VERVE Gallery of Photography is pleased to present a very special exhibition to raise funds in support the Photo Archives of the Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum. VERVE Gallery and the New Mexico photographers in this exhibition recognize the importance of the Photo Archives and the archive’s need for funds to support its mission: the preservation of a unique collection of over 800,000 items of the region’s photographic history. The photographic collection at the Photo Archives “focuses on the history and people of New Mexico and the expansion of the West; anthropology, archaeology, and ethnology of Hispanic and Native American cultures.” The Archives is open to the public and has a searchable online database of images available in its digitized collections. VERVE’s and the photographers’ goal in this exhibition is to raise $10,000 in support of the Photo Archives.

Four local Santa Fe artists have been invited to participate: Herbert A. Lotz, Jane Phillips, David Robin, and Genevieve Russell. Each photographer has offered portrait sessions to local individuals or families for a direct tax-deductible contribution to the Photo Archives. In addition to portrait commissions, each artist was invited to exhibit their own work. The work will be available for sale. All proceeds from the sale of their artwork will be divided equally between the photographers and the Photo Archives.

Juliet Myers, 1987 12 x 12" Silver Gelatin Print

Herbert A. Lotz has been a respected photographer in the Santa Fe community for over 40 years. Herb is a commercial photographer, making portraits and photographing the works of local artists. Lotz’s portrait commissions in support of this fundraiser include that of Ana Pacheco, founder and publisher of La Herencia magazine from 1994-2009. In 2004 Pacheco was the recipient of the New Mexico Governor’s Award for outstanding women of New Mexico. Herb Lotz will be exhibiting his own work. That work consists of Santa Fe luminaries such as Fine Art for Children and Teens’ founder Juliet Myers, Ceramic artist and author Rick Dillingham, and gallerist James Kelly.

James Kelly, 1994 12 x 12" Silver Gelatin Print

Herbert Lotz was born in Illinois in 1944. He was raised in a small farming community south of Chicago. He was given his first camera, a Kodak Brownie, at the age of six and the photographs that he took foretold his future. He was accepted and entered The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in a joint degree program with the University of Chicago to study painting. However, after enrolling in a survey course in photography Herb changed his major to photography. In 1967, while working and attending school, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was trained as a radio/teletype operator. Thereafter, he was sent to the war in South Viet Nam. Herb was detached from his signal corps. unit and assigned to the 25th Infantry Brigade at Cu Chi in the so-called Iron Triangle. While there, in his off duty time, he photographed life at the base camp. When he finished his tour in the Army in 1969, Herb moved to New Mexico to start a new life.

Cigarette Break 13 x 19" Archival Pigment Ink Print courtesy of Jane Phillips / The New Mexican

Jane Phillips has more than twenty years of experience as a photojournalist. For the past sixteen years she has been a staff photographer at the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper. For this exhibition, Jane’s portraits include local artists, Nance & Ramon Jose Lopez; County Clerk, Valerie Espinoza; New Mexican farmer, Matt Romero; and, Acequia Madre Elementary student, Rebeccah Lucy Peshlakai. Her personal work in the exhibition are selected images that reflect pivotal moments in her career: images, such as, a ten-year-old boy taking a cigarette break at a county fair in southern New Mexico to spending time with the peoples of Africa.

Conehead 13 x 19" Archival Pigment Ink Print

Jane Phillips earned a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City where she was born and raised. Her work experience includes New York Newsday, New York Times, New York Post, UPI and both the Maine and Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. Throughout her career she has traveled extensively and photographed a wide range of people from the anonymous to the world-renowned. She’s captured, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Edward Kennedy Robert Redford, Juan Hamilton, Sam Shepard, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gladys Night, Ray Charles, among many others. Chosen from more than 1100 entries worldwide, her photograph, “Cigarette Break” garnered first prize in the Santa Fe Center for Photography, Singular Image Color Category in 2005. She was a finalist for the prestigious New Mexico Arts Tamarind Institute grant, 2010.

Fountain, Versailles 14 1/2 x 14 1/2" Archival Pigment Ink Print

David Robin began his career as a chief fashion photographer for a major national retailer where David honed the skills necessary to become a professional commercial photographer. David Robin will be exhibiting his personal work from the series the Les Rêves Des Rois / Dreams of the Kings, images taken at the Palace of Versailles and the châteaux of the Loire. This collection of images was created by David as evidence of the aesthetic dreams and visions of Françoise I and Louis XIV (The Sun King) of France. The body of work speaks to their indelible impact on our collective visual conscience.

Topiary, Versailles 14 1/2 x 14 1/2" Archival Pigment Ink Print

After college, David apprenticed for some of the world’s leading photographers. Early in his career he served as a master printer for the likes of Irving Penn and others. David is now known for his mastery of the black and white silver print. David Robin’s commercial work can be seen in everything from CD packaging, advertising campaigns, editorial spreads and book covers to fine art galleries and installations. He has received numerous professional awards for his commercial work for such clients as Levi Strauss, The Gap, Blue Note Records, Sony, BMG Records and Norwegian Cruise Lines. David also pursues self-directed projects that reflect his personal vision. His work has been exhibited in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Four years ago David Robin traded the sounds of Manhattan, his home for the last ten years, for the quiet beauty of Northern New Mexico.

Intention, Offering Series, 2010 12 x 12" Archival Pigment Ink Print

Genevieve Russell’s work as a photographer and as a visual storyteller is grounded in community documentary projects that seek to highlight people making a difference. She works to call out not the crisis, but the compassion, beauty, imagination, and possibility of people, places and things. Russell’s portrait commissions include photographing the owners of VERVE Gallery, Jenna and Wilson Scanlan, and their children. In addition to being active in the arts, the Scanlans are committed to education, immigrant rights, and social justice. Russell has also photographed Wendy Borger and Halid Hatic, owners of Spandarama Yoga Studio and Rasa Juice Bar / Ayurveda and Juliana and Daniel Coles, both community organizers, and their children. Russell’s personal work in the exhibition includes work from a trip the artist made with the Bali Art Project, an organization that gives Santa Fe area High School juniors the opportunity to travel and experience a culture different from their own by traveling to Bali. The work in this series is titled, An Offering, that the artist describes as “...simple pictures; daily meditations found along the path. Each image is a personal memento, a message, an offering...”

Create, Offering Series, 2010 12 x 12" Archival Pigment Ink Print

Originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, Genevieve Russell has lived and worked in Santa Fe for over eleven years. She founded StoryPortrait Media to create short films and multimedia pieces that educate, engage, empower and inspire. StoryPortrait Media collaborates creatively with non-profits, small businesses and artists committed to making a positive impact, both socially and environmentally. She has taught at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, the College of Santa Fe, and the Santa Fe Community College. She currently serves as the photographer for Santa Fe Living Treasures and is on the Kitchen Cabinet of the Santa Fe Time Bank. She has two feature length documentary film projects underway, The Bali Art Project and In Search of Home.