Dear MySpace friends,

That's right! I'm showing in a gallery in Cali. I'm honored to be asked to participate in this program which is a tribute to the beautiful and talented photographer Anisa Nin. You can see more of her work at [link]

Here is some of the information about myself and the other amazing photographers. There is also information about how to attend if you're in the area. I will not be able to attend. Live music will also be performed.

More information can be found at: [link]
DETAILS:

THE ANISA EFFECT

Our first Official Show, requiring Membership for Entrance, will be the Opening Reception for THE ANISA EFFECT. If you haven't heard about the show, let me briefly summarize the amazing events of the last 6 months. A young woman, living in Minot North Dakota, begins showing her photography online ... and almost instantly begins connecting with other artists, myself included. This is what Anisa says about herself:

"I have been passionate about photography for the last three years, however, I have only pursued photographing models within this year. Though I am not formally trained or educated, I believe I have a good eye, sense of style, and a uniqueness in what I am doing.

As a musician, a part of my goal is to capture emotion, convey emotion, and express my own emotions to the listener, and I translate this into my photography as best as I can. Rather, that too is a goal of mine; to be able to give to you, the viewer, an emotion, an expression of myself, perhaps even a story or a song in the image that you are seeing.

Currently, I am working on atmospheric/mood photography - attempting to capture my small northern world, but with the way I view it, the way I see it from my experiences, emotions, and personal history. Sometimes, this vision will be dark, and in other instances, I will share with you my light. My work is evolving, and with it, so am I. Keeping this in mind, I prefer to do most of my work outdoors, using the vastness of the prairies, and rural decay as a backdrop."

My communication with Anisa was through either words or images we shared via the internet. But our communication was intensely honest and became a vehicle of personal transformation. Anisa Nin, without the help of expensive equipment and years of schooling, was, and is, creating images of great power and beauty. These are Compelling images that speak to the viewers soul, images born of America's Vast Prarries. There is a reason American's call this part of the United States the Heartland. We all, wether we care to admit it or not, take a certain nostalgic pride in our ember waves of grain and the majesty of our purple mountains. And I think to a degree, we all collectively feel a saddness, a melancholy if you will, in the evolution (or perhaps the dissolution) of the American dream. As our world changes and transforms around us, it is the memories, real and imagined, of that American Dream, that still connect us as a people. And it's not ironic that Anisa is a Native American; no, not at all; because; in fact, it makes perfect sense; because, you see, for us, the people of America, for us to retain our sense of identity, we need to re-connect with the land. We've lost that personal interaction with the Land. We've covered our soil with concrete, stained our skies with chemicals and mutated and altered our food, and we do this without thinking too much. Without her realizing it, Anisa Nin is a Guide on that journey of re-connection. Anisa has the makings of a Major American Artist. And we, who are aware, are fortunate to be sharing with her this birth. Anisa is often compared to Andrew Wyeth and Winslow Homer. Such comparisons are justifiable in that these are all iconic artists reflecting and commenting on American Culture. In this modern world of globalism, where culture and identity fuse so quickly, there are fewer and fewer artists in America who can legitimately claim themselves to be American Artists. Anisa Nin is an American Artist.

I was (and continue to be) impacted in such a way that I felt a need to honor what we were sharing in such a way. Candace and I have not ever shown anyone's work on a large scale in our studio formally (aside from collaborations with my friend Dirk). This seemed the perfect timing for change. And, at about this time, it had also occured to me that I was not the only artist that Anisa had connected with. So, when I asked her if she would like to show her art in our gallery, I asked her to invite some other artists whom she had connected with that had affected her work, and through that connection, had been effected by that connection. And because much of this communication was through words and images, it made so much sense to me to call this show THE ANISA EFFECT. And in turn the subtitle, "collaborations in non-verbal communication" became the perfect descriptor.


THE VISUAL ARTISTS:

Anisa invited a number of artists. All but one agreed to the show. These are Amazing artists. World Class Artists. Each with a unique vision, and each sharing a unique connection to Anisa.

CHAD RUIN (Tacoma, Washington)
Chad Ruin is a multi-award winning photographer, screenwriter and filmmaker with 15+ years experience. Most of those years were spent in professional film. He has worked on everything from The X-Files to political campaigns. In the early nineties he had a hand in most of the music videos produced in the Seattle area, not to mention indie films and commercials, too numerous to list. "Having such incite into the world of filmmaking", says Chad, " gives me a unique perspective when it comes to still photography. I approach every shoot as if it were a scene in a movie." Chad's work is shown with Helmut Newton's. Need anymore be said?

