Recent Collodion Wet Plates and Ambrotypes

Mile High and Rising at Black Book

Denver, CO (December 10th, 2011) - Finishing off the year with a bang at Black Book Gallery this month, the first ever Mile High & Rising group show (on display throughout December) will bring together over twenty-five of the city’s most active creative talent, exhibiting a collection of diverse work and representing a sample of the contemporary artscape currently happening in Denver. This will be an incredible mix of artwork, not to mention a prime opportunity to pick up a few pieces- all work will be priced at $100 or less – Double score!
Encompassing a wide variety of mediums and artistic styles, the show will not only highlight each individual artist’s contribution, but also the close knit community of art contributors that live and work in Denver (which includes many others). From upcoming to established artists, from graffiti to tattoo influences, from screen printing, to paint, drawing, photography and sculpture, Mile High And Rising will truly be a landmark show, and define a new tradition in the process. Next year, the show will continue with Mile High and Rising Vol. 2.
Some of the artists featured include: John Fellows, Axel Geittmann, Sarah Ford, Ravi Zupa, Jeremy Burns, Adam Sikorski, Mike Ortiz, John Lamb, Chris Huth, Ian Millard, Lindsey Kuhn, Max Kauffman, Jeremy Pruitt (Thinkmule), Melanie Pruitt, Pedro Barrios, Rob Mack, Mike Graves, Sandi Calistro, John Cole, Joseph Martinez, Sam Turner, Mona Crowe, Mark Sink, Dan Ericson, Michael Coriano.
Be on the lookout in early 2012, as the gallery will be releasing a free ‘Black Book’ around the state of Colorado that includes over twenty pages of full color artwork as well as information on the artists involved in this first edition of Mile High & Rising. This is one opening you won’t want to miss and may we suggest getting there early, this artwork will go quick!


Mile High & Rising Black Book Gallery from Vincent Comparetto on Vimeo.

http://www.theblackbookgallery.com

Business of Art Center

Low Tech/High Art
An Exhibition of Toy Camera Artists

Opening October 28th runs though December 31st.

Michelle Bates, Mary Berger, Meg Birnbaum, John Bridges, Matthew CHimelarzyk, Carol Dass, Stephnie Early, Kay Williams Johnson, Mary Ann Lynch, Anne Arden McDonald, C. Gary Moyer, Heather, Oelkaus, Victoria Rust, Jennifer Shaw, Mark Sink, Gordon Stettinius, Alexis Treulieb, Bill Vaccaro.

Organized by Carol Dass

Business of Art Center
513 Manitou Ave Manitou Spring CO. 80829
www.thebac.org

Emmanuel Gallery

Emmanuel Gallery

My classmates and teachers. Its a wonderful reunion of talent.

Confluence, Returning to the Source: Celebrating 35 Years of Art and Community
Runs through: November 2, 2011

http://www.emmanuelgallery.org

This exhibition will include some 35 artists who went to one of the three schools on Auraria Campus.  Confluence will celebrate Emmanuel Gallery’s 35 years of history by telling the success stories of these alumni and their continued impact on our arts community.

Gallery hours are Tuesday – Friday, 10-6 and Saturday, 11-5.

Emmanuel Gallery
Cheryl Bailey, Michelle Baldwin, Phil Bender, Loay Boggess, Karen Bozik, Carolyn  Braaksma, Michael Brohman,  Jim Cannata, Evan Colbert, Emmett Culligan, Martha  Daniels, John Davenport, Bonnie Ferrill, Roman, Virginia Folkestad, Carlos Fresquez, Mark  Friday, Diane Huntress, Peter Illig,  Christopher James, Deborah Jang, Gerald Johnson, Gwen Laine, Patricia Lehman, Mona Lucero, Katharine McGuinness, Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, Merlin Madrid, Andy Miller, Robert Mangold,  Dawn McFadden, Andy Miller, Ken Peterson, Dania Pettus, Lincoln  Phillips, Elaine Ricklin, Craig Robb, Debra Sanders, David Seiler,  Mark Sink, Jennifer Thompson, Carley Warren.

