Thursday Night Photobook Throwdown
Free and open to the public

For the April Thursday Night Photobook Throwdown, bring your newest photobook, or the one you’ve recently fallen in love with again, for an evening of sharing, conversation, and appreciation for this format for photography that is an art form in and onto itself!

Don’t have a book in mind to share? Not to worry — you can also comb through Aurora’s photobook library of over 300 titles for a wildcard if you’re feeling lucky that night.

We will start at the tables in the Aurora PhotoCenter Gallery, Suite C9, and then migrate down to a close-by watering hole when the mood strikes us or 7pm, whichever comes first!

Following the Winter Light
An Artist Talk with Charles Yang
Free and open to the public

In this intimate, interactive artist talk, the first in a series by local Indianapolis photographers, Charles Yang, Indy-based neuroscientist turned socio-cultural street photographer, steps beyond the surface as he explores locations including Northern Thailand, Northern Vietnam, and Japan through his images. Yang’s passion for photography began in his teens when his father gave him an old camera along with a subscription to National Geographic magazine. Over the last five decades, Yang has lived and worked globally, including in Hong Kong, England, Canada, the United States, and China, always with a camera on his side.

The artist writes of his work, “For years, I have chased after unique light and moments in diverse corners of the world, often relying on my feet and local public transport. This forced me to immerse myself in the daily lives of the people I encountered, leading me to unseen angles and hidden gems bathed in extraordinary light. For me, the subtropical climate with its heat and humidity demands a winter escape. Guided by the magic of the winter sun, I have embarked on solo journeys to capture the essence in these captivating communities.” The artist talk will be interactive, allowing viewers to ask questions and engage with the artist’s socio-cultural commentary, which is woven into each photograph.

Charles Yang has self-published three photographic monographs, Shanghai: the Pre-COVID Soul of The City (2020-2017), On Reading: From Analogue To Digital, and Under The Moroccan Winter Sun. His color and monochrome prints have been exhibited at Darkroom Revelations Gallery, and he has had joint print exhibitions with Lesley Ackman at Harrison Art Center and Garfield Park Art Center in Indianapolis.

Discover Photograms
Free and open to the public

Photograms are a kind of camera-less photography made in the darkroom in which you place objects directly on a piece of photographic paper and then expose the composition to the enlarger light. The result is a black-and-white image in which solid objects appear white and translucent objects and materials appear in an almost “x-ray” effect caused by light shining through. The contours of the objects are rendered in sharp shapes and lines, sometimes ultra-realistically.

Photograms are a great introduction to photography and the darkroom - if you don’t like your first attempt, just try another one! In this open session, we will have sheets of 8 x 10 paper, chemistry, and a variety of objects on site to start your compositions; feel free to bring your own objects and materials, keeping in mind that darkroom chemistry can stain. Working space is limited in the darkroom, so a max of three people can work on one picture at a time.

This photograph open session is free and open to the public. This activity is best suited for artists age 7+; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Talking Pictures
An Evening of Conversation
Free and open to the public

Join us for Talking Pictures, a series of discussion nights in which we focus on looking with intention and sharing our thoughts about one work from each exhibition in the Aurora galleries. Slowing down and spending extended time looking at a photograph deepens our understanding of the work and sharpens the words and ways that we use to describe what we see, think, and feel when we experience photography. Closely observing a photograph at scale in the gallery gives you the added information about the work expressed by the artist’s choices in creating, framing, and presenting the print. And doing all of this with others ensures insights, perspectives, and discoveries you wouldn’t get looking alone.

April’s Talking Pictures will focus on Beholden (Clearing) by Eli Craven, from the exhibition Beholden, and Untitled from The Quarry Project, by Tsar Fedorsky. Executive Director Mary Goodwin, who organized the exhibitions, will be on hand to start the discussion, give background to the individual photographs and series, and answer any questions.

Bring a friend and join us - chairs provided!

Pinhole Power for the Eclipse & Everyday
April 6, 1-4pm
Limited to 10 participants
Registration closes April 4

Click here to register now!

Non-Members: $25

Aurora Members: $20 
(Enter Member VIP code at checkout for discount)

To get ready for the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, in this workshop we will harness of the power of the pinhole to both make images and create a viewer for safely observing the eclipse!

