 PHOTO OP
Thanks to Michael Mehl
and Ann
Kinser, the
Fotoseptiembre Festival has
become a major art event
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF
Photography JANET ROGERS
Photography may still be viewed by some as the stepchild of the
art world, but that’s definitely
not the case during the Fotoseptiembre
USA International Photography
Festival, which takes place this month in
San Antonio and the Hill Country.
The brainchild of photographer/musician
Michael Mehl and his graphic
artist/illustrator wife, Ann Kinser, the
month-long event has grown from a modest
12 exhibitions in 1996 to an international
showcase that in 2002 included 62
venues, 75 exhibits and 230 artists.
This year’s edition will be somewhat
smaller, with about 40 solo and group
shows in San Antonio, Boerne and New
Braunfels. In addition, Mehl has personally
curated nine Web-gallery exhibits
featuring artists from Spain, France,
Mexico, Singapore, India, Italy and
Minnesota. Fotoseptiembre USA is part
of the city-promoted Fall Arts Festivals
package, another Mehl/Kinser concept
designed to appeal to more sophisticated,
so-called cultural tourists.
We recently sat down with the two
visionary co-founders to talk about the festival,
art photography and related topics.
SA WOMAN: What prompted you to
start Fotoseptiembre in San Antonio?
Michael Mehl: In 1986 I moved to
San Antonio (from Mexico City) and
started a photo business here and began
to exhibit my work. But I soon noticed
there was no context within which photo
artists could exhibit their work and gain
more visibility. In Mexico there was
already a successful festival in September
called Fotoseptiembre. So that gave me
the idea. If you provide a forum and context
for something, there’s more of an
impact. Fotoseptiembre USA has helped
develop a market for photography here.
Ann Kinser: Now it’s not unusual for
an exhibit to sell out.
SA WOMAN: Is the festival’s focus
art photography?
MM: Yes. The notion of art photography,
however, has many interpretations.
The best way to define it is to think of photographers
who decide to pursue a body
of work because they have a personal
interest in the matter — as opposed to
commissioned commercial work — and
then produce a series of images that
together become a personal form of
expression.
It doesn’t matter whether they
are photographing landscapes, the human
figure or whatever, as long as they are
compelled to create those images from
this individual perspective. Most art forms
derive from an inner source, and it’s no different
with photography.
To qualify for the festival a submission
must be a coherent body of photo-based
work, though other media could be
involved. We seek out artists whose
work is eclectic and fresh, showing a
commitment to craft and vision.
SA WOMAN: How do you approach
your own work?
MM: Doing a traditional photo of
something ceased to appeal to me more
than 20 years ago. My intent is to create
an abstraction of reality — to use photos
of reality as building blocks to create a
new composite image. It’s the difference
between creating and recording.
SA WOMAN: What are some of the
techniques used by contemporary art
photographers?
MM: In the most basic sense, there is a
lot of pin-hole photography. You can alter
reality in various ways using that old technique.
Other approaches may involve
hand-painted photos; collages, both physical
and digital; multiple exposures; layering
of images; (staged) tableau photos;
and digital manipulation, of course. By the
way, people have been manipulating photographs
to obtain desired effects since the beginning of photography. Even abstraction is not a modern
idea. Cave people were already abstracting images.
SA WOMAN: What do you say to people who doubt the
value of photography as art because, they think, photos can be
reproduced at will?
MM: That’s an anachronistic argument. Etchings of old masters
were also reproductions! Today, a lot of photographers
limit their editions to 10 or 12 pieces. Actually, it’s unlikely for
anyone to sell more than one or two, maybe three, reproductions
of the same image. Photography has a huge market.
 SA WOMAN: How about the longevity of the pictures?
MM: Photographers are very concerned about the longevity of
their product. The craft requires it. Today, 80 percent to 90 percent
of printing is done digitally with archival-quality inks on specialty
papers. If not exposed to the sun, these prints will last 100
to 200 years. I print my work on durable plastic (polymeric) sheets
and then coat them with another polymeric laminate, which
becomes part of the final product. It’s a time capsule at this point,
indestructible unless you take a knife to it. Artists also print on
stone, canvas, metal plates, again with archival inks.
SA WOMAN: The impact of digital technology must be considerable,
is it not?
AK: Yes, huge! It has allowed even amateurs to develop a
body of work to exhibit. A digital camera and a computer have
made the process of making pictures more accessible, both in
terms of needed equipment and financially. You no longer need
a darkroom, for instance. You can also manipulate the images
more easily if that’s what you want to do. Basically, digital technology
has leveled the playing field and allowed more people
to explore the story they want to tell. It has also allowed us to
organize such a large festival, just the two of us, something we
could not have done without the Internet. We are a private festival
with no funding from outside.
