I attended Photo Plus Expo at the Javits Center in NYC last October and met with many creative professionals in portfolio review sessions organized by Palm Spring Photo Festival. In total I visited with 5 reviewers. One of them was Todd Bradway from D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers). 

The reason I selected him as a reviewer is because I have been working on a photo project titled The Museum of Messages for many years and I am currently looking for a publisher to print a book and or produce a digital e-book of my project. 

Todd gave me many helpful pointers on certain publishers I should contact as well as how to market my book. He told me that photo books aren't selling in the mass market and to introduce my book to publishers as an Art + Design book. I thought that was a brilliant idea! 

Above is a screen shot of a mock up book that I am creating in iPhoto to present to publishers. 

I am interested, what are your thoughts on the future of book publishing? 

Attention photo thieves! Yesterday I learned that Google came up with a system called Google Image Search . When a photographer drops one of his or her photos in the search cue it will search the whole web to see if others may be using his or her image without permission. 

I think a lot of copyright infringement lawsuits may be brewing.

As an artist I really hope that people learn that all the time and energy artists put into their work should be paid for not stolen.

I am thrilled to say that the owner of Miwa Alex bought Buddha 5, one of the photographs that I shot in Tibet in 2008 which is also part of The Museum of Messages. He is currently displaying the photo at Miwa Alex, in the Flatiron District, at 24 E. 22nd Street between Park Avenue South and Broadway in NYC until November 10, 2011.

Above is the e-zine I created in order to promote the group exhibition. Please note that I only showed a detail in the e-zine of the Buddha that I photographed. 

If you'd like to see the whole thing go to the Flatiron District and check it out. I am interested in hearing your opinion on my work. If you do visit, I hope you enjoy the show. 

In 10 days, Saturday September 24, 2011, my Photo and Design Exhibition will end at Miwa Alex, 24 E. 22nd Street between Park Avenue South and Broadway.

It started July 18, 2011 and has had a positive response. See designs and photography created in the studio. Also see photos from The Museum of Messages.

It is a lovely time of year to walk around the city. If you are in the Flatiron District, don't forget to go check the show out.

Opinions are welcome. Have a nice day!

Technological Waste in Ghana - Photo Opening at Yossi Milo Gallery Tonight 9/8/11 6-8 pm

 Pieter Hugo

Permanent Error

September 8–October 29, 2011

Artist’s Reception & Book Signing- http://bit.ly/pJ4KoW

Thursday, September 8, 6:00–8:00 pm

Yossi Milo Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of color photographs by Pieter Hugo, entitled Permanent Error. The exhibition will open on Thursday, September 8, and close on Saturday, October 29, with an opening reception for the artist and book signing on Thursday, September 8, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. This is the artist’s third solo exhibition at the gallery.

Pieter Hugo’s new series, Permanent Error, depicts Agbogbloshie, a massive dump site for technological waste on the outskirts of Ghana’s capital city, and the locals who burn down the components to extract bits of copper, brass, aluminum and zinc for resale. Tons of outdated and broken computers, computer games, mobile phones and other e-waste are shipped to the area as “donations” from the West, under the guise of providing technology to developing countries. Rather than helping to bridge the digital divide, the equipment is transformed into noxious trash threatening the health of the area’s inhabitants and contaminating the water and soil.

Gray plumes of smoke rise from smoldering piles of disassembled monitors, motherboards and wiring, providing an apocalyptic backdrop for Hugo’s portraits of the workers. The subjects, many of whom are young men sent by their families from impoverished outlying villages, are photographed full-figure and directly engaged with Hugo’s medium-format camera. With each portrait, Hugo draws the viewer into the conditions imposed on this slum community and their effects on individuals. Collectively, the photographs expose consequences of the West’s consumption of ever-new technology and its disposal of outmoded products in poor countries ill-equipped to recycle them.

