Tuesday, January 31, 2012
WHAT TO READ ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY
Conscientious is a consistently great blog about photography. This new post is not to be missed:
"But when you see the photograph first - as I did - and then the title, it’s still a shock. Or maybe more accurately an aftershock. You see the photograph, and you think you know what’s going on, or maybe you wonder what’s going on, you wonder whether this could possibly… and then there’s the title. It’s almost as if someone knew what we would be asking and decided, “I am going to tell all these people exactly what they want to know.”
Full post here.
About:
Conscientious is a website dedicated to contemporary fine-art photography. It offers daily profiles of photographers, in-depth interviews, exhibition and book reviews, and general articles about photography and related issues. More detailed contents – such as the interviews and longer articles, including contributions by guest writers – can be found in the "Extended" section.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Everyday People: Vivian Maier
Vivian Maier: September 28, 1959, East 108th St.,
New York
New York
©Maloof Collection
Vivian Maier was essentially unknown throughout her lifetime. But that’s changing very quickly.
Maier, who worked as a nanny in Chicago, is setting the photography and art world on fire with her work in street photography that spanned more than 40 years. But she’ll never see it – which is the way she wanted it – because she died in 2009 at age 83.
“I never imagined that I would find a gem like Vivian,” says John Maloof, of the Maloof Collection based out of Chicago. “I saw her work and immediately worked on making sure she was in the right place in the history books.”
Exhibitions of Maier’s work have been held in New York, Chicago, England, Germany, Denmark and Norway. And it’s coming to Santa Fe.
The exhibit “Vivian Maier: Discovered” will run at Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe beginning Friday, Feb. 3.
Gallery owner Sidney S. Monroe says the exhibit will have approximately 35 prints, the majority of which have never been seen.
“Vivian’s story is fascinating and it keeps getting better,” he says.
Monroe says the gallery has been working to bring the show to the City Different since September and was thrilled to be one of the first venues to host the exhibition in the United States.
“This is such a huge international story, and it speaks to Vivian’s significance in the art world now,” he says. “Our goal from day one was to bring in top-flight exhibitions. It speaks to Santa Fe and it being a world-class destination for art and photography.”
In 2007, Maloof, a real estate agent and historian, purchased 30,000 negatives on a hunch from an auction house in Chicago. Buried deep in that purchase were the virtuosic street photographs taken by a reclusive nanny in Chicago.
Maloof says he bought the 30,000 prints and negatives from an auction house that had acquired the photographs from a storage locker that had been sold off when Maier was no longer able to pay her fees.
He says after buying the collection in 2007, he acquired more from another buyer at the same auction. He now owns 100,000 to 150,000 negatives, more than 3,000 vintage prints, hundreds of rolls of film, home movies, audio tape interviews, original cameras of Maier’s, documents and other items, representing roughly 90 percent of Maier’s work.
“She has become a fascinating person to me, and I wouldn’t be promoting her work if I didn’t think it was amazing,” he says.
Maloof says he had no idea of his find until he started perusing the negatives.
“I was captivated by what I saw,” he explains. “It’s really a great body of work and no one had seen it. Of course, not all the photos were great, but the ones that are stood out immediately.”
Maloof was credited with the find, and Maier’s profile as a street photographer was born and soon went viral.
“She lived her life in a private way,” he says. “I think that’s what makes it interesting. She was a normal, working-class woman who loved photography. It really could be any one of us.”
Maloof says at 25 Maier moved from France to New York, where she worked in a sweatshop. She later made her way to Chicago in 1956, where she became a nanny.
“Most of the families said Vivian was very private and spent her days off walking and shooting pictures,” he says. “I can just imagine her walking around town with a Rolleiflex around her neck, snapping pictures.”
Maier’s photographs gain interest because of the subjects. She had an eye for fashion as well as capturing the daily lives of people.
“You can see how Vivian lived through the photographs,” Maloof says. “She captured everything that seemed interesting to her.”
Maloof says three years after Maier’s death, he’s surprised at how much interest she has gotten in the past year.
“My initial goal was to get her noticed and for her to take her place in the art world,” he explains. “I know she was a private person, but I believe her photos are a gift to the world that needed to be shared.”
