State of the Art

Seven Photographers Win Guggenheim Awards

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced the recipients of it Fellowship grants for 2008. Among the 190 awards, seven went to photographers. Go here for the complete list of winners. These are the photographer recipients:
     1. Michael Berman, artist and photographer, San Lorenzo, New Mexico.
     2. Elijah Gowin, photographer and Assistant Professor of Art and Art Histroy, University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri.
     3. Builder Levy, photographer, New York City.
     4. Fredrik Marsh, photographer and Senior Lecturer in Art, Otterbein College, Columbus, Ohio. (The image above is by Marsh.)
     5. Greg Miller, photographer, Coventry, Connecticut.
     6. Ardine Nelson, photographer and Associate Professor, Department of Art, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
     7. David J. Taylor, photographer and Associate Professor of Photography, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico.
     If you noticed that Columbus, Ohio was well reprsented among the winners, you're right, but it gets better: Ardine Nelson and Fredrik Marsh have been life partners for 27 years.
     According to the Guggenheim Foundation, the 190 winners were chosen from a group of 2,600 applicants.--David Schonauer

"Get Your Glossy Online"

The above line is from an anonymous reader who posted it — after the words "Save a tree" — as a comment to an interesting piece about the future of magazines. The story was in the New York Observer but you can read it here. (Save a tree, get your pink paper online.)

Among the magazine insiders commenting on the future of print media are Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter (who envisions a new "electronic book" in our future world), Esquire editor David Remnick (who imagines more innovative printing practices), and Wired editor Chris Anderson (who sees magazines staying the same for awhile). Go figure.

Editors at many print magazines (including American Photo) may take comfort in the facts that a) a new medium doesn't necessarily kill an old one; b) nothing looks better than a picture printed on decent paper; and c) people don't usually take their computers to the bathroom or curl up in a tub with them.

Every Grain of Sand

Photos © Dr. Gary Greenberg

"In the fury of the moment I can see the Master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand."
– Bob Dylan

That couplet has long struck me as among the most heartfelt and poetic ones in Dylan's entire oeuvre. But I never thought it would make a great lead-in for a photo book report.

A bit of background: Recently I posted a Web story on a book called The Art of the Snowflake, by Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht. That book features mesmerizing images of snow crystals, a photographic subject rarely explored since Wilson Bentley's pioneering snowflake images back in the late 1800s. Seizing on one aspect of Libbrecht's project, I titled the piece "No Two Alike?"

"People make a lot more out of that saying than they ought to, you know," Libbrecht replied when asked if every snowflake was unique. "No two grains of sand are exactly alike either, but nobody really cares about that." Later, I joked with Libbrecht about the possibility of him doing a book on sand. "People have done this with sand," he said.

He's right. The day after the story was posted, I got a note from Libbrecht's publisher: "This spring, Voyageur Press will publish a new book that will do for sand what Ken Libbrecht’s photographs did for snow," wrote marketing rep Maurrie Salenger.  I just received the new title, A Grain of Sand: Nature’s Secret Wonder, by Dr. Gary Greenberg ($20, voyageurpress.com). And this book, too, is a revealing, iridescent study in microphotography and nature, drawing equally from science and art.

Giant Leap for Mankind (or, Why is This Man Jumping)?

Since it's Leap Day — that once-every-four-years phenomenon that lets people jokingly claim to age more slowly and stay newlyweds longer — we've been looking for the perfect photo event tied to this Gregorian intercalary anomaly. (We threw in that last $15 term in honor of the late Wlliam F. Buckley Jr.)

One cool contender is an homage to Philippe Halsman's Jump Book — including the classic shot of Richard Nixon at left — staged by Rich Janzaruk, photo editor of the Times-Mail in Bedford, Indiana, called "Leaping for Leap Day." Unfortunately, most of Janzaruk's shots of leaping local celebs are not posted online yet, but the story links to a great Owen Edwards piece recounting Halsman's original series published in 1959 (one of the most inspired leaps of imagination in modern portraiture, IOHO).

Then there is this Leap Day how-to article on adorama.com that tells you all about how to catch people in action (start with a cute and fearless model, as below).

