"Night News" - an occasional missive from the darkness

"Night News" - an occasional missive from the darkness
Vol.6 No.3
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"It's been a long December
And there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last."

- "A Long December" by Adam Duritz / Counting Crows
Copyright 1996 Geffen Records
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Friends of The Nocturnes,

Welcome to our annual (albeit a little late!) end of the old year review / new year preview - a recap of the important nocturnal events of 2004, and a glimpse of upcoming events for 2005. Well, it's been a very busy "high season" for Night Photography, here in the Bay Area (and points South)! A fall San Francisco Workshop, another Photo Camp on Angel Island for Alumni, new offerings that included Joshua Tree and Rush Ranch (in the Delta), our autumnal return trek to Death Dalley, Studio Nocturne again at Fort Mason, and finally, the presentation of "Embarcadero Nocturne," opening at three sites along the San Francisco waterfront. As always, you can read this edition of NightNews here, or online at http://www.thenocturnes.com/newsletter/newsarchive.htm where a more readable, printable version resides. So, let's just "find out what all the fuss is about," shall we?

EXHIBITS NOTED
"Studio Nocturne," hosted by The Nocturnes as part of San Francisco Open Studios, took place again at Fort Mason, October 16-17, 2004. This year's event was a great success - many print sales, and an estimated one thousand art lovers got to see/meet some Nocturnes "in action!" Look for a repeat of this annual event - in the Bay Room and Marina Room of Landmark Building 'A' - the same great location!

"Embarcadero Nocturne" opened at venues along the San Francisco waterfront the first week of January, providing a showcase of night work by the local night photography community ("the usual suspects"), focusing on San Francisco's revitalized waterfront - from the Ball Park on the south, to Pier 35 at the north end. Visit the online preview of the exhibit and dates/times at www.thenocturnes.com/exhibits/embarcadero.html and be sure to 'get out there" and see the work at South Beach Cafe, Four Embarcadero Center, and Fort Mason, thru January and February. There will be a reception for the artists on February 9, 2005, from 5:30 to 7:30pm at Fort Mason, Landmark Building 'A,' Laguna and Marina Blvd., San Francisco.

Participating Artists:
Peter Amendt
Debbie Ames
Mark Babsin
Tim Baskerville
David Callen
Fred Chang
Tullio Deorsola
Andy Frazer
Susanne Friedrich
Randy Gunning
Ethel Jimenez
John Monroe
Tom Paiva
Troy Paiva
Nancy Piotrowski
Michael Quinn
Deb Rourke
Manu Schnetzler
Howie Spielman
William Suayan
John Vias

Our own Tim Baskerville's piece, "Yucca Brevifolia #1," was included in the exhibit "All in the Family" at Off the Preserve!, a gallery project of the non-profit di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature (http://www.dirosapreserve.org), up in Napa, from November 24 to December 30, 2004. That same image, part of his Joshua Tree series, can now be seen at the Berkeley Art Center (www.berkeleyartcenter.org) - a member's show, thru February 19, 2005.

Michael Kenna exhibited work at the Stephen Wirtz Gallery in San Francisco at end-of-year: prints from the series, Ratcliffe Power Station (a Nocturnes favorite) and Hokkaido, Japan; December 2 - January 15, 2005. Books published by Nazraeli Press (www.nazraeli.com) are available for both bodies of work.

Finally, our latest online exhibit of Night Photography - "From Tucson to . . . " - is now online at www.thenocturnes.com/exhibits/tucson.html - judged by noted Arizona Photographer William Lesch - www.thenocturnes.com/gallery/lesch.html - this exhibit explores the mysterious nocturnal light of the American Southwest.

