"Night News" - an occasional missive from the darkness
Vol.4 No.3
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"And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.

For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be. Yeah
There will be an answer, let it be."

-"Let it Be" by Lennon/McCartney (1970)
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"Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today.
If I don't get some shelter,
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away.

War, children, it's just a shot away.
It's just a shot away.
War, children, it's just a shot away.
It's just a shot away."

-"Gimme Shelter" (from Let it Bleed) by Jagger/Richards (1969)
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Welcome to this special end-of-year edition of "Night News." Again, we have a lot to talk about, and so we've divided this latest episode into two parts - the current one you are now reading will contain NEWS of EXHIBITS (recently past and current), WORKSHOP NEWS (a year-end wrap-up), BOOKS and ARTICLES NOTED (by those closest to The Nocturnes), RELATED NEWS, and our NEWEST section, CALL FOR ENTRIES. The second part of this newsletter will go out by New Year's Eve and will include our new ALUMNI NEWS section, as well as our exhaustive LIBRARY NOTES, MUSICAL NOTES, LAST MINUTE NEWS, and other tidbits.

It's been quite a bit since our last communique - http://www.thenocturnes.com/nitenus16.htm (has it really been six months?!) - so here we go again . . .

EXHIBITS
First of all, there are a number of shows currently running that should prove of great interest to you all, we think. The recent show we did at Fort Mason - "Nocturnes: Fort Mason and Environs" - curated by Tim Baskerville, and including the night work of twenty-five artists, is up until this Saturday, December 28th. If you can get a chance at all, you should have a look. More good news - The Fort Mason Foundation (host to the exhibit) has agreed to purchase a print from the exhibition for their collection! Marc Babsin of San Francisco is the lucky photographer whose work was selected. Visit http://www.thenocturnes/com/fortmason.htm for more info regarding this show.

Alumnus-Extraordinaire Michael Quinn shows work at an annual event he does at Castro Photo, 19th and Castro Streets, in San Francisco. The show features 20 plus prints, including work done with The Nocturnes in Ireland, and locally on Angel Island. The exhibit benefits the AIDS Emergency Fund. The show runs thru December - check the Castro Photo Web site - http://www.castrophoto.com - for more info, hours, etc.

Alumna Corrie McClusky takes part in the Holiday Exhibition at the Blue Room Gallery (2331 Mission, SF) thru the Holidays. Visit the Gallery's Web site - http://www.blueroomgallery.org - for more details, hours, etc.

Honorary Nocturne Alan Blaustein's exhibition, "Promenade aux Jardins" is now at the Art Museum of Los Gatos (call 408-354-2646 for info). Featuring images from European parks and gardens, work from this series is also on view thru January 3rd at Calumet Photo (2001 Bryant), here in the City - hours are 10 to 5pm, Monday-Friday.

Fellow Nocturne Lance Keimig has an exhibit of work done in the West of Ireland (on our last two workshops there) showing thru January 3, 2003 at the Dolphin Gallery, Hingham Public Library, in Hingham, Massachusetts - visit http://www.northriverarts.org - for more information.

Our latest online exhibit of Night Photography - "Nocturnes . . . and all that Jazz!" - went live around Halloween. Juried by Night Photography legend Steve Harper, you can see the results at http://www.thenocturnes.com/noctjazz/index.htm - have a look!

"Night Light: An exhibit of Night Photographs by the class of Tim Baskerville" ran from November 18 thru December 19, 2002 in the Downstairs Gallery of the University of California Berkeley Extension Center, here in San Francisco. Check the Web site - http://www.thenocturnes.com/ucx_2002/index.htm - for work done by the participants in that show (the second show we've done at UC Berkeley Extension this year!).

Tim Baskerville presented new work from the "Dream Date" Series he's been working on, at Open Studios San Francisco in October. Samples of some of this work can be seen at - http://www.thenocturnes.com/images/dream_1.jpg - and - http://www.thenocturnes.com/images/dream_2.jpg - The title of the series is only a little tongue-in-cheek, for the images are "portraits" of date palm trees, down in Death Valley and the Mojave Desert. As Tim points out: "these trees, which flourished in the region historically known as Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, etc.), figured prominently in the texts and rituals of three of the world's ancient religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ironic too, that this region and these traditions still capture our interest (and headlines!) even today."

And finally, Tim Baskerville has a print from the above-mentioned "Dream Date" Series included in the Berkeley Art Center's Annual Members Showcase, opening January 12th, with a reception for the Artists from 2-4pm. The exhibit runs thru February 15, 2003. Go to - http://www.berkeleyartcenter.org - for hours, directions, etc.

CALL FOR ENTRIES
We are pleased to announce the latest in our series of online Exhibitions of Night Photography. Entitled "California Nocturne," it will explore the connections between "California" - the geographic location, the culture, the people, the cars, the dream, the ideal, and our favorite topic here at The Nocturnes: Night Photography. A natural, we'd think! Be sure to visit - http://www.thenocturnes.com/entries.htm - shortly after January 1st for a full Prospectus for the show. In the meantime, we'll all be "California dreamin,' on such a winter's day."