"Photographs, you know, they're half-truths"

That is of course a famous quote from a man who devoted his life to photography: Eddie Adams, who passed away in 2004 after a long career behind the lens and behind the scenes as founder of the Eddie Adams Workshop. It was 40 years ago today that Adams made one of the most famous war pictures ever, as reported on NPR.org.

The NPR story points out that Adams's Pulitzer Prize–winning photo for Associated Press, "General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon" (left), owes much of it's power to it's instantaneousness — Adams snapped it just as the gun was fired. (Indeed, the more complete and gruesome news film footage of the execution is not nearly as well known as the still.) Adams, who describes the event in a clip on NPR's site, often expressed ambivalence about the picture and its aftermath: "The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera," he wrote in Time.

The Capa Files Reopened

Robert Capa is widely credited for establishing the tone of modern war photography, simply by getting close to the action. A newly discovered treasure trove of his negatives brings that point home. As reported in an excellent piece in yesterday's New York Times, a found cache has been confirmed to be negatives made by Capa, as well as some by his collaborator Gerda Taro and fellow Magnum founder David Seymour. "This really is the holy grail of Capa work," says Brian Wallis, chief curator at the International Center of Photography, which has fittingly become the new home for the negatives.

The Times piece not only chronicles the tangled international journey that this batch of negatives took during the decades it was missing, but also emphasizes Capa's philosophy of getting in the thick of the battle — “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough," he famously said — which ultimately helped cause Capa's death at age 40 (he stepped on a land mine while covering in the Indochina war in 1954).

Picture-Perfect Peterson

Bryan Peterson has one of the best photographic eyes in the business, bringing a brilliant editorial style to his work for corporate clients such as Citibank, Microsoft, American Express, and, perhaps most visibly, UPS. Peterson has also written several very good photo how-to books. Now you can tap into his expertise and experience from the comfort of your computer--through Peterson's own online workshops, known as the Perfect Picture School of Photography. Don't be put off by the silly name (though if you don't get perfect pictures, you get your money back) or the awkward, redundant school slogan ("It is here where creativity is not only fostered, but encouraged"). Peterson, samples of whose work I've included here, has created a simple but effective Web-based teaching template, backed up by ample photographic talent that includes himself.

Fish-n-Flush

Although our company e-mail has a spam filter, we get a lot of wacky e-messages each day promoting products or story suggestions that have next to nothing to do with photography. But one idea for a "product feature" caught our eye with its name. Fish-n-Flush sounds like some sadistic catch-and-release procedure — but it's really "a unique new product whose decorative appeal could turn the bathroom into the most talked about room in the house," according to the blurb. And once we saw the photo, we started wondering whether to cough up $299 for one of these just for fun. "The Fish n Flush is clear two-piece toilet tank," the note continues, "that contains a fully functioning aquarium inside." (For details go here.) In households like ours, where potty etiquette and pet rearing are both topics of kiddie education, this could do double-duty. "We see the toilet serving as a great way to help toilet train young children," says company CEO Richard Quintana, "as well as a fun fashion statement for the homeowner who wants to have something unique." Hmmm... -- Jack Crager

Pack Your Bags

A few weeks ago when I was at the APA's Assistants Hexathlon I had a lengthy discussion with a few professional photographers about vital skills assistants need (and often lack). An indispensable one is being able to identify and properly pack equipment. Great idea for a story, I thought...especially for the new college edition of Popular Photography I'm editing (fyi).

Leave it to photographer Chase Jarvis to beat me to the punch (which I forgive him for, since now I can make him help me with the story). He has not one but two new videos up at his blog (a 30-minute advanced one and a shortened "basic" one) that explain the ins and outs of packing, shipping, and protecting your equipment while shooting around the world (as Chase is wont to do).

Chase (we're on a first-name basis, if you hadn't noticed) also now has an iTunes podcast of his videos, which include behind-the-scenes looks at his shoots, his speeches and interviews, and something called "Frames" where he takes every single image from a shoot and makes them into a ridiculously watchable slideshow.

Not surprisingly, this multimedia investment has paybacks not only for Chase's fans but also for his business, which is now regularly shooting both still and motion for clients. To get all the details, you'll have to check out our special feature on photographers as directors in the upcoming Hollywood issue (March/April) of American Photo.

~Miki Johnson

Abe in Stereo?

