It is with great enthusiasm I share the exhibition, f16, New Photographic Visions, to open this Saturday, March 21st at the Los Angeles Center of Photography in Hollywood, CA. The opening is from 7-10pm and I hope to see you there. The photographers were brought together as members of my 2015 Next Step program at the Los Angeles Center of Photography.

f16 is an artistic journey of visual disorder, encompassing the diverse work of sixteen Los Angeles-based photographers. Exploring form, complex emotions, possibilities, and bringing the past into the present, this fine art photography collection includes multiple processes and highlights the varying points of view of these artists.

f16 features the work of Maureen Bond, John Bosma, Tom Carmichael, Ladini Conder, Cindy Crane, Sheri Determan, Beth Dubber, Steve Engelmann, Carol Erb, Samantha Gaballe, Crystal Dickerson-Hancock, Shari Yantra Marcacci, Maureen Price, Paula Riff, Anne Slattery, and Isabella Vosmikova.

Salem ©Isabella Vosmikova

untitled ©Isabella Vosmikova

In her project Terra Firma, Isabella Vosmikova explores the process of Hollywood actors preparing for their roles, as they try on their costume for the very first time and connect with the inner life of their character. Inspired by Renaissance paintings, and, in particular, the portraits of Titian in which he expresses the psychological dimension of his subjects, she uses the severe limitation of hues to reflect the melancholic, yet hopeful mood that mirrors her longing for the past. It also reflects her memory of Eastern Europe from where she originates.

Voices ©Maureen Bond

Howling in Sadness ©Maureen Bond

About her series, Forgotten, Maureen Bond comments, “Life happened here. Babies were born; family members passed away. The people are gone, but the stories are not. Left in a state of arrested decay some things will never be forgotten.”

©Beth Dubber

©Beth Dubber

Documenting her version of the city of Los Angeles for nearly a decade, photographer Beth Dubber has tapped into life, fun, humor & diversity. 52 Weeks in Los Angeles stems from a weekly photo series, documenting life as it happens around her.

Breath ©Anne Slattery

Flight ©Anne Slattery

Not all of the beauty of dance performance is reserved for the audience in front of the stage; sometimes the most poignant, unguarded moments are appreciated from behind-the-scenes. In this installation of her series In the Wings, Anne Slattery explores the artistry, energy, and emotion of ballet dancers from the vantage point of being offstage, in the wings, where the audience is unable to see.

untitled ©John Bosma

untitled ©John Bosma

Man versus nature is a timeless theme that has permeated both literature and art throughout the ages. Man intrudes on nature to build his personal version of Shangri-La; nature eventually outlasts man and returns the land to its original natural paradise. John Bosma’s Reclamation explores this phenomenon in a contemporary setting.

suspended #7 ©Cindy Crane

Repetition #7 ©Cindy Crane

In her project Suspended Repetition, Cindy Crane has not only captured the meditative quality of smoke, showing it’s endless variety of incarnations, she has also created repeating designs and patterns that speak to the complexity and variable quality of smoke itself.

The Annunciation ©Carol Erb

Joy ©Carol Erb

Red Dress, a self portrait series by Carol Erb, explores the idea of authentic existentialism.  Choices made, sometimes blindly, at other times with deliberation, ultimately alone, the artist explores the life that she has crafted and her journey through it in a red dress, the color of life.

Waiting for Sunrise ©Crystal Dickerson-Hancock

Afraid to Look Back @Crystal Dickerson Handcock

In Crystal Dickerson-Hancock’s series The Poetry of Dreams, she explores the esoteric nature of the female spirit and the archetypal incarnations that woman has come to represent through the ages. In addition to an inner glow, Crystal explores the darker side of femininity through mysticism and folklore. Using Magical realism Crystal creates her fantasies, other worlds and the sacred feminine spirit.

Askew ©Tom Carmichael

Nexus ©Tom Carmichael

We look at the built environment, a whole building or a whole skyline, and see the beauty of the whole. But rarely do we look at the design of the component parts, much less do we ever actually see the beauty in the design of each part. In Urban Detail, Tom Carmichael explores these parts or components, searching the details, looking for and seeing the art and beauty in the detail of each.

Golden Roses ©Sheri Determan

Golden Hibiscus ©Sheri Determan

Sheri Determan’s Lumen Essence series takes us into the world of alternative process photography and the creation of images that have a dreamlike, surrealistic quality. Based on a process from the past, she uses sunlight instead of an enlarger to expose images on photographic paper, and blends the artistry of nature to create “lumen” prints.

Tristezza (Sadness) ©Shari Yantra Marcacci

Speranza (Hope) ©Shari Yantra Marcacci

In Attraverso (In-Between), Shari Yantra Marcacci explores intimacy and human emotions. These
emotions are expressed behind glass. The glass symbolizes a shield to the outside world, but its transparency still allows us to observe. Human beings and “the mask” they hide behind have always fascinated her.

Pinus longeava 1-08 ©Steve Engelmann

Pinus longeava 0-07 ©Steve Engelmann

Somewhere buried deep within our DNA lingers remnants of our pre-human biological ancestors. In Ancient Wood, Steve Engelmann uses multiple negatives in a traditional darkroom to combine the human form with the twisted heartwood of the ancient Bristlecone Pine.

Luke (Playing Wii), 2015 after Emanuel Ritter von Neuwall, 1841 ©Maureen Price

The Intern, 2014 after The Chocolate Girl, 1745 by Jean Etienne Liotard ©Maureen Price

After is an ongoing exploration of the connection between portraiture of the past and our increasingly casual and prolific cell phone documentation of those closest to us. Maureen Price recreates paintings by photographing her friends and family with all of the formality and planning of an eighteenth century painter but with a dose of modern humor. After is a meditation on the value of slowing down, relishing the details, and appreciating the efforts of the artists who came before us.

Russian Postards #2 ©Paula Riff

Russian Postards #8 ©Paula Riff

In her photographic series Postcards from Russia, Paula Riff hand colors her black & white photos of Russia from a time when the country was on the verge of potential openness and freedom. She uses a soft color palette to portray a landscape of hope and dreams that existed in the past in hopes that a new future in this part of the world might one day be possible again.

Bent ©Samantha Geballe

Gust ©Samantha Geballe

In Bent, Samantha Geballe explores portraiture in another world. She uses the water as a backdrop, using the physicality of water to portray a feeling of entrapment.

Twin ©Ladini Conder

You Are My North ©Ladini Conder

In Part I of her project In Search of Lost Time, visual artist Ladini Conder transforms photographic negatives into layered mementos that focus on family history from as early as the nineteenth century. Through the process of reconstructing non-linear family narratives into mixed media installation objects, Ms. Conder gestures to the fragmented nature of our identity and the desire for wholeness.