If you go
WHAT: “Vivian Maier: Discovered”
WHEN: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Daily; opening reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. Continues through April 22
WHERE: Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar in Santa Fe
HOW MUCH: Free
Friday, January 27, 2012
Life of Marital Bliss (Segregation Laws Aside)
Grey Villet: Mildred and Richard Loving, King and Queen County,
Virginia in April 1965
We have been covering the forthcoming documentary film about Mildren and Richard Loving, an inter-racial couple who made civil-rights history. "The Loving Story" film will premiere on HBO on Valentine's day, February 14. An exhibition of Grey Villet's vintage photographs is currently on exhibition at the International Center of Photography.
Today's New York Times has a review of the exhibit:
"Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple from Virginia whose marriage prompted a benchmark 1967 Supreme Court ruling overturning state miscegenation laws, are portrayed in “The Loving Story: Photographs by Grey Villet” as heroes who fell into history by accident.
Grey Villet, a South African photographer who worked for Life magazine, entered the story in 1965 when he traveled to Virginia to photograph the family, by then living together under an unofficial amnesty with their three children. Mr. Villet shot 73 rolls of film, but Life published only 9 images. The photographer then sent 70 prints to the Lovings. The vintage prints in this show are from that collection, as well as from Mr. Villet’s estate.
The images represent the heyday of social documentary, but also the photo-essay format established by magazines like Life and Look. There is the whiff of Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange and other 1930s documentarians, but also of W. Eugene Smith, a revered midcentury photo essayist, and David Goldblatt, a South African chronicler of apartheid" Full post and photographs here.
Concurrently, Monroe Gallery of Photography is opening the exhibition "Grey Villet: The Lovings" on February 3, concurrent with the exhibition "Vivian Maier: Discovered". The exhibition continues through March 18, and Grey Villet's photographs of the Lovings will be on exhibit during the AIPAD Photography Show March 29 - April 1 at Monroe Gallery, Booth #419. Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to represent the Estate of Grey Villet.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
"LIFE Photographers: What They Saw": masterpieces of the magazine's photographers
La Lettre de la Photographie:
"John Loengard was born in New York City in 1934. He began working as a professional photographer for Life magazine while still a senior at Harvard University. He spent much of his career photographing for Life in its various incarnations, also acting as picture editor of the monthly Life magazine relaunch from 1978-1987. He is the author of eight books on photography including Celebrating The Negative ( Arcade Publishing, 1994), and As I See It ( Vendome Press, 2005 ).
In 1998, John published a book called: "LIFE Photographers: What They Saw" on some of the masterpieces of the magazine's photographers with their commentaries. Each week, we are going to share with you the pictures that John talks about. Today we start with two of them."
Life: Loomis Dean
The Andrea Doria
S.S. United States sailing in New York harbor © Andreas Feininger / Time Life
Life: Andreas Feininger
SS United States
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Director's Interview: The Loving Story
Grey Villet: Mildred and Richard Loving,
King and Queen County, Virginia in April 1965
This is a compelling, riveting, promotional clip from the HBO documentary "The Loving Story":
"Almighty God created the races....The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mate"
Friday, January 20, 2012
WEEK IN REVIEW: Selected Photography Stories
Supermarket Pickets, New Jersey, 1963 © Steve Schapiro,
Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe
La Lettre de la Photographie has a wrap-up of the 2012 edition of Photo LA, reported by Jeff Dunus with a slide show of highlights here.
Vivian Maier: September 28, 1959, 108th St. East, New York
©Maloof Collection, Ltd.
Grey Villet: Mildred and Richard Loving
"Brown v. Board of Education. Plessy v. Ferguson. The list of notable court cases that blazed the trail for civil rights in our nation is long, but there is one case that many have forgotten but is no less important: Loving v. Virginia."
More about the Lovings photographs here.
Raw File Blog covers Tim Mantoani's new book Behind Photographs: Archiving Photographic Legends. "The Tank Man of Tienanmen Square. Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston in victory. The portrait of the Afghan Girl on the cover of National Geographic. Many of us can automatically recall these photos in our heads, but far fewer can name the photographers who took them. Even fewer know what those photographers look like." We are very proud that several of Monroe gallery's photographers are featured.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
WINTER FIESTA, VIVIAN MAIER, AND SKIING!