Scholars are debating whether a rare photograph of Abraham Lincoln on the day of his famed Gettysburg Address has been discovered, according to a story in USA Today. "You may have seen the most important Lincoln photographic discovery in 40 years — what do you think?" says Lincoln historian Harold Holzer in the piece.

The image is actually a pair of stereoscopic photos, discovered by collector John Richter, which can be viewed through special viewers in 3-D. The tall, top-hat wearing man thought to be Lincoln is seen at a distance in a crowd.

But photographs of the 16th President, especially at Gettysburg, are extremely rare. While watching the Democratic debate last night and noting how big Obama's ears are, how goofy Hillary's shoulder pads look, and how Edwards's hair might be shillacked into place, it occurred to me how different it must have been back in the days when voters had to rely on candidates' ideas and not their images to choose leaders. Chances are Honest Abe would not have been telegenic -- but he does look regal in a top hat.  -- Jack Crager

Discover the Next Top Photographer on Vh1

It took longer than I expected to get a reality TV show about photography. Now, it's here...and it's a lot better than I expected. In fact, I guess I'm hooked. The new show is called "The Shot," and it's on Vh1 on Sunday's at 10 (9 Central). The premise is pretty much like the other reality TV shows about fashion designers, chefs, and models: A lineup of promising young photographers live together and are  given a challenge assignment each week. A panel of judges decides whose pictures are the weakest in each challenge, and that person is eliminated, until only one contestant is left. The show is produced by the same people who do America's Next Top Model, but it's not a foolish waste of time at all. The key, for me, is the host, photographer Russell James, who's shot for Victoria's Secret, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues, and other clients. Each week he gives a solid lesson in how to be a great photographer. I've included one from the first week here.
--David Schonauer

Photographs and War Memories

A story broadcast this morning on National Public Radio reminds us of photography's power to preserve history and bring people together. Now available as a podcast and photo gallery on the NPR Website, the story recounts the journey of a World War II U.S. soldier, Vernon Tott, who surreptitiously took a series of B+W snapshots (such as the one above left) while helping to liberate a German concentration camp.

The photos, depicting Holocaust victims in various states of suffering and malnutrition, were stored away for decades (just as many wartime memories of veterans were surpressed) until 1995 -- when Tott came upon an inquiry in an army newsletter in which a camp survivor wanted to find the person who photographed him back when the Alhem labor camp was liberated, 50 years earlier. Tott retrieved his stash of photos, and they were used to help find and reunite other survivors. The group's reunion and Tott's story are recounted in a documentary, Angel of Alhem (check out this site).

The NPR story is part of a continuing series about World War II, running ahead of Ken Burns's new epic war series. On the day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Columbia University that any proof of the Holocaust would still require "sufficient research," the story and films are concrete reminders of horrors past, conflicts continuing, and the power of human perseverance. -- Jack Crager

David Levi Strauss and the Future of Art Criticism

If you haven't see it already, there is a new profile on popphoto.com about photography writer David Levi Strauss, who just accepted the position of chair of SVA's new Art Criticism and Writing program. I'm only a little embarrassed to admit that the interview I did with Strauss had me pretty nervous -- he is, after all, one of the foremost thinkers on the art of photography. So I did my research, scoured the internet for interviews (a good one here), and read his seminal essay collection, Between The Eyes.

It turns out my anxiety was misplaced; Strauss is a really nice guy, though just as eloquent and thoughtful as I expected. As a bonus, he's also dedicated to teaching people to really looking at the images all around us -- especially the photographs. I love how simple and obvious huge ideas seem in his words, such as the misconception that just because photographs are instantaneously created, they can also be instantaneously understood. And I'm excited to be part of the generation that is realizing how false that assumption is.

It's equally exciting to have the head of SVA's Art Criticism and Writing program come from a photography background. Because it's great the people "in the industry" know about Strauss and his careful approach to "technology-based images," but it's more important that the public at large learn to think critically about images. That's one of the reasons Strauss has worked to make his writing approachable. And I'm glad that is the precedent he's setting for the students coming out of SVA's new program.

