Reflecting on Reflections - Two shows in December

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December is always a busy, joyous time in the city for photographers and photo enthusiasts – PhotoNOLA , the New Orleans Photo Alliances’ photography festival kicks off December 10-13th.  The four day festival hosts a Gala at NOMA, an education day, portfolio reviews, gallery talks and month long exhibitions throughout the city. 

I’m super excited to participate in two exhibitions in conjunction with this festival.  Opening December 2nd,  I have photos on display in a Group Art show at Crescent City Brewhouse (527 Decatur) that includes photography, paintings and drawings. The show runs through January 3rd.   December - February,  I have photos on display in a shared show at Buffas (1001 Esplanade) with Eliot Kamenitz that we titled  “Works in Progress”.  The show opens December 9^th. 

While pondering what to display for these two shows,  I discovered an old “to-do list” on my computer from December, 2014.  You know its been a busy year when my December 2015 to-do list date has the exact same items on it. Looking back on the year I thought some nice, slow paced nostalgic prints would be best.  Then I realized that’s all I really shoot anyway. 

At Crescent City Brewhouse I have five of my small town pieces reflecting not time in the past, but in the present.  I’ve always been drawn to the timelessness of our very real, very modern world.  I love how photography captures our past in the present and influences our future.

General Store, Hwy 1

At Buffas, located just outside the Quarter, I thought it a good opportunity to showcase some photos from Photo Workshops that I lead in the French Quarter (and Garden District) for American Photo Safari.  In trying to decide how I wanted to portray the FQ, I realized I have a whole lotta reflection photos. It makes sense, I’ve had more than one workshop participant ask me “are we on the puddle tour of new Orleans?” (why yes, yes we are…) 

Heart of the City

 So there I go, combing through photos of what I know will be great reflections and then I realized – I was in most of them.  Oops.  

  Apparently I am drawn to reflective selfies  - which opens up an entirely new topic altogether...  Ha.Ha.  

 Not quite ready to branch out in the solo selfie circuit just yet, I put together a group of photos reflecting  an old quarter in what is becoming an increasingly modern city, as well as some lumen prints reflecting various symbols of the city.  (So natch, the termites made the cut).   

Passing Time               2015

NOLA Termites Under the Stars

Also in the show are landscapes from Eliot Kamenitz  and pieces from his Urban Archeology series. Come check out our Works in Progress on Wednesday, December 9th during the Worlds Most Open Mic. 

 For a full list of PhotoNOLA exhibitions, click HERE

Group Art Show - Photography, Paintings, Drawings & More

Crescent City Brewhouse

527 Decatur

December 1 - January 3rd

Opening:  December 2nd  5-7pm

Works in Progress - Photos by Eliot Kamenitz & Natasha Sanchez

Buffas Bar & Restaurant  

1001 Esplanade (Back Room)

December 1 - February 29th

Opening:  December 9th 6-10pm

 **For info on Photo Workshops Visit American Photo Safari.  I lead Garden District photo workshops Wed and Saturday and French Quarter workshops throughout the week. We teach photo/camera basics and composition - and how to shoot lizards (thats just me)**

Lizard Rest

The Importance of Pondering Carrots

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I wrote a song about carrots and a whole new world opened up. I’ve since gotten into carrot photography and made some new lumen prints, thought I'd share. 

 My carrot-as-art sojourn began  one day recently when I discovered  – I was out of carrots, oh my.  Not wanting to face the world without my beloved carrots, I hurriedly dashed to the store to immediately remedy this dire situation.  While on my way, I had another realization….who does this? haha.  Who flees to the grocery store in the middle of the afternoon to restock the carrot supply?  Or, the better question may be – cui bono?…who benefits?  

Two Carrots    2015

I don’t need to tell anyone of the nutritious virtues of carrots.  They taste good, they're good for you and bunnies love them.  More importantly, carrots are a root vegetable and they can help you to see.  My worldview often stems from looking at the root of matters. As a photographer and songwriter, I rely heavily on my vision, especially as I travel the world.  Therefore, it is no wonder that I will keep a tangible source of sight nearby.  Plus, look at the news we wake up to.  I find its better to arm myself with a clear vision just to face the news of the day and to decipher what is really going on in the world. 

