Tuesday, September 27, 2022

BRINK Review: "Any single one of Butow’s powerful images supports the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words"

 

screen shot of PhotBook Journal web page featuring cover of David Butow;s book BRINK
September 26, 2022

"BRINK is the new Punctum publication of David Butow’s photographs documenting the January 6th, 2021 riots at the United States Capitol. Any single one of Butow’s powerful images supports the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. Yet taken as a whole, the 100 color photographs that comprise BRINK can render even the most opinionated viewer speechless. BRINK is an important body of images; a historical record of the power of myths. Myths of great countries, of democracies and other assorted political structures, of checks and balances, of elections – that are neither fair nor free." --full review here


David Butow: Brink - link to exhibition and Gallery talk


Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Gabriela Campos, born and raised in Sante Fe, New Mexico, began cultivating her photography skills in high school and her camera is now a vehicle for telling powerful visual stories

 

color photograph of Gabriela Campos with her cameras

Via Culturelines


Gabriela Campos, born and raised in Sante Fe, New Mexico, began cultivating her photography skills in high school. Seduced by the magic of the dark room film process, Campos slowly (and intentionally) transformed a creative outlet into her lifeblood. Her camera is now a vehicle for telling powerful visual stories, building community, connecting with strangers and showcasing the people and stunning natural beauty of her home state. As a freelance photographer, her incredible work has been featured in several noteworthy publications, including The Guardian, High Country News, Al Jazeera, VICE, The Daily Beast and various local publications. She’s also exhibited in Washington, D.C. alongside fellow photographer Nathaniel Tetsuro Poalinelli. 

I connected with Campos to explore the genesis of her career, her creative vision and the importance of being a homegrown creative. 

When did you know you wanted to be a photographer?

Gabriela Campos: I first fell in love my senior year of high school. I switched to a new high school and they had this program where you could take photography classes at the community college. I was always interested in [photography] because my dad used to be into [photography]. I took black and white number one, got my dad's old Pentax camera and I experienced the beauty and magic of the dark room — where you just watch something come out of darkness. From that first class, I was hooked.

Why is it important to tell New Mexican stories?

Gabriela Campos: Some people are always seeking to go outside of themselves, and they don't see the potential of their home. There are so many culturally significant things in New Mexico. I'm going through a phase where New Mexico is very much a muse. I am so inspired by the people, the places, the textures, the landscape. It's important to tell the stories that you feel passionately about.

How do you build trust when you go into a new space?

Gabriela Campos: There are two different ways that I approach it. For [The Santa Fe New Mexican] newspaper, I have to be thrown into new situations every single day and feel I can create that sort of intimacy. I show up and I'm interested, and I'm curious. I like to ask people questions. I feel genuine interest goes a long way. Because, it's not often that people get to show off their worlds. Sometimes it's about talking to people. Sometimes I go on assignment and I take photos for the first five minutes, but then people just want to sit down and tell me their story, what's really going on in their lives and the worst of their worlds. 

Have you learned a lot from other creatives?

Gabriela Campos: I learn a lot from watching other photographers work. I've been in situations where there's five [or] six photographers and we're all covering the same event. Everybody approaches it a little differently. It's fun to see if people are throwing themselves directly in there, if they're standing far back in the corner trying to get environmental things or if they're trying to get close. I try to remind myself to touch on all the things. Sometimes, I have to say, “step back, show a little bit more, there's more to the story than just people.” 

Why is natural lighting your preferred environment?

Gabriela Campos: When you step into somebody's world, you don't often have the luxury of being able to orchestrate all the details. It's about working with what you have, because then you're never reliant on having a flash or a strobe; you're equipped to do what you need to do anywhere if you just train your eye to seek out that natural light. There's nothing more beautiful, [when] it hits in that perfect way.

What’s better, color or black and white?

‍Gabriela Campos: Sometimes colors can be a little bit distracting. Certain colors, like reds and yellows, are really flashing and people are drawn to them. But maybe you're drawn to it for the wrong reasons. Maybe what I like about the frame is the expression of the person, the shapes, the lines or the way the light hits something. There is definitely a place for colors, because sometimes I'm really attracted to the vibrancy of something. 

