Refreshments at our lecture are sponsored by:
Fort Point Beer Company and Winery Sixteen 600

All photos © Steven Brock

Hailing from a family of photographers, Steven Brock was drawn inevitably to photography. He first traveled to Peru in 1982 on a Watson Fellowship to study medicinal plant use in the high elevation Andes mountain range. For one year he lived in a remote town called Pomabamba where he befriended the locals, learned to speak rudimentary Quechua, collected the plants, and took photographs. He returned to Peru several times in the 1980’s and 90’s and over the years created a series of black and white portraits of the people living there. More recently, he has returned to Peru several times to arrange exhibits of these photographs in the provincial capital, in Lima, and back in the town where he took them nearly 40 years ago.

Steven had his first solo show in San Francisco in 1989 and in New York in 1996. In 2006 he studied bookbinding with a master in Florence and subsequently began making photography books in his San Francisco studio. His work have been collected and shown in galleries and museums around the world, including in The New Yorker Magazine.

All photos © Marna Clarke

Marna Clarke began photographing in 1972 while living in New York City, inspired by a Kodak advertisement that prompted her to document fleeting, evocative moments of everyday life. After teaching herself photography and building a home darkroom, she established a professional practice in Hartford, Connecticut in 1981, working in portraiture, events, and editorial assignments while pursuing personal projects in black-and-white photography. She received a Connecticut Individual Artist’s Grant in 1987 and later taught as an adjunct instructor at the Hartford Art School.

In 1992 Clarke stepped away from photography to travel and teach English abroad, spending time an ashram in India. After moving to California in 1996, she returned to photography in 2005 and continues to make work exploring memory, aging, and the quiet complexities of everyday life.

Over two decades, Marna Clarke photographed the quiet evolution of life with her partner, Igor. When their relationship began, she was 62 and he was 73, and together they shared a daily rhythm of morning coffee, evening fires, dancing, and a life shaped by art. As a photographer, Clarke began turning the camera toward herself, attempting to understand what aging looked like in her own body. Eventually she began photographing the two of them together in their ordinary moments.

As the years passed, the images became a way to confront the difficult realities of aging and mortality. Clarke continued documenting their lives until 2022, when Igor died at 93. Though the final months were marked by decline and the gravity of knowing what was coming, the act of photographing created a profound intimacy.

Winery Sixteen 600 is a vineyard-focused winery founded in 2007 by Phil Coturri, along with his wife Arden Kremer and sons, Max and Sam.

The winery produces small-batch, single-vineyard wines exclusively from certified organic vineyards farmed by Phil and his vineyard management company, Enterprise Vineyards. Their portfolio includes wines they love to drink and collect—Grenache, Rhône varietals, field blends, as well as Cabernet and Zinfandel, honoring Sonoma’s rich heritage.

Sixteen 600’s success is built on the dedication of its exceptional team, particularly the vineyard crew, winery staff, and the passionate individuals who work alongside Sam in the office and tasting house.

Fort Point was inspired by a love for San Francisco and a desire to make craft beer more accessible. Over the years, it has grown to become one of the city’s best-known independent producers, creating a wide range of new beers and even a line of ciders along the way. No matter the favorite Fort Point brew, one thing remains true — every can hits that sweet spot between interesting and easy to love.