting

sh

ort

ly th

ere

afte

r. A

s st

ill im

ag

e-m

ake

rs, t

hey

ea

ch

ha

d d

istin

ct a

pp

roa

ch

es

an

d a

est

het

ics.

Bria

n’s

wo

rk w

as

mo

re k

inet

ic, i

ntim

ate

an

d s

oc

iolo

gic

ally

orie

nte

d. M

ela

nie

’s w

ork

wa

s m

ore

sta

tic, r

em

ove

d a

nd

psy

ch

olo

gic

al.

Th

eir

mo

st re

ce

nt fi

lms

are

Th

e Pa

tron

Sa

ints

an

d F

ran

cin

e. T

he

firs

t is

a d

isq

uie

ting

an

d h

ype

r-re

alis

tic g

limp

se in

to li

fe a

t a n

urs

ing

ho

me.

Bo

un

d b

y

the

ca

nd

id c

on

fess

ion

s o

f a re

ce

ntly

dis

ab

led

resi

de

nt,

the

film

we

ave

s h

au

ntin

g im

ag

es,

sc

en

es

an

d s

torie

s fro

m w

ithin

the

inst

itutio

n’s

wa

lls. S

ide

ste

pp

ing

co

nve

ntio

na

l do

cu

me

nta

ry m

eth

od

s fo

r a h

eig

hte

ne

d c

ine

ma

tic a

pp

roa

ch

to s

tory

telli

ng

, th

e fi

lm e

mp

loys

lyric

al r

ea

lism

an

d b

lac

k h

um

or i

n it

s c

ha

rge

d

po

rtra

it o

f fa

din

g b

od

ies

an

d m

ind

s. In

Fra

nc

ine,

Ac

ad

em

y A

wa

rd w

inn

er M

elis

sa L

eo

giv

es

a s

up

erb

pe

rform

an

ce

as

a w

om

an

str

ug

glin

g to

fin

d h

er p

lac

e

in a

do

wn

trod

de

n la

kesi

de

tow

n a

fter h

er r

ele

ase

fro

m s

eve

ral y

ea

rs in

pris

on

. Grit

ty, e

llip

tica

l an

d v

oye

uris

tic, F

ran

cin

e is

a p

ort

rait

of a

ne

ar-s

ilen

t mis

fit

an

d h

er f

rag

ile fi

rst s

tep

s in

an

un

fam

ilia

r wo

rld.

Ed B

ow

es:

Fra

ncin

e a

nd T

he P

atr

on

Sain

ts a

re q

uite

dif

fere

nt m

ovie

s; o

ne’s

fic

tio

n, t

he o

the

r is

no

n-fi

cti

on;

Fra

ncin

e ha

s a

line

ar

narr

ati

ve li

ne,

The

Patr

on

Sain

ts is

a c

olle

cti

on

of c

are

fully

co

mp

ose

d o

bse

rva

tio

ns.

Fo

r m

e th

ey d

id h

ave

so

met

hing

in c

om

mo

n. T

he s

ubje

cts

of b

oth

are

pe

op

le w

ho, f

rom

the

sta

rt o

r g

rad

ually

, lo

se t

heir

inte

llec

tua

l ab

ility

to fu

ncti

on

in s

oc

iety

. The

y b

ec

om

e ve

ry in

tern

al.

I be

lieve

tha

t’s

a s

itua

tio

n no

t fa

r fr

om

any

of u

s.

Me

lan

ie S

ha

tzky

an

d B

rian

Ca

ssid

y: It

pre

sen

ts a

n in

tere

stin

g p

ara

do

x in

film

ma

kin

g, t

his

att

em

pt t

o c

ap

ture

so

met

hin

g o

f a p

ers

on’

s in

tern

al l

ife in

a m

e-

diu

m th

at d

ea

ls la

rge

ly w

ith s

urfa

ce

s. A

nd

the

fee

ling

tha

t, u

ltim

ate

ly, w

e a

re n

ot s

o v

ery

diff

ere

nt f

rom

on

e a

no

the

r is

wh

at a

llow

s u

s to

ma

ke o

ur w

ork

. We

nev

er f

ee

l en

tire

ly a

pa

rt fr

om

ou

r su

bje

cts

or o

ur c

ha

ract

ers

.

