An upcoming exhibit will include the work of fourteen members of the New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists. “Alternative Process Photography” will be held at The Galletly Gallery, New Hampton School, New Hampton, NH, from August 28 to October 14, 2023.

Everyone is welcome to an artist reception on Friday, September 8, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

Amy Wilson, the Gallery’s Director, said, “This exhibit celebrates photographic images that use an alternative process in an especially expressive, compelling, or innovative way. The images on display combine modern and historical technologies, including photopolymer gravure, cyanotype, gelatin silver, wet-plate collodion (tintype), platinum-palladium, albumen, anthotype, palladium, Van Dyke brown, near-infrared, and mixed media imagery. The thoughtful and carefully crafted artworks illustrate the expressive potential of alternative process photography.”

NHSPA members whose work will be on exhibit include Alicia Bergeron, Bev Conway, Jay Goldsmith, Mark Giuliuci, John Hoglund, Susan Lirakis, Maundy Mitchell, Ian Raymond, Claudia Rippee, Kiera Lee Reese, Gary Samson, Ron St. Jean, Gary Tompkins, and Christy Utter.

This exhibit is free and open to the public. The Galletly Gallery is located on the second floor of New Hampton School’s Moore Center. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 4:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 am.

Founded in 1821, New Hampton School is an independent, co-educational, college preparatory school. For more information, please visit www.newhampton.org.

Having lived in northern New Hampshire more than 30 years, longtime NHSPA member photographer Fletcher Manley has created a large body of work.  He has curated that work for a new book coming out this year.  

“Above the Notch” is a visual commentary on community and life above Franconia Notch (“the Notch” as it is known here) in New Hampshire. The Notch is locally known as the dividing line between central and northern New Hampshire. The book is a collection of 90 photographs with interspersed short text captions. Its main purpose is to raise awareness of the importance that wild lands play in the economic and spiritual value of northern New Hampshire. 

Manley also wanted to use his creative skills as a photographer to help a local nonprofit. “As a way of using my creative abilities to return something to our ‘North Country’ community, I am pleased that Taproot NH (www.taprootnh.org), a locally based 501 (c) (3) organization with a  focus on Education, Environment, and Nutrition, will benefit from the sale of these books.”

When asked about how he chooses what to photograph, Manley said, “Rarely do I set out to photograph things specifically but remain open to respond to what may be revealed of something, of some place, some person, by its form, color, light, dynamic.”  He compared his approach to photography to painting. “The artist at his easel places a frame around what is seen by his mind’s-eye to reveal a harmonic whole, [building] his image slowly and methodically. [The photographer] is looking and seeing outwardly from within [and captures the scene] quickly—seizing the moment, as I like to think of it.”

“Above the Notch” is a 60-page, 9x6 inch, softcover book.  The book will be printed by Puritan Capital of Hollis, NH, and published by Bondcliff Books (www.bondcliffbooks.com). 

While the book is designed to be affordable, Manley is currently seeking the last bit of funding to enable publication of “Above the Notch” in time for the 2023 Autumn and Christmas market season. The “Governor Wesley Powell Fund of NHCF” has pledged $1,000 as an initial grant. If you would like to participate in the success of this project, please contact Fletcher Manley. Tax deductible donations may be made directly to Taproot Farm & EE, 101 Main Street, Lancaster, NH 03584. Checks should be noted as “Book Project.”

You can view a short YouTube video about the book HERE.  

“Iconic New Hampshire” is a large exhibit featuring the works of 35 artists who are members of New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists. The exhibit was curated by the Museum of the White Mountains and is held at the Silver Center for the Arts at Plymouth State University, June 16 - September 30, 2023. 

This exhibit is a photographic exploration of New Hampshire iconography and the driving symbols behind New Hampshire’s state identity. Through the examination of iconic people, places, and material culture, we capture the enduring spirit of our state’s history and unique symbolic expression.

Museum director Kala Brzezinski said, “These [photos] offer a wide diversity of photographic subjects and interpretations on our theme for our exhibition—all providing a fascinating tapestry on the state of New Hampshire's identity.” 

The opening reception on June 16 was well-attended. Photos courtesy of Fletcher Manley.

The Silver Center for the Arts at PSU is open Monday-Thursday, 9:00am-6:00pm, and Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. The address is 114 Main St., Plymouth, NH. You can find directions HERE.

