Night News" - an occasional missive from the darkness
Vol.1 No.6
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"Silent night
Holy night.
All is calm
All is bright."

-Traditional Christmas Carol
credited to Joseph Mohr (Salzburg, 1816)
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Best of the season to you all - from Lance, Tim and myself. Did you get to view or photograph the full moon of late? Very bright (tho' not exactly what the media would have you believe) and very clear, warm weather to go with it, out here on the 'left coast.' Speaking of the full moon - according to Tim, the exhibit (by Michael Light) at SFMOMA (thru January 11th), "Full Moon: Apollo Mission Photographs of the Lunar Landscape" is a 'must-see' in the "If You only See One Show This Year" category. He goes on to add: "Sweeping vistas of our nearest neighbor in space and the nocturnal light source of the ages. Seeing what we have come to view as a source of light at night (and the source of many of our life-cycles, rituals, on this tiny watery planet we call home) in a new 'light' and from a radically different perspective. The "Earthrise" over a seemingly barren landscape (very reminiscent of parts of Death Valley, I think) is Spectacular! I saw this show on the closing day of the Carleton Watkins (the American West frontier photographer) exhibit; and the juxtaposition and similarities between the two bodies of work were astonishing. Alien landscapes, rough terrain, new vistas, utter quiet - simply amazing. I plan to go again over the holidays." Hmmm, they're already selling internet domain names for the moon, could it be that there's some new territory for the hard-working, full moon night photographer at large?

In other news (related and unrelated to 'blockbuster' art shows), The Nocturnes library has acquired two significant texts and we highly recommend them. "Brassai: The Eye of Paris" (ISBN 0-81096-380-9) is a lush cloth bound book published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name currently seen thru January 16, 2000 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Lance hopes to see it there and will report back to us. The other volume and exhibition is entitled "Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs and Writings" (ISBN 0-8212-2563-4) and was published by the National Gallery of Art and includes his night photography from the window of his gallery, 291, as well as a night photograph of the Savoy Hotel done in 1898! Fascinating writings by Stieglitz, as well as important photos.

Things are still very busy around Nocturnes House, with no signs of letting up soon. The CAL Works Web site competition and the much talked about validation process that the Web site - http://www.thenocturnes.com - went through, paid off. First Place and a Best of Show Award! Expect more big things from the site in 2000!

Some of those big things: Troy Paiva is now an exhibiting Nocturne (nocturnist?) - http://www.thenocturnes.com/tppics.htm - and his brother Tom Paiva's work will be up on the site shortly. Tom was an original exhibitor in "The Nocturnes," a show curated by Tim in 1991, so it's good to see him come aboard. Be sure to visit his page once it goes live. Fellow midwestern Nocturnal Photographer Bill Schwab's page is almost complete and should appear after the first of the year. Finally, look for a total redesign of the site - vers. 4.0 - starting in February!

Tim's latest new favorite piece ("Trust, Presidio of San Francisco") was part of "Millennium" at City Arts Gallery at CCSF in December. Some of you might have seen the image - we used it on the December promo card. It can also be viewed at a Night Photography Exhibition by The Nocturnes (Tim Baskerville, Tom Paiva, Lance Keimig, and Troy Paiva) at Bright Mail, Inc., 301 Howard Street, 18th Floor, San Francisco, through February 2000. We have 43 prints on display there - a wide variety of styles - all FOR SALE - contact Kathryn Dykman - kathryn@brightmail.com - for viewing hours. It's a good chance to see this much work in one space.

Two pieces by Tim were included in the "Century MM' exhibition held by the Santa Cruz Art League and juried by Richard Gadd, Executive Director of the Monterey Museum of Art, down in Monterey, CA. Richard curated a show that Tim (along with Bay Area photographer Richard Barnes) was in a few years back, at the Museum. exhibition runs through January 16, 2000.
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This Just In! - "Homing In" - Todd Hido has a show (and a beautiful 15x20 color poster/announcement) coming to the Stephen Wirtz Gallery (49 Geary) in San Francisco, January 5-29, 2000; with a reception on January 6th, 5:30-7:30pm. Should be worth looking into!
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Lance and Tim are preparing for a busy 2000 - 2 Workshops at RayKo in San Francisco (April and October, the standard 3-night curriculum) and a five-day (and night!) Workshop is on for September on Cape Cod. After first of year visit http://www.thenocturnes.com/workshop.htm for the specifics - and TELL YOUR FRIENDS! Look to the next issue of Night News for more details, also. Both Lance and Tim will be conducting shorter-term 'gatherings' throughout the upcoming year - Lance on East Coast, Tim on the West. (Hmmm, can the much vaunted 'Pan-Celtic Night Photography and Scrying the Full Moon Workshop' be far off?) Both artists will be doing shows in support of the Workshops - wait! shouldn't that be the other way around? Ah, the life of the 21st Century artist . . .

Tim informs us that he is working on a 'secret project' with photographer Michael Kenna - guess we won't know until May what that's about - stay tuned!

And, in News from and about The Nocturnes Alumni: Bob Follet, AKA The Sole Proprietor - http://www.apersonalsite.com - reached his 1 year mark, publishing his daily journal, to critical accolades, on October 29, 1999. At one point, I believe it was a one year trial. We would have to say he passed, eh? Also, thanks to Michael Quinn, who was responsible for the detailed info posted on the Web site around the time of the full moon/solstice/perigee/perihelion/bright as sunlight/end of the world/millennial fervor that the media so kindly took to heart. _____________________________

As always, this and past issues of "Night News" are accessible at http://www.thenocturnes.com/nitenews.htm

Wrapping up (pardon the Christmas pun), I'd like to repeat some sound advice: "... lets just be careful out there."

Susan Nichols
nichols@thenocturnes.com

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"It's been ages since you last visited . . . "
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