BNC REDLINE

photopolus.com

ArtStar Mark Sink is Going Retro While Everyone Else Goes for More MegaPixels

September 9, 2011 in Friday Art Star | Tags: ArtStar, Camera Club of New York, Collodion, Denver, friday, James L. Breese, Mark Sink, Nettie R Harris, Photography, Wet Plate | by photopolus

Mark Sink has been making a living from fine art photography since 1978. He is well known for his imagery made with a toy plastic camera; the Diana. He excels at reverse technology, using collodion wet plate photography. His personal work is in numerous museum collections as well as solo and group gallery shows in the US, South America and Europe. He is currently represented by G. Ray Hawkins in California, Robin Rice in New York and Rule Gallery in Denver. As a photographer of fine art he worked with and documented noted artists lives and their work such as Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat. Mark’s family heritage in photography runs deep and his research into his roots is ongoing . His great grandfather, photographer James L. Breese, was the founder, member and primary inspiration for the Camera Club of New York, which was one of the earliest groupings of fine art photographers in America. Even further back, Samuel Finley Breese Morse, (Breese’s uncle), was “the father of American photography” and inventor of the telegraph. It is with this legacy in mind that prompted Sink to form a monthly Salon of artists both on the Internet and in his living room.
Currently Mark serves on the exhibition committee at RedLine, a downtown city block of new gallery/multimedia studio work spaces that provides grants to selected emerging and mid career artists and exhibitions. Mr. Sink is founder and director of MOP (Month of Photography) in Denver, bi-annually coordinating all the regional galleries, museums and art spaces geared toward celebrating photography in mass.

www.gallerysink.com

When and how did you become interested in Photography?

Gosh .. started as a kid, i shot more than most kids with my Kodak Instamatic…then while studying art in college, it stuck as a career.

What gear do you mainly shoot with?

1860s Voigtlander lens and view camera .. vintage Dianas..Blad.. Pinhole ..Fuji Instant films .. Nikon D3 .. iPhone

What is your #1 source of inspiration?

Beauty … Woman.
As for people that inspired me ..It changes day to day .. Andy Warhol is a constant .. and ManRay .. but recently i am heading into collage so i am getting myself up to speed studying collage artists, buying lots of books and learning where the medium is at today.

Many times photographers find themselves with a full schedule of paying gigs, ending up with little time for doing the work they truly love. Do you struggle with finding time for your personal work?

I am very lucky to make a frugal living off of my personal art work. I take on commercial jobs time to time to pay the bills. I always tell students to make money from anything but photography .. be careful as soon as you turn what you freely passionately love into commercial jobs… it will burn you and your art production out…promise.

What is your all time favorite genre to shoot?

Portraits and staged fantasy.

Do you have any upcoming shows or events you want our readers to know about?

I am doing lots of street art (wheat pasting) around town… and trading with photographers all over the world actually ..We have bill boards up in Switzerland .. i have street art work up in Russia, Japan, Germany ..on and on….its great fun.. you can check it out on my facebook page… its called the “Big Picture” and we are going to be publishing a book on it.
or click this link to the google map to find the locations of where the work is installed…
I’m crazy for street art these days. Its very exciting to see your work up around town in public places many last for years. The community really enjoys it. Its win win. I will be having a show at Robin Rice Gallery in NYC this fall/winter…
I just had a dozen or so shows come down from the Month of Photography last March .. I will be doing this again in March of 2013 and photographers should keep an eye out for this happening, because galleries go crazy looking for work ..its a great time to get your work up on some walls and shown in a gallery.

What is the one thing you feel makes your style or your work unique?

