Day Three

In the morning of day three we headed into town to tour the galleries in downtown Jackson. First stop was the David Brookover Gallery. David and his dog Cocoa greeted us at the gallery just as we arrived. David shoots primarily with a large format 8 x 10 in. camera, which enables him to produce large, high-quality prints in both black and white and color. He also has been experimenting more with alternative processes, including platinum and bromoil prints, some of which can take up to two months to create. His work is widely varied in both process and subject matter and he spoke to the students about avoiding a "follow the herd mentality" with their own creative work. We went on to visit a few more galleries in town, including Tom Mangelsen's Images of Nature Gallery, and a more contemporary art gallery. In the afternoon, we had a long studio session at the Center for the Arts. I did another digital demonstration/tutorial and the  students continued processing their images.

After dinner, John Holmgren, who is my assistant on the workshop and is currently a professor of photography at Franklin and Marshall College, gave a great presentation on his work. He also brought along a bunch of prints from his recent projects on the Dempster Highway in Northern Canada and Dams across the U.S. The students really seemed to enjoy seeing the actual work.

It had been rainy and cloudy most of the day, but the sun seemed to be breaking out as it got later in the evening. We decided to head up into the park and give some night shooting another try. Our destination was a cluster of old homesteads called Mormon Row. The area, which was originally settled back in the early 1900's, is now on the National Register of Historic Places. After shooting for awhile in the late day light, we grouped together and began experimenting with long exposures and painting with light. We warmed up in the cool evening air by running around with flashlights, cell phones, and flashes while the camera recorded our antics.