Society for Photographic Education
42nd National Conference – March 17-20, 2005

PASSAGE

Portland, Oregon
At the Hilton Portland & Executive Towers

With the completion of the 2004 Conference in Newport, it is time to set our sights on the future, and in this case westward – to Portland, Oregon. In 2005, 200 years after Lewis and Clark’s historic negotiation of the Northwest Passage, Oregon will provide the venue for our national gathering. Referencing that journey, the 2005 SPE National Conference Passage will invite reflection on our active and complicated relationships with issues of exploration and transition.

Portland, the City of Roses, combines urban sophistication with small town charm against a backdrop of lush gardens, waterways and mountain vistas. An historic old town, infamous bookstores, Saturday Market, Waterfront Park, numerous museums, galleries and theater companies also contribute to Portland’s reputation as one of the country’s most desirable metropolitan areas. Nearby recreational opportunities include a visit to the spectacular Columbia River Gorge and Multnomah Falls, and hiking in Mt. Hood’s towering forest lands.

Phil Harris, 2005 conference chair
Terri Warpinski, 2005 conference committee chair

Update

The SPE 42nd national conference Passage has expanded pre-conference offerings on Thursday to include a new series of workshops on pedagogical issues. If you were inspired in Newport by the panel on Academic Survival, stay tuned for information about this opportunity. The popular Adobe workshop will be offered in Portland on Thursday too. Don't miss you chance to attend this important workshop. (The Ilford workshop has been cancelled.)

The keynote address by Barry Lopez will be given on Thursday evening. The rich and diverse tracks of plenary sessions begin on Friday morning and run through Saturday afternoon. In Portland, Linda Connor (photo above) will be recognized as our Honored Educator, and Mark Klett will be the Featured Speaker. Please note that the Keynote address will take place at the Newmark Theatre across from the hotel. Volunters will be available to direct conference attendees toward the Newmark. See directions

The Exhibits Fair in Portland will be stellar and will be flanked by the new Educators Fair. Both fairs run Friday to Saturday. Attendees can participate in the popular portfolio reviews on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. An early morning trip to the Japanese Garden will be led from the hotel, via public transportation, on one morning and another similar trip will take interested attendees to the Chinese Garden. Meetings for the regions, the caucuses and the membership's meeting with the board of directors will be on the schedule as well. The conference will conclude on Sunday with the informal portfolio sharing. See online schedule with links to speaker bios and lecture abstracts or downloadable pdf (96K)

Speakers

Our main conference speakers are: Barry Lopez as Keynote Speaker, Linda Connor as our Honored Educator, and Mark Klett as the Featured Speaker.

The 2005 conference shines with a dynamic speaker line-up: Kyle Bajakian (with Lisa M. Robinson), Heather A. Barret, David Bate, Benilda Pacheco Beretta, Paul Berger, Nicolette Bromberg, Jesse Burke, Peter Calvin, Sarah Caylor, Colleen Choquette-Raphael (with Ellen Garvens and Samantha Stengel-Goetz), Neil Chowdhury, Linda Connor, Joan Dooley, Doug Dubois, Erina Duganne, Bob Edgerton, Alida Fish, Eric Gant, Jacques Garnier (with Jerry Burchfield, Mark Chamberlain, Robert Johnson, Douglas McCulloh and Clayton Spada), Nora Herting, Rosemary Kate Jesionowski, Priya Kambli, Michael Kenna, Mark Klett, Nancy Howell Koehler (with Rod Slemmons, Stan Strembicki and Kelli Connell), Dean Kotula (with Mariette Pathy Allen and Cherie Hiser), Horatio Hung-Yan Law, Barry Lopez, Ann Lovett, Patrick Craig Manning, Michelle Dunn Marsh, Elaine Mayes, Bea Nettles, Richard Newman (with Dennis Keeley, Gerald Lang and Victoria Heilweil), Sara-Jayne Parsons, Brent Phelps, Robert Rainey, Chris Rauschenberg (with Ann Kendellen, Shawn Records, Rich Rollins and Paul Sutinen), Ken Rosenthal, Monique Silverman, Benjamin Sloat, John Stamets, Jane Alden Stevens (with Bea Nettles, John Ganis and Stephen Marc), Eric Sung, William Tolan (with William Jenkins, Bill Kennedy, Scott Martin and Jeannie Pearce), Paul Turounet, Lewis Watts and Byron Wolfe.

