Neighborhood Stories > Neighborhood-Exhibition #2
Neighborhood-Exhibition #2
Miguel Perez/Bearing Witness DTLA
HONORABLE MENTION
HONORABLE MENTION
MIGUEL PEREZ
After an involuntary life upheaval I stumbled to Downtown LA in 2014 with a camera and a desire to capture moments of truth that would somehow reveal my own truth. The process continues. My work can be seen on the walls of Boheme Yoga on Spring Street, and was displayed at a recent group show at ArtSpace 114.
After an involuntary life upheaval I stumbled to Downtown LA in 2014 with a camera and a desire to capture moments of truth that would somehow reveal my own truth. The process continues. My work can be seen on the walls of Boheme Yoga on Spring Street, and was displayed at a recent group show at ArtSpace 114.
Miguel Perez/Us And Them DTLA
Miguel Perez/Santee Sexy DTLA
If viewing on a computer, click the arrow to see more of Prais's work.
Miguel Perez/Power Excersize DTLA
Miguel Perez/Muse Abused DTLA
Michael Prais/Neighbors (Down along Rockford)
MICHAEL G. PRAIS
For many years as a photographer living in the suburbs, I searched rural and urban areas for compositions that spoke to me. I had eschewed the suburbs until the months before COVID struck, when I challenged myself in a critique to explore suburban compositions.
I am not a street photographer looking for curious poses against concrete backgrounds. Someday, maybe, but I am interested more often in the arrangements of objects that people build, buy, use, and leave behind.
A century ago, people walked to work and stayed close to home. Neighborhoods were populated during the day. The mid-century men and, eventually, women left their stationary homes in an automobile shelter for a distant workplace. Surprisingly few people populate these (suburban and urban) neighborhoods during the day. Modern neighborhoods are arrangements of objects that people build, buy, use, and leave behind.
As a youth, I walked and rode my extended suburban neighborhood looking for but not capturing the light on the houses and the shadows of the trees. Today, I capture the light and the shadows, searching for memories. I convert these multicolor photos to monochrome to signal the questionable absence of people and to signal the loss of those important to me who once populated my neighborhood.
Michael G. Prais grew up in suburban Dearborn, Michigan, the home of the Ford Motor Company, during the post–World War II heyday of the auto industry. He studied chemistry, physics, and mathematics, did derivations and large-scale calculations, and earned a doctorate.
He taught chemistry until his background in information and communication technologies drew him to support nascent personal computer technologies for university faculty, students, and staff.
As a visual person who has always been interested in how things work, he has moved between the concrete and the abstract. He enjoys analyzing and building explanations and naturally became a teacher, helping others understand and use abstract tools. Leveraging his mathematical and scientific expertise, he authored Photographic Exposure Calculations and Camera Operation, a definitive book on camera operation.
Michael has always been curious about how visual arrangements stimulated him. He is fascinated by the interplay of the designed and the organic, and he examines both human constructions in nature and the unexpected, coincidental arrangements of the unwitting human hand.
Considering his photographs of abandoned and deteriorating objects in remote settings, Michael self-published a set of three books of images and ideas entitled Out of Context into Chaos, which addresses mortality, memory, and photographic reality through the random reassembly of photographs.
IMAGES FOR SALE-
Neighbors - Down along Rockford
Red Bush White and Yellow Houses with Clouds
Neighbors - White House on Corner with Clouds
Garage Tree Brick House Hydrant
Neighbors - Blue and Yellow with Clouds
Gray Brick House with Two Dormers
All images:
16inH x 20inW
Archival pigment print
Unframed $200
Serialized (currently at #1)
Signed on back
Contact:
Michael G. Prais
michael@michaelprais.me
For many years as a photographer living in the suburbs, I searched rural and urban areas for compositions that spoke to me. I had eschewed the suburbs until the months before COVID struck, when I challenged myself in a critique to explore suburban compositions.
I am not a street photographer looking for curious poses against concrete backgrounds. Someday, maybe, but I am interested more often in the arrangements of objects that people build, buy, use, and leave behind.
A century ago, people walked to work and stayed close to home. Neighborhoods were populated during the day. The mid-century men and, eventually, women left their stationary homes in an automobile shelter for a distant workplace. Surprisingly few people populate these (suburban and urban) neighborhoods during the day. Modern neighborhoods are arrangements of objects that people build, buy, use, and leave behind.
