Aztec Ruins National Monument Welcomes Alternative Process Photographer as Inaugural 2016 Artist-in-Residence
Aztec, NM, September 08, 2016 --(PR.com)-- The non-profit National Parks Arts Foundation (NPAF) in cooperation with the Aztec Ruins National Monument of the National Park Service, and with the support and cooperation with the Friends of Aztec Ruins announced today that Cate Sampson, a Louisiana-based art photographer will be the park’s September 2016 resident.
Cate Sampson is holds a BFA in photography from Louisiana State University. But unlike many photographers who are content with digital images and their speed and immediacy, she has begun to explore the roots of photography, in ways that parallel her interest in other remnants of culture. It is a matter of echoing the material she uses with the material traces of what she is documenting.
Sampson expresses this handmade, artisanal photographic interest in her formulation of large format gelatin glass dry plates, a historic photographic process learned at George Eastman Museum, which she exposes in the field and develops in her darkroom at home. Recently, Ms. Sampson hopes to convert a recently acquired small “floating house” into a mobile waterway photo studio and darkroom. She often travels by boat to document isolated coastal communities that lie outside the protection of the levee system. Says Sampson: “I'm interested in using historic forms of image-making to tell contemporary stories about the land and water -- and the people who rely upon these resources.”
Sampson, whose own family has a long history tied to the land and resources of Louisiana, creates photographs in response to her interest in the contemporary practices of homesteading and subsistence living, the ecological state of our coastal landscape, the notion of memory within the landscape, and the legacy of working with one’s hands. Having shown at many galleries and exhibitions in her home state, and travelled to Russia to set up a cross-cultural exhibition of Louisiana Photographers, Sampson was the 2015 grant recipient of the Michael P. Smith Fund for Documentary Photography issued by the New Orleans Photo Alliance to pursue this project of documenting the cultural losses of the Delta country.
Earlier this year, Sampson was documenting the fragile shellmound islands in the Delta Country of Louisiana. These islands are vanishing due to the perpetual battering of hurricanes in the eroding delta and the unintended effect of decades of flood control. The Artist wants to explicitly compare the preserved Pueblan-Chacoan cultures of the Southwest to what is being lost in the Mississippi Delta. She says that for her Aztec Ruins project, she will “focus on the idea of a sacred landscape--one that is protected and recognized for its cultural and historic importance.
The Park Service is very excited to host this historical process photo artist this year. As the Monument’s Chief of Interpretation, Nathan Hatfield, explains “Our staff and visitors are very excited to see how Cate interprets our resources through her art.” Programs like the 2016 Aztec Ruins residency adds value dynamically to the Monument experience for visitors now and in the future while representing the highest aspirations of the Park Service’s goals for the next century, particularly during the Centennial, which was celebrated nationwide in August.
Cate Sampson’s Events are as follows:
Gelatin Dry-Plate Photo Process Workshop will be held at Prof. Tony Bennett’s photo classroom and lab at San Juan College in Farmington on Saturday, September 17th, with times still to be announced. This event is limited to students of the photography program.
Public Presentation and Dry-Plate Process Demonstration. Cate Sampson will meet with visitors and speak about her project at the Monument, and how the process she uses gives a particular emotive quality to her documentation of ancient historical cultures. Says Sampson: "I want to remind people that history is worth preserving for future generations--that the real loss, apart from the many places I’ve witnessed already forgotten by our maps and our memories, is when we fail to recognize the import of what has come before us." This event will be at 5pm on Saturday, September 24th, at the Visitors Center at Aztec Ruins National Monument.