Going reverse tech when everyone is going for more mega pixels..I used only toy Diana cameras for 30 years (dreamy figure and staged fantasy) .. but now that the Lomography heads have surfaced and the Diana is very popular with Urban Outfitters and all that .. i have moved on to collodion wet plates, however, now that is becoming the rage ..so who knows… I may go further back to tracing images with a camera obscura maybe? .. I am starting to get into hand cut collage from old magazines.. it evolves.

if you could photograph anyone, (past/present/future), who would it be and why?

Rachel Ruysch (1600s) Evelyn Nesbit (1800s) …Kiki of Montparnasse ( 1920s) Marlyn Monroe (1950s ) Francesca Woodman (1970s). Today? a week with a cool happy hippie down to earth super model would be dreamy. I am inspired by the muses and strong women who have changed art history.

what’s your dream photo field trip?

Paris, London, Venice with local friends showing you hidden treasures.

what’s your post production process?

I do very little post production. I like to get it right in the camera. The more post production one does the more fake it becomes. I scan everything and store it chronologically.

if you had unlimited resources to purchase any type of camera, what would it be and why?

Probably a Nikon D3x to play with for fun and commercial and filming… For my art more 1860s Wetplate cameras and lenses..I love the old medium format Rolli’s i got from my dad .. I use my great grandfather’s cameras everyday.. I have enough cameras and equipment to hand down to my children’s children’s children. Which by the way none of the beautiful timeless equipment that lasts forever will be digital… digital equipment has a very very short life span, one will not hand down digital cameras … but I believe that the camera really doesn’t matter because it’s the concept that counts..

who are your favorite photographers and why?

ManRay .. Warhol, John Baldessari, Rodchenko..Josef Sudek… they were fine artists.

what has been the shining moment of your career thus far? (or, describe your “big break”)

Probably meeting Warhol. Or getting my first show in NYC gave me belief in myself and work.

do you have any tips/tricks or advice for amateur photo nerds who are looking to shoot full time or students who are just starting out?

Get involved with a photography community. Start a Salon. Enter competitions like critical mass… The things closest to you are the most rewarding. Shoot every day ..shoot everything..make a piece of art with idle hands ..think of everything you do as art …think of a painter who works on his canvas every day work on your images passionately like that . Most importantly do it for the love of doing it first not for the money. Always have a generous heart. I believe in karma payback.

what’s the soundtrack to your life and/or your favorite music to listen to while editing?

Right now i am listening to Paper Bird..we have been photographing them. I’ll usually shuffle a wide range from death metal to juno… i love female vocalists.

what’s your favorite hang (when shooting or not)?

In my everything bed/office/dinner table/tv /love making/work station (bedroom)…. where i am typing now with my puppy, kitties and girlfriend around me.

best chow (meal/snack) to get you ready for a shoot? or best way to celebrate a brilliant capture?

Z Cuisine is a French bistro on the corner that trades me amazing organic meals for art… or my favorite amazing Mexican taco stand where you have to speak Spanish to order.

will you share with us one of your favorite shots? why is this your fave?

Nymphs #1 Nudes stacked, Limited edition Silver Print Made with the Diana Camera, Created 1998,Modified, 1/17/06 Negative drum scanned , Photoshop CS Denver Co. US

Nymphs of the Danube (it started my Greek tragedy staged series) and recent Ambrotype images on blue glass.
Maria (below) I shot yesterday.

Maria blue glass ©MarkSink

your favorite photo by another photographer?

Hmmm that’s so difficult.. it changes day to day … hour by hour .. minute by minute.
Today we found out model Nettie R Harris is coming to visit and she was just photographed by Ryan McGinley – I love the image of Nettie with the hawk.

Nettie ©Ryan Mcginley

Probably my more long term fave is Gertrude Käsebier’s photo of Evelyn Nesbit…

Nesbit ©Kasebier

…next minute it will be another. It all depends on the mood I’m in.

has your passion for photography changed at all since turning “pro”?

