World Cyanotype Day: A Celebration with A Smith Gallery
The World’s Largest Cyanotype at A Smith Gallery - September 2015
World Cyanotype Day was started five years ago by Judy Sherrod. Judy passed away three years ago. She was a true force of nature; an instigator, a mobilizer and a really good friend to many, many photographers. Judy was an alternative process photographer. She built big pinhole cameras that she and S Gayle Stevens used to make some truly astounding work. She was also the founder of the alternative photography group shootapalooza. World Cyanotype Day is an offshoot and baby of the photographers of shootapalooza. However, since its creation it has become a worldwide event.
The true genesis of WCD occurred over a few beers one evening in A Smith Gallery while having a conversation about the making of The World’s Largest Cyanotype in September of 2015. Judy had previously decided that A Smith Gallery, with the help of the members of shootapalooza and the citizens of Johnson City, should sponsor the creation of The World’s Largest Cyanotype -- It was magnificent at ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. Big Blue unofficially held the record for two years.
Judy was musing over the fact that there was a World Pinhole Day -- so why couldn’t there be a World Cyanotype Day? That same evening, sitting in her famous Airstream Travel trailer, she acquired the domain name and shortly thereafter turned folks on, all over the planet, to the fun and magic of the cyanotype process. Thanks Judy.
CALL FOR ENTRY - “Interconnected”
“Intertwined 1” by Amanda Smith
Now, in the age of pandemics it is more evident than ever how we are dramatically interconnected, interdependent and just one part of the vast ecology of the earth, the web of life. The web of life as an illustration of the totality of the relationships of the earth’s systems explains for us how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; more powerful, more vital – complete. As a beautiful cut glass vase is much more than particles of sand, soda and lime, we, humanity are much more than one person, one community, one nation.
The challenging moment that we are all living through illustrates absolutely how interconnected we are -- how much we need each other physically, materially and spiritually. It is not just our human to human connection that we need and miss right now -- it is also our connection to nature and wildlife and weather.
The origins of the word ecology come from the Greek word for home or household. The pandemic has temporarily altered the ecology of the earth, our home, in many good ways. It has given it a needed rest from a significant amount of human activity. Yet for people, for us, it has altered our ability to live completely fulfilled and content in our home because we need the connection of touch and fellowship and meaningful interaction. The disease has shown us how profoundly interconnected we are by altering the connections and preventing us from truly going home.
---oOOOo---
Everyone in the world is cordially invited to celebrate World Cyanotype Day at A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, Texas on Saturday, September 26 by creating cyanotype flags of their interpretation of “Interconnected” on white cloth, each 12×12 inches (30×30) cm. Strung together, the flags symbolize how interconnected we all are on the planet we inhabit. If you would like to participate in the A Smith Gallery flag installation, please send your flags to the gallery. We also invite you to celebrate with your friends wherever you find yourself on September 26, World Cyanotype Day.
If you would like for A Smith Gallery to hang your flags in celebration of World Cyanotype Day, please mail or ship them for delivery by September 18 to:
A Smith Gallery
103 N Nugent #175
P O Box 175
Johnson City, TX 78636
If you would like for us to return your flags, please include return address and postage.
The installation will hang in the gallery until November 8. The flags will then be taken to New Orleans to the Healing Arts Center for an exhibition beginning in December for PhotoNOLA until the end of Mardi Gras.
There is no entry fee. We just want to fill the gallery with cyanotype flags! For more information or questions, please contact amanda@asmithgallery.com. Please check out Blueprints on Fabric for all your cyanotype supplies!
INSPIRATION
ABOUT THE GALLERY
Established in May, 2010, A Smith Gallery is located in Johnson City, Texas in the Nugent Avenue Arts District. The gallery exhibits the work of both amateur and professional photographers through juried and invitational exhibitions. Amanda Smith and Kevin Tully are the Gallery Directors. Izzie and WeeGee are the gallery cats.
Amanda has a thirty year background as a photographer. She was an active board member of the Texas Photographic Society for fifteen years. Her work is in institutional and private collections across the country.
Kevin is a photographer, designer and artist. He has over thirty-five years of experience as a landscape designer, furniture designer, fine art painter and photographer.
As a fine art photography gallery, A Smith Gallery’s mission is to promote the photographic arts through exhibitions, workshops and the facilitating of an active vibrant community of photographers. We celebrate photography in all its manifestations, analog, digital and alternative. Creativity is encouraged.
Connect with A Smith Gallery on their Website!
RELATED ARTICLES
Yoav Friedländer’s "A Form of View" series offers a unique look at the intersection of American and Israeli cultures. Born in Israel but heavily influenced by American media, Friedländer uses photography to create simulated realities, exploring how the medium influences our understanding of the world and blurs the line between reality and fiction.