As a youth, I walked and rode my extended suburban neighborhood looking for but not capturing the light on the houses and the shadows of the trees. Today, I capture the light and the shadows, searching for memories. I convert these multicolor photos to monochrome to signal the questionable absence of people and to signal the loss of those important to me who once populated my neighborhood.
Michael G. Prais grew up in suburban Dearborn, Michigan, the home of the Ford Motor Company, during the post–World War II heyday of the auto industry. He studied chemistry, physics, and mathematics, did derivations and large-scale calculations, and earned a doctorate.
He taught chemistry until his background in information and communication technologies drew him to support nascent personal computer technologies for university faculty, students, and staff.
As a visual person who has always been interested in how things work, he has moved between the concrete and the abstract. He enjoys analyzing and building explanations and naturally became a teacher, helping others understand and use abstract tools. Leveraging his mathematical and scientific expertise, he authored Photographic Exposure Calculations and Camera Operation, a definitive book on camera operation.
Michael has always been curious about how visual arrangements stimulated him. He is fascinated by the interplay of the designed and the organic, and he examines both human constructions in nature and the unexpected, coincidental arrangements of the unwitting human hand.
Considering his photographs of abandoned and deteriorating objects in remote settings, Michael self-published a set of three books of images and ideas entitled Out of Context into Chaos, which addresses mortality, memory, and photographic reality through the random reassembly of photographs.
IMAGES FOR SALE-
Neighbors - Down along Rockford
Red Bush White and Yellow Houses with Clouds
Neighbors - White House on Corner with Clouds
Garage Tree Brick House Hydrant
Neighbors - Blue and Yellow with Clouds
Gray Brick House with Two Dormers
All images:
16inH x 20inW
Archival pigment print
Unframed $200
Serialized (currently at #1)
Signed on back
Contact:
Michael G. Prais
michael@michaelprais.me
Michael Prais/Red Bush (White and Yellow Houses with Clouds)
Michael Prais/Garage Tree Brick Hydrant
If viewing on a computer, click the arrow to see more of Prais's work.
Michael Prais/Neighbors (Blue and Yellow with Clouds)
Michael Prais/Neighbors - White House on Corner with Clouds
Michael Prais/Gray Brick House with.Two Dormers
Martha Clarkson/Interlude
HONORABLE MENTION
HONORABLE MENTION
MARTHA CLARKSON
My photography is guided by visual instinct and a fascination with the everyday. I focus on moments of unexpected beauty, tension, and connection in the places where we live. A creation of images known but slightly unfamiliar, that draw in the viewer to take a second look, creating their own story.
Martha Clarkson’s photography can be found at NYC4pa, Lightbox Photography Gallery, Hoffman Center for the Arts, The Confluence Gallery, Blue Sky Gallery, F-Stop Magazine, Black Box Gallery, LensCulture, Light, Space, and Time Gallery, Ours Photography magazine, Calyx, Junto.
My photography is guided by visual instinct and a fascination with the everyday. I focus on moments of unexpected beauty, tension, and connection in the places where we live. A creation of images known but slightly unfamiliar, that draw in the viewer to take a second look, creating their own story.
Martha Clarkson’s photography can be found at NYC4pa, Lightbox Photography Gallery, Hoffman Center for the Arts, The Confluence Gallery, Blue Sky Gallery, F-Stop Magazine, Black Box Gallery, LensCulture, Light, Space, and Time Gallery, Ours Photography magazine, Calyx, Junto.
Martha Clarkson/At the Shop
HONORABLE MENTION
HONORABLE MENTION
Martha Clarkson/Waiting
If viewing on a computer, click the arrow to see more of Prais's work.
Martha Clarkson/Break
Martha Clarkson/Morning Ritual
Mark Kalan/Abuelitas
FIRST PLACE
FIRST PLACE
Review of Mark Kalan's 'Abuelitas'
By juror Laurie Freitag | L.A. Photo Curator
What first drew me to 'Abuelitas' was how much of a neighborhood seems to exist within this one small scene. Two women sitting together outside a home, a carefully shaped tree, the light and those wonderful shadows—it feels completely ordinary, and yet very particular to this place.
I love that they’re sitting exactly in the shade of the tree. It almost feels as though the shade is permanent, like it’s always there waiting for them. It gives the photograph this wonderful sense of routine and belonging.
I also love the presence of the two chairs. They seem almost as permanent as the tree. But because we know shade moves, you realize these women must be moving their chairs as the sun changes, just to stay inside that small patch of relief. That idea gives the picture so much humanity and makes the scene feel lived rather than staged.