Vivian Maier: March 18, 1955, New York, NY
© 2012 Maloof Collection, Ltd
Santa Fe Winter Fiesta : January 27th - February 5th: The Second Annual, 10-day Santa Fe Winter Fiesta is presented by SantaFe.com and the City of Santa Fe and offers an exciting array of exhibits, concerts, parties, culinary experiences, comedy, dining, shopping, hotel and ski discounts and more to help you beat the winter blues! Full details here.
As part of the Fiesta, Monroe Gallery of Photography invites you to join us for the opening reception celebrating the exhibition "Vivian Maier: Discovered" on Friday, February 3, from 5 - 7 PM. The exhibit continues through April 27.
The name Vivian Maier was unfamiliar until recently, because the prolific street photographer was essentially unknown throughout her lifetime. Now, Maier is posthumously being recognized as one of the greatest American street photographers of the 20th Century. The recent discovery of Maier’s pictures has resounded through the photography world and her story has been sweeping the international press, including The New York Times, American Photo, NPR, La Republica, Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, CBS News, Smithsonian, and more. Please join us to view this remarkable discovery.
Additionally, the New Mexico Tourism Department has kicked off a year-long Centennial Promotion called "Get the Picture". Figure it out, photograph it, and file it online. Get out there and "Get the Picture" for a chance at the $10,000 prize.
And, in case you didn't know, New Mexico ski resorts are off to the best start in years! Many of the best skiing conditions in the entire United States are right here!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
GREY VILLET: THE LOVINGS
Grey Villet: Richard and Mildred Loving in the spring of 1965
ICP: Grey Villet and the Loving Story
A must-see post on Wednesday's New York Times Lens Blog:
The Heart of the Matter: Love
Related:
New York Times Sunday Magazine: The Case of Loving v. Bigotry
John Edwin Mason: Grey Villet, Interracial Love, and Drag Racing, 1965
International Center of Photography Exhibit: The Loving Story: Photographs by Grey Villet
The Loving Story Movie Website
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY: MUHAMMAD ALI
Steve Schapiro: Cassius Clay, Lexington, Kentucky, 1963
Via Life.com:
Muhammad Ali: The Greatest Pictures
Via TIME Light Box:
Happy Birthday, Muhammad Ali: 70 Iconic Images for 70 Years
Via ArtDaily.org:
Muhammad Ali is coming home to Louisville to celebrate another milestone — his 70th birthday:
Muhammad Ali returning to Kentucky for 70th birthday- fundraiser for center and museum organized
Via MSNBC:
Muhammad Ali soaked in familiar cheers and chants along with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" on Saturday night as friends and admirers celebrated the boxing champ's coming 70th birthday at a party in his Kentucky hometown.
As party-goers mingled in a lobby of the Muhammad Ali Center before the party, Ali walked slowly to a second-floor balcony overlooking them. The crowd immediately began to clap, then broke into chants of "Ali! Ali!" followed by singing as Ali watched for about two minutes.
Neil Leifer:
But my favorite subject, no matter what the sport, was and still is Muhammad Ali.
I took my most famous picture on May 25, 1965, when Ali stopped Sonny Liston with one punch in the first round of their heavyweight championship fight in Lewiston, Maine. When Sports Illustrated published its special issue, "The Century's Greatest Sports Photos," my picture of Ali standing over Liston was the cover, and I was honored and thrilled by SI's choice. "It is a great picture of a key moment, filled with emotion and destined to remain etched in the minds of its viewers," says Steve Fine, SI's director of photography. "You can describe this picture to someone, without showing it to them, and they know exactly what you're talking about. It's a true icon of sports photojournalism." This image represents the way people want to remember Ali: strength, confidence and braggadocio. A two-minute fight might be a major disappointment for the fans, but for a photographer, it doesn't matter whether it goes 15 rounds or 15 seconds. All any editor ever expected from me was a great knockout picture. In Lewiston, the knockout happened exactly where I wanted it to, and my only thought was, "Stay right there, Sonny! Please don't get up!"
Muhammad Ali Knocks Out Sonny Liston, Lewiston, Maine, May 25, 1965
Sunday, January 15, 2012
“I think his message is the key to world peace, to peace here in this country. And I think Martin Luther King Jr. was so ahead of his time”
Steve Schapiro: Martin Luther King, Alabama, 1965
On this day, we remember Martin Luther King.