Pieter Hugo’s work was recently on view at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia; and the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland. A mid-career retrospective exhibition curated by Wim van Sinderen will open in February 2012 at The Hague Museum of Photography, The Netherlands, and will travel through 2014. Mr. Hugo received the 2008 Discovery Award at the Rencontres d'Arles Festival and the 2008 KLM Paul Hauf Award. His work is held in the permanent collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne; Huis Marseille, Amsterdam; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, among others. The artist’s previous books, The Hyena & Other Men (2007) and Nollywood (2009) were published by Prestel, which released Permanent Error in March 2011. Pieter Hugo was born in South Africa in 1976 and currently lives and works near Cape Town.

The second annual Chelsea Art Walk will take place in New York City at over 125 galleries and art institutions on Thursday, July 28, 2011 from 5 to 8 p.m.

In addition to extended hours at all of the locations, there will be special events such as talks by artists, curators, and gallery owners, live performances, book sales, book signings and receptions. Check it out at http://artwalkchelsea.com/

Pricing Advice From Wonderful Machine

One of the biggest challenges for photographers is to quote a job. Most folks think that all photographers do is show up and press the shutter on the camera; however, there are so many more steps involved. Depending on the clients objective other creative professionals may need to be hired in order to execute the shoot successfully. For example, photo assistants, digital techs, hair stylists and make-up artists. This all adds up.

Jess Dudley, a producer at Wonderful Machine, explains the pricing process of a photo shoot in the blog post above on thephotoeditor.com.  It is extremely informative!!!

Have a nice day!

Photo + Design Exhibition Opening - 07/20/11

On Wednesday July 20, 2011 from 7-9 pm there will be an exhibition opening of some of my photos and designs at Miwa Alex, a venue on 22nd Street between Park Avenue South and Broadway in NYC.

In the show I have incorporated some of my studio photos and designs as well as some imagery from The Museum of Messages . While walking through the gallery and looking at the art on the walls you can also enjoy some delicious rosé or sauvignon blanc from Parlay.

I look forward to seeing you at the opening.

HARVEY STEIN: CONEY ISLAND 40 YEARS OPENING

I am happy to tell you about Harvey Stein's photo exhibition hosted by Alan Klotz Gallery that will occur in Chelsea, NYC July 7-August 19, 2011. The opening is on July 7th from 6- 8 pm.

If you don't already know Harvey Stein I'd like to introduce you to his work.  Mr. Stein is one of the nicest and most talented portrait photographers in NYC. I took a book publishing class with him at the International Center of Photography in 2007 and learned a great deal about promoting my photography via a publication. I have created some mock up books for my photo project titled The Museum of Messages, but I have yet to publish anything

I plan on going to Mr. Stein's photo opening tomorrow night. I hope to see you there.

Have a nice day!

Don't Quit Your Day Job - Photo Opening at

HASTED KRAEUTLER is pleased to announce DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB, photographs by gallery owners. The exhibition is a lighthearted indulgence in the fantasy of "what might have been" for these lovers of photography had they not decided to pursue their day jobs. DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB is equally a celebration of the gallery owners' careers and contributions to contemporary art and photography, highlighting the origins in creating photography and art that led them to own galleries in the first place. While no one story is true of all the participants in this exhibition, many of them have practiced photography before and during their current careers as gallerists, while others moved from creating to representing photography, commercially, many years ago (and hardly ever looked back). In all cases, however, HASTED KRAEUTLER is honored to host the work of its colleagues in the business.

The artists are DEBORAH BELL, KIM BOURUS, BRIAN CLAMP, DAVID FAHEY, ZACH FEUER, MICHAEL FOLEY, JEFFREY FRAENKEL, JESSICA FREDERICKS, SARAH HASTED, STEVEN KASHER, ALAN KLOTZ, JOSEPH KRAEUTLER, PETER MACGILL, LAURENCE MILLER, ROBERT MANN, JANET RUSSEK, JACK SHAINMAN, ROSE SHOSHANA, RICK WESTER and SASHA WOLF.

