Matthew Bamberg--Educator, Writer, Photographer
Have you have ever considered selling your fine-art photography online but weren’t sure how to go about it, SELL YOUR ARTISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY ONLINE has the answers you’re looking for. Much of today’s fine art photography market is found on the Internet, where collectors have a wide choice of inventory from which to choose. In order to meet buyers where they are, you need to learn the techniques for creating desirable images and getting your work seen on the sites where collectors congregate online. Written by expert photographer/teacher/author Matthew Bamberg, SELL YOUR ARTISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY ONLINE covers everything from shooting and composition to honing your marketing skills and will teach you what you need to know to create compelling fine art photographs and sell them online.
Sample Images
Nonfiction
Deciphering the Methods and Meanings of Twentieth Century Photography Masters
The second book I've completed is, titled “Deciphering the Methods and Meanings of Twentieth-Century Photography Masters,” is complete. It's comprehensive guide, rooted in years of research, delves into the artistic strategies and messages conveyed by influential 20th-century photographers.
The book is structured into three parts:
The first part traces the evolution of themes in 20th-century photography, scrutinizing the motivations behind iconic photographs such as Dorothea Lange’s portrayal of the Depression and Robert Do’s work.
The second part discusses how contemporary photographers can adapt the approaches of these pioneers to address current social issues. It offers insights into the artistic vision of masters like Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Harry Callahan, and Tina Modotti.
The final part dissects the technical aspects of photography to inspire creativity, demonstrating how techniques like perspective, exposure, and photo essays can craft compelling narratives for societal change.
The book showcases images selected from over a million photographs I have taken over the past two decades, focusing on the use of master methods to narrate social and environmental change. It is designed to serve as a valuable resource for students, enthusiasts, and general readers interested in photography, art history, and popular culture.
My career began with NOAA’s cloud seeding experiment in South Florida. I then moved to San Francisco, earned a teaching credential, and taught in Oakland and Daly City schools while studying at San Francisco State University’s School of Creative Arts. In 1997, I completed a graduate project on diversity education for children. After relocating to Palm Springs in the early 2000s, I merged my love for nonfiction writing with teaching, contributing to various publications and teaching at prestigious institutions.
My passion for photography led to the creation of images capturing mid-century neon signage and architecture. Wiley published my first book, “Digital Art Photography for Dummies,” in 2006, followed by 11 more how-to books on photography and technology by Cengage Learning.
Recently, I resumed freelance writing and continue to teach part-time at the Sanford College of Education at National University in San Diego. For over two decades, I’ve shared insights on critical thinking and diversity with graduate students, themes that form the core of my book. This book is enriched by my extensive experience in pedagogy.
I look forward
to discussing this proposal further. Thank you for your consideration.
Stargazing in Coconut Grove: An
Astrologer's Child's Journey through
Florida Counterculture
My memoir, Stargazing in Coconut Grove: An Astrologer's Child's Journey through Florida Counterculture is complete, a a realistic account of life growing up in Coconut Grove, Florida in the 1960s and 70s is complete, ready for publisher or agent evaluation.
The book chronicles the author's upbringing in and around Coconut Grove, Florida. The book is comprised of a collection of short stories that recount my experiences growing up amidst drastic social changes brought about by the influx of Cuban and other Latin American refugees during the rise of the counterculture movement.
Synopsis
In the memoir, I am Marvin Hammerstein, the main character and narrator. As an eccentric child, I challenge the prevailing Florida mindset through an internal debate about my mother, Eleanor's beliefs and relationships. Throughout the book, I engage in quirky interactions and dialogues with a diverse array of characters, grappling with profound questions about prophecy, religion, and drug use, all while embarking on a wild and unimaginable quest for acceptance.
Currently, I am actively seeking representation for this memoir, which serves as the first installment in a series of multiple volumes. The stories are presented in chronological order, beginning with Eleanor's quips about not having a girl as her third child, and concluding with a thought-provoking conversation about the connection between astrology and death as we journey to college in Tallahassee. Each story incorporates various literary devices, including foreshadowing, compelling themes, vivid imagery, and irony.
Bio
I began my career as a participant in a government cloud seeding experiment conducted by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). I performed scientific and in-flight tasks in various locations in South Florida.
After moving to San Francisco, I obtained my teaching credential and taught in Oakland Public Schools and the Jefferson School District in Daly City, just south of San Francisco. During this time, I attended San Francisco State University's School of Creative Arts. This program, founded by educator August Coppola, focused on interdisciplinary arts.
I completed my graduate thesis and creative work project on diversity in education for children at San Francisco State University in 1997, then moved again to Palm Springs, California in the early 2000s where I pursued a career in nonfiction writing while teaching education and composition courses at several universities.
As a freelance writer and journalist for the Desert Sun, I contributed articles to various sections of the paper, including news, opinion, features, and religion. I also had two columns: one that featured weekly spiritual profiles of local religious congregations for a year and another titled "One Tank Trips," which focused on Southern California travel destinations and ran for several years. As a writer for Palm Springs Life, many feature stories about architecture and design were published .
During this time, I developed a passion for photography and cameras. I created and sold framed photographs depicting mid-century neon signage and retro architecture for shops and galleries in Southern California. My first book, "Digital Art Photography for Dummies" (Wiley, 2006), a guide for novice photographers on shooting and creating framed photos for sale was published.
Over the next ten years, I authored 11 more how-to books on photography and technology. These books were part of the “101 Quick and Easy Secrets” series published by Cengage Learning.
More recently, I resumed working as a freelance writer for websites and blogs, further boosting the visibility of my writing and art platform. Additionally, I have had several articles published in The Desert Sun.
In 2023, my creative nonfiction personal story, "Pride and Acceptance in San Francisco," was published in the literary magazine Gay & Lesbian Review. The magazine also promoted a podcast supplement to the story in its newsletter and website.
Critical Thinking Tips
- "Research shows that, while critical thinking can be taught, it can’t be taught on its own — at least not effectively. Daniel Willingham, cognitive scientist, writes that attempts to teach general thinking abilities through logical and spatial puzzles, for example, as parts of courses added on to the curriculum, are generally unsuccessful. These skills don’t “transfer” to thinking in other domains, but generally remain tied to the logic games where they’re learned" (Bouygues, 2022).
- The challenging aspect of critical thinking is maintaining an open mind when exploring alternative perspectives, just as you do when reading content that aligns with your beliefs.
- “The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive, and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered.” --Jean Piaget
- Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.”--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Working Together to Critically Think
Paulo Freire coined the term banking information to express a lesson being taught by the teacher, with students being passive recipients of knowledge. He advocated for collaborative learning so students interact with each other and the teacher.
Suppose you research the differences between teaching by banking information, where the teacher has most of the power, and teaching using collaborative learning by student interaction. In that case, you'll discover that the latter is more democratic, which is the value Freire emphasized in his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed ("Paulo Freire," n.d.).
Freire used concepts such as vertical teaching and horizontal teaching to define the relationships between two types of instruction, and he equates each to the power the relationship has.
Vertical Teaching
teacher
↓
student
Horizontal Teaching
teacher ↔ student
Power in relationships is an important concept in education. Critical Race Theory is concerned with people who are oppressed because they have less power in society than those who are not.
Paulo Freire. (n,.d.). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/freire/#SH5a