A pinhole camera is just a simple light-tight box with a small hole on one end that projects an inverse image from the outside into the box. These simple cameras can be made from just about any container that can be made light tight, and by inserting a piece of photo paper in the box, you can take photographs using the camera. With a slight modification, a pinhole camera can be turned into a viewer that allows you to safely see the solar eclipse inside the box.

This workshop is a great way to learn or be reminded of the simple but astounding optics behind photography, and to get ready for the amazing solar display on April 8.

This activity is best suited for artists 7+ years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

We will start by talking about the basics of how a pinhole camera works. Then we will construct a pinhole camera using simple household materials; you will need to bring a cereal box or similar container to the workshop, and all other materials will be supplied. After building the pinhole camera, we will use them to take pictures and then develop those pictures in Aurora’s darkroom. Finally, at the end of the workshop, we will modify our pinhole cameras to build a pinhole viewer for watching the solar eclipse of April 8.

Image: The original pinhole camera, the camera obscura

Free and open to the public

For April First Friday, stop by and have your portrait made by Aurora intern Alexander Toms on a paper negative using our 8 x 10 camera; the portraits will be free and first come-first served. This will be your last First Friday opportunity to come experience Aurora’s first solo exhibitions in our new space! In the galleries April First Friday and through April 15: Beholden, by Eli Craven, in Aurora’s Main Gallery and The Quarry Project, by Tsar Fedorsky, in the Project Gallery.

Indiana-based artist Eli Craven reconsiders gesture and touch through the photograph in the exhibition Beholden. In his work, images of faces and bodies, often sampled from anonymous archival photographs, are disrupted, reconnected, and layered in ambiguous ways. The classic markers of identify — the face and eyes — are often obscured or covered, leaving a tantalizing impression of the players, a photographic flirtation in which roles and identities remain in flux. The works ultimately explore sight, looking, loss, and healing; the exhibition includes images from multiple series, including Soap Opera, PPS, and First-Aid and Living Anatomy, visual research completed when the artist was the 2022 Aurora + Herron Resident, and three mural-size works that expand the artist’s typical print scale and the size of the wood overlays that complete the murals.

The beautifully printed images in Tsar Fedorsky’s The Quarry Project continue her 20-year research into black-and-white photography and its power to create abstraction from the reality recorded by the camera.

Known for expressive images that relate intensely personal narratives, the Boston-based artist transforms everyday scenes into a space for contemplation of new lives, identities, and perceptions. The large-scale prints, made by the artist on Washi paper, offer a serene and peaceful space to remember the beauty of the natural world.

Aurora PhotoCenter’s residencies offer invaluable opportunities for artistic development and highlight our Indianapolis arts community as a center of creative production. Aurora offers two residencies in 2024: The Aurora + Herron Residency and the Aurora Project Residency.

The application deadline for both residencies is March 31, 2024.

The 2024 Aurora + Herron Residency takes place August 12-23, 2024. A collaboration between Aurora PhotoCenter and Herron School of Art and Design, the residency offers a two-week intensive work period in the Herron darkroom and studios, with basic chemistry supplied, a $2,000 stipend, and a place to stay.

The 2024 Aurora Project Residency prioritizes projects that engage and incorporate the place and people of Indianapolis. The residency includes a $2,000 stipend, a place to stay, and access to the Aurora PhotoCenter workspaces. Aurora will schedule the two-week period of the residency with the resident.

Tube Factory Artspace will host residents in their artist bed and breakfast located in the Garfield Park area of Indianapolis, pending scheduling. Our partnership is part of a program for visiting artists working in different genres staying and working at the Tube Factory campus all year round.

The 2024 Application Review Panel will include Shana Lopes, Charles Guice, Barbara Tannenbaum, Chris Hill, and the Aurora Programming Committee.

Thursday Night Photobook Throwdown
Free and open to the public

For the latest Thursday Night Photobook Throwdown in March, we’re going to get a little personal! Feel free to bring a book of your own work that you’ve published to share with the group. (Please - just finished books, no mock-ups or pdfs for feedback- we’ll have another event for that.) Or, if you prefer, you can always bring the newest photobook you’ve gotten, or the one you’ve recently fallen in love with again, for an evening of sharing, conversation, and appreciation for this format for photography that is an art form in and onto itself!

