Stanley Forman and his Pulitzer Winning Photographs

 1976, Part 14: Stanley Forman … - The Georgia Politics Podcast - Apple Podcasts

Via Georgia Politics Podcast

August 14, 2026

Welcome to The Georgia Politics Podcast! In this episode, we take a fascinating detour into the world of photojournalism with legendary photographer Stanley Forman.

Forman sits down to discuss his remarkable career, the photographs that shaped his legacy and the stories behind some of his most iconic images. From his early days as a young photographer to the moments that earned him national recognition and Pulitzer Prizes, Forman offers a firsthand look at the people, places and events he captured through his lens.

It's a conversation about photography, journalism and history — and a reminder of how a single photograph can capture a moment and define an era.

An extraordinary picture collection spanning 100 works will be on view at museums across the United States.

Via PetaPixel

August 8, 2026

An extraordinary picture collection spanning 100 works by photographers including Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, Richard Avedon, Nan Goldin, and Edward Steichen will be on view at museums across the United States.

The American Federation of Arts (AFA) announces the launch of the new traveling exhibition Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder, featuring photographs by more than 50 photographers and artists.

Monroe Gallery of Photograph contributed photographs to the collection, including the featured image of Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama, 1965 by Steve Schapiro

Steve Schapiro (American, 1934– 2022) Martin Luther King Jr., Selma, Alabama, 1965 Gelatin silver print, 18 7/8 x 12 3/4 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 10.2010.8 © Steve Schapiro. Courtesy Monroe Gallery, Sante Fe, NM

“Photography connects us to history while reminding us that we are a part of its ongoing story. It has the power to tell authentic, compassionate stories about what it means to be human." --Judy  Glickman Lauder.

Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder will travel to the Southampton Arts Center (July 25–September 27), Sarasota Art Museum (October 18, 2026–April 4, 2027), the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston (May 28–August 29, 2027), and the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami (September 30, 2027–February 26, 2028).

Full article here.

America The Beautiful Review in Musée Magazine: "the exhibition examines representations of the country while complicating what it means to be American"

 Via Musée Magazine

Written by Georgina Laube

August 6, 2026

The United States is one of the most visually and culturally represented countries in the world, yet despite its constant representation, a lingering question remains: is the image of the country shaped more by what it is or by what it is imagined to be?

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, which opened over Memorial Day weekend at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and runs through August 9, directly engages with this question. The timing of the exhibition is particularly significant. Memorial Day is both the unofficial beginning of summer and a national holiday dedicated to commemorating those who died in service to the United States. Against this backdrop, the exhibition examines representations of the country while complicating what it means to be American.

Ryan Vizzions: Protesters face off with police and the National Guard on February 1, 2017, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. | Courtesy of artist and gallery ©.

Bringing together more than 45 photographs, the group exhibition explores the complexity of the United States, its identity, its shared culture, and what it means to be an American on an individual and collective scale as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary during one of the most politically and socially divisive periods in its history.

Ryan Vizzions: January 7th, 2026 - After the murder of Renee Good by a masked federal agent, a vigil was held in her honor. Upward of 10,000 Minnesotans showed up to pay their respects at the location she was killed | Courtesy of artist and gallery ©.

The works on view range from photographs of the Statue of Liberty and the vast American plains to images of protestors exercising their First Amendment rights, moments of conflict born from struggles for freedom and equality, and scenes of everyday life in both rural and urban communities throughout the years. Together, these photographs create an honest portrait of America, capturing both its beauty and its complexities while highlighting its constant evolution.

Margaret Bourke-White/ ©Life Picture Collection

Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, 1952 | Courtesy of artist and gallery 

Among the exhibition's recurring symbols is the American flag. Historically, the flag has functioned as a symbol of the nation and its people, but its meanings have never been singular. For some, it represents hope, opportunity, and the promise of a better life. For others, it can signify dominance or fear. It has also long served as a symbol of collective unity, communicating the belief that the nation is stronger together than divided.

David Butow: A protester at Ferguson police headquarters two nights after the Grand Jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, November 24, 2014 | Courtesy of artist and gallery ©.

From photographs of the flag being raised at Ground Zero following September 11 to images in which it appears during memorial services for fallen service members, the exhibition presents the flag across a variety of contexts. In doing so, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL encourages viewers to critically examine what the symbol communicates today and how its meaning continues to shift. The exhibition makes clear that the flag can simultaneously function as a symbol of freedom and a symbol of oppression, prompting viewers to consider what happens when a national symbol becomes contested and no longer universally embraced.

