Artist Talk with Rachel Fein-Smolinski Part 2

Tuesday, December 22, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PST

On Tuesday, December 22nd, we were joined for a second artist talk with Rachel Fein-Smolinski, the Juror’s Choice Award recipient of FORECAST 2020. Artist Rachel Fein-Smolinski discussed her projects Sex Lives of Animals without Backbones, and This Woman has ISSUES! and she screened new video work. Fein-Smolinski loves the reprieve of science-fiction and incorporates sci-fi methods of aesthetic and mythological signifiers of resurrection, re-animation, and bad TV doctor acting into her video/photo/installation work. She talked about pain, courage, illness, pleasure and the subjective histories of the western healthcare system buried within institutional medical archives. The work shown included multimedia imagery that she has made with clinical patient photographs, ephemera, and sci-fi tableaux of artifacts mined from these archives. What does pain look like? How do you communicate something as internal and inexplicable as the feeling of pain? How do spineless creatures have sex? What does invertebrate sexuality have to do with how one communicates and interprets pain?

Holiday Book & Zine Fair

Thursday, December 17, 2020
4:00 - 7:00 PM PST

SF Camerawork hosted our third annual Holiday Book & Zine Fair, which took place digitally on Thursday, December 17th from 4:00 - 7:00 PM PST. This year-end celebration is a SF Camerawork favorite, and a moment to showcase artists and the books and zines created this year. This event was a hit! We heard from makers about their work, supported the SF Camerawork photography community, whilst also buying gifts for our loves ones this holiday.

December Members’ Critique

With Jamil Hellu

Wednesday, December 16, 2020
6:00 - 8:00 PM PST

In December, SF Camerawork presented our monthly members’ critique online. Artist and educator Jamil Hellu lead the group and provided direct feedback on members’ work and photographic practice.

Artist Talk with Régine Romain

Haiti, Photography, and Black Representation

Tuesday, December 15, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PST

On Tuesday, December 15th SF Camerawork was joined with Régine Romain, a Haitian-American artist, educator, and visual anthropologist. Romain’s presentation will focus on why centering varied storytelling modalities is critical in disrupting the systemic misrepresentation of Haiti and the Black diaspora at large. Romain will share some of the historic photographs that she took of Haiti in 2010 after the devastating 7.0 earthquake, and how those images motivated her to create a photo-inspired project - NOU PAP BLIYE: A Haitian Coloring Book." Nou Pap Bliye” in Haitian Kreyòl means “we will never forget.” Accordingly, this project seeks to honor those who perished ten years ago in Haiti and to highlight the strength and beauty of the survivors.

Encampment, Wyoming: Selections from the
Lora Webb Nichols Archive 1899-1948

Talk with Nicole Jean Hill

Thursday, December 10, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PST

On December 10th SF Camerawork hosted a conversation with artist and curator Nicole Jean Hill to speak about the photography archive of a Wyoming frontierswoman, entrepreneur, homemaker and image-maker, Lora Webb Nichols (1883-1962). Nichols created and collected an archive of approximately 24,000 negatives in the mining town of Encampment. As early as 1906, Nichols was working for hire as a photographer for industrial documentation and family portraits, developing and printing from a darkroom she fashioned in the home she shared with her husband and their children. In 1925, Nichols established the Rocky Mountain Studio, a photography and photofinishing service, which was a focal point of the town throughout the 1920s and 1930s. A book of highlights from the Lora Webb Nichols archive has recently been released by FW Books, Amsterdam and features Nichols’ own work and the images by amateur photographers she collected.

Artist Talk with Adama Delphine Fawundu and Orlee Malka

Methodologies of art making within forms of collapse

Tuesday, December 8, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PST

On December 8th, SF Camerawork was joined by artists Adama Delphine Fawundu and Orlee Malka. Together they discussed methodologies of making during times of unrest and upheaval. Considering issues of value and ethics, both artists practice undoing supremacy modes of productivity and instead offer a retelling of histories through ancestral language and convening of care and gentleness. These modes of creating have been embedded within their studio practice and both artists have considered storytelling as a form of untangling the ties of exploitation and exclusion.