Don’t have a book in mind to share? Not to worry — you can also comb through Aurora’s photobook library of over 300 titles for a wildcard if you’re feeling lucky that night.

We will start at the tables in the Aurora PhotoCenter Gallery, Suite C9, and then migrate down to a close-by watering hole when the mood strikes us or 7pm, whichever comes first!

Toner-Rama: A Toning Workshop with Anna Schink
March 9, 1-4pm

Limited to 10 participants

Registration closes March 6, 2024


Non-Members: $25

Aurora Members: $20

Toners can add richness, depth, and new dimensions to your prints. Experimenting with toners can also be messy and expensive as you explore various techniques and effects to find the right combination for your work.

In the Toner-Rama workshop with Anna Schink, we will go over the basics of working with toners in general, including tips, pitfalls, and safety. Then we will get hands-on as you get to dunk your prints and experiment with the following toners:

* Selenium

* Sepia

* Gold chloride

* Tea and coffee

* Wine

* Dissolved rose petals

Participants are encouraged to bring their own prints and test strips to work with; please bring prints you can afford to experiment on, not family heirlooms or precious originals. Fiber based, multigrade, and hand-coated papers of all finishes should be suitable for the workshop; email ahead if you have a question about a specific paper finish and toner combo. This workshop is best suited to artists 16+ years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Yes, we will let you try to tone an inkjet pigment print, if you are so inclined, at the end of the workshop!

If you need to print before the workshop, become a Member at Aurora and reserve time in our darkroom or digital imaging area!

Anna E Schink is a teaching artist and creative consultant working in cameraless photography with an emphasis on found and reclaimed objects. Her studio practice is a liminal space between the physical and ephemeral, drawing on embodiment practices of tarot, dream work, and hypnosis. She has exhibited internationally and been awarded grants for creative projects in Venice and Prague. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. Schink’s work is nourished by her role as an educator, where she mentors students to embrace process over product and cultivate creative resilience. She has been invited to manage four public darkrooms and leads workshops for artists aged 7-70. 

Image by Anna Schink, cyanotype with selenium toner

Come spend some time with Aurora’s Spring Exhibitions for March First Friday. In the galleries March First Friday and through April 15: Beholden, by Eli Craven, and The Quarry Project, by Tsar Fedorsky.

Indiana-based artist Eli Craven reconsiders gesture and touch through the photograph in the exhibition Beholden. In his work, images of faces and bodies, often sampled from anonymous archival photographs, are disrupted, reconnected, and layered in ambiguous ways. The classic markers of identify — the face and eyes — are often obscured or covered, leaving a tantalizing impression of the players, a photographic flirtation in which roles and identities remain in flux. The works ultimately explore sight, looking, loss, and healing; the exhibition includes images from multiple series, including Soap Opera, PPS, and First-Aid and Living Anatomy, visual research completed when the artist was the 2022 Aurora + Herron Resident, and three mural-size works that expand the artist’s typical print scale and the size of the wood overlays that complete the murals.

The beautifully printed images in Tsar Fedorsky’s The Quarry Project continue her 20-year research into black-and-white photography and its power to create abstraction from the reality recorded by the camera.

Known for expressive images that relate intensely personal narratives, the Boston-based artist transforms everyday scenes into a space for contemplation of new lives, identities, and perceptions. The large-scale prints, made by the artist on Washi paper, offer a serene and peaceful space to remember the beauty of the natural world.

Found Families
A Collage Workshop with Eli Craven
February 3, 1-4pm
Aurora PhotoCenter 
1125 Brookside Avenue, Suite C9, Indianapolis

In conjunction with his exhibition Beholden, Eli Craven will lead a free workshop on Saturday, February 3, 1-4pm. Craven will speak about the use of collage in his own work before demonstrating some basic concepts and techniques used in the process. We will then experiment with collage, using found photographs and printed materials, to explore ideas about family, friends, and connectedness.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own materials to work with; please bring copies and test strips, not originals, of photographs you intend to use in the workshop. We will have a variety of found photographic images from various sources, as well as all necessary materials and equipment available for free on site. This activity is best suited to artists 16+ years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Free and open to the public. RSVP required. Please email info@auroraphoto.org to RSVP and with any questions. 