While some of the photographs are on loan for exhibition only, most are for sale. The proceeds will be donated to Lotus House Women's Shelter, a quiet enclave in the heart of one of Miami's poorest neighborhoods.

For more information, please contact HASTED KRAEUTLER at 212-627-0006 or info@hastedkraeutler.com.

The exhibition will be on view from July 7 to August 19, 2011. Please join us for a reception for the artists on Thursday, July 7, 5 - 8 p.m.

Foto Care: In the Spotlight with Helena V. de Vengoechea

Two weeks ago Elizabeth Stacy, a digital image specialist at Fotocare, contacted me and asked me if I'd like to be interviewed for their blog. I was happy that they asked me, said "yes" and spent a good portion of a day answering their questions.

If you'd like to read their blog post about my photo and design services in NYC you may at http://bit.ly/lxuW1K.

If you know of any companies that are looking to visually promote their products with professional digital design and photography services feel free to forward the studio's website to them for review.

Stay Cool!!

Start Thinking In Motion

Recently I have been thinking that I really need to learn more about video production. Now with our world becoming more of a digital landscape I do believe that this education would be wise to invest in.

I don't think print design and still photography will die 100% but in order to survive in today's workplace one must continue learning. If you are interested in educating yourself in motion you may learn a tidbit at http://bit.ly/mwB1lU.

MailChimp.com

Above is an e-zine that I designed to tell you what Helena V. Studio has been up to this month. I have been using another service provider for quite some time but recently decided to try out another.

If you are looking to share your vision with others via an email newsletter, at an affordable price, I'd like to suggest using http://mailchimp.com/ .

Their customer service is very good, they are fun and professional.

The only thing is, you'll need to have your very own list of contacts. For example,  AdBase is an email service provider that offers a database of creative professionals emails + phone numbers. Mailchimp.com doesn't offer this service.

If you are looking to share your vision with lots of business professionals I highly recommend AdBase. They are very helpful and professional but more on the pricey side because they have more services to offer.

Best of Luck! -Helena V. 

Luck

Last week I was asked to photograph six pieces of jewelry for a designer Tirza Fine Design based in Brooklyn, NYC. I set up my studio with black plexi on stands, to place the jewelry on, my lights, reflectors, camera and laptop and shot different variations. It was a two day job.

After the photo shoot I chose to design a poster for my portfolio. I added the green line element on the top and the bottom of the page, which leads the eye into the ring, then with Arial Narrow, my font of choice, I typed, kerned and placed the "lauren collection : ring by tirza fine design" on the left side of the page and lastly added "luck is believing you're lucky- by tennessee williams" on the right side of the page.

If you'd like to see it at a larger size visit http://www.helenavstudio.com/.

Thoughts?

Where in the War Room Is Hillary Clinton?

This is an eye opener, see above! 

I found online that the famous white house war room photo of the Osama Bin Laden raid was edited in Photoshop.

Big No, No! Hello copyright infringement!!!

More information at http://bit.ly/j2ZB9v.

Gorgeous Letterpress Printing

This morning I went on press, downtown to review my wedding invitation designed by my friend Casey Coyle Lozoraitis, http://www.caseycoyle.com/. She introduced me to letterpress printing. If you are wondering what that is, it is when you see copy indented into a thick piece of quality paper. It is a beautiful effect! If you'd like to see an example visit the homepage of Aldine's website, http://aldine.com/.

If you ever want to use a good letterpress printer I highly recommend Aldine, quality printing and service too!

Hello Sunshine

Happy Spring Folks!!!!

A few weeks ago I was walking downtown on 5th Avenue in NYC and saw all these vibrant colors in the Kate Spade window. I had to go into the store, so I did. When I entered I saw this great hat (above) that reads "Hello Sunshine". I am builiding my photo design portfolio so I thought why not create an advertisement?!?!

I bought the hat, returned to my studio, spent two days photographing it at different angles and a few more days working in post production and designing the ad above.