Questions for Mark Kalan
Laurie Freitag: What can you tell us about the women? How often do these women sit together in this spot? Are they related, neighbors, friends, or all three?
Mark Kalan: I recall that they're sisters. Many Mexican families have multiple generations living in the same house and the street becomes an extension of their living space. (More on that below.) It was also pre-parade so I’m confident that they were waiting for the festivities to pass.
Freitag: What drew you to them before you made the photograph?
Kalan: I was drawn to make the image because of the humanity and symmetry plus the “If you don’t photograph this you'll never see it again” siren went off in my head.
Freitag: Do they usually bring the chairs out themselves?
Kalan: I don’t know though I’m sure that they had family looking after them. Few Mexican seniors are without family looking after them. When I went to make the photo one got up and offered to move but I asked her to stay where she was. After all THEY were the subject matter.
Freitag: What time of day was this, and how hot was it?
Kalan: Morning in autumn. Yes it was hot - high 80s F. Since emigrating to the tropics I’ve noticed people seeking shade is a common site and have been trying to capture it. Yesterday on a walk I saw a couple waiting for a bus on the Carreterra (main highway through the village) that were standing with their heads in the shadow of a walk/don’t walk sign. On the malecon I’ve noticed people setting up chairs in the shade of the palm trees, which is minimal.
Freitag: Did you notice them moving the chairs to follow the shade?
Kalan: No but I’m sure that they did. Here in the tropics shade in important.
Freitag: Is this scene typical of the neighborhood?
Kalan: While many families enjoy the sidewalk and streets in front of their homes. This was unique which is what caught my eye. Some families set up tables, pop-up tents and serve meals. FYI-my barrio is my favorite subject. I do photo walks daily, which is why your “Neighborhood Stories” call fell perfectly into my purview.
Freitag: If you went back to this same spot today, do you think you would find them there again?
Kalan: Probably not. I can assume that they sat there often especially during the parade season though recently that tree has been pruned down only to the trunk.
More About Mark Kalan
I’m a retired commercial photographer then motorcycle journalist and publisher retired in a small Mexican mountain village of Ajijic on Lake Chapala. I no longer travel and as a result all of my photos are local.
I have been documenting the Puebla Magico of Ajijic for twelve years. It is a 500+ year old village that is steeped in tradition. Choosing just six photos from the sixty-thousand in my files has been difficult. I have portraits, parades, rodeos and more to choose from. My goal is to publish a book of 100-200 images. My technique and vision are influenced by the color photographers of the 1960s and 70s. I’ve used many cameras in this work both digital and film.
Born 1954 in New York City I attended high school in the suburbs of Rockland County. I graduated from the now defunct Brooks Institute of Photography June 1978.
Returning to New York City I went to work with the legendary color photographer Peter Turner. Through Pete’s studio I met Jay Maisel and Ernst Haas, All three influenced my vision. Later I became Studio Manager to the late Rebecca Blake and others. In my small loft on Warren Street I pursued commercial work while testing new models for the major agencies. In 1994 I pivoted from commercial and fashion photography into motorcycle photography and motorcycle journalism which allowed me 2-wheeled travel through all the USA and most of Europe.
I’ve won awards and/or cameras from Kodak, Scholastic Magazines, Nikon, Leica, Olympus, Hasselblad, Ricoh, BMW Motorcycles and more.
www.MarkKalan.com
www.instagram.com/markkalan
By juror Laurie Freitag | L.A. Photo Curator
What first drew me to 'Abuelitas' was how much of a neighborhood seems to exist within this one small scene. Two women sitting together outside a home, a carefully shaped tree, the light and those wonderful shadows—it feels completely ordinary, and yet very particular to this place.
I love that they’re sitting exactly in the shade of the tree. It almost feels as though the shade is permanent, like it’s always there waiting for them. It gives the photograph this wonderful sense of routine and belonging.
I also love the presence of the two chairs. They seem almost as permanent as the tree. But because we know shade moves, you realize these women must be moving their chairs as the sun changes, just to stay inside that small patch of relief. That idea gives the picture so much humanity and makes the scene feel lived rather than staged.
Questions for Mark Kalan
Laurie Freitag: What can you tell us about the women? How often do these women sit together in this spot? Are they related, neighbors, friends, or all three?
Mark Kalan: I recall that they're sisters. Many Mexican families have multiple generations living in the same house and the street becomes an extension of their living space. (More on that below.) It was also pre-parade so I’m confident that they were waiting for the festivities to pass.
Freitag: What drew you to them before you made the photograph?
