Greetings!

We hope that your summer continues to provide you with time for contemplation, creation, adventure, and of course family. For the better part of the past month, we have been working with the rich trove of material from our 3 week trip to Spain. Each of us is facing the challenge of turning our creative energies from the natural- to the urban- landscape; we're both still in the early, experimental phase of the process.

Steve has been working to complete printing of the 50-odd pieces that will appear in the upcoming retrospective at Verve Gallery in Santa Fe; working with Arts Eye Gallery in Tucson to prepare for a show in late fall (watch this space for the exact dates); and making final 'tweaks' to "Sand Mirrors", a new print- and e-book which combines Steve's images with the poetry of Zen teacher Richard B. Clarke.

Karen has put a new portfolio of images on her website. These images of tile studies in the Alcazar and the Alhambra are the first results from their recent trip to Spain. She has focused her energies on exploring an approach that builds on her Structure of Nature series, but with a twist: using as the base geometric patterns, the incredibly varied and compelling tile constructs in the Andalusian mosques.

One of Karen's images, Breakfast, John's Island, has been accepted into the Illusions show at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins, CO. The show runs from August 3 - Sept. 1, 2012.

Steve has had 2 images accepted into the Equivalents: 17^th Annual Photo Competition Exhibition at the Photo Center North West in Seattle. The exhibition opened August 3^rd in the gallery with a special visit and lecture with W.M. Hunt held that night at the Seattle Art Museum At 7 pm.

A catalog for Steve's upcoming retrospective at Verve Gallery is now available. The 162 page, 8x8" catalog includes images spanning his 40 year photographic career, and is graced by an introduction written by Rebecca A. Senf, Norton Family Curator at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson and the Phoenix Art Museum. A print copy and/or digital (PDF) version of the catalog can be ordered at this link.

Retrospective

A Photographic Search for Harmony: 1978-2012

Throughout Stephen Strom’s photographic career there have been constant threads, ideas that have sustained his work through many varied projects, and bind 34 years of photography into a cohesive body. Among these is his attitude toward experimentation…

An e-book for the iPad is also available at the Blurb online store.

Five of Steve's images from our trip to the Atacama Desert are published in the Latin America issue of the online magazine F-Stop A Photography Magazine in the group exhibition section [in the third row from the bottom]. One of the images from the El Tatio Geyser basin is also published in the current issue of the photography blog fotoazo in Part 1 of 5 projected posts.

Karen has received a Bronze medal at the PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris international competition for her portfolio of images, The Structure of Nature.

Both Steve and Karen have created Facebook pages devoted solely to photography. We have each populated a 'timeline' where you can trace the development of our very different visions. For Steve, we invite you to visit: http://www.Facebook.com/StephenStromPhoto/ and for Karen, http://www.Facebook.com/KarenStromPhoto/). The 'milestones' on each of our timelines is generally accompanied by selections from an associated portfolio; we invite you to 'have a look' and, if so motivated, send feedback. The pages also provide a quick reference for upcoming events. If you like what you see, please take a nanosecond to click the 'like' button. Doing so will not only provide an 'instant high' for us, but more importantly, help to build a community: one where we can easily see and marvel at what you are doing as well. You can also follow our progress and view larger portfolios of images by visiting our websites: http://www.karenstrom.com/ and http://www.stephenstrom.com/.

The files for Steve's upcoming book, Sand Mirrors, have been sent to the printers (Paragon Press) for tests aimed at informing the final choices of paper and cover stock. The current schedule envisions an early September release. If so, we should be able to provide ordering information for both the print book and rich media versions (iPad and PDF) in our September newsletter; the e-version provides readers with the joy of listening to Richard Clarke's compelling readings of his poems.

Steve has a retrospective exhibit of his 40 year photographic career to be held at Verve Gallery in Santa Fe from October 26 to December 21. The opening reception will be on 26 October with a gallery talk on 27 October. T

Several of Steve's images will be included in the Desert Grasslands exhibit at the Tucson Museum of Art, January 26 - July 7, 2013.

The complete archive of our newsletters is now available on both of our websites.

To order Steve's books through Amazon, click on the book cover.