Ha! Learned my lesson against hubris from last year and submitted works to theDragonCon Art Show on time for Jury Round 1.

I’ll be attending < href=”http://www.iconsf.org/”>I-Con in Stony Brook, New York on the weekend of March 27th. Nigel Sade, Allison Minor and I will be splitting vendor booths 174-5 in the Dealer’s Room.

Then I’ll be hitting Frolicon where you can find my work on display in the Art Show. I’ll also be teaching two classes (times to be announced) there:

Erotic Photography Made Easy
How to take sexy photographs without spending a fortune on photography equipment, and with minimal photo editing. Use your cell phone camera! Use your webcam! It’s not what you own, but how you use it, and this in-class demonstration and lecture will help you use it better.

From Photo To Fantasy
Catgirls, elven strippers, space vixens and more! Learn how to take photographs of your lover and turn them into the stuff of your own wet dreams. Have a specific fantasy image you’d like help with? Email seminar@amul.biz with topics suggestions, and we might work on realizing your fantasy/sci-fi imagery together!

I missed the deadline to apply for the Dragon Con Art Show, but I’ll still be teaching. Check the Art Show Programming Guide for the full class line up.

This year, I’ll be teaching a class called “The Low Cut Blouse Phenomenon.” It’s an exploration of how the internet affects the way we perceive and make art. That’s Saturday at 10am, for those who don’t want to watch the parade.

The Directors of the Art Show have also invited me to once again sit on a panel discussion on judging fantasy photography. Hopefully, the discussion will actually affect the judging criteria for future DragonCons. That’s also on Saturday, 1pm.

New times for the events that I’ll be running or involved in during Dragon Con (when not running my art booth):

Photographic Truth, Myth Of – Not “How To Photoshop,” but Why to do so. This workshop begins with a method to critique images, then uses this to explore common photographic cliches. Using principles of color theory and composition, we will seek alternatives to these overused methods. Amul Kumar – Friday 7:00 PM – Hanover G

ART005: Photography in Fantasy Art – Join the Art Institute of Atlanta and several fantasy photographers in a discussion about fantastical photography and it’s place in fandom and art shows. Help us create guidelines for entering photography into the Dragon*Con Art Show.. Art Institute of Atlanta, Amul Kumar, Dave King, Tracy Cornett, John Parise, Fox Gradin – Saturday 10:00 AM – Hanover F

An attendee from GenCon, where I set up a last-minute booth to sell my photos, suggested that I check out Worth 1000, a daily photography contest website. They also have daily contests for 3D rendering (for some reason labeled “Photoshop”), Illustration, graphic design, and writing.

Unfortunately, the site doesn’t allow image merging or collaging, so it doesn’t have a strong appeal to me right now. While the advanced photo contests allow for a wide range of image manipulation skills, and their copyright usage rules seem reasonable, the entries I’ve seen for the non-photo contests seem fairly slipshod. Many of the photos are very impressive, but are almost wholly tabletop photography, given the nature of the contests. Still, for those who need that extra push to practice their art-making skills.

Certainly, I’m now thinking about buying some cheap tabletop lighting equipment suggested to me by Daniel Aubry and taking a crack at these, just for the sake of motivation and tabletop work.

I’ve just heard that there may be some booths left in the Dealer’s Room for Gen Con this weekend. I missed the art show deadline, but so did several friends of mine, and they’ve suggested that I bring my store down with me and see if I can grab a space.

The only problem is: I don’t have any gridwall to hang photos from, and since I’ve never done this show before, I don’t even know if I’d need some. I don’t suppose anyone has any hanging walls which they can bring to GenCon for me?

Spent a little time today working on the workshop I’ll be giving at DragonCon, entitled “Photographic Truth, Myth of.”

There are many thoughts that I’m trying to see if I can work into the conversation. While I was talking to Liz Galindorf about this, we got into a heated discussion about the validity of digital manipulation. Liz suggested that while digital manipulation is a useful skill to know, it is not generally needed. I, on the other hand, argue that the very act of photography is already a manipulation, and so you have a duty to finish manipulating it until it achieves your intention.

I hadn’t thought initially to include an argument for performing manipulations in the first place, but it seems like a good thing to include.

It seems to me that the first question we should ask is, “Why are you taking a photograph?” Why not draw it in pencil? Or paint it? Or record it as video? When the daguerreotype was first invented, it’s appeal was the degree of realism which it rendered. As additional technologies were developed which rendered a photographic image, the one which allowed for the greatest ease of reproducibility has consistently been the technology which became primary over other techniques. From the daguerrotype to the platinum print to the palladium print to the salt print, and all the way to the digital image. Another choice which has driven photographic methods has been portability. The civil war was photographed with cameras as large as a man which took ten minutes to set up. The most popular modern camera is so small it fits inside a device that has absolutely no relationship to visual imaging.

Are you taking photographs because you want to create images which are the easiest to share with others? Because it’s more portable than an easel, canvas and paintbrush? Because it is easier? Faster?

While there are many possible answers to that question, I think I could safely suggest that regardless of your “default” answer, that reason changes with each image you create. If that’s the case, then it stands to reason that there are times when “precisely recreating the scene as it was laid out” is not high on your agenda.

In those images whose purpose is other than attempting to reveal a “photographic truth” (a term I still think presumes far too much), why would we limit ourselves by what was laid out before us? It is a restraint we lay upon ourselves because we have a false belief in the inherent inviolability of the tool we have chosen to use.

This dovetails nicely into my original starting point, which is that when you make the effort of taking a photograph, you have limited your audience’s perception of the scene to only what is in the picture. The viewer assumes that you intended to make this image, and therefore supposes that every element of the image was intentional.

This, I think, is a strong argument for performing digital image manipulation.

In addition to having a booth in the art show at Dragon Con this year, I will also be teaching two classes:

Saturday, 7:00pm
“Photographic Truth, Myth of”

Not “How To Photoshop,” but Why to do so. This workshop begins with a method to critique images, then uses this to explore common photographic cliches. Using principles of color theory and composition, we will seek alternatives to these overused methods.

Monday, 11:30am
(Unnamed) Photography Panel

Details forthcoming, this will be a round table discussion on the nature and definition of photography in the modern age.

I’ll be exhibiting my photography at DragonCon this year, in the Art Gallery and with unlimited 8x10s for sale in the print shop. I’m still on the waiting list for a table in the bazaar.

Additionally, I’m talking to their Art Track Programming Directors about offering a class on Art Theory, Art History, and their application to Fantasy/Sci-Fi art. I’ve also been put on the list for potential presenters to join a series of roundtables they are coordinating!

A few links for myself, and anyone else who thinks their work is good enough to compete with me, and thousands more practiced than me.

http://www.artdeadline.com/

http://www.theartlist.com/

http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/

* New Images added to the Emphasis Mine Gallery on my site. http://amul.biz/v/FineArt/emphasismine/?g2_page=6

* New Titles to some old photos in that same gallery. Please give me your opinion on them.

* Reminder: Upcoming Exhibition at Dragon Con 2007!