Nature At Its Best, a three artist exhibition, April 1 - 30, at River Art Gallery in the Bluff View Art District, Chattanooga, TN, features my newest Florilegium images. I find it exciting that the botanical subject matter that I have explored for 16 years still offers me challenges and possibilities as Florilegium continues to evolve. I will be at River Gallery on Saturday, April 26 to visit with guests and give a presentation about my images and process. If you are in the area, please stop by!

April 1 - 30, 2014

400 E 2nd St.,
Chattanooga, TN 37403
P 423 - 265-5033

http://www.river-gallery.com/

Mackerel Sky Gallery will present Confluence, my twelfth exhibition at their beautiful gallery in East Lansing, MI, April 6 - May 25. It is always a pleasure to present my newest photographic ideas at this venue that has known my work for so long. Please join me at the opening reception on Sunday, April 6 from noon until 4:00 PM. Confluence melds my vibrantly colored Florilegium botanical images with the more monochromatic, nonrepresentational forms of Illumitones.

from Mackerel Sky's newsletter:
"During the twenty-four years that Kim Kauffman has been exhibiting her work at Mackerel Sky one can trace transitions through distinct bodies of work, each buildingon and referencing each other."

April 6 - May 25, 2014

Opening Reception : Sunday, April 6, Noon - 4 PM

211 M. A. C. Ave
East Lansing, MI 48823
P  517-351-2211

Confluence exhibition at Mackerel Sky     

Halsted Gallery will participate in the 2014 AIPAD New York Photography Show April 10 - 13. Tom Halsted and Wendy Halsted Beard will present a variety of my photographs along with many other selections from their stellar collection of vintage and contemporary photographs. Halsted Gallery is one of the original dealers in art photography, opening in 1969, and I am delighted to have been working with them since 2007.

One of the world’s most highly anticipated annual photography events, AIPAD will be held at the Park Avenue Armory. Presented by The Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), the fair is the longest-running and foremost exhibition dedicated to the photographic medium. More than 80 of the world’s leading fine art photography galleries will present a wide range of museum-quality work, including contemporary, modern, and 19th-century photographs as well as photo-based art, video, and new media.

April 10 - 13, 2014

AIPAD at the Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065
P   248-894-0353

http://www.halstedgallery.com

I was recently invited to include my photographs in the portfolio section of LensCulture, Jim Casper's premier online resource for contemporary photography. This site contains both a magazine and a collection of photographer's portfolios. You will find my Florilegium, Illumitones and Confluence portfolios on this LensCulture page.

I was also honored to have my newest Florilegium images featured in the main page Spotlight on LensCulture. This site is an amazing resource with ever-changing content. Take a look – and be prepared to lose a few happily spent hours. Better yet, bookmark the site.

https://www.lensculture.com/

Galerie BMG will re-open after a winter break on May 24 in a newly renovated gallery in Bearsville, NY in a collaborative venture with Sweetheart Gallery. To inaugurate the new space and welcome the long-awaited beauty of spring, the first exhbition will feature my botanically based photo-collages in combination with Lila Bacon’s paintings of flowers. I wish Bernard and Judi Gerson the best in their new location.

May 24 - July 27, 2014

Grand Re-Opening Celebration
May 24, 4 - 7 pm

17 Cricket Ridge
Bearsville, NY 12409
New York, NY 10065
P   248-894-0353

http://www.galeriebmg.com

LensWork Publishing has just released Looking at Images, A deeper look at selected photographs published in LensWork and LensWork Extended, by Brooks Jensen. Based on his Looking at Images blog, the book is a study aid for thinking about photography and the creative process. It features images by 113 photographers previously published in LensWork and I am happy that my image Aura has been included. Order your copy now! The book will ship in late April.



http://www.lenswork.com

Last spring I wrote about the trove of family photos that recently came into my hands. Spanning generations back to the Civil War era, they are an engrossing look at my father’s ancestors. One year later, this collection draws me in even more as my knowledge of the family pictured and the history of the processes used to create the photographs deepens. This carte de visite (also called CDV) portrait is of my great, great grandmother, Fanny Glading Kauffman. Carte de visite refers to the card size that the albumen print was mounted on – 2.25" wide by 4" tall. Popular from roughly 1860 to 1890, CDVs were the first widespread, affordable photographs that made sharing portraits with family and friends accessible to many.

In this photograph Fanny's dress and hairstyle, along with the double borders and thickness of the card all point to this portrait being made in the mid-1860s. The back of the card reveals additional layers of information that conclusively date the photograph and give me valuable information about my family. Upon turning the card over I was thrilled to recognize my mother's handwriting filling the back of the card with details of Fanny's life! I can imagine Mom sitting with my grandmother writing the notes as Gram shared family history. Thanks to both of them for taking such care, perhaps knowing that it would be important to me some day.

Then I noticed the strange stamp on the back of the card but didn't pay much attention to it. I have since learned that it is a tax stamp indicating revenues collected on photographs to help offset the costs of the Civil War. These tax stamps were used between August 1864 and August 1866, so this photograph of Fanny was made in that two year time period. Fanny would have been in her mid-twenties. What a windfall of information in such a small package!

The story does not end here. There is a companion CDV of Peter Kauffman, Fanny's husband. If you would like to continue this exploration with me you will find Peter's CDV and my thoughts about it on my web site.

P   517-321-2815