Michael Karibian A Retrospective

Michael Karibian A Retrospective

July 5 to September 1, 2024

Art Hop Reception: July, 11 & August, 1 • 5 – 8 PM 

Reception: July 13, 2024 • 1 – 4 PM 

Friday Photography Live Presentation: Techniques of Traditional Darkroom Masters July 19, 2024 • 7 PM

Join us in a celebration of the work of distinguished artist, Michael Karibian, who contributed greatly to the fabric of our local arts community. Beloved and past member of Spectrum Art Gallery, Karibian was featured in exhibitions not only at Spectrum Art Gallery, but also the Fresno Art Museum, and Fig Tree Gallery. Although he has passed on, his amazing work continues to inspire with this retrospective exhibition featuring some of the highlights of his versatile career.

During his tour in Vietnam in 1969 he served as photographer for “Stars and Stripes.” With extensive Airforce training, he tackled everything from photographing generals shaking hands, troop movements in the field, to Agent Orange deployment and its results. While in Saigon, his camera turned to life in the streets and the souls he encountered. He came away with a mindset even more devoted to peace and tolerance. Coming from a heritage of those who escaped genocide, he listened, empathized, and later recorded Armenian elders’ stories accounting the horrors leading to the diaspora that enabled his generation precious opportunities to thrive in peace.

After military service with both a BA and MFA, he pursued a long and successful career as a professional photographer. To name a few, his clients ranged from California State University, Fresno, UC Merced, the Fresno Art Museum, major regional hospitals, The Big Fresno Fair, California Agricultural Industry, the Honor Flight for Veterans traveling to Washington D.C., to portraits of dignitaries, musicians, artists and their works.

As an avocation, he took great joy in listening and creating music with guitar and mandolin. Words and music were often integrated with his visuals in such ways that streams of consciousness could flow. Sketches, freeform poetry, memoirs, and Illustrated notebooks were developed as well as some very limited editions of custom-made books.

The visitors to this exhibition will have the opportunity to experience a cross-section of Michael Karibian’s unique life in photography through this collection of his finely crafted original artworks.


Join Steve Dzerigian’s Friday Photography Live on July 19th at 7PM for Techniques of Traditional Darkroom Masters.

This Is My World Juried Student Exhibition 2024

This Is My World: Juried Student Exhibition 2024

June 6 to 30, 2024

Art Hop Reception: June 6, 2024 • 5 – 8 PM 

Friday Photography Live Presentation: June 21, 2024 • 7 PM

Closing Reception: June 30, 2024 • 1 – 5 PM 

Photography encourages self-expression and creativity and can build confidence as well as a sense of individual identity. It can also help to develop critical thinking and the ability to interpret the world around us. Images for the student exhibition should be personal, meaningful, and indicative of identity. The process of photographic image making — from choosing subject matter to discovering new ways of manipulating light — requires “focus.” This very process of observing and creating, is, by nature, a meditative task that draws you into a mindful, peaceful state. In this sense, students can use their photography practice as a tool to curate and reframe the world around them.


It is with immense pride and joy that we extend a heartfelt congratulations to each and every one of these students on the success of this photo exhibition. Their creativity, passion, and dedication have culminated in a remarkable showcase of talent that not only captures the beauty of the world around us but also tells compelling stories through the lens of their cameras.

This exhibition is more than just a display of photographs; it is a testament of their hard work, artistic vision, and the courage to express themselves in unique and powerful ways. Each image reflects their individual perspectives and the collective spirit of their groups, highlighting the diversity and richness of our Central Valley community.


As you all continue to pursue your artistic endeavors, remember that you are not only creating art but also carrying on the important legacy of the photographic arts. Art has the power to inspire, to challenge, to provoke thought, and to evoke emotions. It bridges gaps between cultures, speaks truths that words cannot, and leaves an indelible mark on society.

By embracing your roles as artists, you are contributing to a tradition that spans centuries and transcends boundaries. You are the torchbearers of creativity and innovation, and your work will undoubtedly inspire future generations to see the world through fresh eyes and with open hearts.

Thank you for sharing your talents with us and for reminding us of the beauty and power of artistic expression. Congratulations on this outstanding achievement, and may this be the first of many successes in your artistic journeys.

Jurors:

Sandee Scott

Sandee expresses her passion for creativity through pastel painting, alcohol ink, cold wax and oil, mixed media projects, and photography. Her artwork has received recognition and won awards in local exhibits and she has been a participating artist in Sierra Art Trails since 2014. Additionally, she has felt honored to have her mixed media pieces accepted in recent Yosemite Renaissance exhibits. Her work can be seen intermittently at various venues sponsored by Yosemite Sierra Artists.

