Hello to my guests and subscribers. Thanks for visiting my December 2024 newsletter.

This month's View From Here column features photographs from recent outings, and the the story of my 20th Anniversary Holiday Open House which was held on Saturday Dec. 7 and again on Dec. 14 11-4pm.

My current guest photographer is Marion Patterson with her Intimate Landscapes exhibition. Marion’s exhibition opened Nov. 24 with a Opening Reception held on December 7 from 1 to 4pm. Thanks to all who attended. It was great to hear Marion talk about her work.

The Gallery will be open every Saturday through December from 11am to 4pm.

My next class is the two-day Image Editing class coming up January 11-12, 2025.

— Steve

It is the Holiday Season, remember that I offer Gift Certificates for all products and classes. An illustrated email and printed card are created for your gift. They are good for a year and offer the recipient the option of choosing exactly what they would like to have of my classes, books, or prints..

As these newsletters can cover many subjects, let me know of topics you would like to see addressed.

Wave Shadow. Pacifica, CA 2024.

I was out on one of my evening cliff sunset visits and noticed backlit wave crests in the last light on the water. Walking to the edge of the cliff. I noticed amazing dancing shadows those very crests were forming. It was an altogether wonderful scene.

I couldn’t resist running some video of this dance of light, color, rock and wave.

I’m offering a 14-inch-wide print of this photograph for $195. Larger prints can be ordered. This print at this price is offered through December 31 2024. I'll be taking orders until then, and shipping them out by January 15, 2024. The image reverts to its normal price after that, $800 for an 11x14, $1500 for a 16x20.

Thank to those who joined me to celebrate the holidays and the Twentieth Anniversary of my studio at the Pacifica Center for the Arts on December 7. The celebration continues with our open house during the Art Center’s Winter Faire December 14.

In mid-2004 we started building out three classrooms and a big hallway at the old Sanchez Elementary School into what I envisioned as a first class gallery, digital classroom and working studio. By the time we had our Grand Opening that December, the transformation was complete and we have been running classes, lectures, exhibitions and creating decades of new work ever sense. Hundreds of students and thousands of visitors later, we are celebrating those 20 years this December.

20th Anniversary Holiday Open House was on Saturday Dec. 7 with the spirit continuing on Dec. 14. Free Posters, print discounts and same day workshop discounts.

I’m not sure when Marion and I first met, but we agree it was a long time ago. We had been friends for years when she invited me to apply to teach with her at Foothill College for a full-time photography instructor position. Although after a year into my time there, I came to the conclusion that the drive distance, responsibilities as a father, and artistic career just did not work with the job. Marion and I have remained friends for decades. I’ve always admired the directness and sensitivity of her photographs. Marion’s photographs were among the first I thought of when I decided to start my Guest Photographer Series.

It is my pleasure to share some of Marions beautiful gelatin-silver prints on my gallery walls.

Collecting Marion’s Prints While You Can

Marion has written me that she is no longer printing, so her current inventory is all that will be available from her.

Marion’s prints are approximately 11x14 and 8x10. They are vintage gelatin-silver prints, archivally processed, likely only one copy available, and are $500 each.

This exhibition represents a good sample of what she sill has. Prints from the show are already starting to sell. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

You can download the catalog pdf to see the inventory. As prints are sold red dots will be added to the images to indicate they are no longer available.

Marion Patterson

Marion L. Patterson received a B.A. degree with a major in philosophy and a minor in art from Stanford University in 1955 and an M.A. degree in interdisciplinary creative arts from California State University, San Francisco, in 1970. In addition to her degrees, she has studied under some of the country's greatest photographers, including Dorothea Lange, Minor White, Beaumont and Nancy Newhall and Ansel Adams. Patterson has been an active free-lance commercial photographer in both the United States and Mexico, as well as a widely exhibited fine art photographer. She has participated in numerous photographic expeditions, including treks to Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet.

From 1958 to 1961 Marion worked for Virginia and Ansel Adams in Yosemite and has remained closely associated with the Adams family since then. From 1961 to 1964 she was assistant to the photography editor of Sunset Magazine. While at Sunset, she prepared her first major exhibit, which was shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1965. Living in Oaxaca, Mexico, for a year resulted in another one-woman exhibit, at the Oakland Museum in 1966. In 1968, Marion Patterson began teaching at Foothill and De Anza Colleges in California, later becoming chair of the Foothill photography program. She has taught workshops for the University of California Santa Cruz Extension among others.

My recent trip to the east coast had me driving a few long hauls, from the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland up to Rochester, New York, and back down to Richmond Virginia. Long drives can be very revealing of what’s there, but the very distance discourages much stopping and wandering. I prefer the wandering. Still, curiosities arise and force a stop.

Other times the serendipity of just pointing the camera out through the windshield at something of interest, knowing that what I will get is almost random. Sometimes I get lucky.

Over the years, with so many flights and window seats, I seem to be acquiring a set of low level aerial photographs near airports. Most are urban or suburban rather than rural. It occurred to me recently that there may be a series of “where we work and live” or something along those lines to explore. Now that the idea has occurred, I’ll start watching for the scenes unfolding below me and keep my eyes open looking through my archives.

When asked what I photograph, I usually say, everything I find visually interesting.

News from the Studio and Galleries

Double Event

20th Anniversary Holiday Open House on Saturday December 7 and December 14 from Noon to 4pm. Free Posters, refreshments, print discounts and same day workshop discounts.

Marion Patterson’s Intimate Landscapes show runs from November 24 to December 31, with her opening reception December 7 from 1-4pm. These showings are part of my Guest Photographers Exhibition Series.

The Life Form Folio

When I premiered the Life Form Exhibition, I wanted to have a collectible item and record of the show prior to the full book I plan to make. So, now available is the 36-page, 11x17-inch, wire-bound book, featuring five years of work from 2013 to 2018 exploring these magnificent lives. 

• Photographs from 2013–2018

• 36 pages

• 11x17-inch wire-bound book

• $40

A collection of photographs in and around Pacifica, California. Includes a trail map.

• 74 pages

• 11x17-inch, wire-bound book for full lay-flat opening and enjoyment

• Pacifica Trail Map

• 32 years in Pacifica

• drawn from 10 years of calendars

• $50

Emailed or shipped with beautiful gift note card.

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