"Night News" - an occasional missive from the darkness

"Night News" - an occasional missive from the darkness
Vol.7 No.3
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"I've always been good with my hands,
Nimble of finger, and sure of thumb.
I was fourteen years old when I came to work here
And though it wasn't the life that I'd planned,
I've always been good with my hands.

". . . and if I had back the time that I've lost in this place
I would learn all the laws of this land
But I've always been good with my hands."

- "Good with my Hands" Lyrics by Clive Gregson
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Friends of The Nocturnes,

[A quick note here from Tim]
"Months before recent events on the Gulf Coast, we had decided on the quotation above to open up our Labor Day issue of NightNews. The lyrics are by Clive Gregson, as sung by Christine Collister on the "Hard Cash" CD, a Richard Thompson project, inspired by the BBC TV series from 1990 (Green Linnet Records). The song is a haunting piece, with dark, jazz-like bass work (up front!) by Andy Brown, dealing with a life's work, limited options, regret, and the issue of class. And given, the reportage of the aftermath of Katrina, we thought of using another lyric (e.g. "It's nature's way of telling you something's wrong . . .") - but upon more reflection, the above seemed very germane to the current situation. The past week has brought issues of class, poverty, governmental response and responsibility to the forefront, in the minds of Americans. As Nocturne Stu Jenks (www.stujenks.com) pondered (read full email here - http://www.thenocturnes.com/newsletter/relief.htm) relief efforts, he wondered: 'What to do?' If I were really 'good with my hands' perhaps I'd be on my way to the Gulf Coast to aid in the rebuilding. But then, one also wonders - can any of humankind's constructs, whether levee-building or law-making - really amount to anything at all in the face of such force, such devastation?

"What to do?"

"Like Stu, we agree that, one feels the need to do something, and as artists, we can contribute best, what we do well. To that end, I will contribute proceeds from certain works to the relief of Hurricane Katrina victims, and urge you to do the same, or contribute in any way you can. Go to www.timbaskerville.com and click on the RELIEF link, to find out how proceeds from sales of b/w images of Historic Streetcar #952 (from New Orleans) can aid the relief work in that historic, culturally rich City. There are two images on the relief page, so far, with more to come. This offer will continue thru the end of the year, at least."

Some other relief efforts include:
American Red Cross - http://www.redcross.org/
America's Second Harvest - http://www.secondharvest.org/
Habitat for Humanity - http://www.habitat.org/
Check out SFGate for recent announcements re: relief efforts by visual and performing artists - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi%3Ffile=/chronicle/archive/2005/09/03/LOCALARTS.TMP
InstaPundit -"an online magazine of opinion" has an extensive list of recommendations for contributions - http://instapundit.com/archives/025235.php
And, Putumayo World Music is donating all of its proceeds from its albums "New Orleans," and "Mississippi Blues" to relief efforts through the end of the year. Purchase these CDs at www.putumayo.com.

So begins the "high season" for Night Photography in Northern California, albeit at a low point - let's get started, shall we?

As always, you can read this edition of NightNews here, or online at http://www.thenocturnes.com/newsletter/newsarchive.htm where a more readable, printable version resides.

EXHIBITS NOTED
"The Best of The Nocturnes Online," an Online exhibition celebrating the Best of our Night Photography Shows, from the past five years, went live in August. Have a look - http://www.thenocturnes.com/exhibits/bestofshow/index.htm and hopefully be inspired to submit work to one of our exhibits in the future.

The month of August, work by Tim Baskerville, Greta and Manu Schnetzler, Randy Gunning, Todd Friedlander, Karen Schreiber, Robert Garrett and Mark Jaremko was installed at Thinkers Café in San Francisco - part of our preview exhibitions, staged around the Bay area, for "Studio Nocturne" which occurs in October - http://www.thenocturnes.com/exhibits/studionocturne05.html

Tim Baskerville has a exhibit of his work with the Historic Streetcars, sponsored in part by the Market Street Railway (www.streetcar.org) up at South Beach Café (site of the recent "Embarcadero Nocturne" show) the months of October and November. This is classical black-and-white work of the interiors of these proud, old workhorses, soon to grace the south Embarcadero, in San Francisco. "Interiors: The E-Embarcadero Line - Preview I" will be showing in October, with an reception for the Artist on October 9th from 3-6pm; and "Interiors: The E-Embarcadero Line - Preview II" will be installed for November. You can "preview the preview(s)" at www.timbaskerville.com

Thru the month of September, participants of "Studio Nocturne" at Fort Mason will be previewing work for the October event - http://www.thenocturnes.com/exhibits/studionocturne05.html - at Thinkers Café, 1631 20th Street - on Potrero Hill, in San Francisco (415) 285-8294. See work by Greta and Manu Schnetzler, Mark Interrante, John Vias, Richard Kettles, Adam Moore, Lena Tsakmaki and Roxanne Worthington. The date of the Artists' Reception for this September show has yet to be announced.