If you'd like to view it at a larger dimension you may at :

http://bit.ly/gwFGT7

Do you like it? I'd like to hear your opinion if you care to share.

Spark-Inspiration For Creatives

Spark is a group of independent graphic design professionals who meet each month to enlighten each other on the business and creative issues that are relevant to design studios.

They are having a panel on mobile app design that I thought to share with you.

New Date/New Location: Tuesday April 19th at Noble Desktop.

Spark Panel - Mobile Apps Design, Production and Strategy

Where: Noble Desktop  | 594 Broadway New York, NY 10012
Time: 6:30 pm time to chat; 7:00 pm discussion begins
Cost: Free for members, $15 for non-members
RSVP: rsvp@sparknyc.org

Mobile Apps are exploding in popularity and forever changing the way we communicate. Find out the latest in apps innovation, and how some smart designers are using it. Our panelists will discuss:

 Concept strategies that make them relevant for clients

 How to scope and price them. What the production process and timeframe entails

 What is the unique interface vocabulary that is being created

Panelists Include:

Alon Koppel
Alon founded FusionLab, Inc. in 1999 after working in NYC as a designer and art director. FusionLab focuses on information and interface design for web and mobile devices. They believe in clean design, hard work, and exceptional client service. Clients include Thomson Reuters, The New York Landmark Conservancy, Condé Nast, The Population Council, The Joan Mitchell Foundation, Architectural Digest, The Authors Guild, Montefiore Hospital, as well as local nonprofit organizations and businesses.

David Link
David is the co-founder and creative director of The Wonder Factory, a creative company that creates and manages humongous, complicated site launches. Clients include WebMD, Martha Stewart, Newsweek, National Geographic, Food Network and Flock.

David is a designer at heart and is happiest collaborating with his UI and design team.
Garrett Murray
Garrett Murray has been designing and developing web and mobile applications for more than 10 years. His clients include Delta Airlines, Pfizer and the United Nations. He designed and developed Ego, a popular and critically-acclaimed iPhone/iPad application for tracking all of your important web stats in a single glance.

Recently, Garrett founded Karbon, a design/development agency in New York City where he and his compatriots are building fun and useful new applications and products.

Moderated by:

Sheri L Koetting
Co-Founder and Chief Strategist of MSLK, a marketing and design agency based in NYC that just launched their own proprietary app, OTO.

Want To Learn How To Shoot Video on your DSLR Camera?

If you're a photographer looking to expand into video the new PDN (Photo District News) HDSLR Video Workshops will help you gain the valuable knowledge you'll need to compete in this new arena. Our goal is to remove any technical apprehensions you may have about creating videos. No previous experience is required!

• A comprehensive understanding of camera settings
• Technical training in HD video formatting including aspect ratios, frame rates,terminology, digital movie formats and more
• An understanding of composition for motion pictures
• Skills in basic sound recording, audio capture and the incorporation of background music
• Interview and storytelling tools
• Workflow training, including how to export your projects

Sign up here -  http://www.pdnvideo.nielsencontests.com/?email

Support Japan

Leica would like to help the people who are so terribly affected by the tsunami disaster in Japan. Their first step was to provide 72 pairs of binoculars to the rescue teams in the disaster area. They have also launched an appeal fund at their head office in Solms and in their representative offices around the world.

They would now like to invite you to make your own personal contribution to the Leica appeal fund. Please join them in helping the Japanese families who are suffering so much in these difficult times. All proceeds of the appeal fund will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Buy What You Love-Benefit Auction Tonight 3/24/11 for Cancer Patients + Emerging Artists

If you are in NYC tonight, Thursday 3/24/11, and would like to  support The Rema Hort Mann Foundation, which raises money for cancer patients and emerging artists, come to Buy What You Love, an auction taking place at the Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea.

Over 200 Artists, including me, have donated their work to help raise money for the foundation.

There is more information at:

http://www.remahortmannfoundation.org/bwyl/

Hope to see you there.

