The 18th Online
Exhibition of Night Photography
"On a warm San Franciscan Night . . ."
The "Psychedelic Nocturne"
show
"Strobe light beam, creates dreams.
Walls move, minds do too,
On a warm San Franciscan night." - The Animals, 1967
This summer marks the 40th anniversary of a number of auspicious, inter-related events: the release of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles on June 1st, the first Monterey International Pop Festival June 16-18, the Summer of Love in San Francisco, and later in the year, the release of After Bathing at Baxter's album by Jefferson Airplane. H-mmm what's up with that?
The Nocturnes.com invites all interested artists to submit work to "On a warm San Franciscan Night . . . " - our latest online Night Photography Exhibition. This competition is open to all night photographers, all photo media - traditional B/W, color, "hybrid workflows," and digital cameras are OK, too! We ask only that your final outcome would normally be a fine photographic print - b/w, color, alternative, whatever - presenting mysterious, riveting nocturnal imagery that celebrates the spirit and adventurousness of those 90-odd days, so long ago. Those elements, and of course the musical connection, which we're always making here at The Nocturnes! Just in time for the Summer [of Love]!
Judged by a Guest Juror to be announced, this exhibit - soon to be forever
known as the "'Psychedelic Nocturne" show - is curated by our own
Tim Baskervile - who still wishes he had been there in '67 (he arrived in
'68) - who had this to say about the motivation behind this exhibit:
"The title for the show, of course comes from the title/lyrics of
the hit song by The Animals in which Eric Burdon delivers a travelogue
of a "trip" to the City and the Summer of Love. Similarly, in
Scott McKenzie's hit (written by John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas),
San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair), the artist
calls out to "a whole generation, with a new explanation" to
go to San Francisco.
"All across the nation such a strange vibration
People in motion
There's a whole generation with a new explanation
People in motion people in motion
For those who come to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there"
(Lyrics by John Phillips)
That song and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band album launched the "Summer of Love" beckoning thousands
of disillusioned youth from across the nation and the world to San Francisco
in 1967 - and beyond.
"Wednesday morning at five o'clock
as the day begins
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She goes downstairs to the kitchen
clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the back door key
Stepping outside she is free
"She (what did we do that was wrong)
is having (we didn't know it was wrong)
fun. (fun is the one thing that money can't buy)
Something inside that was always denied for
so many years. (bye bye)
She's leaving home. (bye bye)" - (Lennon/McCartney)
Although technically it didn't last the summer - as early as August many of
the original denizens of the Haight-Ashbury, and bands like the Grateful Dead
had already packed up and left for points north: Marin County, etc. - it did
leave an indelible mark on the mind, hearts, music, and t-shirts of the burgeoning
youth or counter-culture of the late '60s and early '70s
I will have a psychedelic gleam in my eye at all times
I will love everyone
I will love the police as they kick the shit out of me on the street
I will sleep . . .
"I will, I will go to a house
That's, that's what I will do, I will go to a house
Where there's a rock roll band
'Cause the groups all live together."
(from Who needs the Peace Corps, a brilliant parody of the Scott McKenzie song by the Mothers of Invention)
And, what's that - you weren't even around for the "Summer of Love?" As Tim continues: "Don't worry about that - neither were we - at least not physically in San Francisco (we arrived the following summer. But that's kind of the point, isn't it? Tho' many people came to the City (and more than a few stayed) - but, all (and many who were'nt even present that summer) were affected by the events of that summer - be it the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the concert in Monterey, etc. In a sense, the culture took the ideas and ideals that flowed freely thru that summer in the City to heart, mostly thru the music, bringing them back home with them. And the culture at large was changed in many remarkable ways.
Still wondering what it was all about - for some backstory check out these "indicators!"
Read more about the events of that Summer on SFGate.com - a 4-part series from May 20-23.
There is also a Wiki-history here.
View some of the history and ideas that brought those events about:
PBS.org's History of the Year of the Hippie (an American Experience!)
Read about Owsley ("tech support" for events preceding/including Summer of Love) here and here
Better yet, have another listen to the music of the day:
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
After Bathing at Baxters (in which the Airplane attempt to describe the LSD experience to an unsuspecting population)
Surrealistic Pillow
Monterey Pop Festival (newly released 2-CD set from Starbucks Entertainment)
Of course, a visit to The Nocturnes Gallery or any of our previous online shows can give you motivation and insight on how Night Photography can reveal to us an altered state of being, a transformed reality. Check out any of the "light painting" masters - Troy Paiva, Jerry Day, William Lesch - surely some of the most inspired mind-altering images around. Look at the work of Stu Jenks for a spiritual take on NPy and "peace, love, and understanding." Check out Tim Baskerville's Dream Dates and Johsua Trees for an eco-friendly vision, Castaneda-like vision of transformation.
So, to remint a phrase, why not "feed your head" (whatever you interpret that to mean), feed your camera (with film or pixels) and get "out there" and show us and the World Wide Web some alternative realities, some altered states - all very familiar territory for nocturnals of any stripe!