WORKSHOP NEWS
Tom, Tim and I conducted another workshop in Death Valley National Park this fall in October with the aid of the Full "Hunter's" Moon. If you haven't considered it yet, it is a great photographic tour - and, we have another planned for the fall of 2005! This was like our seventh trip down to Death Valley with a group - it's always great fun, with great images! BTW, you can view previous work by participants in this workshop at www.thenocturnes.com/workshops/deathvalley2002/index.htm - also, a recent review of the Workshop by the LA times is at www.thenocturnes.com/workshops/img/latimes.pdf

And, our newest Workshop offering - Joshua Tree National was a small group, but high in energy (as well as altitude!). We are offering this trip again in April - through UC Santa Cruz Extension. Details are on their Web site - http://www.ucsc-extension.edu/ucsc/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=2350982

The other new offering this past fall was at Rush Ranch Open Space Reserve, in Solano County (out near the Delta) - a full workshop with lots of new faces! Look for a return to Rush Ranch, later in 2005.

Finally, dates for a Los Angeles Workshop - "LA Nocturne" - have been announced: June 10-12, 2005; locations, details to be announced - we will keep you posted . . .

CALL FOR ENTRIES
Submissions will be accepted shortly for our newest online exhibition of Night Photography: "This is not Your Father's Nocturne," in which we study/pay homage to/critique the pioneers of Night Photography, and those artists we individually mythologize. Check the Web site often in the next few weeks - the deadline for entries is March 31, 2005, and the exhibit will run from April 15-May 31st.

BOOKS AND ARTICLES NOTED
Check out the January issue of "Photo Life" (Toronto) for an article by our own Larrie Thomson - www.thenocturnes.com/gallery/thomson.html - Congrats, Larrie - 7 pages (text and photos), plus the cover! Our favorite soundbite of the article was this closing thought: "This is also one of the leats expensive forms of photography that you will ever attempt. After all you'll never for broke buying film when it takes between five and 30 minutes to expose a single shot."

As noted in this space before, we have recently added links to reviews of texts listed on THE BACKLIST - http://www.thenocturnes.com/resources/books.html - WHY NOT let us know of your favorite "NP" text, and write a review (it can even be brief!) to be published on the Web site - get involved! Have a look at the first two reviews we've published: Matt Lennert's book, as well as Troy Paiva's "Lost America," both penned by devoted Nocturne, Andy Frazer.

IN RELATED NEWS
Emails continue to flood in, praising the recent "redevelopment project" of The Nocturnes Web site - kudos, congrats, high-fives, pats on the back, and sincere thanks to Susanne Friedrich - www.sanneart.com - for all her hard work, persistence, and follow-thru on the project. Visitor stats for the site continue to rise . . .

UC Berkeley Extension's brand-new space at 95 Third Street, between Market and Mission (right across from SFMOMA), opens up for classes in Art Studio, Design, and Photography around the first of February. Look for another course in Night Photography to be offered there in the Summer! Email the school at designarts@unx.berkeley.edu for more course info and a catalog.

BREAKING NEWS
Honorary Nocturne Kim Stringfellow ("Greetings from the Salton Sea") along with artists Amy Balkin, Tim Halbur, the nonprofit organization Pond, and Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice will create a self-guided audio tour of Interstate 5, between San Francisco and Los Angeles, illuminating environmental impacts on communities and land along the route. Their piece will include a series of audio segments related to existing or ghosted landmarks that drivers can see from the road, or that can be viewed near an exit ramp. The vehicle for the project will be a two-CD set of complementary North and South discs. An annotated booklet/map of the route - mixing landmark photography, collage, maps, and text - will accompany the CD set. The artists plan to begin distributing the completed audio tour in August 2005. For more information, visit her site - www.kimstringfellow.com

Two other artists working along the I-5 corridor, and elsewhere in California, are Larry and Debby Kline with their project "The Electric Fields of California." The Kline's place unelectrified outdoor fluorescent light bulbs beneath high-voltage power lines along the California power grid - they then photograph the installations at night, the bulbs glowing ominously in the electro-magnetic fields, without a direct electrical connection! These outdoor 'light sculptures' are meant to call attention to the hidden dangers of EMFs, and SF Camerawork hosted a photo exhibition of the sites, this past October. Much more information (including Copyright info) is available on their Web site - www.jugglingklines.com