~Miki Johnson

(Photograph by Sterrett Smith)

11th Hour Notice

Just got an e-mail from Leonardo DiCaprio. (Not every day Leo drops a line.) This was actually through the network of johnkerry.com, the online community Kerry put together during his 2004 presidential run that keeps on ticking along as if Kerry's running again this year. Kerry invited DiCaprio to publicize his new movie: The 11th Hour, touted as a "call-to-arms" for the environmental movement (sort of An Inconvenient Truth with extra dollops of drama and charisma). Apparently it's the 11th hour for the film's nationwide debut -- it opens in several cities today (although it already started its run in New York City and Los Angeles, according to the movie's Website).

Anyway, DiCaprio's intense efforts on this film may explain why he did not have time to take part in our environmental issue of American Photo, which is out now. Leo was certainly asked -- as part of a story in which we surveyed noted environmentalists about photographs that inspired them to take up the global cause. DiCaprio was busy, but we did get fascinating answers from the likes of Al Gore's wife Tipper, journalist Tom Brokaw, Senator Barbara Boxer, primatologist Jane Goodall, and Wild Kingdom cohost Jim Fowler (who named "Earthrise--Apollo 8," above, as his inspirational photo). Can't wait to see DiCaprio's movie. For a trailer, try this link. -- Jack Crager

When Do Photos Lie?

When I was a newspaper editor, one constant directive to photographers was to "give us good captions with your pictures." This wasn't because people on the copy desk didn't want the trouble of writing the text blocks; it was because the reportorial tasks of the photographer included the  who-what-when-where-why-&-how that any news event required (as taught in J-101) and because we figured without clear captions, the readers would be lost.

I recently came across a blog on the New York Times Website that delves further into the relationship between captions and photos, to the point of suggesting the meaning of a picture changes if it is not described with text. Titled "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire," this piece is by Errol Morris, a respected documentary filmmaker whose work includes The Fog of War, The Thin Blue Line, and other provocative movies that explore the relationship between the press, public-relations machines, the real truth and manufactured appearances.

One of Morris's points about still photography is that a "captionless photograph, stripped of all context, is virtually meaningless," that the photo may or may not be true or false on its own, but the viewer cannot make a full judgment without words. Among examples he cites is the photo above which, Morris argues, doesn't mean much without a identifying label.

A New Illusion for Pisa Tourists

How many thousands of tourists have shot the same exact picture as the one you see here? I couldn't even imagaine the number. I'll just say every single person who ever snapped a picture of the leaning tower of Pisa has done this. I may be wrong, but I think what they're doing is actually playing with forced perspective. One of my favorite science websites, Cognitive Daily, now offers another totally cool illusion you can create. Go here to see it. Then will somebody explain to me how it works?
--David Schonauer

Aperture Event: May 1

For the Survivors panel discussion, Gillian Laub, whose new book Testimony documents people affected by Israeli-Palestinian violence, will share her personal experiences and moderate a talk with Kinneret Boosang and Haytem Hamound—both Israelis, one Arab, one Jewish.

6:30 pm
Free and open to the public
Aperture Gallery
547 W. 27th St., 4th Floor
New York City

(Photo: © Gillian Laub/Courtesy Aperture)

Aperture Event: April 26

Gillian Laub's new Aperture book (left), Testimony, documents Israelis and Palestinians who have been affected by the ongoing violence between their countries. Laub will be signing books and discussing her past four years working on this project, which is also part of the group exhibition Dateline Israel: New Photography and Video Art, on view at The Jewish Museum through August 5.

6:30 pm
Admission: $15; $12 students and seniors; $10 members
Scheuer Auditorium
The Jewish Museum
1109 5th Ave.
New York City

(Image: © Gillian Laub/Courtesy Aperture)

Aperture Event: April 24

Magnum photographer Alex Webb will be available to sign his new Aperture monograph (left), Istanbul: City of a Hundred Names, a color-rich tome about the Turkish capital. Webb, who has been photographing Istanbul's streets since 1998, will explain his fascination with the city, its complex cultural history, and its "richly layered visual vocabulary."

