Aline Smithson News...Lots of it!

Aline Smithson, LALOP photographer and master blogger (Lenscratch) about the photography community, sends in an incredible list of recent activity:

"I am currently being featured with a 7 page spread in Artworks Magazine Summer Issue. It's on sale now at Barnes and Noble.



As the result of winning the Plates to Pixels 2008 competition, I am one of two featured photographers on the Plates to Pixels site, also with an accompanying interview.



Opening August 1st, I will am excited to present a solo exhibition at Pine Street Art Works Gallery in Burlington, Vermont.




A solo exhibition of my series, Arrangement in Green and Black, Portraits of the Photographer's Mother, will be exhibited at the 2009 Lishui Photo Festival in Lishui, China this November.


I also have work in an exciting new publication, Diffusion Magazine -- the inaugural issue.

I have two pieces, one the First Prize winner, in the Fantastic Plastic Exhibition at the Watson Studio Gallery in Johnson City, Texas, curated by Carol Watson and Susan Burnstine.



My image, The Secret Language, won Honorable Mention in The Photo Review 2009 and will be exhibited at Philadelphia's University of the Arts' Gallery this fall.



As part of the Review Santa Fe promotion, one of my images was featured on Flak Photo.



My work recently appeared on File Magazine.



One of my images was on the cover of F-Stop Magazine #34, the Collaboration issue, where my collaboration with Australian photographer Bronwen Hyde was featured. I also have an article on Photolucida in Issue #35, and will have images and an article on Review Santa Fe in Issue #36.



My work will be included in the '09 California Open Exhibition at The Artist's Gallery in Los Angeles, opening August 19th with a reception on August 22nd, 2009.

Wall Space Gallery in Seattle, WA is featuring images from Arrangement in Green and Black, Portrait of the Photographer's Mother at Little City on Capitol Hill through August.

Opening September 11th at the Kirchman Gallery in Johnson, Texas, I will have 2 images in the Member's Only Show through the Texas Photographic Society, curated by Cig Harvey.




Later this summer, I will be part of the Michael Mazzeo Gallery's inaugural, RSVP 1: Arbor, on-line exhibition.

LensWork Magazine is showcasing the Arrangement and Green and Black series in LensWork Extended #84, the September/October issue, available mid-October.

52 Editions is presenting one of my images for sale in the near future.

I am very excited about curating Group Show #6 in the upcoming issue of Fraction Magazine. The issue will be live August 7th. I also curated, along with Ken Merfeld, the Alternative Processes Exhibition, at the Julia Dean Gallery in Los Angeles opening August 14th. And I am thrilled to have been selected as a juror for Critical Mass 2009, the career-building review which promotes the best emerging and mid-career artists working today.

Finally, I was honored to be nominated for the 2009 Santa Fe Prize in Excellence in Photography."

Two upcoming competition opportunities

Southern California Faces & Places
A new Southern California competition: FACES AND PLACES PHOTO CONTEST
The entry deadline is 31 August 2009 and the judges look interesting.


The second: An international competition sponsored by LENSCULTURE, the online photography magazine:
lensculture international exposure awards: http://www.lensculture.com/contest.html
Deadline:15 September 2009

News From LALOP Photographers

From Cindy Bendat:
My work will be included in the group exhibition "It's Still Life" at RayKo Photo Gallery in San Francisco. The opening is on Friday August 7th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. RayKo is located at 428 3rd Street in San Francisco. The exhibit runs through September 22, 2009.

I will be showing a 2008 photograph taken in New Orleans, part of my "Club Desire" portfolio. Club Desire was an important music club in the 1940s and 1950s--jazz and rhythm and blues greats played there, including Louie Armstrong, Fats Domino, Count Basie, Billie Holliday, and a young Ray Charles. Devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, this historic Club now lies in a state of total destruction.

Photographs in the Club Desire portfolio serve as a a prime and poignant illustration of the unfinished work and the continuing need for resources to rebuild New Orleans. Community members would like to save this piece of history by turning Club Desire into a community center. A portion of the sales of images from this portfolio benefit organizations working to rebuild New Orleans.

In addition, for those who have not yet seen it, my work is included in the "Beach Stories" exhibit at the Annenberg Community Beach House at 415 Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica. That exhibit is up through September 30th.


From former member, Lever Rukhin, who has moved away from Los Angeles: "Hoping to see you at my show at Look Gallery, opening 30 July (6-9pm), 1933 S. Broadway, Space 111, LA 90007."

Julius Shulman 1910-2009

All of us in Los Angeles owe a debt to the photography of Julius Shulman who died at the age of 98, Wednesday night, 15 July 2009.

His sense of light, drama and creating a perfect moment in his architectural photography captured Los Angeles brilliantly. For those of us who grew up here, his photographs published in the Los Angeles Times, the Herald-Examiner and many other publications brought us into the age of art, architecture and the stunning living spaces and lives for which LA is known. He documented the history of this city through its buildings and urban planning (see his photographs of the transition of downtown Los Angeles from the victorian houses on Bunker Hill to the first tall office buildings), especially those of the modernist era.

He inspired so many of us not only with his work but with his presence at openings and other places where photographers might be, even at this year's Spring opening of the Annenberg Space for Photography. An exhibit of his work, some created with Juergen Nogai, is presently up at Craig Krull Gallery at Bergamot Station (Santa Monica), through August 22.

The LA Times obituary is at http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-julius-shulman17-2009jul17,0,1393680.story

PaddleBoats Again

In 2007, LALOP played a major role in resurrecting the paddle-boat operations at Echo Park and MacArthur Park Lakes by bringing attention to the paddle-boat plight by photographing the parks and lakes and exhibiting in two exhibitions. It worked then.

But in the vagaries of the city budget and in this historically difficult time, the operations are to be closed again. It is sad that this quiet, simple recreation that appeals to all ages and budgets must be closed but LALOP fervently hopes that the City will see its way to soon review the more than century old recreation.

We loved the boats and we loved our exhibits. We'll jump in again in a better time should the need arise.
http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2009/07/this-will-be-your-last-weekend-to-ride.html

$10 for the Community

LALOP Photographer, Cindy Bendat, has worked with Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles and posts this appeal on her facebook page (also posted by Gil Garcetti, photographer and former LA County District Attorney):

Homeboy Industries needs your help! They are running a $10 virtual carwash. I have been working with Homeboy for the last year on an ongoing project, and it is a great organization. Please contribute! Go to www.homeboy-industries.org and donate $10 (or more). Thanks

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=122095768335&h=Luz-b&u=MUgN1&ref=mf

About Homeboy Industries See YouTubeVideo

Homeboy Industries assists at-risk and former gang involved youth to become contributing members of our community through a variety of services in response to their multiple needs. Free programs -- including counseling, education, tattoo removal, job training and job placement -- enable young people to redirect their lives and provide them with hope for their futures.

In the past year, former members from over half the 1,100 gangs in Los Angeles County have come through our doors seeking specific services in an effort to turn their lives around. As City and County leadership strive to combat this complex and entrenched issue, we at Homeboy remain committed to addressing the root causes of gang violence: poverty, lack of education, lack of opportunity, and perhaps most importantly, a lethal absence of hope.