issueFIVE sept.2015
INSIDE/OUTSIDE: PRISON NARRATIVES Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art September 8 – November 21, 2015 Sandow Birk Camilo Cruz Amy Elkins Alyse Emdur Ashley Hunt Spencer Lowell Los Angeles Poverty Department Jason Metcalf Mabel Negrete Sheila Pinkel Richard Ross Kristen S. Wilkins
July 18 - September 6, 2015 The Art Of Toys: A Left Coast Retrospective of Designer Toys Curated by Julie B. of Pretty in Plastic and Heidi Johnson of Hijinx Artists Management
Bill Viola: Night Journey Davis & Davis: Planet X Thumperdome: History of the Pinball Machine Moshe Elimelech: Arrangements Murals: David Flores, Allison “Hueman” Torneros, Woes Martin
With a performance from Karla Diaz 5885 Haven Avenue Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737 www.chaffey.edu/wignall
665 W. Lancaster BLVD. Lancaster, CA lancastermoah.org | 661.723.6250 facebook.com/lancastermoah
3 days of photography exhibitions, photobooks and artist talks.
#RAFFMA
PHOTO © SARAH HADLEY
Photo Independent is the first and only high-visibility art fair showcasing independent photographers. Find out how you can participate at photoindependent.com May 2016 Raleigh Studios, Hollywood photoindependent.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS michael MOODY 5
gracie BERUMEN 31
victoria KRISTEAN GOTTE
andrew K. THOMPSON
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jazmine SALLEY 32
yeidy PENALOZA 54
alejandra VILLA 8
kelsey CHAMBERS 34
brandon A. SALAS
yeraldin GARCIA 56
kevin MCCARTY 35
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ashley WOODS rebecca DRESEN jaquai PATTERSON michael VOLLMER
joseph HOOK 14 violeta BRODIE 15 victor CAMPOS 16 john MARTINEZ 17 carlos a. GARCIA 18
chris COBURN gianmarco MILANES clarissa MADRID chris MARMOLEJO bryant URIBE debbie NUNO crystal SANDOVAL
daniel ZARAGOZA 58 daisy CORTES 60 fred BRASHEAR 63 matthew JIMENEZ crystal SANDOVAL bree WIEST jains LOPEZ sandra GARCIA
daniel ZARAGOZA
victoria GOTTE
cristina DURGIN
mariana GONZALEZ
dina NGUYEN
clarissa MADRID 20
cristina VOELTZ
tammy KNIGHT 21
ashley WOODS
SALON 64-65
daisy CORTES
kimberly AGUIRRE 36
SALON 38-39
marble FLESH
SALON 12-13
christina VOELTZ
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faraj YOUSOUF paola PAROBOK jazmin JIMENEZ
daniel MADDEN 23
michael OESTERLING 40
deborah GROVES 24
tom KIEFER 42
amanda STEGMANN 25
sierra RAINE WHITE
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diana HERNANDEZ 67
deana ROMO 27
kathy MILLER STEWART
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nate DUBBS 69
gabriela TOTH 28
timothy HICKS 51
Front Cover Photo:
Clarissa Madrid
P ublisher/Editor in Chief THOMAS MCGOVERN Design Director/Designer THEODORE DEHART
Back Cover Photo:
jessica BRENDZA 66
Gabriela Toth
Editorial Team THOMAS MCGOVERN, THEODORE DEHART, SANT KHALSA, STEVE KING, ANDREW K. THOMPSON
The publishers would like to thank everyone who has furnished information and materials for this issue. Unless otherwise noted, artists featured in DOTPHOTOZINE retain copyright to their work. Every effort has been made to reach copyright owners or their representatives. The publisher will be pleased to correct any mistakes or omissions in our next issue.