Artist Talk with Ken Light

Monday, December 7, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PST

On Monday, December 7th, SF Camerawork was pleased to hear from Ken Light. Ken, the Reva & David Logan Professor of Photojournalism at the University of California Berkeley, shared works from his formative years as a photographer and focused on images from his latest book Midnight La Frontera.

Depicting Capitalism and Displacement

Trenton Brown, William Camargo, and Valerie Mendoza in conversation

Monday, November 30, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PST

On Monday, November 30th SF Camerawork hosted a conversation with FORECAST 2020 artists Trenton Brown, William Camargo, and Valerie Mendoza. The three artists spoke about their individual work and addressed themes of gentrification, displacement, and the commercialized image.

November Members’ Critique

With Johnnie Chatman

Tuesday, November 24, 2020
5:00 - 7:00 PM PST

In November, SF Camerawork hosted our monthly members’ critique online. Artist and educator Johnnie Chatmanl lead the group and provided direct feedback on members’ work and photographic practice. 

Presentations of the Body in Self Portraiture

Brittney Cathey-Adams, Rachel Fein-Smolinski,
and Jaclyn Wright in conversation

Monday, November 23, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PST

On Monday, November 23rd SF Camerawork hosted a conversation with FORECAST 2020 artists Brittney Cathey-Adams, Rachel Fein-Smolinski, and Jaclyn Wright. Together these three artists explored themes of marking, the gendered body, and self-portraiture in photography.

Artist Talk with Rachel Fein-Smolinski Part 1

Wednesday, November 18, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PST

On Wednesday, November 18th, SF Camerawork hosted an artist talk with Rachel Fein-Smolinski, the Juror’s Choice Award recipient of FORECAST 2020. Fein-Smolinski discussed her projects Sex Lives of Animals without Backbones, and This Woman has ISSUES! and screened new video work. She talked about pain, courage, illness, pleasure and the subjective histories of the western healthcare system buried within institutional medical archives. The work shown included multimedia imagery that she made with clinical patient photographs, ephemera, and sci-fi tableaux of artifacts mined from these archives.

The Found Photograph

Kim Beil and Carlos Chavarría in conversation

Tuesday, November 17, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PST

On Tuesday, November 17th from 6:00 - 7:30 PM PST SF Camerawork and friends gathered for a conversation with FORECAST 2020 artist Carlos Chavarría and scholar Kim Beil. Chavarría's recent body of work Dust & Misfires considers found images, their relationship to place, and the idea of the photograph as object.

Archives and Identity

Irene Reece and Rana Young in conversation

Thursday, November 12, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PST

On Thursday, November 12th from 6:00 - 7:30 PM PST we were joined for a conversation with FORECAST 2020 artists Irene Reece and Rana Young. Both artists source materials from their own personal archives to explore familial narratives and the relationships between past and present. Watch the recorded event to hear Reece and Young speak about their work and explore what it means to work within an archive.

FORECAST 2020 Opening Reception

Thursday, October 29, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PDT

San Francisco Camerawork hosted the online opening reception for our exhibition FORECAST 2020. On Thursday, October 29th we to celebrated the 12 artists selected by this year's jurors -- curator Elena Gross, artist Michael Jang, and TBW Books Director Lester Rosso. This year's FORECAST exhibition is exhibited virtually on SF Camerawork's website with accompanying online programming following the opening reception. 
 

Selected Artists: Trenton Brown, William Camargo, Brittney Cathey-Adams, Carlos Chavarria, Mark Davis, Rachel Fein-Smolinski, Marissa Leitman, Valerie Mendoza, Gyuho Park, Irene Reece, Jaclyn Wright, and Rana Young. 

October Members’ Critique

With Kari Orvik

Wednesday, October 28, 2020
6:00 - 8:00 PM PDT

In October, SF Camerawork presented our monthly members’ critique online with Bay Area based artist and educator Kari Orvik. She lead the group and provided direct feedback on members’ work and photographic practice. 