The

Patr

on

Sain

ts fo

cu

ses

on

pe

op

le c

on

fine

d t

o a

nur

sing

ho

me.

Ma

ny o

f the

m a

re o

ld, m

any

ha

ve s

eri

ou

s p

hysi

ca

l lim

ita

tio

ns

and

ma

ny h

ave

inte

llec

tua

l lim

ita

tio

ns

due

to

ag

e o

r si

ckn

ess

or

iso

lati

on.

The

se a

re n

ot s

ubje

cts

one

wo

uld

exp

ec

t to

fee

l co

mfo

rta

ble

wit

h, g

rati

fied

by,

or

clo

se t

o. B

ut

they

are

oft

en

sho

t as

if th

ey a

re b

ea

uti

ful,

ae

sthe

tic

ally

ple

asi

ng; r

ath

er

tha

n re

co

il, w

e o

fte

n fe

el q

uite

clo

se t

o t

hem

. Thi

s is

tru

e

in b

oth

the

sho

oti

ng a

nd t

he e

dit

ing

.

Peo

ple

ca

n b

e b

ea

utif

ul,

wh

ile th

eir

suffe

ring

is n

ot.

All

we

try

an

d d

o is

brin

g th

e v

iew

er c

lose

r to

tha

t wh

ich

they

ma

y n

ot u

nd

ers

tan

d o

r wh

ich

they

ma

y

initi

ally

fea

r, a

nd

sh

ow

thin

gs

from

ou

r su

bje

ctiv

e a

nd

ofte

n c

on

trad

icto

ry p

oin

t of v

iew

.

BRIAN CASSIDY AND MELANIE SHATZKY ALUMNI 2006

STILL FROM THE PATRON SAINTS, 2011

I’d li

ke y

ou

to t

alk

ab

ou

t th

e e

dit

ing

in t

he fi

cti

ona

l Fra

ncin

e. S

om

e sc

ene

s ha

ve fe

w e

dit

s, a

nd o

the

rs h

ave

qui

te a

few

. The

inte

rna

l sc

ene

ed

itin

g

is n

ot a

bo

ut c

ont

inui

ty o

f tim

e, o

r ev

en

, it s

ee

ms,

ab

ou

t cla

rify

ing

the

foc

us

for

the

view

er.

For

me,

the

ed

itin

g d

ec

isio

ns

we

re b

ase

d o

n e

mo

tio

n

and

exp

eri

enc

e—

the

exp

eri

enc

e o

f the

cha

rac

ter

and

the

exp

eri

enc

e o

f the

vie

we

r w

atc

hing

tha

t cha

rac

ter.

We

wa

nte

d to

use

a d

isc

on

tinu

ity a

pp

roa

ch

to th

e e

diti

ng

in o

rde

r to

mirr

or F

ran

cin

e’s

exp

erie

nc

e o

uts

ide

of p

riso

n. S

he

ha

s le

ft b

eh

ind

a li

fe o

f re

gim

en

-

tatio

n a

nd

rou

tine

for a

kin

d o

f im

pro

visa

tion

al a

uto

no

my

an

d s

urv

iva

l, w

hic

h fo

r he

r is

ofte

n d

iso

rien

ting

. We

ne

ed

ed

to fi

nd

a m

ea

ns

of e

xpre

ssin

g th

at

cin

em

atic

ally

, an

ap

pro

ac

h th

at w

ou

ld a

llow

the

vie

we

r to

fee

l so

met

hin

g a

kin

to h

er i

nte

rior l

ife, s

o th

at w

e m

ay

em

pa

thize

with

he

r as

she

wa

lks

this

pa

th.

Bo

th o

f yo

u w

ere

pho

tog

rap

hers

be

fore

wo

rkin

g in

vid

eo

. Pho

tog

rap

hers

oft

en

wo

rk b

y th

em

selv

es.