Three Carrots & a Wayward Stem  2015

Anyhoo, long ramble cut short:  My carrot crisis led me to write a song about carrots.   But just like my Angus Young song isn’t about Angus Young, nor is my Justin Timberlake song about Justin Timberlake (though my Searching for a Tall Boy song is about a Miller High Life), my carrot song isn’t really about carrots, it is about all the rambling stuff above.  As a photographer, I got really interested in the photographic possibilites of The Carrot and began experimenting with Lumen Prints.  I overcooked the first batch, this is the second. Or third. I forget.  I have a lot to learn about printing veggies. 

So, to answer my own question - Who Benefits?  I would have to answer with Who Doesn't?   Sometimes what we need most in this world is a fresh perspective and a healthy outlook.  

Thats a whole lotta carrots.  

Sun Carrots   2015

I don't have a recording of my Carrot Song, you'll just have to check out my 3rd Thursday gig at the Neutralground (October 15th)  or at Nattie's Songwriter Circle at Buffas October 18th.  Til then, here's a gem I found on youtube.

happy carrot pondering.

 

(to appease all the internet medical fact checkers & WWII myth debunkers: this post is philosophical in nature and I am aware that "more studies need to be done on carrot vision benefits"...21st century disclaimer)

text & photos

(c) Natasha Sanchez

www.nattie-concepts.com

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French Quarter in Black & White - Sept 28th 2014

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The world isn't so black and white.  There are many shades of gray.  What better location to explore this concept than New Orleans' French Quarter with its iron balconies, its somewhat linear shutters and contrasting light?  (Or diffused light, depending on the type of day...)  On September 28th I will be leading the "French Quarter in Black & White" photography workshop for American Photo Safari.  

All skill levels and cameras are welcome.  This is a 2 hour workshop focusing on finding shots that work in black and white using the compositional elements of tones & textures,  shadows & shapes.  The beauty of black and white is – anything becomes a subject.  With our eyes clear of distractions, we see subjects emerge in all kinds of light.

 That, and we run across glamorous felines from time to time..

*include a cat pic and the crowd goes wild..

best part is the black spot on his nose

Whether you are local or from out of town, whether photography is a hobby or a profession, you can see the French Quarter in ways you hadn’t before. 

There’s always another angle, another perspective, to any subject. Photography lets you explore those sides and choose how you want to see the world – in black and white, and all its many shades of gray. 

Hope to see you on the 28^th!

Sign up HERE 

French Quarter in Black & White

Sunday, September 28th

9am

** My Garden District Workshops are also offered every Wed & Sat**

http://www.americanphotosafari.com/workshops/garden_district

all content (c) Natasha Sanchez

www.nattie-concepts.com

Cruise the Blog Archives to Travel the World

Visit my Etsy Photo Shoppe to View more Photos

My World in Black & White: Out with the Old, In with the New

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This week I listed quite a few prints on Etsy. www.nattieconcepts.etsy.com  It’s been  a while since I have done art markets on a regular basis, and last week I thought it was time to do some inventory and clear some space for more world travels and new works.  I didn’t realize what or how much that inventory would reveal.  For starters, I had much more stock than I realized.  My only intention was just to see what I had and then maybe try and do a market or two this holiday season.  But as I documented each print, I felt like I was reading a visual diary of my life over the past 6 years.

 ** click on the photos to view on Etsy or to purchase **

Being in Texas after Katrina:

Texas Road         2005

In New Orleans after Katrina:

Happy Mardi Gras      December 2005

And Baton Rouge:  

Crosscurrent(cy)   2006

 I started doing art markets at the end of 2006.  This Walmart photo became my top market seller. I’d say it was for obvious reasons, but though I gave it my own slant with the title “Crosscurrent(cy)”, I always tell people that its up for open interpretation.  I’ve had people buy it for many reasons...

That Walmart photo, as it has come to be called, brought me to New York in 2006, when the Big Top Gallery here in NOLA was producing a show of New Orleans artists at the Brooklyn Lyceum.  That was a great weekend of photography for me. I spent my time wandering around and taking classic photos of iconic landmarks, shooting only one roll of my beloved 3200 speed film in the middle of a rainy day. The film choice and the weather gave amazing texture to these photos.  I feel like my photographic style was validated there.   I like to take timeless shots, because what we experience is just that. 

NYC - Central Park Bridge    2006

Central Park Lamppost   2006

When I did my first art market at the end of the year,  I displayed about 10 framed black & white 8x10 images, representing the world I saw. 