I am happy to say my passion and search is still high. I gauge it by the dancing in the darkroom. The excitement that rushes over you when a great image appears… i start dancing and singing.

do you have a favorite / lucky item of clothing, outfit or uniform that you like to wear when shooting an important assignment or project?

My comfy Clark shoes.. with wetplate i have a rubber glove on all the time. The neighbors wonder whats going on.

are you a photography nerd or a camera gangsta?

photo nerd …gangsta when i get a few drinks in me.

what’s your sign? (we’re conducting a poll)

Aquarius on the cusp with Capricorn

who would you like to see interviewed by photopolus next?

Someone on the other side of the world.

Shannon above Lani Nymph Series 1998 Denver, CO. USA

©MarkSink If you are a photographer and would like to be featured as a future/potential Art Star on our blog, email us!
info@photopolus.com or ange@angefitzgerald.com, subject: Art Star.
*please include your website and examples of your work
____

BNC Wine Tasting with Paper Bird

| community | collaboration | creation | enriching lives through innovation in dance


http://www.bncdance.com

Westword RedLine MoP review

Three RedLine shows make up the Month of Photography's halo event

 By Michael Paglia Tuesday, Apr 19 2011

Denver photographer Mark Sink has often worn more than one hat. In addition to taking pictures, he's built a reputation as a first-rate photo curator and ran his own exhibition venue, Gallery Sink, for many years. He also served as the interim director of MCA Denver in the '90s, and I can still remember the enormous over-the-top photo show he mounted in the old fish market where the museum was formerly housed.

But Sink is also the principal impresario behind the Month of Photography, which runs each year from mid-March to mid-April. Given his involvement with RedLine (2350 Arapahoe Street, 303-296-4448, www.redlineart.org), Sink made that venue the nerve center for the photo festivities that have taken place all over town. And he was intimately involved with the three RedLine shows that could collectively be regarded as MOP's halo event.
First is Thought Objects: New Ideas in Photography, for which Sink brought together photographers from Denver and across the country who do experimental work. Among the invitees are Sabine Aell, Justin Beard, Sterling Crispin, Conor King and Steven Read.
This leads directly into the impressive Discoveries of the Houston FotoFest, a traveling show that highlights ten invited artists, with the work of each being seen in some depth. The participants are from all over the country and were chosen by a jury at last year's FotoFest.
Finally, in the RedLine Project Room, is the other Sink-curated show, Modern Uses of Alternative Processes, which surveys contemporary photographers who employ archaic production methods and materials, as Sink himself has done. On view are handsome works by the likes of Kristen Hatgi ("Megan," pictured), Kevin O'Connell and Mario Zoots.
These museum-quality shows, each of which has been intelligently and expertly installed, run through April 26 and make it clear that when it comes to photo exhibits, Sink is one of the state's best organizers.

Illiterate Magazine

 http://www.illiteratemedia.com

Interview conducted by Adam Gildar

Meghan | collodion wetplate

For those people who aren't yet familiar with you and your work, could you introduce yourself and a bit about your background...

My name is Mark Sink ... my bla bla bio paragraph goes like this....

Denver native Mark Sink, photographer, curator and teacher, has been and making a living from fine art photography since 1978. He is well known for his imagery made with the toy plastic camera the Diana. Currently, also a reverse technology, he is producing collodion wet plate photographs. His personal work is in numerous museum collections as well as gallery solo and group shows in the US, South America and Europe.  He is currently represented by G. Ray Hawkins in CA. Robin Rice in NY, Paul Cava in Philadelphia Rule Gallery in Denver. As a photographer of fine art he worked with and documented noted artists lives and their work such as Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat and Rene Ricard. 

Leah | collodion wetplate

You come from a family with a creative history. Was there any sort of artistic torch passing that occurred between generations?

 Not on purpose .. but it is natural when you grow up in and around art studios,  paint stained smocks and go to art openings as family time outings. I grew up with art as a part of life.. only later did i find out that 98% rest of the world was not much into fine art and were basically afraid of any kind of contemporary art.