If you are in the Los Angeles area, it is the final day for Photo LA 2012:
Grey Villet, Steve Schapiro, and Paul Schutzer photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe, at Photo LA (Booth 500).
Related: Throngs reflect on Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Politics of Photographs
SUNDAY, JANUARY 15
All general admission and programming tickets can be purchased at boxoffice.
9:30 - 11:00 AM
Docent Tour with Scarlet Cheng
The Politics of Photographs
What do photographs tell us about history, society, and culture, and how? Photojournalism is seen as "objective" -- an event is captured, showing the principals involved. Yet the photographer's selection of subject matter, framing, angle, and context -- Henri Cartier-Bresson's "decisive moment" -- gives us a world of information and a distinct point of view. In fact, the more distinct and personal, the more memorable the image. Arts photography can do the same, although often with more subtlety and ambiguity. Examples of the politics of both photojournalism and arts photography will be examined in works on display at the fair.
Photo LA Features Work of Masters, Amateurs, the Avant-Garde and Everything in Between
Grey Villet and Paul Schutzer photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe. (Photo by Rebecca Joyce/special to LAist via Flickr)
Via LAist
By Rebecca Joyce/Special to LAist
You might think photography shows are for the collectors and connoisseurs. They’re for people who wear turtlenecks, and sport coats over t-shirts. For people with shiny shoes and who use words like “exquisite” when discussing an artist’s work. People who begin conversations by identifying the art school they attended and sound very important even when discussing lunch.
That’s what I thought, too.
Art buyers and collectors are very important—after all, patrons keep galleries open and make it possible for artists to keep working—but photography shows are for everyone.
In addition to a good collection of works by master photographers, such as Ansel Adams, Photo LA is the place to see what is new and fresh in the photography world, a world ever-growing and constantly changing. Photography is an accessible art, and Photo LA has done everything possible to make this show accessible as well. Anyone who is a lover of photography at any level can be inspired here. There are photographs of the Civil Rights Movement and other works from the 60s, 50s and even earlier.
But for those wanting to see more contemporary work, there is music photography by Jerome Brunet and Ingrid Herfelder, digital work by Catherine Nelson, photographs of urban decay by Thomas Jorion, and the very popular work of Jay Mark Johnson and Stephen Wilkes.
Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe. On the right is one of the Stephen Wilkes "Day to Night" photographs. (Photo by Rebecca Joyce/special to LAist via Flickr)
There are great resources for photographers on hand. Lucie Foundation, which sponsors photography scholarships and Month of Photography, is currently accepting submissions from photographers at all levels. Women in Photography International accepts submissions for year-round photography contests for women of all levels and provides a way for new photographers to interact with established artists.
Check out the event schedule. In addition to guided tours, there are lectures and panels with photographers, collectors, and curators. For new photographers, the Emerging Focus learning series has educational lectures on topics such as travel photography and fine art printing. A Canon representative will be teaching a class on working with RAW files.
If you need further proof that this show is for everyone, The Emerging Focus installation, featuring finalists of a photography contest open to amateurs, seemed to be the most popular and drew the largest crowd while I was there.
So, collectors, curators, students, artists, professionals, enthusiasts, just-got-a-camera-for-Christmas people, whether you love it or don’t understand it, this photography show is for you.
Photo LA is on exhibit at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium until Monday. For more information about the event check out its website.
Contact the author of this article or email tips@laist.com with further questions, comments or tips.
Friday, January 13, 2012
PHOTO LA 2012 OPENS
Monroe Gallery of Photography
The 21st edition of The International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition ("photo la") opened last night with a reception benefiting the Wallis Annenberg Department of Photography at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The fair continues through Monday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, hours and ticket information here.
We look forward to welcoming you at Booth B-500.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
PHOTOGRAPHY
Framework
Via The Los Angeles Times: Capturing the world through photography, video and multimedia
Photo LA: Jan. 12-16
This year the event kicks off with a benefit gala with special host Moby on Thursday. Ticket are available at: http://www.lacma.org/event/photola or at the box office.
