At left is Patrick Kolb’s 4x5 platinum/palladium contact print “Trailside,” just one of our gallery of fine prints available in our Store. Because we understand the difficulty of seeing the true beauty of a contact print from a scanned image on your computer, we offer an unconditional guarantee. If you are not satisfied with any photograph you have purchased from the online store, you can return it for a refund.

We currently have well over 250 photographs available for your inspection. Just click on the link below to quickly and easily view our catalog. The store is a secure site that allows you to purchase using your credit card or PayPal account.

Click here to visit our Store.

Paula Chamlee

The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas, is showing Paula’s images from her book High Plains Farm. The show runs through April 15.

To visit the museum’s web site for directions or more information, please click here. For purchase information on Paula’s work, please visit our Store.

Susan Huber

Sydney’s Point Light Gallery is featuring Susan Huber’s work, along with that of Linda Connor and George Tice, in their "Truth and Beauty" contact print exhibition. The show runs through May. To visit the gallery’s web site, please click here.

Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee

Through April 15, Michael and Paula will have a joint exhibition at Point Light Gallery, in Sydney, Australia. The gallery is located at 50 Reservoir Street in the Surry Hills community. For more information, please check the gallery’s web site.

Michael and Paula will have another joint exhibition at Camera Obscura Gallery in Denver, opening June 15 and running through July 29. The gallery is located at 1309 Bannock Street; phone number is 303.623.4059. They will be in Denver for a book signing at the opening. Click here for more information on the gallery.

Beginning the week of June 24, Michael and Paula will open a long-running exhibition of their photographs from Tuscany at Olio Pane Vino, an Italian restaurant in Paris, France. It is located in the 1st Arrondissement at 44, rue Coguillière (Métro: Les Halles, Tel. 01 42 33 21 15).

In September, Michael and Paula will travel to China for the first time to present their work at the 798 Photo Gallery in Beijing. Exact dates will be announced later.

John Wimberley

John’s work will be part of an exhibit at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, scheduled for May 1-31. The show’s theme is the incarnation of spirit in physical matter, and features prints by Aubie Golombek and Frank Roddick with John’s. None of his images in the sequence have been shown before as original prints, and it represents an entirely new body of work made at First Nation archeological sites in southeastern Nevada. In the 1920's Edward Weston referred to photographing the "quintessence," meaning the element of spirit in matter, and many photographers have followed that path. By showing three photographers with outwardly different approaches, the show promises to be a rich visual and philosophical experience. The exhibit will take place in the School of Image Arts. For directions, please go to the Ryerson University website and click on the "Campus Maps" tab.

To see prints John has available through the Guild Store, please click here.

The Paul Paletti Gallery will exhibit John’s work during September, October, and November this year. The gallery is located at 713 E Market St., Suite 100, in Louisville, Kentucky. You may call 502.589.9254 for hours, directions, etc.

Guild Group Show in Sacramento, California

The Curatorial Committee of Sacramento's Viewpoint Photographic Art Center has invited the Contact Printers Guild to exhibit our work this year. The show is scheduled to run from August 10 through September 1, with an Artists' Reception on August 11. (Please note the change from earlier dates.) The Center is located at 551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd in Sacramento. For more information about Viewpoint, please visit their web site.

Guild Group Show in Portland, Oregon

Camerawork Gallery in Portland has scheduled a group show for the Contact Printers Guild to run from October 20-November 23. The gallery is located in the lower level of Peterson Hall at 2255 NW Northrup. Check on hours or directions by calling 503.245.1784. The date for the Artists’ Reception will be determined and announced later. A solo show by Guild member John Wimberley will follow the group exhibit.

John Wimberley

July 20-22, Vancouver, WA John is conducting a workshop entitled “Light and Silver—Techniques for Film Exposure and Development.” This workshop is open to anyone with a film camera, from 35mm to 4x5. Tuition is $140 and the class is limited to ten students. For more information, please check John’s web site, email John at tjwimberley@ashlandhome.net or telephone Robert Brummitt in Portland at 503.614.0161.