Dean Taylor

Over the last forty-five years his passion for photography has led him on
numerous photographic adventures. The majority of his photographic knowledge has come from participating in numerous workshops and seminars, and attending local camera club meetings, listening to and learning from guest judge’s critiques of his own and other’s images. He feels that whatever insight and photographic artistry he has accrued is a direct result of those sharing experiences. His experience as a photography judge includes judging for numerous camera clubs, camera club councils, county fairs, local photography shows, fine-arts organization’s gallery shows, and various Photographic Society of America sponsored international salons.

Steve Dzerigian

Weaving history, philosophy, and the natural world with artmaking, Steve Dzerigian adopted photography as his primary investigative and contemplative tool. The activities of photography and teaching it became his life’s work. He instructed field workshops for the University of California, Santa Cruz Extension from 1977 through 2007. For the Ansel Adams Gallery Photography Workshop in Yosemite, from 1984 to 1990, he was an assistant instructor and served as director one of those years. In 2002, he was co-coordinator for the “Ansel Adams Centennial Symposium in Yosemite, Edges and Intersections: The Evolution of Change”. Devoted to facilitating art and education in Central California for more than forty-five years, he has served as curator, juror, and consultant for many exhibitions, competitions, and media events, in addition to teaching photography full-time at Fresno City College. 

50 Years of Photography: A Retrospective by Tim A. Fleming

50+ Years of Photography: A Retrospective by Tim A. Fleming

May 2 to June 2, 2024

Art Hop Reception: May 2, 2024 • 4 – 8 PM 

Friday Photography Live Presentation and Q&A: May 10, 2024 • 7 PM

Artist Statement:

The Exhibition. Photographs 1966 to 2024. 

It is a collection of my images, from my teen age years to present time.

My earliest work.
I’ll show some of my earliest work, How I saw things (at ages 12 to 15), not my best work, of course, but just to compare. I started printing my own images at age 14 when I bought a Darkroom from a neighbor (only $10 down and $5 a month). Printing my own work gave me quick feedback that helped me to learn faster as I took roll after roll of film around Fresno, my neighborhood and at school.

High School and College
In high school, the photography teacher was an ART teacher who was “assigned” to teach photography. This was a good thing (for me) because I already knew the basics and he was exceptional at teaching artistic composition. While attending Fresno City college, the photography teacher was really a MATH professor and instead of retiring he stayed on to set up and grow the photography department. He taught photography by skillfully describing processes and techniques using mathematics and formulas. This was perfect timing for me as I was taking math and chemistry classes at the time. It made everything seem more interesting because I could see how the math could describe photographic processes, camera use and exposure.

The many Activities going on around me provided my subjects. My sister was
competing in gymnastics, so I made photographs of her team, this led to work from other teams. My mom showed my gymnastics photography to the Fresno Ballet group, I was hired to photograph the Ballerinas at their performances. I also worked several part time photography jobs during college to pay my bills (and buy more camera stuff). I exhibited my work at two different galleries there in Santa Cruz. 

Santa Cruz and Shaver Lake
I moved to Santa Cruz and got a Job at Bay Photo Lab in 1977. My boss let me use the lab after hours, to print my own work. I met many amazing photographers at the Lab. After moving to Shaver Lake, where I got my own darkroom up and running again, I made great strides in teaching myself the Ansel Adams Zone system using his series of books.

Back to Fresno
In 1978 to 1981, I traveled to cities in the Western states to sell my landscape photos at art shows and crafts fairs. My brother and I flew and sold Hang gliders during this time period, and we traveled to many hang glider mountain flying sites to meet new customers. This gave me more precious time to be in the mountains and capture wonderful landscape images as well as people flying.

My Brick and Morter Location.
1981 to 2001, I operated a professional Lab called Flash Foto. It had two locations. The tower district and a north Fresno store. We did black and white film and Color film developing, and printing. This gave me the opportunity to meet many great photographers from all over the country as they traveled through Fresno to California and the national parks. The company grew to over 100 commercial clients. I spent my vacations and long weekends out in nature, photographing whenever I could.

Working from Home
2002 to the present, I have enjoyed working as a professional photographer in my home studio building. I have also worked on my own “Artistic” and landscape photography. I traveled to several western states and in California making the images I will present here.
Thank You for reading,
Tim A. Fleming

On May 10, 7 pm, I will give a talk and Q&A about my life in photography at Spectrum Art Gallery. Using these Techniques, Processes and Styles I will present my work in these categories:
Landscapes and Still Life prints, Infra-Red Photography, Intentional Camera movement (ICM), Rorschach Inkblot Test or Mirror image-I call it “Flip n Fold”.
Painted photographs, a technique that uses Photoshop to paint over an image.
Portraits, in Color and Black and White – Painted – ICM – Performers – Sports.
Composite Images, combining 2 or more images into one piece.

Spectrum Art Gallery’s New Hours of Operation:

Thursdays and Fridays: 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Saturdays and Sundays: 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM