Liza Hennessey Botkin Bio

I was born and raised in New York City. I graduated from The Brearley School and attended Syracuse University and Hunter College. In 1971, I moved to Los Angeles where I worked 9 to 5, mostly in the entertainment industry.

My photographic career began in the 70s when I was working for Michael Childers as his Studio Manager. One day Michael asked me if I wanted to buy a camera, a Leica CL. I did, for $80. I took a photography course at Fairfax High and was soon hanging out in the darkroom. I discovered then that I love to print.

I also worked for several years for Lou Stoumen from whom I learned a great deal about printing. We spent many hours in his darkroom making black and white magic and listening to talk radio. At home I rinky-dinked a darkroom, washed prints in my bathtub or kitchen sink and hung them to dry on window screens attached to hooks in my ceiling.

During the 70s and early 80s I roamed the streets, department stores, markets and public gatherings of L.A I entered competitions and was chosen to be in several publications and shows. In 1983, I stopped shooting, got married and went shopping. My Leica sat in a drawer for the next 15 years. In early 1998, at my husband's urging, I brought the Leica out of the drawer, built a darkroom, and I've been shooting and printing ever since.

I still hang out in malls, markets and places where large groups of people tend to gather. I take my camera with me every day, shooting "from the hip" because I don't want people to be aware of me. My camera is small enough and light enough so that I can cup it in my hand, attached to a wrist strap so I don't drop it.

I never studied the art of making pictures in an academic setting, but if there is anyone who has influenced me or defined my work, it is Henri Cartier-Bresson. I, too, search for what he so aptly called "the decisive moment."

I take pictures where the subjects are weirdly but humorously interacting, in moments that amuse me and make me smile when they come up in the developer. Lou Stoumen and I used to talk about what we referred to as "the nun." Lou had a shot of Taos where there was a tiny black figure off to one side, a nun. Without her it would have been a boring shot of Taos, with her it caught your attention.

My photographic project consists of "decisive moments" and "nuns." May they be plentiful.