Kristen with Fern | collodion wetplate

To me your photographs all seem to incorporate a certain appreciation for form, be it a glass bottle or a human body. How do you feel form inhabits your work? 

I have always made work more for the heart than the head. I am a romantic and find shape and sensuousness in sand dunes as much as a nude.  Its is shallow and not going to make any impact in art history but I greatly enjoy universal timeless gushy beauty. It makes me very happy making it so i don't question it. I have been doing it for over 30 years and I still get those shivers or weak knees..dizzy .. In that time my refinements are very subtle.. walking a fine line making something that could easily be super corny but instead... something that is honest coming through?.. that reads in a successful sitting with someone.

Dunes | Diana Camera

You've described an interest in self staged fantasy when it comes to artwork. What is it about the fake that attracts you?

Well staged is a bit more about telling a story... being allegorical in themes like sensuality and death.  

[I have] many influences from the family of staged photographers. Francesca Woodman , Witkin .. haha but now I look at him differently now that I am a Tintypist , photographing using the collodion wet plate process. The fake thing is haunting me with Peter Joel Witkin's work. A large amount of the work is just for effect faking the collodion plate process.. it's trompe l'oeil.

Fake is another subject I have been interested in recently more as a curator with others' work.  We live more and more in a totally fake world. Houses made from fake materials ( fake brick and stone) fake cars and houses and credit cards that fake wealth that we don't really have the means for or can sustain. It spreads everywhere. In photography it's fake silver prints or platinum prints done by inkjet... in relationships its online. I just found these giant conventions of woman tens of thousands strong that have hyper realistic new born babies they take everywhere, and no one knows. And of course the now super realistic blow up dolls that one company was celebrating its 5 millionth sale. It goes on and on.

Julie Rising | Diana Camera

You often shoot naked women in provocative poses. How do you avoid cliche with such a universally explored and exploited subject matter? 

I walk a fine line there. It's my subtlety that is hard to explain. Making it accepted with academic feminists and curators and upper tier institutions. What is it.. is it being true?.. kind of pure.. .. not faked. A lot of times I find not having eye contact helps dealing with the issue of sexual objectification. But over all being a man photographing a woman naked I am in dangerous waters.  Now a woman photographing a woman naked for some reason is less exploitative and more acceptable.

Shannon above Lani | Diana Camera

Your photographs are all created with antiquated technology, and it seems that as you've moved forward in your career, the farther back in photographic technique you've gone. What is it about the methods of the past that attract you? Do you think you'll continue to regress as you progress?

Your right, I have always been into reverse technology in photography starting with pinhole and toy cameras, and now going back to when photography was 10 years old with wet plate collodion. I like the idea that light strikes the film plate and makes an image directly on that surface. Its very pure. Its like a Polaroid -- Direct and capturing fact. Fact is getting very slippery these days with digital, and more importantly how we perceive it as fact or fiction. In many and increasing cases digital photography is not allowed in the court of law as evidence anymore.  It's back to my fake thing--.we live in a world of fake -- just look at every magazine cover on the news stand, all heavily touched up creating a hyper reality, a false reality.

Careful preparation of materials, equipment and models combined with a certain spontaneity seem inherent in your process. What exactly goes into creating a photograph for you?

I use lots of reference materials .. a image or painting will strike me deeply and I will pin it up on the fridge. Kristen [Hatgi] will maybe sew something, or I will find an accessory that fits. I often bring home a big bag of near expired flowers from our friend the florist. Our models in many cases are our friends, we hang out and talk. A new model pretty quickly will see we are focused on artistic concepts rather then a carnal pursuit.

Gargoyles | Diana Camera

 
You've worked as both a commercial and fine art photographer. What are your thoughts on the difference between the two and the overlap? 