Shake It Up - New Photo Design By Helena V. Studio

This week I visited the http://www.pylones-usa.com/ store in Grand Central Station in NYC and was drawn to Mrs. Salt + Mr. Pepper. I photographed them in my studio a few days ago and created an ad, attached above, that I plan on submitting to Pylones for review.

I thought to share a little about my production process because some of you may be wondering "how did she create that?". If you are curioius, read on, if not, I hope you like the composition.

In brief, I printed out "You Can't Eat Money", one of my photos from The Museum of Messages, at 16"x20" and then created a set with my Hasselblad camera, Broncolor lights, reflectors, diffusers and lastly I tethered my camera to my Apple MacBook Pro. After shooting several compositions I chose the sharpest, best lit option and then, in post production, I created the ad above in Adobe Photoshop.

You may see it at a larger scale at http://www.helenavstudio.com/.

If you'd like to share your opinion, shoot me an email at helena@helenavstudio.com, as I would very much like to hear your thoughts.

Grant Information For Artists Led By The LMCC

Work Sample Dos and Don'ts
Led by LMCC's Grants & Services team

In order to access funding, residencies and other professional opportunities, artists are often required to submit work samples for consideration. Who reviews work samples? How are they reviewed? How important is formatting? Context? Our interactive workshop will cover these issues and provide a series of examples from a range of artistic disciplines that will allow participants to consider what makes a work sample compelling and why.

Date & Time:

Thursday, March 24, 2011, 6:30PM

Location:

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Between Pearl and Water Streets 

Workshop is free, but space is limited.

RSVP is required. For more info visit http://www.lmcc.net/arts_services/

Funny + Fantastic Foto

This afternoon I found a photo by Glenn Wexler on http://www.oneeyeland.com/ that I thought was funny and fantastic. Very Clever! So much so that I had to share it with you. If you click on the photo above you will see some more of his brilliant photographs.

Creative Opinions

This evening I will be attending a fine art photo portfolio review at Calumet on 22nd Street in NYC at 7 pm. In the past, I have presented my photo fine art concept, The Museum of Messages, to many other creative professionals at other reviews and gotten excellent feedback. This has allowed me to expand my ideas further. 

If you are new to this blog, I'd like to introduce the The Museum of Messages to you. In brief, since 2006, I have been diligently photographing messages that people write in the public domain about love, the environment, politics, humor, loyalty and more. After I shoot them, I return to my studio, download the messages, clean them up in Adobe Photoshop and post them to my online gallery. The reason I think this is important to do is because the messages don't have a very long life span because city cleaning crews paint over or wash away these words so I think it is important to document these visual voices for others to think about, learn and enjoy.

By profession I am a Marketing Designer that takes Professional Photographs. The way I have expanded my concept is by photographing fashion accessories with a message that I have found on the street, in my studio with my Hasselblad H3DII camera, and then in post production, I create a marketing piece to help one promote their products. If you'd like to see some examples, you may at http://www.helenavstudio.com/.

I am looking forward to getting feedback tonight. Your thoughts and opinions are welcome.

Presenting NYC Fashion Photographer Albert Watson

Mr. Albert Watson, a well known fashion photographer in NYC, is speaking at the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park Thursday February 17, 2011 at noon. If interested you can learn more at http://www.pai-newyork.org/

Mr. Watson has made his mark as one of the world’s most successful fashion and commercial photographers during the last four decades, while creating his own art along the way. Over the years, his striking images have appeared on more than 100 covers of Vogue around the world and been featured in countless other publications, from Rolling Stone to Time to Vibe —many of the photographs iconic portraits of rock stars, rappers, actors and other celebrities.

Albert also has created the photography for hundreds of successful ad campaigns for major companies, such as Prada, the Gap, IBM, Levi’s, Revlon and Chanel, and he has directed more than 200 TV commercials and shot dozens of posters for major Hollywood movies.