Artist Talk with Binh Danh
Self Landing: Daguerreotypes On The Western Landscape

Monday, October 26, 2020*
6:00 - 7:30 PM PDT
*Please note, this is a new date!

On Monday, October 26th, SF Camerawork hosted an artist talk with photographer Binh Danh. For the past years, Binh Danh has been traveling across the West, making scenic daguerreotypes in a mobile darkroom he called Louis, after Louis Daguerre, the inventor of the daguerreotype process in 1839. His photographs ask us to reflect on the land literally in the polished mirror surface of the silver plate, provoking questions of politics, landscape, history, and the self.

Polaroid Transfers and Chemical Manipulation Workshop with Sakara Birdsong

Weekly on Thursday evenings, beginning October 22nd
6:30  - 8:00 PM PDT

SF Camerawork was thrilled to partner with Oakland-based artist Sakara Birdsong. This 5 session hands-on workshop explored the beauty and ruination found in the manipulation of Polaroids. Using household chemicals, students learned how to develop, transfer, and manipulate Polaroid film. Class meet weekly via zoom. 

Artist Talk with Christopher Colville

Tuesday, October 20, 2020
6:00 – 7:30 PM PDT

On Tuesday, October 20th SF Camerawork was pleased to present an artist talk with photographer Christopher Colville. Throughout his career, Christopher Colville has used the base elements of photography to explore the dual nature of creation and destruction. In his artist talk, Chis discusses the cyclical nature of his work and how he attempts to find balance between meditative simplicity and American volatility while harnessing energy, fluid, motion and light. 

Minoosh Zomorodinia Walking Workshop

Weekly on Monday evenings, beginning October 19th
5:30 - 7:45 PM PDT

This 5 session workshop was for anyone who enjoyed learning a combination of digital art, photography and walking art. We looked at different artists who use walking in their practice and discussed the role of photography and video documentation as a form of art. Everyone completed a weekly walk and documented their routes using photography. We shared and talked about our individual experiences virtually as well as digitalized the experience using different programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Bridge, and Illustrator. Time was allocated to brainstorming and developing walking projects. We met via zoom to discuss walking experiences.

What is your voting story?

A dialogue between photo students at
California College of the Arts and Georgia State University
Moderated by Chanell Stone

Thursday, October 15, 2020
4:00 - 5:30 PM PDT

On Thursday, October 15th SF Camerawork presented a live student-led dialogue between photography majors at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, CA and Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA on the issue of voting. The exchange is structured to explore voting stories as it pertains to the student’s geographical locations, societal and state-sanctioned suppression, family histories and personal experiences.

Artist Talk with Alanna Airitam
Portraiture As Activism

Wednesday, October 14, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PDT

On Wednesday, October 14th SF Camerawork was pleased to host an artist talk to listen to artist Alanna Airitam discuss her practice and how art can be a defiant act of resistance.

Artist Talk with David Johnson

Moderated by Lewis Watts
Tuesday October 13, 2020
6:00 – 7:30 PM PDT

On Tuesday, October 13th SF Camerawork shared a special recorded conversation with David Johnson, moderated by Lewis Watts. David Johnson will discussed his life and work, including what it was like photographing the cultural life of San Francisco’s Fillmore District in the 1940s and 1950s.

September Members' Critique
with Renee Billingslea

Tuesday, September 29, 2020
6:00 - 8:00 PM PDT

In September, SF Camerawork presented our monthly members’ critique online!  Bay Area based artist and educator Renee Billingslea lead the group and provided direct feedback on members’ work and photographic practice. 

Closing Reception
SF Camerawork Benefit Auction 2020: See How Beautiful I Am

Thursday, September 24, 2020
6:00 - 7:00 PM PDT

On Thursday, September 24th at 6 PM PDT we gathered the San Francisco Camerawork communities for an evening of art, conversation, and celebration. We took a look at the incredible work assembled, heard from board members and artists, and made one final push for last minute bids.

