Feb. 26, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Susan Duffy
(805) 756-2935
Internationally Acclaimed Photographer To Speak,
Give Slide Presentation At Cal Poly March 12
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Jock McDonald, a San Francisco-based photographer whose work has been exhibited internationally, will give a slide presentation of some of his work at 7 p.m. March 12 in Philips Hall in the Christopher Cohan Center at Cal Poly.
McDonald will discuss and show slides of his photographic “Rural Project,” which includes agricultural images taken in China, Cuba, Mexico, Moldovia, Russia and the Ukraine, as well as the United States.
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1961, McDonald is a self-taught photographer. He opened his studio in San Francisco in 1986 and has since achieved distinction as the Bay Area’s best-known and most-accomplished commercial photographer. He is praised for both his celebrity portraits and his depictions of rural life in America, Europe and Asia.
His photos, shot in black-and-white and color, have earned worldwide acclaim for their wit, humor, exaggeration and pathos. He has been widely published and exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the world.
McDonald has been the focus of several feature articles in such publications as Photo District News, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Santa Fe New Mexican, the San Francisco Examiner’s Image and San Francisco: The Magazine.
His portraits have appeared in American Photographer, 100 Famous Americans’ Favorite Portraits, Communication Arts, San Francisco Focus, Vogue, Paris Vogue and Interview.
McDonald’s free, public talk at Cal Poly is part of the university’s Agricultural Literacy and the Arts project, sponsored by the Liberal Studies Department.
“Jock McDonald’s presentations are delightful,” said Susan Duffy, chair of the Liberal Studies Department. “His combination of humor and absolute seriousness of purpose in his dedication to his art form helps the audience see his images through multiple lenses.
“This promises to be an enjoyable and educational experience, and I hope that anyone interested in how the land and its people are depicted artistically through the medium of photography will attend,” Duffy said. “High school students and their teachers in both the arts and agriculture are particularly invited to attend so that they have the opportunity of hearing and talking with an artists who is inspiring and accessible.”
The Cal Poly Agricultural Literacy and the Arts project is funded by
a $30,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation through the California Food
and Fiber Futures Project. The program aims to provide professional development
workshops for 4th- through 12th-grade teachers to help them
find connections between agriculture and the arts.
For more information on McDonald’s March 12 presentation or the
Agricultural Literacy and the Arts project, contact Duffy at 756-2935
or sduffy@calpoly.edu.
# # #