STUDIO NOTES: Elisabeth Sunday

Art Miami

2011-12-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

Peter Fetterman is now representing my work nationally and debuted the new platinum prints at Art Miami earlier this month. The work will also be shown at AIPAD (the Association of International Photography Art Dealers) in New York at the end of March.

Nazraeli Press is publishing my book, "Grace" in April, 2012. Advance copies will be available at AIPAD.

Peter Fetterman at Art Miami, 2011
by Phil Tarley

"Distance"
Akan Fisherman, The Gold Coast, Ghana, 2011
Platinum-Palladium Print on 40" x 30" Rag

The Platinum Prints

2011-12-23T14:31:00.000-08:00

For years I have wanted to see my work in platinum. Now I have teamed up with master platinum printer Arkady Lvov in New York. We are making large format platinum prints. I am extremely happy with the results. To see them in person, visit the Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica.

Arkady standing over the large format negative for "Anointed"platinum printing

Test Strips for Platinum Printing

Large Format Negative for "Truth"

Gallery Talk

2011-11-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

Giving a talk at the Tregoning and Co Gallery

to the Friends of Photography of the Cleveland Museum of Art

______________________

From a Gallery Talk with the students from the Cleveland School of the Arts:

October 25^th, 2011

Dear Elisabeth,

Thank you for taking the time to meet and talk with me and my students at Tregoning Gallery. We had a wonderful time. I wanted to share what the students said. These quotes were collated by our class reporter, Jesus.

“I have also been to Africa before, but I didn’t experience Africa they way she [Elisabeth Sunday] did” -Nina Lester

“I would like to say thank you . . . to have the opportunity to experience a real life photographer, to increase knowledge from a different background and outlook, but the same love for photography” -Jennifer Lloyd

“It really inspired me to be more careful and sensitive about light”

-Raymon Pointer

“Elisabeth Sunday’s dedication has inspired me to remain focused and show my passion towards my work”

“Extremely beautiful, interesting, and showed such intricate energy, narrating the stories of the models she captured” -Myesha Gardner

“Elisabeth Sunday’s worked really moved me. I was inspired, and spent hours photographing and editing Elisabeth Sunday styled pictures”

-Jodeci Stewart

“Your work [referring to Elisabeth Sunday] really got me back inspired to photography. It made me want to take my talents to another level”

“Make photo not just my career, but my life!” -James Gossett

“The field trip changed me by showing me that there is different ways to take pictures, and you don’t always have to do it the traditional way”

-Marcus Wynn

“She [Elszabeth Sunday] gave me a different outlook on the people of Africa. We always see the “rundown” version of them, but with her work, we see the natural beauty of our peers” -Pierra Heard

“Elisabeth Sunday’s gallery shown me the wonders of working with mirrors”

“Some simple things in one’s life could be so fascinating”

-Taenyshia Blas

“Elisabeth Sunday is a unique, brave photographer”

“She inspired me to carry 2-3 extra of EVERYTHING. This is important”

-Tylor Roseberry

“She [Elisabeth Sunday] only uses film cameras, no digital. This inspired me to use film; Seeing how beautiful her pictures came out, I hope mine will come out as good”

-Dyanna Washington

“Elisabeth Sunday photography revealed that photography is more than capturing pictures in a moment in time. It’s showing how you can incorporate culture, fashion, and life into one photo” -Richelle Lewis

“Her [Elisabeth Sunday] pictures were pretty amazing and beautiful”

-Samantha Cruz

“I thought that it was very intriguing the way the images were extended in length by a mirror” -Daunte Chapman

And as you have read, everyone has taken a different experience from the gallery. We, as a class, were very grateful to have this opportunity. And hopefully, we will be able to have Ms. Sunday, herself come to the school, and share some more of her experiences with us. Again, thank you for the opportunity and I hope you can see the art gallery has opened many things for all of us.

Sincerely,

Jesus Baldrich

Class Reporter

Please, come and visit our photo department, we would love to share our work with you!

Warm Regards,

Toni Starinsky

Tregoning and Co Gallery

2011-09-23T13:21:00.001-07:00

Gallery Entry

CLEVELAND EXHIBITION-SEPTEMBER 16

2011-09-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

This exhibition is organized in association with JAMES WYMAN FINE ART

"Mirror photography is much more than photographing a reflection, it produces a visual alchemy that combines the physical world with that of the great mystery.

Photographing with mirrors allows me to see the world in a different light and capture some element that remains hidden in straight photography. The use of elongation in indigenous and western art has long been an archetype for the unconscious. Following in this tradition, I use my mirror to shine into the internal deep spaces where we universally connect to something greater."

--Elisabeth Sunday

ARTIST RECEPTION:

Third Friday @ 78th Street Studios

16 September 2011 (through November 2011)

5 - 9pm

Open to the public

Anima - Animus

For the past twenty-five years my muse has been the unyieldingly expressive and devastatingly beautiful continent

of Africa. My fascination with the continent began with my grandfather Paul Bough Travis, through the stories he told to me as a child of his intrepid Africa adventures from Cape Town to Cairo in the late 1920's. Exploring my own passion for the great continent,

I have lived among the people for as long as I have been photographing them, immersing myself in cultures such as the Efe of the Ituri Rain Forest in the Congo Basin, and the Tuareg people of the Sahara Desert.