ALUMNI NEWS
Our Third Annual "Photo Camp" on Angel Island (in the middle of San Francisco Bay) again proved to be one of the high points of our busy season, here in the Bay Area. This unique overnight photographic tour of the "jewel" of San Francisco Bay is offered only once a year - why not sign up for one of our Workshops (thereby securing your alumnus status) and have a shot at what you're missing on this special "overnighter" next year? Visit http://www.thenocturnes.com/workshops/angel/index.html to view work from a previous Camp.

Paul Dyer has changed the name and the content of his site, gearing up more towards his career as a commercial photographer - www.dyerphoto.com

Clifton Albergotti was part of the exhibit "Terrestrial Forces" (sound like Night Photography to us!) at the Museum of Fine Arts (www.mofa.fsu.edu) at Florida State University from October 8 through November 21, 2004.

Michael Quinn continued his annual tradition of exhibiting night work ("Shots in the Dark") at Castro Photo - www.castrophoto.com - in December, with proceeds going to the AIDS Emergency Fund. We heard that print sales were brisk - a good sign, for the economy perhaps? - "Maybe this year will be better than the last."

Karen Schreiber exhibited in "All in the Family" at Off the Preserve in Napa in November and December.

Web sites of some of the Alumni and Honorary Alumni ("Accidental Nocturnes") mentioned in this edition of Night News: Clifton Alberogtti - www.albergottiphoto.com
Larrie Thomson - www.nightphotographer.com
Michael Quinn - www.castrophoto.com/gallery.html
Karen Schreiber - http://www.kpsphoto.com
Susanne Friedrich - www.sanneart.com
Kim Stringfellow - www.kimstringfellow.com
Debby, Larry Kline - www.jugglingklines.com
Paul Dyer - www.dyerphoto.com
Andy Frazer - www.gorillasites.com/nightphotos

MUSICAL NOTES
Recent Acquisitions:
Even my Sure Things Fall Through, by Calexico. 2004 Quarterstick Records #qs67cd
The Ride, by Los Lobos, 2004 Hollywood Records #2061-62443-2
Vuelta, by Richard Shindell. 2004 Koch Records #KOC-CD-9538
Around the Sun, by R.E.M. 2004 Warner Bros Records # 48894-2
Sessions for Robert J., by Eric Clapton. 2004 Reprise Records CD/DVD #48926-2
Far from Enough, by Viktor Krause. 2004 Nonesuch Records #79819-2
Fly Jefferson Airplane, 2004 Eagle Rock Productions DVD#EV300065-9
Book of Silk, by Tin Hat Trio. 2004 Ropeadope Records
Careless Love, by Madeline Peyroux. 2004 Rounder Records #11661-3192-2
Land of the Sun, by Charlie Haden. 2004 Verve Music Group #B-0002887-02

