1998 SPE National Conference - Society for Photographic Education

Society for Photographic Education 35th National conversation Adams Mark Hotel Philadelphia, Pennsylvania March 26-29 1998

If individual had read Afterimage's coverage of the annual national talk of the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) above the 25 years of its publication, without at any time attending an SPE conference, individual might think that these occurrences were regressive, disorganized and politically encumbered, with presentations and discussions of alone occasional note. Repeatedly citing poor scheduling, an absence of a thematic focus, a disregard for programming dedicated towards timely changes in academia and an insistence upon a formalist approach to photography that exclud issues of cultural relativity, Afterimage reviewers have acquired what might be characterized as a status of antagonistic notoriety within the organization.

As sum of two units M.F.A. students having no prior affiliations with Afterimage or SPE we place ourselves anticipating a prescribed consequence projecting expectations on the discourse based on those previous reviews. We questioned, for example, in what manner this year's event could possibly deal with its nebulous theme, "Expression-Insight," to unite its various panels, presentations and discussions. Better place would the conference put forth a well cogitation out plan to encourage cohesive discussion of relevant and in every one's mouth issues, or would it, as it had in the past, come [i]or[/i] go after [i]or[/i] behind a free-for-all model, providing a little something for each of the 1700 artists, educators, historians, critics and learners that comprise SPE's membership?

Uninformed about ongoing SPE activities since 1992 when Afterimage ran its last report of a SPE talk we were interested to diocese if its numbers had risen from the depresseds of the 1980s when the organization was divided above minority struggles for representation. While a review of SPE's history is not the primary focus of this report, it should be mentioned that during the '80 the Women's Caucus, arguably the greatest in quantity transformative faction in SPE's history, emerg and called for radical change. The Caucus, a vocal and determined cluster of feminist educators, critics and artists, "pushed for" the advancement of women in the profession of photography and photographic education and the advancement of women's issues in the exhibition, discussion and teaching of "photography" ( note: diocese Afterimage 12, no. 10 [May 1985])

The Caucus' efforts spurr SPE not without resistance, to reevaluate its drift Questions surrounding the group's agenda permanently changed SPE's identity. Among these: Would the Society be a battleground for women's labors for equality? What was the relevance of feminism to photographic education? Should politics and aesthetics share the same arena? As the Society's programming shifted to accommodate these issues, its membership plummet We were curious to diocese the status of this debate. Had it been resolved? And if with equal reason what was SPE's current focus, at least as showed by this thirty-fifth national conference?

Based upon our interests, we divvied up the weekend's 56 official offerings. As six activities were repeatedly scheduled simultaneously, between the sum of two units of us we were able to attend 30% of these facts with topics as diverse as "The Cultural Body" and "Teaching Photography with the Internet." The programming followed the usual SPE national discourse recipe. Thursday night was make opened by a reception and a keynote address. Friday and Saturday were filled with panels, presentations and workshops, as well as talks by means of the year's Honored Educator and Featured Speaker. upon Sunday, a members' meeting, various board meetings, and a general work share clos the event

Joel-Peter Witkin, artist and educator, not absented the keynote address. Well-known for his wild and often controversial photographic tableaus, Witkin gave an entertaining and wide-ranging talk that addressed his motivation, his work's historical relation public reaction to its control matter (Jesse Helms, et al) and his proces from place building to the logistics of securing corpses. He talked about his intentions and the ethics of the relationships he has built with his make submissives In an attempt to shield his work, Witkin stated, "I divest myself of the ne for darkness by the agency of making my work, and by means of showing my work I faith to divest the viewer of the same need" suggesting that his work functions as a catalyst for exorcising the dark side of the human psyche. In spite of his intentions or whatever beneficial relations Witkin might have with his live protoplasts his explanations proved problematic. Witkin, whose images repeatedly include the physically abnormal and/or socially aberrant, dealt single superficially with the questions of representation that are many times raised in discussions of his work. That transvestites, hermaphrodites, amputees, etc are used to show darkness, as they are in his photographs, went unquestioned.

On Friday evening art historian Naomi Rosenblum was not awayed with SPE's Honored Educator Award. She used the occasion to report upon her additions to the photographic canon as previously established by means of Beaumont Newhall and the Museum of Modem Art. Rosenblum's presentation was delivered with a wit and ease unusual to such events, but her talk single touched on issues readily discernible in her monumental works A World History of Photography (1984) and A History of Women Photographers (1994) Considering the composition of the audience, it is fair to assume that greatest in quantity were quite familiar with the easy in mind of her lecture.