My photography explores the integral relationships between the indigenous people of Africa (and other parts of the world) and the natural world. The Efe for example, cannot imagine a forest without its people; they are the forest, and embody the very consciousness of nature. Similarly, the Tuareg cannot imagine living under anything but the stars, and find their desert irresistibly beautiful. Whether the forest or desert, these environments are one living system inclusive of all the forms of life. The use of the mirror in my photography synthesizes this connection and illustrates the symbiosis the indigenous people of the world experience with nature and their environments.

The exploration of the feminine principle or Anima began with the introduction of the forest spirit shared with me by the animist Efe, a hunting and gathering tribe of the Congo. Anima refers to a much older Latin term that means "breath of air/air/soul/life." It came to mean, "a living being." I had been photographing the Tuareg for a couple of years before I creating the Anima Portfolio. The women are covered, suggesting feminine identity is introspective and hidden. The fabric shrouds them and yields to the external force of wind. Yet in spite of their covering, the movement, the wind and the fabric convey their spirits using simple lines. Anima is about reducing the feminine spirit behind nature into its purest and most simple form.

Animus, being both the antithesis of the Anima principle and its pair, represents the masculine side of humanity in nature. It is confrontational and the faces are clearly visible. In traveling to the country of Ethiopia in East Africa I met the painted tribes of the Omo Valley in the southwest near the Sudan. In their parched and cracked land, the Omo Valley tribes are warriors and in fierce opposition to their environment and each other. I met and photographed the painted Koro men, the Hammar and the Mursi. Animus also means "soul," but represents the destructive power behind the natural world. Each culture has not only a great love of their environment but a great fear -- and this Animus principal is one aspect of that appreciation. The Animus Portfolio explores the shadow side of masculine identity. The prints capture the male spirit in an intoxicating combination of elegance, beauty and danger.

Tuareg Grace - The Taureg Portfolios

The last, great wild places on earth are populated with people who have been living with the rhythms and cycles of nature for thousands of years. In so doing, they experience nature; their nature, in concert with the beautiful, yet unforgiving landscapes that surround them.

Their very beings are infused and shaped by their connectedness to these places and their knowledge about them. I believe native wisdom remembered by people who still live with the wild places is our collective, global heritage. Through photographing indigenous people who have not yet forgotten who they are, or been broken from the lineage that binds them to their primordial culture, I become a trans-cultural bridge builder, reminding us of who we are and where we come from. I have heard this same message repeated unanimously from many elders across the world.

The Tuareg, or Kel Tamasheq, means "The Free People" would like to declare an independent state. They have lived in the desert for thousands of years and are nomadic, ranging across the great expanse of the Sahara Desert --from eastern Mauritania to the west, the southern-most reaches of Algeria to the roiling dunes of northern Mali, and Niger to the east. Many Tuareg people in Mali still travel by camel caravan, bringing flats of salt from the ancient ocean beds in the far north back to Timbuktu, the gateway to the desert, where it is traded or sold.

In Mali, the traditional Tuareg clothing has not been politicized or influenced much and remains very authentic, particularly in the north. Double layered flowing wraps, generally indigo in color, is the original garb for all desert folk.For both men and women alike, this loose fitting clothing that fully encases the body is required by the environment to protect against sun, sand, heat and wind as it has for thousands of years. While the Tuareg are nominally Muslim in Mali, most still engage in pre-Islamic shamanic beliefs of spirits and jinns. First and foremost the Tuareg are desert dwellers --proud, and in love with their endless sea of dunes and overwhelming night skies perforated by a myriad of stars, under which they travel and know every name and seasonal position by heart.

I connect the Tuareg with the elements present in their desert world by photographing them in the context of their environment. I set up my camera between rising sets of dunes. The subject is positioned beside me and we both face the mirror as I compose my shot. The reflected image enhances the Tuareg expression of grace, a kind of cultural memory of movement given to them through the ages of arranging and rearranging their wraps. Even the extension of an arm or hand to perform any mundane task is an art form in itself, a thing of beauty. The folds and twists in their clothing are elegant and precise and when coupled with gestures from fingers, hands, wrists and arms, is like observing a well-choreographed dance.

As an artist, I see form and line, movement and gesture. The wind plays a role and shapes the lines. The reflected image elongates and sometimes embellishes the form. In the photograph "Emerge" [above], the wind sweeps over the dune rippling the fabric in successive waves. The wind patterns shaping the figure are the same that shape the dunes. The figure mirrors her environment and is seen to emerge from it. Within the photographs titled "Aligned" and "The Step," are the stories of the Taureg's balance and strength in the context of their desert. The wind from the seasonal Harmattan is blowing hard against them, whipping their clothing behind them. There is struggle and strength. Tuareg don't easily succumb to desert forces; theybelong. The more abstract image, "The Resilience," is another example of their strength and plasticity within the context of the desert. Despite the odds and the pressures against them to change, they are also flexible and adaptable as the photograph suggests, moving with the wind instead of in opposition to it. The use of wind represents the invisible forces faced by the Tuareg and their ability to meet it. Through photography, I look to reveal their deep nature and understanding of the great wild places they were born to.