The 21st annual event celebrates photography from all around the world and provides easy access to participating dealers and galleries. The event brings a plethora of photography for seasoned collectors as well as the newbies. The four-day programming is rich with educational content that will surely fulfill any questions of photography answered by a range of professionals. It’s a great way to gallery hop in an extremely convenient manner and, from my experience, a great avenue to discover new and up-and-coming artists.
The stunning photograph featured above is photographer Quentin Shih’s “The Stranger In The Glass Box” and will be on exhibit at the event.
(Visit Monroe Gallery of Photography in Booth B-500)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
White House Photog Wrongfully Arrested Considering Suing After Being Banned
Continuing an alarming trend : The photographer who took the iconic portrait used in President Obama’s “Hope” poster lost his White House press credential in October after police arrested him on a charge of disorderly conduct. He is now considering a civil rights suit against the police. NY Times Lens Blog:
After an Arrest, Civil Rights Questions
ON THE ROAD....
Ernst Haas: Albuquerque, Route 66, New Mexico, 1969
We are hitting the road to photo la 2012. Pardon the interruption of our feeds while we drive!
Monroe Gallery of Photojournalism brings art and history together
Michelle and Sidney Monroe, owners of Monroe Gallery, celebrate 10 years in Santa Fe of showcasing some of the 20th-century’s most notable news photographers and their works.
- Natalie Guillén/The New Mexican
Via The Santa Fe New Mexican
Dennis Carroll | For The New Mexican
Posted: Tuesday, January 10, 2012-
'It was just one of those lightbulb-pops-on-in-your-head moments," recalled Sidney Monroe of Monroe Gallery of Photography. "You're sitting across from a genius ... and every single picture he showed us was like, 'I know that, I know that, I know that.' "
Monroe, who with his wife, Michelle, is celebrating his 10th year in Santa Fe, was talking about the couple's first meeting in 1985 with famed Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, then in his '80s.
It was at that encounter with the great photographer in the Time-Life Building in New York, Sidney remembers, that "art and history crashed together" for the couple and their venture into photojournalism-as-art began.
Sidney had been working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Michelle, for the Smithsonian Institution offices in New York. The two were engaged.
"We both had separate paths that merged when we met Alfred Eisenstaedt," Michelle said.
Sidney was assembling a collection of Eisenstaedt's works for a gallery he was managing in Manhattan, which even then was considered a risky venture for an art gallery.
Eisenstaedt introduced the Monroes to other news photographers and soon the two had their own gallery. But challenges lay ahead, not only with collectors and dealers dubious about investing in news photos, but with photographers as well.
"Our concept was completely new for them as well," Michelle said. "As photojournalists, they'd never been asked to exhibit."
"It was exhilarating and a struggle at the same time," she said of their start-up gallery in New York. "There were a handful of established photography galleries, but nobody was showing photojournalism."
However, added Sidney, in the long run "we were lucky that we had found something that everybody had ignored."
After Sept. 11, 2001, the Monroes found the going tough at their Grand Street location just a few blocks from ground zero, and other locations seemed unsuitable. So it was off to New Mexico, home of Sidney's parents, whom the Monroes had frequently visited.
The Monroe Gallery of Photography at 112 Don Gaspar St. features the photos of more than 50 renowned news photographers, most in black and white — photographically the predominant shades of the early and mid-20th century.
The photos go back to the Great Depression, through World War II and past the eras of Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King Jr., the Beatles, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton and into the present with Nina Berman's photos of America's "Purple Heart" warriors of Afghanistan and Iraq.
You may well not recognize, or only vaguely be familiar with, many of the photographers' names — Charles Moore, Eddie Adams, Bill Eppridge or Jeff Widener, for example — but it's likely their photos are part of your or your parents' consciousness:
Moore's photo of King being arrested in Montgomery, Ala., Adams' wrenching shot of the Saigon police chief executing a Viet Cong prisoner, Eppridge's gripping picture of Robert F. Kennedy lying near death on the kitchen floor in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, and Widener's picture of the Chinese man defying a squadron of tanks in Tiananmen Square.
The Monroes' black-and-white chronicle of the 20th century's iconic news photos is coming to an end in the sense that many of the photographers have died and their prints are no longer available.
"We see the end of an image constantly," Michelle said. "That was the last one that was signed. It's over."
As an example, the Monroes cited many of Eisenstaedt's photos — his famous picture of a menacing Joseph Goebbels, or Winston Churchill in top hat and coat gesturing the V-for-victory sign.
