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Tear Sheets
Photo exhibit by female artists is a rare find
By Amanda Pierre
Des Moines Register Staff Writer
10/20/2002
Next weekend one event will encompass two rare occurrences in
Des Moines: There will be an art show with work by all female artists.
Possibly rarer still, "Ten Women . . . Ten Views" will showcase photography.
It may seem odd that almost 100 years after Alfred Stieglitz's
bold efforts to establish photography as an art form, the medium is seldom seen
at many Des Moines-area galleries.
Ray Andrews, a Des Moines photographer for about 50 years, has
noted the trend. The scarcity of photographic exhibits in the Des Moines area,
more so since the 2001 closing of the Percival Gallery, seems especially
disturbing when Andrews considers that photography is so popular at the Iowa
State Fair, and in other cities.
This month in New York City an Armory Show is making
photography its focus. The Armory Show, named after the Armory Show of 1913 that
introduced Picasso, Cezanne and other great modern artists to America, is also
known as the International Fair of New Art.
"There are people out there looking for photography, they just
don't know where to find it," in Des Moines, Andrews theorized. He teaches
photography to six of the 10 women in the show. "This show will expose more
people to photography, and that can help."
The show was arranged by John Busbee of the Artists Emporium
and Des Moines photographer Vicki Colby A few of the participants, including
Colby, show their work at the Artists Emporium. For others, this will be their
first show.
"Really, I wanted to do it to help Des Moines understand there
is good photography here and it is an art form," Colby said. "These girls are up
and coming. They really are going places and everybody is doing their own
thing."
Colby, who studies with Andrews, will bring her black and
white photographs to the show. She merges her writing and photography skills by
attaching stories about the photographs to the works.
Carol Cartwright, who lives in Ames, shows at art festivals.
For the "Ten Women . . . Ten Views" show she will present her shots of ranch
life, taken at the Ponderosa Ranch in Seneca, Ore. The images of cowboys,
cowgirls and horses are vibrant with the colors and moods of the modern Wild
West.
"That is the challenge for the photographer: not only to get
the technique but to get the right spirit. That is what makes the art,"
Cartwright said. "If it was easy, we'd only take one shot and we'd walk away.
It's not that easy."
Susan Kopecky controls the process from shoot to finish. She
estimates that each print takes about 24 hours to produce: six prints take up to
12 hours in the darkroom, each one takes eight hours to dry, then there are the
mounting and matting processes. Kopecky, an Iowa State Fair award winner, sells
her work at the Downtown Farmers' market and Des Moines festivals.
Sisters Carole Reichardt, Diane Cutler, and Patty Housby will
debut at the "Ten Women . . .Ten Views" show. All of them have been taking
pictures for years, but with different approaches and techniques.
Reichardt says, "I like to take in the ordinary and look at it
in a different way."
Cutler will have photographs from Montana, France and Turkey
in the show.
"For me, it's kind of overwhelming, because there are colors
and patterns and lines in everything, and I just want to have my camera for
everything I see," Cutler said.
Housby enhances her photos with digital technology, using the
filtering and color balancing techniques of the Photoshop computer program. Her
photos have natural motifs, like flower petals and leaves, but minute details
and colors jump out at the viewer.
The photographs of Shelly Hansen, another student of Andrews',
are the more classic black and white. Preferring subjects that honor the strong
feminine influences in her life, she experiments with composition and the
subtleties of the pure art form.
"That seems very comfortable to me. The simple things in life
are best," said Hansen, who has won photography awards locally. "You don't have
to travel the world to see some beautiful things. They are also right in your
own life."
Busbee pointed out that these artists are exhibiting the
perseverance necessary to promote photography locally.
"I like this, when you get a strong group of artists
together," Busbee said. "One voice sings nicely, but a chorus is heard."
Details
WHAT: Exhibit: "Ten Women . . . Ten Views"
WHEN: 6-10 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Kirkwood Civic Center Hotel Ballroom, Kirkwood Hotel, Fourth and
Walnut streets, Des Moines.
