A New Image for the Heartland Series

North Carolina offers hundreds of winding back country roads through small towns that are filled with photographs waiting to be created; just like this one of an old sharecroppers cabin.

New 'Heartland' Image for the New Year

I love the panoramic view of the Hasselblad X-pan camera; the ratio reminds me of shooting a PanaVision movie camera with all of the compositional idiosyncrasies and nuances.

This image from the 'Heartland' series was captured on a side street in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Floridays - Juno Beach, Florida

There's something rejuvenating about simply walking along the beach in the early morning. The sunlight filtering through the clouds, the gentle rhythm of the waves, and the salty breeze combine to wash away the cares (and carousing) of the night before and refresh the mind at the start of a new day.

A New Floridays Image

I love serendipity in my photographic explorations - coming across unexpected subjects such as this castaway bench by the Florida Gulf coast. Very often, I will set out, camera in hand, with one idea in mind and then - wham - something presents itself that just begs to be photographed and suddenly all pre-formed ideas are swept aside.

STEM + ART = STEAM

It is time for politicians and educational institutions to realize that creativity is required to solve the complex challenges society faces, and that Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) alone are not enough. The flexible thinking, risk taking, and creative problem-solving techniques that are taught through Art and Design are needed for innovation in today's changing world.

I wholeheartedly encourage the support of House Resolution 319: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that adding Art and Design into Federal programs that target the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields encourages innovation and economic growth in the United States.

That's why I signed a petition to The United States House of Representatives on this very subject.

Want to sign this petition? Click here:

http://signon.org/sign/support-stem-to-steam?source=s.em.cp&r_by=6144681

Thanks for supporting the ARTS!

A Conversation with the Artist at the FMoPA

"We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning." ~ Jean Baudrillard, 'Simulacra and Simulations,' 1988

In 1917, under the pseudonym R. Mutt, the French artist and champion of the Dadaist movement, Marcel Duchamp, challenged and shocked the Art World with his submission of 'Fountain' to the Society of Independent Artists exhibit, forever changing the perception of Art. In the latter part of the 20th Century, the Digital Revolution, with its bits and bytes and ones and zeros, forever changed the processes and the media in which art could be created. Photography has been squarely caught in this rapidly evolving landscape of digital capture with an accelerating distancing and removal of the physical contact between the artist and his media of geometric proportions.

As part of the ongoing museum series "The Individual's Opinion - The Photographer's View" at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, "A Conversation with the Artist David Durbak" will be presented on the evening of July 10, 2012, and I will be discussing the impact of digital capture on the art of the hand in photography. I hope you can join me in downtown Tampa, Florida, at FMoPA for an interactive conversation.

New Year, New Series - The Atlantic

It's been a practice of mine to always create new photography on New Year's Day, part of an old family superstition that states whatever you're doing on New Year's Day, you'll be doing for the rest of that year.

This might be a keeper for a new series which I've titled 'The Atlantic' that will be an on-going series for which I'll be creating new imagery for what I imagine to be quite some number of years. I've always loved and been attracted to water; whether the oceans, lakes, rivers, or streams. This series allows me to be creating within that element once again.

At Galerie Jenner for the 10th Art Basel Miami

It's quite exciting to be a part of the 10th Anniversary of of Art Basel Miami at Galerie Jenner where three of my prints will be a part of the 'Chromatic Resonance' exhibit featuring photography of several Florida-based photographers. Included in the exhibit is the image above titled 'State Road 60' from my 'Heartland' series, as well as two images from my 'River of Grass' series.

I've so enjoyed capturing images using film for both of these series as I find it very liberating as compared to digital capture. There is no 'chimping' at the back of the camera; simply the reassurance of years of knowledge, experience, and the confidence of the pre-visualization of the final print.

Click the following link to see all of the featured photographers in the show:

http://www.galeriejenner.com

'Light of Florida' Photo Exhibition

I am quite pleased that three photographs of mine have been selected for inclusion in the 'Light of Florida' - two images are from my 'River of Grass' series and one image is from my 'Heartland' series. 'Light of Florida' is a collaborative project created by the South Florida Chapter and the Central Florida Chapter of American Society of Media Photographers to produce a premium coffee table book, a promotional internet portfolio, and a print exhibit. The images feature people and places captured in the unique and varied natural light that makes Florida a great place to photograph. The print exhibit will have an opening in February, 2012, at KW Light Gallery, located on Duvall Street in Key West.


The image shown is titled 'Water Hyacinth' from the 'River of Grass' series.

To view the current 'River of Grass' images, please visit:

http://daviddurbak.com/river.html

Named as a Featured Artist on MyArtSpace

I am very pleased to announce that Catherine McCormack-Skiba, CEO, founder, and Creative Director at CatMacArt, has notified me that I have been selected as a Featured Artist on the MyArtSpace website during the month of July, 2011, and that the above image, 'Reclamation II' from the 'Impermanence' series, has been added to the front page media window. Since less than five percent of the entire group of artists listed on MyArtSpace are selected as Featured Artists, this is, indeed, a very nice honor.

To view the current front media page, please visit:

http://www.myartspace.com

To view my portfolio on MyArtSpace, please visit:

http://www.myartspace.com/daviddurbakgallery