Nina Berman F**k the KKK, New Jersey, 1990 | Courtesy of the artist and gallery ©.

Musée Magazine is a dynamic, print and digital biennial, and interactive website dedicated to featuring works by emerging and established artists. Sometimes quirky, sometimes sensual, always unpredictable, Musée moves on the cutting edge as an unparalleled photo-based platform. Today, Musée finds itself at the vanguard of photography and film culture. We strive to empower promising artists as they navigate and launch future careers throughout the global photographic community, while commingling with industry influencers to provide relevant content for academics, students, and photography aficionados alike. Like a photographic library, Musée has a broad appeal, encompassing all genres from the photo-world’s beloved masters to the new, exciting, and unexpected. 

Iconic photo ‘The Soiling of Old Glory’ still makes an impact 50 years later; will be featured in "America The Beautiful" exhibit

Via WGBH

By Diane Adame

April 3, 2026

This April 5, 1976 photo of a white teenager, Joseph Rakes, assaulting a Black man, lawyer and civil rights activist Ted Landsmark, with a flagpole won the Pulitzer Prize for spot photography. The photo was taken during a protest against court-ordered desegregation busing.

Stanley Forman (used with permission)

It has been 50 years since the Pulitzer-Prize winning photo “The Soiling of Old Glory” was taken as a busing desegregation protest erupted throughout City Hall Plaza in Boston.

The photo, which was taken on April 5, 1976, shows a young white man gripping an American flag and aiming it at a young Black man during the protest. The image drew national attention for how it vividly captured racial unrest during the busing crisis in the 1970s.

“The photograph has had significant impact over the decades because it was taken during a bicentennial year where the country was celebrating a number of democratic principles which in fact were being contradicted by what the photo depicts,” said Theodore “Ted” Landsmark, the Black man captured in the photograph.

Stanley Forman, the newspaper photographer who took the photo for the Boston Herald American, still remembers that day.

“It was a Monday… I asked the editor, Alvin Saley, what was going on. He told me there was a demonstration — we went to demonstrations every day — it was an anti-busing demonstration at City Hall,” he said. “I asked if I could go to it, and he said, ‘Sure.’”

The protest was one of many happening in Boston at the time ever since the city began busing students outside of their neighborhoods in 1974 in an effort, mandated by the courts, to desegregate schools.

Forman said he was switching his camera lens when he saw a group of white student protesters walking through the plaza.

“I saw a couple of Black men taking the turn, coming up from Court Street to come onto the plaza, and they were attacked,” he said.

“Ted got the worst of it,” he said. “ They threw things at them, they kicked them, knocked them down and in the end, Joseph Rakes, who was holding the flagpole, whacked him in the nose.”

Landsmark said he was on my way to a meeting in Boston City Hall to discuss affirmative action efforts to bring more employment to people of color in the city.

“I thought that if I simply continued to walk straight, I’d be able to get into City Hall without really encountering the front edge of the demonstrators,” he told GBH in an interview remembering the incident. “But a number of the students walked by me and then several circled back, yelling racial epithets at me.”

Michael Curry, a member of the NAACP national board of directors and head of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, said the photo continues to have an impact because it didn’t happen that long ago.

“It made it even more clear for a generation of us that Boston was a tale of two cities, one where people came for opportunity if you were Irish, Italian, Polish, and Jewish,” Curry said, “And another city that had also resisted black political, economic and educational progress in the city.”

Landsmark said he never anticipated that the photo would still be a topic of discussion all these years later.

“Many of the issues that were raised by that photo remain a salient issue, and — unfortunately — unresolved today,” he said. “My hope would be that looking back at it a half century later, we would reflect on the amount of work that remains to be done in order to achieve racial equality in the United States in this year.”

Forman said the photo often gets compared to more recent pictures racial tensions in the U.S.

“The picture gets resurrected every few years because of something happening in this country,” said Forman. “Thankfully, it hasn’t been outdone yet, but nothing lasts forever. Although this picture I think will last the test of time.”

"The Soiling of Old Glory" will be featured in "America The Beautiful", an exhibition of compelling and provocative photographs illustrating America, American life, and the American people as the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday amid the erosion of civil rights, human rights, and democratic norms May 23 - April 9, 2026 at Monroe Gallery of Photography.

