April 2, 2025
Guan's photograph was originally published in the NY Times May 1, 2024 edition.
Monroe Gallery will exhibit this photograph and other examples of Guan’s work at the 2025 Photography Show presented by AIPAD in booth #C8, April 23 – 27 at The Park Avenue Armory in New York City.
March 31, 2025
Santa Fe, NM - Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to announce exclusive representation of photographer Bing Guan for fine art print sales.
Guan is a Chinese American full-time freelance photographer, journalist, and artist based in New York City. He is currently an adjunct professor of photography at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Born in Australia and raised in the United States, Bing attended Dartmouth College and holds a BA cum laude in history from Columbia University. He has reported from across the U.S., and from places including Antigua, Burma, Mexico, Rwanda, and Hong Kong.
Bing is a regular contributor to Reuters, Bloomberg, and The New York Times. He has been awarded grants from the Parsons School of Design, the Ucross Foundation, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Bing speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, and is certified in HEFAT and as a FAA Part 107 drone pilot.
Monroe Gallery will exhibit examples of Guan’s work at the 2025 Photography Show presented by AIPAD in booth #C8, April 23 – 27 at The Park Avenue Armory in New York City.
March 29, 2025
Lisa Larsen photographed the 1953 wedding of Senator John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, and one print is featured in the current exhibition "Loving"
“Women can be good photographers much in the same way that they can become good doctors, good cooks or whatever they choose to be good at,” Lisa Larsen said in the mid-1950s. By that point she had become one of LIFE Magazine’s most successful photojournalists, having already won Magazine Photographer of the Year in 1953. In that time, she became known for her interest in the truth of humanity. “I dislike anything superficial and I especially dislike superficial relationships,” she said in 1954.
Lisa Larsen, née Rothschild, arrived in the U.S. as a Jewish emigre from her native Germany–her family left after Kristallnacht. She was just a teenager at the time, but knew the career path that was right for her. By then, a group of German Jewish photographers had elevated photojournalism as an artform in the U.S. and formed the influential photography agency Black Star, one of Magnum’s greatest competitors. Larsen joined them as a file clerk. She then began her career as a freelance photographer for magazines like The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Seventeen, Glamour, and more, but she worked at LIFE for a decade beginning in 1949.
At first, as a woman, she was relegated to fashion and entertainment photography–she took photos of Marlon Brando and Grace Kelly, for example, though even those somehow situate megawatt stars of the time as mere mortals, a way audiences hardly got to see them then and, arguably, still now.
Over time, Larsen was able to expand her practice and become an intrepid, adventurous world traveler. She became, for example, “the first American photographer to enter Outer Mongolia after a government-enforced 10-year ban,” as LIFE wrote. She also traversed the Himalayas; photographed world leaders at the first Bandung Conference in Indonesia, which sought to solidify African-Asian relations’ and Eastern Europe during the Cold War in 1955, among many others. She was additionally sent to photograph high-ranking political figures from Dwight D. Eisenhower on his campaign for president and First Lady Bess Truman, wife of Harry S. Truman; to Nikita Khrushchev and the 1953 wedding of Senator John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, not to mention Queen Elizabeth II’s first tour as a royal.
Larsen was known to be both charming and hardworking, and knew how to get a great photo. In her time, she dazzled many a world leader. “Appreciative Khrushchev gave Larsen a bouquet of peonies,” scholar Patryk Babiracki wrote in Apparatus Journal. “Ho Chi Minh spotted Larsen…and confessed: ‘If I were a young man, I'd be in love with you,’” Babiracki continued. Truman Vice President Alben Barkley called her “Mona Lisa.” According to the International Center of Photography, “she photographed Iran’s Premier Mohammed Mossadegh from his New York hospital bed during the 1951 Iranian oil dispute with Great Britain,” which “led to a personal invitation from Mossadegh to visit Iran for a two-week vacation.”
March 28, 2025
Ryan Vizzions describes Atlanta as a uniquely diverse melting pot shaped by its history. He credits Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the city’s role as a hub for African Americans during segregation as foundational to its identity. This legacy, he says, makes Atlanta exceptional not only in the South but across the entire country as well.