ISBN: 978-0-9850165-4-8
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SAME AS IT EVER WAS: PHOTOGRAPHY NOW OR HOW I STOPPED WORRYING AND RESUMED ENJOYING PICTURES
As a photographer and teacher, I think a lot about photography and how it is has evolved with the digital revolution- how iPhones, image editing, and massive amounts of photo sharing have changed how we use and understand photography. With each technological disruption, photography has morphed, assimilated and thrived, and at more than 175 years old, photography continues to assert itself as the perfect medium. Its inherent ability to simultaneously depict the world and express the viewpoint of its makers is its greatest power, and what has kept it on the visual cultural forefront since its inception. The medium has continually transformed, while being transformational. 4 WWW.DOTPHOTOZINE.COM
The democratization of image making and sharing is the most significant of these recent transformations. Just about everyone has a camera on their mobile devices and entry-level digital cameras make files about as well as professional equipment. Anyone can find a picture of anything online, download it and ‘share’ it. Copyright is still fought over by agencies and professionals, but for most, the notion that images are ‘owned’ is mostly ignored. Instagram, and other photo sharing sites are our preeminent platforms for viewing and sharing countless beautiful, amusing, poignant and provocative images, from beginners to masters of the medium. We’re experiencing the moment of the greatest interest in photography and the greatest means for showing it. It’s not just digitalization and distribution that have created this moment, but the inherent qualities of the medium itself. Photo sharing sites are insatiable beasts, simultaneously generating and feeding a constant demand for more content. While personal imagery dominates, a developing eye for juxtaposition and composition is evident, and the quest for visual discovery is prevalent. Clichés still abound, but with such enthusiasm that I sometimes have to stop being critical. I love this moment and only wish for more documentary and street photography on these sites, but those displaying work by professionals (e.g. NYT Lensblog and Time Lightbox) fulfill this need many times over. With this great democratization of visualization and expression, and the proliferation of quality amateur photographers comes a commensurate decline in the ability to make a living from photography, which is disheartening. I am optimistic though, that as with music, new avenues will be created, but for now I am just enjoying this flourishing moment of exuberance for making, seeing, and sharing images.
Thomas McGovern
Editor in Chief - Dotphotozine
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michael MOODY
A joyful face is unusual in contemporary photography where the blank stare or pained expression is the norm (e.g. our cover), but Michael Moody’s tightly composed portrait shows us a face of youthful exuberance, free of anxiety and stress. If only such a countenance could last.
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andrew k. THOMPSON The apparition in Andrew K. Thompson’s life-sized analog photograms hovers in both history and space. Occult photography was popular in the late 19th Century, feeding a naïve public’s desire for validation of their faith, and hope for an afterlife. No one will see these photographs as evidence of ghosts, but perhaps as evidence that life’s chemical, biological and spiritual mysteries are here and now.
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alejandra VILLA
The spectacle of the Coachella Music Festival might only be rivaled by the spectacle of the audience who come from far and wide to celebrate, experience and participate in this annual event. Alejandra Villa’s images revel in this atmosphere, where her vision and camera become one with the crowd.
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brandon a. SALAS
Brandon A. Salas’ street portraits bring us up close and personal to his subjects, exuding the slight discomfort most of us feel when having our picture taken. His tight composition boxes the subjects in, but his gentle demeanor is apparent in these moments when their guard is barely down.
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SALON The Salon is a wide ranging group exhibition of work by photographers of all styles and techniques that address issues from the obvious to the sublime. The power of this selection is driven by the individual photographers and their visions, and the effect of juxtaposing these disparate images is often the joy of discovering the subtle narrative implicit in each.
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ashley WOODS
marble FLESH
christina VOELTZ
michael VOLLMER
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daisy CORTES
jaquai PATTERSON
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joseph HOOK
“Jesus is watching over you”, or in this case, maybe watching your back, because when the subject raises his head, Jesus’ portrait would be looking behind. The guy’s jersey and shaved head in Joseph Hook’s portrait suggest that he’s a tough, street-smart guy, which might be why he has a divine homey keeping an eye on what’s going on behind him.
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violeta BRODIE Gesture is one of the things we read to discover content in a photograph, and the gentle hand in Violeta Brodie’s image rests on legs that seem vulnerable. The rumpled sheets and soft lighting, along with that gesture, suggest tenderness even without seeing their facial expressions.
victor CAMPOS Stark, seemingly un-peopled places are where Victor Campos photographs, lurking just out of view and waiting for the moment when a sliver of another person might slide by.
