Learning through the lens

Arizona Daily Wildcat photo courtesy of the Center for Creative Photography "Untitled" by Nathan Lyons, incorporates text to add to the visual effect. The Society for Photographic Education's 1999 National Conference, which will be held in Tucson this weekend, is aptly titled, "Writing and Photography."

SPE, for short, is holding their annual national conference here in Tucson starting tomorrow, with most of the events taking place downtown and a couple happening here on campus. The Center for Creative Photography, one of the most influential photography museums in the country, is co-sponsoring the conference.

The conference "provides a forum and means of exchange for people who work in the field of photographic education," said Trudy Wilner Stack, curator for the Center for Creative Photography and chair of the 1999 National Conference Committee. A wide selection of well-known photographers as well as educators, manufacturers of photographic equipment and writers on photography will convene downtown at the Holiday Inn City Center to host and attend a variety of lectures, demonstrations and discussions centering around the theme, "Writing and Photography."

Where It's At The Society for Photographic Education National Conference, at the Holiday Inn Center downtown, from March 11-13. Some events will be held on campus Saturday night. Visit SPE's Web site at http://www.spenational.org for more information.

Every year, the conference is held in a different city; the last few years, it has seen such places as Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta and Philadelphia. This year, Wilner Stack wanted to bring it closer to home.

While the conference is geared more towards photographers and educators, it does cater to students and the general public. Friday, an Exhibits Fair will be held in the Empire Ballroom at the Holiday Inn City Center downtown. It's a chance for everyone, students and professionals, to "come and see whatever's new," said Wilner Stack.

"If you're a photography person and you're not into people rapping about their work and stuff, you can go to the exhibit fair for $10," she added.

The conference as a whole is somewhat pricey - $120 for SPE members, $185 for non-members - but student prices are somewhat lower ($55 for members, $75 for non-members) and single-day passes are available for students for $30.

The conference has 60 presentations in all, with the keynote address by Luc Sante, who was a Visiting Critic in the Graduate Department of Photography at Yale and is now a member of the faculty at the New School for Social Research. Sante is a well-renowned writer who writes largely about photography. He has written a book studying New York City Police Department evidence photographs taken between 1914 and 1918 and has contributed text to many photographic books.

Lecture topics range from directly dealing with the theme of writing and photography to such subjects as digital photography and modern Russian photography. Other lectures include "Signs and Bodies: African-American Phototexts and the American Imagination," "The NEA Photography Surveys: Place and History in 1970s Photography," and "Children and the Experience of Illness: An Integrated Approach to Photography, Writing, and Community Engagements." But keep in mind that's only three of almost 25 lectures, and that's not even including the featured speakers and image-makers. Saturday at 7:45 p.m., the conference will make its way to the University of Arizona, with the presentation by Val Williams in Crowder Hall. She is a curator and writer from London, co-director of the Shoreditch Biennale and writes regularly for such publications as The Guardian, The British Journal of Photography and The Independent. The Center for Creative Photography is hosting the reception at 5:30 p.m.

Also Saturday is a silent auction, where original prints of conference image makers will be available for substantially less than their normal asking price.

While attending the conference does cost money, Wilner Stack pointed out that even in one day, albeit a very long day, you could see maybe twelve different lectures about photography. A day pass includes access to all receptions and parties related to the conference, as well as breakfast and dinner. So, if you go for the whole weekend, "You don't have to buy food for two days," Wilner Stack said.