In Case You Missed It

July's Schmooze was a CoPA Slide Slam, and five members courageously stepped forward to show their work. And what an enjoyable presentation it was!

After announcements and new member introductions, Mark and Nancy Stall of Pro Studio Supply gave a short sponsor presentation, which is allowed and encouraged once per year for all sponsors. Mark described his company and offered a discount to all CoPA members, and Nancy announced the Milwaukee debut of their new service Pro Studio Exchange. Contact Mark Stall for more information or visit his website.

Ben Stuart
Ben Stuart began the slide slam with his series of images of people involved with historical reenactments. Ben explained that people and events of the past, along with material items, old photographs and his father's darkroom had a profound influence on his creative style. See Ben's CoPA gallery for more of his work.

Michael Nowotny
Michael Nowotny followed with a series that he is preparing to present to David Hobbes Honda in Glendale for possible display. His black-and-white images generally stuck to the theme of racing, with his intent to highlight things that one normally doesn't look at. To see more of Michael's images, visit his CoPA gallery.

Shay Armstrong
Shay Armstrong presented a strong body of work involving the nude form enhanced by her own skill of body paint art-as-costume. Shay is building this portfolio for presentation as her master's thesis at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Check out her CoPA gallery for more images in this series.

Tim Holte
Tim Holte followed up with a group of images that consisted mostly of winter scenes. Some of his stories were very funny, about predicaments he found (or nearly found) himself in while shooting in blizzards and along the lakefront among crashing icy waves. At one point he himself became the subject of a journalist's photograph that appeared in newspapers across the nation. Tim's images often evoked the softness found even in the fiercest of winter storms. More of Tim's images can be seen in his CoPA gallery.

Tracy Jones
Tracy Jones ended the program with a project she described as being very much in its "infancy" that she desired feedback on. Her work combined several images into layers of varying texture, tone and transparency, with the top layer being a nude-backed woman looking away from the viewer into an abstract background. Tracy commented that she hoped her work provoked "discomfort" in the viewer, and many comments indicated that she succeeded. One of Tracy's photographs is at the top of this page.

Several members commented on how much they enjoyed the presentations and in seeing others' work. Success of the slide slams depend on members stepping up to share their projects with the group for feedback. Start thinking of presenting your own body of work at the next slide slam.

And thanks to Coree Coppinger, chair of the Programming Committee, for organizing the slide slam.

– Kelly Crandall