The

Pa

tro

n Sa

ints

wa

s sh

ot,

dir

ec

ted

and

,

I be

lieve

, ed

ite

d p

rim

ari

ly b

y th

e tw

o o

f yo

u. M

ore

ext

rao

rdin

ari

ly, F

ranc

ine

—a

fic

tio

nal f

ea

ture

—w

as

dev

elo

pe

d a

nd w

ritt

en

by

the

two

of y

ou

,

dir

ec

ted

by

you

, sho

t b

y B

ria

n a

nd e

dit

ed

by

bo

th o

f yo

u, w

ith

an

ano

the

r e

dit

or.

I’d s

ugg

est

tha

t pa

rt o

f its

inti

ma

cy; i

ts b

ea

uty

and

inno

vati

ve

stru

ctu

re, a

re a

re

sult

of s

o fe

w p

eo

ple

ha

ving

so

muc

h c

ont

rol a

nd r

esp

ons

ibili

ty.

Ha

vin

g c

om

e to

the

me

diu

m o

f film

ma

kin

g v

ia p

ho

tog

rap

hy, o

ur a

pp

roa

ch

ha

s b

ee

n q

uite

diff

ere

nt f

rom

oth

er fi

lmm

ake

rs. P

ho

tog

rap

hy is

prim

aril

y a

solo

en

de

avo

r, w

he

re th

e p

ho

tog

rap

he

r ha

s a

n in

tima

te e

xch

an

ge

with

his

or h

er s

ub

ject

. We

ha

ve tr

ied

to p

rese

rve

tha

t in

tima

te e

xch

an

ge

as

mu

ch

as

po

ssib

le. W

e fe

el t

ha

t th

e le

ss a

film

set

fee

ls li

ke a

film

set

, th

e b

ette

r. Pa

rtic

ula

rly in

do

cu

me

nta

ry, i

t is

key

tha

t th

e s

ub

ject

s fe

el c

om

fort

ab

le s

o th

at y

ou

ca

n a

cc

ess

the

m. S

o m

uc

h o

f ou

r wo

rk d

ep

en

ds

on

the

tru

st o

f ou

r su

bje

cts.

With

ou

t th

eir

tru

st, o

ur w

ork

wo

uld

am

ou

nt t

o v

ery

litt

le.

Bo

th fi

lms

are

ab

ou

t the

quo

tid

ian

rath

er

tha

t the

he

roic

, and

one

nev

er

fee

ls t

he h

ea

vy h

and

of e

xpo

siti

on

or

exp

lana

tio

n. Is

tha

t an

ove

rall

inte

rest

yo

u ha

ve?

In g

en

era

l, w

e a

re m

ore

inte

rest

ed

in th

e d

ay-

to-d

ay

joys

an

d s

tru

gg

les

of a

giv

en

ind

ivid

ua

l, h

ow

eve

r se

em

ing

ly u

nd

ram

atic

or s

ma

ll. W

e th

ink

in te

rms

of

sna

psh

ots

an

d o

f th

e s

torie

s lu

rkin

g in

a g

ive

n m

om

en

t, in

a g

ive

n p

lac

e. In

this

wa

y, o

ur p

roc

ess

is v

ery

ph

oto

gra

ph

ic. W

e p

refe

r a v

iew

er t

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BRIAN CASSIDY AND MELANIE SHATZKY ALUMNI 2006

FAC U LT YCharles Traub produced a body of photography over the last decade called Still Life in America, which is now both a book and an interactive online map of the continental United States. Last year his work was included in the exhibitions “Toward The Social Land-scape” at Lianzhou Foto and “Being American” at the Visual Arts Gallery.

Shimon Attie had a solo exhibition in 2012 at the Block Museum at Northwestern University and will open another exhibition at the Wexner Cen-ter for the Arts from May to July 2013.

Suzanne Anker recently organized an interdisciplinary conference called Molecular Cuisine: The Politics of Taste, investigating the importance of taste from the perspectives of the culinary arts, sociology, anthropology, as well as the cognitive and biological sciences.