Advanced Critique Workshop With Sarah Christianson

Weekly on Wednesday evenings, beginning September 16th
6:00 - 8:15 PM PDT

This 13-session series with Sarah Christianson was an online critique-based workshop with instructor-led group discussions via Zoom. It was intended to provide an extension of the SF Camerawork monthly critique program and was aimed at photographers who want more in-depth discussion and development of their work. Recognizing the physicality of photographs and the importance of printing one’s work, we critiqued both digital files as well as photographic prints. Classes met via zoom with screen share, Wednesdays from 6:00-8:15PM.

Artists’ Showcase
Hosted on Minnesota Street Project Adjacent

Thursday, September 17, 2020, 4:00 - 5:30 PM PDT

San Francisco Camerawork presented the Artists’ Showcase, a conversation between artist Adrian L. Burrell and art scholar Benjamin Jones. Joined by several participating auction artists, Burrell and Jones discussed the work donated for the SF Camerawork Benefit Auction: See How Beautiful I Am, featuring over 60 artists around the world. The evening generate a powerful conversation around creative practice, vision, and activism.

The Politics of Black Representation(s): Thoughts on Collectivity

Dr. Leigh Raiford, Delphine Sims, and Adrian Octavius Walker
in Conversation

Thursday, September 3, 2020
4:00 - 5:30 PM PDT

On Thursday, September 3rd SF Camerawork was pleased to host a conversation between Dr. Leigh Reiford, Delphine Sims, and Adrian Octavius Walker. While the politics of Black representation has long been an intensely traversed and ongoing conversation, Reiford, Sims, and Walker seek to inquire after the relationship between these representations and collectivity. They explored the creation of Black photographic groups as a necessary and powerful constellation to speak to the uniqueness of individual artistry, the realities of needed support (financial, spatial, and conceptual), and the power in shared positionalities and political commitments.

Artist Talk with Kija Lucas
The Taxonomy Of Belonging

Tuesday, September 1, 2020
6:00 - 7:00 PM PDT

On Tuesday, September 1st, SF Camerawork was pleased to present an artist talk with Bay Area based photographer Kija Lucas.  Kija Lucas photographs objects as both a methodology and a subject for self-exploration, communal reflection, and catharsis. She examines the ideological and emotional inheritances passed down through generations, often remaining unexamined. Her images are self-consciously detached, using the unsentimental visual language of science to create portraits of objects that have been chosen specifically for their unique and intimate emotional significance.

August Members' Critique
with Wesaam Al-Badry

Thursday, August 20, 2020
6:00 - 8:00 PM PST

This August, SF Camerawork presented our monthly members’ critique online!  Bay Area based artist Wesaam Al-badry lead the group and provided direct feedback on members’ work and photographic practice. 

Adrian O. Walker and Curtis Taylor Jr.
What it means to be a black creative today

Thursday, August 13, 2020
6:00 - 7:00 PM PST

On Thursday, August 13th SF Camerawork was pleased to present an online artist talk with Adrian O. Walker and Curtis Taylor Jr.. AOW and CTJ expanded on their journeys as black creatives during COVID and the continuation of tragedies as it relates to black bodies.

Making Bitter Earth

Carla Jay Harris and Brenda E. Stevenson in Conversation

Moderated by Michelle Branch
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
4:30 - 6:00 PM PST

On Wednesday, August 12th SF Camerawork was pleased to host an online conversation with artist Carla Jay Harris and historian Brenda E. Stevenson, Ph.D., moderated by SF Camerawork Board President Michelle Branch.  Harris and Stevenson discussed their recent collaboration on Bitter Earth, a site-specific installation whose title is taken from the 1960s blues track “This Bitter Earth,” written by Clyde Otis and sung by legendary blues women and rhythm and blues singers Dinah Washington, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, and Mikki Howard. 

Artist Talk with Rodrigo Valenzuela

Thursday, July 30, 2020
6:00 - 7:00 PM PST

On Wednesday, July 30th SF Camerawork hosted an online artist talk with photographer Rodrigo Valenzuela. Rodrigo Valenzuela constructs narratives, scenes, and stories which point to the tensions found between the individual and communities.  His work deals with themes of alienation and displacement, and he utilizes autobiographical threads to inform larger universal fields of experience.  Often picturing landscapes and tableaus with day laborers or himself, he explores the way an image is inhabited, and the way that spaces, objects, and people are translated into images. His work serves as an expressive and intimate point of contact between the broader realms of subjectivity and political contingency. 

