China: The New and Old reception Dec. 12th

Exhibit opening reception at Yoga Fix

An hour or two with Shang

Shang Tea Co. and Quen Stone, located on the 3rd level of Crown Center in KC, is a treasure to our city. If you enjoy Chinese teas, they have the best from their own fields in China. They have whites, reds, wulongs, and many others. A fine tea is like a fine wine, it must be sniffed, sipped, swirled around and, well unlike wine, chewed.

They also have an extensive collection of some of the finest jades. If you are a jade lover, you will be in jade heaven when you enter. Large to small, all shapes and sizes. Bracelets, necklaces, and pendants. You will find something to go with your personality.

Augsburg, Germany- April 2009

One day in Augsburg, I came across a king, a cat a god and other characters.

Mandarin Radio

August Workshop

Well it wasn't hot. We had a beautiful day. We met at Sabrina's studio, then headed down to 10th and Main. We were greeted by "security" informing us where we can and can't photograph. Welcome to the city. Several of the students had many more conversations with these people through out the morning. These encounters reminded me of when I was in China and military guards would give me a stern look and wave their hands and shake their head "NO". That was the excitement. Now onto the good stuff.

Everyone captured wonderful images and learned how to see from another perspective. The observation of how light transforms a city in a matter of minutes. We started just before dawn and made some images in that nice dusky light as the sun came up and became brighter we were able to really see the changes. We split off to photograph on our own and feel the city at our own pace.

The images of the students working in their perspective.

August Exhibit At ARTichokes

I will be showing my China photogravures at ARTichokes. These gravures depicts a small village in GuiZhou Province. The village is as it was during the Ming Dyanasty. Opens August 21st through November 6th. They will have an all day opening event on the 21st. I will arrive around 6:30p.

Photography Classes

If you would like a group study experience I teach photography at Artichokes located on 105th and Mission Rd. I hold a basic photography course which will familiarize you with the manual and semi-manual functions of your camera, and we go over some other functions specific to digital photography. I work with students who have either digital or film SLRs. No point and shoots. I prepare you for assignments to work on for review in the following class. We meet on Tuesday nights for four consecutive classes from 7-9. Check the Artichokes website for upcoming classes.

You can also go to Crick Camera's website to check their upcoming classes and workshops.

Private tutorials

I offer private tutorials in photography for anyone who would like one on one assistance with their camera and to better their photography. I do a minimum of 2 hours for a session which costs $120. You can pay me directly with cash or check or you can click the button below to pay by credit card.

August Workshop

We will begin our day in front of Sabrina Staires Studio at 329 SW Blvd. Then hike in or drive into the city. Be prepared for a lot of walking, so bring only what you really need such as: wide angle lens, tele-photo lens, tripod, bottle of water and any other little thing you need. We will study light, shadow, and composition. For newbies, I can briefly go over basic settings that will assist you in getting the best image possible. We will photograph until 10 or 11 and meet back at the studio to discuss the mornings images and have a bit of rest and respite. We then will proceed out for lunch. At 3 we will go over to Crown Center to see what is going on in the fountain and go back into the City and photograph until 6p. For those die-hards who would like to continue to photograph, we will keep walking around, break for dinner and do some night photography.

It's a very long day. It's up to you as to how long you wish to be out. I suggest to at least do 8 hours. If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me at: angiejennings@yahoo.com

5th Annual Dragon Boat Festival

The Society for Friendship with China, the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department sponsored the Dragon Boat Festival that was held on Brush Creek bordering the country club Plaza, with the assistance from Kansas City Chinese Association (KCCA), Tsinghua Alumni Association of Greater Kansas City, and the Kansas City Plaza Rotary Club.

Preparations for the race and other activities began early in the morning. I arrived late, around 9 am, to document the festival from beginning to end.

The rowers were to arrive for early practice, and to learn the rythm of rowing, drumming and how to keep the boat straight. When the KCCA team arrived one member said: “ I hope we don’t go in the water, I don’t want to get wet.” Thus their fate was sealed. They slalomed back and forth hitting the side-walls of the creek. All of the teams would have this experience at one point or another before, during and after the race. The KCCA boat was coming down-stream and they headed straight for the wall. It looked as if moderate panic took over, because balance was lost and so were glasses, shoes, phones and other items one would carry in the pocket. The boat tipped and rolled over, everyone one went in. There were no injuries, I am happy to report, and a great story for the rowers. They pulled together, helped each other out of the water, got the boat out and bailed the water. The whole crew then placed the boat back in then everyone carefully re-boarded and rowed back to the dock.

The festivities on dry land began around 10:00am. There was a food booth selling zongzi, along with other food items, and various other booths selling fans, paper umbrellas, dragon boats, t-shirts, beverages and a photography exhibit depicting images of China. There were children’s activities such as making fans, boats, and they could have their own, dry, boat race. On the main stage the audience was delighted to watch the beautiful children drumming, doing dances from various Chinese minorities, an amazing martial arts demonstration, traditional Chinese music from the guzheng, lovely sounding Chinese singers and a fashion show to close the stage. Throughout the day one could purchase a wishing lily.

At one o’clock preparations were underway to “wake the Dragon”, a ceremony to open the races. The dragon was resting behind the stage waiting for the children to come and roust him and take him to the water. They all got to their designated pole, lifted the dragon, the drums started and they set off, winding through the crowd with much excitement and fanfare. The dragon impressively snaked through the spectators and down the path. The drums got louder as he arrived. The dragon then was coiled by the dock, as speeches and introductions were made. Then at 1:15 the official waking of the dragons began as John Fierro president of the Kansas City Parks Board and Counsel Yu from Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago opened the eyes of the dragons. The races began at 1:30.

Many teams struggled with keeping the boat straight, however one team seemed to have gotten the hang of it rather quickly. They began with the round robin race then the serious races began. The sun was peeking out as the crowd grew and excitement was building. KCCA won against Mel’s Mauraders. The final race was the Plaza Rotary against Gossen Livingston Architecture. Both teams were flying in the water. Gossen shot out of the “gate” at top speed Rotary was behind just slightly, at the turn Rotary caught up and they were neck and neck to the end. Rotary wins by almost a boat length with Gossen coming in second. It was a nail biter and the best race of the day. Everyone was excited and hot and tired. All of the teams did an amazing job. To end their racing day the two final teams took a nice leisurely row down the creek to the boat landing so that the boats could be loaded and stored until next year. The festivities broke up for about a four-hour respite when we would return later that evening.

I was back at the dock at 8:30pm, Bob Chien, president of the Society For Friendship with China, CJ Wei and Tammy Wang from KCCA, along with Counsel’s Yu and Yang were preparing the wishing lilies for launch at 9. For $5 one could by a wish, and have their wish launched and floated in the night to be answered. This was a most serene and beautiful way to end a frenetic, exciting day. Next year I may buy 10, but, maybe that’s too greedy, since everyone one of you will want one too. See all of you there next year. Don’t forget to wish.

Dragon Boat Races June 13th, 2009

Just a few of my most favorite images from the event. Go to my flickr to see the whole set.