Eli Craven uses physical collage, double/multiple exposure, and assemblage in his work to re-evaluate notions of memory and gender roles often perpetuated in family photographic archives. Craven lives and works in Lafayette, Indiana, where he is an  (elicraven.com) is an Assistant Professor of Photography at Purdue University.

In the galleries February First Friday and through April 15: Beholden, by Eli Craven, and The Quarry Project, by Tsar Fedorsky.

Indiana-based artist Eli Craven reconsiders gesture and touch through the photograph in the exhibition Beholden. In his work, images of faces and bodies, often sampled from anonymous archival photographs, are disrupted, reconnected, and layered in ambiguous ways. The classic markers of identify — the face and eyes — are often obscured or covered, leaving a tantalizing impression of the players, a photographic flirtation in which roles and identities remain in flux. The works ultimately explore sight, looking, loss, and healing; the exhibition includes images from multiple series, including Soap Opera, PPS, and First-Aid and Living Anatomy, visual research completed when the artist was the 2022 Aurora + Herron Resident, and three mural-size works that expand the artist’s typical print scale and the size of the wood overlays that complete the murals.

The beautifully printed images in Tsar Fedorsky’s The Quarry Project continue her 20-year research into black-and-white photography and its power to create abstraction from the reality recorded by the camera.

Known for expressive images that relate intensely personal narratives, the Boston-based artist transforms everyday scenes into a space for contemplation of new lives, identities, and perceptions. The large-scale prints, made by the artist on Washi paper, offer a serene and peaceful space for the new year.

Bring your newest photobook, or the one you’ve recently fallen in love with again, and join us for Aurora’s first Thursday Night Photobook Throwdown — an evening of sharing, conversation, and appreciation for this format for photography that is an art form in and onto itself!

Don’t have a book in mind to share? Not to worry — you can also comb through Aurora’s photobook library of over 300 titles for a wildcard if you’re feeling lucky that night.

We will start at the tables in the Aurora PhotoCenter Gallery, Suite C09, and then migrate down to Centerpoint Brewery (at the west end of the CCIC complex) when the mood strikes us or 7pm, whichever comes first!

Also on January First Friday, at Tube Factory Artspace, the exhibition Sorry, No Pictures, organized by Aurora PhotoCenter. Sorry, No Pictures is many things: It’s 20 years of photography-based work; a treatise on the nature of art-making; a memoir; a skillful meshing of visual and text-based pieces; and an inspirational narrative of perseverance as a maker. Sorry, No Pictures explores the artist’s relationship with the medium, and specifically with its ever-evolving technology, over time. The complexity and sophistication of her work mirrors Gould, who as a visual artist, educator, writer, lecturer, and mother has lived many lives all at once. Sorry, No Pictures offers a beautiful, oftentimes laugh-out-loud funny, and ultimately hopeful narrative that art-making, by its nature, involves failure, change, and transcendence. Published in book format in 2021, the exhibition Sorry, No Pictures brings the impact of scale, presence, and additional contextualization to enhance the viewer’s experience of the artist’s work as a whole.

On view at Tube Factory Artspace until January 15.

Please join us for the opening of Aurora PhotoCenter’s Spring exhibitions: Beholden, by Eli Craven, and The Quarry Project, by Tsar Fedorsky. Together, Aurora’s Spring exhibitions explore current themes and methods in photographic abstraction.

Indiana-based artist Eli Craven reconsiders gesture and touch through the photograph in the exhibition Beholden. In his work, images of faces and bodies, often sampled from anonymous archival photographs, are disrupted, reconnected, and layered in ambiguous ways. The classic markers of identify — the face and eyes — are often obscured or covered, leaving a tantalizing impression of the players, a photographic flirtation in which roles and identities remain in flux. The works ultimately explore sight, looking, loss, and healing; the exhibition includes images from multiple series, including Soap Opera, PPS, and First-Aid and Living Anatomy, visual research completed when the artist was the 2022 Aurora + Herron Resident, and three mural-size works that expand the artist’s typical print scale and the size of the wood overlays that complete the murals.

Eli Craven will be in the gallery January 5 to answer questions and talk with you about the work.

The beautifully printed images in Tsar Fedorsky’s The Quarry Project continue her 20-year research into black-and-white photography and its power to create abstraction from the reality recorded by the camera.