From my Journals, 2008

Elisabeth Sunday

Click here to read more blogs and journal entries from Elisabeth's travels and experiences.

ELISABETH SUNDAY

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2011 Tregoning and Co. Cleveland, OH

2011 Gallery 291, San Francisco, CA

2009 Gallery 291, San Francisco, CA

2008 Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA

2008 International Photography Biennial, Brescia, Italy

2008 International Airport Museum, San Francisco, CA

2006 International Photography Biennial, "150 Years of Women in Photography," Brescia, Italy

2003 Oakland Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA

1999 Museum of Art, UC - Berkeley, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2011 Touring Exhibtion, "Violence, Women and Art" ArtWorksForChange

2010 Gallery 291, San Francisco, CA

2009 "Portraiture: American Photography 1960 to the present," Cleveland Museum of Art, OH

2009 "Au Féminin" [curated by Jorge Calado], Centre Culturel Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris, France

2007 Box Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium

2006 International Photography Biennial, Brescia, Italy

1999 Smithsonian/Anacostia Museum, Center for African American History and Culture, Washington D.C.

1998 Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX

1997 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA

Gallery Representation

Peter Fetterman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Tregoning & Company, Cleveland, OH

Throckmorton Gallery, New York, NY

Pamela DeMonbrison, Paris, France

Selected Collections

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

University of California Art Museum, Berkeley, CA

Stanford University, Cantor Art Center, Palo Alto, CA

Los Angeles Museum of Art, CA

Museum of Fine Art, Houston, TX

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA

Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA

Saint Louis Museum of Art, MO

Eastman Kodak Collection, Rochester, NY

Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA

Cleveland Museum of Art, OH

Selected Individual Collections

TREGONING & CO

1300 West 78th ST

Cleveland, Oh 44102

QUICK LINKS

T&Co

78th Street Studios

Third Friday

elisabethsunday

jameswymanfineart

Marianne Williamson

2011-08-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

Connections

I just got an email from someone interested in my work. She saw this posted in an online article on Marianne Williamson.

Pretty cool to see how Marianne has chosen to so artfully display this print from the Mystics and Healers series: 1994-1995 from southeast Asia.

Seen here: "Receiving Grace" Balinese Priestess, 1995

Image From ShelterPop

Elisabeth Sunday

Deep Summer

2011-08-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

A U G U S T U p d a t e

New Galleries, Exhibition Projects = Darkroom Work (and in some cases, work on digital files)

The photography festival in Arles, France went by too quickly. I was hoping for a small vacation tucked in between the to-do-list agenda. Besides seeing old friends, making new ones, sharing delicious meals paired with wines that inspired conversation, I made important new contacts, the most wonderful being Pamela de Monbrison who is now representing my work in France. It has been many years since I either lived in Paris or exhibited in France. I am looking forward to working with Pamela and sending her prints shortly.

The Peter Fetterman Gallery in Los Angeles is my new gallery in California. In addition to silver prints, he will have my first portfolio of platinum prints in 24" x 30". Very exciting. In addition to all of this, we are working on my first fine art book of photographs together and we are in the midst of making the preliminary selections.

" S P I R I T U S "

Recent Photographs

By the end of the week, 60 framed photographs and 13 archival pigment prints will be making their way to the Tregoning Gallery in Cleveland for my exhibition opening September 16th. Bill Tregoning has a beautiful space in the 78th Street Studios district not far from downtown. This show will includes work only from the last 7 years; the Tuareg, Akan, Figures of Man, Omo Valley and ANIMA/ANIMUS work. It will be the largest exhibition of my work to date.

Off to the studio and darkroom now. Much to do!

Elisabeth Sunday

Next Stop

2011-07-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

New Galleries!

I am pleased to announce my exhibition SPIRITUS is traveling to Tregoning and Company Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio and opening September 16th, 2011 and I have a new gallery representing my work in California. Beginning in August my photographs will be available through Peter Fetterman Gallery in Bergamot Station in Los Angeles.

Stay tuned! More updates to follow!

Elisabeth Sunday

Preparing for Arles

2011-06-19T15:38:00.001-07:00

Every year an international photography conference called, "les Rencontres d'Arles" takes place in Arles, France in a beautiful medieval village. This year conference takes place between July 4 and 10th. There will be lectures, exhibitions and evening presentations. I am looking forward to being there.

See www.Rencontres.Arles.com

Sent from my iPad

Among Friends

2011-06-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

From the Romare Bearden Exhibition at the Moad

Cheryl Ward, Elisabeth Sunday (artist), Richard Mayhew (artist),
Alitash Kebede (private dealer), Dr. Vicki Hughes

Moad reception for the Romare Bearden exhibiton

The New Work: 2011

2011-06-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

from the series

FIGURES OF MAN

Born

AKAN: 2011

Bond

Elisabeth Sunday

Father's Day Remembrance

2011-06-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

DOUGLAS PHILLIPS: 1922-1995

Stained Glass Artist

My father's stained glass studio, called "Phillips Stained Glass" in Cleveland was an enchanting playground and I am fond of saying I grew up there. Beginning when I was only two, my father gave me a box of glass scraps and jewels to play with. I stood on a stool over a light table and and glued different colors and shapes of glass onto a larger sheet of blue or green glass working out a scene. Once I was finished, his glazer would wrap lead around it and solder a little hook at the top so it could be hung in the window.