Our Student Seminar presenters are Mary Virginia Swanson, Susan kae Grant and Keith Johnson. Our Adobe Seminar presenter is Julieanne Kost. Our presenters in the Academic Practicum Workshops are Ron DiRito, Dornith Doherty, Susan Dunkerley, Michael Ensdorf, Susan Smith Evans, Robin Dru Germany, Barbara Houghton, Gary Kolb, Neal Rantoul, Libby Rowe, Samantha Stengel-Göetz, Larry Volk and Ken White.
Complete presentation line-up with abstracts and bios

The Garry B Fritz Imagemaker Award

SPE is pleased to recognize Neil Chowdhury as the first recipient of The Garry B Fritz Imagemaker Award. Neil Chowdhury is an Assistant Professor at Zayed University in Dubai.The Garry B Fritz Imagemaker Award was established in 2004 in honor and in memory of of Garry B Fritz, an SPE member with a long-time interest in photography. Funded by a gift through the Oregon Community Foundation, the award consists of a $1,000 honorarium. SPE’s first imagemaker award is granted to the artist presenting for the first time as an imagemaker at the SPE national conference who receives the highest ranking through the peer review process. The recipient shows exceptional promise and outstanding achievement as determined by the national conference peer review. We would like to thank the Oregon Community Foundation for graciously funding this award.

Registration

*Member conference rates require a 2005 membership. If you are not currently a member or your membership has expired, please include the appropriate membership fee to be eligible for the members’ rate. Please note that non-member rates are more expensive than membership + member rate. Early registrations need to be postmarked by Feb. 14, 2005. Registration form (115k pdf).

Day and Session Passes

Day and session passes are available during onsite conference registration only. Daypass holders have unlimited access to the presentations for their respective day. They are however excluded from participating at the formal portfolio reviews, seminars and workshops. Only full registrations include the option to participate in the Adobe seminar, the Ilford seminar, Academic Practicum Workshops or the one-on-one portfolio reviews.

Conference Hotel

SPE’s 2005 national conference will be held at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower in Portland, Oregon (921 SW Sixth Ave., Portland, OR 97204). The reservation deadline has passed, but please call the Hilton first to verify room availability. If no rooms are available at the discounted roomrate, we suggest contacting the hotels on our alternate hotel list. When calling the Hilton, please identify yourself as an attendee of the Society for Photographic Education national conference to receive discounted rates when making your reservation. Discounted room rates start at $129 plus room tax for single or double rooms (see list below). Reservations may be made by calling the conference hotel directly at 503/226-1611 or the toll free number at 1-800-HILTONS. A 72-hr cancellation term applies. Early departures require a 24-hr notification. Parking fees for hotel guests is $18/day. www.hilton.com

Air Travel

United Airlines is the official 2005 SPE national conference airline. United Airlines offers a 5 percent discount on all fares for air travel to and from the event, or 10 percent discount, if tickets are purchased at least 7 days in advance. An additional 5 percent discount applies, if tickets are purchased at least 30 days in advance. For reservations, schedule and ticketing information contact the Meeting Plus Reservation Center at 1-800-521-4041 and reference the Meeting Plus ID code: 531CB. Reservation sales agents are available 8 am - 10 pm Monday-Sunday, EST.

General Travel

Transportation from Portland International Airport to the conference hotel is convenient and easy. Taxis cost around $35 plus tip. The MAX light rail system is an inexpensive alternative for under $2. Take the MAX redline from the airport to the station at SW 6th and SW Yamhill. The Hilton is located one and a half blocks down on 6th Avenue.

The Amtrak station in Portland is located at Union Station (800 NW 6th Ave., Portland, OR 97209, 1-800-872-7245). Details about the city and travel can be found at www.travelportland.com, www.citysearch.com, www.traveloregon.com and www.trimet.org.

Pre-conference Workshops

SPE is offering a series of pre-conference workshops on Thursday afternoon, March 17, 2004. Adobe will be sponsoring a technical seminar on Photoshop CS (2:30-4:00pm). New to the programming is the Academic Practicum Workshops which will take place in two tracks, one devoted to pedagogical issues, and one encompassing the career and promotion process (2:00-3:45pm). All workshops are free, however, a one-time, non-refundable $10 admin/handling charge applies to take one or more workshops. Pre-registration is necessary.

Portfolio Reviews

SPE will again be offering one-on-one portfolio review sessions for registrants attending the full conference. (Sorry, no daypasses.) Pre-registration is encouraged for portfolio reviews as spaces are limited. Sponsored by a grant from the ASMP Foundation.

