Smithsonian Features My Process Sketches They've Collected

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The National Museum of American History’s Blog features preliminary sketches, both physical and digital, that detail my creative process while developing images for my series Correspondence.
Line drawings, pastels, and digital sketches were all used to explore possibilities before committing to the final composited results.
“… by exposing the time and planning the photographer took to create his final print, these sketches highlight the fact that today’s works of art, though digital, nevertheless do not simply fall from the sky. In a world that is increasingly instant, this documentation of a digital art photographer’s process reminds us of the importance of slowing down and going through experimental drafts before committing to a final decision, a timely reminder for artists and patrons of the arts alike.
Despite the time-saving advantages technology affords us, or perhaps because of them, it’s safe to say we’ll always want to know where things come from and how they are made. An idea’s journey from conception to realization will always be something we want to know, and as Caponigro’s attention to process shows us, even the digital world strives to leave its trace …”
Read more on the NMAH blog here.

Dano’s Glossary of Fine Art Related Terms

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Thought you knew what a hickey was? Never knew paper had a tooth? Had no idea it out gasses? Learn these terms and you’ll not only be able to speak more knowledgeably about printing, you’ll also know what to look for in prints and how to get the best results in your prints.

Epson’s Dan Steinhardt assembled a great Glossary of Fine Art Related Terms.

It’s not published; it’s a useful resource that’s circulated around the web.

Dano generously shares it with us here!

Thanks Dano!

Find out more about Dan Steinhardt here.
Bookmark this post and you’ll be able to quickly find terms anytime anywhere.
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Dano’s Glossary of Fine Art Related Terms

Abrasion Resistance
The resistance to scratching of a surface of paper by other paper surfaces or other materials.

Absorbency
The ability of a material to take up moisture.

Acid Free
(Neutral pH of 7.0) During paper production, treatment employed with a mild base is employed to neutralize the natural acids occurring in wood pulp.  Buffering may also be used to prevent the formation of additional acids. If prepared properly, papers made from any fiber can be acid free. Read More

Condensation – How Looking Inward Illuminates The Outside

Enjoy the text from my book Condensation.
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Condensation
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Light
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All photographs are about light. The great majority of photographs record light as a way of describing objects in space. A few photographs are more about spaces they represent than the objects within those spaces. Still fewer photographs are about light itself.
Time, space, light. All the things this work is about are ultimately missing from the final product – the print. Put it in a dark room and there will still be no light. Touch it and you’ll find it’s flat. Consider it for an extended time; you’ll change but it won’t. Curiously, these conspicuous absences within the print make what’s missing more intensely felt. How does absence make something more clearly experienced? Perhaps it’s that the gap between representation and reality gives us pause and begs us to more carefully reconsider the world around us and the experiences we have in it, at first as a way of verification but later as a way of celebration. Read More

Correspondence – How Feeling Connected Makes Better Images

Enjoy the text from my book Correspondence.
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Correspondence
The first thing I do when I walk outside is look up. The next thing I do is scan the horizon. Hopefully, there’s water nearby; no matter how active or still it is, I’m mesmerized by it. I’m always looking at the sky, the horizon, and water for information and inspiration. Sometimes I stare for hours. More often than not, just for seconds or minutes. I consider myself luckier the longer I look. I have no idea how much time I’ve spent gazing at these things, but I’m always rewarded – if not with an image, then with a new state of mind. That’s how these images were made, through the accumulation of a lot of looking. These images are meditations. They’re an invitation to look closely at looking. They’re an invitation to see more fully, more deeply, and in many ways. Read More

Reflection – What Still Inspires Me After 10 Years

Enjoy the text from my book Reflection.
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Reflection
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Cloudwatching

What child hasn’t spent scattered minutes, accumulated into hours or even days, watching slowly unfolding clouds and the changing sky? Wondering what they were, are, and will be. Imagining bodies (either whole or in pieces, especially faces), animals (whether commonplace, exotic, or mythical), plants, landscapes, and even mechanical devices. Who doesn’t pause at the sight of the blazing colors of the morning and evening sky? How few pause long enough to see the stars begin to appear? How strange to think that the same sky is blue by day and black by night, studded with twinkling stars. Are we like this too? Why do so many adults cease to probe these mysteries as consistently and frequently and with as much curiosity as a child does? What do we lose when we lose the search? Read More

New Work 2010 Exhibition Preview

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Here’s an interesting sampling of images from my upcoming exhibit – New Work 2010.
All of the source images for the ground in these composites are drawn from Iceland.
While the body of work (Reflection) isn’t site specific, it’s interesting to note that many of the images are drawn from similar locations. In the case of the ground exposures a majority of the sources came from Iceland, Utah, and California.
When successful work becomes more site specific like this I ask “What was it about that place that worked so well?” or “What was it about my experience of that place at that time that worked so well?”
Then I plan to return to that location and/or that state of mind.
Find out about my Iceland workshop here.
Preview the book here.
Learn more about my upcoming exhibit here.
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New Book – Condensation


Condensation reveals a mysterious series of images, hovering on the brink of abstraction, stripped of everything nonessential, leaving little more than pure essence. These photographs are not only about the light-filled spaces they represent, but also the inner state of illumination passing through them brings. With extraordinary simplicity and directness, they lead us down a path of perception encouraging us to turn inward and take a mystical journey through ever increasing stages of awareness; thinking, associating, self-reflecting, centering, meditating, praying, and contemplating.”
45 images
Inspiring text
Find more books here.

New Book – Barbara Ventura – White Sands

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White Sands : A Place of Being
A set of images with no words that evoke a sense of peace and admiration for the wonders of creation.
“One of those special, unique and majestic places that has been created as a sample and expression of beauty. Inspiring, sensual, magnificent exhibiting the touch of a master painter everywhere you look. To be in the Presence and surrounded by white sand as far as you can see, resounding with silence that penetrates the deepest part of being, with unending possibilities of capturing images, brands your soul forever!
Find the book here.
Learn more about Barbara Ventura here.
Contact Barabara Ventura at barbara@barbaraventura.com