Featured Vendor - James Singewald Photography

I will be selling framed/unframed photographs of Philly and Baltimore. I'll also have a few copies of my self-published book, Old Town, East Baltimore, for sale.

For the past 4 years I've been shooting primarily with a 4x5 view camera and using Fujichrome Velvia slide film. I scan the chromes and print with high quality Epson printers on archival paper. Most of my earlier work from Philly was shot with a 35mm Pentax K-1000 or my Hasselblad, and some 4x5 as well. I used mostly black and white film for my early work and more recently I’ve switched to color.

Currently, I am working on my Kickstarter funded project Baltimore: A History, Block by Block. There are ten main streets in Baltimore that I am photographing. I'm documenting entire blocks by photographing each building individually or in pairs. I try to photograph buildings during the time the sun sets on them. I find that a combination of good light and the saturated color of the slide film I shoot with creates a glimpse or feeling of what the mostly dilapidated buildings were and could be. It portrays a sense of history and potential. I want to publish a series of books that tell the stories behind these neglected places and describe plans for their revitalization. I hope to record the conversations I have with locals and include them with the book and photographs. These stories are found in every American city and are important to be heard. My photography is meant to leave you not only with a sense of the condition of our cities, but also a feeling of urgency to see that they are improved and preserved and that the rich history behind the architecture and the community is not lost, but rather embraced. These images represent pieces of our history and the changes that continue to shape our future.

I’m approaching this work as though I'm building an archive of city blocks as several photographers did roughly 100 years ago before urban renewal and the decline most cities have experienced for the past 50-60 years.

When I’m not working on personal projects, I work part-time at the Maryland Historical Society in the Imaging Services Department where I am responsible for the photography and digitization of items in the collection as well as fulfilling reproduction requests and permissions for patrons. 

For more information, please visit www.jsingewald.com
and visit him at the fest!