We are grateful to the Museum of the White Mountains for inviting us to exhibit, and for doing such a great job putting it together.

Fine art photographer and photo educator Gary Samson gave us a list of his top six books every photographer should read. 

The History of Photography by Beaumont Newhall

A concise history of the medium, if you can only afford one book, get a later addition of this book for a good overview of the major figures and movements in photography.

A World History of Photography by Naomi Rosenblum

A comprehensive deep dive into the history of the medium, exhaustive in content, it should be on every photographer’s bookshelf.

On Photography by Susan Sontag

On Photography considers the relation of photography to art, conscience, and knowledge. A seminal book on the medium.

Beauty in Photography: Essays in Defense of Traditional Values by Robert Adams

How is photography art? Of what importance is it to society? By what standards are we to judge the success or failure of a photograph? Robert Adams reflections are delicate, unusually calm, but they also carry the force of sure conviction, the passion of absolute dedication.

Why People Photograph by Robert Adams

Adams’ writing is free of academic jargon. Readers will also appreciate his attention to the common experience (he talks about trying to earn an income), his enjoyment the unorthodox (one essay concerns dogs and photography), and above all his conviction that art matters. Photographers “may or may not make a living by photography,” he writes “but they are alive by it.”

Photography Speaks: 150 Photographers on Their Art by John Szarkowski

“A very valuable introduction to the achievements and the intentions of an exemplary selection of photographers.” Some of the texts will come as a surprise even to specialists. - John Szarkowski

You’re invited! Join Gary Samson, seventh NH Artist Laureate & NHSPA Vice President, at “Creole Soul: Zydeco Lives.”  His latest photo exhibit is now open at the Seacoast African American Cultural Center, and the opening reception is this Thursday!

On May 4, at 6:00 p.m., the UNH Center for the Humanities will host a reception to celebrate the last book by longtime center director Burt Feintuch and the work of Gary Samson.

Join us for a great evening of art, discussion, food, and friends!

More info HERE

Ken Goldman has been an NHSPA member since 2018, joining shortly after he moved to Portsmouth from the Washington, DC area.

Ken had always wanted to express himself artistically, but as he says, “I dance like a rusty robot, sing like a frog with a sore throat, and I can't even draw a stick figure!”  So, he decided to try photography.  Photography gave him the tools to express himself artistically and creatively in a way he enjoys.  

This enjoyment of photography began in 1964/65, at the New York World's Fair.  Ken used a Kodak Instamatic 100 camera and began taking photos.  Then, throughout his busy working years, his photography became limited to vacation photos.  In 2010, as he prepared for retirement, he joined a camera club in Maryland, where he started to learn more about photography and become more serious about it. These days you will rarely see Ken without a camera. He says, “Photography keeps me busy and mostly out of trouble.” 

When he first became interested in photography, he was photographed mostly landscapes and nature. Today, he says, his focus is street and urban photography.  “My enjoyment of this type of photography began totally by accident...It was a cold, sleety day in March 2014. I was sitting in a window seat at the Starbucks on L Street NW, near the Farragut North Metro Station in Washington, DC.  As I sat there, sipped tea and read, I decided to pull out my camera and take some pictures of the people passing by. Happily sitting there and taking photos, one of the differences between the two types of photography really grabbed me...in nature photography I always cursed the people in my pictures.  For the most part, in street and urban photography, the people are the picture! Once I realized this somewhat obvious fact, it really excited me, and I never looked back!” 

Ken travels often and still does a lot of travel photography, which includes nature, landscape, street and urban photography. He likes to use Olympus digital cameras and usually only makes prints for exhibits or sales.  Recently, he put a fresh light meter battery into his 35mm Olympus.  Now, he’s considering trying film again.

Since moving to Portsmouth, Ken has exhibited his work numerous times.  His black and white photo of the Albacore is part of the Reflections of Portsmouth exhibit at the Foundry Place Garage.  He exhibited with NHSPA in Exeter and Kimball-Jenkins, with his photo Tall Ships being featured on the 2019 Exeter exhibit poster.  He also participated in New Hampshire Now with photos exhibited at seven of the eight venues, and three photos selected for the book.  His photos were juried into three Annual Jack Parfitt Photography Exhibitions at the New Hampshire Art Association, and he has exhibited at the Portsmouth Historical Society, the Portsmouth Public Library, the Portsmouth Senior Activity Center, and the Portsmouth Athenæum.

