
A 1-Day Workshop
Saturday April 29th, 2023
11:00am–3:00pm
All ages
For thousands of years the phenomena of the camera obscura, French for “darkened room” has been known – that light passing through a tiny aperture (or pinhole) into a darkened space will reflect an image of the outside world. This is the central principal on which all photography is built. Camera-like devices employed pinholes long before the advent of photography or even lenses. Today, making photographs using only a pinhole is a refreshing change from conventional photography, allowing those who practice it to experiment with the earliest forms of photographic image making.
In this one-day workshop, students will learn the principles of pinhole photography by creating their own working pinhole cameras from ordinary household items (oatmeal canisters, Pringles cans, cigar boxes, shoeboxes, etc.) the design of which will determine the size, quality, and effect the final image will have. Students will then shoot and process their own pinhole photographs in the black and white darkroom.
CEPA Gallery Learning Center
This workshop is limited to 8 participants.
Saturday, April 29th, 2022
11:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
Membership starts as low as $40/year for individuals—and even lower for students at only $25/year!
Learn about CEPA Membership »
A 1-Day Class
Saturday, May 6th
10:30am–1:30pm
Ages 16+
If you’re new to studio lighting, it is easy to get intimidated by the amount of stuff you have to learn. In this hands-on class, you’ll start to learn the complexities of controlling light in a controlled space. CEPA will provide studio space and equipment, introducing you to some of the most basic studio lighting equipment and terms you will need to navigate a photography studio.
A model will be on site for hands on experience working in a real studio setting.
Class is taught by one of CEPA’s veteran instructors – Peter Meszynski (see more about Peter below). By the end of the lab session, you’ll have the skills to tackle any type of indoor shoot, whether it’s in a huge warehouse or your spare bedroom.
In this class you will learn how to:
· Set your ISO, shutter speed and aperture.
· Understand depth of field and shooting groups.
· Use all sorts of flashes, including strobes and hot shoe flashes, as well as modifiers.
· Build your studio and buy the right gear for the right price.
Follow up what you learn in this class by signing up for Piotr’s advanced class – Conceptual and Creative Portraiture. Purchase both classes and receive a 15% discount (refunded when your order is processed).
CEPA Education Center
Saturday, May 6th
10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Membership starts as low as $40/year for individuals—and even lower for students at only $25/year!
Learn about CEPA Membership »
Check out the description below to learn more about the teaching artist for this workshop.
A 1-Day Class
Saturday, May 13th
10:30am–1:30pm
Ages 16+
Take your portraiture to the next level!
Learn to combine lighting, expression, posing, and use formal compositional elements to elevate your portraiture and imbue your images with meaning and intention. Students will have the opportunity to practice hands-on technique with a professional model.
By the end of the lab session, you’ll understand a conceptual approach to portraiture and have a repertoire of fun and creative techniques to experiment with.
Class is taught by one of CEPA’s veteran instructors – Peter Meszynski (see more about Peter below). Recommended for advanced students who are already familiar with studio lighting or have taken Piotr’s previous Studio Light Class. Purchase both classes and receive a 15% discount (will be refunded when your card is processed).
CEPA Education Center
Saturday, May 13th
10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Membership starts as low as $40/year for individuals—and even lower for students at only $25/year!
Learn about CEPA Membership »
Check out the description below to learn more about the teaching artist for this workshop.
Through photography, combat veterans explore their journey back from war. Thirty-seven veterans participated in The Odyssey Workshops, a year long collaborative photography project led by artist Brendan Bannon and Marine Scout/Sniper Julian Chinana. This book explores the endless journey home from war in images that reveal the veterans’ challenges and victories over circumstances.
Preview
“There is anguish here, and joy, resilience, pain and courage, and experimentation of all sorts with form in the pursuit of discoveries that might make lives better, or at least more vividly real. Here we witness an odyssey of self-introspection, of battles fought and those still being fought. And they resonate.”
~Fred Ritchin, Dean Emeritus, International Center of Photography
“This is one of the great photo books about the experience of war, one like no other. Every contributor to Odyssey|Warriors Come Home has been there, on the ground. They all came back, bearing memories and deep feelings. These photographs tell us what words could not. They tell us what it was like to have been the warrior, the care-giver, and the person back home when there are no words to express what happened.”
~Bruce Jackson
SUNY Distinguished Professor & James Agee Professor of American Culture
Co-director, SUNY Buffalo Creative Arts Initiative
● Soft bound : 176 pages full color
● ISBN 978-0-939784-35-6
● Product Dimensions : 10 x 9/16 x 8 inches
● Publisher : CEPA Gallery (December 2020)
● Language : English
Exhibition publication from Wild Things: Disrupting the Photographic Archive in the Time of a Pandemic (2020) explores the polarity between the mechanical realism of the camera and chance expressionism of time, nature, and the maker’s hand that liberates photo-based images from their formal literalness and launches them into surprising territory.
By dispensing with the classic notion of a frozen photographic moment, wild things happen.
● Spiral bound : 75 pages full color
● ISBN 978-0-939784-34-9
● Product Dimensions : 11 x 8.5 inches
● Publisher : CEPA Gallery (2020)
● Language : English
David Levinthal: Heroes, Sluts and Servants
Mis/Representation in Material Culture
● 40 pages full color
● ISBN: 978-0-939784-36-3
● Product Dimensions : 5.5 x 8.5 inches
● Publisher : CEPA Gallery 2022
● Language : English
Forty-five years ago on February 1, 1974, the Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Arts, Inc. (CEPA Gallery) opened in Buffalo NY during the alternative art spaces movement. As we prepare to close this fiscal year and begin our next forty-five years, we urge you to renew your support. Our work is not done; we have so much yet to accomplish. We want to grow our audience, expand services for artists, continue to produce free and groundbreaking exhibitions and build a welcoming and creative home for youth. We cannot do it without your help.
Our nationally recognized programs in Visual Art and Arts Education, our commitment to proactive, collaboration-oriented management, our dedication to artists and the artistic practice, and our partnerships with patrons like you allow us to excel in our mission. Our students and artists best illustrate what can be accomplished when a passionate and committed organization and an energized, supportive community join together.
Your tax-deductible gift of any amount is deeply appreciated. Unrestricted donations allow us to use the funds where they are most needed, but if you prefer, you may designate your gift towards Arts Education, the Contemporary Photography and Visual Arts program, or the upcoming special exhibit Photography and the Holocaust, Then and Now.
Not sure what birthday or holiday gift to get for the photographer in your life? How about a gift certificate for CEPA Gallery? Good toward classes, workshops, digital lab and darkroom rentals, or limited edition prints.
Select an amount below, or name the amount you want. The gift certificate will be mailed to you within days and is good for one year.
Not sure what birthday or holiday gift to get for the photographer in your life?
We are now offering punch cards for 6 Hours of Digital or Darkroom Lab Time. Perfect for the darkroom aficionado without a darkroom, or someone looking for a place to print their own work. Save a few bucks off the hourly rate for non-members by buying several hours at a time.
Interested in Discounted Rates? Become a member today!
Located in Buffalo’s historic Market Arcade Complex, CEPA Gallery is a contemporary photography and visual arts center with impact in both local and national communities.
Originally incorporated as the Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Arts to serve as a community darkroom and exhibition space, CEPA Gallery was founded during the Alternative Space Movement in May 1974 by recent graduates of the University of Buffalo.
Our funders are just one way CEPA is able to continue on this trajectory, meeting the needs of artists and our community with artistic and arts education programming of the highest international caliber and repute.
Learn more about how you can support CEPA and the arts in Western New York today.