NPAF is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the promotion of the National Parks of the U.S. through creating dynamic opportunities for artworks that are based in our natural and historic heritage. This project is currently supported by generous benefactors. All NPAF programs are made possible through the philanthropic support of donors of all sorts ranging from corporate sponsors, small business, and art patrons and citizen-lovers of the Parks. NPAF is always seeking new partners and donors for its wide-ranging artist-in-residence programs. For more information or to donate: visit www.nationalparksartsfoundation.org
Cate Sampson is holds a BFA in photography from Louisiana State University. But unlike many photographers who are content with digital images and their speed and immediacy, she has begun to explore the roots of photography, in ways that parallel her interest in other remnants of culture. It is a matter of echoing the material she uses with the material traces of what she is documenting.
Sampson expresses this handmade, artisanal photographic interest in her formulation of large format gelatin glass dry plates, a historic photographic process learned at George Eastman Museum, which she exposes in the field and develops in her darkroom at home. Recently, Ms. Sampson hopes to convert a recently acquired small “floating house” into a mobile waterway photo studio and darkroom. She often travels by boat to document isolated coastal communities that lie outside the protection of the levee system. Says Sampson: “I'm interested in using historic forms of image-making to tell contemporary stories about the land and water -- and the people who rely upon these resources.”
Sampson, whose own family has a long history tied to the land and resources of Louisiana, creates photographs in response to her interest in the contemporary practices of homesteading and subsistence living, the ecological state of our coastal landscape, the notion of memory within the landscape, and the legacy of working with one’s hands. Having shown at many galleries and exhibitions in her home state, and travelled to Russia to set up a cross-cultural exhibition of Louisiana Photographers, Sampson was the 2015 grant recipient of the Michael P. Smith Fund for Documentary Photography issued by the New Orleans Photo Alliance to pursue this project of documenting the cultural losses of the Delta country.
Earlier this year, Sampson was documenting the fragile shellmound islands in the Delta Country of Louisiana. These islands are vanishing due to the perpetual battering of hurricanes in the eroding delta and the unintended effect of decades of flood control. The Artist wants to explicitly compare the preserved Pueblan-Chacoan cultures of the Southwest to what is being lost in the Mississippi Delta. She says that for her Aztec Ruins project, she will “focus on the idea of a sacred landscape--one that is protected and recognized for its cultural and historic importance.
The Park Service is very excited to host this historical process photo artist this year. As the Monument’s Chief of Interpretation, Nathan Hatfield, explains “Our staff and visitors are very excited to see how Cate interprets our resources through her art.” Programs like the 2016 Aztec Ruins residency adds value dynamically to the Monument experience for visitors now and in the future while representing the highest aspirations of the Park Service’s goals for the next century, particularly during the Centennial, which was celebrated nationwide in August.
Cate Sampson’s Events are as follows:
Gelatin Dry-Plate Photo Process Workshop will be held at Prof. Tony Bennett’s photo classroom and lab at San Juan College in Farmington on Saturday, September 17th, with times still to be announced. This event is limited to students of the photography program.
Public Presentation and Dry-Plate Process Demonstration. Cate Sampson will meet with visitors and speak about her project at the Monument, and how the process she uses gives a particular emotive quality to her documentation of ancient historical cultures. Says Sampson: "I want to remind people that history is worth preserving for future generations--that the real loss, apart from the many places I’ve witnessed already forgotten by our maps and our memories, is when we fail to recognize the import of what has come before us." This event will be at 5pm on Saturday, September 24th, at the Visitors Center at Aztec Ruins National Monument.
NPAF is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the promotion of the National Parks of the U.S. through creating dynamic opportunities for artworks that are based in our natural and historic heritage. This project is currently supported by generous benefactors. All NPAF programs are made possible through the philanthropic support of donors of all sorts ranging from corporate sponsors, small business, and art patrons and citizen-lovers of the Parks. NPAF is always seeking new partners and donors for its wide-ranging artist-in-residence programs. For more information or to donate: visit www.nationalparksartsfoundation.org
Contact
National Parks Arts Foundation
Cecilia Wainright
505-715-6492
nationalparksartsfoundation.org
Cecilia Wainright
505-715-6492
nationalparksartsfoundation.org
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