Our 2005 portfolio reviewers include Ruth Adams*, Elizabeth Allen, Robin Assner, Darryl Baird*, Marguerite Beaty, Benilda Pacheco Beretta*, Ronald Beverly, Steve Brown*, Jesse Burke*, Jean Caslin**, Neil Chowdhury, Vincent Cianni, Gary S. Colby, James D. Colby**, Colette Copeland**, Carola Dreidemie, Erina Duganne, Dennie Eagleson, Krista Elrick, Lynn Estomin**, Cass Fey*, Harris Fogel**, Greg Gaglio**, Robin Germany*, Paula Gillen, Hiroshi Hayakawa*, Susannah Hays, Nora Herting*, Darius Himes, Jerry Holsopple, Rosemary Jesionowski*, Daniel Kariko, Susan Kirchman**, Nancy H. Koehler, Rachel Rosenfield Lafo**, James Lerager, Susan Lipper, Mark Malloy*, Patrick Craig Manning, Fredrik Marsh*, Elaine Mayes, D. John McCarthy, Gary Minnix*, Ardine Nelson*, Richard Newman, Rebecca Nolan*, Brent Phelps*, Janet Pritchard*, Neal Rantoul*, Ken Rosenthal, Karen Schwenkmeyer*, Ariel Shanberg, Rhona Shand, Christine Shank*, George Slade**, Chad D. Smith*, Stan Strembicki*, Jane Alden Stevens, Andrew L. Strout, Eric Sung, William Tolan, Charles Traub*, Paul Turounet, Larry C. Volk*, Andrea Wallace*, Jill Waterman, Greg Watts and Randy West*. An asterisk (*) after the reviewer’s name indicates they will be looking at student work only; a double-asterisk (**) indicates that they will be looking at professional artists’ work only. No mark indicates that they will look at both student and non-student work. Please honor reviewers’ preferences. See portfolio reviewer bios.

Our big Open Portfolio Sharing will take place Sunday morning as usual and informal portfolio sharings will take place throughout the conference. So please bring your images to the conference. Portfolio Guidelines (44k pdf)

Photolucida Portfolio Reviews

In addition to the one-on-one portfolio reviews at the SPE conference, attendees can take advantage of the Photolucida portfolio reviews taking place in Portland before the SPE conference. Photolucida (formerly Photo Americas) is offering SPE members a special one-day portfolio review rate for $150 for Wednesday, March 16, 2005.

Every other spring an international set of photographers and reviewers gather in Portland for a week-long celebration of photography. The most popular feature being the portfolio reviews. Reviewers are selected for their experience, involvement, and commitment to advancing the work of emerging and mid-career artists. The majority represent small, mid-sized, and major exhibition venues or publishers devoted to photography as an artistic medium.

In addition to receiving useful critiques leading to professional refinement, in years past many participants have made contacts that led directly to exhibitions, publications, and the sale of their work.

Photolucida reviews run from March 12-16, 2005. All photographers can register for 4 or 5 days of reviews, as well as the special one-day review for SPE members. See the Photolucida website for details and to register, www.photolucida.org.

Note: Registration for the Photolucida portfolio reviews is full. If you would like to be on the waiting list, register through the Photolucida website and your name will be included on the list.

Mentoring Program

The Mentoring Program is now in its fourth year. Originally designed to support MFA photography and new media graduate students and part-time faculty through career development advice, it has now been expanded to offer professional development services for junior faculty on the tenure and promotion process as well. The deadline to apply for the mentoring program was in January. The mentoring program is now completely full. No further applications can be accepted. However, spaces are still available in the Academic Practicum Workshops, which address pedagogical issues as well as the career and promotion process. Please direct questions regarding the mentoring program or the Academic Practicum Workshops to Liz Lee at Elizabeth.Lee@ fredonia.edu.

Walking Tours

Portland is an extremely walkable city that offers a plethora of opportunities for adventuresome spirits. SPE is offering self-guided and informal tours for conference attendees. Registration for the guided tours will take place onsite. Both tours (to Japanese Garden and Chinese Garden) leave from the Hilton lobby promptly at 12:30 pm on Thursday the 17th. The Japanese Garden Tour (admission $6.50; $4.00 for students, plus $1.35 bus fare) promises participants a quiet spectacle of peaceful contemplation. Portland’s Japanese garden is said to be “the most authentic Japanese garden outside Japan.” Come see for yourself. Our second tour heads to the “Garden of Awakening Orchids.” Portland’s classical Chinese garden (admission $7.00; $5.50 for students) features over 500 species of plants and trees, beautiful landscaping and a mandatory trip to the garden’s tea house to sample from dozens of authentic loose-leaf teas. The weather in March is mild but wet, so bring your all-weather gear, good walking shoes and your water-resistant cameras.
Details for tours and instructions for self-guided tours.

