A Design "Pop-Up" Exhibition at Concordia Gallery

It's nearly time for finals! Last week, the design department at Concordia University held a "pop-up" exhibition in the gallery showcasing work of current design students. Here are a some photos of the exhibition, including a few from the opening reception last week:

[click each image for a larger version]

The following are some pics from the opening reception.

Nice work, design students! I hope you were able to make some sales!

Comedian Demetri Martin on Digital Cameras

I like digital cameras because they allow you to reminisce immediately.

- Demetri Martin

Photograms from Concordia

Here are a few scans of some of my students' photogram projects. Many of these were considered "self-portraits:"

Natalie


Betty


Raina


Terra


Megan


Seojin


Emily


Natalie


Sky

You can see more projects like this in this post from 3 years ago, and this post from 2 years ago.

Printers

When to Start That "Dream Project"

This is too real...

Successful Student Film Processing!

We had a great few days in the darkroom recently. Over 2 days, we had a 100% success rate with 11 rolls processed!

A lot of tanks drying.


The final 2 rolls being washed.


11 rolls drying until next class!

Crop Art at the 2025 Minnesota State Fair

My son and I were in the horticulture building before it was open on the opening day of the Minnesota State Fair last Thursday. I was entering cherry tomatoes (I ended up earning a 3rd place ribbon!), and the drop off was 6:30 a.m. through 9 a.m. when the building itself didn’t open to the public until after that.

So we had the opportunity to do something amazing: look at the “crop art” with NO ONE else around! Usually that room has a huge line, and it’s packed with viewers during normal fair hours! Here are a few pics:

[click each image to enlarge]

My son and about 1/3 of the crop art, before all the building lights were even turned on.

I had a good time explaining some of the “art puns” that were being made with some of the crop art. For example: here we see “Girl with a Pearl Earring” portrayed as a squirrel, as well as “The Son of Man” shown with a corn dog instead of an apple:

"American Gothic" with the 2 MN State Fair mascots, Fairchild and Fairborne.


"Saturn Devouring His Son" but with a corn cob.


Another version of "The Son of Man"


"The Birth of Venus."


"Migrant Mother" - one of the most famous photographs of all time!


"This is not a corn dog" which is a take on "The Treachery of Images,"
and you can see it won an award from the Minneapolis Institue of Arts!

Kodak in Trouble?

In a report that went out on Monday, Kodak noted that their gross profit fell about 12%, or $7 million, declining from $58 million in the second quarter of 2024 to $51 million in the second quarter of 2025, and that it had upcoming debt obligations that need to be fulfilled within the next year. There were concerns that Kodak would disappear.

Kodak pushed back, releasing a statement that they have no plans to cease operations.

One of the photo-based Facebook groups I'm a part of shared this tongue-in-cheek post:

Ha! But seriously, we'll all be watching what happens with Kodak...