Photographers Behind the Artists - Screening of New Documentary "Steve Schapiro Being Everywhwere"

December 26, 2025

Via Pasatiempo

Steve Schapiro:  Rene Magritte, MOMA, New York, 1965

EXHIBITIONISM

Photographers Behind the Artists


While we admire the work of famed and influential artists of our time, we don’t often see images of the artists themselves. The Monroe Gallery’s Artists Behind the Art exhibition gives the viewer a peek at the people behind some of the 20th century’s most iconic works, including Picasso (1881-1973), Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Man Ray (1890-1976), Henri Matisse (1869-1954), and many more, as seen through the eyes of a select group of photographers who were granted access to the studios and work spaces, galleries, and candid moments of the artists in their elements.

On such photographer is Steve Schapiro (1934-2022), whose work is part of the exhibition and who didn’t just capture high-profile artists and celebrities in his portfolio, he also bore witness to significant moments in American and civil rights history, a particular focus of his.

Some of those images are part of the exhibition, and in addition, the gallery is hosting two special screenings of the new documentary Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere at Sky Cinemas on Monday, December 29, and Tuesday, December 30. Both screenings will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Maura Smith, moderated by Michelle and Sid of Monroe Gallery. — B.S.

Artists Behind the Art; Through January 25, 2026, Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar; 505-992-0800; monroegallery.com

Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere; 7 p.m. Monday, December 29, and 5 p.m. Tuesday, December 30; Sky Cinemas, 1606 Alcaldesa Street; $16; 505-216-5678; santafe.violetcrown.com

STEVE SCHAPIRO: BEING EVERYWHERE SCREENING IN SANTA FE

 STEVE SCHAPIRO: BEING EVERYWHERE

DEC 29 & 30 · FILMMAKER Q&A

Over six decades, photographer Steve Schapiro bore witness to some of the most significant social and cultural moments in modern American history.

Monroe Gallery represents Schapiro’s historic photographs, and several are featured in the current “Artists Behind The Art” exhibition.

Shot shortly before his passing by filmmaker Maura Smith, Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere is a loving tribute to a man who was the quintessential "fly on the wall," waiting for moments to unfold and capturing them with a naturalism and skill that's nothing short of dazzling.

Sky Cinemas    (505) 216-5678

1606 Alcaldesa St. Santa Fe, NM 87501

Monday, December 29 7 PM

Tuesday, December 30  5PM

Fall Of Freedom

 

Fall of Freedom is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda.

In solidarity with of Fall Of Freedom, Monroe Gallery presents a Pop Up exhibit now Online and in the Gallery November 18 - 23 of photographs documenting people struggling for their freedom; their right to live without fear, their right to speak and the right to protest inequities.

KUNM: Artists plan Fall of Freedom protest events around New Mexico

NPR: This weekend, artists are speaking out across the country

ArtNet: Artists Across the U.S. Are Staging Hundreds of Events to Protest Authoritarianism

France24: US artists launch nationwide ‘Fall of Freedom’ protest against rising censorship

Hyperallergic; Why I Joined the Artists Behind Fall of Freedom

NY Times: Artists Plan Nationwide Protests Against ‘Authoritarian Forces’

The Guardian: Artists plan nationwide US protests against Trump and ‘authoritarian forces'

In solidarity with of Fall Of Freedom, Monroe Gallery presents a Pop Up exhibit in the Gallery and Online November 18 - 22

Via Fall of Freedom

Tracy Barbutes

An upside-down American flag hangs from El Capitan near Yosemite National Park’s Horsetail Falls to protest the thousands of federal job cuts made by President Donald Trump’s administration, February 22, 2025

Fall of Freedom is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda.

In solidarity with of Fall Of Freedom, Monroe Gallery presents a Pop Up exhibit in the Gallery and Online November 18 - 22 of photographs documenting people struggling for their freedom; their right to live without fear, their right to speak and the right to protest inequities.

View the exhibition here.

Find an event near you.

Nina Berman

F**k the KKK, New Jersey, 1990

Jesse L. Douglas, Aide to King in Marches From Selma, Is Dead at 90

Via The New York Times

Oct. 11, 2025 

A lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. and a fellow preacher, he played a vital role in organizing voting-rights protests in 1965 that began with “Bloody Sunday.”

Steve Schapiro: The Rev. Jesse L. Douglas, second from right, joined an Alabama voting-rights march in 1965. With him were, from left, the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, James Forman, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis

"But Mr. Douglas, an albino with fair skin, blue eyes and blond hair, was perhaps best remembered for a widely circulated photograph by Steve Schapiro in which he is the lone pale figure among a group of Black Americans walking arm in arm as they marched in Alabama."