Advanced Critique Workshop With J. John Priola

Monday evening sessions, Beginning July 13th
5:30 - 7:45 PM PDT

This 12 session series with J. John Priola was a critique-based workshop with instructor-led group discussions. It’s intention was to provide an extension of the SF Camerawork monthly critique program and is aimed at photographers who wanted a more in-depth discussion and development of their work. This class was perfect for anyone interested in pushing their photography to a higher level through focused, constructive group critique and discussion. Classes met via zoom with screen share, Mondays from 5:30-7:45 PM PDT.

June Members' Critique

with Ann Jastrab

Thursday, June 25, 2020
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

In June, SF Camerawork presented our monthly members’ critique online! SF Camerawork Board Member Ann Jastrab lead the group and provided direct feedback on members’ work and photographic practice. For more information click the button below!

Community Panel - Facing Life

Wednesday, June 24, 2020
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

SF Camerawork was pleased to host a conversation on June 24th for a community discussion that promotes the urgent stories of system-impacted individuals. The community discussion featured Cell Signals artists Pendarvis Harshaw and Brandon Tauszik and is anchored by the testimonies of Fahim Alqaadir and Lynn Noyes, subjects in Harshaw and Tauszik's project Facing Life. Alongside them, we heard from Keith Wattley, Founder and Executive Director of Uncommon Law (which worked on Noyes’ case for parole). The conversation is moderated by Adnan Khan, Executive Director of Restore Justice, who worked on drafting parts of SB1437 during his own incarceration.

Artist Panel - Quarantine Picture Show - Part 2

Saturday, June 20, 2020
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

SF Camerawork hosts the second portion of our two part online panel discussion of Quarantine Picture Show moderated by SFC member and curator Victoria Mara Heilweil. Rolls and Tubes is a humorous and clever remaking of photographic history with toilet paper; created as a collaboration between SFC members and artists Christy McDonald, Colleen Mullins, Jenny Sampson and Nicole White.

Access + Prisons: Photographing Inside + Sharing Outside

Wednesday, June 10, 2020
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

On Wednesday, June 10th at 6pm SF Camerawork hosts our panel discussion moderated by curator Pete Brook. In carceral space, cameras operate almost constantly to serve state security and surveillance. Relatively, cameras are rarely used for art, journalism or advocacy. This panel brought together Eddie Herena (news photographer), Robert Gumpert (artist), and Megan Lynch (legal monitor), all of whom have made photographs in locked facilities in California. In pursuit of longterm goals and in service to positive change, these three image-makers will share the unique circumstances under which they operated a camera inside.

Wander Women 2 Artist Talk & Presentations

Friday, June 5, 2020
8:00 PM - 9:30 PM

On Friday, June 5, 2020, SF Camerawork and the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center were joined for an evening of artist talks and presentations with the artists of Wander Woman 2: Kimberley Acebo Arteche, Kiana Honarmand, Kacy Jung, Rea Lynn de Guzman, Joyce Nojima, Pallavi Sharma, Pamela Ybañez, and Minoosh Zomorodinia. Please register below!

Artist Panel - Quarantine Picture Show - Part 1

Saturday, May 30, 2020
1:00 PM  2:30 PM

SF Camerawork hosted one of a two part online panel discussion of Quarantine Picture Show, moderated by curator and SFC member Victoria Mara Heilweil. Irene Carvajal, Klea McKenna, and Adam Thorman continue to rely on networks, light and creative inspiration in this pandemic age. They shared work from their most recent projects produced while sheltering in place and maintaining social distance.

May Members' Critique

with Erika Gentry

Thursday, May 21, 2020
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

In May, SF Camerawork presented our monthly members’ critique online! SF Camerawork Programming Chair Erika Gentry lead the group and provided direct feedback on members’ work and photographic practice. For more information click the button below!