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john MARTINEZ John Martinez’s photographs exude a sense of wonder about the worldthe light, the movement and the environment. His ‘jumping man’ seems to float on top a snow-covered mountain, and could be a stand-in for the artist as he leaps in wonder to get a better look.
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carlos a. GARCIA Architecture is one the perennial subjects in the history of photography. Space, form, light and design come together in Cody Reed’s photographs, with those wonderful, wispy clouds contrasting the hard edges of the structure.
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clarissa MADRID
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Tension emanates from Clarissa Madrid’s photographs of people. The cropped faces and stern expressions suggest her subjects’ great discomfort, and even apprehension with the picture making process, or maybe it is coming from the photographer herself. She gets in close and seems to know what she wants, and takes it.
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tammy KNIGHT
We all know the shock of being doused in cold water; the thrill and shiver of our involuntary reactions and spontaneous recoil. Tammy Knight’s self portrait conveys that sensation with gusto, with shiny, wet skin and stringy hair, and those wonderful black fingernails echoed in the dark knots of wood.
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daniel MADDEN Formal perfection, or the attempt, is a hallmark of Daniel Madden’s photography. Attention to detail, balance and precise editing create a dense composition in both the natural and constructed landscape.
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deborah GROVES Like many fine photographs, merchandising is the art of creating order from chaos, and Deborah Groves finds the right balance between her pictures and the cacophony of stuff in her images.
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amanda STEGMANN
Humor in photography is hard to come by without being silly or juvenile and Amanda Stegmann’s playful, thoughtful imagery teases just enough to keep us interested. Those wonderful circles of color are echoed in the bubble of gum and the subject’s sly expression understands our attention is also drawn to her cleavage peeking through the cutout in her dress.
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deana ROMO
What do portraits really tell us about the subject, photographer and viewer? Deana Romo’s composite images are cut and folded and reconstructed to suggest multiple aspects of identity. But the neutral expressions leave us wondering whose identity she is exploring.
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gabriela TOTH Texture and formalism in photographs can be terribly banal or suggest the depth of personality in people and things. Gabriela Toth’s keen eye and attention to framing and light allow her images to transcend the subject’s ordinariness and reflect her own vision.
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gracie BERUMEN Graphic design and photography skills come together in Gracie Berumen’s photographs made at the Salton Sea, a vanishing resort community quickly becoming a desert wilderness.
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jazmine SALLEY
Jazmine Salley examines identity through self portraiture, in guises suggesting power and style, but her intense gaze suggests that this is more of an act by a woman who clearly already knows who she is.
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kelsey CHAMBERS
Have you ever accidentally swallowed a fly in your drink? If so, you know the ‘ick’ factor that these seemingly unaware folks are about to experience in Kelsey Chambers’ images, slyly composed to first reveal the tiny details of faces, mouths, and then, bugs.
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kevin MCCARTY
Kevin McCarty’s images are suffused with mystery due to the oddness of what he is showing us. The red glow emanating from a barn at night could suggest some nefarious enterprises, while the log wrapped in plastic resembles a corpse dumped in the woods.
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kimberly AGUIRRE Kimberly Aguirre is a photographer and filmmaker, so it’s no surprise that her portraits are carefully planned and full of narrative potential. The wreath of flowers, red water and arms crossed over her chest in a self portrait might indicate an unorthodox funeral, but also the command with which the artist stages and directs herself and her images.
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chris COBURN
chris MARMOLEJO
SALON
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debbie NUNO
clarissa MADRID
gianmarco MILANES
bryant URIBE
cristina DURGIN
dina NGUYEN
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crystal SANDOVAL
ashley WOODS
daniel ZARAGOZA
cristina VOELTZ
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michael OESTERLING
Michael Oesterling’s images appear to be of completely normal people, and yet there is something strange in each picture, that when seen as a series, suggests other-worldly experiences are just beyond the edge of the frame.
