Skip Schiel

9 Sacramento Street
Cambridge Massachusetts 02138-1843
(617) 441-7756
schiel (at) ccae.org
teeksaphoto.org
skipschiel.wordpress.com (blog)

Biography

Artist statement

Photographer and Photography Teacher

Photography Projects

Eyewitness Gaza, a video project based on my Gaza photographs, with Tom Jackson, underway, summer 2011 the expected completion date

A set of new slide shows and print exhibits from previous trips and the most recent to Palestine-Israel in summer 2009 (please see http://teeksaphoto.org/Levant2009/Pages/Archive09-1.html), shown at churches, colleges, political organizations, and community centers, 2003-present

Participation in the US Social Forum, Detroit, June 2010, 2 workshops and a print exhibit

Southern tours and participation in the US Social Forum, Atlanta, photos about Israel-Palestine, July 2007, December 2008, with two subsequent southern tours in December 2008, February and October 2009

West coast tour of new work, San Francisco Bay area, thru Seattle and to Alaska and the Yukon, January-February 2007, October-November 2008

Gaza Steadfast, a slide show about conditions and struggles (3rd in the series about Gaza), shown throughout the south, North Carolina to Louisiana, October-November 2009

Eyewitness Gaza, Friends Meeting at Cambridge MA, February 2010, University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown PA, June 2008, and on the west coast and in the south

Gaza is Home to One & One Half Million Human Beings, How Do They Live? Bryant University, Smithfield RI, New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, August 2008 and 2010, University Lutheran Church, Cambridge MA, February 2010 (with a slide show)

The Living Waters of Palestine & Israel, a print exhibit, Landscape Institute, Harvard University, December 2006-January 2007

Two Worlds: Palestine-Israel & California, a print exhibit, Landscape Institute, Harvard University, January 2006

In the Steps of the Magi, about a pilgrimage from Jericho to Bethlehem in December 2004, with a subsequent reality tour of the West Bank, Galilee and Haifa to learn from political activists, to be shown at the Cambridge Multicultural Center, December 2005

Start Young: Youth Activism in Israel & Palestine, a digital slide show about youth-oriented organizations and individuals struggling for peace, justice and security, to be shown at the Robeson Social Justice Institute of Social Justice Education, Jamaica Plain, MA, July 2005

Occupation: Ordinary Life, a digital slide show based on experiences living thru occupation in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in September 2004-January 2005, shown at Friends Meeting - Cambridge and the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, spring 2005

Facts on the Ground, a digital slide show about Palestine and Israel, with images made during November 2003. Shown at various venues in Juneau Alaska and Cambridge Massachusetts, as well as the Peace College at Salem State College, the Boston Social Forum and two Quaker conferences in summer 2004. In addition, a booklet, Paired photographs from the Levant, completed 2004

Paired Photographs from the Levant, a print exhibit shown at the University of Maine, Farmington, September 2004, to be shown at New England Yearly Meeting, Stonehill College, summer 2005 and the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, December 2005

Live Oaks, Napa California, New England Yearly Meeting sessions, Stonehill College, 2003

Visions of a New South Africa, photographs from townships and other locations made in 1999, New England Yearly Meeting sessions, Stonehill College, 2003; part of a group exhibit at the Gallery of Social & Political Art, Community Church, Boston, 2003; Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 2002

Summer Light, Journeys Into Nature, a group exhibit of nature photography at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 2002; Broadmoor Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary, Natick MA, 2003

Walk the Witness, a slide show (with Louise Dunlap) about Buddhist-led pilgrimages and peace walks to places of suffering and hope, such as Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Wounded Knee , and New York City’s Ground Zero, shown at five locations in California, 2002

Not Forever, Quabbin Reservoir, recent color images from the reservoir partially closed after the September 11 terror attacks, Gallery of Social & Political Art, Boston, 2002

Itineraries, an exhibit and installation with Laura Soul Brown, about our experiences on a journey retracing the African-Atlantic slave trade, Boston Public Library, 2002

