Photography Project


The Honorable Patrick Leahy @SenatorLeahy

How are you, sir? As a fellow photographer, I want to approach you re: a photography project that I and a colleague of mine (Ron Manville) have in mind. As a "counter-activity" to the violation and defacement of the Capitol Building on January 6, Ron and I would like to spend a week at the building documenting its exterior and interior (hallways, chambers, offices, processes, etc.) in honor of this historical building and its political process. We will cover our costs, of course, and would ask if you could give us clearance and introductions so we would be able to move about freely without/within the confines to provide the documentation.

Upon completion of the documentation, we would return to our studios (I am based in Austin, Texas and Ron is based in Nashville, Tennessee.) to do the editing of the images and production work for exhibition in our respective cities. If you like our documentation, maybe you could help us exhibit the project in Washington, D.C.

I have almost 40 years of photography experience, and I am the former personal photographer to Mayor Joseph Paolino, Jr. and City Photographer, Providence, Rhode, Island (1985-1990). A sampling of my work can be viewed under the namesake of "Retro Providence: 1985-1990" at the following link:

http://tomrchambers.com/retro_prov.html

An exhibition portion of my coverage back then can be viewed under the namesake of "Hot City" at the following link:

http://tomrchambers.com/index-25.html

My photographs/prints and all negatives that I made during my tenure are part of City Archives as the "Tom R. Chambers Collection". Please go to the collection to view a portion of the negative files, test prints, and communications:

http://tomrchambers.com/trc_prov_archives.html

While personal photographer to the mayor, I also put together a documentary portraiture project, "Descendants 350" for Rhode Island's 350th Anniversary celebration (1636-1986). The project was exhibited at ten different venues in Rhode Island; it received a Governor's Proclamation; and it now resides in the Rhode Island State Archives. It can be viewed at the following link:

http://tomrchambers.com/index-27.html

You'll notice that all of the above coverage is analog and black and white ... before the "Digital Revolution" ... and my documentation of the Capitol Building would be digital and a mix of color and black and white.

I have managed photo departments at Texas Tech University (Lubbock, Texas) and the University of Rhode Island (Kingston, Rhode Island). As a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Zimbabwe (1993-1995), I founded and directed (taught workshops) "The McEwen Photographic Studio" for "school leavers" (dropouts). A portion of this process can be viewed at the following link:

http://tomrchambers.com/tmceps.html

My biography can be viewed at the following link:

http://tomrchambers.com/bio_2016.pdf

My personal website can be viewed at the following link:

http://tomrchambers.com/

My various photo albums can be viewed at Flickr at the following link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/trchambers/albums

Ron Manville is a graduate of RIT and a US Navy veteran. He has been providing photo documentation in the United States, Canada, and Europe since 1983. He has also done political photography in Providence, Rhode Island, and his work as a culinary photographer has resulted in 72 cookbooks. Several of those books garnered national and international awards, including the coveted James Beard Award, IACP, Tabasco’s, Cordon D’ Or, World Gourmand, and a New York Book Show award. Ron has photographed textbooks for the Culinary Institute of America, Johnson and Wales University, and the Art Institutes. He was photographer for the ACF Team USA in the 2004 Culinary Olympics at the IKA in Erfurt Germany. Associated for years with the American Culinary Federation, he produced many covers and features for the National Culinary Review.

His website can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.ronmanvillephoto.com/

Thank you very much for your consideration.

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