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SPE 2000: Turning 21: Celebrating Photography at the Turn of the Century
Cincinnati, Ohio
March 23-26, 2000
This year's Society for Photographic Education (SPE) national conference celebrated the turn of the century with a look back at earlier photographic processes and concerns as well as a consideration of the future of photographic education (especially in regard to the incorporation of digital imaging) and the influences of the post-postmodem. With over 40 presentations, screenings, portfolio reviews and exhibitions, there was plenty to occupy attendees and something for everyone.
The conference began on Thursday night with the Keynote Address by Emmett Gowin, "Learning from Wonderful Teachers: Remembering Harry Callahan and Frederick Sommer." In his introduction he quoted Lonnie Holley, a Birmingham, Alabama artist known for his use of other people's refuse in his work. "All of us artists, we all want the same thing . . . real beauty," he said, articulating an underlying theme of the conference. Gowin had an intimate friendship with Callahan that extended beyond his years as his student and his adoration for these two teachers was made clear through the many anecdotes he shared. However, his accounts were personal and, at times, not entirely accessible to the audience. For instance, in a seven-minute video of a morning show interview with Sommer that Gowin played, not only was the audio difficult to hear, but the tape did not have the impact that Gowin had evidently hoped.
Presentations on older photographic processes filled many conference rooms throughout the weekend. Theresa Leininger-Miller (University of Cincinnati) presented a paper entitled "Painting with the Sun's Rays: James Presley Ball, African American Daguerreotypist and Activist." Ball ran the largest daguerreotype studio in Cincinnati, serving clients such as Frederick Douglass, the family of Ulysses S. Grant and a cross-section of the African American community. The topic was especially poignant at the Cincinnati conference because of the close proximity of the Kentucky border and to the history of slavery. Rebecca Cummins's (University of Sydney) presentation "Necro-Techno," on her work with the camera obscura, was filled to capacity as was Bea Nettles's (formerly of the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana) "Return Trips: Photography's Influence on Time and Memory." Nettles discussed how she integrates digital image processing with output to negative as an...