LIBRARY NOTES
Recent Acquisitions:
Alfred Stieglitz, the Eloquent Eye; 13-WNET, NY. American Masters Series. DVD#WHE73138
Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy. Docurama, 2004. DVD#NVG9643
Grand Rapids: Night after Night, Brian Kelly (Archive copy, Gift of the Artist). Glass Eye Publishing, Grand Rapids, 2000. ISBN 0-9701293-0-0
Taking Pictures at Night, Robert Brown (Gift of Michael Quinn and Hiroshi Sejima). Ziff Davis Publishing, 1941. #23
Colonial Noir: Photographs from Mexico, Reid Samuel Yalom, with foreword by Mark Citret. Stanford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8046-4536-6
The Roots of California Photography: the Monterey Legacy. Monterey Museum of Art & UC Santa Cruz Extension, 2002.
Brassai, Jean-Claude Gautrand. Taschen, Cologne, 2004.ISBN 3-8228-3137-9
Ratcliffe Power Station, Michael Kenna. Nazraeli Press, Tucson, 2004. ISBN 1-59005-097-5
The Lure of the Local, Lucy R. Lippard. The New Press, New York, 1997. ISBN 1-56584-247-2
Architecture of the Night, Dietrich Neumann. Prestel, Munich, 2002. ISBN 3-7913-2587-6
San Francisco Bay: Portrait of an Estuary, John Hart/David Sanger. University of California Press, Berkeley/London, 2003. ISBN 0-520-23399-9
On the Edge of Magic: Petroglyphs, Rock Paintings of the Ancient Southwest, Salvatore Mancini. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1996. ISBN 0-8118-1167-0
The Moon Book, Kim Long. Johnson Books, Boulder, 1998. ISBN 1-55566-230-7
Stairway Walks in San Francisco, Adah Bakalinksky. Wilderness Press, Berkeley, 2004. ISBN 0-89997-356-6
One Night on Broadway, Horst Hamann. Schirmer/Mosel, 2004.ISBN 3-8296-0127-1
Caught in Fading Light, Gary Thorp. Walker & Co., New York, 2002. ISBN 0-8027-1397-1
Delta Primer: a field guide to the California Delta, Jane Wolff. William Stout Publishers, San Francisco, 2003. ISBN 0-9709731-7-9
20th Century Photography, Museum Ludwig Cologne. Taschen, Cologne, 2001. ISBN 3-8228-5514-6
Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh, edited by Irving Stone. Penquin Group, 1995. ISBN 0-452-27504-0
Haunted San Francisco, Rand Richards. Heritage House Publishers, 2004. ISBN 1-879367-04-1
Wanderlust: A History of Walking, Rebecca Solnit. Penquin Group, 2000. ISBN 0-14-028601-2
Beauty in Photography, Robert Adams. Aperture Books, 1996. ISBN 0-89381-368-0
Take a Walk on the Dark Side: Rock and Roll myths, legends and curses. R. Gary Patterson. Fireside, New York, 2004. ISBN 0-7432-4423-0
Astronomy: the Defiinive Guide, Robert Burnham, et al. B&N Books, New York, 2003. ISBN 0-7607-4086-0
O'Keeffe at Abiquiu, Photos by Myron Wood. Harry N. Abrams Inc., New York, 1995. ISBN 0-8109-3680-1
Ideas about Time, Mark Klett. Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe AZ, 2002. ISBN 0-9679547-2-x
San Francisco Moon, James Rigler. Celestial Arts, Berkeley, 1998. ISBN 97-078336
Recent Terrains: Terraforming the American West, Laurie Brown. John Hopkins Press, Baltimore/London, 2000. ISBN 0-8018-6400-3
Palaces in the Night: Whistler in Venice, Margaret F. MacDonald. University of California Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles, 2001. ISBN 0-520-23049-3
Four Corners, Debra Bloomfield. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 2004. ISBN 0-8263-3223-4
Third Views, Second Sights: A Rephotogrpahic Survey of the American West, Mark Klett, Kyke Bajakian, et al. Museum of New Mexico Press, 2004. ISBN 0-89013-432-4
Reinventing the West: the Photographs of Ansel Adams and Robert Adams, Allison Kemmerer, John Stilgoe, Adam Heinberg. Addison Gallery of American Art and Fraenkel Gallery, 2001. ISBN 1-879886-47-2
Winter 2004, Aperture #175. The Aperture Foundation, 2004. ISBN 1-931788-76-6
Summer 2004, Aperture #177. The Aperture Foundation, 2004. ISBN 1-931788-52-9
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This concludes this edition of "Night News." As always, this and past issues of "Night News" are accessible at http://www.thenocturnes.com/newsletter/newsarchive.htm

And finally, just remember, on these long winter nights: ". . . let's 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

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