Full obituary

Trump Orders National Park to Remove Famed Photograph of Formerly Enslaved Man

 Via ArtNews

September 16, 2025

The Scourged Back, 1863

Photo Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Following a threatened crackdown on what he his administration called “corrosive ideology” in American museums, Donald Trump has ordered a national park to remove a famous photograph of a formerly enslaved man baring his scarred back.

The Washington Post, which first reported the news on Monday night, did not specify which park would be impacted by the removal of the photograph and cited anonymous sources. But the article said it was one of “multiple” parks impacted by the orders, which target “signs and exhibits related to slavery at multiple national parks,” per the article.

Taken in 1863, the photograph shows a man who may have been named Peter who escaped a plantation in Louisiana and was subsequently examined by doctors who discovered the web of scars on his back that resulted from repeated, brutal whipping. The image was reprinted widely at the time as proof of the horrors of enslavement that some Americans could not personally witness firsthand. Informally, the picture is known as The Scourged Back.

It remains a key image of its era. Artist Arthur Jafa, for example, has included versions of it in recent installations. The National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Gallery of Art, and many other museum own prints of it.

According to the Washington Post, Trump’s order called for the removal of information and signage at the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park in West Virginia. The President’s House Site in Philadelphia may also be impacted, staffers told the Post.

In March, in an executive order that targeted Smithsonian-run museums, Trump singled out Independence National Historical Park, whose displays, he claimed, put forward the notion that “America is purportedly racist.”

A Parks Service spokesperson confirmed to the Post that exhibits under the organization’s aegis were under review, saying, “Interpretive materials that disproportionately emphasize negative aspects of U.S. history or historical figures, without acknowledging broader context or national progress, can unintentionally distort understanding rather than enrich it.”

It is not the first time Trump’s administration has gone after displays related to enslavement. In August, Trump claimed that the Smithsonian’s museums emphasize “how bad Slavery was,” a further sign that they were “OUT OF CONTROL.”

Federal Judge Tells LAPD to Stop Shooting at Journalists

 Via The New Republic

July 11, 2025

U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera blocked Los Angeles police from using less lethal munitions and other crowd control weapons against reporters—and told them to stop arresting journalists.

 A federal judge just had to remind police that they shouldn’t shoot at journalists after several violent encounters during the protests opposing the Trump administration’s disastrous ICE raids in Los Angeles.

U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera blocked the Los Angeles Police Department from wrongfully preventing journalists from accessing closed off areas, detaining or arresting journalists while they’re reporting, and using less lethal munitions (LLMs) and other crowd control weapons against them.

In a 14 page-filing, Vera said that the First Amendment claims made by the Los Angeles Press Club were likely to succeed, and granted them a temporary restraining order. “Indeed, given the fundamental nature of the speech interests involved and the almost daily protests throughout Southern California drawing media coverage, the identified harm is undoubtedly imminent and concrete,” he wrote in a filing.

Vera recounted multiple instances of journalists being cordoned away from the protests or detained and arrested by officers. Documentarian and activist Anthony Orendoff was detained for four days despite telling officers he was a member of the press.

Vera also recounted many instances of violence against members of the press. In one instance, an officer appeared to aim his gun at 9News Australia’s Lauren Tomasi while she was reporting live, and fired a rubber bullet which hit her in the leg on air. Photojournalist Michael Nigro, who stood high above the protests in a press vest and helmet, heard the sound of LLMs hitting a pole by his head, and later that day was struck in the helmet by a rubber bullet. Another unidentified photojournalist with a press pass was pushed over by a police officer, and trampled by a police horse.

Vera barred officers from “prohibiting a journalist from entering or remaining in the closed areas.” The judge also prohibited officers from “intentionally assaulting, interfering with, or obstructing any journalist” who is “gathering, “receiving, or processing information for communication to the public.”

He also barred officers from “citing, detaining, or arresting a journalist who is in a closed area for failure to disperse, curfew violation, or obstruction of a law enforcement officer for gathering, receiving, or processing information,” or using LLMs, like rubber bullets, and other crowd control measures like flash-bangs and chemical irritants like tear gas.

A hearing for a preliminary injunction was set for July 24.

Related: Via Poynter As police face lawsuits over attacks on journalists during LA protests, experts warn press safety is disappearing across the US

"Yet these cases expose a deeper national crisis: Even in states with explicit legal protections for journalists, law enforcement often disregards those safeguards with impunity during high-tension protests, revealing the fragility of press freedoms in the face of unchecked police power."

Ryan Vizzions Photographer Inspired by Atlanta’s Legacy and Activism

 Via Discover Atlanta

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

Ryan captured this photo during the procession of civil rights activist John Lewis. 