Known for expressive images that relate intensely personal narratives, the Boston-based artist transforms everyday scenes into a space for contemplation of new lives, identities, and perceptions. The large-scale prints, made by the artist on Washi paper, offer a serene and peaceful space for the new year.

Starting January 4, 2024, Aurora’s galleries will be open to the public, and our darkroom, digital imaging area, and finishing area will be available via reservation, during regular business hours and by appointment.

Aurora PhotoCenter Business Hours
Thursday-Sunday, 10am-6pm

Aurora will begin taking reservations for the workspaces December 8, 2023.

Please contact Aurora at least 24 hours prior to your desired work session to inquire about availability and to reserve. Please include the desired day, start time, duration, and resource for your work session. We will contact you to confirm your reservation.

Email: info@auroraphoto.org
Phone: 317-361-3703

In conjunction with the exhibition, Sorry, No Pictures, Meggan Gould will give a free anthotype demonstration Saturday, December 2, from 1pm-4pm. Gould will demo the basics of the process, in which photo-sensitive emulsions are made from plants and exposed in the sun. All necessary materials and equipment will be available for free on site. This activity is best suited for artists 7+ years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Free and open to the public. RSVP required. Please email info@auroraphoto.org to RSVP and with any questions.

Gould has worked extensively in anthotype in her series, Happy Time. The series refers to the marketing practice of positioning the hands of a clock at 10 and 2, roughly in the shape of a smile; the series raises concerns about issues of sustainability in the medium. After the demo, participants will have a chance to view Gould’s exhibition, which includes a grid of anthotypes from Happy Time.

Please join us for an opening reception to celebrate the exhibition Sorry, No Pictures, with work by Meggan Gould. Sorry, No Pictures is many things: It’s 20 years of photography-based work; a treatise on the nature of art-making; a memoir; a skillful meshing of visual and text-based pieces; and an inspirational narrative of perseverance as a maker. Sorry, No Pictures explores the artist’s relationship with the medium, and specifically with its ever-evolving technology, over time. The complexity and sophistication of her work mirrors Gould, who as a visual artist, educator, writer, lecturer, and mother has lived many lives all at once. Sorry, No Pictures offers a beautiful, oftentimes laugh-out-loud funny, and ultimately hopeful narrative that art-making, by its nature, involves failure, change, and transcendence. Published in book format in 2021, the exhibition Sorry, No Pictures brings the impact of scale, presence, and additional contextualization to enhance the viewer’s experience of the artist’s work as a whole.

Come check out Aurora’s new facility at CCIC, from 6-9pm, enjoy our current exhibition, Fulcra, featuring the work of 22 Central Indiana photographers, and preview the spaces that will become Aurora’s darkroom and digital area. Several of the artists exhibiting in the Fulcra exhibition will be at hand to talk to you about their work.

And, many of the beautiful, framed works in Fulcra are for sale, giving you a chance to give the gift of photography this year!

Through the end of 2023, Aurora will be open for First Fridays and by appointment while the darkroom and digital areas are completed. Aurora plans a grand opening for early 2024, with both the darkroom and digital areas fully equipped and ready to rent by the hour, as well as new exhibitions.

Aurora PhotoCenter

1125 Brookside Avenue, Suite C09

Indianapolis, IN 
46202

Come check out Aurora’s new facility at CCIC, from 6-9pm, enjoy our current exhibition, Fulcra, featuring the work of 22 Central Indiana photographers, and preview the spaces that will become Aurora’s darkroom and digital area. Several of the artists exhibiting in the Fulcra exhibition, including Jason Jones, Ahmed Ozsever, Christopher Newell, Dallas Sanford, and Anna Schink, among others, will be at hand to talk to you about their work.

And, many of the beautiful, framed works in Fulcra are for sale, giving you a chance to get a jump on your holiday shopping!

Through the end of 2023, Aurora will be open for First Fridays and by appointment while the darkroom and digital areas are completed. Aurora plans a grand opening for early 2024, with both the darkroom and digital areas fully equipped and ready to rent by the hour, as well as new exhibitions.

