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MARTHA CASANAVE graduated from the Monterey Institute of International Studies with a degree in Russian Language and Literature and began her working life as a translator in Washington, DC. She engaged in photography from early childhood, however, and later came back to the Monterey Peninsula, built up a portrait clientele, and began teaching photography, while continuing to pursue her personal work. She has been an exhibiting and working photographer and educator on the Monterey Peninsula for over thirty years Every year between 1984 and 1995, Casanave used her knowledge of Russian language and culture to take groups of American photographers to the Soviet Union/Russia, and made a number of trips on her own to work on photographic projects. She received travel grants from the Polaroid Corporation to make a series of pinhole photographs of Leningrad in winter. She was awarded the Imogen Cunningham Photography Award for her portraiture (1979) and also was a 1989 recipient of the Koret Israel Prize. Her book Past Lives-- Photographs by Martha Casanave was published by Godine in 1991. Her second book, Beware of Dog, was released by the Center for Photographic Art in 2002. Her most recent book (exclusively pinhole) called Explorations Along an Imaginary Coastline, was published by Hudson Hills Press in 2006. Casanave’s photographs are included in many major collections, such as the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Stanford Museum, the Bibliotheque Nationale, the J. Paul Getty Museum , and the Graham Nash private collection. Her pinhole work was featured in the October, 2004 issue of Black and White magazine. Her work has also been published numerous times in the Pinhole Journal. Most recently (Winter, 2007) “Light Leaks, Low Fidelity Photography” published a cover article and interview on Casanave’s pinhole work, and the June, 2007 issue of “Photography” (Ukrainian edition, in Russian) included a comprehensive article on the history, science and current practice of pinhole photography, and prominently featured Casanave’s work, along with an in-depth interview. Casanave teaches Master Classes on the Portrait, Human Figure, and Lensless Photography nationally, and also teaches regularly at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, at Monterey Peninsula College, and for the UCSC Extension. |
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