Curator's Talk with Pete Brook

Tuesday, May 19, 2020
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

SF Camerawork and Cell Signals curator Pete Brook presented our first online event. Pete Brook is a writer, curator, and educator, focused on prisons, photography, and power. He gave an overview of our exhibition Cell Signals, which explores the networked image-technologies that shape prisons and the U.S. homeland culture.

Archiving In The Digital Age: Digital Asset Management Software For Photographers, Archivists, And Collectors

Saturday, May 2, 2020, 1:30 - 4:30 PM
Fee: $60 ($40 for SF Camerawork and APAG Members)

American Photography Archives Group West (APAG West) and SF Camerawork come together on Saturday, May 2, for a hands-on workshop on Digital Asset Management (DAM) techniques that are transforming the world of digital archiving. This workshop is especially tailored to benefit photographers, those managing photography private archives both large and small, and collectors with growing digital and physical collections.

Artist Talk: Hal Fischer, Jamil Hellu & Natalie Krick

Thursday, February 27, 2020
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Please join us in the gallery on Thursday, February 27th for an artist talk with current exhibiting artists Jamil Hellu and Natalie Krick, and SF Camerawork founder and current SFMOMA exhibiting artist Hal Fischer.  Moderated by Executive Director Heather Snider, the discussion will address each artist’s deconstruction of traditional portraiture and examine photography’s unique role in defining queer and feminist identity from the 1970s to the current moment.

Culture For Community

Thursday, February 20, 2020
12:00 PM - 8:00 PM

SF Camerawork will be open late on February 20th as part of Culture for Community, an alliance of Yerba Buena organizations uniting in celebration of Black History Month. Enjoy Jamil Hellu: Together and Natalie Krick: Rhymes of Confusion until 8pm!

February Members' Critique

Thursday, February 13, 2020
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

All current members of SF Camerawork are invited to participate in our monthly members’ critiques. This is a great opportunity to receive direct feedback from SF Camerawork’s staff and wider photographic community.

Advanced Critique Workshop Series With J. John Priola

Monday evening sessions, Beginning February 10th
6:00 - 9:00 PM PST

This 9 session series with J. John Priola is a critique-based workshop with instructor-led group discussions. It is intended to provide an extension of the SF Camerawork monthly critique program and is aimed at photographers who want more in-depth discussion and development of their work. This class is perfect for any photographer interested in pushing their photography to a higher level through focused, constructive group critique and discussion. Classes meet every other week on Mondays.

Field Guide: Members Lunchtime Walkthrough Of "Chanell Stone: Natura Negra" With The Artist

Thursday, February 6, 2020
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

SF Camerawork's programming series Field Guide presents the unique opportunity to explore new ideas and approaches to photography at off-site venues around the Bay Area. For this Field Guide event, all current SF Camerawork members are invited to a special artist-led walkthrough of Natura Negra, a solo exhibition of work by Chanell Stone at the Museum of the African Diaspora.

Chanell Stone’s work was part of SF Camerawork’s Annual Survey Exhibition, Forecast 2019, and she was named a MoAD Emerging Artist for 2019 - 2020.

Limited availability.  Please RSVP to kristina@sfcamerawork.org if you plan to attend. 

Opening Reception - Jamil Hellu: Together & Natalie Krick: Rhymes Of Confusion

Thursday, January 30, 2020
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Please join us in the gallery on Thursday, January 30th from 6 - 9 pm to celebrate the opening reception of our two exhibitions: Jamil Hellu: Together and Natalie Krick: Rhymes of Confusion.

January Members’ Critique

Thursday, January 16, 2020
6:00 PM -  8:00 PM

All current members of SF Camerawork are invited to participate in our monthly members’ critiques. This is a great opportunity to receive direct feedback from SF Camerawork’s staff and wider photographic community.

Field Guild: Members” Lunchtime Walkthrough Of “Michael Jang’s California” 

Thursday, January 9, 2020
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
At The McEvoy Foundation for the Arts

For this Field Guide event, all current SF Camerawork members are invited to a special lunchtime walkthrough of the current exhibition Michael Jang's California at the McEvoy Foundation for the Arts on Thursday, January 9 from 12 - 1 pm.