6:30 pm
Free and open to the public
Aperture Gallery
547 W. 27th St., 4th Floor
New York City

(Image: © Alex Webb/Courtesy Aperture)

Aperture Event: April 11

Feeling Nostalgic, another Tip of the Tongue Heated Debate from the Aperture/Art+Commerce series, will examine "photographic" holdovers that still have sway in the digital age. What should photography keep from its analog past? What do we do with prints? Where is digital imaging and online sharing taking the industry? Moderator Charlotte Cottong, head of cultural programs at Art+Commerce will put these questions to panelists such as photographer Sze Tsung Leong, whose book History Images was voted one of American Photo's 10 Best Photo Books of 2006.

6:30 pm
Free and open to the public
Aperture Gallery
547 W. 27th St., 4th Floor
New York City

Applying for Sainthood

Center (formerly known as the Santa Fe Center for Photography) has announced its call for entries for the 2007 Patron Saint of Photography Award (formerly known as the Excellence in Photographic Teaching Award). We're not sure what's with all the name changes, but hopefully the quality of the work will stay the same—very good.

According to the press release, the award "honors high school, college and postgraduate teacher's dedication. The award's new name expresses our immense respect for teachers who give freely of their time, knowledge, and infectious enthusiasm so that students may discover a new world through photography."

Nomination by student or colleague deadline: April 13, 2007
Independent submission deadline: April 27, 2007

Teachers can be nominated or submit themselves, with both submissions being considered equally. This year's juror is John Weiss, Professor of Art at the University of Delaware and the 2006 Patron Saint of Photography winner. First prize includes a $2,500 award and Adobe Creative Suite.

~Miki Johnson

(Photo: © John Weiss, 2006 Patron Saint Award Winner)

Aperture Event: March 20

Dutch photographer Bert Teunissen, whose show on old European homes and their inhabitants opened at the Aperture Gallery on March 15, will give a talk and sign copies of his book from the same series, Domestic Landscapes: A Portrait of Europeans at Home. By photographing houses built before electricity was a way of life, he has documented a quickly disappearing aspect of Western European culture.

6:30 pm
Free and open to the public
Aperture Gallery
547 W. 27th St., 4th Floor
New York City

(Photo: "Colmeais #1," From Domestic Landscapes/© Bert Teunissen)

Charles Traub's Advice for Young Photographers

Last Tuesday night I was privileged to be part of a panel discussion about photography at the Aperture Foundation in New York. The nominal topic of the discussion was supposed to have been the confluence of art and commerce, but everybody really wanted to talk about strategies for young photographers to get started in the field. No one had better advice than our panel leader, Charles Traub (left), a talented photographer whose day job is being chairman of the School of Visual Arts’s photography MFA program. His closing remarks for the evening were drawn from his 2006 book “The Education of a Photographer" (Allworth Press, $19.95). They were so clever, and so based in the modern reality of photography, at least as seen by the chairman of a major photography program, that I thought I would print them here.

Aperture Event: March 13

A panel discussion titled Fine Artist or Commercial Photographer? will examine the myriad paths photographers may choose to tread once they leave art school. Stephen Frailey, chair of the Photography Department at the School of Visual Art's Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program, will mediate conversation between James Danziger of Danziger Projects; Elisabeth Sussman, curator of photography at the Whitney Museum of American Art; and American Photo's own EIC David Schonauer.

6:30 pm
Free and open to the public
Aperture Gallery
547 W. 27th St., 4th Floor
New York city

Aperture Event: March 7

The New Color: The Return of Black and White is part of the Aperture- and Art+Commerce-sponsored "Tip of the Tongue Heated Debate" series. This time panelists including monochrome photographer Jason Evans will ponder young photographers' use of age-old black-and-white styles. Moderator Charlotte Cotton, head of cultural programs at Art+Commerce, promises to pose questions about the relationship of today's photographers to modernism as well as black-and-white's possible importance in the digital era.

6:30 pm
Free and open to the public
Aperture Gallery
547 W. 27th St., 4th Floor
New York City

February Guest Blog: Chase Jarvis

To kick off our new guest blog, we've asked Seattle-based commercial photographer Chase Jarvis to look through the March/April issue of American Photo and expound on anything that struck his fancy. Here's what he came up with, cross posted on his own blog. We're excited to be adding voices like Chase's to State of the Art, but we want to hear yours too. Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
~Miki Johnson

The Dichotomy of the
Photographic Portrait:
Portrait Not as View of the Soul,
But as Personal Advertising?