But as the mid-20th century photojournalists fade away, new faces and the faces they shoot emerge.
The Monroes cited Joe McNally, Nina Berman, Stephen Wilkes, and Eric Smith.
"As long as humans make history," [news photo galleries] will be here," Michelle said.
ON THE WEB
* http://www.monroegallery.com/
Bill Eppridge:
| Busboy Juan Romero tries to comfort Presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy after assassination attempt, June 5, 1968 ©Time Inc. |
Monday, January 9, 2012
Happy Birthday, Daguerreotype
A daguerreotype created by Daguerre
Via Wired
Jan. 9, 1839: Say 'Cheese'
Tony Long 
01.09.07
01.09.07 1839: Daguerreotype, an early photographic process, is announced to the world by the French Academy of Sciences.
The process, perfected by French artist and chemist Louis Daguerre in collaboration with Joseph Niépce, exposed an image directly onto a sheet of copper coated with photosensitive silver halide. Heat was used to bring up a latent image, then the image was permanently "fixed" to the plate by dipping it in a hyposulphite of soda.
Although daguerreotype was not the only photographic method available, it cut production time dramatically, making commercial photography a viable business. A conspicuous drawback to the process was that once fixed, the photograph could not be reproduced.
Daguerreotype enjoyed a relatively short vogue; by 1860 it had been largely supplanted by the albumen print, the first commercial process that produced photographic prints on paper.
(Source: Various)
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Based on an anonymous tip that the Lovings were illegally living as a married couple in Caroline County, sheriff Garnett Brooks and two deputies burst into the Lovings’ bedroom on July 11, 1958 at 2 a.m. When Richard explained that the woman in bed with him was his wife, Brooks replied, “Not here she’s not.”
HBO and the Museum of Tolerance invite you and a guest to a special screening of
THE LOVING STORY
An exclusive screening for Museum of Tolerance members only
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 7:00pm
A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Mildred and Richard Loving, a part-black, part-Indian woman married to a white man in Jim Crow era Virginia. Thrown into rat-infested jails and exiled from their hometown for 25 years, the Lovings fought back and changed history. They were paired with two young and ambitious lawyers who were driven to pave the way for social justice and equal rights through a historic Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia. THE LOVING STORY takes us on a journey into the heart of race relations in America. But, in the end, it is a poignant love story of two people who simply wanted to live in the place they called home.
This film, with its contemporary parallels, will live on as record of monumental change, not just in civil rights then, but in the human right to pursue happiness regardless of color, gender or creed.
Q & A with Director Nancy Buirski and Producer Elisabeth Haviland James.
Dessert reception to follow.
There is no charge for the screening but pre-registration is required.
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT
Download a flyer here
More about The Loving Story movie here
View Grey Villet's photographs of the Lovings in Los Angeles during photo la, January 12 - 16, at Monroe Gallery of Photography Booth B-500.
Related: New York Times feature: Grey Villet's photographs of the Lovings; International Center of Photography exhibit
John Edwin Mason: Grey Villet, Interracial Love, and Drag Racing, 1965
Friday, January 6, 2012
Tyler Hicks Photos of rescue of Iranian fishermen by US Navy in Gulf of Oman
Just in case you thought there was no more "great" photojournalism, check out this from Tyler Hicks of the NY Times:
"In a naval action that mixed diplomacy, drama and Middle Eastern politics, the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis broke up a high-seas pirate attack on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, then sailors from an American destroyer boarded the pirates’ mother ship and freed 13 Iranian hostages who had been held captive there for more than a month."
Slide show here.
