YONDER
a Fotofocus 2022 Biennial Participating Venue project
Instructed by Michael Wilson, with support from the Drawing Center Photo Staff and Resident Artists
Project timeframe: Late August through October 2022
For the majority of human existence, our recognition of “the world” has routinely been defined by the furthest landmarks visible at any given moment. Standing in one of the many river valleys in our region, for instance, your sense of the world in that moment is established by the distant hilltops rising all around you. Alternately, perched on an overlook, your awareness of the world dilates outward for miles, to the far-off, blue-hued horizons.
Before the mass availability of atlases, globes, GPS apps, and other modern displays of international geography, an awareness of “the world” applied largely to spaces within eyeshot and preserved in visual memory. Everything beyond the horizon was imperceptible, unknowable, and (perhaps most compellingly) mythic.
Even today—whether we are sitting in our offices, lounging in our backyards, or walking the streets of our neighborhoods—our in-the-moment awareness of the world is still kept in check by the geometry of nearby buildings or the organic forms of the adjacent landscape. Those boundaries separate our immediate visual world from the world beyond—a domain defined only by potential and assumption, and it’s those horizons that we will be recording, elevating, and sharing through Manifest Drawing Center’s Yonder project.
The goal of Yonder is to encourage people to reconsider what defines their understanding of their visible surroundings and to creatively imagine what lies beyond that awareness of their world.
The objectives of Yonder include:
• Training participants to record, visually and effectively, the landscapes they regularly interact with—especially those typically seen at a distance, through the lens of digital cameras.
• Providing participants with the tools and language necessary for meaningful collaboration with other participants living well beyond our region.
• Collecting and editing photographs of landscapes (urban, suburban, rural, or completely natural) from participants to be archived for prosperity.
• Demonstrating how to convert digital images into analog, black-and-white prints and exploring the ways such conversions can unify diverse visual statements.
• Producing an exhibition of collaborative pairs of photographs in order to elicit conversations about boundaries and a place-based sense of self.
• Printing a short run of carefully designed books featuring the paired works for the long-term chronicling of this project.
Schedule of Yonder Programs
YONDER: Photographing the Horizon
FREE!
Introductory workshops focusing on how to use a camera to record the edges of your world (maximum enrollment for each two-part workshop is 10 participants). Held at At Manifest's M1 location, 3464 Central Parkway, 45223. Materials info and list provided below.
Workshop 1 - Saturdays, August 20 and 27, 10am-1pm
(registration closes Aug. 17)
Workshop 2 - Saturdays, September 10 and 17, 10am-1pm
(registration closes Sept. 7)
ALL WORKSHOP SEATS ARE TAKEN - ATTEND THE DEMOS! (see below) |
*Participants in the Yonder workshops (and their collaborators) will have the chance to have their photography included in the exhibition and publication phases of this project. Details on how to be included in the exhibition/publication will be explained as part of the workshops.
YONDER: From Digital to Darkroom
FREE!
Public Demonstrations revealing how you can turn digital images into analog, black and white prints in the darkroom. **Free tickets must be reserved at least 3 hours before the start of the demonstration. Held at Manifest's M1 location, 3464 Central Parkway, 45223
Demo 1 - Sunday, September 18, 12-2pm**
Demo 2 - Sunday, September 25, 12-2pm**
YONDER: The Showcase
Collaborative photography about boundaries and a place-based sense of self, created by the workshop participants and printed during the public demonstrations.
GET TICKETS FREE HERE
PUBLIC RECEPTION, 6-8pm, Friday, October 7th
Open to the Public: October 8-23, 2022
At Manifest's M1 location, 3464 Central Parkway, 45223
Fridays, 1:30-4pm
Saturdays, 11am-3pm
Sundays, 4:30-7pm
Mondays, 12:30-2:30pm
Materials List:
- Participants in the workshops must have a means of taking a digital photo. This can include a DSLR camera, a smart phone, or a tablet/iPad. Enrolled participants will be notified if there are any specific and optional phone or tablet apps that will be discussed before the first workshop meeting.
- Manifest will provide the photo paper and professional darkroom printing for all workshop participants taking part in the final exhibition.
- There are no materials required to attend the demonstrations or exhibition.
Level of Study: The workshop, demonstrations, and exhibition have been designed for participants with little to no photography experience. That being said, one-on-one instruction will make this series of programs engaging and meaningful for the experienced photographer equivalently.
LOCATION: Unless otherwise specified, all courses are hosted at Manifest's new facility at 'M1' in Clifton at 3464 Central Parkway (see map and directions below). Manifest's new facility provides multiple studio classrooms, private lesson space, a darkroom, a film processing room, and a multi-purpose lecture and class meeting space as well as on-site parking, grounds, and exterior spaces in which to relax, discuss, and make art. The studios are outfitted with professional equipment, furniture, and study aids.
Map to Manifest's M1 Studios | Studio Calendar | Darkroom Calendar
|
Margaret Bourke-White
Rene Burri
Tina Modotti
Michael Wilson
About the instructor:
Michael Wilson is a life-long resident of Cincinnati residing in Price Hill. He developed his interest in photography while attending Northern Kentucky University where he earned a bachelor of fine arts in 1981. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions at such local venues as Baker Hunt Foundation (Covington, Ky.); Thomas More Gallery, Thomas More College (Crestview Hills, Ky.); In Situ Gallery (Cincinnati, Ohio); Carnegie Visual & Performing Arts Center (Covington, Ky.); as well as the Cincinnati Art Museum and Contemporary Arts Center. Wilson's photographs have been exhibited regionally at the J. B. Speed Museum (Louisville, Ky.); Rosewood Arts Centre (Kettering, Ohio); and Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art (Cleveland, Ohio). His work is represented in the Cincinnati corporate collections of E. W. Scripps; PNC Bank; Frost & Jacobs; Deloitte & Touche; and Duke Energy. He is also represented in the collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the J. B. Speed Museum. In addition, his images have been featured in more than three hundred photographic projects working with musicians and record labels.
Among the many artists Michael has photographed are: Lyle Lovett, B. B. King, Waylon Jennings, Randy Newman, Emmylou Harris, Bill Frisell, David Byrne, Philip Glass, Dawn Upshaw, and Doc Watson. Clients include: Nonesuch Records, Warner Brothers Records, Sony Music, Capitol Records, Alfred A. Knopf, Penguin Putnam, Mother Jones Magazine, Health Magazine, Uncut Magazine, and Pentagram Design.
Michael also moderates Manifest Drawing Center’s Open Photography Lab on Sunday nights.
——
Manifest’s Artist-in-Residence Anna Kipervaser and Scholar-in-Residence Isaiah Armstrong may be assisting Wilson throughout the project.
|
