Open … Heart Surgery by Michael Peven.
The Society for Photographic Education will be “Engaging Possibilities” on campus this week as the university hosts the society’s 2014 South Central Conference October 2-4.
The conference is packed with multiple workshops, image-maker presentations and demonstrations presented by SPE members. Thursday’s events include a 10 a.m. “Think Tank” presentation by artist and lecturer Marni Jordan and a member exhibition and reception at the Murfreesboro Center for the Arts from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Friday, photographers Huger Foote from Memphis, Tennessee, and Michael Peven, professor from the University of Arkansas, will present their work at a 4 p.m. reception in the Baldwin Photographic Gallery, located on the second floor of the College of Mass Communication. Both artists will also lead the evening’s lecture beginning at 6 p.m. in the State Farm Room of the Building and Aerospace Building. Peven will give a provocative talk on “Mounting a Photograph is a Misdeamonor in Arkansas,” while Foote will deliver the conference’s keynote address.
Peaches by Huger Foote.
Attendees will later migrate to the Keathley University Center theater for a screening of “Everybody Street,” a film about New York City street photographers. The film will begin promptly at 9 p.m. and is open to the public with $5 admission.
Saturday, the conference greets presenters from the American Society of Media Photographers as well as several renowned Nashville-based artists. Sunday concludes the conference with a special exhibit of American Ballads: The Photographs of Marty Stuart at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville (limited availability).
Shannon Randol, an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Electronic Media as well as an active member in SPE, was instrumental in bringing this year’s conference to the MTSU campus. As conference co-chair, he supports the society’s message. “The purpose of the Society for Photographic Education is to foster an understanding of photography as a means of artistic expression, cultural insight and experimental practice,” Randol says.
Registration is available onsite at the conference Thursday through Saturday. For a complete registration and scheduling information, please click here.
The Society for Photographic Education seeks to promote a broader understanding of the photographic medium in all its forms through teaching and learning, scholarship and criticism. The South Central region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
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