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Northern Virginia Photographic Society
Promoting the enjoyment, mastery, & furtherance of photography through cooperation, effort, & good fellowship!
 
Member's Gallery and Forum
January 26th, 2010 - Members Gallery: Prints by John Dexter & Digital by Tuan Pham
Members Gallery on January 26th will include Prints by John Dexter & Digital Projection by Tuan Pham.  Join us for their presentations immediately followed by January's Forum presentation

The following are the biographies of the members presenting on January 24th:

John Dexter
A retired State Department Foreign Service Officer, John has been an enthusiastic amateur photographer since his high school days in Montana. Introduced to serious photography by a family friend, he pursued the hobby passionately throughout his adult years while on various diplomatic assignments in Washington, DC and abroad, including China, Burma, Switzerland, Singapore, Turkey, Brazil. Initially John used Nikon cameras and a Rollieflex to create film images and explore the mysteries of the darkroom.. Ten years ago he converted to a digital SLR and currently uses a Nikon D300 (favorite lens a Nikkor 18-200mm) and edits primarily with Photoshop.

Over the years John's primary subject interests have been his large family and the unique scenic opportunities presented by overseas assignments. He is working on a project to scan his archive of  negatives and slides produced in those days. Of late John has focused his attention on images in nature and his surrounding world that contain appealing abstractions and strong design elements. Subject matter is secondary; John's goal is to recognize and carve out "rectangles of beauty" and "aesthetic vitality" in our complex, everyday visual world.

Though he has taken a number of film and digital photography courses in the Washington area (Smithsonian, Corcoran, etc.) he had never been interested in exhibiting his work outside his home until joining NVPS in September, 2006. He would classify himself as a fairly skilled amateur with a drive to use his camera and all available technology to produce artistic photographs pleasing enough to hang on his own walls and, perhaps, elsewhere!

Tuan Pham
Tuan Pham became involved in photography very late in life. He bought his first SLR, a Nikon D-70, when he was approaching 70 years of age.
In 2005 he joined NVPS and has learned a great deal from the club, particularly from club members Joe Miller, Corey Hilz, Ed Funk, and Paul Simmons. He has also advanced his knowledge by attending workshops taught by Freeman Patterson, Andre Gallant, and Tony Sweet.

Tuan has earned many club's ribbons including Novice Digital Image of the Year (2008) and Novice Digital Projection Photographer of the Year (2009). His first image was juried into Meadowlark Annual Exhibition in 2008. In May 2009 Tuan was promoted from Novice to Advanced in the Digital Projection category and developed a self-study workshop called Contemplative Photography: Seeing with Renewed Clarity--an embodiment of Eastern contemplation and Western arts, and a manifestation of the art of mindful seeing and mindful-living. His goal is to create pleasing images with a good balance of seeing, feeling, and thinking 

Tuan's photography plan is threefold: (1) to document the growth of his twelve grand children, (2) to use the camera to learn to see without a camera, and (3) to teach a workshop in contemplative photography.

In 1995 Tuan took an early retirement from international banking and began a part-time career in conflict resolution. He has continued in this career and also teaches a workshop in Buddhist contemplation to tame disturbed emotions.



 
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