Shooting Community Images with Abdi Roble and Steven Katzman

COMMUNITY IMAGES:

A Day With Steven Katzman & Abdi Roble

Event Description: Spend a day with Steven Katzman & Abdi Roble's discussion and shooting "Community Images" in Columbus, Ohio. We will meet at the Central Ohio Community House at 10:00 A.M. where there will be a power-point presentation and discussion by Steven & Abdi. An on-location studio will be set up to shoot images of the community. We will return to Midwest Photo Exchange at 3:00 P.M. for an Event Special Sale and to receive your free coupon for your selected image of the day's event.

When: 10:00 Friday November 9, 2007

Where: Meet at the Central Ohio Community House
1150 East Main St.
Columbus, Ohio 43202
(If you get lost call Stu at 614-390-9940)|
Return to Midwest Photo at 3:00 P.M. for a special EVENT SALE and presentation of a FREE coupon for an 11x14 image of one of your Community Images.

Cost: $25 (Comes with a free coupon for an 11x14 image of one of your Community images) Enrollment limited to 25 participants.

Registration: Call Lynn at Midwest Photo Exchange 614-261-1264

Main Sponsors: Bogen Imaging and Midwest Photo Exchange

Steven Katzman: Steven Katzman graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay cum laude (Modernization Processes) in 1973. A self-taught photographer, Mr. Katzman established Steven Katzman Photography, LLC in 1990. He has received numerous awards in photography including: a three year Professional Photography Division Corporate Grant, Polaroid Corporation Artist Grant, and an Ilford Corporate Grant. Mr. Katzman has exhibited his photographs in numerous galleries and museums in the US and internationally. His recent book, "The Face of Forgiveness, Salvation and Redemption", PowerHouse books, was featured in the New York Art Directions Guild. Mr. Katzman was also interviewed on CNN. PBS has documented his current project: "A Portrait of Newtown, an African-American community in Sarasota, Fl." Mr. Katzman has been on the faculty at the Ringling School of Art and Design since 2003, where he developed the advanced digital imaging syllabus. He is a Lexar Elite Photographer, an X-Rite Coloratti, and is sponsored by Bogen Imaging, Hahnemuhle FineArt, and Eizo. Mr. Katzman is currently a technical editor for After Capture Magazine.

Abdi Roble: Known for his sincere and generous personality by friends and colleagues alike, Abdi is a well-respected photographer in Columbus, Ohio. Abdi is a native of Mogadishu, Somalia. He came to the United States in 1989.
Abdi became a freelance photographer in 1994. His work has appeared in the Columbus Dispatch, Columbus Post, Photographers Forum Magazine, La Voz Hispana, and Leica View Magazine.
For Abdi, photography has become a most adequate means for documenting the lives of people from all corners of the world. His fascination with people of various cultural backgrounds can be seen in several of his works, which appear almost to “come alive” in a dazzling array of color and light. As he continues to explore the world of photography, he wants to share his experiences with the greater Columbus community.
"My interest in people from different cultures has taken me to places beyond my imagination. As a photo journalist, I am always meeting new friends. There are few language barriers between the subject and me because we share the same experiences. I rarely see my subject a second time, so capturing that singular moment in time is sacred. I am always searching for that next moment not knowing what to expect, yet the unexpected always happens. I have to be able to translate my feeling onto the negative, the only tool I have to capture that moment, my camera."

Abdi's "Somali Documentary Project" uses photography to produce an archival record of the members of the Somali Diaspora while they continue to engage in the cultural practices of their homeland."The Somali Documentary Project" has a three-pronged goal:To archive a record of the community before assimilation, to educate and create understanding within the host community, and to draw international attention to current events in Somalia. Throughout 2006 and into 2007, Arts Midwest and Roble enriched and extended "The Somali Documentary Project" by focusing on Minneapolis/St. Paul and greater Minnesota. Minneapolis/St. Paul is home to the highest number of Somali immigrants in the United States; the second highest is Columbus, Ohio. Roble spent four months in residency in Minnesota, taking more than 10,000 photographs in an effort to create an archival record for the Minnesota Somali community while opening the doors to community dialogue, engagement, and cultural acceptance. Roble and writer Doug Rutledge also spent one month as artists-in-residence at Utah Medical Academy, part of the International Education Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A retrospective of Abdi's images is currently on disply at the Columbus Museum of Art.