Adam Bell had work included in “29x29,” at Bruce Silverstein Gallery in 2012. He lectured at the 2012 Visual Studies Workshop Photo-Bookworks Symposium and continues to write essays and photo book reviews on his blog.

Ed Bowes’s film Entanglement (2009) was screened at Counterpath Gallery in 2012. His production and distribution unit Walsung Company exists online as a public archive of his films, scripts and other writings, images and col-laborations.

Phong Bui is an artist, curator and publisher of the Brooklyn Rail/Black Square Editions. In December 2012 he had a solo exhibition at Show Room called “Phong Bui: Work According to the Rail, Part I.” He recently organized “Readings in Contemporary Poetry #1” at the same gallery.

Elinor Carucci is working on her third monograph MOTHER, which will be published by Prestel Publishing in winter of 2013. It will show nine years of her motherhood/childhood project with her children.

Sarah Charlesworth had a solo exhibi-tion at Susan Inglett Gallery (New York) and was included in three group exhi-bitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art and Fort Worth Contemporary Arts in 2012.

Ann Collins worked as post-production consultant in the editorial department for the shorts High Heels & Hoodoo (2012) and Saying Goodbye (2011). She has won awards at Sundance Film Festival for Audience Favorite Documentary.

Liz Deschenes was part of a two-per-son exhibition at Melas Papadopoulos Gallery, Athens, in fall 2012. She has an upcoming solo exhibition at Secession, Vienna, in early 2013.

Simin Farkhondeh is currently editing Caught Between Two Worlds: Iranians in the USA. She is a recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation Artists Fellow-ship for Who Gives Kisses Freely From Her Lips, a video about temporary marriage in Iranian culture.

Marvin Heiferman is editor of Photog-raphy Changes Everything, a book that offers a provocative rethinking of photography’s impact on our culture and our daily lives. He is currently work-ing on WHY WE LOOK (2012 – present), a Twitter-based project that follows breaking news stories about photogra-phy and visual culture.

Seth Lambert’s work was included in “29x29,” at the Bruce Silverstein Gallery in 2012.

Richard Leslie’s recent research and curatorial efforts concentrate on the intersections of art criticism and sociol-ogy, on the writing of global histories outside the networks of commercial galleries, and on the effect of technol-ogy and science on contemporary art and theory. His recent curatorial project is entitled PULSE (People Using Light, Sound and Energy).

Andrew Moore had three solo exhibi-tions in 2012, at the National Building Museum (DC), the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and the University Art Gallery (Indiana State University). His book Cuba was released in the Fall of 2012.

Mary Patierno recently edited the documentary Pancaper. Her current project Play Like a Girl: The Rock & Roll Life of June Millington chronicles the life of the trailblazing, rock and roll legend and member of the one of the first women’s rock band, Fanny.

Lyle Rexer co-curated the 2013 show “Multiple Exposures: Jewelry and Photography” at the Museum of Arts and Design.

Collier Schorr’s work was included in the 2012 “Myths and Realities” show at SVA, and “Composed: Identity, Politics, and Sex” at the Jewish Museum.

Steel Stillman had a feature article in Art in America on Wayne Koesten-baum. His photographs were on view in two recent New York exhibitions: a group show curated by Haim Stein-bach at The Artist’s Institute and a three-person exhibition at Show Room.

Amy Taubin published in 2012 a new foreword to the reissue of her book Taxi Driver, a study on the prominent Scorsese film.

Penelope Umbrico is currently working on a permanent public art installation for PS/IS 71 with the New York Depart-ment of Cultural Affairs called “Percent For Art” (2013).

Grahame Weinbren is a filmmaker and an editor of the Millennium Film Journal. In 2012 he traveled to Paris to introduce “The Cinema of Pat O’Neill: The Decay of Fiction.”

Randy West’s work was included at The George Eastman House, Schneider Museum of Art and Louisiana Museum of Art and Science in 2012. The mono-graph I Never Promised You Anything was published this past fall.

C U R R E N T S T U D E N T SCylixe (2014) will show her film Una ciudad en una ciudad at the Berlinale Festival Shortfilm Program in February 2013.