Article here.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Eve Arnold: Born 21 April 1912; Died 4 January 2012
Eve Arnold: Marilyn Monroe rehearsing lines on the set of "The Misfits", 1960
"Her intimate, sensitive and compassionate ten year collaboration with Marilyn Monroe has cemented her as one of the most iconic portrait photographers of our time, but it is the long term reportage stories that drove Arnold's curiosity and passion."--Magnum Photos agency
The Guardian: The big picture: Bar Girl in a Brothel in the Red Light District, Havana, 1954
The Independant: All about Eve: photographer blazed a bold, beautiful trail with pictures
La Lettre de la Photographie: The death of Eve Arnold, by former Director of Magnum, Jimmy Fox
Financial Times: American photographer Eve Arnold dies aged 99
BBC: Photojournalist Eve Arnold dies aged 99
BBC Slideshow: In pictures: The work of photographer Eve Arnold
Los Angeles Times: Eve Arnold dies at 99; pioneering photojournalist
NPR The Picture Show: Photojournalist Eve Arnold Dies At 99
TIME Light Box: Eve Arnold: April 12, 1912—January 4, 2012
New York Times: Photojournalist Eve Arnold Dies at 99
NY Times Lens Blog: Parting Glance: Eve Arnold
The Guardian: Eve Arnold Celebrated Magnum photographer who documented the stars, 'the poor, the old and the underdog'
The Telegraph: American photographer Eve Arnold dies aged 99
Associated Press: Photojournalist Eve Arnold dies at 99 (with video interview)
British Journal of Photography: Magnum photographer Eve Arnold dies
Magnum photographer Eve Arnold dies [update]
Photo District News: Photographer Eve Arnold Dies
Magnum: selection of UK press clippings, obits and tributes to Eve Arnold
Magnum Slideshow
Bookmark this page for updates and more tributes.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
"You got that credential you’re wearing from us, and we can take it away from you.”
This is not a good story to start 2012 with: "The Rules on News Coverage Are Clear, but the Police Keep Pushing". See related with new update at end of scroll.
Via The New York Times:
January 2, 2012
In late November, the police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, ordered every precinct in his domain to read a statement. Officers, the commissioner said, must “respect the public’s right to know about these events and the media’s right of access to report.”
Any officer who “unreasonably interferes” with reporters or blocks photographers will be subject to disciplinary actions.
These are fine words. Of course, his words followed on the heels of a few days in mid-November when the police arrested, punched, kicked and used metal barriers to ram reporters and photographers covering the Occupy Wall Street protests.
And recent events suggest that the commissioner should speak more loudly. Ryan Devereaux, a reporter, serves as Exhibit 1A that all is not well.
On Dec. 17, Mr. Devereaux covered a demonstration at Duarte Square on Canal Street for “Democracy Now!,” a news program carried on 1,000 stations. Ragamuffin demonstrators surged and the police pushed back. A linebacker-size officer grabbed the collar of Mr. Devereaux, who wore an ID identifying him as a reporter. The cop jammed a fist into his throat, turning Mr. Devereaux into a de facto battering ram to push back protesters.
“I yelled, ‘I’m a journalist!’ and he kept shoving his fist and yelling to his men, ‘Push, boys!’ ”
Eventually, with curses and threats to arrest Mr. Devereaux, the officer relaxed his grip.
You don’t have to take his word. An Associated Press photograph shows this uniformed fellow grinding a meat-hook fist into the larynx of Mr. Devereaux, who is about 5 feet 5 inches. A video, easily found online, shows an officer blocking a photographer for The New York Times at the World Financial Center, jumping to put his face in front of the camera as demonstrators are arrested in the background.
And three nights ago, at a New Year’s Eve demonstration at Zuccotti Park, a captain began pushing Colin Moynihan, a reporter covering the protest for The Times. After the reporter asked the captain to stop, another officer threatened to yank away his police press pass. “That’s a boss; you do what a boss tells you,” the officer said, adding a little later, “You got that credential you’re wearing from us, and we can take it away from you.”
Reporting and policing can be high-adrenaline jobs. . But the decade-long trajectory in New York is toward expanded police power. Officers routinely infiltrate groups engaged in lawful dissent, spy on churches and mosques, and often toss demonstrators and reporters around with impunity.
When this is challenged, the police commissioner and the mayor often shrug it off and fight court orders. The mayor even argued that to let the press watch the police retake Zuccotti Park would be to violate the privacy of protesters. “It wouldn’t be fair,” he said.
As arguments go, this is perversely counterintuitive. But the mayor’s words reflect, as State Senator Eric Adams, the civil liberties lawyer Norman Siegel and two others wrote in a recent letter to the commissioner, a misunderstanding of long-established patrol guide procedures. The regulations are clear:
“The media will be given access as close to the activity as possible, with a clear line of sight and within hearing range of the incident.”
