Photogravure.com | The Art of the Photogravure - Mark Katzman's personal labor of love -  was recently featured as the Webpick of the week on Communication Arts' homepage.  Launched in 2006, photogravure.com has become an invaluable resource for collectors of vintage photography throughout the world.  Please take a moment to browse the collections and articles on photogravure.com.

Curt von Diest - FK's digital department - recently won Grand Prize in the faculty category of the Photo Imaging Education Association's annual photography competition. Below is his winning photograph of grazing horses in southern Utah.  Curt currently teaches Digital Photography classes at Webster University in St. Louis.

FK proudly hosted 2 fundraisers at the studio in recent weeks.

ArtFix07, http://www.artfix07.com/, drew a crowd of more than 500 guests for an evening of art , music and appetizers to benefit Rebuilding Together-St. Louis, http://www.rebuildingtogether-stl.org/. A silent auction featuring the work of more than 45  artists, food stations provided by 10 restaurants and the sounds of the Curt Landis Band  served as a backdrop for a beautiful and successful evening. Rebuilding Together revitalizes neighborhoods in partnership with the community by rehabilitating the houses of low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly and the disabled, so that they may continue to live independently in comfort and safety.

The 5th annual Red Door Party, benefiting Almost Home http://www.almosthomestl.org/, rocked the studio with the music of Farshid etniko, a "photo booth" & champagne cocktails upstairs followed by a DJ and a little karaoke in the lower level lounge later in the evening. Despite the fact that Oklahoma stole the championship from the Mizzou Tigers,  a good time was had by all.  Almost Home provides transitional programs and support services for teenage mothers and their children.

FK is pleased to have six images included in this year's CommArts Photo Annual, to be released in August.

SCOTT FERGUSON - An outtake from an advertising shoot for Bally's Casino Las Vegas

MARK KATZMAN - Five ambrotype portraits from Mark's series Tucker and Convention

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Continue reading COMMUNICATION ARTS PHOTO ANNUAL"

Currently on display in the studio are 11 portraits from Mark Katzman's personal project "Tucker and Convention".  Made using the historical wet-plate collodion process, the portraits evoke a sense of the socio-economic foundations of the St Louis everyman.  The subjects are all passers-by photographed on the street in the vicinity of FK's former studio on North Tucker Blvd.
 

The wet-plate collodion process, commonly referred to as Ambrotype, requires the emulsion to be hand applied to a glass plate. The photograph must then be exposed and developed before the emulsion has a chance to dry. For this process to work outside of the studio Mark uses a custom portable darkroom installed in the back of his Suburban. Most subjects stayed for only one single photograph before continuing on their way.

Many more photographs from Tucker and Convention after the jump...

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Continue reading TUCKER AND CONVENTION - PERSONAL PORTRAIT PROJECT"

Thanks to everyone who came to our holiday party and helped us raise $4,000 for Disabled American Veterans. We certainly had a great time and trust you did too. We promise to have another party in 2007!

For the past year Mark Katzman has worked closely with the web designers at TOKY to develop a comprehensive website devoted to the art of the photogravure process. Check out this beautiful site now at http://www.photogravure.com

FK is happy to finally be moved into our new studio. The new address is 2745 Locust Street, Second Floor, St Louis, MO, 63103. If our moving announcement postcard didn't make it to your desk, you can download the PDF here. We'll have a party in the fall so stay tuned for details!