	STUDY/WORK EXPERIENCE
1978	Photo and darkroom study with Patrick Nagatani
1973-1982	Michael Childers - Photo Studio Manager Lou Stoumen - Darkroom Assistant
	Exhibitions
2011	Viewpoint Gallery - Sacramento CA - Twelve: Parallels The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards Interregional Photographic Internet Exhibition Maryland Federation of Art - Annapolis, MD - Small Wonders RoHo Photo Gallery - Layers - 2011 Online Exhibition and Book TAG Gallery - Santa Monica CA - 2011 Open Exhibition The Monk Space - Los Angeles CA - Chocolate and Art Photographers Forum - Best of Photography 2011 Worldwide Photography Gala Awards - Honorable Mention
2010	Topanga Canyon Gallery, Toganga CA - Juried Open Show Visual Arts Center of New Jersey - Summit, N. J. - 25th International Juried Show Towns Burr Gallery - Burbank, CA - Consuming Passions Maryland Federation of Art - Annapolis, MD - Small Wonders TAG Gallery - Santa Monica CA - California Open Exhibition Aquarium of the Pacific - Long Beach CA - Beach Iconography Ceres Gallery - New York, N. Y. - Ninth National Juried Exhibition Maryland Federation of Art - Annapolis MD - Art on Paper National Exhibition
2009	Gallery 825 - Los Angeles CA - 2009 Open Show Long Beach Arts -Long Beach CA - 2009 Nationl Open Exhibition, First Place Award Art Center of Northern New Jersey - 17th National Juried Show Paul Kopeikin Gallery - Los Angeles, CA - Charitable Auction Photo Review - Online Exhibition TAG Gallery - Santa Monica CA - California Open Exhibition Marin Society of Artists - Ross CA - 2009 National Juried Show The Pen and Brush, New York, N.Y. - Contemporary Expressions Orange County Center for Contemporary Art - Santa Ana CA - Fashionistas! - Group Show
2008 2007	Black and White Photographers Guild Los Angeles CA People A Studio Gallery - Los Angeles - Moments - Solo Exhibition I-5 Gallery - Brewery Art Association - Los Angeles CA - Group Show 4260 Black and White Photographers Guild - Los Angeles - 2nd Annual Exhibition Black & White (with shades of gray and a pinch of color) - LAX Airport - Group Show Maryland Federation of Art - Annapolis MD - 31st Annual Art On Paper Exhibition Ceres Gallery - New York, N. Y. - Sixth Annual Juried Exhibition 4260 Black Art Center of Northern New Jersey New Milford, N. J. 17th Annual Juried Exhibition TAG Gallery, Santa Monica CA 2008 California Open Exhibition Orange County Center for Contemporary Art Santa Ana CA Animal Magnetism Mainstream Gallery –Burbank CA – 27 Photographers, 27 Photos, 1 Night A Studio Gallery – Los Angeles CA – Lomo-Gate 2008 A Studio Gallery – Los Angeles CA – Large Show of Small Images Long Beach Arts – Long Beach, CA – 2007 California Open Exhibition Art Center of Northern New Jersey – New Milford, N. J. – 16th National Juried Show Focus On AIDS 2007 – Benefit Auction – Los Angeles CA Kaufman Gallery, Shippensburg University - Shippensburg PA – 8th Annual National Exhibition Art on The Edge Gallery –Long Beach CA - 2007 Women’s Music, Art, Dance & Word Festival San Diego Art Institute – San Diego, CA – 49th International Award Exhibition Maryland Federation of Arts – Annapolis, MD – 30th Annual Art On Paper Exhibition 4260 Black & White Photographers Guild – Los Angeles CA – “group diversity”
2006	Pierce College Art Gallery - Los Angeles, CA - Artists Of The Valley A Studio Gallery – Los Angeles, CA – Retrospective, 1979 – 2006 – A Solo Exhibition Pico House Gallery – Los Angeles, CA – L.A. 225: Los Angeles Through the Eyes of Artists TAG Gallery - Santa Monica CA - Open Exhibit, Juror Laddie John Dill Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle WA – Resonance!, group show juried by Paul Kopeikin Venice Art Walk, Venice CA – Benefit auction Bonhams & Butterfields, Los Angeles CA - GET ART, Benefit for Project Angel Food The Print Center – Philadelphia, PA – 80th Annual International Competition A Studio Gallery – North Hollywood CA – Large Show of Small Images Icon Gallery, Hollywood CA – The Feminine Mystique Ocean Front Gallery, Venice CA – FOH Group Show
2005	Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, CA - 2005 Open National Exhibition Focus on AIDS Benefit Auction Photo New York - Benefit Auction for Jazz Foundation of America Valley Institute of Visual Arts, Sherman Oaks CA - Southern California Regional Exhibition Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale CA - National Exhibition of Works on Paper Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles CA – 2005 Juried Exhibition Eagle Rock Center For The Arts, Eagle Rock CA – Juried Exhibition Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster PA - Photo National 2005 Orange County Center for Contemporary Art - Santa Ana, CA - "Get It Off Your Chest" San Diego Art Institute - San Diego CA - 48th Annual International Exhibition
2004	Gallery 825, Los Angeles CA - Gallery 825/LAAA Southern California Open 2004 Firehouse Art Gallery, Garden City NY - ANYTHING GOES Silvermine Guild Galleries, New Canaan CT - SPECTRA'04 National Photography Triennial Phoenix Gallery, New York, N. Y. - 2004 National Juried Exhibition Marin Society of Artists, Ross CA - 2004 National Juried Exhibition Focus on AIDS 2004 - Benefit Auction SCA Gallery, Pomona CA - enGENDERING the future Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis MD - Art on Paper 2004
2003	Times Square Lobby Gallery, New York, N. Y. "PeaceWorks" Whitney Young Cultural Center, San Francisco CA "SanFranBananas" Image Gallery, Riverhead, N. Y. "Windows, Doors and Portals Into the Soul" Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA "Beefcake, Cheesecake" Camera Club of New York's 2003 Small Print Show, New York, N. Y. ZOOM: Focus on Photography, I-5 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles Photo Expo -Women In Photography International Silent Auction
2002	Gallery 825/Los Angeles Art Association, Los Angeles, CA LAAA's Southern California Open 2002 Topanga Canyon Gallery, Toganga Canyon, CA ? 2002 Juried Open Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA ? Brand 32, Works On Paper La Foto Gallery, Santa Monica CA "Viewfinder" group show sponsored by The Los Angeles Breast Cancer Alliance Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana CA "Ecstasy: Mind, Body, Spirit" Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA Photo National 2002 Pleiades Gallery of Contemporary Art, New York, N. Y. - 20th Annual Juried Exhibition b. j. spoke gallery, Huntington, N.Y. - Photography 2002 Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA - National Prize Show 2002 Photo Impact Gallery, Santa Monica, CA - Women In Photography International group show Image Gallery, Riverhead, N.Y. - East End Photographers Group 3rd Annual Juried Exhibition Ashforth Warburg Gallery, New York, N.Y. - Professional Women Photographers exhibition, "Life In & Out Of Balance" Women In Photography International - "Hollywood Legends, "Frances Howard Goldwyn Gallery, Hollywood Branch, Los Angeles Public Library
2001	Alberta Arts Pavillion/Our Dream Gallery, Portland, Oregon -"Latent Images" Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA - " Beefcake/Cheesecake: Sex, Flesh, Money and Dreams" House of Photographic Art, San Juan Capistrano, CA Women In Photography International - 20th Anniversary Show Pleiades Gallery of Contemporary Art, New York, NY - 19th Annual Juried Exhibition Lankershim Arts Center, Los Angeles, CA - Cornerstone Arts Group - "Art In Action"
2000	Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA - "20 years/20 Artists, Contemporary Art" The Stage Gallery, Merrick, NY - "Small Works, Top Priority" Frances Howard Goldwyn Gallery, Hollywood Branch, Los Angeles Public Library - Loosely Associated Group of Photographers group show
1999	Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies - 1999 LACPS ANNUAL
1982	Deanna Miller Gallery, Beverly Hills CA
1980	Cameravision Gallery, Los Angeles, CA -" The Male Nude" Westwood Center of The Arts (Westwood Art Association) - Los Angeles, CA - Second Annual Photography Open
1979	The Davidson Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - The Paul L. Schaeffer Memorial Photographic Foundation's - "California Photography 1979
	Awards/Publications
2005	B&W Magazine - Single Image Awards Annual 2005
2002	LEICA VIEW, Spring issue 2002, Leica View Exhibition Hall
1999	CANON/PHOTOGRAPHER'S FORUM 19th Annual Spring Photography Contest - Third Place, Black and White SHOTS Magazine, September 1999 issue, "Inanimate Objects"
1982	LOS ANGELES HERALD EXAMINER/Kodak International Newspaper Snapshot Awards
1980	LA WEEKLY First Annual Photo Contest