(Photo by Ryan Vizzions)

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

This photo from Standing Rock is one of the most influential in Ryan’s career.

(Photo by Ryan Vizzions)

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

This is one of Ryan’s final images for Colors of Atlanta.

(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

Ryan captured the image in Auburn Avenue. (Photo by Andrew Clark)

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.

Free screening of the acclaimed documentary "The Loving Story" February 15

 

Monroe Gallery of Photography is pleased to present a free screening of the acclaimed documentary film "The Loving Story", a simple, profound love story between one man and one woman who in and of themselves were unlikely crusaders in the fight for equity.

Saturday, February 15. Film begins promptly at 4:30. Seating is limited, RSVP essential.

In conjunction with the new exhibition "Loving", on view through April 12, 2025

Monroe Gallery Photographs In Feature On Martin Luther King Day Celebrations Across New Mexico

 Via Pasatiempo

January 17, 2025

Come together: MLK celebrations across New Mexico

Martin Luther King Jr at a rally in Detroit, 1963 Photo by Francis Miller Courtesy ©LIFE Picture Collection/Monroe Gallery of Photography

©Grey Villet: Martin Luther King at Police Headquarters, as he argued to reject bail and serve his sentence for disturbing the peace in Montgomery, Alabama, 1958  Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography

As we enter a new era in American history on Monday, we would be wise to remember the following two sentences that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in the auditorium of the University of Oslo, Norway, upon receiving his Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1964:

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

The New Mexico Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission and other related or affiliated organizations invite everyone to come together this weekend to reflect and celebrate Rev. King’s legacy of nonviolent protest and resistance, of love and unity, and to help further build on Rev. King’s dream of a “Beloved Community.” Full article here.

©Steve Schapiro: Martin Luther King, Selma March, Alabama, 1965 Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography

©Grey Villet: Martin Luther King, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, 1955 Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography

details

Statewide MLK events, coordinated by the New Mexico MLK State Commission

Various times, Friday, January 17, through Monday, January 20

Albuquerque, Clovis, Santa Fe, Grants, Las Cruces, Farmington, Rio Rancho, Hobbs

Many events are free while some are ticketed and require registration

nmmlksc.org

The Age of Rage: Protest, Camera, Action

 

Via The Nation

September 21, 2024

"Photography radically acts as a language that speaks for the world’s oppressed and critically functions as a vital visual voice of resistance."

"Photography helps us understand what we are and imagine what we might become...

The fight for equality across the human condition radically evolves out of protest. Beyond the jackboots, the batons, the water cannon, the tear gas, the bullets, the tanks, the fences, the walls, the concentration camps and all means of surveillance, history teaches that what power fears more than anything is a people on the move against injustice. Looking at the history of photography, we can understand that progress across the political terrain of human rights has been difficult. Marginalized bodies, when divided, are vulnerable to capture, control and genocide. Thinking through our past in photographs and decentering the knowledge formations of imperial lenses means that we can critically join or remake the politics of the left intersectional, aligned in mission, and truly inclusive. This will create waves of solidarity and supportive modes of resistance that strategically enable people to embrace the different ecologies of freedom and resist imperialist politics that divide and rule" -- click for full article

Mississippi Freedom Trail unveils new marking in remembrance of the Neshoba county murders of 1964 in Philadelphia

 Via WTOK TV

June 14, 2024

PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (WTOK) - The Mississippi Freedom Trail unveiled its newest marker in Philadelphia.

The marker is in remembrance of the Neshoba county murders of 1964 that featured three men, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, who were participating in an initiative to register black voters but were jailed and later killed by members of the KKK.

News 11 spoke to the mayor of Philadelphia James A. Young who said that it’s a reminder of the past and a marker showing a better future.

“I think it’s a great day. We remember it but when you have markers to remind you of some of the incidents that happened; we never need to forget our history, but as I said in the intro, we should not live in the past but never forget the past. It’s key. I mean every time people pass this marker, they’re gonna remember these guys lost their lives trying to get us registered to vote. So, we should vote every day.” said Mayor Young.

On June 15th, the Neshoba County Coalition will host a program that will honor the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer and remember the deaths of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On June 21, 1964, voter registration volunteers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were arrested in Neshoba County, Mississippi following a traffic stop, escorted to the local jail, and held for a number of hours. As the three left town in their car, they were followed by law enforcement and their car was pulled over again. The three were abducted, driven to another location, and shot at close range. The bodies were buried in an earthen dam.

