August 2014 Updates

Have you ever had one of those month to two month stretches where so much happens that you can barely keep track of it all, and then when you finally make it through you can barely believe you lived through it without your face melting off? No? Are you sure? Well, that's what June and July were like here, anyway. Quite a bit happened, so here we go:

Gallery Updates: I did some substantial additions to the Abandoned Homes gallery, St. Boniface, and Ocean Vista Hospital. I do have several new ones on the way shortly however, including Mayview State Hospital and the Hershey Chocolate Factory, so by the end of the month check for those on the website.

Workshops: The photography workshops continue! I created a Facebook group for people who attended workshops to share their images, so if you've been on one and want to show off your work or you just want to see more of what the trips are all about, click here to join.
In some other great news, I've partnered with Matt Lambros of After the Final Curtain to add two new workshops in Massachusetts in September - one at the Victory Theatre in Holyoke and the other at the Everett Square Theatre in Boston. Matt and I will be co-instructing these events and giving half of the proceeds to the restoration efforts there.
The regular roster of workshops has been updated with what will most likely be the final dates offered for the year, unless I find a way to make something happen in November. Several are already pretty close to sold out. Here's the list, follow the links for more information:

• Leap of Faith (Western PA): September 13, October 11
  Steam & Steel (Bethlehem PA and Philipsburg, NJ): August 23
  Old Game Farm (Catskill, NY): October 18
  Scranton Lace Factory (Scranton, PA): September 20
  Everett Square Theatre (Boston, MA): September 27
  Victory Theatre (Holyoke, MA): September 28
  

My new book, "Abandoned America: The Age of Consequences" is finally finished and has gone to print! It will be available in November (preorder sometime in October) through JonGlez Publishing. All of the Blurb book sales will be discontinued - this new book has 30-odd sites (including one that I've never posted any images of), vastly improved write-ups with more in-depth historical information, a foreword by James Howard Kunstler (the absolutely brilliant author of The Geography of Nowhere), over 200 images (I think? I didn't count but it's a lot) on about 250 pages, retailing in the US for $40. I will surely let you know more information as it becomes available!

My work is currently on display at the Open Lens Gallery at the Gershman Y, located at 401 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA. It's up until the end of August so if you're interested, check it out before it's gone!

Stories in the Media: There have been several featuring my work recently. Here are a few:

• Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com
  ABC News
  The Weather Channel
  Daily Mail (sorry they referred to you as "once-great", Philly. You're always "sorta great" or "great depending on your definition" to me.)
  MassLive

Are there other noteworthy things worth mentioning? I don't know! I also moved and changed cars in the past month (in addition to keeping the workshops and other business operations running smoothly and finishing the book) so I really am at a point where I don't even remember most of what occurred, to be honest. Most of the current news is on my Facebook page, as well as as a mostly steady stream of new photographs. Thanks so much for following my work and supporting it, friends. If you'd like to join my mailing list for updates follow this link. I have a ton of neat stuff coming up in the next few months that I'll be announcing soon, and I'm looking forward to sharing that with you too!


Sincerely,
Matthew Christopher