Vermont Center for Photography

This Dorothy fled to the Emerald City and never looked back to the sepia toned Kansas of her birth. Instead, Era pursued her bachelor’s degree from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington where she studied sociology and film. Era has worked as a media education trainer, held multiple administrative positions with non-profits, been a member of an art space collective and worked as a gallery assistant in a fine art gallery. Currently, working on her MFA in Interdisciplinary Art at Goddard, Era is using her experience and love for media in an exploration of image through the history and development of dolls.

Kiersten Hanna is a fine art photographer with expertise in digital imagery. She has worked as a preparator and educator for the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and is a grant recipient from the Weisman Foundation. She received her BFA in photography from Columbia College in Chicago and has also studied at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland Maine. Kiersten has taught photography both privately and for the Office of Community Arts Partnerships at Columbia College. Kiersten’s work has been widely exhibited and she is currently working with the Hallmark Museum of Contemporary Photography as Manager of Exhibitions. In addition, she has partnered with Paul Taylor to create a digital imaging division of Renaissance Press that specializes in fine art digital printmaking.

Lawrin Crispe is a practicing lawyer at Crispe & Crispe in Brattleboro specializing in civil trial practice and real estate development. Lawrin, a life long resident of Vermont, grew up in Newfane, Vermont, and has resided in Brattleboro for the past 35 years. Lawrin and his wife, Pam, have 4 grown children.

A Western Massachusetts native and lifelong photographer, John Kudukey found his artistic “voice” through the medium of large format black and white photography. His formal training in photography began at the University of Massachusetts, where he would later earn a doctorate in Science Education. John’s unique perspective combines an uncompromising scientific background with intuitive artistic expressiveness. His work has been influenced by several professional photographers, the most notable of whom was his friend and mentor, the late Fred Picker.

Michael Havey received his bachelor’s in Art History from Colby College, Waterville, Maine, and did graduate level work in printmaking (etching and lithography) at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and University of Hartford Art School. He has worked as an art director and creative director in advertising agencies and design studios, and as an art director for magazines in New York, Connecticut and New Hampshire. He has been a fine arts photographer for more than fifteen years, concentrating on reportage, landscapes and city scapes, nudes and portraiture. Havey is most interested in traditional, non-digital, medium format photography and has shown his work at Vermont Center for Photography; Thorne Sagendorf Gallery, Keene, New Hampshire; The Works Gallery, Keene, New Hampshire, and ArtSpace, Portland, Maine.

“ I started using my Mother’s camera at age 10. It was a folding Kodak 120 camera. While there was a light meter around somewhere, we guessed aperture and shutter speed based on the instructions on the film package. I got my own Kodak Brownie at age 11, and took pictures of family, places and things. I spent my allowance buying film one week and developing film the next week.”
Later, when Bill went off to college for Landscape Architecture, he began using the camera as a tool to document his work. Today, as the present owner and CEO of WMJewell and Company, Bill is an Environmental Landscape Architect, Planner and Applied Ecologist. His early devotion to the photographic arts has seen the creation of Bill Jewell Images – a subsidiary company that provides scenic analysis, installation documentaion and stock photos.

Joan O’Beirne is a photographer and educator. She has taught at the University of New Mexico, Central Michigan University as artist-in-residence, and New Mexico State University. Besides teaching traditional gelation-silver photography, her expertise includes, mixed-media, non-silver techniques and the history of photography. She received her MFA in photography from the University of New Mexico and has exhibited nationally. Joan is currently instructing classes at Greenfield Community College and the Community Colleges of Vermont.

Richard T Ritter has been a photographer of the large format camera for over 25 years. A graduate of Hallmark School of Photography, he has developed a distinct perspective in photographing the land and its elements. His black and white images often focus on shapes and textures; small aspects of the natural environment offering unexpected contrasts and patterns which produce a mystical tension.
Richard worked at Zone VI Studios with Fred Picker for 15 years. There, Richard was responsible for the design and construction of many fine photographic Zone VI products. It was during this period that Richard devoted time to the art of the large format camera and black and white printing. Ritter had the opportunity to seek the knowledge and guidance of Fred Picker and many of the leading photographers, photo educators and artists through the Zone VI Workshops and alumni of Hallmark. Richard has stated that he gained invaluable insight to the artistic approach of photography by working with and listening to the critical views of some of the key leaders in the field.
Richard lives in Townshend, Vermont, where he uses his skills as a master craftsman to restore and repair large format cameras and cameras of historical importance. He also manufactures a line of custom-made ULFcameras.