LIFE magazine sent Bill Eppridge to Mississippi immediately after the news broke – he had been covering Pete Seeger at the Newport Folk Festival. Several of Eppridge’s photographs from that time are featured in the exhibit "1964".  Exhibits - 1964 - Monroe - Gallery of Photography (monroegallery.com)

Monroe Gallery exhibit turns the lens to the pivotal year in US history

 Via The Albuquerque Journal

June 9, 2024

Explore ’64

Monroe Gallery exhibit turns the lens to the pivotal year in US history

By Kathaleen Roberts

Assistant Arts Editor

1964 was the year the ’60s really began.

That’s the year American culture fractured and eventually split along ideological lines, establishing the poles of societal debate that are still raging today. The Beatles led a British Invasion of popular music, Muhammad Ali, who called himself “The Greatest,” shocked the world and became the heavyweight champion, three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi, and activist Fannie Lou Hamer declared “I’m Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired.” 1964 was a year of remarkable transition that prefigured 60 years of tumultuous change.

Open at Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography, “1964” covers a decade of unremitting change and protest that still resonates today.

Sixty years ago, the United States was still recovering from the assassination of John F. Kennedy. 1964 was the year that societal fault lines started to become visible. Politics, civil rights, women’s rights, sexuality, inequality, poverty, Vietnam and youth culture all became flashpoints in societal debate that prefigured 60 years of tumultuous change. Sen. Barry Goldwater’s (nicknamed Mr.

Conservative) campaign for president began a conservative revolution in the Republican Party that still impacts the GOP and American politics today.

“The American elements that we were struggling with then, we are struggling with today,” said Michelle Monroe, gallery co-owner.

“In spite of the times we find ourselves in, we are the same species.”

Parents were rightly shocked to see white, middle- class youths overdose on heroin. Switch the drug to the much more lethal fentanyl today.

In 1964, civil rights activists launched protests, marches and voting drives. Today, Black Lives Matter is attempting to address the same issues of justice, healing and freedom.

Fannie Lou Hamer, a Mississippi sharecropper’s child, was determined to address members of the Mississippi Democratic Convention.

Bill Eppridge: Fannie Lou Hamer, Mississippi Freedom Democratic State Convention in Jackson, Mississippi, August 6, 1964

Sterilized without her permission, she tried to register to vote and was beaten and hospitalized.

She formed the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to comply with convention rules.

President Lyndon “Johnson was so concerned that he announced he was going to give a speech that very day,” Monroe said.

Life magazine photographer Bill Eppridge flew to Meridian, Mississippi, to photograph the aftermath of the murders of activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner by members of the Ku Klux Klan in what became known as the Mississippi Burning murders. Eppridge ask Chaney’s mother what he could photograph and she told him to shoot everything, including her son’s funeral. His shot of Mrs.  Chaney comforting her son Ben crystallizes their grief.

Bill Eppridge: Mrs. Chaney and young Ben, James Chaney funeral, Meridian, Mississippi, 1964

“While he was there, they found those three bodies buried behind a dam that was about to be poured over,” Monroe said.

Bob Gomel: Cassius Clay and Malcolm X, Miami, 1964

Bob Gomel photographed Muhammed Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) celebrating his defeat of Sonny Liston with Malcolm X looking over his shoulder.

“He announced the (name) change the next day,” Monroe said. “He writes that famous line, ‘I don’t have to be what you want me to be.’ Malcolm had pressed him with, ‘You’re a Muslim, but you’re not making a declaration about it and we need you.’” Steve Schapiro’s World’s Fair “Stall In” shows cars blocking a central street to the event by Congress of Racial Equality activists.

Steve Schapiro: CORE "Stall-In" during the World's Fair, New York, 1964

New York had spent millions to host the fair, while Black and Puerto Rican people lived in squalor.

“It did affect the attendance the first day,” Monroe said.

In February, when the nation was still in mourning, the Beatles arrived at Kennedy Airport.

Bill Eppridge: The Beatles wait arrive at Penn Station, NY, February 12, 1964

That was a huge generational catalyst for the rest of the decade,” Monroe said. “Suddenly, everybody had something in common. It began as fandom and moved into an anti-war generation, a generation that wanted to embrace equality, a generation that wanted to embrace women’s equality.

“Those goofballs arrived and created brotherhood, sisterhood. Sports and music have done so much to bring people together.”

“That is such a flashpoint in the fabric of our country,” Monroe said.