HAMISH SCOTT-BROWN (Glasgow & Firenze, Scotland UK and Tuscany, Italy)
Hamish Scott-Brown trained in Photography at Bournemouth Art school along with Nick Knight, Richard Croft and the Andy Bettles 'output' well over 20 years ago and on leaving there, he assisted "McGee" in the Farringdon Rd. studio, city of London.
From the city after leaving McGee he moved on and won several quite nice awards one of which was the prestigious "L'Oreal Gold Award" until he became very disenchanted with the whole industry and left his Nikons, the lenses, the girl and all the work he did in the house that he left behind & walked away from. He went back to school and into teaching. In July 2009 he decided to leave Higher Education and return to his love of photography and his native training ..and so on August 1st 2009 took those first few steps again out of education (18 years is a long time to be teaching) and back into art, photography and the unknown He is to complete his MA (Photography) in November this year..

I still am inspired by the work I loved 20 years ago : Horst P Horst, Sieff, Hiroshi Nonami, Witkin, Paolo Roversi, Nick Knight, Erwin Olaff, Helmut Newton, Steven Meisel, Steichen.

KEVIN M. KLLENBACH aka DRAGONFLY ART: (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
"I used to make my living doing portraiture full time", says Kevin. "I got tired of photography being a daily grind instead of simply a labor of love. To facilitate that labor of love I now work a day job and focus my free time on fine art photography, which is my passion."

ANTHONY SANTANA (Whittier, California)
Anthony Santana's poetic soul reveals itself in the corners of your gaze. "Somewhere between a laugh and a tear is where I would place myself as a photographer. I live in Los Angeles and I am influenced by the desert, the sea, and all that is in between. Some say that paradise is a word that cannot be used to describe Los Angeles anymore. Gone is the glamour and the golden shine that was once Hollywood and all the star making power it once had. If that is the case, then some of my portraits represent that thought. My portfolio is not filled with glamorous images of perfect skin and sharply focused beautiful people. Instead, my portfolio shows some blurry images, some faces partly hidden in shadows, and some portraits that reveal pain, anger, and the frustration of youth and the pain of living. I am no longer an adolescent. My life has crossed over East of Eden. Where I was once filled with hope and optimism that every Saturday Night would deliver a special someone. Now, I am not afraid to look in the mirror and think to myself that yes, I remain hopeful and optimistic; but I am also very aware of the real world. I am aware that not all who bring gifts are my friends and that not all who smile are happy. Beauty sometimes has a price and beneath that smile is sometimes a world of pain. In some of my photos I want to explore those themes. What lies beneath is often filled with more truth than the surface. I am not afraid to explore beyond the surface. I hope that you are not afraid of what I will show you."

SCOTT EDWARD of DPX (Kansas City, Kansas)
In my work you will be textured, scratched, darkened, and aged (in that antiqued photo kind of way!). Post-processing experiments continue, as I continue "finding my eye." Maybe the final image is the voice of the photographer? I'm fairly sure that for my whole life I've been a voyeur. From my earliest memories I can recall enjoying people watching. I've always been fascinated by faces, forms and bodies, the motion of individual gaits, how people behave and so on.

So with Anisa being something of the conduit between us all, we will all be showing works of art together; but this is not just a group show, the Anisa Effect is the impact of Non-Verbal Communication onto one's art.


THE AURAL ARTISTS:

This collaboration does not end with the visual pieces being displayed on the walls. The opening reception for the show, THE ANISA EFFECT, will take place on Friday the 13th. This is a Members Only event at the Studio. You must be a member of the Studio to be a part of this show. Membership Info is posted on our blog, or can be directly accessed by clicking here. Anisa, having never been to California, nor seen the Pacific Ocean, will be present. Anthony Santana will be here. And we three will be photographing the evening as events swirl about each of us and so the mood to photograph that occurs. On the following evening, the 14th, the event will open to the Public.

We will have music both nights.

CONFIRMED MUSICIANS:

TYLER on the TURNTABLES
Friday and Saturday
Tyler will be the House Dj both nights. His fusion of classic and modern funk, hip/hop and ethnic vibes is transcendental at times. The fact that he is not yet 25 boggles my mind. The maturity of his tastes, the elegance of the mixing and the raw and powerful grooves that resonate deeply in one's soul only illustrate to me that this is a Man who has Lived many lives.

RORY CLOUD
guitar and vocals
Friday and Saturday

NICK MEDINA
Acoustic and Electric Bass
Saturday

The music is intended to act as metaphor for the imagery on the walls. The website that hosted all of the visual artists and enabled/facilitated the collaborations, allows for comments to be recorded for posted images. At some point in time, it is our intention/hope to have the comments for the images turned into slides to be projected on our 12 foot screen. Audience members would then have the opportunity to 'read' these comments while our musicians provide either or both a backdrop or a musical response to each reading.