Could you ever imagine sitting behind a desk?

 Gabriela Campos: No, I always wanted to be interacting with people and entering people's worlds; photography is the most absolute, ideal situation for that. Every day I get to be something different. Some days, I'm a firefighter. Some days, I'm a doctor. Sometimes, I drive an Impala around. It lets me see life from [different] perspectives. 



Monday, September 19, 2022

Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to announce major exhibitions celebrating Tony Vaccaro’s 100th birthday

 

Logo for Museum for Photography Braunschweig, Germany

Via Museum für Photographie Braunschweig · 

TONY VACCARO 100!

A Life of a Photographer from War to Culture

GI and woman looking at rubble of destroyed building after WWII in Frankfurt, Germany, 1947

Tony Vaccaro: Entering Germany, Frankfurt Germany, 1947
© Tony Vaccaro Studio, Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography and the Tony Vaccaro Studio



The Museum für Photographie Braunschweig shows for the 100! Birthday of Tony Vaccaro  (born December 20, 1922 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, lives in Long Island, NY) an exhibition of the American photographer of Italian descent and presents important and award-winning works from different creative phases. These include photographs taken during and after World War II in Europe and important portraits of artists, musicians, politicians and cultural figures.


With a special sense for composition and the connection to the outside space, fashion photographs 
are also part of Tony Vaccaro’s work. Some of the artistically staged fashion shots are part of the exhibition, especially those that were taken for a documentary for Marimekko, the Finnish design house in the 1960s, are particularly noteworthy.


The exhibition at the Museum für Photographie Braunschweig is created in cooperation and with the support of Tony Vaccaro Studio, New York City, USA and the Monroe Gallery of Photography Collection, Santa Fe, NM, USA.


Museum für Photographie Braunschweig · Helmstedter Straße 1 · D-38102 Braunschweig


Supported by: City of Braunschweig, Foundation of Lower Saxony, MWK, DB, Wine Shop Bremer


Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to announce major exhibitions celebrating Tony Vaccaro’s 100th birthday. "Tony Vaccaro 100" is at the The Museum für Photographie Braunschweig in Germany October 1 - December 4, 200. "Tony Vaccaro: The Centennial Exhibition” opens in Santa Fe, NM on Friday, November 25, with Tony Vaccaro appearing remotely live from his New York home at 5:30 pm. The exhibition will continue through January 15, 2023.

A special satellite exhibit in New York City will be on view at the Monroe Gallery of Photography "pop up", 21 Spring Street, New York City, December 13 – 18. Tony Vaccaro will be in attendance on the evenings of December 14 – 17, RSVP required, please contact the Gallery.


Friday, September 16, 2022

Gallery Photographers Ed Kashi and Nate Gowdy Receice International Photography Awards for Their New Books

 International Photography Awards

September 15, 2022


The IPA announces our 1st Place winners in Book:

- Book/ Monograph: Ed Kashi - Abandoned Moments

- Book/ Self-published: Nate Gowdy - Insurrection




picture of the cover of Ed Kashi Abandoned Moments book with villagers celebrating Ganpati Festiva


picture of cover of Nate Gowdy book Insurrection with crowd of pre-trump crowd at January 6 riots a US Capitol




Friday, September 9, 2022

LIFE Magazine and the Power of Photography October 9, 2022–January 16, 2023

 Via Museum of Fine Arts Boston

3 frames of female welder Ann Zarik with torch, 1943  by Margaret Bourke-White

Margaret Bourke-White, Flame Burner Ann Zarik, 1943

From the Great Depression to the Vietnam War, almost all of the photographs printed for consumption by the American public appeared in illustrated magazines. Among them, Life magazine—published weekly from 1936 to 1972—was both wildly popular and visually revolutionary, with photographs arranged in groundbreaking dramatic layouts known as photo essays. This exhibition takes a closer look at the creation and impact of the carefully selected images found in the pages of Life—and the precisely crafted narratives told through these pictures—in order to reveal how the magazine shaped conversations about war, race, technology, national identity, and more in the 20th-century United States. From Neil Armstrong’s photographs of the historic moon landing to Charles Moore’s coverage of the Birmingham civil rights demonstrations, the photographs on view capture some of the defining moments—celebratory and traumatic alike—of the last 100 years.

