President’s Message

June 2022

The last two years have proven very productive for the New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists. Under the leadership of Gary Samson along with a hardworking board of directors, and an active membership, we wrapped up the two and a half year long NH Now project. In addition to publishing the book, thousands of images will be archived at the New Hampshire Historical Society, and made available for future generations to view.

Another accomplishment was our collaboration with the Kimball Jenkins School Of Art in Concord, where NHSPA is now based. Members can make use of a studio space, a large format printing station, and a darkroom. Kimball Jenkins offers a centralized location for meetings, exhibitions, presentations, workshops, and other events such as our recent Portrait Shootout, where members created portraits of one another against the backdrop of this beautiful historic mansion.

Our goal for the upcoming year is to keep this momentum going, and keep our membership actively participating in the many programs NHSPA will be offering.  Here are some previews of what’s to come:

• Caption the NH Now images for the archives at the NH Historical Society
• Commence our next project: Photographing historic buildings in each of NH’s 221 towns, and publish a Print-On-Demand book for each region.
• Quarterly meetings to review work on this new project.
• Annual member exhibition in Exeter followed by an online gallery of the work and a published catalog of the exhibit’s images—a sort of NHSPA yearbook.
• Scout new locations for exhibitions throughout the state.
• Offer workshops at Kimball Jenkins (to offset rent for our members’ studio/printing space)
• Develop ongoing educational programs for members.
• Increase our use of social media to increase awareness of our organization and to promote upcoming exhibitions, workshops, and events.
• Arrange group-shooting events similar to the Portrait Shootout we recently offered.
  
• Coffee Sessions every other month, beginning with a 15-minute demonstration, followed by a casual sharing and discussing of member’s most recent work or ideas.
  
• Portfolio Peer Review Sessions (bimonthly, alternating with the Coffee Sessions) up to 4 members bringing in their bodies of work to be reviewed by their peers, following established guidelines for an encouraging constructive critique.
  
• Online Zoom meetings offering software training, thematic presentations by photographers, etc.