Photography as a Purposeful Journey
Vizzions’ photography began as a personal outlet but evolved into a passion for storytelling. Over the years, he embraced various forms, from photojournalism to architectural and street photography. He views his work as a medium for raising awareness and documenting social movements.
Standing Rock and Activism
One of the defining moments in Vizzions’ career was his documentation of the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Inspired by a haunting resemblance to the Civil Rights era, he felt compelled to witness the movement firsthand. What began as a spontaneous trip turned into a six-month immersion, during which he lived at the camp and captured some of the most recognized images of the movement.
Honoring Atlanta’s Modern-Day Leaders
(Photo by Ryan Vizzions)
Vizzions chose to highlight contemporary changemakers for his Atlanta-focused project for “Colors of Atlanta.” He selected civil rights attorney and activist Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia NAACP. Vizzions first met Griggs during the Black Lives Matter protests in Atlanta and later during the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial. Impressed by Griggs’ relentless advocacy in the courtroom and on the ground, Vizzions wanted to create a powerful portrait that Griggs and his family could be proud of.
Auburn Avenue: Connecting Past, Present and Future
Vizzions selected Auburn Avenue, a historic street in Atlanta, as the backdrop for his photograph. Known as Black Wall Street, Auburn Avenue holds deep cultural significance. It was home to jazz legends at the Royal Peacock and the pulpit of Dr. King at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Vizzions sought to intertwine Atlanta’s rich past with its present and future.
Stepping Beyond Photojournalism
Although Vizzions’ background is rooted in documentary and photojournalism, this project pushed him into the editorial realm. Initially nervous, he quickly found his rhythm, collaborating with Griggs to create powerful, meaningful images. He expressed pride in the final result, seeing the work as a collective achievement.
Atlanta’s Influence on his Art
Vizzions draws continuous inspiration from Atlanta. For him, photographing Atlanta is more than capturing its skyline; it’s about preserving the spirit of its people, honoring its leaders and ensuring that its legacy endures.
Learn more about other talented photographers featured on “Colors of Atlanta” and watch the TV series.
March 27, 2025
Reflections from the 2025 Contest global jury (With Nina Berman)
Chosen from nearly 60,000 entries by 3,778 photographers from 141 countries, the award-winning images are those of struggle and defiance, but also of human connection and courage – visually stunning work that draws you deeper into stories behind the news. This enriching selection of the world’s best photojournalism and documentary photography was chosen by an independent international jury based on their visual quality, storytelling approach, and commitment to diverse representation.
"My hope is that tomorrow’s lawyers, reporters, and policymakers will be affected and moved by these images, and that perhaps they will strike a chord in some of today’s 11-year-olds, who, having forged the beginning of a relationship with them, will continue their life journey knowing that pictures, and the stories they tell, matter.
We made our choices with an eye on the final mix: as much as a World Press Photo Contest award is an immense recognition for photographers, often working under difficult circumstances, it is also a recap of the world’s major events. Yet, what we have here is just a partial overview. Not all the events that were topical in 2024 were covered by the photos submitted, but the jury selected images, I believe, fully aware of their power, and of the legitimacy that the award would lend them." – Lucy Conticello, director of Photography, Le Monde, and 2025 Contest global jury chair
March 24, 2025
Young displaced girls from Darfur, Sudan leave a camp to gather firewood for their families. The US government declared the war in Darfur a genocide. Darfur, Sudan 2005
Santa Fe, NM - Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to announce exclusive representation of acclaimed photographer Ron Haviv for fine art print sales.
Ron Haviv is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and an award-winning photojournalist. He co-founded VII Photo Agency and The VII Foundation, where he currently serves as a director. He is dedicated to documenting conflict and raising awareness about human rights issues around the globe.