Send jpeg files at 72 dpi named simply, appropriately for the Web: 8 letters-dot-3 letter extension (e.g.- niteshot.jpg) all lowercase letters. The size of the images should be no greater than 600 pixels in any one dimension. Square medium format film images are optimal at 600x600 pixels; and scanned 35mm film images should be approximately 400x600 pixels.
If you send images via snail mail, the files should be small enough (see above) to fit on a CD or floppy (use lots of protective cardboard for shipping disk). An even better alternative is to send us the URL of images that are already on a web page, and we can 'retrieve' those images. As you might have gathered, we are trying to avoid a flood of emails and haphazard, ineffective attachments being sent to the site.
Entry Fee and Deadline
There is no limit to the number of pieces submitted per artist.
Entry Fee: $25 for up to 3 entries; each additional entry is $5. Postmarked
dates for entries are NOT acceptable for this competition - we will need
to RECEIVE your 'hard copy' of entry form and fee by December 31, 2007!
Please NOTE: Entries from outside the U.S. should be sent well in advance
of the December 31, 2007 deadline, as international mail deliveries are
often delayed up to a week or two.
Exhibition Dates:
Exhibition runs from January 11 through March 31, 2008. Accepted work
will then reside in a developing archive of nocturnal imagery on The Nocturnes
Web site after the exhibition closes - available to Night Photographers
and those interested in Night Photography, worldwide.
Awards:
Two (2) Awards will be awarded at the discretion of the Awards Juror (TBA)
- a Best of Show and an Honorable Mention (Prize Money to be announced).
This final jurying will be done from a preliminary selection of works
by members of The Nocturnes.
Sales:
Sales will be encouraged - No Commission taken for any of our online exhibits
- and direct links to artist sites or emails will be provided. Artwork
remains Copyright of the participating artists. Pages on the Web site
are Copyright, The Nocturnes, and Pacific Media Arts. The exhibit, "On
a warm San Franciscan Night . . . " (not the song, tho'!) is Copyright Pacific
Media Arts and The Nocturnes Web site.
Please print all pages of the form below, fill them out (keeping a
copy for your records)
and mail with appropriate fee (to be RECEIVED by December 31, 2007) to:
"On a Warm San Franciscan Night . . . "
The Nocturnes / Pacific Media Arts
PO Box 29074
Presidio of San Francisco, CA 94129
ENTRY FORM
"On a warm San Franciscan
Night . . ."
(print, fill out and forward with entry fee to Pacific Media Arts)
Name:
_________________________________________________________________
Company:
_________________________________________________________________
Address:
_________________________________________________________________
City/State/Country/Postal Code:
_________________________________________________________________
Phone:
_________________________________________________________________
Fax:
_________________________________________________________________
email:
_________________________________________________________________
URL: (where artwork is to be found)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
File #1 - Filename: (e.g.- niteshot.jpg)
_________________________________________________________________
File #1 - Title of artwork/Year created: (e.g.- "Jefferson Nocturne #2")
_________________________________________________________________
File #1 - Photo Medium/Print Dimensions/Price:
_________________________________________________________________
File #2 - Filename:
_________________________________________________________________
File #2 - Title of artwork:
_________________________________________________________________
File #2 - Photo Medium/Print Dimensions/Price:
_________________________________________________________________
File #3 - Filename:
_________________________________________________________________
File #3 - Title of artwork:
_________________________________________________________________
File #3 - Photo Medium/Print Dimensions/Price:
_________________________________________________________________
File #4 - Filename:
_________________________________________________________________
File #4 - Title of artwork:
_________________________________________________________________
File #4 - Photo Medium/Print Dimensions/Price:
_________________________________________________________________
File #5 - Filename:
_________________________________________________________________
File #5 - Title of artwork:
_________________________________________________________________
File #5 - Photo Medium/Print Dimensions/Price:
_________________________________________________________________
Include nonrefundable Entry Fee: $25 (US Dollars) for up to 3 entries; additional
entries are $5 each
Check#: ______ Payable to Pacific Media Arts
Credit Card: Visa _____ Mastercard _____ Amount: ________________
Credit Card Number: ________________________________________
Expiration: _____ / _____ Name on Card: _______________________
Zip Code corresponding to Credit Card: _________________________
Authorized Signature: _______________________________________
Number of disks ______ enclosed. Disks will NOT be returned.
Photographic Experience / Interest in Night Photography:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
How did you learn about this online exhibition? Previous show?
Specify by name if Craigslist.org, Artist Resource Web site, Artweek or other
publication,
The Nocturnes Web site, a poster in retail outlet, or other.
When did you first discover The Nocturnes?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Would you be interested if this (or another) show were presented in a more
traditional
"bricks and white walls' venue (probably in the San Francisco Bay area).
Any suggestions?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Receipt of this completed, signed entry form or any materials, files, etc.
constitutes your agreement with the conditions set forth in this prospectus.
SIGNATURE _________________________________ DATE _________________
