This page will serve as an ongoing scrapbook highlighting some of the special events that we have had the pleasure of producing and/or participating in over the years. Stay tuned...
Dec. 2010 ~ PhotoNOLA, the 5th Annual Festival of Photography,
presented by the New Orleans Photo Alliance.
Soulcatcher Studio Gallery Director Eric J. Keller attended the annual festival as a reviewer. We were also very pleased to donate a rare, vintage Paul Caponigro photograph to the PhotoNOLA benefit auction (seen above, being held by Trixie Minx of the New Orleans-based burlesque troupe Fleur de Tease) .
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Nov. 2009 ~ Gallery Director Eric J. Keller was invited to attend the 2009 Lishui International Photographic Cultural Festival in China as an honored curator (one of only twenty from outside of China).
Mr. Keller was honored to have Sarah Wilson attend the festival with her project "Blind Prom" as his sponsored exhibition. Blind Prom documents prom night (and all of the preparation that goes into it) at The Texas School of the Blind and Visually Impaired in her hometown of Austin, TX (see images below). Miss Wilson's project was subsequently honored with an Award Of Excellence presented by the Festival Committee (one of only four honors awarded to photographers outside of China).
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July 23, 2009 ~ Soulcatcher Studio celebrated the grand opening of our new
Studio exhibition space and presented the world premiere exhibition of
"Silent Moan - Photographs by Michael Donnor".
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Working in the traditional wet darkroom method, Donnor manipulates each film negative using a number of techniques to further convey the concept of each image; including freezing, melting, scratching and cutting to name a few. The finished gelatin silver print photographs are then toned in tea and selenium and signed, titled, dated and editioned in ink using the artist's own hand-lettering technique. The paper edges are then burned and encaustic is applied in layers, making each print within the edition a unique work of art.
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Donnor (above) states, "This project is my exploration from behind the stage of the greatest show of all ...us. It is my view of false projections...fortresses of a facade...and the egos that stand upon them. The fragile truth that is covered up can be many things: a secret best not shared; an event best forgotten; a failure best not remembered; or perhaps a dead dream that will not rest. Whichever the case, they are all a part of us that we will carry; the past that is a silent moan."
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| Donnor (above, far left) explains his technique to an attendee of the show opening. |
Donnor (above, center left) explains his technique to an attendee of the show opening. |
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Spring 2007 Special Events
Ruth Bernhard's Memorial Service ~ March 31, 2007
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On March 31, 2007 Ruth Bernhard's friends and collegues were once again brought together, this time to celebrate a life lived to the fullest for over 101 years. The historic Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco served as the gathering place and guest speakers included former assistant and long-time friend Michael Kenna, Ruth's personal assistant for nearly thirty years, Mary Ann Helmholtz (pictured above, at left in pink) and Ruth's "younger" brother, Alexander Bernhard, who traveled from London with his lovely wife Audrey to attend. Gallery Director Eric J. Keller spent a wonderful evening the following day at the home of Bernhard biographer and fellow photographer Margaretta Mitchell (pictured above, at right in black).
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Fall 2005 Special Events
Ruth Bernhard's 100th Birthday Celebration ~ October 14, 2005
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Gallery Director Eric J. Keller visits with the inestimable
Ms. Bernhard on the occasion of her 100th birthday.
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Ruth with Mary Ann Helmholtz, her assistant of twenty-seven
years and the organizer of this unforgettable evening.
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One hundred invited guests from around the world enjoyed the
elegant surroundings of the incomparable Fleur de Lys restaurant
in the heart of downtown San Francisco.
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Chef/Owner Hubert Keller (right) presents Ruth
with her birthday cake.
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Photographer John Sexton delivers a wonderful tribute.
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Eric visits with Joyce Pieper, the model from Ruth's most famous
image, "In the Box, Horizontal, 1962".
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Bernhard biographer Margaretta Mitchell delighted the guests
with her memories of Ruth.
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Eric visits with Michael Kenna and his wife and fellow photographer Camille Solyagua. Ruth introduced the couple to each other.
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Pre-celebration sushi with photographer Rolfe Horn
and Maki Ishiwata in Oakland, CA.
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October 15 - Seattle, WA - Blue Earth Alliance presented "Natural Selection", a photographic lottery fundraising event. Over fifty-five photographers donated prints and the event raised over $28,000 for the non-profit organization and its causes. The highlight of the evening was a very spirited silent auction for Ruth Bernhard's seminal image, "Perspective II, 1967".
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Winter 2003~2004 Special Events
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Top Left: Gallery Director Eric J. Keller visits with Maya Ishiwata of Nazraeli Press (left) and a camera shy
Jack Woody of Twin Palms Publishers (right) during the opening night preview reception of Photo LA 2004.
Top Right: Kim and Gina Weston made a great impression during their first appearance at Photo LA.
Middle: An auspicious fortune cookie. Bottom Left: Visiting with an old friend from Seattle, photographer Phil Borges (Tibetan Portrait) during his recent gallery opening in Los Angeles. Bottom Right: Visiting with Helen Wright, Henri Cartier-Bresson's Agent, during a trip to New York City in November 2003.
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Photo San Francisco, The 4th International Photographic Print Exposition
San Francisco, CA.
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July 24-27, 2003 - Record crowds attended this years' PhotoSF. This was our first year at the exposition.
Top Left: Gallery Director Eric J. Keller visits with Michael Kenna and his lovely wife Camille at the Nazraeli
Press booth during the opening night preview reception. Top Right: Spending an unforgettable afternoon at
the home of Ruth Bernhard (left) with her assistant of twenty-five years, Mary Ann Helmholtz (right).
Bottom Left: A wonderful dinner with Gina, Kim & Zach Weston at their home in Carmel, CA. The house
originally belonged to Edward Weston. Bottom Right: Viewing Edward Weston's original 8x10 negatives
in his original darkroom with Kim Weston, son of Cole Weston; an experience I will not soon forget.
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Newsflash - The Missing Links: Santa Fe Art Dealer Involved in Sting Operation
June 2003 - Gallery Director Eric J. Keller recently became involved in a sting operation against the ex-wife of O. Winston Link. He purchased a very rare oversized print of Link's most famous image, "Hot Shot Eastbound at the Iaeger Drive In, Iaeger, West Virginia, 1956", from a popular online auction site. After becoming suspicious that the deal was to good to be true, he contacted the District Attorney in Westchester County, New York, who told him that the sting operation was in progress and to not discuss the print or show it to anyone. A few days later Conchita Mendoza (Link) was arrested to attempting to sell stolen goods. Shortly after her arrest a storage unit was discovered near her home. Inside were hundreds of original photographs, and even some original negatives by Link. Mendoza was eventually reconvicted and sent back to prison for the 1991 theft of hundreds of prints by her then-husband. The estimated value of the recovered artwork was over two million dollars.
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Photo LA, The 12th International Los Angeles Photographic Print Exposition
Santa Monica, CA.
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January 16-19, 2003 - Featuring a booksigning and lecture by legendary Magnum photographer Bruce Davidson.
Left: Gallery Director Eric J. Keller at the opening night preview reception benefiting the Photographic
Arts Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This was Eric's fourth year at the exposition.
Middle: Bruce Davidson (center) visits with guests as Eric J. Keller (center, top) assists his clients.
Right: Robin Hurley (left) and Mark Magidson (right) of St. Ann's Press with Bruce Davidson (center) and
St. Ann's masterful 2003 reprint of the seminal classic of documentary photography, East 100th Street.
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