Meadowlark

Works by Ian Bates February 3rd – May 31st, 2024 Opening Reception: Saturday, February 3rd, 5-7:00 PM To make the pictures in Meadowlark, Ian Bates spent years driving the vast, sparsely-populated spaces of the American West, often sleeping in his car. This is a project borne of both passion and patience, and though Bates was […]

Art Served on Plates — Intaglio Photogravure Print Exhibition

Curated by: The Image Flow April 3 – May 19, 2023 Opening Reception: Saturday, April 15, 5:30–7:30PM The Image Flow is proud to announce their invitational exhibition Art Served on Plates: Intaglio Prints by Bay Area Fine Art Photographers & Artists. This exhibition showcases a diverse group of talented artists who specialize in photogravure prints, […]

2023 Group Exhibition

Curated by: The Image Flow February 6 – March 24, 2023 Opening Reception: Saturday, February 18, 5:30–7:30PM   The Image Flow proudly presents our 2023 Group Exhibition, featuring photo selections from our students, clients, and photo of the month award winners. All photographs featured in this exhibition have been prepared by and printed at The […]

Jay Ruland on the Beauty of Growing Old

Big Red, Jay Ruland, Withering Roses, exploration of age and age issues, pictures of flowers, flower photography
After 25 years in the workforce, Jay Ruland decided to go back to school and, not surprisingly, found himself surrounded by 20-somethings. While he says he was welcomed by his junior contemporaries, he was struck by the way they perceive the world; that is, the things they found to be beautiful also tended to be as young as they were. As a 50-something, Jay says the aging process is beautiful in itself, and the desire to show that is the basis for his Withering Roses floral photography series, which will be featured in his new solo exhibition at The Image Flow As the Allure Fades opening on May 14.
“The younger students sort of had a bias toward things in society that are young and pretty, and we’re taught through the media that younger is better. But if you look closer in nature, things that are getting older are still beautiful and the process itself is a beautiful process,” says Jay.
He chose to work with roses because they are a societal symbol for beauty, something you’d give on a first date or use to decorate your house, but also because they can communicate ideas, from the number you give to the color, and transgress cultural barriers.

Don’t Miss Annie Leibovitz’s “Women” at the Presidio Through April 17

Ballerina Misty Copeland photographed by Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz, a San Francisco Art Institute alum, began her famed career as a photojournalist for Rolling Stone in the early 1970s. Over the past 40 years, she has created some of the most stunning and most controversial photographs of her day. Her new exhibition Women: New Portraits now on display at the Presidio’s Building 649 at Chrissy Field features portraits of some the world’s most influential women, from ballerina Misty Copeland to anthropologist Jane Goodall to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.