Also in September, select members of the Studio Nocturne group are showing work at Urban Blend, 3rd and Broadway, in Oakland, CA. And in the South Bay, members show work at Jungle Digital - http://www.jungledigital.com - 542 High Street, in Palo Alto (between University and Hamilton) during September and October.

WORKSHOP NEWS
A few spots are still left for our newest offering, the Bodie Ghost Town Workshop (September 20-22) with Dan Heller and Tim Baskerville - but it is almost full! Based just outside Bodie State Historic Park, in Bridgeport, CA, this unique Workshop is being held during a 'dark sky' period, and should provide plenty of opportunities for those long, nocturnal time exposures and light painting we all love! In addition, we have arranged for extended hours on 2 days for daylight photo sessions in the historic interiors of some of the buildings at Bodie. Check out the Web site - www.thenocturnes.com/workshops/bodie.html - for full details and register online via our secure registration form at https://www.danheller.com/cgi/orderform.pl?action=bodie

Speaking of Dan, right on the heels of his successful presentation at ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) this past spring, he is again presenting to the membership ("Career Development in the Digital Age") on September 13, from 7-9pm - for more info, visit http://www.asmpnorcal.org/events/event_09_13_05.html

The last workshop for the season happens November 14-16, and is one of our favorites. Led by Tom Paiva and Tim Baskerville, it marks our annual, autumnal return to Death Valley - details at http://www.thenocturnes.com/workshops/deathvalley.html - if you've ever thought about taking one of our courses - this is one of the best! Note that we have reserved a block of rooms, for your convenience at a discounted rate at the Furnace Creek Ranch, an oasis in the heart of Death Valley, but you need to register by October 10th!

BTW, did you know that Tim is teaching a new course in Night Photography at the College of Marin, Friday nights, this Fall? The class starts October 28 and runs thru December 16 - more details on the school's site - http://www.marincommunityed.org/fall2005/course/photo.htm#night

CALL FOR ENTRIES
Submissions are being accepted for our newest Online exhibition of Night Photography: "Town and Country," in which we investigate the dual themes of urban and natural landscapes in Night Photography. What we would really like to see is for NPs to tackle both sides of the equation, maybe even in the same image, perhaps a diptych, with one urban and another rural image side-by-side, something like that . . . Deadline for entries will be October 20, 2005 - Prospectus for the exhibit is available at http://www.thenocturnes.com/forms/entryform_tc.html - so, put on your thinking caps for this one!

IN RELATED NEWS
The Nocturnes will be "tabling" again this year at The Expo for the Artist & Musician, on September 10 at SomArts, here in San Francisco. The Expo is an all-day extravaganza featuring more than 100 Bay Area arts organizations, free workshops, performances and hundreds of local artists and musicians. Attendees can browse tables staffed by local galleries, nonprofits, collectives and small businesses; present their portfolios and music demos; and participate in seminars on marketing their art, finding grants, starting a collective, building a home recording studio, understand artists' legal issues and much more. More info at - http://artsandmedia.net/expo/ - why not drop by and pay us a visit?

Tucson Nocturne Stu Jenks' new CD "West of the Fire: Soundtracks for Photographs, Volume Two" was released in August. This is "ambient meditation music" meant to accompany certain photographs of Stu's; and as Charles De Lint (author of The Onion Girl, Medicine Road, and the Newford novels) says: "Stu Jenks' work is like the desert. If you take some time with it, the music gifts you with hidden arroyos, a fleeting glimpse of a drifting redtail, a pink splash of fairy dusters. I love the spaces it opens inside of my head." As mentioned above, for every "West of the Fire" CD sold, Stu has arranged for a donation to be made for Hurricane Relief to the Red Cross

ALUMNI NEWS
Alum Roxanne Worthington exhibited work at Vino Locale in Palo Alto - 30 pieces - black and white work from Paris and the Breath series - during August. Roxanne is return participant in "Studio Nocturne" - http://www.thenocturnes.com/exhibits/studionocturne05/index.html - at Fort Mason in October.

Joe Reifer (whose work has been called eccentric, surreal, and off-kilter - hmmm, must be Night Photography!) had a show of his work (27 pieces) installed at the Lucky Ju Ju Pinball Gallery in Alameda, a unique underground arena for vintage pinball machines and showcase for artists, also in August.

Web sites of some of the Alumni mentioned (or not) in this edition of Night News:
Roxanne Worthington - www.mesart.com/rworthington
Joe Reifer - http://www.joereifer.com/
Greta and Manu Schnetzler - www.schnetzler.com
Mark Interrante - www.interwalk.com
Randy Gunning - www.rmgphotography.com
John Vias - www.johnvias.com
Lena Tsakmaki - www.lenatsakmaki.com
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This concludes this edition of "Night News." As always, this and past issues of "Night News" are accessible at http://www.thenocturnes.com/newsletter/newsarchive.htm

And finally, remember not to work too hard this Labor Day, and ". . . let's be careful out there."

Susan Nichols
nichols@thenocturnes.com
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"It's been ages since you visited any of us . . . "
The Nocturnes family of Web sites:
http://www.thenocturnes.com
http://www.timbaskerville.com
http://www.meersfamily.org

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