Yoav Friedlander (2014) will show his series, Man Made: Long Chapters in Short History of (a) Man, as a solo exhi-bition as part of the Nidbach series at the Jerusalem Artists’ House, April 2013 in Jerusalem.

A L U M N IZeljka Blaksic (2010) will show her new collaborative multimedia project, Resistance of the Earth, at the Czech Center in February 2013. Blaksic is the 2012 recipient of the District Kunst- und Kulturförderung studio grant program in Berlin.

Catherine Del Buono (2008) exhibited a video installation at the Chashama Gallery this past spring, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The Art Place Wynwood Gallery recently awarded her the First Place in the juried group show in Miami for her short animation, Equal/Unequal. She will exhibit a solo show at the gallery in 2013. 

Natan Dvir (2010), the 2012 recipient of the POYi, PDN, and IPA awards, will unveil his series, Coming Soon, as a solo show at Anastasia Photo Gallery in March. His series Eighteen will be included in a three-artist exhibition at the Southeast Museum of Photogra-phy, opening February 2013.

Harlan Erskine (2009) is a USA Selected Winner in Magenta Foundation’s Flash Forward Emerging Photogra-phers for his series Imaginary Wars. His artist booklet, ten convenient stores, is included in the upcoming anthology, VARIOUS SMALL BOOKS: Referencing Various Small Books by Ed Ruscha, (MIT Press, January 2013). His work will also be included in the group show at Gagosian Gallery, opening March 5.

Mariam Ghani (2002) received a 2012 Graham Foundation grant for her two-channel video installation, A Brief History of Collapses, which premiered at dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel and Kabul and has been screened at CPH:DOX and the Stedelijk Museum. dOCUMENTA also published her book, Afghanistan: A Lexicon in the series 100 Notes, 100 Thoughts.

Ryan Koopmans (2012) will co-direct a short film in Hokkaido, Japan, in February 2013 and in March will lead an architectural multimedia project documenting the rise of West Africa’s tallest building development Villagio. Nuartlink Gallery in Westport, CT will present a solo exhibit of his prints in February 2013.

Janelle Lynch (1999) will show work from her monograph, Los Jardines de México, at the Southeast Museum of Photography Jan. 25–Apr. 21, 2013. She will have a two-person show at Wall Space Gallery Mar. 25–May 5, and a solo show at Robert Morat Galerie, Ber-lin, in June. Her River series will be on view at the Newark Museum through March 2013. Lynch is working on her second monograph, to be published by Radius Books in fall 2013.

Keren Moscovitch (2005) has self-published her first book, Me Into You, a limited edition monograph contex-tualized within the photographer’s experiences in an open relationship. The volume, which includes an essay by Allen Frame, is available for pur-chase at the ICP Book Store.

Rachel Papo’s (2005), Serial No. 3817131, is included in WAR/PHOTOG-RAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which will travel nation-wide in 2013. Serial No. 3817131 will also be exhibited at Perth Centre for Photography in Australia in February. Images from her winning portfolio from PhotoLucida’s 2012 Critical Mass Top 50 competition will be included in a traveling exhibition this spring.

Jenny Riffle (2011), the 2012 recipient of the Juror’s Award, Newspace Center for Photography 8th Annual Juried Exhibition, will show her series, Scaven-ger: Adventures in Treasure Hunting, as a solo exhibition at Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, Oregon, December 2013.

Steph Rogerson (1999) is currently a PhD candidate in the Joint Graduate Program of Communication & Culture Ryerson/York University. “Rare & Raw,” an exhibit she co-curated, will be exhibited at Leslie Lohman Museum of

Gay & Lesbian Art from Feb. 15–Mar. 15, in affiliation with the Queer Art Caucus of the Colleges of Art Association, with support by the Canada Council for the Arts. She was featured in a panel dis-cussion for the exhibition in February.

David Evan Todd (2009) has been awarded a Visiting Scholar Appoint-ment to the Art department at Cornell University, where he is establishing a reverse technology digital-to-analog photographic workflow.

Raul Gomez Valverde (2011) edited and designed his first monograph, I can reach very high/llego muy alto, published by Universidad Com-plutense Press in Winter 2012.