On exhibit through June 23, 2024

www.monroegallery.com

History through the lens of legendary photojournalist Bill Eppridge

Via Connecticut Public Radio

By Ray Hardman

June 6, 2024

Barbra Streisand in the dressing room of the Johnny Carson Show (The Tonight Show) January 1963. Photographer Bill Eppridge is standing behind her making a photograph of her reflected in the mirror. Life reporter Chris Welles is on the left behind Streisand.

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Bill Eppridge and his Nikon camera chronicled some of the most important events of the second half of the 20th century, including his iconic photograph of a dying Robert F. Kennedy shortly after he was shot in 1968.

Eppridge, who lived in Connecticut, died in 2013 at the age of 75. Since then, his widow, Adrienne Aurichio, has been cataloging his enormous body of work — photographs, negatives and other correspondence dating from his earliest days as a photojournalist.

“There is so much history in there that he didn't want any of that to be lost,” Aurichio said. “There's every note card, every postcard someone sent him, memos from editors all about his work, he saved everything because he said, ‘This is part of my legacy, part of my archive that people will want to look at later.'"

Eppridge was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lived in New Milford, Connecticut. But he grew up in Richmond, Virginia during segregation.

Aurichio reflected on those formative years.

“Something that stuck with him his whole life was seeing a white policeman get on a bus and make an elderly Black woman move because she was sitting in the front,” Aurichio said. “And he was with his good friend, they were maybe 10. And he said he never forgot that, you know, just the injustice of it.”

Aurichio said that sense of empathy and injustice is evident in all of his work, but especially when he was covering the Civil Rights Movement for Life Magazine in the 1960s.

She showed a picture she recently discovered in Eppridge’s archives, just one example of the historically significant photographs she continues to uncover. The black and white image is a closeup of a Black woman addressing a crowd. Aurichio is convinced the woman is civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, addressing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Convention in 1964, which she co-founded.

Julianne Varacchi
Connecticut Public Host Ray Hardman interviews Adrienne Aurichio in Danbury, Conn. for “Where ART Thou?” as they look at Bill Eppridge's photograph of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer from 1964. Aurichio is the widow and publishing collaborator of famed photojournalist Bill Eppridge. Adrienne and Bill moved to New Milford in 2004, where Adrienne still lives.

“I did some research and found her in some news photos,” Aurichio said. "She was wearing the same dress and she's at the convention and she's singing. And it was only a couple of days after Bill had photographed the funeral of James Chaney.”

James Chaney was one of three civil rights workers killed by the Ku Klux Klan in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in 1964. Aurichio said some 60 years later, it’s still hard to believe that Eppridge, a young white photographer on assignment, actually went to the Chaney house and asked if he could stay with them in the midst of their grief and take pictures. They welcomed him in, and Eppridge captured a series of haunting pictures of James Chaney’s funeral for Life Magazine.

This “Fly on the Wall” approach worked well on another important assignment from earlier that year. In February 1964, Eppridge headed to JFK Airport to photograph a music group from Liverpool, England, called The Beatles, who were making their first trip to the U.S.

Aurichio said the assignment, which was only supposed to last a day, ended up lasting six days. Eppridge captured not only the youthful exuberance of the "Fab Four" on their first visit to the states, but also the fever pitch reactions of the hordes of fans fully in the throes of “Beatlemania.”

Bill Eppridge/©Estate Of Bill Eppridge

The Beatles with Ed Sullivan, February 8, 1964. New York City.

Eppridge continued to cover important assignments — Vietnam, revolutions in Central and South America, and Woodstock — but his defining moment as a photojournalist came while covering the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

“When he first heard the gunshots, he knew instantly it was a gun, and he immediately pushed forward to try and see what had happened,” Aurichio said.

Kennedy was assassinated after addressing a crowd of supporters gathered at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Aurichio said Eppridge was one of the first to enter the hotel kitchen where Bobby Kennedy lay dying.

“It's somewhat extraordinary that he could make that picture,” Aurichio said. “So he had to have the wherewithal in a split second to say, ‘OK, I can't do much. There are other people closing in. What can I do as a photographer? This is history.’ And in his mind, he thought it really has to be documented because you don't want questions later, as there always are with JFK’s assassination.”

The photograph, that of a dying Kennedy laying in a circle of overhead light, his head cradled by a kitchen worker, is one of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century.

Aurichio said Eppridge never stopped taking photographs.

Even during his long bout with pancreatic cancer, Eppridge continued to be a “fly on the wall,” capturing the beauty and spontaneity of his subjects, just as he had done for decades.

Bill Eppridge's photographs are featured in the current "1964" exhibition though June 23, 2024. More of Eppridge's work may be found here.