All the while, Albert has spent much of his time working on personal projects, creating stunning images from his travels and interests, from Marrakech to Las Vegas to the Orkneys. Much of this work, along with his well known portraits and fashion photographs, has been featured in museum and gallery shows worldwide. The photo industry bible, Photo District News, named Albert one of the 20 most influential photographers of all time, and he won the 2010 Centenary Medal from the Royal Photographic Society.

J. Henry Fair - An Artful Environmental Impact

Exhibition ends at Gerald Peters Gallery
on Friday, February 11, 2011

The vivid color photographs of J. Henry Fair lead an uneasy double life as potent records of environmental pollution and as ersatz evocations of abstract painting. This makes “Abstraction of Destruction,” his exhibition at the Gerald Peters Gallery, a strange battle between medium and message, between harsh truths and trite, generic beauty.

Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/arts/design/14earth.html

I met J. Henry Fair on the train on the way back to NYC a few weeks ago. I am so very glad that he introduced himself because I saw his show this afternoon and was awestruck by the colors that popped off his photos. He was also written up in Photo District News in Conor Risch's Exposure section. I highly recommend seeing his exhibition.

Creatives Meeting Other Creatives - Tonight in NYC

Creatives Meeting Other Creatives!!!

Arranged by Adhesive NY

TONIGHT, January 25, 2011
6:30 pm - ???

The Bowery Wine Company
13 East First Street
http://www.bowerywineco.com/

And to get you all warmed up, the bar is providing some drink specials for us!

$5 red or white wine, $5 sangria, $5 well drinks
$3 beer (on 3 types of beer, ask the barman) - 1/2 price apps

Do you need any other reason to come??

See you tonight.

Stuck on you,
Tim, Shabnam, Wini and Brian

Discuss Women During the Great Depression

Design Arts Daily (DART) Partners with the Arts at 
Museum of the City of New York
Thursday, January 27, 6:30 pm
Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits 

The popular image of women during the depression is dominated by rural themes: mothers protecting their families from fierce dust storms and greedy bank managers, Ma Joad from The Grapes of Wrath, and Dorothea Lange’s iconic “Migrant Mother” (below, left). But as Denys Wortman’s vivid slice-of-life cartoons of New York show -- currently on view at MCNY -- urban women were also hit hard by the economic disaster.

Join historian Linda Gordon, author of Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits (W.W. Norton, 2009), who will discuss the role gender played in Americans’ response to the economic crisis of the 1930s. This program is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Denys Wortman Rediscovered, currently on view at MCNY. 

This special program is being offered to DART subscribers at the half-off MCNY member's price of $6 when you contact 917.492.3395 or programs@mcny.org. Just mention DART and your tickets will be held for you. Please do not reply to this email. 

The Museum of the City of New York is located at Fifth Avenue and 103rd St.
By bus: M1, M3, M4 or M106 to 104th Street, M2 to 101st St.
By subway: #6 Lexington Avenue train to 103rd Street, walk three blocks west. #2 or #3 train to Central Park North (110th Street), walk one block east to 5th Ave, then south to 104th St.

Spending Time With... Poster Child in NYC

Today I decided to share a video about an artist named Poster Child. Since I am fascinated with graphics in NYC I found this video very amusing to watch. His concept is pretty creative, don't you think?

Discover Great Photography At Oneeyeland.com

If you haven't heard of http://oneeyeland.com/, I'd like to introduce you.

Following is a little info about this photo hub:

Geography:

One Eyeland is a place you won't find on Google Map. It is an island in the virtual world, inhabited by people who shoot for a living.

History:

Founded by award winning lensman Sharad Haksar in AD 2008, out of a whim to create a dark room large enough to fit photographers of every hue.

Climate:

Known to be very warm. Especially to those who revel in talking with pictures. 

People:

Citizens of One Eyeland have a penchant for saying cheese. They are known to splurge unusual amounts of time and money flirting with large format cameras, digital backs, tripods, lights and lenses.

One Eyeland is for the photographers, by the photographers and of the photographers. It is a place where every soul has one birthright: right to visual delight.