Living With Too Little: Landlessness, Homelessness and Poverty, contributions from my South African series to a group show at the Gallery of Social & Political Art, Community Church, Boston, 2002

The Art of Compassion, for the group show, an exhibit entitled "The Suffering of the People" with Laura Soul Brown that explored building compassion by making and exchanging art,
Somerville Museum, 2001

A Spirit People: One View of the Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage, 1998-2001, 120 rolls of film, black and white, color print, and color slide, of a monumental journey examining the route, history, meaning, and contemporary impact of the African slave trade; in the post production phase; exhibited at the Birmingham (Alabama) Civil Rights Institute, 2000, University of Rochester, NY and Bryant College, RI, as part of Quaker gatherings, 2000, Friends Meeting at Cambridge, 2000; with various slide shows at numerous churches, schools, community centers

In the Footsteps of the Freedom Fighters, 1998-2001, stemming from the Middle Passage Pilgrimage, from photographs made while offering pro bono photo services to organizations mostly in Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina and throughout South Africa that are aiding efforts to end suffering and build justice; in the post production phase, printing and editing images from 180 rolls of film; exhibited at the Cambridge Multicultural Center, 2000, New England Yearly Meeting sessions, Bryant College, 2000, and Friends Meeting Cambridge, January 2002.

Environmental Injustices, a group exhibit at the Gallery of Social & Political Art, Community Church, Boston, 2001—my photos from a South African community inundated by medical waste incineration and toxic waste disposal

The Elm Tree, 1990-1997, an installation comprising an album, large prints and a post card series, all with text, about an aged elm tree living outside the photographer’s bedroom, then cut down; exhibited at the Sacramento Street Gallery, Cambridge, 1998; New England Yearly Meeting (Quaker), 1997; and Friends Meeting at Cambridge Gallery, 1997

Our Home Sweet Homes, 1990-1998, showing the efforts of people to foster housing justice; various venues in Boston and Cambridge, including the Middle East Restaurant, 1998

A Pilgrimage—Auschwitz to Hiroshima, 1994-1998, solo exhibits at Bowdoin College, Brunswick Maine, 1996, the Middlesex County Courthouse, Cambridge MA, 1997, and Friends Meeting at Cambridge, 1997, a group show, Reflections on Auschwitz, in Amherst Massachusetts, May 1996, and Union Theological Seminary, New York City, 1996; and a two person exhibit (with Bill Ledger), Auschwitz to Hiroshima, at The Peace Gallery, Detroit, Michigan, 1998 and Boston Public Library, 1996. Plus a tour of a separate slide show series to McAllister University, Hamilton Ontario, 1996, Bowdoin College, 1996 and to the west coast (Juneau Alaska, Seattle, San Francisco), 1996. Contributed to and helped edit and design the book, Ashes & Light, 1996

Forms of Poverty, 1985-1990, an ongoing investigation of how people are affected by poverty in the US and their struggles to change their conditions and the system leading to their poverty, photographed in Juneau Alaska, Chicago, New York City and the Boston area; exhibited at the Watertown Public Library, 1988

About the Color Line, 1990-2001, a cross section of African American people in families, schools, organizations, gatherings, celebrations and faith communities, in Chicago, Boston and the deep South; a group exhibit at Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge, and the Museum of the National Center for Afro-American Artists, Roxbury Massachusetts, 1994;

Cross Cultural Journeys, 1991-present, a slide show series at several of the above locations, as well as at numerous churches and schools throughout the United States

Mitakuye Oyasin (All My Relations), 1982-1995, about American Indians and their labors to foster their fundamental human rights; exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center, Boston Public Library and New England Yearly Meeting (Quakers) Sessions at Hampshire College, 1992, Friends General Conference Gathering in Oklahoma and Friends United Meeting Triennial in New York, 1993, and Truman College, Chicago, 1993. In the collections of Peabody Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, Harvard University, and Smithsonian Institution

