WE MAKE ART, an impromptu art exhibition by RIT photographers.

WE MAKE ART, is an opportunity for a community of photographers to revel in their enjoyment of making and showing work.

First Friday Opening Reception: 6-9 pm.
After Party Potluck: 9-10 pm.
Hungerford Building Door 7, Rm 306 1115 E Main St. Rochester, NY 14609

Seriously Brilliant

http://www.hollisbrownthornton.com/work/main.htm

Zoe Strauss Final I-95 Exhibit

Chris Jordan pictures some shocking stats | Video on TED.com

Chris Jordan pictures some shocking stats | Video on TED.com

Mom's New Stove

After 15 years of cooking without a stove, my mother finally can make a whole chicken. I'd call this moment Happiness.

Will Steacy

Down These Mean Streets, Crips Atlantic City, 2008

"America has turned its back on cities as years of neglect have left crumbling neighborhoods with no local economy...By addressing the loss and despair that prevail in our urban communities my aim is to reveal a modern day portrait of the American inner city as problems and issues cannot be solved if they are not first identified."

http://www.willsteacy.com/

The Innovator of the Shopping Mall, Victor Gruen, 1948

It is our belief that there is much need for actual shopping centers–market places that are also centers of community and cultural activity. We are convinced that the real shopping center will be the most profitable type of chain store location yet developed, for the simple reason that it will include features to induce people to drive considerable distances to enjoy its advantages.

-Victor Gruen, 1948

"We should not be content to say that power has a need for such-and-such a discovery, such-and-such a form of knowledge, but we should add that the exercise of power itself creates and causes to emerge new objects of knowledge and accumulates new bodies of information. One can understand nothing about economic science if one does not know how power and economic power are exercised in everyday life."

-Michel Foucault

Home: photographs of my family home 2003

These images were made during my psychological transition from living with my parents to my independence as a young adult. I photographed the house for many personal reasons. It was a place that I was confined to, where I grew up in un-intentional isolation. For reasons I am not ready to post here it was not an ideal home. Since making these images in 2003 it has only gotten worse. Looking back I see a need to find beauty as a way to avoid a serious problem. One that as a child just entering adulthood I was not able to address. I am not sure that I can face it now.

Sincerely,

Fiona

Photographing the Homes of Hoarders: Michael Schmelling, The Plan

A photo book published by Photo Eye Bookstore.
The Plan.
Photographs by Michael Schmelling. Text by Richard Maxwell.
J&L Books, 2009. 576 pp., 490 black & white illustrations, 6¾x9".

Book Tease

Publisher's Description
Between 2003 and 2005, Michael Schmelling photographed 12 private residences in the company of Disaster Masters, a New York-based company specializing in cleaning up homes and counseling compulsive hoarders. Featuring 490 photographs printed in black-and-white on 576 newsprint pages, this volume devotes one chapter to each home-producing an arresting art object and a fantastic document of urban archaeology and psychology.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Fiona Eloisa Wilson, Collapse, Local Global, 2008

This image will be exhibited at The Center for the Study of the End of Things Symposium, Opening February 5th.

Fiona Eloisa Wilson, Macy Parade, The Blob, 2009

Three photographs from the Macy's Parade Series will be exhibited at WORK. Ann Arbor. The opening is February 12 from 6-9 pm.

Average Sizes of Stores

This diagram is from Stacy Mitchell's book; Big-Box Swindle. Through solid research and real life stories she elegantly breaks down the multi-faceted problem of Big-Box economics.

Eileen Kennedy

Eilleen Kennedy, The First League Out

Eilleen Kennedy was recently featured in The Houston Center of Photography's Prime Years exhibit (November 13, 2009 - January 10, 2010). Beyond Success documents her husbands transition from big time exec. to forced retiree.

Andy Mattern

Andy Mattern, Universal Remote Control, 2009

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Pixcetera.com

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Pixcetera.com

"Originally known as the Macy's Christmas Parade, the event was started by employees. It featured animals from the Central Park Zoo. The first parade took place in 1924 and was such a success it became an annual event. Here's a pic from the 1929 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade."

GLOBALONEY

http://www.scottgrieger.com

Kiran Bir Sethi teaches kids to take charge | Video on TED.com

Kiran Bir Sethi teaches kids to take charge | Video on TED.com

Kiran Bir Sethi is a teacher that goes beyond the core curriculum and teaches her students life lessons in real world settings. Students learn that they have the ability to alter the world around them. They believe in "I Can", and so become empowered to try.

For educators, Sethi is a true role model.

New Work: Abby Cadabby, from the Macy's Parade Series.

A new photograph from the 2009 Macy's Parade inflation will be exhibited as part of the Converge exhibit at Rochester Institute of Technology's S.P.A.S. Gallery. Reception: Thursday, January 21st.

Consumer Action List

An insightful interview with photographer Brian Ulrich

Photo by Brian Ulrich, Pep Boys 2009
http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/galleries/ghosts_of_shopping_past/02gosp.php

Mission Statement

Find The Alternative, this is my goal.

Like most people I knew that there were problems with consumer economics. I realized that Wal-Mart was generally bad, and that the mass-production and consumption cycle was going to get us into trouble one day. I didn’t know why or how and frankly I really didn’t care. I was distracted by life with problems that now seem both superficial and selfish.

The current economic crisis woke me from my ignorance. I am now aware of the serious consequences for choices made, ones that will not be delayed much longer. Motivated by this crisis, my photography has shifted from a narrow interest in nature to an exploration into the governing force of consumerism.

Find The Alternative, records the resources that influence my way of thinking and image making. Practical economics, popular culture, and art are provided as an opportunity for people like me, to become informed.