Conversations about Photography 2014

Mike Danneman, New York Central Hudson taking water on the fly
Mike Danneman, One Fleeting Moment, 1990. New York Central J-3a Hudson locomotive no. 5450 scooping water on the fly along the Hudson River. Acrylic on stretched canvas, 48 in. by 24 in. Danneman and Ron Flanary will discuss their approaches to painting and photography at the 2014 conference.

Dates: May 16–18, 2014

Location: The campus of cosponsor Lake Forest College (campus map), 30 miles north of Chicago, and the Chicago History Museum, 1601 North Clark Street. Learn more about the City of Lake Forest online or download the PDF overview.

Your Photographs: After purchasing your tickets, please send one of your recent photographs, preferably from the past year, for inclusion in a presentation of attendees’ photographs at the conference. Send one JPEG image file, either 1920 pixels wide or 1200 pixels high, to info [at] railphoto-art.org.

Patrons: If you feel strongly about the conference, consider becoming a patron (use the Paypal link at left). Patrons help offset travel costs for presenters, and the 20 patrons of Conversations 2013 also provided funds for two scholarships in 2014. Patrons are recognized in the program and receive free tickets for all print raffles.

Scholarships: Two scholarships, funded by conference patrons, are available to cover ticket prices, two nights of lodging (double occupancy), partial travel expenses to and from the conference. Young and/or emerging photographers and other visual artists are encourage to apply. The deadline is February 15.

E. D. Lindsley, Herbert F. Smith Co. Commercial Photographers, Delaware and Hudson Railroad, evidentiary photograph recording the scene of an accident, Cortland, New York, November 5, 1920. The photograph appears in Some Vernacular Railroad Photographs (W.W. Norton, 2013), by Jeff Brouws and Wendy Burton.
handSpanish National Railways 240F 2586 entering the tunnel at Torralba, Spain, 1965. Photograph by Victor Hand

Friday (5:30–9:00 p.m.):

  • Reception with photography exhibition
  • Dinner
  • Victor Hand, on his new book, A Steam Odyssey (W.W. Norton, 2013)

Saturday (8:30–5:00, reception 5:00–7:00 p.m.):

  • Jeff Brouws, Some Vernacular Railroad Photography
  • Scott Conarroe, By Rail
  • Mike Danneman and Ron Flanary
  • Travis Dewitz
  • Blair Kooistra
  • Kevin P. Keefe, the paintings of George Gloff
  • Kathi Kube
  • Reception with exhibition of prints by Victor Hand

Sunday (9:00–1:00 at the Chicago History Museum):

  • Private viewing of the Center’s exhibition Railroaders: Jack Delano’s Homefront Photography
  • John Gruber, Chicago Union Station in the 1960s
  • Glenn Willumson, photography of the first transcontinental railroad