Member News
Covers of books "Leaving Cleveland" by Steven Begleiter and "Altitude Adjustment" by Greg Smith
This is a roundup of projects, books, shows, etc., from ASMP Colorado members. Please share your news with us by emailing greg@imediasmith.com. Be sure to include full titles, publishers, web addresses, locations and/or times, etc., along with your email and phone number – and whether you want that contact information published.
Begleiter Projects Garner Attention
Steven Begleiter, ASMP professional member and adjunct professor at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, has caught some good attention with his work “The Secret Life of Egrets and Herons.”
Earlier this year, his pictures were shortlisted in the Sony World Competition, one of only 180 entries selected from 500,000 submissions. He’s been invited in December to exhibit at the Foto Nostrum at the Barcelona.
The work was also shortlisted for the Communication Arts 2024 Photography Competition. One of the pieces, “Tranquil Aviary,” was selected for the Depot Art 40th Best of Colorado Art Competition, and 11 images from this work were included in the LensWork No. 168 June Issue, and “5 Egrets Perched ” was selected by the curator of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York for the 2024 Photo Review competition/publication.
Leaving Cleveland: A Fictional Memoir
by Steven Begleiter
Order the Book Here!
With his book now part of the Jewish Book Council archive, Steven says the next step is to turn it into an audiobook next year. He reports some interest from a “couple of Hollywood people,” even as he sees the book’s chance to become a movie remains a “long shot.”
Description
Aspiring photographer Sam Cohen knows there must be more to life than helping his father run the family business in Cleveland. He sets off for New York, and stumbles into an unforgettable adventure in the heart of the celebrity and art world of the 1980s.
He apprentices for Johnny Strand “the photo man” in his wacky commercial photo studio. Sam gets his big break a year later when he becomes photo assistant to the world-famous Izzy Teivel.
It is an auspicious start for Sam, but reality sets in and dysfunction prevails. Izzy is revered by her fans, clients and subjects, but is unrealistically demanding to everyone, especially Sam, who finds himself questioning his choices and sanity.
The pressure causes a near breakdown and manifests as nightmares of his father’s past as a Holocaust survivor. Sam’s guilt in leaving his family behind is triggered by Izzy’s photo assignment with Vanity Way to photograph the famous Jewish writers Elie Wiesel and I.B. Singer. Morally conflicted, Sam has to decide whether to return to Cleveland to help his estranged father and overprotective mother, or to stay in New York and pursue his own dreams.
Altitude Adjustment: A Book of ‘Chairlift’ Pictures
By Greg Smith
See pictures, sample chapters and Order Your Signed Copy Here!
Super Sale: ENDOFSUMMER24 saves 25%. Order now for holiday gifts!
Greg’s Description
“It was a couple decades back, on a chilly day at snow-challenged The Wisp resort in far-western Maryland, when I noticed the kernel that sprouted into this book.
“In my pocket, I carried a small, waterproof Canon film camera. The patterns of the cables and chairs snaking up the hill drew my eye, and I made a few pictures.
“Slowly over the years, I developed a photographic toolkit and visual language to document the in-bounds skiing experience: from the chair, under the chair, of the chair and around it.
“Altitude Adjustment grew during a decade of toting a camera while riding chairlifts and mountains. I offer it as a gentle counterpoint to “powder porn,” the extreme snow and feats that often advertise snow sports. This collection documents the actual experience most of us have in-bounds at accessible, safe – but stoked – resorts, especially Monarch Mountain, but also Crested Butte, Telluride, Ski Cooper, Loveland and more.”
Greg calls the book a “labor of fun.” He includes 150 pictures and a dozen essays about that fun in the book’s 96 pages. Look for Greg signing books on busy days this winter at Monarch Mountain. Also available on Amazon.com.