Sort of short notice here . . . but, some of our Workshop Alumni might have some images "ready-to-go." The National Park Service and the National Park Foundation are sponsoring a Photo Contest. Photos must have been taken in any one of the 385 U.S. National Parks. Winner's image will be featured on the 2004 National Parks Pass. Other Prizes included. Entries must be postmarked by January 4, 2003. Visit their Web site - http://www.nationalparks.org - for more information.

Lastly, North Bay Nocturne, Pat Brockway, recently posted a Call for Entries to Night Talk, the message board of The Nocturnes, for a show in Santa Rosa - go to - http://www.thenocturnes.com/nighttalk/messages/913.html - for details..

WORKSHOP NEWS
My, this past year was a busy one! Highlights included: a second Workshop in the West of Ireland with Lance and Tim, a Death Valley Workshop that included mostly Alumni (led by Tim, myself, and Tom Paiva), and the Workshop Tim and Lance did at the Photo Resource Center at Boston University. Tim had another great class come through the UC Berkeley Extension system (a full roster, in these lean times for Universities!) and many from that group whole-heartedly joined the ranks of The Nocturnes Alumni - actively exhibiting and participating in our monthly full moon events.

Lance maintains a busy schedule, teaching at Boston's NESOP (New England School of Photography) and other regional educational institutions. Visit his site - http://www.thenightskye.com - for more information.

Tim and Lance conducted two more Workshops, here in San Francisco, and plan more for the next year (see below).

We held a very special Alumni event - "The First Annual Angel Island Photo Camp" - in conjunction with the Angel Island Association, in September. Ten hardy, dedicated Nocturnists stayed out most of the star-lit night on this remote "jewel" situated in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Look for a Web page of work done at the event in the near future.

For 2003, it looks like more of the same . . . and then some! We plan to add a second Death Valley Full Moon Workshop in March (great time of year in the desert . . . ), a Mono Lake/Eastern Sierra Workshop in June, as well as our customary pilgrimage to the West of Ireland (August 8-18). We are investigating doing a Workshop at Lake Tahoe in the summer, as well. Of course, Lance and Tim will conduct their popular Full Moon Workshops in San Francisco in April, and again in September. Be sure to visit - http://www.thenocturnes.com/workshop.htm - after January 1st for our 2003 Workshop Schedule.

IN RELATED NEWS
Michael Kenna lectured at Photo San Francisco on July 27, 2002. In addition, he produced a series of limited edition prints of Fort Mason - http://www.fortmason.org for the Fort Mason Center Historic Preservation Fund.

BOOKS AND ARTICLES NOTED
Check out the current (Oct-Dec) issue of Bay Nature magazine, which features an article entitled "Starry, Starry Night: The Lure of the Dark" - it investigates the joys (and mysteries) of the star-filled sky at night - complete with a photograph by our own Rolfe Horn, among others. You can also check out the online version of the article - http://www.baynature.com - it includes a link to our own humble site.

The October 2002 issue of B+W was notable for Nocturnists everywhere - featuring a Cover shot by the Bay Area's Rolfe Horn (with an feature article inside) as well as an article about Neil Folberg's "Celestial Nights" work. And those URLs are: http://www.f45.com.com AND http://www.neilfolberg.com - enjoy!

Todd Hido's second monograph, "Outskirts," was recently published by Nazraeli Press of Tucson. From the publisher: "Hido's color photographs of suburbia convey an aura of loneliness, mystery, and isolation . . . " BTW, Todd's new Web site - http://wwwtoddhido.com - is now up and running.

A new book by Gregory Crewdson, "Twilight," investigates, through his elaborate, theatrical set-like tableaus, that 'magic time' between sunset and real darkness, a time of rapid transformations. Published by Harry N. Abrams, New York.

And, Michael Kenna's latest Monograph, titled simply enough, "Japan" is due for publication next month, coinciding with a series of exhibitions in the US and Japan. Published by our friends at Nazraeli Press, Tucson.
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This concludes part one of this "Night News" - the second part of this special year-end edition of "Night News" (including our LIBRARY NOTES, and MUSICAL NOTES, our new ALUMNI NEWS and LAST MINUTE NEWS will be emailed out to you in the next few days - look for it in your morning email delivery!

As always, this and past issues of "Night News" are accessible at http://www.thenocturnes.com/nitenews.htm

So, "on such a winter's day" as this, please remember: "... lets just be careful out there."

Susan Nichols
nichols@thenocturnes.com

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"It's been ages since you visited any of us . . . "

The Nocturnes family of Web sites:
http://www.thenocturnes.com
http://www.timbaskerville.com
http://www.meersfamily.org