Meeting Minutes: Women in Focus, February 11, 2009
Taken By: Valerie Gruner
Meeting presided over by our President, Gittel Price
Members and Guests Present: Gittel Price, Debra Booth, Valerie Gruner, Joanne Green, Chris Mitts, Toni James, Dana S. Kemp, Sheri Garza-Pope, Denice Lee, Tiffany Weigel, Gail DesJardin, Anupama Vishwamitra, Shelia Robinette, Ruth Gogel, and Maria Mixon.
New Lady: Chris Mitt is from Athens, and enjoys shooting portraits and macro, and [whatever falls in front of her lens].
New Space: The Atlanta Girl’s School is a fine facility, and Pat met us and led us to the Music Room. Some ladies had a touch of trouble finding the place, as it was dark, and the school sits up on a hill, away from the road. There is a small white sign near the street at the drive into the parking lot. Food is allowed, as long as we clean up after ourselves. Our members may use the art studio during school hours so that the girls may watch artists at work. A call to the school, Director Pinney Allen, to confirm a day and time is requested. This is a advantageous arrangement with the Atlanta Girl’s School, and we look forward to a fruitful future with them.
New Sponsor: Binder’s art store is in the “disco Kroger” shopping center, on Piedmont, just north of Peachtree (just past the big Rooms to Go). They sell all manner of art supplies, frames, art papers, and have a custom framing department. Women in Focus will enjoy a 35% discount on all purchases, and 50% on some things (i.e. 16x20 frames when we have a show coming up). Jay is our contact there. When you stop into the store, be sure to say you are a Women in Focus member to receive your discount. At the end of the year, Women in Focus will receive a monetary bonus based on our purchases.
Members in Shows:
Anne Berry is in a show at Mason Murer on Armour, opening reception 7pm February 20.
Corinne Adams is in a show in Tennessee.
Valerie Gruner has a piece in the February Show at the Atlanta Artists Center.
Ruth Gogel is currently showing at Art Space in Stone Mountain.
Gittel Price and Debra Booth are both showing at Roswell Photography Society.
Dear World Library Show:
E-mail for labels title, the way your name should read, and price of pieces to Denise Savage at savagephotos4u@gmail.com ASAP.
E-mail for consideration for the invitation postcards jpegs of your pieces 300dpi (2 inches) to Gittel at gittelp@bellsouth.net ASAP.
Deliver works to the Central Library, 1 Margaret Mitchell St., lower level Gallery, Atlanta, GA 30303 between 10 am and 12 noon on Saturday, February 28. Hanging the show will begin at 12:00. Volunteering to hang are Jan Kapoor, Toni James, Denise Savage, and Dana Kemp.
The opening reception is a 1st Thursday’s Art Walk event, on March 5, 6:00-8:00. Debra Booth has volunteered to help. Another volunteer or two would be nice.
WIF/SIS reception is Saturday, March 14, with Girls, Inc. 2:00-4:00. Volunteers are needed, as well as people willing to bring food and beverages.
Calls For Entries:
Atlanta Photography Group Push-Pin Show: March 13-20, doors opened for pinning on the 13th at 7:30. An opportunity to show un-framed, un-matted work in a fun and casual atmosphere. $10 to non-members, free to new and renewing members ($35 membership fee), and $5 for APG members.
Atlanta Photography Group Photographer’s Choice Show: April 3 - May 15, deliver piece March 21, 25, 26, 27. Open to APG members, and you can join with your entry. They will be hanging 50 pieces, so get your forms in to their gallery.
More complete and specific info on both these APG events can be found on their website, www.atlantaphotographygroup.org.
Check the WIF website for PSA shows.
Speaker, Nancy Floyd: www.nancyfloyd.com
Nancy is a professor in the Photography Program at Georgia State University, teaching courses from Beginning to Advanced Photography. She came to Women in Focus to speak about her book, She’s Got A Gun. It’s a book which chronicles her research on “gun women” as well as her interviews and photographs of women gun owners.
She grew up in a small town in Texas. Her older brother had always been interested in guns, and aspired to become a gunsmith, but he was killed in Vietnam when Nancy was 12. In 1986, she had a showing of photos of her brother.
Another show Nancy put together was on nuclear power workers and their families. Her husband works in the field, but she still felt like an outsider interviewing and taking their pictures. Through the experience, she came to see more similarities than differences.
Nancy bought her first hand gun in 1991 because she wanted to know what having a gun was like. Remembering her brother and his interest in guns helped motivate this urge. This was in California, a 15 day waiting period, and when she finally had the revolver in her hands, it scared her.
Her first trip to the gun range was terrifying - a guy was shooting a 44 magnum right next to her. Eventually, she relaxed, and even began to go to the very popular “ladies night” at the range. After gaining some enthusiasm for the sport, she began to shoot competitively.
She’s Got A Gun begins with an introduction of how she found the women who she profiled. She details how she got to know them, how the relationships evolved. She said that once she took one lady’s photograph, they practically lined up for her.
There is considered research involving women with guns, using images culled from many sources. Nancy did not go into hunting because she is not a hunter, and felt that that direction was off track from what she was exploring.
One portion of the book compares and contrasts the personalities and characters of Annie Oakly and Calamity Jane, contemporaries, yet very different. Annie was a Lady, Jane was decidedly not. Annie was careful and considered with her public image, Jane posed for pictures to get money for booze.
The book is in three sections; Pleasure (shooting for sport and fictional portrayals in movies and books), Power (self-defense), and Professional (police and military). Nancy’s pictures meshed well with her research images. She found a fascinating book, An Uncommon Soldier, which is a chronicle of a woman who cross-dressed to be a Civil War soldier.
As a self-proclaimed liberal, more than a little wary of the NRA, Nancy’s approach to her subject is inviting and even-handed.
She was able to get the book published with help from Georgia State, but she paid for the color photographs herself. Publishing is academically necessary, but the book, though well researched, is written from a personal point of view.
Other forms of publishing that members and Nancy spoke about were blurb books, which are of simple design acquired through the internet, and the use of i-universe publishing.
Nancy is a film gal, not digital. She uses a Nikon to shoot her copious self-portraits that she has threaded together to show her own aging and those around her aging. She takes the pictures nearly daily, and has done so since the 1980’s.
Nancy’s new project is to profile girls in high school ROTC programs.