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tom KIEFER
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DOTPHOTOZINE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PHOTOGRAPHY RECIPIENT
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For eleven years, TOM KIEFER worked as a part time janitor at a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol processing facility near the U.S./Mexican border. Part of his job was to empty the trashcans, which were filled with the personal belonging that were disposed of while the detainees were being identified and processed. Mr. Kiefer saw a profound backstory in each otherwise mundane item, carried by men, women and children for many miles through harsh terrain, and dangerous conditions to an unknown fate, until they were apprehended.
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For example, the rubber ducks, normally a child’s bath toy, were placed by immigrants to mark the trail for those that followed. These typological studies/topological constructions carry the unseen identity of their former owners and as such, are sad reminders not only of the accumulated debris of contemporary life, but more importantly, of the struggle and humanity of those determined to cross the border. To see more of Mr. Kiefer’s work, please visit his website: www.elsuenoamericanoproject.com
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Mr. Kiefer thanks Judith Miller for preparing his images for publication: www.judymillercustomprints.com
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sierra raine WHITE
Sierra Raine White’s images of an idyllic world where woman and nature peacefully coexist are a romantic rejoinder to our contemporary life of technological, social and political demands.
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kathy miller STEWART A clear view of the world can be profound, as in Kathy Miller Stewart’s up-closeand-personal image of her neighbor’s horse. Similar to a portrait of a human, the relationship of photographer and subject become clear, revealing a sense of trust while at the same time reveling in the details of yellowed teeth and hairy nostrils, under the intense gaze of that big black eye.
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timothy HICKS If Mark Rothko were reincarnated as a photographer, he might be Timothy Hicks, whose images of stained walls and peeling paint disorient the viewer and dissolve all sense of proportion and scale.
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victoria kristean GOTTE
The directness of Victoria Kristean Gotte’s portraits is refreshing. Standing in front of her subjects and tightly composing her images, they reveal not the discomfort we might assume, but a sense of camaraderie between the two, a testament to her skill as a photographer and empathy as a human.
yeidy PENALOZA The wonderful shine on the eyelashes and serene expressions of the subjects in Yeidy Penaloza’s portraits are what make them so interesting, and so personal. Not many of us like close-up photographs of our faces, but it is probably easier when you’re young and beautiful, trust the photographer, and close your eyes.
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yeraldin GARCIA Pictures of children are often cloying or silly but Yeraldin Garcia’s portrait avoids the typical clichés of care-free childhood, and goes for the darker secrets of horror movies. I love the menacing look in this kid’s face, and the bird poop on the knife blade, all testaments to the photographer’s sharp eye and sharper humor.
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daniel ZARAGOZA
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Daniel Zaragoza arranges perspective, scale and juxtaposition to create images that confuse us just enough to keep us wondering what we’re seeing. He’s been known to go places that are off-limits to pedestrians to make pictures from unusual vantage points, which indicate a photographer searching to find real world equivalents to what he imagines.
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daisy CORTES
The body as landscape is a familiar idea and this pairing of Daisy Cortes’ photographs allows us to consider the details of hands, skin, cacti, dirt and sky as part of a unified whole rather than two distinct subjects.
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fred BRASHEAR Landscape is one of the most enduring genres in photography, and the stark, high desert with its intense light and unforgiving heat make it an irresistible subject for Fred Brashear.
SALON
lauren BREWER
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bree WIEST
jains LOPEZ
sandra GARCIA faraj YOUSOUF
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3 jazmin JIMENEZ mariana GONZALEZ
paola PAROBOK
victoria GOTTE
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jessica BRENDZA Photography is often about identity and this faceless portrait of two LDS members by Jessica Brendza reveals a rather oblique portrait of the two men. Their drab, rumpled shirts, notebooks and nametags suggest weary travelers on a mission without end.
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diana HERNANDEZ Diana Hernandez is a detective searching to connect a snapshot with a memory of childhood. This clever series reveals one of the many traits of photography- it blurs time and place and reminds us that we can never return, physically or psychologically, to the past.
