PRESS RELEASE
 Photo Credit: Bruce Hucko |
MOAB PHOTO SYMPOSIUM
Date: April 30 – May 3, 2009
Location :Moab Arts & Recreation Center
Note: Registration deadline is mid-April.
The Moab Photography Symposium is an annual gathering of professional and serious amateur photographers who come to Moab to hear feature presentations by subject experts, attend field workshops, go on guided hikes and enjoy great camaraderie, all within the beauty of the Moab area. The symposium celebrates its sixth year April 30 - May 3, 2009.
Conceived and organized by Moab photographer Bruce Hucko, the event draws 100+ people from all over the United States and Canada. “The goal is to mix good people, with great scenery and fantastic presentations on technical and artistic subjects,” says Hucko. “The result is a very engaging environment which is why we are building a strong base of repeat visitors.” The Moab area landscape is known around the world and appears in thousands of books and magazines. Photographers flock here like the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano and many of them leave with the same kind of images; Delicate Arch at sunset, etc. “Our creative focus,” adds Hucko, “is for participants to learn techniques and thinking processes that invite them to create personally meaningful work.” To this end Hucko creates an annual theme and brings in photographers of national and regional distinction to share their thoughts and work.
This year’s theme is “Tradition and Beyond.” It celebrates the range of creative photographic expression from fine art Black and White to the digital frontier
The keynote speaker for the 2009 symposium is Ted Orland.
Ted Orland is a photographer, author and educator currently living in Santa Cruz, Ca. His first and only photography teacher was Ansel Adams for whom he served as assistant for 15 years. Ted also taught at the Ansel Adams Yosemite Workshops and is one of a very few B&W printers awarded the task of printing Adams negatives. Though well steeped in the B&W large-format fine art tradition, Ted’s camera of choice these days is the $30, plastic, Chinese-made, light-leaky Holga, that has become the “darling” of fine art photographers worldwide.
Ted is co-author (with David Bayles) of the classic artists' survival guide, Art & Fear, and is author of its recent companion volume, The View From The Studio Door. A large selection of Ted's early photographs and writings appear in his monograph, Scenes of Wonder & Curiosity. Today Ted Orland lives in Santa Cruz, California, where he continues his parallel careers in teaching, writing and photography.
The keynote is Thursday night April 30th at 7:00 pm at the Moab Arts and Recreation Center. It is free and open to the public.
The by-registration only symposium begins on Friday, May 1 with 3 days of feature presentations and workshops. You can find the whole lineup at the website: www.moabphotosym.com. The presentations for this year have great diversity.
On Friday and Saturday, May 1 and 2, there will be 3 feature presentations and 10 workshops each day. Two feature speakers and a show of participant imagery will conclude the event on Sunday May 3rd.
On Friday May 1, participants will hear from travel/adventure photographer Chris Noble, B&W fine art photographer Cole Thompson and photographer/educator Angela Faris.
 Cole Thompson |
 Chis Noble |
Chris was keynote at the first symposium and has a new book and many new images to share. Cole Thompson is a fine art 35mm digital B&W photographer who creates marvelous thematic collections. Angela teaches photographic design and expresses her relationship to nature through an intimate set of photographs called “Traces.”
On Saturday, May 2, participants will hear about the Holga camera from Ted Orland, how we see Color from Robert Marc and how to be successful with landscape photography from Moab’s own Tom Till.
Robert E. Marc, Ph.D. is the Calvin and JeNeal Hatch Presidential Chair in Ophthalmology at the University of Utah and Director of Research for the John A. Moran Eye Center. He is also fascinated with … and some might say obsessed by … sensory biology and color vision. His laboratory is now engaged in the largest neural imaging project in history: building a complete wiring diagram of the retina. He’ll trace the light’s journey from the sun’s core into the mind’s color engines and discuss why the eye is neither camera nor chip.
Ted will discuss the idiosyncrasies of the Holga and demonstrate how he constructs his marvelous Holga collages.
Landscape master Tom Till has produced a new book and his talk will outline how to be successful with landscape photography.
Sunday, May 3 features nature and wildlife photographer Jeff Foott and Steve Traudt from Grand Junction, who masterfully entertains and educates with his wonderful slide shows.
Jeff has recently returned from photographic excursions to Yosemite, Mongolia and the Mexican border where he’s work on a project documenting the effects of border travel on nature.
Steve Traudt was asked to wrap up the symposium with another of his insightful slideshows. “Coyote Trickster” Traudt will certainly set us all on path of renewed creativity.
 Photo Credit: Steve Traudt |
 Photo Credit: Jeff Foott |
In addition to the feature presentations there are workshops on both Friday and Saturday. Workshops are conducted by featured presenters plus Bruce Hucko, Ann Torrence, Brian Parkin, Dan Norris, Viviann Rose and Rory Tyler.
Presentations and workshops concentrate on personal vision and composition. Each is backed up with technical information gained by the individual instructors through years of practice. You’ll hear personal stories, pick up on some important how-tos, and find a few new ways of thinking about your own work. Whether you are film or digitally based, a photo-professional, hobbyist, beginner or patron of the arts, you will find all presentations capable of stirring your mind and soul.
The symposium is limited to 111 registrants this year. As of February 8th there were 50 registrants, so, if you want to go, you better think of signing up soon!
Moab residents wanting to take a workshop BUT NOT attend the feature presentations may do so. The cost of each workshop is $50. Symposium registration is $185.
For more information visit www.moabphotosym.com.