Announcement of Uganda: A River Blue exhibition in the current issue of French PHOTO. Thanks Eve and French PHOTO for bringing this together.

Carry Me Home from Barefoot Workshops.

Title: Carry Me Home
A Film By: David Wright and Susan Fritz
Produced By: Barefoot Workshops, Inc.
Instructors: Julie Winokur, Teddy Symes, Yoni Brook & Chandler Griffin
Sponsors by: Canon USA, Sennheiser, Bogen Imaging, Lowel, Litepanels
Created: February 2010, Clarksdale, Mississippi
Synopsis: A self-determined man confronts his past, is given a chance, and discovers the freedom to change on the Sunflower River.

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This was my first foray into documentary filmmaking and the experience was nothing short of remarkable. There were 12 students including myself, 4 incredible instructors with a plethora of experience and knowledge, and an endlessly helpful support staff composed of savvy locals and Delta Workshop alumni students.

Our home base was the Shack Up Inn in the Mississippi Delta. It was an ideal environment to learn, edit, eat, and sleep, although there was not much sleeping to be had after week 1! Thanks to all for making these 2 weeks beyond enjoyable.

I highly recommend Barefoot Workshops for documentary filmmaking and photography. For more information, visit Barefoot Workshops.

Join and support us tonight, March 4th from 6:30-8:30PM for the opening reception of Uganda: A River Blue at AnastasiaPhoto in New York. The opening reception and exhibition are open to the public.

This work was created in January and February 2009 when I spent 2 months in northern Uganda photographing for A River Blue, a school providing psychosocial counseling and intense vocational training in topics like tailoring, agriculture, and arts to vulnerable youth.

A beautiful A River Blue catalogue designed by Josh Gomby and printed by Booksmart Studio in an edition of 200 will be released at the opening reception. The catalogue will be available through donations of any amount and 100% of the proceeds go to A River Blue.

Additionally, Chandler Griffin, founder of A River Blue, and I will give an artist’s talk Tuesday, March 16th, from 6:30-8:30PM at AnastasiaPhoto.

AnastasiaPhoto is located at 166 Orchard Street, New York, New York.

This is the first photograph I made this year. I’m falling in love with this park.

Strathmore Park, Syracuse, New York, 2009

I added a selection of portraits from 2009 to my website. View them here.

Elizabeth, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, 2009

I’m proud to announce my first solo exhibition with Anastasia Photo in New York February 5 – March 31, 2009. I will be exhibiting both my Alebtong, Uganda and Murchison Falls works. We’re in the editing process right now and so far the selection looks quite beautiful. More specifics will be announced soon.

Anastasia Photo is a remarkable gallery not only because Felicia, the curator, and Ryan, her assistant curator, are wonderful but also because each exhibition is coupled with a related philanthropic organization. It’s fitting to have the exhibition aligned with A River Blue as many of the works being exhibited were made during my time working with ARB.

I saw love before,
the best love in the United States.
I can hear love
in the wind
like an airplane going across the sky.
Love is the best thing
that can happen to you.

-Willie Gilmore

Love, Portland, Oregon, 2008

I photographed my friends Tom and Mark in New York. Together they form the band Centennial. They’re working on interesting music and soon-to-be-released visuals. Give a listen.

Centennial, Brooklyn, New York, 2009

I went to New York last week to show my portrait/landscape and Alebtong, Uganda work for the first time. The portrait/landscape work were sleeveless prints in an 11″x14″ landscape portfolio and the Alebtong, Uganda work were 8.5″x11″ prints in a small portfolio box.

Before leaving I scheduled meetings with 4 magazines, 1 photo agency, and 1 gallery. I had two good friends helping to bring together 3 of the meetings and I couldn’t be more thankful for their help. I believe the meetings were successful not only because I began showing my work in New York to creatives I want to work with but more importantly because I began building relationships. Good work is great but relationships are so important. I hear all the time about photographers who have had the same clients for 10+ years. I want my relationship with my clients to be like this.

After returning from New York I immediately began printing thank yous. These consisted of a printed image / brand logo on the front and hand-written note on the back with my contact info. Turn around time is always essential in my opinion because I want my clients to know I value our relationship and that a thank you should not come two weeks after we’ve seen each other. These are busy individuals and departments who are taking time to meet with a photographer they probably know little about but will ideally want to know more about upon meeting, and vice versa.

One hopes it’s mutually beneficial. The client gets a new photographer to work with who’s endlessly passionate about making photographs and the photographer continues to work, progress, and build a relationship. The relationship starts young and is always becoming stronger based on product delivered, trust, compassion, and work ethic.

If any photographers or creatives want to chime in on their thoughts, I’d be curious to hear them as I’m sure would others.

Mailing thank yous, Syracuse, New York, 2009