Documentary filmmaker Nancy Buirski won Emmy and Peabody Awards for “The Loving Story,” about a Virginia couple’s successful challenge to a ban on interracial marriage, has died at 78.

 Via The New York Times

September 1, 2023

Grey Villet: Mildred and Richard Loving, 1965

Nancy Buirski, an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker whose eye was honed as a still photographer and picture editor, died on Wednesday at her home in Manhattan. She was 78.

After founding the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in 1998 at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and directing it for a decade, Ms. Buirski (pronounced BURR-skee) made her own first documentary, “The Loving Story,” in 2011.

The film explored the case of Mildred and Richard Loving, who faced imprisonment because their interracial marriage in 1958 was illegal in Virginia. (She was part-Black and part-Native American, and he was white.)

Their challenge to the law resulted in a landmark civil rights ruling by the United States Supreme Court in 1967 that voided state anti-miscegenation laws.

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"Years earlier, as a picture editor on the international desk at The New York Times, Ms. Buirski was credited with choosing the image that won the newspaper its first Pulitzer Prize for photography, in 1994. After seeking a photograph to accompany an article on war and famine in southern Sudan, she choose one by Kevin Carter, a South African photojournalist, of an emaciated toddler collapsing on the way to a United Nations feeding center as a covetous vulture lurked in the background.

Ms. Buirski commended the photo to Nancy Lee, The Times’ picture editor at the time. She then proposed it, strongly, for the front page, because, she recalled telling another editor, “This is going to win the paper’s first-ever Pulitzer Prize for photography.”

The photograph ended up appearing on an inside page in the issue of March 26, 1993, but the reaction from readers, concerned about the child’s fate, was so strong that The Times published an unusual editors’ note afterward explaining that the child had continued to the feeding center after Mr. Carter chased away the vulture.

The picture won the Pulitzer in the feature photography category. (Mr. Carter died by suicide a few months later at 33.)"

Full obituary here.

View Grey Villet's photographs of Richard and Mildred Loving here.

"GOOD TROUBLE" Exhibit extended through September 30

 

"Good Trouble" is an exhibition of photographs that register the power of individuals to inspire movements and illustrates the power of protest from a deeply human perspective. In this exhibition, we are reminded of the power of photographs to propel action and inspire change.  The exhibition has been extended through September 30, 2023.

Protest is an invaluable way to speak truth to power. Throughout history, protests have been the driving force behind some of the most powerful social movements, exposing injustice and abuse, demanding accountability and inspiring people to keep hoping for a better future. The right to protest encompasses various rights and freedoms, including the freedom of assembly, the freedom of association, and the freedom of expression. Unfortunately, these precious rights are under attack and must be protected from those who are afraid of change and want to keep us divided.

During the course of the exhibition, several major news items have affirmed the importance of protest and standing up against injustice.

On May 8, Photojournalist Stephanie Keith was arrested while documenting a candlelight vigil in New York City for Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was choked to death on the subway. On July 7, Keith joined Gallery photographer Ryan Vizzions, who met while documenting the Standing Rock protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, discussed their experiences documenting protest movements, recent efforts to suppress protest, and the increase in the misuse of force by police at protests.

Watch the Gallery conversation on YouTube here.

Last spring, Tennessee Republicans inadvertently turned the "Tennessee Three" — Democratic Representatives Justin J. Pearson, Gloria Johnson, and Justin Jones — into beloved national political figures by voting to expel them for supporting gun reform demands. At the end of August, Lawmakers voted 70-20 to discipline Jones, effectively preventing him from speaking during the special session. Republicans ordered state troopers to clear the galleries. The decision forced the removal not only of the protesters but also of the parents of students who had survived a deadly school shooting and were keeping a quiet and emotional watch over the proceedings. Rep. Jason Powell, D-Nashville, said "We have arrived in a very scary and sad place in the state of Tennessee. Instead of being used to enforce the public safety, they are being used to suppress democracy."

In July, New York City agreed to pay $13 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought on behalf of roughly 1,300 people who were arrested or beaten by police during racial injustice demonstrations that swept through the city during the summer of 2020. In August, Denver approved a $4.7 million settlement for more than 300 protesters who were detained for violating an emergency curfew during demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd in 2020, and later accused the police of using excessive force.

In August, the office of The Marion County Record in Iowa, and home of the newspaper's owner, were raided by Police in an unprecedented attack on the press. Following an international backlash, the County attorney cited 'insufficient evidence' for the search and seizure.

"When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something. You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way…to get in the way". – John Lewis

View the exhibition here.