Haviv has produced an unflinching record of the injustices of war covering over 25 conflicts, and his photography has had singular impact. His work in the Balkans, which spanned over a decade of conflict, was used as evidence to indict and convict war criminals at the international tribunal in The Hague. President George H.W Bush cited Haviv’s chilling photographs documenting paramilitary violence in Panama as one of the reasons for the 1989 American intervention. His work is in the collections of numerous museums and he has produced five monographs. He also has provided expert analysis and commentary on current events for the media including opinion pieces for the Washington Post and The New York Times and spoken at TEDx along with numerous other lectures at Universities and conferences.
Monroe Gallery will exhibit several examples of Ron Haviv’s work at the 2025 Photography Show presented by AIPAD in booth #C8, April 23 – 27 at The Park Avenue Armory in New York City.
Monroe Gallery of Photography was
founded by Sidney S. Monroe and Michelle A. Monroe in 2001. The gallery
specializes in photography that embodies the universal understanding and
importance of photojournalism. Monroe Gallery was the recipient of the 2010
Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Excellence in Photojournalism.
March 20, 2025
Greenpeace faces massive financial blow in pipeline lawsuit
EHN CuratorsMarch 17, 2025
Her 9-minute video of George Floyd’s murder became undeniable proof, fueling a global movement and reinforcing the power of citizen journalism
Via Columbia Journalism School
March 14, 2025
After Homeland Security seized and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate of Columbia's School of Public and International Affairs, without charging him with any crime, many of our international students have felt afraid to come to classes and to events on campus.
They are right to be worried. Some of our faculty members and students who have covered the protests over the Gaza war have been the object of smear campaigns and targeted on the same sites that were used to bring Khalil to the attention of Homeland Security. President Trump has warned that the effort to deport Khalil is just the first of many.
These actions represent threats against political speech and the ability of the American press to do its essential job and are part of a larger design to silence voices that are out of favor with the current administration. We have also seen reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is trying to deport the Palestinian poet and journalist Mosab Abu Toha, who has written extensively in the New Yorker about the condition of the residents of Gaza and warned of the mortal danger to Palestinian journalists.
There are thirteen million legal foreign residents (green card holders) in the United States. If the administration can deport Khalil, it means those 13 million people must live in fear if they dare speak up or publish something that runs afoul of government views. There are more than one million international students in the United States. They, too, may worry that they are no longer free to speak their mind. Punishing even one person for their speech is meant to intimidate others into self-censorship.
One does not have to agree with the political opinions of any particular individual to understand that these threats cut to the core of what it means to live in a pluralistic democracy. The use of deportation to suppress foreign critics runs parallel to an aggressive campaign to use libel laws in novel — even outlandish ways — to silence or intimidate the independent press. The president has sued CBS for an interview with Kamala Harris which Trump found too favorable. He has sued the Pulitzer Prize committee for awarding prizes to stories critical of him. He has even sued the Des Moines Register for publishing the results of a pre-election poll that showed Kamala Harris ahead at that point in the state. Large corporations like Disney and Meta settled lawsuits most lawyers thought they could win because they did not want to risk the wrath of the Trump administration and jeopardize business they have with the federal government. Amazon and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos decided that the paper’s editorial pages would limit themselves to pieces celebrating “free markets and individual liberties.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration insists on hand-picking the journalists who will be permitted to cover the White House and Pentagon, and it has banned the Associated Press from press briefings because the AP is following its own style book and refusing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
The Columbia Journalism School stands in defense of First Amendment principles of free speech and free press across the political spectrum. The actions we’ve outlined above jeopardize these principles and therefore the viability of our democracy. All who believe in these freedoms should steadfastly oppose the intimidation, harassment, and detention of individuals on the basis of their speech or their journalism.
Signed,
The Faculty of Columbia Journalism School
March 12, 2025
Photography Exhibition: “A Brief Guide to Investigating War Crimes”
Documenting war and war crimes is a special segment of photojournalism. Tim McShea, a student at Johns Hopkins University, discusses with Emmy nominated and award-winning photojournalist Ron Haviv the stories behind some of his iconic photos (see here) during iMEdD’s International Journalism Forum for the Forum’s pop-up newsroom. Ron Haviv is a co-founder of VII Photo Agency & The VII Foundation.