Boston Harbor 1987-90, exhibited at Massachusetts State House, Watertown Public Library, Boston Children’s Museum, and conferences at University of Massachusetts, Boston

Bread and Puppet Theater, 1978-1995, exhibited at Boston City Hall and Puppeteers of America Annual Festival, Ames Iowa, 1983. In the collection of Pusey Theater Library, Harvard University

Other venues and clients:

Photos have appeared in Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Herald, Progressive, National Catholic Reporter, Environment, Sojourners, Creation Spirituality, The Witness (winning two awards), Fellowship, Peacework, Quaker Life, Friends Journal and through Orbis Press

In the collections of Smithsonian Institution, Peabody Museum of Harvard University, and Pusey Museum of Theater History at Harvard

Commercial clients include Friends General Conference, South Africa Development Fund, South African Partners, Cambridge Center for Adult Education, United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Harvest Food Coop in Boston, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown Massachusetts (slide shows, video tapes, print displays), Puppeteers of America, national festival, Cambridge (photographs for publicity and participants), Glory Hole Hospitality Center, Juneau (promotional slide show), and for MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Educational Technology Center at Harvard School of Education, Lesley College, American Friends Service Committee, Watertown Free Public Library, First Night in Boston, St. Francis Indian Mission on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, and the Fitchburg MA Public Schools

Teaching Experience

Quaker Palestine Youth Program and Al Aqsa University, Gaza, various times 2005-present

Cambridge Center for Adult Education, digital photography, digital darkroom, intermediate photography, photojournalism, environmental photography, experimental photography, website design, drawing and photographing the human being (co-taught with Stan Edelson), black and white photography, basic and intermediate photography, and a history of photography, as well as the page layout computer program, Quark XPress, 1990-present

Landscape Institute of Harvard University, photography of the garden and landscape, basic digital photography, 1993-2008

Friends General Conference Gatherings (Quakers), Light in Photography, The Question of Palestine & Israel, What is Arts Ministry? (i.e., arts used to heal, reconcile, and invoke), at Amherst MA and New England Yearly Meeting sessions, Brunswick ME, 1994, Harrisonburg VA, 1997, Johnstown PA, Photography as Prayer at FGC at Blacksburg VA, 2002

Watertown High School and Hosmer Middle School, 1983-88, Watertown Massachusetts, photography and writing, as artist-in-residence

Boston Film-Video Foundation, 1980-82, production and business of media

Boston College, 1969-78, film production and history, organized film series

Other Relevant Experience

Design graphics and write for various companies and publications, 1980-present
Manage a business providing photographic services, Teeksa Photography, 1980-present
Supervised the Instructional Materials Center at Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, 1985-90
Coordinated an educational program at Boston Film-Video Foundation, Boston MA, 1980-82

Awards, Honors and Grants

Puffin Foundation, grant for Living Waters project, March 2007

Keynote address at New England Yearly Meeting (Quakers), "And You Will Be Carried Where You Do Not Wish to Go," 2005

Cambridge Peace Commission, one of their annual Peace & Justice awards, 2000

Polly Bond Award of Excellence, 2000, for the cover photo (and layout by staff) used by The Witness magazine

Eastman Kodak, 1999, product support

Magnum Photo Collective, 1993, finalist applicant

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), 1990-present, various local and national funds

Watertown (Massachusetts) Arts Lottery Council, 1984-87

Toronto Super 8 Film Festival, 1980

Artists' Foundation, Boston, 1978

Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 1978, film retrospective

Education

Boston Film-Video Foundation and Cambridge Center for Adult Education,
1975-present, workshops, seminars, and courses on video, filmmaking, computer-based graphic design, writing, and computer applications to photography

Tufts University, 1965, Medford MA, graduate mathematics studies

University of Washington, 1965, B.S. degrees, in mathematics and psychology, Seattle

(September 2010)

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