Gallery Openings and Exhibitions

This year the gallery tour is a self-guided affair rather than a glitch-filled bus-a-thon. A listing of galleries that are showing digital/analog photography during the conference is printed in the program guide. web gallery listings

Exhibits and Educators Fair

The SPE Exhibits Fair brings together over fifty exhibitors, such as leading manufacturers and publishers, featuring new products, book signings, demonstrations and more. Admission is free and open to the public. Floorplan for exhibits fair (128k pdf)

SPE is launching a new venue to bring educators and potential students together in Portland. The Educators Fair will feature schools with accredited undergraduate and graduate programs in photography and related media at colleges and universities. Representatives of the programs will be available, during scheduled hours, to discuss the program and talk to potential students. For participate, please fill out the Educators Fair submission form.

Career Placement Services

The conference includes a career placement service. As part of this, we have a room set aside for companies, especially universities, to post job openings, accept resumes and schedule interviews. Tables will be provided for interviews. You are welcome to bring flyers or job descriptions to the conference and set these out in the Job Room free of charge. If you are advertising or posting your job opening in our SPE newsletter, we will automatically post your information at the conference and on our website.

Job listings in our newsletter (up to 50 words) cost $100 for institutions and corporations, or $50 for non-profit organizations. Listings for individual and corporate members are free. Organizations and universities need to be corporate members to qualify for free listings. For higher visibility consider placing an ad in the newsletter. Ad prices start at $200. Any job listings in our newsletter will include a complimentary listing on our national website. Please contact Mary Brown at 610/645-9567, fax 610/896-8317, email mary@spenational.org.

Student Opportunities

Student Scholarships: SPE is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2005 Freestyle Crystal Apple Award and the SPE Student Awards. The Freestyle Crystal Apple Award recipient is Joy Christiansen (Texas Woman’s University). [image: The Dialogue, two victorian wingback chairs, iron-on transfers on upholstery fabric and embroidered text, 2003]. The following students received SPE Student Awards: Alison Carey (The University of New Mexico), Sarah Caylor (Duke University), Marie Griffin (Rochester Institute of Technology), Scott Hilton (California State University- Fullerton), Allyson Klutenkamper (University of Notre Dame), Emily Momohara (The University of Kansas), Adrienne Pao (San Jose State University), Robert Rainey (Virginia Commonwealth University), Dawn Roe (Illinois State University), and Damon Sauer (The University of New Mexico).

Special thanks go to Freestyle for their generous donation to fund the Freestyle Crystal Apple Award. Special thanks also to Eastman Kodak for offering an exciting product grant for recipients of the SPE Student Awards.And thank you to the many people and companies who contributed to the SPE Scholarship Fund. Your cash and product donations, your raffle tickets and purchases at the silent auction make the student awards possible. View work by scholarship recipients

Volunteers: Students planning to attend the conference have the opportunity to become an SPE volunteers in exchange for a conference fee waiver. Volunteer responsibilities include helping out at the lectures, conference auction, portfolio sessions, registration, etc. Each volunteer is required to work eight hours (spread over the conference) and must attend one of the training session on Wednesday, March 16, 2005. All volunteers need to be students, current 2005 SPE members and need to pre-register for the conference. Postmark deadline is Feb. 14, 2005.

We can only accept a limited number of volunteers. If we reach the maximum number of volunteers before the posted deadline, we will select volunteers in the order the registrations were received. Registration form, Details on Volunteering

Student Seminar: Portland volunteers and scholarship recipients are invited to participate in a half-day Student Seminar on Thursday morning, March 17, 2005. Registration deadline: Feb. 14, 2004.

Sponsors + Exhibitors

Our warmest thanks go to our 2005 sponsors and exhibitors for their support.

Deadlines

Please mark your calendar with these important dates:

Questions

For general questions, please contact:
SPE National Office in Oxford, OH
phone 216/622-2733
fax 513/529-9301
or email SPE Office if you have any questions or if you require special assistance during the conference.

photographs courtesy of POVA, except Linda Connor's image courtesy of the artist