Douglas Phillips had an awesome talent. He was one of those artists who could have made his living painting perfect replicas of master works. He once told me painting in other people's styles was the best way to learn and discover your own vision. Indeed, there wasn't anything he couldn't render. No technique that was beyond his skill set. He believed once an artist had achieved mastery over their chosen medium, the rules could be broken. It was important to incorporate what others had learned and then strike out in a new direction. Breaking the rules prematurely could be disastrous for a developing talent.

After studying at Syracuse University on the GI Bill, Douglas went back to Cleveland, his home town and attended the Cleveland Art Institute to study under master Cleveland artist, Paul B. Travis: 1891-1975. In his painting class, he met my mother Jane Travis, Paul's daughter. They were married in 1954.

Fencers, about 1958

Douglas believed self-respecting artists dressed for work and didn't cover themselves in paint. He believed in impeccable personal presentation, discipline and continued hard work to push and develop ones artistic talents. During his lifetime, he held a Thursday evening sketch group at his studio to continue to refine and perfect his skills. He was also a championship fencer and fencing coach at Cleveland State. He achieved a 3rd degree black belt in 3 disciplines and was also a performing jazz guitarist and singer. His mother, Susan Douglass-Phillips was a gospel singer, vocal coach and elocutionist.

Douglas Phillips in his studio, about 1955

One of my favorite windows. Douglas made this to show his technique. He was particularly interested in the emotional quality and passion that stained glass could convey. This is a picture of a cartoon of the Christ Window and Christ Window, 1952

Death of Jesus, about 1953

Peace Window, about 1975

For more information on my father's work,

please visit these links

EBONY Magazine Article, 1971

WINDOW OF THE CRUSADERS

REFORMATION LUTHERAN CHURCH

Agudath B’nai Israel Synagogue

An example of Byzantine style window, about 1970

Elisabeth Sunday

Artworks for Change

2011-06-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

OFF THE BEATEN PATH

violence, women and art

I am honored to have my photograph, "Prisoner" selected for inclusion in the touring exhibition, Off the Beaten Path, curated by Randy Jayne Rosenberg, Executive Director and Chief Curator of ArtWorks for Change. a non profit organization.

ABOUT ART WORKS FOR CHANGE
Art Works for Change produces traveling contemporary art exhibitions that address social and environmental issues. A nonprofit organization, Art Works for Change applies the transformative power of art to promote awareness, inspire action, provoke dialogue and address systemic change. The exhibitions serve as a crucible where artists, museums, advocacy and educational organizations, and the local community may join together. For more information visit artworksforchange.org or contact info@artworksforchange.org.

ArtWorks for Change, Spring 2011 Newsletter

TWO ARTISTS JOIN “OFF THE BEATEN PATH”

As our exhibitions travel, occasionally they take on new works and artists. That’s the case with “Off the Beaten Path,” which welcomes Fatou Kande Senghor and Elisabeth Sunday to the traveling exhibition. Their work speaks to the some times harsh landscape of the African culture with respect to women.

Elisabeth wrote in the Field Notes to her 2009-2011 travel to Ethiopia:

The Hamar women are spirited and outgoing. They were not shy and very interested in talking with me about whatever I asked about. One thing that all the women were interested in sharing was about the bloody beatings they received at the hands of their husbands and boyfriends. I told them it was illegal in Ethiopia for a man to hit his wife or girlfriend. They didn't know that. … The Hamar woman pictured, named Keri, allowed me to photograph the very large scars on her back she had received from her husband. She doesn't want her daughters to be beaten. And she doesn't want her sons to beat their wives.

Additional Note:
There are many tribes in the Omo Valley-while some do decorate themselves with paint and flowers, others have a darker side. The Hamar women have a particularly tough time by comparison with the other tribes. A young mans' coming of age ritual in Hamar culture is to beat a virgin(s) bloody. And after marriage, he continues to beat his wife as a demonstration of masculine power. It is expected of them. I interviewed a few Hamar women about this issue to the point where my assistant and driver were both afraid of retribution from the Hamar men if we didn't leave quickly. Then we were summoned by the local authorities and questioned about what I was doing there. Change is coming slowly. Ethiopia has outlawed this practice, but has no way to enforce the ban and until we spoke, the women I met were unaware the beatings were against the law, including a 17 year old woman I photographed.

I plan on returning to the Omo Valley again in December- this time to meet the Suri people and continue the work with the beautiful painted Koro men and meet the Suri people from across the Omo River. And while the Omo Valley cultures are extraordinary, colorful and diverse- they face three looming threats: alcoholism, forced removal in the next 5 years and displacement from foreign agribusiness (China) purchasing their lands and drought.