Aurora PhotoCenter

1125 Brookside Avenue, Suite C09

Indianapolis, IN 
46202

Aurora will offer a first look of our new facility at CCIC during October First Friday, October 6, 2023, from 6-9pm, when visitors can enjoy a re-installation of the exhibition, Fulcra, featuring the work of 22 Central Indiana photographers, as well as preview the spaces that will become Aurora’s darkroom and digital area. Through the end of 2023, the space will also be open for First Fridays in November and December, and by appointment, while the darkroom and digital areas are completed. Aurora plans a grand opening for early 2024, with both the darkroom and digital areas fully equipped and ready to rent by the hour, as well as a new exhibition.

Aurora PhotoCenter

1125 Brookside Avenue, Suite C09

Indianapolis, IN 
46202

Fulcra
Transformational Moments in Photographic Practice
September 15-29, 2023
Opening: September 15, 2023, 6-9 pm
Aurora PhotoCenter at StorageSpace
121 East 34th Street, Indianapolis

Please join Aurora at Storage Space Gallery from 6-9pm to celebrate the opening of Fulcra, featuring the stories of Indiana-based photographic artists as they reveal the moments — the risks, chance discoveries, meetings, experiments, and accidents — that shifted their photographic practice in important ways. This exhibition explores those pivotal events — planned or not, recognized in the moment or understood much later — that transform our practice and push us forward into new and significant directions with the work.

Ed Panar Artist Talk
September 12, 12pm
Lilly Auditorium, IUPUI University Library
755 West Michigan Street
Free and open to the public

Join Aurora PhotoCenter and the Herron community at noon for an artist’s talk with photographer and photobook maker Ed Panar. Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2022, Panar’s published monographs include In the Vicinity (2018), Animals That Saw Me: Volume One and Volume Two (2011 and 2016), Salad Days (2012), Same Difference (2010), and Golden Palms (2007). As a dedicated non-driver, Panar’s images are characterized by the close and oftentimes revelatory observations made possible by seeing the world on foot. Panar will discuss his career in bookmaking, including his latest project, Winter Nights, Walking, to be published this fall by Fw: Books & Spaces Corners, as well as milestones in his life as a photographer. Directly after the talk, a selection of Panar’s books will be at hand to review and discuss with the artist.

This talk is free and open to the public. The event is organized by Herron School of Art and Design’s photography degree program in partnership with Aurora PhotoCenter.

Ed Panar (edpanar.com) is the recipient of a 2007 Artist Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and a 2022 Creative Development Award from The Heinz Endowments. Panar’s work has been exhibited widely including venues such as Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco and Kasseler Kunstverein in Kassel, Germany. Panar’s photographs and books can be found in numerous print and library collections including San Francisco MoMA, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Pilara Foundation and the Museum of Modern Art Library in New York. Panar is co-founder of the project space Spaces Corners and currently lives and works between Johnstown and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Aurora PhotoCenter thanks Herron School of Art + Design for its support of this event.

Cyanotype Workshop
August 25, 11am-1pm
Monument Circle, Indianapolis
Aurora with SPARK Monument Circle
Free and open to the public

Back by popular demand! We had so much fun with our July Cyanotype Workshop, we’re bringing it back in August!

Cyanotype is a camera-less photography made out in the sun, rather than in a darkroom. You place objects — such as plants — on top of a piece of photo-treated paper, and then use the sun to expose the paper. The result is an image that is an exact outline of the object. It’s a fun and magical way to engage photography! Although it may be new to modern people, cyanotype has been around since photography was invented in the 1800s.

Come explore the creative possibilities of this fascinating process. We will have some objects on hand to experiment with, but feel free to bring your own. Flat items usually work best, and cyanotype can be messy, so precious things like family heirlooms should probably stay at home. All other necessary materials will be provided free at the workshop.

This activity is best suited for artists 7+ years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Image: Anna Atkins is famous for these cyanotypes she made of British algae in the 1840s. A book she made out of her cyanotypes is considered to be the first photobook ever made.

Fulcra: Plural noun, from fulcrum: The point on which a lever rests and on which it pivots.

Fulcra
Transformational Moments in Photographic Practice
September 15-29, 2023
Opening: September 15, 2023, 6-9 pm
Aurora PhotoCenter at StorageSpace
121 East 34th Street, Indianapolis

Open Call for Submissions: Deadline to Submit is August 11, 2023
Artists must be Indiana residents to be considered for this exhibition.
No fee to submit work for consideration.

What was one moment — a risk, chance discovery, meeting, experiment, or accident — that shifted your photographic practice in an important way? This exhibition explores those pivotal events — planned or not, recognized in the moment or understood much later — that transform our practice and push us forward into new and significant directions with the work.

