Spring Kick-Off Events

The last week has been busy with farm and garden kick-off events in/around Rochester, NY. Below are a few quick digital photos from the last week.

Sunday Farm Drop-off Turns into Impromptu Farm Market, 4/18/10
Attendees stand in line for pre-ordered eggs and vegetables from Clearview Farm:

Garlic greens from Fraser's Garlic Farm:

The next drop-off/farm market will be this coming Sunday, 5/1, in the parking lot of the Cornell Cooperative Extension, 249 Highland Ave. You can contact me for additional information, or check out the Rochester Farm Connection: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RochesterFarm/ for postings.

RIT Community Garden Kick-Off, 4/22/10



Volunteers work in the Rochester Roots Franklin Greenhouse, 4/22/10



Onion Planting Party at Mud Creek Farm, 4/24/10



GVOCSA Spring Kick-Off, 4/25/10
A walk in the woods, Kraai Preserve:

Photographer Lauren Greenfield Visits RIT

Last Wednesday, RIT's School of Photographic Arts and Sciences (SPAS) had the great pleasure of welcoming photographer Lauren Greenfield to speak about her work. The auditorium was packed, as Greenfield presented an assortment of imagery, including the projects Fast Forward, Girl Culture and Thin. She also showed video clips from the feature-length documentary film Thin (first aired on HBO in 2006), and Fashion Show, a video which currently plays automatically when visiting Greenfield's website.

I first learned about Greenfield's work during a photo course in college, when reading Terry Barrett's 4th edition of Criticizing Photographs. The book includes a color plate of the above image (Alli, Annie, Hannah, and Berit, all 13, before the first big party of the seventh grade, Edina, Minnesota, about 2002), alongside an artist statement.

After a compelling presentation, Greenfield answered questions from the audience.



To learn more about Greenfield's multifaceted projects, check out her comprehensive website.

This Week in Rochester (and beyond)

Food, Photography, and Farm events this week........

Dirt! The Movie Airs Tuesday, April 20, 10PM EST on PBS
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Photographer Lauren Greenfield to speak at Rochester Institute of Technology

Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Time: 7-8PM
Location: Liberal Arts Bldg (6), Room A205
Cost: Free

Additional information available at RIT's School of Photographic Arts and Sciences Facebook event page.
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FYI: Thursday, April 22 is Earth Day.
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RIT Community Garden Kick-Off

Date: Thursday April 22, 2010
Time: 11AM - 1PM
Location: Southside of U-Lot near the tennis courts

All RIT community members are invited to come and look, visit with current garden members, ask questions, get your hands dirty digging, pulling or tilling, and its not to late to join!
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University of Rochester: Earth Week

Check out the earth week link, to see a variety of fun activities at U of R this week, including a Local Foods Dinner and a screening of Fresh.
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GVOCSA Spring Kick-Off

Date: Sunday, April 25, 2010, rain or shine
Time: 2PM
Location: 2231 Welcher Road, Newark, NY

Festivities will begin at the Maypole (near the farm parking lot) followed by a wildflower walk led by Local CSA member Leona Lauster along the trail on the Kraai Preserve. Leona is an avid birder so bring binoculars. Tours of the farm will be available. The celebration concludes with a potluck supper. Please bring a dish to share and your own place settings. The farm will provide beverages.
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Do you know about any additional upcoming events? Post below!

Photographer Doug DuBois Visits RIT

Last Wednesday, RIT's Photo House, in association with the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences (SPAS) presented Doug DuBois, the man behind the photo book All the Days and Nights. Doug was kind enough to spend two hours giving portfolio reviews to a few photo students, including myself. Here he reviews work from my fellow classmate Carly Miller:

After portfolio reviews, Doug presented a lecture in which he read the afterword from his book, then showed some new work made both in Syracuse, NY, and Ireland. This included his portrait series Arrival.


This slide from the lecture shows the image on the cover of the book:


I first learned about All the Days and Nights last summer when Aperture Foundation and Flak Photo presented a book giveaway. It was a pleasure to meet Doug and to hear about his work!

ArtAwake 2010

I just got back from the very eclectic ArtAwake event in downtown Rochester. The former First National Bank was transformed into a venue packed with food, music, and lots of art. All in all, it was really nice to see so many people coming together for the sake of art and community. Here's my documentation of the artwork up by myself and two of my classmates in the RIT MFA photo program.

Nick Marshall had a series of four images up. It's difficult to tell exactly what the piece looks like from my photo, because the work is so highly reflective.

Fiona Wilson had three images up from her series Macy Parade. Here's Buzz Lightyear!


And here are two images from my thesis project, Slow & Steady. The first is Turnips, Mud Creek Farm. The second is Earth Beds, South Wedge Community Garden.


Thanks to University of Rochester students for pulling off such a successful event!

This Week in Rochester, NY

Here are two art/photo events happening this week in Rochester, NY:

Photographer Doug DuBois to speak at Rochester Institute of Technology

Date: Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Time: 6PM
Location: Carlson Auditorium, Bldg. 76 room 1125
Cost: Free

Additional information available at RIT's School of Photographic Arts and Sciences news page and Facebook event page.

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ArtAwake

On Saturday, April 10th, 2010, from 5pm-2am, ArtAwake will transform the former First National Bank on 35 State Street in Downtown Rochester through a festival of art, music, and much more! There will be art of all forms and special installations, 21 bands and musicians performing on 3 stages, interactive exhibits of all types, a historical exhibit, and a variety of culinary art and other food & drink provided by a variety of local businesses. Tickets are available in advance or at the door, and will gain you unlimited access for the duration of the event along with special discounts at several nearby restaurants.

Date: Sat., April 10
Time: 5PM - 2AM
Location: 35 State Street, Rochester, NY
Cost: UR Students: $7 advance, $9 door
Other Students/UR Community: $8 advance, $10 door
Community: $9 advance, $11 door

Two of my photos will be on display, as well as work from my MFA classmates Fiona Wilson and Nick Marshall.

Easter Eggs

Here's my little kitchen creation for the day. Sadly, for some reason I have yet to purchase paprika. I could have sworn I'd bought it long ago. Anyway, try to envision the eggs with the orange sprinkling of the seasoning. The free-range eggs were purchased yesterday at the Rochester Public Market, from a vender by the name of Old Home Farms. The recipe was a slight variation of this one. Though the addition of a few teaspoons of lemon juice is key! And I used a trick I learned last summer from a coworker: instead of halving the eggs lengthwise, I halved them at the width, but used a knife to take a sliver off the pointy ends of the egg. Then they stand up on their own, which is a nice little variation to the basic deviled egg.

Happy Easter! May your day be spent with family, friends and delicious food!

Livingston County 2010 Farmer Neighbor Evening

While photographing the first day of Sugarbush Hollow's Maple Syrup Festival, I had the pleasure of meeting the president of Livingston County's Chamber of Commerce, Cynthia Oswald. Upon hearing about my thesis project about small scale, local food production, she generously invited me to attend the county's 13th Annual 2010 Farmer Neighbor Evening last Friday, March 25.

The event was held at the Genesee River Restaurant & Reception Center, which housed over 300 attendees. The entryway and reception room were lined with displays by such organizations as the NY Farm Bureau, the 4-H program, and even AT&T. Once Again Nut Butter, Deer Run Winery, and Eagle Crest Vineyards provided product samples as hors d'oeuvres. The main events of the evening were the dinner buffet, award presentations, and an address from guest speaker David J. Salmonsen, Senior Director of Congressional Relations.