I have always hated Anne Lebowitz or Herb Ritz kind of cross overs. Photogs could do it in the 50's, 60's and 70's ..Penn, Avedon, Helmut Newton that crew could do it. Then there was Warhol and the pop artists that were wonderful mirrors of our society. Today maybe David La Chapell -- I was freinds with him by the way -- we sat on the bench together to show our portfolio to the art director of Interview magazine Mark Ballet. Another cross over  I was friends with was Nan Golden---I have lots of sick stories of her-- she was around in the art scene in the 80s in NYC. " A Ballad of Sexual Dependency", she alone was the start of heroin sheik in advertising. That became the coolest thing in the ad world for awhile ..  today it is Terry Richardson and or the 20phile Ryan McGinnley..

Andy 1b

I know you've discussed your time in New York with Andy Warhol and the Factory at length. So we'll skip the general story. But is there any particular experience from that time that stands out to you as indicative?

Holding his hand. Having him review my work and him remembering and asking detailed questions about that series years later. Giving him ideas that he used in his work.

Andy 11

You're one of the few people I know interested in and able to interact and connect people from a range of social ranks, from members of high society to young artists out on the edge. What do you think the different groups of people have to offer each other? 

One foot in the gutter and one foot in royalty is the way to go in my book.  I feel the great parties are the ones mixed with street and high society. Both will criticize and make fun of each other in their own circles, but I believe that each end has a craving to be accepted in each others' world. Young and Old ..Young learning from the old and old learning from the young I think is one of the most important things in your time line of life. Society tends to be so compartmentalized. In general we dump old people in homes and shrug off young people till they have some kind of stupid certificate. I have always liked things at the beginning, getting things started. I like having influence and setting things into motion. That all happens with young people... and its much much harder with older people. I am really amazed at how I am accepted by many young people. I feel genuinely welcomed in arts events and social gatherings. 

Grace Jones | Polaroid

Speaking of people you know. You've come into contact with and studied so many different artists that I'm sure it's difficult to name everyone that has informed your work. But if you had to narrow it down to an intimate dinner party, who would you invite? 

That's a cool way to put that question..  Most are dead... Dash Snow,  Andy of course.. Man Ray ... John Balldessari... I'd have Terry Richardson there taking pictures and introducing us to hot models.. and powerful art directors.

Uma Thurman | Polaroid

Ok, the dinner party is over, who are the young artists you'll be looking to run wild with after the establishment goes home?

I'd take Sylvie Tillman and Dash snow and several of the crew from the New Museum's "Younger then Jesus show" to come see Illiterate and Rinoceropolis.  Just like how I brought the Dutch film crew that was looking for the new bohemians in Denver.

In general, I have a long list of new hot talent I found at Houston Fotofest who I will be showing around in Denver...Lucas Folgia .. Chris Simms ..  My newest find is an internet artist prankster dude, Pavel Matela,  in Prague that pushed all my buttons with photo/Internet mischievousness. He fits my fake/false reality thing. There are several interesting photojournalists are driving around .. they pick interesting people to follow..live with them fully close day in and day out. Gretta Pratt's Liberty series and the Lincoln series stand out. Alli Richards too. Check out the California forest fire series. " Jesusita Summerland "

Any last words?

Try and be truthful... and pure. follow your passions.

 

Leo Castelli | Polaroid

Westword Best of Denver Awards

The Big Picture

Perhaps because Denver is not particularly known for its street art, let alone its rich cache of artists and photographers, Month of Photography promoter Mark Sink and Illiterate Gallery decided to do something to help change the way the nation — make that the world — views us. And how. Together, they masterminded and provided the local manpower for a global exchange of photographic images, collectively titled The Big Picture, that have been blown up, Xeroxed and wheat-pasted on walls and billboards not just across Denver, but in some international locations. Photos by our local artists now grace billboards in Switzerland, while works by foreign photographers are all over our town. And lucky us: We get to find — by chance or with the Google map provided — amazing images in the most unexpected places.

Google Map