Monday, June 15, 2009

FVRBBQ - Summer 2009 Kick Off

Quesada Street, Washington DC was the venue for the first and hopefully 'annual' FVRBBQ for the Cult. The weather was perfect for a late afternoon BBQ on the deck and beautiful garden of Lord and Lady Flash. On the menu was extra picante chorizo, asian peanut noodles, smokey potato salad (amongst other delights) and plenty of cold beers to wash it all down.

It was a top night for food and banter as well as the 'world premier' of the Bill's Mirror to the World featurette video which he brought along for viewing. Check it out here:

Mirror To The World trailer from Bill Putnam on Vimeo.

Of course being a bunch of geeks with cameras there was plenty of quality chat about who had the biggest sensor but more importantly there are an abundance of cameras and shooting some of it from the cult leader himself - here are a few select pics (© Frank Van Riper) :












Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Mirror to the World 2009

The first show from Suds and Silver/the Cult of Frank Van Riper was a HUGE success. I think I can speak for everyone and say that we certainly made 'our leader' proud. Frank did a wonderful job organizing, editing, printing, curating - the list goes on.
















photo courtesy Frank Van Riper

















photo courtesy Steve Goldenberg

There was a great turn at Glen Echo PhotoWorks. I estimated around 70 people turned up and from what I heard - everyone seemed to enjoy themselves as well as the great work on the walls.
















photo courtesy Steve Goldenberg

I hope it won't be too long before we have another one.

Also! I propose we meet up next week 3/19? for a post-show analysis/celebration.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The first Cult Show


“Mirror to the World—Documentary Photography 2009”

Photoworks exhibition to feature the work of not-yet-famous photographers who have studied at, or been influenced by, the Glen Echo Park documentary photography program

Dates: March 7- April 12, 2009

Curator: Frank Van Riper

PhotoWorks at Glen Echo Park presents an exhibition of documentary photography by a group of young photographers who have tried to show more than the surface of their everyday world.

Curated by nationally acclaimed documentary photographer, author and writer Frank Van Riper, “Mirror to the World—Documentary Photography 2009” will offer a series of mini-picture stories covering diverse topics, including a firehose baptism, the controlled pre-dawn chaos of one of Washington’s largest wholesale food markets, and a 24-hour stakeout on 14th Street to record the faces of scores of passersby.

Said Van Riper: “I invited my best students over the years, as well as members of the informal photo collective that they formed with me, to contribute their finest work. It was a pleasure to curate a show that is as fascinating as it is diverse.”

Frank Van Riper has taught at PhotoWorks for the past five years. He is the author of the Pulitzer-nominated book Down East Maine/A World Apart, and co-author (with his wife and partner Judith Goodman) of the just-published book Serenissima: Venice in Winter. An award winning former political writer, Van Riper currently is the photography columnist of the Washington Post. (Photo: Madonna of the Penny Candy, © Frank Van Riper)

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Kicking off ’09 in Frothy Style

The first S&S get-together of the New Year was a 6-person nacho, burger and beer affair at The Saloon January 2nd, in which several members outlined plans for documenting the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States.














Chris and Matt converse in Vulcan sign language © Frank Van Riper

[Unfortunately, Dan--or Senor Dan to his Mexican colleagues--the impetus for this fun meetup--had to cancel at the last minute. Wouldn’t you know, his in-laws wanted to have dinner with him that night. Sigh.]

But we soldiered on through a vale of beers, er, tears.

  • Matt said he plans to make inaugural panos as close as he can, using the 35mm pano converter for his medium format Mamiya 7.
  • Holly has signed on as a volunteer for the Obama campaign and plans to shoot her day as it unfolds.
  • Erica said she will load both her film cameras (one color, one black and white) and walk from her downtown apartment, capturing the faces of people on the historic day.
  • Frank, who has covered more inaugurals than he cares to remember, said he would stay home with his lovely wife Judy and watch everything on the telly. BUT he is looking forward to seeing everyone’s take, with an eye toward doing a column on “The inauguration through the eyes of not-yet-famous photographers.”

So if any other S&S-ers want to take part, go for it.


Remember too:

Erica is hosting an informal inaugural party at her place on Jan. 20th from about 5pm on. Sounds like a good place to scope one’s digital take from the day.










Erica in Italian 'Vogue' mode © Frank Van Riper


On totally unrelated matters, Frank described some of the more mundane aspects of commercial photography, including a recent family portrait commission featuring six humans and five, count ‘em five, rambunctious pugs. But the pugs, bless them, stood stock still once Judy held a bowl of shredded chicken slightly out of camera range.













Smile for the Chicken © Frank Van Riper


On another family portrait job—this one involving 16 humans of all ages at the home of the grandparents—the fun really started when the grandfather asked for “a few shots” of his collection of toy lead soldiers.


The valuable collection, featuring literally thousands of the 3” lead figures in all manner of battle dress and posture, would have been at home in the Royal War Museum. The few shots turned into a few dozen, but it was a gas, especially when granddad happily forked over an extra $150 for the snaps.



















That's Lawrence of Arabia on the right; Omar Sharif on left © Frank Van Riper


Those attending: Erica, Chris, Matt, Holly, Andy & Frank.