September 21-23, Medford, OR, “Sight and Insight” This workshop examines seeing from a number of perspectives, including peripheral vision and the intuitive “third eye.” It is open to anyone with a camera, film or digital. Although this session is currently full, anyone interested should contact John immediately to get a spot on the waiting list and be eligible to fill any cancellations. If there is enough interest, he will schedule a repeat workshop for a few months later.

Be sure to check out Ray Bidegain’s newly updated web site, with revamped gallery and library. There are several new photos as well. He would love to get feedback from everyone.

“One does not think during creative work, any more than one thinks when driving a car. But one has a background of years - learning, unlearning, success, failure, dreaming, thinking, experience, all this - then the moment of creation, the focusing of all into the moment. So I can make 'without thought,' fifteen carefully considered negatives, one every fifteen minutes, given material with as many possibilities. But there is all the eyes have seen in this life to influence me.” Edward Weston

I was once asked, “What were you thinking when you made this or that picture?” I was a little puzzled because I wasn’t thinking, at least in any usual fashion implied by the term – I was just looking. I find there is a pleasure to be derived from the act of looking mindfully and in an engaged manner. There is a sense of alertness and connectedness and a very physical presence to the world.

Watching the picture resolve on the ground glass is very exciting. This is one of the reasons I make contact prints. On the ground glass, one experiences a very direct seeing. You are not looking through a viewfinder but at the image on the ground glass, the same thing that one does when one has a print – one looks at the print. The mind is uncluttered – you are not evaluating enlargement ratios and how the image will hold up to enlargement – and you become aware of visual relationships and connections. It is not the experience of epiphany but a sense of recognition, of gently realizing the charm and magic and power in what surrounds us. This particular experience was like viewing a pointillist painting, shimmering dabs of tone set in the broad shapes.

Above you see DJ’s image “Near North Liberty, Iowa, 2003.” To see more of his work in our Store, please click here.

At the end of January, Guild member Susan Huber went to Sedona to participate in one of Michael and Paula’s “Vision and Technique” workshops. Here is her recounting of her very positive experience.

“Michael and Paula began with a focus on their vision of the landscapes in Iceland, Italy and the American Southwest. They shared their philosophy for selecting their subjects: Everything is a subject. Rather than searching for something photogenic, they study the rhythms and the tones of each subject, consciously aware of the sensuous forms presented on the ground glass. ‘Each photographer must work at seeing more,’ they said, ‘because to see is to be alive to the rhythms of life.’

“The workshop covered reciprocity, processing, printing papers, darkroom setup, and finishing techniques. They gave extensive critiques to workshop participants, discussing using the entire picture space and balancing tones, with the goal of seeing more fully and making photographs that are ‘more than what they are of,’ more than just the subject.

“One of the highlights for everyone was spending time under the dark cloth with Paula. There we learned about using the entire picture space, seeing into the corners and edges with the camera (in a way we cannot see without it) to make photographs that are more than simple records of the objects they capture.

“A considerable amount of class time was dedicated to processing techniques. Development by inspection, film tests, and evaluation of negatives on a light table: All are part of the technique that must be in place to convey vision. Michael also demonstrated dodging and burning with the aid of a metronome. They are adamant about the need to proof all negatives to become a good judge of the shadows and highlights, and are proponents of keeping careful records on development details. (They liked the field notebook I kept for my documentary projects with rudimentary sketches of subjects, highway information, time of exposure, direction of the subject and zone placement.)

“On field trips to Red Rock Crossing and the Sedona Seed & Saddle building, Paula reviewed composition and talked about the balance of art and life, encouraging us to increase our vision and to be more aware of life's rhythms. Both photographers gave freely of their time, welcomed questions, and gave clear and concise answers. Their critiques were guided to each person's strengths and encouraged us to further our growth. They especially advocated that we all grow beyond simply documenting the scenes in front of us.”

It’s one thing to read about these ideas, but practicing them in the field, with two such gifted artists as Michael and Paula, makes them come alive. That is why taking this workshop is such a valuable experience.

To see Susan Huber's images available in our Store, please click here.