The reunion schedule is a mix of open time, informal gatherings, and some sit-down
presentations. But in all of those modes, it is intended to be primarily an opportunity
for finding, at our own pace, ways to reconnect to each other. There will be many
hundreds of acres of beautiful landscape to wander in... and though there will be lots
happening, there will be no attendance police! Here’s some details of events on tap,
with invitations to participate in creating many of them:
Re-re-re, Remember When:
A call for images for our Friday night electronic slide show...
The reunion will begin with a relaxed evening of refreshments (BYOB) and socializing for
those able to arrive Friday. As a background entertainment (literally), we will be running a
large-screen loop (yes, a very long loop) of projected images of life at Apeiron, made by
those who were there. These can and should include the entire range of creative, social
and physical activities of and at Apeiron, including but not limed to: field trips, critiques,
meals, dorm life, the garden, exhibition projects, swimming hole excursions, construction
projects, and of course the dogs. Please submit them in digitized form by August 23rd., in
the .jpg format, and with a maximum file size of 2 megabytes each. (The image loop will be
available for viewing later in the weekend as well for those arriving after the Friday evening
session.) Those not able to attend the reunion in person are invited to participate in
this project too! “This submissions process in now complete, and the slide show is being
prepared”.
Photography In Our Lives:
A description of the proposed Saturday afternoon gathering...
This is envisioned as an opportunity, in a round-table discussion facilitated by Elaine
Mayes, to share and reflect on how and why a passion for photography first entered our
lives, and how it subsequently stayed with us, or evolved into something related, or
perhaps abandoned us. Like divine grace or lady luck, the presence of the Muse can
always be invited or invoked, but never demanded. Has it been faithful or fickle with you?
And how have you been with it? This is a time and space dedicated to informal dialogue
about our own and each other’s creativity across the four decades since Apeiron.
It’s Your Show:
A call for mini-presentations by attendees...
Included in this category are a number of time slots reserved for show-and-tell
presentations by those attending the conference. The topics can be creative, academic,
personal, or outright vaudevillian. For the extroverts among us (or those willing to overcome
their introversion) these are simply opportunities to show and/or tell us something
interesting, entertaining or moving about your work, your world, or your life. Proposed
presentations can be 20, 30, or 60 minutes long. This submissions process is now
complete; see SCHEDULE for presenters.
Our “Night Out in Asheville”
If this doesn’t sound like fun, check yourself for a pulse.
On the Saturday night of the conference, we will all skip the Montreat dinner fare and
decamp for Asheville, where a myriad of dining opportunities beckon. After dinner, we will
re-assemble (at a site in walking distance from most Asheville eateries) for the Reunion-
sponsored public panel discussion described below. And after that, we will all migrate to
Benjamin Porter’s house for a private after-panel party (BYOB but soft drinks/refreshments
will be provided). For simplicity (and to avoid various liabilities) we will have a bus
available to take us from Montreat to downtown, from downtown to Ben’s house, and from
the party back to Montreat.
Public Panel Presentation: “Photography Then and Now”
A discussion of the arc of creative photography over the 40 years since Apeiron opened...
Panel members will include:
A.D. Coleman, photography critic, historian, curator, poet, teacher, lecturer, editor, and
publisher. Recipient of numerous international awards for his writings on photography,
nominated for a Pushcart Prize for his poetry, Alan Coleman has established a
substantial presence on the World Wide Web since his home page made its debut
in the spring of 1995. His current projects include Photocritic International, The
Photography Criticism CyberArchive, and the electronic magazine The Nearby Café,
all of which can be accessed via adcoleman.com. Alan was a frequent guest
critic at Apeiron during his tenure as The New York Times’ first photography critic.
Elaine Mayes, prolific Guggenheim-winning photographer and filmmaker, and
the first woman to teach both photography and film in an academic curriculum at the
college level. Elaine’s teaching posts have included Hampshire College (a founding
member of the department), Pratt Institute, Bard College and New York University, from
which she retired as Chair of the Photography department at the Tisch School of the
Arts in 2000. Elaine was a frequent winter guest artist and summer workshop
leader at Apeiron, her work was included in The First Apeiron Portfolio, and she was
one of the 12 imagemakers who did commissioned work for Apeiron’s NEA-funded
photographic survey, The Long Island Project.
John Rohrbach, Senior Curator of Photographs at the Amon Carter Museum in
Fort Worth, Texas. As a curator at the museum (where he has worked since 1992) he
has assembled exhibitions on the works of Frank Gohlke, Elliot Porter, Richard
Avedon, and Robert Adams, among others. In addition he has done extensive
research and writing about Paul Strand, reflecting the fact that earlier in his career
he was Director of the Paul Strand Archive for the Aperture Foundation. Before
that, he was an Apeiron Staff member and the manager of Apeiron’s Photographic
Archives and Exhibitions Program. His Ph.D. Dissertation was "Art for Society's
Sake: Paul Strand's Photographic Visions".
My Apeiron
A place for sharing reflections on the immediate and long-term effects of your time on Silver
Mountain...
Decades after his 1971 workshop experience, Arno Minkinnen said in an interview: "We all
have our own Apeiron to call home, where for the first time we discover how to make the
risk visible..." Like Arno, a number of people who passed though Apeiron have in recent
years spoken or written something about it and what it did for, or meant to, them.
In the months since this reunion process has gotten rolling, many more have spoken or
written about their time at Apeiron. At the reunion there will be opportunities, for attendees
who wish to, to put some of that on video – but the response-gathering process will
continue post reunion as well, and include all who could not come to Asheville.
What was the essence of your experience of Apeiron? What effect, if any, did it have on
your subsequent practice of photography, or art, or on your life in general? We’re looking
for anything from a few sentences to a few pages, with or without any images you think are
relevant...
All of you who attended Apeiron will be receiving a personal post-reunion request to add
your thoughts and images to the mix, as we explore how to best share those responses
with each other -- and a wider audience -- either via a more comprehensive Apeiron
Workshops website, or as an on-demand publication, or both.