Currently, Ken is working on several projects and bodies of work including Museum People, Spying from Starbucks or Coffee Shop Candids, People at Work, Artists, Musicians, Bicycles and the [Lawn] Lighthouses of Grand Manan.  He says, “I recently realized that, without planning it, I have been recording various aspects of life in Portsmouth; now I need to figure out what to do with this large body of work.  Recording the world and the life around me is what keeps me interested in photography.”

Asked what he’d like to learn or do next, Ken said, “I am not satisfied with my abilities with indoor and night photography, so these are areas I would like to improve in the future.”

Becky Field has been a member of New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists for 11 years, since the start of her project, "Different Roots, Common Dreams: New Hampshire's Cultural Diversity," which documents the lives of immigrant families and communities. Her first entry in a NHSPA group exhibit was in Exeter, 2013. In 2021 she was a participant in the NHSPA project "New Hampshire Now: A Photographic Diary of Life in the Granite State." 

Photo of Becky Field © Michael Sterling

Becky says she is motivated in her work by a passion for photography combined with a strong sense of social responsibility and advocacy. “I use my work to honor the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity in state known for low diversity.”  In 2012, after hateful graffiti was scrawled on the sides of 4 refugee homes, she began a photographic project in response. “Having just started the certificate program in photography at the NH Institute of Art, I decided to use my camera to welcome people who had come here looking for safety and a better life for themselves and their children. I was especially inspired by Gary Samson's photo projects in Ghana and Cape Breton. At the time, I thought I would do this for a year as my final project at NHIA, then go back to photographing dragonflies and flowers. But I have stayed with this body of work for all these years because I have met such wonderful people and heard such powerful stories of their journeys to resettle here.” 

She works exclusively in digital photography. “For reasons I don't understand, I am drawn only to still photography; videos just don't do it for me. My work has almost always been in color because of the vibrant colors of so many of NH's immigrants. However, recently I have done a more somber body of work about the struggles of an asylum seeker. [That work] seemed naturally to require black and white.” 

Exhibits, talks and continued work on her photo collections are how Becky spends her time. “With the current public interest in diversity and inclusion, there has been increasing calls for exhibits of my work. Also, I am collaborating with the University of New Hampshire to archive my photographs as a record of the state's diversity over the past decade, but also as a photographic resource for educators and researchers.”

She also has an exhibit of photographs and stories of immigrants based on her second book, "Finding Home: Portraits and Memories of Immigrants,” a history of New Hampshire's immigration, in collaboration with the Manchester Historic Association.

Supported in part by a grant from the NH State Council on the Arts, Becky has a collection of work on tour and currently at the Manchester Community College. “It shows the life of an immigrant who fled his African country and legally asked for asylum in 2018. Instead, he was shackled and jailed for no other reason than asking for asylum. Now, almost five years later, he is still under house arrest and required to wear an ever-present ankle monitor which tracks his movements. To protect his family back in his country, his face cannot be recognized in my photographs, and I cannot identify him by his real name or country. He is an artist and poet, so his artwork and words accompany my photography. The exhibit is unusual; ten large black-and-white photographs are printed on canvas and suspended inside black backdrop frames with zigzags of blackcord. The exhibit at the Manchester Community College is up from 3/21 to 4/15.  In January-February, this exhibit was in Harrisville, and will be going next to Newfields, Hanover, and Peterborough.

When asked what she would like to learn or do next, Becky said, “My top priorities now are managing the exhibits and working on the archive with UNH. However, I have found with this project that new opportunities and new side projects relating to photography of immigration and refugees always seem to pop up. I also go to multicultural events and conferences where I talk about my work and sell my two books, both of which have won several awards.”

You can see more about Becky and her work on her websites: http://www.fieldworkphotos.com/index.htmland http://differentrootsnh.com

Susan Lirakis began making photographs at the age of six, after receiving a camera as a baptism gift from her godparents, and she never stopped. Initially, she used medium format films and made silver prints in her home darkroom. Now, she creates primarily using digital cameras. She says, “I loved working in my darkroom, and I still use the Holga and other plastic cameras. Using those cameras helps keep alive the feeling I had making images when I was a child. I'm drawn to imagery that is dream-like and filled with feeling, tending toward archetypes.”

