Diana H.  Bloomfield, The Whys of Visual Storytelling

Portland Art Museum Photography Council’s
Brown Bag Lunch Talk Series

Wednesday, November 20h, 2019, Noon – 1pm

Portland Art Museum
The Miller Gallery, Mark Building
1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205
www.portlandartmuseum.org
503 226 2811
Cost: Free to the public (people are welcome to bring their lunch)

In the thirty-five years that I’ve been a practicing artist, I have devoted most of that time working in “alternative” historic photographic printing processes and exploring the qualities inherent in film, specifically in tandem with pinhole and toy cameras. Given that much of this work is hand-made and revolves around unpredictability, infinite variability, inordinate amounts of time, and a definite leap of faith, the one question that consistently arises— sometimes even in my own mind— is: Why? Given the relative ease that 21st century technology offers with regard to photographing and printing, why would anyone devote themselves to ancient methods of visual storytelling? In my presentation, and through my images, I’ll talk about how my work evolved, and why. I hope you’ll join me!

An exhibiting photographer for over thirty-five years, Diana has received numerous awards for her images, including a 1985 New Jersey State Visual Arts Fellowship, and six Regional Artist Grants from the United Arts Council of Raleigh, North Carolina, most recently in 2019/20. She was named a Critical Mass Finalist in 2014, 2018, and, most recently, in 2019.

Specializing in 19th century printing techniques, Diana’s images have been included in a number of books, including Pinhole Photography: Rediscovering a Historic Technique (2004), by Eric Renner; Robert Hirsch’s Exploring Color Photography Fifth & Sixth Editions: From Film to Pixels (2011; 2015); in Jill Enfield’s Guide to Photographic Alternative Processes: Popular Historical and Contemporary Techniques; in Christopher James’ The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes (2015); and, most recently, in #NoFilter, by Natalia Price-Cabrera, published in May 2019.

She is a featured artist in Christina Z. Anderson’s Gum Printing: A Step-by-Step Manual, Highlighting Artists and their Creative Practice (2017); and in Clay Harmon’s Polymer Photogravure: A Step-by-Step Manual, Highlighting Artists & their Creative Practice (2019).

Her photographs have been featured in the Pinhole Journal; The World Journal of Post-Factory Photography; Chinese Photography; Dodho Photography Magazine, and Silvershotz (including front cover image). Her images have been included in The Sun Magazine (including front cover image) ; The HAND Magazine; and the North Carolina Literary Review.

Her art is in a number of public and private collections, including the Norton Museum of Art, located in West Palm Beach, Florida; The Fine Art Program and Collection at Montefiore Einstein, in Bronx, New York; New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and North Carolina State University’s Gregg Museum of Art & Design, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

A native North Carolinian, Diana lives and works in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she received her MA in English Literature and Creative Writing from North Carolina State University. She teaches workshops throughout the country, and in her beautiful backyard studio.

Diana is represented by the Ryan Gallery at Art Intersection, located in Gilbert, Arizona, and by photo-eye Gallery (Photographer’s Showcase), located in Santa Fe, New Mexico.