Greetings!

Happy Equinox! The summer monsoons in Arizona appear to have spent themselves in a final fury of welcome, drenching rains, and fall is most definitely in the air, if not quite here. We hope that the change of seasons will provide inspiration for creativity as well as quiet contemplation of the passing year.

This fall promises to be a busy one for us: the opening of Steve's retrospective show at Verve in Santa Fe, and an exhibit at Art's Eye Gallery in Tucson which will feature his four panel landscape screens as well as selections from the portfolio "Illusions of Intimacy". On to news:

Karen has added images to her portfolio of Islamic Tile Studies based on photographs from taken in the Alcazar and Alhambra during our 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 Steve's images from his "Earth Forms" series was selected by Rebecca Senf (Norton Family Curator of Photography at the CCP in Tucson) for inclusion in the Center for Creative Photography exhibit Made in Arizona, Photographs from the Collection; the exhibit runs through November 25.

Steve and Karen both have images on exhibit at the Tubac Member's Open show. The show opened on Sept. 7 and runs through October 7.

Karen received an Honorable Mention in Collage in the 2012 International Photography Awards annual competition for her Structure of Nature Series.

One of Steve's images from his Living Stone series is available in the 2012 Annual Photography Exhibition and Silent Auction of the InFocus Photography support group at the Phoenix Art Museum. Bids for this and many other fine images can be made by email.

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 and runs through September 18.

A preview of Steve's upcoming retrospective exhibition at Verve Gallery has been added to his website. You can follow the arc of his photographic vision and view a sample of the images to be shown in the show and in the catalog discussed below.

A catalog for Steve's upcoming retrospective 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.

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/.

Both Steve and Karen have had two images (each) accepted into the Timeless Meditations: Mandalas and Patterns in Nature exhibit at the Tubac Center for the Arts. The opening reception will be on Friday, October 12.

The proofs for Steve and Richard Clarke's upcoming book, Sand Mirrors, have been reviewed, and we expect print copies to be available in early October. We should be able to provide ordering information for both the print book and rich media versions (iPad/epub3 and PDF) in our October 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 35 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.

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.