Susan has been a member of NHSPA since its inception. She was part of the original group that visited Appledore Island with Peter Randall, Gary Samson, and others, prior to the formal organization in 1998 and meetings on Star Island.

“I am curious about looking and I’m interested in exploring light and gesture. I am fascinated with what it is that makes us feel human. With my imagery, I work to acknowledge and celebrate persons and everyday phenomena.”

Recently, Susan has been working in series: a collection of mothers and daughters from the 1980s that she has revisited and re-photographed thirty to forty years later. Another series is called, "In Good Company," portraits of residents of her small town. A third series is of portraits of Tibetan nuns in exile. She is also actively expanding a series of portraits and interviews with people describing what makes them feel most alive, entitled “From Our Hearts, Sharing Our Stories,” which has been on-going.

Most recently, she has been making images of folks wearing plant-based wreaths. She says, “I alter the images to remove traces of literalness and to create more feeling of mythological timelessness. I also have a daily practice of adding to a visual journal through photographic imagery.”

“I’m interested in exploring processes of living, aging, and dying, and of myth and memory. Through my work I connect and ground physically in this world. I enjoy learning alternative ways to adequately interpret the work.”

Susan has received awards and fellowships through the NH State Council of the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, the Clowes Foundation, and McLaughlin Residency Fellowship.

You can see more about Susan Lirakis and her work on her website, http://www.susanlirakis.com

Peter Randall is the founder and first president of the New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists.  

Please tell us a bit about the founding of NHSPA 

“Forty years ago this August, I invited a group of fellow photographers to spend a weekend on Appledore Island at the Shoals Marine Laboratory. I had been thinking that nowhere in New Hampshire was there a place for non-commercial, or fine art, photographers to gather and share work and ideas.

About thirty photographers participated, including current members Gary Samson, Ian Raymond, Susan Lirakis, Jay Goldsmith, and David Putnam. We continued to meet annually until 1991. I had moved our location to Monhegan that year, but later the following winter I was diagnosed with cancer and was out of action for two years. My surgery cured the cancer but left me with a disabled leg and little ability to wander the rocky landscape of Appledore.

Several years passed and I was urged to organize another photographer gathering on Star Island. A large group met on Star about 1996, but later Star officials said a conference couldn’t just be friends of mine. We’d have to be an organization. With Gary and a few others, I organized what is now the New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists. I was not excited with the name, but the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office would not accept a simpler title.

We met on Star for about 20 years, often adding a guest speaker. Some weekends we had more than forty participants.”

What drives you?

“For most of my career I have photographed for publication, mostly documenting people, places and events. After taking just two photo classes at UNH, I got a job as staff photographer for a Manchester weekly and six months later I was the editor and staff photographer for the Hampton Union weekly. This was followed by ten years at New Hampshire Profiles magazine, where I eventually became editor and continued to shoot for the publication. Starting in 1983, I have authored nine books of photographs, including three on New Hampshire and two on the Isles of Shoals. Mostly when I grab a camera there is a purpose for the images I make."

What is your favorite medium / why?

“Although I did use medium format for a while, I have mostly worked with 35mm film and digital cameras. As I have aged and my walking has declined, I now use lighter Panasonic micro four thirds equipment. I used a Linhof 6 x17 panoramic camera for a book of New Hampshire images. That camera uses 120 medium format film to make four exposures on a roll. I bracketed exposures so usually one roll was one subject.”

What are you working on now?

“As photographer for 60 years, I am currently going through my work deciding what to save.  Older images are now history, visual records of people and places changed now or perhaps no longer existing.”

Thank you, Peter!

We're excited to announce the New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists (NHSPA) 23rd Annual Member Exhibit. The exhibit will be held January 7-29 at the Exeter Town Hall Gallery (Saturdays and Sundays 12-4 p.m.), with an opening reception on Saturday, January 7, from 12-4 p.m. It is free and open to the public. We hope you'll stop by!

"Magnolia" by member Joe Sack

Members from around the state will share our work in this exhibit. The work will include many methods, from black and white gelatin silver prints, to modern digitally-printed images.

NHSPA is a statewide organization of fine art photographers dedicated to the support of contemporary photography as a means of creative expression and cultural insight. We focus on the education and artistic development of its members and the community by providing exhibitions, publications and educational outreach programs. Our headquarters are at Kimball-Jenkins School of Art in Concord, NH, where we have a studio, printers, darkrooms, and meeting spaces.