Kalan: I was drawn to make the image because of the humanity and symmetry plus the “If you don’t photograph this you'll never see it again” siren went off in my head.
Freitag: Do they usually bring the chairs out themselves?
Kalan: I don’t know though I’m sure that they had family looking after them. Few Mexican seniors are without family looking after them. When I went to make the photo one got up and offered to move but I asked her to stay where she was. After all THEY were the subject matter.
Freitag: What time of day was this, and how hot was it?
Kalan: Morning in autumn. Yes it was hot - high 80s F. Since emigrating to the tropics I’ve noticed people seeking shade is a common site and have been trying to capture it. Yesterday on a walk I saw a couple waiting for a bus on the Carreterra (main highway through the village) that were standing with their heads in the shadow of a walk/don’t walk sign. On the malecon I’ve noticed people setting up chairs in the shade of the palm trees, which is minimal.
Freitag: Did you notice them moving the chairs to follow the shade?
Kalan: No but I’m sure that they did. Here in the tropics shade in important.
Freitag: Is this scene typical of the neighborhood?
Kalan: While many families enjoy the sidewalk and streets in front of their homes. This was unique which is what caught my eye. Some families set up tables, pop-up tents and serve meals. FYI-my barrio is my favorite subject. I do photo walks daily, which is why your “Neighborhood Stories” call fell perfectly into my purview.
Freitag: If you went back to this same spot today, do you think you would find them there again?
Kalan: Probably not. I can assume that they sat there often especially during the parade season though recently that tree has been pruned down only to the trunk.
More About Mark Kalan
I’m a retired commercial photographer then motorcycle journalist and publisher retired in a small Mexican mountain village of Ajijic on Lake Chapala. I no longer travel and as a result all of my photos are local.
I have been documenting the Puebla Magico of Ajijic for twelve years. It is a 500+ year old village that is steeped in tradition. Choosing just six photos from the sixty-thousand in my files has been difficult. I have portraits, parades, rodeos and more to choose from. My goal is to publish a book of 100-200 images. My technique and vision are influenced by the color photographers of the 1960s and 70s. I’ve used many cameras in this work both digital and film.
Born 1954 in New York City I attended high school in the suburbs of Rockland County. I graduated from the now defunct Brooks Institute of Photography June 1978.
Returning to New York City I went to work with the legendary color photographer Peter Turner. Through Pete’s studio I met Jay Maisel and Ernst Haas, All three influenced my vision. Later I became Studio Manager to the late Rebecca Blake and others. In my small loft on Warren Street I pursued commercial work while testing new models for the major agencies. In 1994 I pivoted from commercial and fashion photography into motorcycle photography and motorcycle journalism which allowed me 2-wheeled travel through all the USA and most of Europe.
I’ve won awards and/or cameras from Kodak, Scholastic Magazines, Nikon, Leica, Olympus, Hasselblad, Ricoh, BMW Motorcycles and more.
www.MarkKalan.com
www.instagram.com/markkalan
Mark Kalan/Sombreros y bebe
Mark Kalan/Cotton Candy
If viewing on a computer, click the arrow to see more of Prais's work.
Mark Kalan/Hombe de Plumeros
Mark Kalan/Hijo de Revolucion
Mark Kalan/Arbol de Seis Esquinas
Neighborhood Stories Home:
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories
First Place:
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories/neighborhood-st-first-place-mark-kalan/1
Honorable Mentions:
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories/neighborhood-stories-honorable-mentions-igal-stulbach-scooter-jane-gottlieb-blue-car-home-leanne-trivett-10-vroom-martha-clarkson-at-the-shop-martha-clarkson-interlude-miguel-perez-bearing-witness-dtla/1
Best Series:
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories/best-series-mark-kalan/1
Exhibition #1:
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories/neighborhood-exhibition-1/1
Exhibition #2
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories/neighborhood-exhibition-2/1
Neighborhood Stories Home:
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories
First Place:
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories/neighborhood-st-first-place-mark-kalan/1
Honorable Mentions:
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories/neighborhood-stories-honorable-mentions-igal-stulbach-scooter-jane-gottlieb-blue-car-home-leanne-trivett-10-vroom-martha-clarkson-at-the-shop-martha-clarkson-interlude-miguel-perez-bearing-witness-dtla/1
Best Series:
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories/best-series-mark-kalan/1
Exhibition #1:
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories/neighborhood-exhibition-1/1
Exhibition #2
https://laphotocurator.com/neighborhood-stories/neighborhood-exhibition-2/1
