FAP:O 1.0 – the end

What was I thinking!

I’ve just finished pushing the old FAP:O site into WordPress and, by the way, reading and listening to a few of episodes. I am so impressed! It was a wonderful effort by the photographic community in Ottawa that featured the best of our work and ideas.

FAP:O 1.0 (more about that in a minute) started on December 7th, 2012 with Jim Lamont’s “(Print) Size Matters!” and finished on December 12th, 2015 with Justin Wonnacott’s “What was I thinking!” (echoed above). We had thirty sessions in the three years. I started it with the central idea of “respectful listening”, an idea that I got from the amateur musical community whose open stages are all about giving the artist a chance to grow.

We included all the people I knew and a number that others recommended. We focused almost entirely on amateur artists (the lovers of the art!). We never talked about camera equipment!

Most sessions were recorded by Mike Vuckovic of PhotoKibitz.com and I have to say the history would not be the same without those recordings. Thank you, Mike!

It was a great ride. Thanks to all who participated!

Jake Morrison
September 2019

The Gallery Bar, Lieutenant’s Pump, Elgin Street – 2015

Pressed Urban Sandwich Bar, Gladstone  – 2012-2015

Thanks to our hosts over the years!      

FAP:O 1.30 – with Justin Wonnacott

What was I thinking?

  • Date: November 12th, 2015, 7 pm
  • Place: The Lieutenant’s Pump
  • Speaker: Justin Wonnacott
  • Topic: What was I thinking?
  • Justin Wonnacott talked about managing pictures and editing his own work – from an aesthetic and creative growth perspective. Since he began to work seriously with photography he has explored quite a few photographic motifs without necessarily arriving at a definitive “look and feel” that characterizes how his photographs appear. He presented work from two different long term projects and explained how they came into existence as ideas and how he refined them as they grew. With the help of an interested audience, he dealt with very specific issues that are practical in nature to larger questions of how the photographs can be read, can be deployed or how they can be useful to himself and others. It may be helpful to know that Justin is a compulsive photographer, a book collector and that he loves to read about the history and future of photography. He brought images from “Necessary Pictures” which is a project based on his street photography and from “So . . . ” which is landscape based. Both of these projects are recent or ongoing and are long term in their development.
  • Recording:  FAP:O #30 (by Mike Vuckovic)
  • Web Site:     aregeebee

FAP:O 1.29 – with Chris Klus

Compositional judgment of art photography

  • Date: October 8th, 2015, 7 pm
  • Place: The Lieutenant’s Pump
  • Speaker: Chris Klus
  • Topic: Compositional judgment of art photography
  • Chris presented the judgement criteria of CAPA contests. A few FAP:O attendees had sent in pictures to be judged and Jake added a bunch from fine art masters of the twentieth century. It became very lively!
  • Recording:  coming
  • Web Site:    ckphoto.ca
  •  

FAP:O 1.28 – Open discussion

Photography <--> Art Photography <--> Photographic Art, What's the diff?

  • Date: September 10th, 2015, 7 pm
  • Place: The Lieutenant’s Pump
  • Speaker: None
  • Topic: Photography <–> Art Photography <–> Photographic Art, What’s the diff?
  • About ten of us met and had a wide-ranging discussion. Jake brought some notes:
  •  Photography <–> Art Photography <–> Photographic Art, What’s the diff?
    • Good Photography is mindful of composition and inventive use of equipment
    • When does that become  Art Photography?
    • And when does That become Photographic Art?
    • And, in the end, is it useful to make these distinctions?
  • Photography, like other creative pursuits, has been inundated by the masses as tools and publishing platforms have gotten easier to use
    What has this mass of creators meant for art? Photography? Quality in the creative media?
  • Recording:  FAP:O #28 (by Mike Vuckovic)
  • Web Site:   NA

FAP:O 1.27 – with Marie-Jeanne Musiol

Luminous Fields

  • Date: June 9th, 2015, 7 pm
  • Place: The Lieutenant’s Pump
  • Speaker: Marie-Jeanne Musiol 
  • Topic: Luminous Fields
  •  Marie-Jeanne Musiol spoke about her ongoing experiments to capture the luminous imprints of plants directly on film and video at the precise moment light flows and imparts subtle information to matter.  The artist is presently assembling an extensive energy herbarium consisting of hundreds of specimens culled from the eastern Laurentian forest and uncovering the presence of cosmic configurations enfolded in the minute details of photographed leaves.

 

 

FAP:O 1.26 – with Brendan de Montigny

cancelled

  • Date: May 12th, 2015, 7 pm
  • Place: The Lieutenant’s Pump
  • Speaker: Brendan de Montigny 
  • Topic: NO SHOW – Print and Photography: Commercialism in the Inter-Media Digital Age 
  •  

    Brendan will discuss the use of photographic tools through interdisciplinary visual arts fields by way of speaking about his own personal experience as an artist, and as an art dealer. Through this personalized account he would like to open up a conversation about how photography as a digital medium has changed how we exchange the information of ideas.

 

 

  • Recording:  None
  • Web Site:  

FAP:O 1.25 – with Tony Fouhse

Why Official Ottawa

  • Date: April 14th, 2015, 7 pm
  • Place: The Lieutenant’s Pump
  • Speaker: Tony Fouhse 
  • Topic: Why Official Ottawa 
     

    With his new work, “Official Ottawa”, Tony Fouhse looks at how the federal presence manifests itself in this city. He does this by stripping the capital down to its bones, photographing the architecture, functionaries and tableaux that only exist here because this is the seat of federal power. “Official Ottawa” is a look behind (or perhaps beside) the clichés, fairytales and myths that surround our city. He will talk about his motivations for creating this body of work.

    “Official Ottawa” will be exhibited this summer (2015) at OAG’s Annex gallery in City Hall.

  • FAP:O 1.24 – with Jake Morrison

    A Curated Book Report 

    • Date: March 10th, 2015, 7 pm
    • Place: The Lieutenant’s Pump
    • Speaker: Jake Morrison 
    • Topic: A Curated Book Report
       

      Jake Morrison talked about curating his own reading. He reported on four books:

      • The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe (1975)
      • Wagstaff: Before And After Mapplethrope: A Biography by Philip Gefter (2014)
      • Seven Days In the Art World by Sarah Thornton (2009) (with a nod to her “33 Artists in 3 Acts”)
      • Curationism: How curating took over the art world and everything else by David Balzer (2014)

    FAP:O 1.23 – with Raymond Aubin

    Criticising photographs

    • Date: February 10th, 2015, 6:30pm
    • Place: The Lieutenant’s Pump
    • Speaker: Raymond Aubin 
    • Topic: Criticising Photographs 
       
      Raymond Aubin talked about criticizing  photographs. How can one go beyond first impressions when looking at a photograph? He discussed six complementary angles from which to approach images which he has developed over several years through readings, courses, workshops, and writing art critiques.

    FAP:O 1.22 – with Richard Austin

    • Date: January 13th, 2015, 6:30pm
    • Place: Pressed Urban Gourmet Sandwich Shop
    • Speaker: Richard Austin
    • Topic: Publishing a book with IngramSpark services
      Richard Austin talked about getting a book commercially published using IngramSpark services. IngramSpark is the world’s largest printer and distributor of books with access to over 39,000 booksellers, online retailers and libraries around the world. Richard discussed his experiences getting his book “1969 Once upon a time in Montreal” printed and distributed to bookstores.