NOLA Love     2006

French Quarter House    2008

I continued to photograph & print, mixing in lasting images of the environment around me with social commentary & splashes o' humor here & there.

The Audacity     2008

 Eventually, I started making “PhotoSpaces”, the 10x20 triptychs that became a gallery of more documentation of the world around me. 

NOLA Potholes

Betty the Bullhorn added a nice touch to the art markets, she really found her niche there.  Now she has an Etsy shop of her own!

You Go Betty!    2008

I actually see no difference between my lumens, black and white prints, Betty the Bullhorn, the World Tour, or a Nattie tune.  To me, they all represent one moment of time that I wanted to preserve and ultimately, share.  

Princess & Stars    2011

In 2011, as you know, I daydreamed, planned, and embarked on the World Tour, continuing into 2012. I also made lumen prints with feathers and stars.  I wrote songs, played gigs, in other words : I have lots more work to produce.  Now I am currently daydreaming about my next batch of snazzy new World Tour darkroom prints.  So to make room for said Snazzy New World Tour darkroom prints, 

I'm letting go of the past - at really great prices, I might add  ;) - to make room for the now new.  

The 5x7 and 8x10 images I have listed are printed and ready to bring joy and/or a chuckle to someones home, office, or business  :)  These images are open editions,  but now is the time to get the handmade darkroom prints at these - did I mention - really great prices.  It's store of like a Nattie Concepts Clearance Sale.  (Cute!  I should put that on my site..)

Feel free to take a look and browse through my world in black and white.  And as always, feel free to share...there's more to come...

  -Natasha

Faithful to her Trust     2007

Visit www.nattieconcepts.etsy.com  to view more images and more of my world in black & white 

World Tour triptychs available too! 

all content (c) Natasha Sanchez

www.nattie-concepts.com

In case you missed it, check out last weeks blog from Aloha!  

Gettin' my Inner Brit on - in Welsh & Roanoke, Louisiana

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Welsh Corp Limit

 I am deviating a bit from my theme of visiting Small Towns with International Names in order visit a Small Town with the Name of a Language.  I guess I feel the need to Channel my Inner Brit from time to time. In addition to my Spanish Canary Islander heritage,  my ancestry also spans the British Isles on both sides of the family.  So I'm throwing in Roanoke, which, okay, is neither an International Town nor a Language (well, if you are reading this outside of the United States it is an International Town..).  The Lost Colony of Roanoke was an English Settlement settled and abandoned in the late 16th century.  So,  it's English.  I think that counts.

But first - Welsh, Louisiana.  

Welsh Flag

I literally just passed through Welsh, and Roanoke, in Southwestern Louisiana, after my first trip to China.   I couldn't resist the pseudo-international feel, plus I wanted to check out the towns.  Another theme that has remained a constant throughout the tour, is that I  love small town photography.  And Welsh did not disappoint.

Welsh Lodge

There was some consistency to my photographs - they all seemed to include a triangle of some sort.  

Welsh Auto Body

Welsh Clinic

Much of my English, Scottish, & Welsh ancestry comes from my maternal side.   

And my Grandma liked flowers.  So, natch, I thought of her when I saw this:

Grandma's Garden

Forget the big chain stores - "Thrifty Way Pharmacy" and  "Market Basket"  is what shopping is all about.  

 It's like they just want you to smile.  

Thrifty Way - with purty flowers!

Market Basket

I even found the Green Gables. Not Anne, just a saloon.  And a triangle. 

Green Gables Saloon

From Welsh, I traveled to the not-so-lost-colony/town of Roanoke, Louisiana.  

Welsh Exit

Roanoke brought me back to my typical Small Town Sightings.  

The Post Office.

Roanoke Post Office

The church.

Roanoke Baptist Mission

The Store.

Roanoke Full Stop

The Machinery.

Roanoke Machine Shop

And an old train depot... at least it looked like one.  

By the Tracks

It's been over a month since I visited Welsh & Roanoke, Louisiana.  It's just taken a while to write about it and post the pictures.  In that time, the Sheriff of All Small Towns, Andy Griffith,  has since passed away.  I find it fitting to mention him here as he is buried on Roanoke Island in North Carolina, - the present day site of the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  

My Grandma always loved a good Matlock.  

Rest In Peace, Andy Taylor.  

  all content (c) Natasha Sanchez 2012

www.nattie-concepts.com

The World Tour  

  www.nattieconcepts.blogspot.com