Drawing on unprecedented access to Life magazine’s picture and paper archives as well as photographers’ archives, the exhibition brings together more than 180 objects, including vintage photographs, contact sheets, assignment outlines, internal memos, and layout experiments. Visitors can trace the construction of a Life photo essay from assignment through to the creative and editorial process of shaping images into a compelling story. This focus departs from the historic fascination with the singular photographic genius and instead celebrates the collaborative efforts behind many now-iconic images and stories. Particular attention is given to the women staff members of Life, whose roles remained forgotten or overshadowed by the traditional emphasis on men at the magazine. Most photographs on view are original working press prints—made to be used in the magazine’s production—and represent the wide range of photographers who worked for Life, such as Margaret Bourke-White, Larry Burrows, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Frank Dandridge, Yousuf Karsh, Gordon Parks, and W. Eugene Smith.

Interspersed throughout the exhibition, three immersive contemporary “moments” feature works by artists active today who interrogate news media through their practice. A multimedia installation by Alfredo Jaar, screen prints and photographs by Alexandra Bell, and a new commission by Julia Wachtel frame larger conversations for visitors about implicit biases and systemic racism in contemporary media.

“Life Magazine and the Power of Photography” offers a revealing look at the collaborative processes behind many of Life’s most recognizable, beloved, and controversial images and photo essays, while incorporating the voices of contemporary artists and their critical reflections on photojournalism.

The exhibition is accompanied by a multi-authored catalogue, winner of the College Art Association’s 2021 Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award. “Life Magazine and the Power of Photography” is co-organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Princeton University Art Museum.


Visit the Monroe Gallery of Photography exhibition "The LIFE Photographers"

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Photographs from Ed Kashi's groundbreaking project, Aging in America, were recently acquired by the Library of Congress

elderly woman in front of fashion poster with young models

 

30 photographs from Ed Kashi's groundbreaking project, Aging in America, were recently acquired by the Library of Congress, the world's largest library and the national library of the United States. Its collections comprise the world's most comprehensive record of human creativity and knowledge, and as such Kashi's work will take its place in the annals of history. 

Aging in America: The Years Ahead chronicles the unprecedented changes confronting America as old age goes mainstream. Ed Kashi and writer Julie Winokur first began the project as an award-winning story published by The New York Times Magazine. They then embarked on an eight-year-long journey across the topography of aging in search of what it means to have a “good old age” by collecting scores of personal histories that, when viewed together, challenge the culture of aging in America.

From the upsurge of elderly immigrants following their children to America to the overwhelming toll a tornado exacted on a rural elderly community, to the intimate vignettes of people who are living the new old age, the book and its companion film traverse the vast experiences of our elders. We are able to travel with the Loners of America, an RV club for mature singles and delve into a retirement community where Alzheimer’s patients work in a child daycare facility. We track the campaign of a 76-year-old politician running for office for the first time, follow a woman launching her modeling career in her 60’s, and celebrate the wedding of a couple of octogenarians. Through their stories, we laugh and cry as the “wellderly” to the elderly tackle life’s challenges, celebrate their freedom, apply their wisdom, and suffer the consequences of their bodies’ limitations.

This original award-winning body of work was published in The New York Times Magazine, July 13, 1997.


Ed Kashi's fine art prints are available from Monroe Gallery of Photography

Ageing in America book available here



Saturday, September 3, 2022

Stephen Wilkes: Visualizing Time

 Via The Westport Library





Stephen Wilkes: Visualizing Time, a presentation of Wilkes’s work, in conversation with Stacy Bass on September 8 at 7pm,  in person in the Forum.

Note: The program will be preceded by a reception with the photographer at 6:15. Q&A will follow.

PLEASE REGISTER HERE

This exhibit, which will encompass all 3 of the library’s galleries through 11/29 and will explore how Wilkes' visualization of the concept of time has evolved from the earlier days of his career through his latest series “Day to Night” and “Tapestries.” 

 September 8 - November 29, 2022


The Westport Library

20 Jesup Road

Westport, CT 06880 


View Stepehen Wilkes' photography here