Cleveland

2011-06-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

PAUL TRAVIS

Africa, 1928

Paul Travis

When I was a child, Paul used to tell me bedtime stories of his travels to Africa from the 1920's. His vivid imagery left me more awake than sleepy. When he said good-night I would grab his pant leg and beg him to please tell me more. I grew up looking at his paintings and imagining that I too, would go to Africa one day.


At the Tregoning gallery in Cleveland where this painting by my grandfather hangs.

Lion Hunters, 1928

I saw this painting by my grandfather Paul Travis for the first time the other day. It hangs in the office of a private collection. It had too much power not to be exhibited. I hope it finds its way into the collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Flowers, 1929 by Paul Travis

This painting hangs in the permanent collection of artists from the Cleveland School in the Akron Museum. It is a classic Paul Travis painting with the requisite passion palpating in every brush stroke.


Still Life: Tulips (date?)

I was just cleaning up my files on the computer and came across this jpeg I found some years ago on the internet- It must have come from an online sale or something. Anyway- I have never seen this small painting of my grandfather's but love his classic soft palette and weightless style. These flowers appear to be swaying underwater.

Gallery 291 Exhibiton

2011-05-13T19:27:00.001-07:00

FIELD NOTES BLOG

Elisabeth Sunday

New Works From Africa

Opening Reception Thursday Evening May 12, 6-8pm

Exhibition May 12 - July 4, 2011

Last winter, I traveled to the country of Ethiopia in East Africa and met the painted tribes of the Omo Valley in the southwest. In their parched and cracked land, the Omo Valley tribes are warriors and in fierce opposition to their environment and each other. I photographed the painted Koro men, (who were only parted with their weapons for the sake of the shoot) for the Animus series exploring the shadow side of masculine identity. The resulting 73" x 43" totemic pigment prints capture the male spirit in an intoxicating combination of elegance, beauty and danger.

For 25 years, I have found my muse in Africa: a place of origins, devastating beauty, great troubles and unyielding expressions life. A few years ago, I traveled to the West African country of Ghana to scout out a new location. There, I met a group of Akan fishermen living along the beach who were willing to be photographed over a period of time. The fish, sometimes cradled in the arms of the powerful fishermen, are an ancient symbol of higher awareness and provide a proof of their continuous link to nature. I simply asked the men, to express their love for the sea through the fish they capture. The resulting portfolio of the Akan is an intimate look at their bond with the sea and the natural world and the respect they have for both.

Lifeline

On the Job.....

2011-05-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

End of March to Mid-April

It seems I just got back from Africa the other day- but it has been exactly 2 months since I've been home and I am still on the go with one weekend off. Every minute has been busy with details (as shown in the To-Do List post) and planning for the exhibition at Gallery 291.

My darkroom and studio work was punctuated by 2 photography festivals; the Palm Springs Photo Festival and Photolucida in Portland. Sometimes the only way to connect with curators, book publishers and gallerists is by attending these types of events. I'll also attend the Rencontres Arles Conference in France this summer.

.....at Palm Spring Photo Festival Open Review which was held on the first day at the Hyatt where the festival is now held. Attending Photography Festivals allows me to meet one on one with gallery directors, museum curators, book publishers and agents and plan my year. So even in the midst of preparing for the exhibition at Gallery 291, it was important to continue to promote the work.

....at Photo Lucida Open Review which was massive and overwhelming and took place one evening at the Portland Museum in 3 shifts

Me with Wendy Watriss, director: Fotofest International: Photo by Harris Fogel

Wendy and I were laughing that we had known each other longer than anyone else there-

having met in Arles in 1982, before she and her husband founded FotoFest.

...working on my prints at Magnolia Editions, Fine Art Press:

see http://blog.magnoliaeditions.com/2011/04/elisabeth-sunday-at-studio.html

Inspecting Animus #1, a 70" x 40" pigment print on rag at Magnolia Editions

Animus #1

Animus #2 in warmer tone

Home

2011-05-13T18:50:00.000-07:00

To Do List:

Start Date: March 12th

Completion Date: April 30th

1. Develop Film- 200 rolls of 220 Tri-X

2. Make Contact Sheets

3. Edit Contact Sheets for 1st choices

4. Make Silver Prints on 24" x 20" paper

5. Gold Tone with Chemistry from Photographer's Formulary

6. Attend Palm Spring Photography Festival, Palm Springs

7. Make 24" x 20" Exhibition Prints for Gallery 291

8. Attend PhotoLucida Photography Festival, Portland

9. Work on Drum Scans of Negs at Pictopia

10. Work on Files for Animus Series at Magnolia Editions

11. Make Silver Prints on 40" x 30" paper

12. Gold Tone Large Prints

13. Spot Photographs, Edition and Sign on the Back

14. Deliver Exhibition Set of Silver Prints to Spot Design for Framing

15. Make "Animus" Prints at Magnolia Editions Fine Art Press in Oakland

16. Ship "Animus" Prints to Finishing Concepts in Los Angeles.

17. Deliver ALL WORK to Gallery 291

18. Send Gallery Announcement File to A&I for printing

19. Pick out a Nichol Miller Dress

20. Attend Opening May 12th

Follow me in Africa!

