Present Tense Artist Talks

FRITZ GOECKNER

Fritz Goeckner was born in the Middle West and raised to be a scientist, but began to commit photography in a serious way and in 1994 quit a career as physicist and returned to Iowa with the somewhat vague plan of continuing life as a photographer.

He has studied at Ohio University (with Pavel Banka), University of Iowa (Margaret Stratton and Jeff Rich) and Santa Fe Photo and Maine Media workshops (both with Henry Horenstein). His work is in private and public collections from New York to Los Angeles – well mostly in Iowa and Illinois – and has been recognized by Joyce Tenneson, Maggie Taylor and Jerry Uelsmann, Catherine Edelman, and David Hilliard

Learn more on Fritz’ website.

SUSAN HILL

Susan Hill is a fine art photographer whose photographic eye focuses on simplicity; the pairing down to essential elements allowing what truly matters to emerge. She has exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and her work resides in numerous corporate and private collections.Currently she has a piece exhibited at the Athenaeum, La Jolla, CA. Primarily a lens based artist, Susan shoots film whenever possible. She prefers black & white medium format but has recently incorporated digital acquisition to her portfolio work.

Susan began her career as a commercial photographer with an emphasis on industrial photography. Her commercial work has appeared in trade journals and industry publications. Her architectural photography has featured in AD, Sun Valley Magazine, San Diego Magazine. She has prints housed with the Smithsonian. She currently manages a photography lab.

A Southern California native, Susan loves the adventure of discovery not simply in art but in life.

Follow Susan on Instagram.

LAIDRIC STEVENSON

Laidric Stevenson was born in Wisconsin but left before he could walk and talk, so he doesn’t consider himself a Midwesterner. Spending his childhood and teenage years between the bordering states of Oklahoma and Texas, he first became interested in photography around the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind album.

Due to the somewhat transient nature of his childhood, his photography is rooted in discovering a sense of place. He believes in the power of photography in the book format and is an enthusiastic self-publisher of zines and small photo books.

He spends his days in an office environment and photographs in his free time. He is based in Dallas, Texas.

Follow Laidric on Instagram and learn more on his website.

Present Tense #6 Juror: Bonnie Domingos, Visual Arts & Culture Librarian, Curator, Maker

Each edition of Present Tense Artist Talks will have a different juror of note drawn from across North America, and each juror will select three presenters for the talks, and four additional artists for the portfolio walk. The fourth presenter at each Present Tense talk is a student selected by the faculty of a participating college.

About Bonnie

Bonnie Domingos is a librarian, curator and contemporary art strategist committed to fostering community engagement and advancing critical discourse. As Arts & Culture Exhibitions Manager at the San Diego Public Library, Domingos oversees the strategic development and presentation of visual arts programming across a network of 18 branch libraries and the Judith Harris Art Gallery at the Central Library. She received her BA in Visual Arts & Technology and her MA in Library Information & Science. Her art interests include culturally relevant works that combine non-traditional materials with traditional practices.

Visit www.mysdpl.org/visualarts to learn more about the San Diego Library’s Visual Arts Program. You can also follow the San Diego Public Library instagram (@sdpubliclibrary) or Bonnie’s personal instagram account (@bonnie_sundayz) to stay connected with the library and Bonnie’s work.