Fulcra offers insight into the nature of artistic inspiration and the factors that motivate and sustain long-term practice. Transformational moments could could include:

* Connecting with an important mentor or collaborator
* Seeing a photograph that opened up the medium for you
* Moving to a new city or workspace
* Discovering a new photographic process
* Experimenting with scale on existing prints
* Finding a roll of exposed film with contents that move you

Click here for more information about the exhibition, how to apply, and important dates.

Cyanotype Workshop with Asli Narin
July 14, 11am-4pm
Monument Circle, Indianapolis
Aurora with SPARK Monument Circle
Free and open to the public

Cyanotype is a camera-less photography made out in the sun, rather than in a darkroom. You place objects — such as plants — on top of a piece of photo-treated paper, and then use the sun to expose the paper. The result is an image that is an exact outline of the object. It’s a fun and magical way to engage photography! Although it may be new to modern people, cyanotype has been around since photography was invented in the 1800s.

Come explore the creative possibilities of this fascinating process with Indianapolis-based artist Asli Narin. Narin often incorporates cyanotype into her artistic practice. She will give a short talk about cyanotype at the beginning of each hour, and then you will make your own cyanotypes with Narin’s assistance.

We will have some objects on hand to experiment with, but feel free to bring your own objects. Flat items usually work best, and cyanotype can be messy, so precious things like family heirlooms should probably stay at home. All other necessary materials will be provided free at the workshop.

This activity is best suited for artists 7+ years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Asli Narin (1985, Istanbul) is a visual artist and an educator based in Indianapolis, US. Narin’s artistic practice is based on photography as well as video, installation, and performance, inspired by nature and the cities. Taking inspiration from walking and wandering, she explores the human experience through forms and abstractions. Her subjects are often the thresholds and dualities of life.

Image: Anna Atkins is famous for these cyanotypes she made of British algae in the 1840s. A book she made out of her cyanotypes is considered to be the first photobook ever made.

Aaron R. Turner: Moves from The Archive

July 11, 7PM

DeBoest Lecture Hall, Newfields

4000 N Michigan Road, Indianapolis

Free and open to the public

Please join Aurora for an in-person talk with artist Aaron R. Turner, who will discuss his new book, Moves from The Archive, which will be published by Sleeper Studio in May 2023. Moves From The Archive is a richly layered book that pulls from a wide array of ideas, influences, and traditions. The photographs, which are a part of Turner’s larger and ongoing project Black Alchemy, re-present cultural and familial images, exploring them as both subject matter and material. Using the studio as a space for construction, Turner employs cut paper, projected and natural light, black cloth, mirrors, paint, oil sticks, cellophane and packaging materials for analog photography as building blocks for his images. The result is a formal language that exists in dialogue with legacies of nonrepresentational art in both photography and painting.

This book highlights Turner’s varied approach to image making, fusing elements of still life, appropriation and painting to comment on the complex nature of Black American history and representation. Blackness takes on a multitude of meanings in this work. It simultaneously operates as identity, materiality, metaphor, history, and color. It is also an allusion to the darkroom, where many of Turner’s photographs are made.

Free parking is available in the surface lot or parking garage at Newfields, as well as a self-serve coat check. Enter Newfields via the main entrance and follow the directional signage to reach DeBoest Lecture Hall.

Aaron R. Turner is a photographer and educator currently based in Arkansas. He uses photography as a transformative process to understand the ideas of home and resilience in two main areas of the U.S., the Arkansas and Mississippi Deltas. Turner also uses the 4x5 view camera to create still-life studies on identity, history, blackness as material, and abstraction. Aaron received his M.A. from Ohio University and an M.F.A from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. He was a 2018 Light Work Artists-in-Residence at Syracuse University, 2019 EnFoco Photography Fellow, a 2020 Visual Studies Workshop Project Space Artists-in-Residence, a 2020 Artist 360 Mid-America Arts Alliance Grant Recipient, the 2021 Houston Center for Photography Fellowship Recipient, a 2021 Creators Lab Photo Fund recipient from Google’s Creator Labs & the Aperture Foundation, and 2022 Darryl Chappell Foundation  photographer-in-residence at Ogden Museum of Southern Art.