2011-02-06T04:46:00.000-08:00

FIELD NOTES: AFRICA blog

I am working on the AFRICA VIII PORTFOLIO: Omo River Valley Tribes, Ethiopia.

Since there is no internet where I am going, I will be posting after I return home.

Thank you!

Elisabeth Sunday

PHOTO LA

2011-01-23T22:47:00.000-08:00

Me and Sahara on opening night at Photo LA.

Our booth with Thomas V. Meyer Fine Art, and my work, drew a wonderful response over the 4 day exhibition presented by dealers and galleries at the Santa Monica Civic Center. It was great to be there and meet collectors of mine whom I'd never met, but had owned my prints for years. It was also a pleasure to meet people who had been following my career. Behind Sahara is one of the large ANIMA prints. In front is "Totem" from the AKAN fishermen series in Ghana. Along the other walls hung photographs from my Tuareg portfolio.

Ben Newcomb showing work to collectors at Photo LA

I am on my way to Ethiopia; a new place to photograph in a little over a week, then I head west, to Ghana- back to the AKAN. It's always nice to photograph people over a series of years, to deepen the vision and understanding of the elements at play that go into making the work. While this will be my first field trip to Ethiopia and into the Omo River Valley, it will be my third to Ghana- Earlier today I was on Skype with my assistant Baesi and let him know I would be back soon and to say hello to all the guys who modeled for me.

Elisabeth Sunday

Getting Ready

2010-12-29T11:09:00.000-08:00

New Shoot 2011 - East Africa

Self-Portrait with Ai-Yo-Pan, Kenya

February is fast approaching and I am excited to return once more, to the field of Africa.

My last shoot with the Akan in Ghana left me yearning to return to deepen my vision of the fishermen and make more photographs there. I have also discovered a new location that calls to me to East Africa.... the birth place of the human soul.

Elisabeth Sunday

Studio

2010-11-13T00:47:00.000-08:00

E L I S A B E T H S U N D A Y

O P E N S T U D I O

3260 Ettie Street, Studio 20, West Oakland, 94608
(Near Emeryville a few blocks from 34th and Hollis)

Wednesday, December 1st
5:00-7:00 pm
&
Saturday and Sunday: December 4th and 5th
2:00- 5:00 pm (Other times by appointment)

Special selections of photographs from the Tuareg Portfolio, the Botanical Portfolio as well as a special preview from the new Akan Portfolio, 2010 will be available.

Summer Offering

2010-06-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

SMALL GEMS FROM AFRICA

Dear Friends and Collectors,

The “Small Gems from Africa” Portfolio consists of 10, unpublished and recently discovered works from the early Africa Portfolios, I-IV: 1986-1990. The negatives were sitting undisturbed in binders, deep in my archive for years. I found them while working on my book project and printed several for the first time over the last year. I have selected 10 prints that best express the early work in Africa.

Africa I. West Africa: 1986-1987

Africa III. The Efe, The Heart of Africa in the Ituri Rain Forest, Zaire, 1989

Africa IV. Southern Africa, The !Kung San, The Kalahari Desert, Botswana, 1990

Africa II. East Africa, The Turkana, Northern Kenya, 1988

Thank you,

Elisabeth Sunday

The AKAN

2010-03-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

N E W W O R K

Home from Africa

2010-01-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

The Africa VII Portfolio is in production and I am home from an extraordinary field trip. The Africa Field Notes are posted here in Field Notes, and I look forward to updating this site with images from the new work very soon. Most of the film (yes, FILM) has been developed and the last of the freshly processed negatives are hanging in my darkroom to dry.

Elisabeth Sunday

Preparation!

2009-09-26T16:23:00.000-07:00

AFRICA VII: The Akan

Return to Ghana

Greetings!

It is time to prepare for this year's field trip to Ghana and the completion of the Akan Fisherman Portfolio. In December, I plan on returning to Cape Coast and searching out Baesie, my field manager and the fishermen who modeled for me in February. Having only worked with them a few days and for the first time in February, I really considered that a test shoot and have not released any of the images. Now, I plan on returning with new equipment and plenty of time to make the Africa VII Portfolio: The Akan.

As before, I am offering a 10 print, pre-publication portfolio to sponsors who would like to support the field trip and be the first to select photographs from the Africa VII Portfolio. For more information on this please contact me at IturiSun@gmail.com or Ed at Gallery 291.net.

Thank you,

Elisabeth Sunday

Summer Offering

2009-07-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

THE SUMMER OFFERING

The 5 Print Portfolio
Gold Toned Silver Prints
5.5" x 7" made on 11" x 14" fiber paper
Portfolio Edition 15

Summer Greetings!

Many great things are happening. The Africa VI Portfolio: Tuareg was shown in San Francisco at Gallery 291 this spring and I also have work in "American Portrait Photography," a group exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art. A few Tuareg prints are also showing along side some of my favorite photographers in "Desert Light," a group exhibition at Throckmorton Fine Arts in New York. Portuguese curator Jorge Calado is exhibiting one of the Tuareg prints in his Paris exhibition, "Feminina."

