State of Union

A great photo project with a great intention. Check out this new series of LGBT family portraits entitled State of Union by Alix Smith.

I get a surreal feeling from these portraits, but that may have been Alix Smith's intention: to make light of the alienation LGBT families and partners suffer through as they fight for equal rights. These families and relationships are real, thriving, existing while parts of society still like to imagine the LGBT community doesn't exist or will go away. Alix Smith uses photography to show us the faces of those who are part of an LGBT family. Through these photos Alix Smith addressed what it means to be a family through portraiture, revealing that "the very act of sitting for a family portrait in which all members are present, serves as an acknowledgement -- to the individuals themselves -- that they indeed are a family," (Alix Smith).

What are your thoughts?

Early Summer Photography Exhibits in DC

Visit the Corcoran Gallery between now and August 28th to see their new photography acquisitions to their collection!

Visit the National Portrait Gallery between now and June 19th to see Americans Now or between now and September 25th to see Glimpse of the Past.

Visit Multiple Exposure Gallery between now and June 5th and see Two Visitors.

Charting the Seas of Hipstamatic

Hipstamatic can be tacky, beautiful, bland or bold. However, if you're a true photographer at heart check out this chart to see how all the different combinations of lens, films and flashes look. Once you really know how your digital camera app functions you can save yourself some time and start doing serious photo projects or series with this fun app for smart phones/iPhones.

-Alex

John Gossage: The Pond

Thank God for MLK day!

Today I found myself incredibly excited to have a day off because on days off I have all this time to go visit those galleries and museums full of the artwork my eyes crave.

Today I visited the Smithsonian American Art Museum to see John Gossage's exhibit The Pond. This particular exhibit ended today, but check out or purchase his book The Pond. My immediate thoughts after having walked through the series of 50 or so silver gelatin prints was this:

Seeing The Pond by John Gossage is like a spiral back in time to childhood and that moment when one discovers nature's demise by humans.

And at the same time, The Pond also reminds me that nature will one day reclaim all that humans have ruined.

But if you are looking for something to go do check out the Directions exhibit at the

Hirshhorn (through March 27, 2011). It was on my list of places to visit today, however I got side tracked by Paper Source, the stationary store in Georgetown... and got this really cute stamp (pictured)!

...Needless to say I did not make it to the Hirshhorn before 5:30pm. Luckily my desire for art appreciation wasn't completely ruined because the American Museum of Art is open until 7pm daily :)

-Alex

Flickr lovers? Got pictures of DC?

DCist is having their Fifth Exposed Photograhy Show!

If you are a flickr or DCist lover you probably know DCist picks a photo of the day from their flickr pool. The DCist Exposed Photography Show also uses flickr for the submission of photographs (digital or film). Winners' photos of DC will be chosen, much like photos chosen daily to be shown on DCist, from the new flickr group DCist Exposed Photography Show 2011. During the show, winners' work will be hosted at The LongView Gallery in DC.

Find submission rules and more details here. $5 Submission fee. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 11:59 p.m.