If the eyes are windows to the soul, and if in advance of a portrait sitting you’ve basically had the windows washed and lined up all the furniture inside and put on your favorite clothes for an open house, are the photos that result from that sitting any less “real” than a haphazard photojournalistic snapshot someone grabs of a subject at 10PM on a Tuesday night? Are the results from one portrait style more authentic or merit-worthy than another?  I recently wrestled with these questions when I got my hands on an advance copy of the March/April 2007 American Photo “Portrait Issue.”  Editor, David Schonauer’s piece got my mind really moving--it’s definitely worth a read.

 

I’ve long had huge respect for great portraits and pure portrait photographers.  Shooting great portraits can be intense--wonderfully exploratory sometimes, but almost always intense. Especially if you set out (as many photographers claim) to capture an image that authentically and reasonably addresses the sitter, and the photographer’s vision of that sitter. 

 

In reading comments from numerous uber-talented colleagues featured in Schonauer’s piece, like Leibovitz, Watson, Rolston and others, one thing that was inferred by many, but not directly addressed to my satisfaction by any, was the idea NOT of portrait as hollowed ground or sacred view into the soul of the sitter (there was some of that), but rather that nearly all portraits--from your high school yearbook shot, to family shots by Yen Lui, from glamour shots by Deb, to Oprah Winfrey shot by Leibovitz--they’re all fundamentally ‘portrait as PR or personal advertising.’ 

Still in Awe, After All These Years

"Wow."€ I just kept saying it. Out loud. I couldn't help it.

By far one of the most wondrous and enjoyable things about the ICP's Martin Munkacsi show Think While You Shoot! is how clearly it represents the locus of not only contemporary fashion photography, but of sport and news photography as well.

I'd been wanting to see the show since it opened, expecting it to highlight the master's fashion work, with which he is credited with releasing models from static studio poses and for promoting the image of the athletic, independent American woman. I was looking forward to some glamorous masterpieces from when Harper's Bazaar hires like Munkacsi were photography's superstars.

And the Harper's photos were there, usually as original prints and as they appeared in vintage copies of the magazine. And they were beautiful, often with a stark simplicity that I hadn't expected.

But what I really didn't expect was how Munkacsi would have taken innumerable photos—more than 60 years ago—that were precursors to the stock and trade shots of today's sports and news photographers. The footballer upside down in a kick at the moment his head makes crushing impact with the ground. How much more amazing is this shot when we consider it was taken without super-fast zoom lenses or auto-focus? Or the shot of a dead soldier's feet protruding from a bloody blanket. Despite the countless duplicates of this image from conflicts around the world, Munkacsi's original still packs a distressing punch.

Lego My Atget

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, what is it when you publish an entire book of historically important photographs recreated in Legos? Unfortunately, my knowledge of Spanish does not get me quite far enough into the Galician text to understand why they are made out of Legos. The simplest point of the book is to take us on a "journey" through the history of photography, beginning with Niepce and running through Robert Capa and Robert Frank. And because it makes my head spin to try to parse the layers of meaning in a photograph of a scene made from toys to represent an image that has reached iconic standing...I'll instead just praise the following Lego-ized images as especially accurate: Capa's "Falling Soldier" (above) and Frank's cover shot from "The Americans" (below). Originally via Kottke.
~Miki Johnson

Get Ready for the Festival of the Photograph

You may want to start setting aside some time to attend the Festival of the Photograph, goes on from June 7 to 9 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Organized by National Geographic photographer Michael K. "Nick" Nichols, the festival is something new for the U.S., and it promises to be one of the big photo events of the year. Indeed, the official advertisement for the festival promises nothing less than “three days of peace, love, and photography.” At this point I’d take two out of three of those possibilities. You can get more information at the festival’s website.

Adorama Goes Live

Adorama has always distinguished itself among photography's big retailers by importing and/or actually designing and manufacturing some of the products it sells. And in the last few years it has enhanced that identity by adding an educational component to its mail-order website, one that features how-to and business-related articles by top photographers. Now Adorama is taking that concept beyond the virtual: It will offer an impressive series of workshops at its Manhattan Photo District headquarters, which have been newly expanded and refurbished for the purpose. (Left, an image of Tuscan trees by one of the workshop's instructors, Jean Miele.)