In celebration of art and summer, the galleries exhibiting my work and I would like to offer our collectors a lovely and affordable portfolio of recent work from the Tuareg series. This 5 print portfolio seen above, is from my recent work in the Sahara Desert. The images are among the smallest and most intimate in the Africa VI Portfolio. Aichata, the Tuareg woman featured in the portrait above, is one of the best models I have ever worked with. She is in 4 of the 5 photographs in the portfolio. You can see more of her on the Africa Blog site.

For more information, please contact me directly at elisabethsunday@mac.com or Ed Carey at Gallery 291 in San Francisco: ed@gallery291.net. If you are in NY, please contact Throckmorton Fine Arts at info@throckmorton-nyc.com

Thank you,

Elisabeth Sunday

THE ANIMA SEQUENCE

2009-05-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

anima-, anim- +

(Latin: animal life, a living being, living; breath; soul; mind)

Anima-, refers to “a living being” from a Latin form meaning, “of air, having a spirit, living”, which in turn comes from another form meaning, “breath of air, air, soul, life”.

The ANIMA SEQUENCE is a series of very large, mythic images that symbolize the spirit of life, or anima, in the often etherial and abstract forms of veiled women rising from earth and air. These elongated, often stark, gesturing figures have a quality of line that suggests a single brush stroke could have made them. In imagining this series, I was inspired by the many animist cultures I have known over the years and their understanding of the creative feminine aspect

of Nature.

The Animia Sequence is rhythmic and seems to move and sway, when your eye travels across the series. This sense of movement and gesture; of flow, symbolizes the ways in which Nature is spontaneously creative; Nature has only to laugh to create.

I use the force of wind in shaping the figures I photograph. Its influence on the feminine shapes represents the breath that animates the forms of life. The reflected image in the mirror represents awareness and our interconnectedness to understanding the world as anima. The belief in the soul of nature and the world, is at the core of animist culture, which is the origin of all belief in something greater than ourselves. Animists see the earth and everything in it, as alive.

To fully experience this body of work, it is intended as a museum installation, ideally shown in a circular formation (acknowledging the feminine principle). This way, the viewer stands in the center of the circle to see and engage the sequence.

The Anima Sequence is made up of 20 digital pigment prints on rag. They are 47 x 77 inches framed. Five of the 20 in the sequence are finished and framed.

Anima #10

Elisabeth Sunday

New Work

2009-05-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

May 22nd

"The Invited"

"Discovery"

"Salvation"

A few new images; they are small, intimate photographs that require a closer look. In this size, holding them so close to the eye, I fall in; I now realize, these three will have to hang in my home, since, I can't get enough of looking at them, as is often the case with new work. I find myself gazing into "Salvation" every chance I get, to take in that drink with her, and celebrate in her relief.

Going through my contacts sheets from 2005-2009, I have uncovered a set of negatives that best translate as the smallest of prints. So far, I have discovered about 25 of them, maybe more. I still more sifting to do over the light table. The dozen I have selected and printed are about 5.5 x 7 inches; some are smaller, a few--larger... Printing this size is such a different aesthetic from the iconic 30 x 40 prints or even the 24 x 20 inch prints. The power of the small print is in the discretion; in the meaning that is brought forward by the viewers intent to see into the image.

I am printing this series of small images on 11 x 14 paper. All of them are Gold Toned Silver Prints: Editions 15.

Elisabeth Sunday

Gallery Talk and Walk Through

2009-05-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

This is a photograph from my recent trip to the Sahara desert; I call it, "The Marveling." One of the things I like about this image is the universality of her gesture; the elegance of her profile. She is both herself and all of us.

Thursday, May21

Showing a new print, "Rapt" and "Receiving Grace" from 1995

*__________________________...with Ed Carey, the gallery director

*_____________________________with Jerry, a friend from the gym

The gallery talks are a good opportunity for people to gather (there is wine and cheese) and hear about the genesis of my work. I show examples of my first use of the mirror, discuss how I came to use the mirror, and share stories about my artistic family background. I also share my newest work in these small gatherings. If you are interested in attending during the month of June, contact the gallery.

Elisabeth Sunday

The Opening

2009-05-20T00:46:00.001-07:00

The Opening at Gallery 291
May 7th

Openings are meant to be fun. They are the culmination of a long creative journey and manifestation of ideas teased from the imagination and made real. All the effort securing funding, travel, setting up in the field, getting home, working in the darkroom-- It finally comes forward into fruition.

Friends, family and collectors engaging a work, get a chance to experience something beyond their daily lives. Art is meant to take the viewer on a journey, to inspire an inner dialogue that brings them closer to their soul. Even ancient peoples understood the value of art and beauty; to be pitched outside of oneself through the experience of art. To look, really look--- is to allow the mind to see into another realm. This is one of the reasons why it is so critical, why it is so important to live with art and have it hanging on the walls at home. Coming from a family of 3 generations of artists and musicians, I know this to be the the key to living a full, creative and artistic life.

Me and my dear friend of 25 years, Chris Johnson who teaches at CCA.
And my dear friend Vicki Hughes.

The Portfolio and Exhibiton

2009-05-20T00:14:00.000-07:00

May 7th

Just after the show is hung.

It has been years since I have had an exhibition in my own backyard- right here in San Francisco. And this exhibition is sweet, because my friends who have been so supportive over the years, can finally see what I have been going on and on about.

