What's new with your fellow photographers?
This newest feature from TPS helps you find that out. Several photographers answered a few questions we wanted ask and thought you would be interested in knowing.


Monty McCutchen
Fine Art photographer and resident of North Carolina and is a fine art photographer when he is not travelling all over the U.S.

Q. We understand that photography is a Hobby of yours, so what is your vocation?

A. For the past 17 years I have been a referee for the National Basketball Association.

Q. What is your favorite process?

A. My TWO favorite process's are Wet Plate Collodion and Gum over Platinum/Palladium using formats ranging from 10 x 12, 7 x 17 and of course my own form of madness, 20 x 24

Q. What inspired you to get into using 20x24 photography?

A. I love narrative and the larger format afforded the opportunity to express more narrative in my photography, in particular my Wet Plate Collodion photography which has a mystical voice all its own at that size. The Larger Camera also has a process to it that is eventful and specifically when sitters come over they become involved in that process in a way that I have found smaller formats do not illicit. I enjoy that interaction, that process immensely.

Q. What is your favorite subject to shoot?

A. Portraiture. My family in particular, my wife Terri, my daughter Counti and my son Satchel.

Q. What would you do if you won the Lottery? (we're talking about the Mega Million, not the $2 Scratch Off)

A. I would retire so that I didn't have to miss any more of my children's lives, could share in my wife's life more, and then open up a very lazy, north facing natural light studio that had as it's only purpose to fulfill my personal work and whims. I would also take that time to learn how to make the perfect chocolate souffle--my wife's favorite desert.

Q. What Photography Exhibit did you see that sticks out in your mind?

A. The recent Carlton Watkins exhibit at the Getty in Los Angeles. He truly was a visionary.

Q. What music do you listen to in your car?

A. Lucinda Williams as often as possible, mixed with an appropriate amount of Miles Davis.

Amy Holmes George
Amy is a local Texan, a fine art photographer, a member of the Board for the Texas Photographic Society and has served as Chair and Treasurer on the South Regional Board of the Society for Photographic Education.

Q: Clarke mentioned that you received a grant to document a photography project in Florence. Can you tell us more about it like how long were you there, how was your experience, are you plan on publishing a book about it, and anything else?

A: The work titled, "Double Vision: A View of Florence Past & Present," is a Fulbright-funded rephotographic project based on the private collections of the world's oldest photo archive, the Fratelli Alinari in Florence, Italy. For four months, I spent my time retracing the steps of the Alinari photographers to visit significant sites within the city of Florence, rephotographing these places from the same point of view using today’s digital technology and later printing the images in platinum/palladium. Ultimately, I would like to publish a book of this work with the support of the Alinari's publishing house.

Q: What is your favorite photography book?

A: I have always been fond of the book "Strange Genius" published by The Journal of Contemporary Photography.

Q: Is your current exhibit in McKinney going to travel?

A: Yes. The project will travel to Florence and Rome this summer, among a few other venues in the US, including The Croft Art Gallery in Waco this November.

Q: Who inspired you to become a photographer?

A: I don't know that I can credit any one person; however, my father did have a fascination with photography and cameras during his younger years. I was just completely and naturally charmed by the medium during my first introduction to traditional darkroom photography in college.

Q: What camera can you not live without?

A: With the advent of digital, I've noticed that my relationship with my cameras is changing. I'm much less attached now. However, one camera that I cannot seem to part with is my old Mamiya C220 twin lens.

Q: You use several different photographic processes. Which one is your favorite?

A: I have always maintained a strong interest in alternative photographic processes; and more recently, I have focused my work in that direction. At this time, my preferred image-making process involves photographing digitally and producing digital negatives for use with platinum/palladium.

Q: What is one of your favorite lessons that you give your students in your photography classes?

A: I always look forward to the first darkroom printing demonstration with beginning level photography students, especially those not acquainted with the wet lab. That moment when students first see an image "magically" appear on paper is simply priceless!

Q: What was the last movie you saw that you really enjoyed?

A: With a two-year-old, I don't make much time for movies these days. However, I am a huge fan of the Fox program Fringe.

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Keith Carter
Keith is a fine art photographer from East Texas, educator at Lamar University in Beaumont, and considered "a poet of the ordinary" by the Los Angeles Times.

Q: What camera can you not live without?

A: My beat up old Hasselblad 500cm.

Q: What workshops will you be leading this year?

A: Patricia Delker of Magic Image Workshops and I are hosting a one week trip to Ireland in May of 2010. You'll be able to catch me at Woodstock Center for Photography, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Maine Media Workshops, Santa Fe Workshops, New Orleans Workshops and more. To see my complete calendar of workshops and lectures, you can visit my website. www.keithcarterphotographs.com/workshops.html.

Q: Where did you get your idea for the latest book, Fireflies?

A: After making photographs for 34 years, I've reached an age where I have a substantial "archive" of past work. The idea for Fireflies was suggested to me by my publisher, University of Texas Press.

Q: Which website do you visit frequently?

A: PhotoEye Books.

Q: What's the best movie you've seen in the last year?

A: Bright Star . . . about the Poet John Keats.

Q: What inspired you to be a photographer?

A: My mother's encouragement. She was a commercial photographer of children for many years.

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