Shen Wei (2006), winner of the 2012 Philadelphia Museum of Art Pho-tography Portfolio Competition, and recipient of the 2012 Asian Art and Religion Fellowship from Asian Cultural Council, was recently included in group exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Southeast Museum of Photography Art and Science Museum at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Peter Weiermair’s All Saints Press will publish a limited edition portfolio box of his work, titled Still Life, in 2013.

Amani Willett (2012) will publish his first book, Disquiet, through Damiani in the spring of 2013. Book signings and other events are forthcoming. 

Edie Winograde (1995) will be included in Reality of Fiction, a group exhibi-tion curated by Mark Sink for Denver’s Month of Photography, at RedLine Denver, Feb. 27–Apr. 28, 2013, with an opening reception on March 8.

F A C U LT YS T U D E N TA L U M N IN E W S

I knew nothing. I’d never made a video of any kind. Not on my phone, not on my digital point-and-shoot camera, not anywhere. No video experience. Nada. While I’d had some experience as a commercial photographer, I was an art neophyte. I had recently decided to go back to school to do a master of fine arts in photography as what they call “a more mature student.” The program chair, Charles Traub, suggested I do the summer residency on the Still and Moving Image as a way to acclimate to student life and to build some video basics, so enroll I did, along with 12 others as diverse in their geographic origins as in their experience and creative pursuits.

In a matter of days we ditched the “dummies” guide to handling the 5D and EX1 and blew through the refreshers/intros to codecs, fps, wb, iso, dof, f-stops, audio and light-ing. It was time to shoot. But what? We had just over three weeks to make a short film to be screened in a real theater on a big screen. Oh, the insomnia. But after years of sleep challenges that wasn’t a surprise. What to shoot? Oh, the anxiety. And the insomnia again. Ah, I just got it. My short film was going to be about my insomnia. I set out to video myself sleeping for a few nights as visual proof of my sleep disorder that was about to take on the starring role in my debut as a filmmaker.

Enter acclaimed film critic Amy Taubin for the first critique of the residency. “Show her whatever you have,” they told us. “Share your idea; wherever you are is fine.” “Of course, it’s no problem to show raw footage.” So I did. After four minutes of watching me sleep, Amy announced that there was a fundamental disconnect between my insomnia/anxiety narrative and my footage. She told the class, “I feel like I am watching a commercial for the perfect mattress guaran-teed to give you nights of peaceful sleep.”

The editing challenge had begun along with a crash course in Final Cut Pro. Our days were a mix of theory and practice, watching film, discussing photography, shoot-ing and editing. Several times a week Charles Traub and Grahame Weinbren, led our theory and practice classes, looking at the similarities and differences between photog-raphy and video.

We engaged in a crash course in video literacy that spanned the gamut from Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera to Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and beyond. We stopped by Hollis Frampton, Stan Brakhage, Wong Kar-wai, Bill Viola, Joan Jonas, Bruce Nauman, and many others, along the way. We looked at the great photographers from Cartier-Bresson’s decisive moment to the works of André Kertész, Eugène Atget, Walker Evans, Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, Sally Mann, and lots more. We compared and contrasted what some describe as the medium of the past with that of the present and considered the differences between telling your entire story within the frame versus sequentially across many frames.

And tell my story I did until I felt like the ultimate con artist by the time my film was screened at the SVA Theatre. Because from the first viewing of my own raw video footage of myself sleeping, I had to acknowledge that Amy Taubin was onto something: I’ve not had a bad night’s sleep since.

Samples of residents’ work can be viewed at http://vimeo.com/channels/residency

For further information regarding the Lens and Screen Arts – The Still and Moving Image residency contact:

Keren Moscovitch, Program Coordinator Tel: 212.592.2188 E-mail: kmoscovitch@sva.edu

2012 Summer Residency

by Barry Salzman

L E N S A N D S C R E E N A R T S – T H E S T I L L A N D M O V I N G I M AG E

DANIEL JOHNSON CLASS OF 2013

209 East 23 Street, New York, NY 10010-3994mfaphoto.sva.edu

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