Tom R. Chambers was invited to give a lecture titled "Dyer Street Portraiture to Pixelscapes" at the Beijing Film Academy about his evolution from documentary photography to digital and new media art over the past 25 years. The lecture focused on Chambers' current work with Pixelscapes, digital images created from arrangements of individual pixels. Chambers has exhibited his photography and digital art worldwide and received recognition for several documentary projects. He has also taught photography and curated exhibitions.

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Dyer Street Portraiture to Pixelscapes
Tom R. Chambers was invited by the Fine Arts Department, New Media, Beijing Film Academy (BFA) (Beijing, China) (April 8, 2005) to give a
retrospective lecture, Dyer Street Portraiture to Pixelscapes, to students and faculty. This twenty-five year retrospective took a look at
Chambers' evolution from conventional documentary photography to his current work with digital and new media art (Photos by Cho Eun-
mi.).
Wang Honghai, Dean of Fine Arts (left) and Liu Xuguang, New Media Professor (right)
listen to the lecture along with BFA students.
Chambers lecturing from his laptop computer with Xu Dawei, New Media Tutor as his
translator. Xu Dawei was responsible for bringing Chambers to the BFA.
Chambers seen between Xu Dawei (left) and Liu Xuguang (right) receiving a fine arts
publication.
Chambers seen in the BFA student union lounge with Xu Dawei and some of his new
media students.
NEWS RELEASE
DYER STREET PORTRAITURE TO PIXELSCAPES
Lecture by Tom R. Chambers at the Beijing Film Academy, Beijing, China.
April 8, 2005
Tom R. Chambers, photographer and artist, will give a three-hour lecture at the academy about his 25-year journey from conventional,
documentary photography to digital and new media art focusing on his current involvement with Pixelscapes. He will also talk about Focus
Gallery, his online gallery for other artists who are working with digital generation and manipulation as an art form, and mention the
International Digital Art Awards (IDAA), an Australian-based arts organization for which he serves as an executive committee member, juror
and new media director. He is also an advisor for the Academy of Electronic Arts, New Delhi, India.
Chambers has exhibited his photography and art, worldwide. His mixed media and interactive work, Mother's 45s (a tribute to his mother and
all mothers of the world), was selected through national competition (U.S.A.) for exhibition as a part of the Parents show at the Museum of
Contemporary Art, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A. (1992).
American Photo magazine listed one of his documentary portraiture projects, Dyer Street Portraiture in its Notable Exhibitions section, March,
1986 issue. His documentary portraiture project, Descendants 350, received a Governor's Proclamation (1986), and it was accepted by the
Secretary of State as a part of the Rhode Island State Archives (U.S.A.) (1991). And his documentary project, Hot City, received a Mayor's
Proclamation (Providence, Rhode Island) (1989), and was accepted as part of the City (Providence) Archives.
His documentary portraiture project, Southwest of Rusape: The Mucharambeyi Connection, was officially opened by the U.S. Ambassador to
Zimbabwe, and it was accepted as part of the United States Information Services (USIS) Archives, Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa (1995); and his
documentary portraiture project, People to People, was accepted as part of the Kumho Art Foundation Archives, Gwangju, South Korea
(1997).

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Chambers also completed a three-year tour as an art conservator and curator for the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and as the
initiator/instructor of The McEwen Photographic Studio for the National Gallery's Art School (1993-1995). He was invited by the gallery to
exhibit his photo art project, Variations on the Dan Mask, officially opened by the U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe (1994).
Over the past seven years, Chambers has been working with digital art and new media. Many of his Pixelscapes have been shown in the
U.S.A., Australia, England, Russia, Philippines and Brazil. A solo show of his Pixelscapes: Next Generation was mounted at the LeVall Art
Gallery in Novosibirsk, Russia (2002). And this same work was also shown at InterGraphic (Bishkek International Exhibition of Graphic art),
State Museum of Fine arts, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Russia (2004), International Festival of Digital Imaging & Animation, Novosibirsk, Russia
(2003), Third Novosibirsk International Contemporary Graphic Biennial 2003, State Picture Gallery, Novosibirsk, Russia (2003), Art Institute
of Boston at Lesley University, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. (as a part of Art Is Everywhere, Boston Cyberarts Festival) (2003), Digital
Content Consortium (DCC) Conference, University of North Carolina-Pembroke, U.S.A. (2003), Museum of Contemporary Art, Solovki
(Solovetskie Ostrova/Solovetskie Islands, White Sea), Russia, (Summer, 2002), International Exhibition of Computer Generated Prints,
Novosibirsk, Russia (curated by Sue Gollifer, University of Brighton and the London Institute, UK and by Andrey Martynov, LeVall Art Gallery,
Novosibirsk, Russia) (2002). His Pixelscapes: Third Generation were shown as part of the 2003 IDAA at VCA Gallery, Victorian College of the
Arts, Southbank Victoria, Australia, December (2003), and his Pixelscapes: Fourth Generation were shown as part of the 2004 IDAA at The
Academy Gallery, University of Tasmania, Inveresk, Australia (2004), QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia (2004) and VCA Gallery, Victorian
College of the Arts, Southbank Victoria, Australia (2004).
He has also shown his Shift Series (a derivative of Pixelscapes) as part of Digital Showcase 15, Austin Museum of Digital Art, Austin, Texas,
U.S.A. (2002) and Scan Series (a derivative of Pixelscapes) as part of Glass Membrane: Scanner to Screen, Digital Studio, UCR/California
Museum of Photography, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.(2002). Other new media work - Streak 16, Red Lines and Dot to Dot - have been show as
part of the Information Visualization Symposium (IV2003/IV2004), Dart Gallery, University of London, London, England (2003/2004).
Chambers is on the Faculty for Photo-Seminars.com. His Documentary portraiture lesson is featured at this online site and others. He
organized and performed curatorial duties for two hyperlinked photo exhibitions for the PhotoForum membership under the auspices of the
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT, New York, U.S.A.) (1997).
Reviews re: Chambers' Pixelscapes:
JD Jarvis, Artist and Art Critic:
"The genre of Minimalism makes a good verbal foundation for the work Chambers is exploring. This new generation of work is challenging
even those distinctions. In terms of Minimalism these works seem almost elaborate, with strong patterns emerging from the basic structure
that is the single pixel. Taken to the next extreme would be a sculptural arrangement of individual squares (pixels) of a single color. As if
pixels have liberated themselves, through magnification, from any other context and are now present as individual entities in non-virtual
space. The potential for a huge installation referenced as a unit (pattern) from a great distance or seen as individual bits up close has
implications for an individual's life within a global community, as well as, commenting on digital communication/art."
Don Archer, Artist and Director, Museum of Computer Art (MOCA):
"Tom R. Chambers' Pixelscapes are studies in digital art that resort exclusively to the pixel itself for visual interest. These are abstract
arrangements of pixels in color and may be referenced as exercises in computer Minimalism. With this work and other explorations of
computer abstraction, the artist has come a long way from his origins twenty-five years ago as a documentary photographer. His art and art
commentary have been widely published on a number of distinguished websites, and his prints shown in numerous exhibitions around the
world."
Contacts:
Wang Honghai, Dean, Fine Art Department, Beijing Film Academy, Beijing, China, wanghonghai@bfa.edu.cn
Xu Dawei, New Media Tutor, Beijing Film Academy, Beijing, China, dawei_xu76@yahoo.com.cn
Tom R. Chambers, Photographer/Artist, chambersdva@yahoo.com