SA WOMAN: Let’s talk some more about that market.
What’s the range of prices buyers have paid here and elsewhere
for photo-based artwork?
MM: Here in San Antonio from, say, $100 to $5,000, depending
on the artist. But San Antonio is not a big art or collectors’ market.
The prices paid here are not comparable to Houston or New
York. In the general U.S. and world market, the price range goes
from the low hundreds to the upper hundred thousands, and in
some cases into the millions. Vintage photos at auctions have been
going up consistently, reaching last year the millions level. But for
the most part, in the art market as a whole, there are only a few
individuals at any given time whose work commands high prices.
SA WOMAN: Could you describe the selection process?
MM: We are a decentralized event, and that’s what makes
us unique. Other festivals in the world are controlled by a single
organization or governmental agency with rather rigid
rules. The selection in our case is done on three different levels.
Some galleries/museums organize their own exhibits in the
September time slot and simply register with the festival. We
also get submissions directly and then present them to venues
in San Antonio. Typically, that involves us as curators. This year
we are not doing that.
The third level is our Web galleries.
Those represent our curatorial statement. In fact, our Web presence
gives us top ranking in Google searches.
Also, we don’t pick a theme. Themes don’t allow for the
eclecticism that we like to promote. The festival really has its
own cycles and rhythms, and we let it go the way it goes; it’s
very organic. We avoid being gatekeepers, seeing ourselves
instead as door-openers, providing equal opportunities for
every participating artist.
SA WOMAN: Fotoseptiembre has grown over the years. Is
it where you want it to be?
AK: Each time after the first festival it doubled in size. It got
really big in 2002 with 75 exhibits and hundreds of artists. For the
last several years it has fluctuated between 40 and 50 shows. We
wanted to bring it down a bit to a more manageable size.
SA WOMAN: Besides the Web, how do you promote it?
MM: Our Christmas cards (designed by Kinser) and Ann’s
apple pie are internationally renowned. They are most effective
PR tools. We get appreciative notes about her apple pie.
SA WOMAN: You mean you entertain all the artists who
participate?
MM and AK smile and nod.
SA WOMAN: Are there any new developments this year?
MM: What’s new this year is that all three museums (the
Witte, San Antonio Museum of Art and the McNay) are participating.
Also, we have more participation in the Hill Country.
Boerne alone has several shows. As you have noticed, the local
galleries will show mostly, but not exclusively, local and regional
artists. That’s the result of us not curating exhibits this year. We are
the ones who usually bring in that balance with artists from other
countries. The Web galleries, however, are all international artists.
But it’s good that so many regional photographers are being
showcased. Remember, the idea behind Fotoseptiembre was to
create a forum for local and regional artists to present their work.
 SA WOMAN: Could you mention a few specific exhibits
of interest?
MM: The (poet and Beat generation photographer) Allen
Ginsberg show at the San Antonio Museum of Art is a comprehensive
exhibit supported by additional events such as a dramatic
reading, a poetry performance and a lecture. That’s certainly
an important exhibit.
At the Witte, they will be displaying
for the first time old photos of life on the Texas frontier from
their historical collection.
At the Mexican Cultural Institute we’ll have the Mariana
Yampolsky show put together by the foundation that takes
care of her estate. It’s a show that has legs. For those not
familiar with Yampolsky’s work, she was an American-born
Mexican artist whose photos eloquently captured Mexican
traditional imagery in a more abstract style. (Living artists are
represented in most other venues.)
The C-Art Studio is just a small place, but it presents really
good work. This time it’s the work of San Antonio College
instructor Rebecca Dietz. Doug Fogelson from Chicago is also
an interesting artist based on what I have seen of his work. He
uses in-camera multiple exposures to create graphically very
interesting patterns. That’s at the International Center. There
are also Richard Kline at the Southwest School of Art and Craft,
John Moler at the New Braunfels Public Library, Al Rendon at
Rendon Photography & Fine Art and so much more.
Generally speaking, we try to equalize the range of work
presented so that no particular exhibit has undue importance.
We discourage blockbuster shows; they detract from the rest of
the participants, inversely impacting the festival’s sustainability
and recognition as a whole.
(For complete listings go to
www.fotoseptiembreusa.com).
SA WOMAN: Is the exhibited artwork for sale?
MM: Yes, for the most part. The museum exhibits, such as
the ones at the Witte and SAMA, are obviously the exceptions.
SA WOMAN: What gives you, the two co-founders, the
most satisfaction?
AK: When Michael and I go to the openings and we see
people of all ages and walks of life carrying around our program
booklet, discussing and comparing the various exhibits,
talking about the ones they plan to see or not — seeing that
our festival resonates with the public and creates a buzz every
September — this gives us great pleasure and a satisfying sense
of accomplishment.
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