I am humbled by seeing the work hanging in such a beautiful space. The Tuareg Portfolio is the masterpiece of the African Portfolios; 5 years in the making. And while the exhibition is only 25 photographs, the portfolio is well over 100 images. There are at least 15 Anima photographs, 44 x 77 inches, 25 prints that are 30 x 40; and 50 prints 20 x24 and another 50 small prints on 11 x 14 paper. Not all are printed, as that is both time and resources.

However this exhibition is representative of the larger body of work.

Excerpt from my studio journal

Elisabeth Sunday

Labor Intensive

2009-05-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

March/ April

My work station: enlarger, light table and all that film developed after my shoot.

Mixing chemistry in my darkroom sink

The month of April has come and gone so quickly. Going into the darkroom is like going underwater. By the time I am ready to come up for air I am gasping for breath and weeks have gone by.

Being in the darkroom, sorting through negatives, figuring out what to print and what to leave for another day is all about process... It takes time to allow the images to resolve in ones' own eye; they have to settle, to sit... in order to mature as an image. This isn't something that can be hastily done. Making art and creating a body of work is, labor intensive. And it has to occur in its own time; something that I have learned, not to fight. Days and days can go by and I am still dreaming about the images; what size to make them and what they contribute to the larger body of work.

There are always the few negatives I recognize has prized, even as the film is pulled from the tanks and hung to dry in the darkroom. The excitement of seeing the sequential frames, and the few that pop out as nascent images is what makes darkroom work exciting. I often can't wait to get to the darkroom and print - I am in such a hurry to "see."

Once the contact sheets are made, the images begin to settle... I start to circle the ones I will make test prints of and sort the contacts into several stacks. Sometimes I have to put them down and retreat from the darkroom for a few days, in order to let the images resolve within me.

I am always reminding myself, there is a difference between taking the photographs, (and the thrill of being on location with the wind in my hair) and making the photographs, (slogging through negatives and prints in a wet darkroom under amber light). Not all the photographs made on location, translate into black and white prints. But many of them do. And my job now, and over the summer, is to find the prints that will complete the Africa VI: Tuareg Portfolio and begin to dream the Akan Fisherman portfolio into being.

Excerpt from my studio journal

Elisabeth Sunday

Interplay: Three Tuareg Women

2009-04-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Interplay #2

I finished this print yesterday and took it over to General Graphics in San Francisco to get it mounted on rag board before it gets framed for the upcoming exhibition.

Developing Times in Minutes

2009-04-10T23:50:00.000-07:00

30 x 40 inch prints tray washing in the darkroom.

I spent the day making a 30 x 40 print of three women, the three principal Tuareg models from Mali; Fatima, Mana and Aichata. In this photograph, Mana is in the middle and her two friends are leaning their heads on Mana's shoulders. Fatima has her arm around Mana and Aichata on the other side, takes hold of it.

The photograph came up slowly in the developer and as I stared into it, the picture began to reveal its messages. It is an intimate portrait of friends. But the main elements that compose a traditional portrait (faces, hands, hair, eyes and bodies) in this composition are hidden from view. The friends are completely covered by their veils, and the clasped hands are wrapped in such a way as to hide the fingers. Mana's eyes are looking down, so we don't see them. The women's bodies are completely covered, yet, it is so clear this is a portrait of love, tenderness for a friend and deep caring. This is revealed through the gesture beneath the veils and desert garb; it is seen in the lilt of the head and clasp in the hand.

Elisabeth Sunday

Tuareg Film

2009-04-08T00:06:00.000-07:00

April 7th

My film hangs in my darkroom on an old 19th century contraption once used for hanging socks and underwear. I bought it years ago in a flea market in Paris and have hung my film on it ever since.

These last few weeks have been spent developing the Tuareg film; All other work is on hold until I am through the Tuareg film, since it is my most active body of work and I have exhibitions planned. I have made some contact sheets and spend many spare minutes gazing into them... wondering what they will look like large. Tomorrow I set up my trays and tempt a few prints.

Elisabeth Sunday

My Box of Gold

2009-03-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

March 16th

Back home now in San Francisco; the morning fog is lifting and I am full of optimism. Once my film was shot, I kept it in a locked case and never let it out of my sight. It is my box of gold, my packs upon packs of Kodak 120 film.

The film exists only as quiet potential; silver emulsion strips of latent images whose power as a picture is still a secret. I am headed for my darkroom in the coming days to see what these rolls and rolls hold within.

Here, I will post weekly about my life as an artist; the process of producing the new work and putting exhibitions together. Included will also be my new project plans, wish list and search for funding. I will show you new work as it emerges, especially photographs I am excited about seeing. I will also share with you how I select work and what is involved in producing the exhibitions and where the shows are opening.

As readers, collectors, sponsors and supporters of my work, any questions you would like to ask me would be welcome. My goal is to bring you into a deeper understanding of an artist's life and process.

Thank you for continuing to follow along at Studio Notes, 2009.

Go here to see Field Notes from Africa http://fieldnotesafrica.blogspot.com/
Elisabeth Sunday