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nate DUBBS Nate Dubbs is a glass artist, creating objects that resemble wood, with intricate rings and subtle color striations, so it is a surprise to see him also making vivid color photograms. The forms discovered hidden within his glass objects are mysterious, and reveal layers that illuminate the glass process while also expanding his oeuvre beyond his traditional training. 69
CONTACT All of the artists that have appeared in DOTPHOTOZINE may be contacted at the following:
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CHRIS MARMOLEJO Chrismarmolejo93@yahoo.com
VICTOR CAMPOS victor.m.campos@me.com
DEBBIE NUNO debbienuno@hotmail.com
CHRIS COBURN coburnyourself@gmail.com
JAZMIN JIMENEZ jazjmnz@gmail.com
DAISY CORTES daisy.cortes@yahoo.com
ANDREW K. THOMPSON ThompsonAutomatic@gmail.com
CLARISSA MADRID clarissa.a.madrid@gmail.com
DANIEL ZARAGOZA danielzaragoza1@gmail.com
KEVIN MCCARTY Kevinmccarty91@gmail.com
DEANA ROMO romodeana@gmail.com
JOHN MARTINEZ johnkino88@gmail.com
JESSICA BRENDZA Beeleev93@aol.com
SANDRA GARCIA garcia.sandra22@gmail.com
CARLOS A. GARCIA garciacarlos951@gmail.com
YERALDIN GARCIA yeraldin.grc@gmail.com
CRISTINA OSEGUERADURGAN c.oseguera@yahoo.com
CHRISTINA VOELTZ 321marie321@gmail.com
ALEJANDRA VILLA Alejandra.l.villa@gmail.com
GIANMARCO MILANES super-giro@hotmail.com
VICTORIA KRISTEAN GOTTE victoriagotte93@gmail.com
JAINS LOPEZ jainslopez@hotmail.com
GRACIE BERUMEN berumengracie@gmail.com
MICHAEL OESTERLING 003422210@coyote.csusb.edu
DEBORAH GROVES kiba1336@yahoo.com
YEIDY PENALOZA yeidy8@yahoo.com
DIANA HERNANDEZ Diananism@gmail.com
ASHLEY WOODS woods.ashley93@yahoo.com VIOLETA BRODIE vbrodie27@gmail.com GABRIELA TOTH gabrielajulietoth@gmail.com JAQUAI PATTERSON Jaquai.patterson@gmail.com JEANETTE TAVARES info@marbleflesh.com
KATHY MILLER STEWART Kathystewart54@msn.com KELSEY CHAMBERS Kelseyearth@gmail.com KIMBERLY AGUIRRE Kimberly.aguirre1991@gmail.com PAOLA PAROBOK pparobok@gmail.com TAMMY KNIGHT knight.tammy21@yahoo.com TIMOTHY HICKS timothyhicks017@gmail.com FRED BRASHEAR brashearfphotos@gmail.com NATE DUBBS ndubbs@csusb.edu JAZMINE SALLEY jazmine.salley@gmail.com DANIEL MADDEN daniel.madden5@gmail.com
JOSEPH HOOK joe_hook64@yahoo.com
SUBMISSIONS FOR THE DOTPHOTOZINE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PHOTOGRAPHY WILL BE ACCEPTED FROM JUNE 1 - JULY 1, 2016. VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR SUBMISSION DETAILS (DOTPHOTOZINE.COM) OR CONTACT THE EDITOR: INFO@DOTPHOTOZINE.COM
Anyone not on the contact list can be contacted through the editor.
C ONTACT THE PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF THOMAS MCGOVERN | info@dotphotozine.com Dotphotozine issue five is funded by the Instructionally Related Programs Board at California State University, San Bernardino. The opinions, views, ideas, etc. expressed within this publication are solely those of the authors and DOTPHOTOZINE.
2015
OFELIA C. DELGADO PURCHASE AWARD RECIPIENTS
Timothy Hicks Fred Brashear Daniel Madden