Precisely the opposite occurred on Nov. 15, when police officers herded reporters into a pen out of sight and sound of Zuccotti Park.
The next day, the protesters moved north and briefly occupied a lot owned by Trinity Church. As the police closed in on demonstrators, they also handcuffed and arrested Associated Press and Daily News reporters. Mayoral press representatives stoutly insisted that the police acted properly. “It is impossible to say the reporters were not breaking the law,” a spokesman wrote to me.
Let me venture into the world of the impossible then. The police patrolmen’s guide is explicit. “Members of the media,” it states, “will not be arrested for criminal trespass unless an owner expressly indicates ... that the press is not to be permitted.”
I checked with the landlord, Trinity Church. They’d made no such call. Paul J. Browne, a deputy police commissioner, agreed. That is why, he noted in an e-mail, “The reporter arrests at Duarte were voided.”
Senator Adams retired as a police captain. He loved the blue and all it implied, and acknowledges he was not above cursing the laws that restrained him.
“Who wouldn’t like unlimited power?” he said.
That is precisely why the past decade worries him so. “If the police and the mayor won’t follow their own rules, whose rules will they follow?” he says. “And very few people ask any questions.”
New York, Mr. Adams says, “is leading the way in not wanting to know where it’s going.”
JEFF WIDENER: Tiananmen Square Tank Man
Monroe Gallery of Photography is pleased to be representing photojournalist Jeff Widener.
Jeff Widener (born August 11, 1956 in Long Beach, California) is an American photographer, best known for his image of the "Tank Man" confronting a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 Beijing riots which made him a nominated finalist for the 1990 Pulitzer. Prior to the picture, Widener was injured during the night event of June 3rd, 1989 after a stray rock hit him in the head during a mob scene on the Chang-An Boulevard. His Nikon F3 titanium camera absorbed the blow, sparing his life. The "Tank Picture," repeatedly circulated around the globe, (except in China where it is banned) and is now widely held to be one of the most recognized photos ever taken. America On Line selected it as one of the top ten most famous images of all time.
Jeff grew up in Southern California where he attended Los Angeles Pierce College and Moorpark College majoring in photojournalism. In 1974 he received the Kodak Scholastic National Photography Scholarship beating out 8,000 students from across the United States. The prize included a study tour of East Africa.
In 1978, Widener started as a newspaper photographer in California and later in Nevada and Indiana. At age 25, he accepted a position in Brussels, Belgium as a staff photographer with United Press International. His first foreign assignment was the Solidarity riots in Poland.
Through the years, he has covered assignments in over 100 countries involving civil unrest and wars to social issues. He was the first photojournalist to file digital images from the South Pole. In 1987, he was hired as Associated Press Picture Editor for Southeast Asia where he covered major stories in the region from the Gulf War to the Olympics. Other beats included East Timor, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Burma, Syria, Jordan, India, Laos, Vietnam, Pakistan and many more.
Widener is now based in Hamburg, Germany. The iconic Tiananmen Square photograph will be on exhibit in Booth B-500 during Photo LA, January 13 - 16, 2012.
More
Read: Eyewitness at Tiananmen Square, 1989
Interview with Jeff Widener, "Tank Man" Photographer
Monday, January 2, 2012
Great read by John Edwin Mason: Grey Villet, Interracial Love, and Drag Racing, 1965
More about the story of Richard and Mildred Loving.
NEW MEXICO AT 100
New Mexico Centennial
On January 6, 1912, New Mexico became the 47th State in the U.S.
Continuing throughout 2012, communities statewide will commemorate one hundred years of New Mexico statehood: telling stories of the past, while envisioning the state’s next hundred years.
At 11:35 on Friday, January 6, 2012, New Mexicans are being encouraged to honk their car horns for 30 seconds to wish the state Happy Birthday. That's the approximate time President William Howard Taft signed New Mexico into statehood a century earlier.
The history of photography in New Mexico is as old as the history of photography itself. Itinerant daguerreotypists were active here as early as the 1840’s. Later, well-equipped photographic expeditions led by men like Alexander Gardner and Timothy O’Sullivan came through New Mexico making documentary surveys for the railroads and government, and helping to feed the appetites of Easterners, eager for pictorial information about the newly opened continent. Read the full article in the Collector's Guide.
More: New Mexico: Photographer's Eden
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