Photographer focuses on nature
By VICTORIA CARRINGTON
Herald-Index staff writer
Posted at 11:52 on 05/ 07/ 2002
Former Altoona resident, Susan Kopecky was told she wouldn't be able
to make a living taking pictures. Heeding that advice, she earned a
bachelor's degree in sociology.
After working in that field for a period of time she said she decided,
"I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing this."
So she went back to college, this time at Hawkeye Community College in
Waterloo to earn an associate's degree in photography.
"I did it in reverse order," Kopecky said.
She quickly proved the nay-sayers wrong.
"I've been doing photography for a living ever since," Kopecky
said.
She entered her first competition when she submitted three entries at
last year's Iowa State Fair.
After the judging, she walked away with a Fine Arts Award and two
honorable mentions.
Now she's getting recognition from the artistic community. In January,
she was selected to sell her work at the Artist's Emporium, 214 4th St.
in downtown Des Moines.
"Susan has some exceptional work," said John Busbee, executive
director of Des Moines Art District. "What I like is her
process."
That process includes shooting photography with medium and large format cameras -
the type with a curtain that goes over the photographer's head.
"I got mine from a friend," Kopecky said.
The camera requires a special film that Kopecky orders from New York
City.
Because the camera does not use a flash, Kopecky must shoot 20 to 30
minute exposures. She says the process creates more depth in a
photograph, rather than a flat image.
That leaves one hour for the meter and light reading to be right and
that only occurs two times each day - sunrise and sunset.
"You only have one hour before sunset to pick out a shot, focus and
shoot," she said.
So while most people are laying on the beach during the day in Hawaii,
Kopecky lugged 15 pounds of equipment onto the plane and could be found
on the beach at 4 a.m. shooting photos during her vacation. That was
where her award-winning shot was taken.
Kopecky, who was born and raised in Iowa, said you don't have to travel
far to find a subject to photograph.
"Some of the best pictures you find are in your back yard,"
Kopecky said. Many of her photographs are taken locally.
"There's half a dozen places I want to shoot on Saturday and Sunday
mornings," she said.
Much of Kopecky's work focuses on nature.
"Everyone wants to live where other people aren't," Kopecky
said. She tries to give her pictures a sense that the viewer is in an
isolated setting.
"I try to print more how it's felt rather than duplicate exactly
how it looked," Kopecky said. "If I have to explain it to you
then it's not working."
The printing process is the second extensive part of Kopecky's work. She
has her own darkroom and lab in her basement.
"Everything is shot by me and processed by me," Kopecky said.
"I do the prints, matting and mounting by hand."
Kopecky controls the contrast and the lightness or darkness during the
developing process.
"The print the light goes on and off 12 times before the print is
done," she said.
The extensive process allows a lot of room for things to go wrong.
"You throw away a lot of paper," Kopecky said. "Sometimes
I realize I missed a step, rip it up and start again."
Of course if there's a problem during the developing, Kopecky said,
"You've ruined the film."
It takes many hours for each print, but Kopecky wouldn't have it any
other way. She controls the process from start to finish.
"No one else touches my stuff," she said. "It's hugely
technical."
The prints that result from the extensive process are now on sale for
public purchase and viewing. Only 50 copies are sold before the
negatives are retired, making each of them a limited edition.
Shows were held in February at Park Fair, in March at the State
Fairgrounds and at Hoyt Sherman in April.
"I'm trying to do one (show) a month," Kopecky said.
In May and June Kopecky plans to have her prints at the Farmer's Market
every other week beginning May 11. On July 28, she's scheduled to be
part of the Art Affair given by the Des Moines Women's Club at Hoyt
Sherman.
A preview of her work can be seen on her web site at
www.susankopecky.com or she can be called at 669-7456.
A percentage of sales from the print called "Malignancy" will
be donated to the Iowa City Pediatric Oncology Unit in honor of a friend
with a sick child.
After an initial start in artistic photography, Kopecky hopes to make it
a full time endeavor.
"I can't eat it, but I hope someday it will feed me," Kopecky
said. "I love this stuff to my core, this is undeniably what I am
about."
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