Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Greenwich Historical Society Exhibit Features 6 Women Photographers Whose Iconic Images for LIFE Magazine Helped Create Modern Journalism



Via Greenwich Free Press
February 29, 2024


Six pioneering women whose photographs for LIFE magazine skillfully captured events on a quickly evolving world stage will be the subject of Greenwich Historical Society’s new exhibition to debut March 6. These photographers enabled the public “to see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events,” as described by LIFE magazine founder and editor-in-chief Henry Luce.



black and white photograph of Billy Eckstine being adored by female fans,New York, 1949


Martha Holmes, photograph from “Mr. B.,” LIFE, April 24, 1950 © LIFE Picture Collection, Dotdash Meredith Corp. Martha Holmes began photographing for LIFE in 1944. On view in the exhibition are Holmes’s 1950 photographs of mixed-race singer Billy Eckstine, including one of Eckstine being embraced by a white fan—a provocative image that Holmes felt was one of her best because she felt that it “told just what the world should be like.” Henry Luce supported this opinion.


LIFE: Six Women Photographers features iconic images from these talented women who helped create modern photojournalism through their work as featured in the pages of LIFE magazine.

On view through July 7, 2024, the exhibition presents more than 70 photographs by Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971), Marie Hansen (1918-1969), Martha Holmes (1923-2006), Lisa Larsen (ca. 1925-1959), Nina Leen (ca. 1909-1995) and Hansel Mieth (1909-1998).

“We are thrilled to showcase the works of these talented photographers who were on the vanguard of a transformative change in how twentieth-century Americans received and understood global cultural and political events,” said Maggie Dimock, curator of exhibitions and collections at Greenwich Historical Society.

“This insightful exhibition offers a glimpse into how each of these remarkable women used their camera to capture topics that dominated American discourse through the last century, including U.S. industrial strength, the role of women and the family in modern American society, race relations, World War II, labor movements and the Cold War.”

A long-time Greenwich resident, Henry Luce (1898 – 1967) was convinced that American political, economic, and cultural power would, and should, dominate the era and that photojournalism, or “photo essays” as he coined them, could effectively shape America as an international power, inspiring its people, in his words, “to live and work and fight with vigor and enthusiasm.”

For decades, Americans saw the world through the lens of the photographers at LIFE, and the magazine’s innovative photo essays became the publication’s trademark.

Of the 101 photographers on staff at LIFE during the magazine’s run as a weekly, only six full-time photographers were women. LIFE: Six Women Photographers highlights the work of these photographers while providing insight into the process through which they worked with editors to create visual stories, through the inclusion of photographs, vintage prints, copy prints and contact sheets. Published and unpublished photographs along with select memos, correspondence and other items from Time Inc. records show the editing process behind the final, published stories.

“The topic will provide fascinating historical context to the enormous changes underway today in media,” said Greenwich Historical Society Executive Director and CEO Debra Mecky. “And it will enable us to further our mission to strengthen the community’s connection to our past, to each other and to our future. Henry Luce was a Greenwich resident during the time he was arguably the most influential media figure in the twentieth century and one of the country’s most prominent citizens.”

LIFE: Six Women Photographers has been organized by the New-York Historical Society. The exhibition is curated by Marilyn Satin Kushner, curator and head, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections; and Sarah Gordon, curatorial scholar in women’s history, Center for Women’s History; with Erin Levitsky, Ryerson University; and William J. Simmons, Andrew Mellon Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellow, Center for Women’s History. The New-York Historical Society holds the research archive of Time Inc., which was acquired by the Meredith Corporation (now Dotdash Meredith Corp.) in 2018.

A series of lectures, workshops and discussions, film screenings and other activity related to the exhibition will be presented by Greenwich Historical Society throughout the duration of the exhibition, beginning with two in March:

Women of Photos and Letters: Margaret Bourke-White, Clare Booth Luce and Annie Leibovitz
Thursday, March 14 from 6:00 – 7:00 pm


In honor of Women’s History Month, Louisa Iacurci of the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame will explore the inspiring histories of Hall of Fame inductees whose work and lives are intertwined with social advocacy and journalistic activism, including photographers Margaret Bourke-White and Annie Leibovitz and writer, journalist and politician Clare Booth Luce.

LIFE: Six Women Photographers: A Lecture with Curator Marilyn Satin Kushner

Thursday, March 21 from 6:00 – 7:00 pm

In an illustrated lecture, Dr. Marilyn Satin Kushner, Curator and Head of the Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections at New-York Historical Society, will expand on the curatorial process for LIFE: Six Women Photographers.

The full program schedule is available online: https://greenwichhistory.org/life-six-women-photographers/


Guided Gallery Tours:
Tours will be offered on select Sundays through June, from 1:00 – 1:30pm. Free with admission, participants will enjoy an in-depth docent-led discussion of LIFE: Six Women Photographers, that shares insightful interpretation of the photographs on view, and a modern perspective to understanding the complex social backdrop in which they would have originally been seen by magazine readers.

Dates: March 10, 24; April 7, 21; May 5, 19; June 2, 16, 30.

For more information: https://greenwichhistory.org/event/guided-gallery-tour/.

Woman and 2 childrenin fron of roadside sign "Entering New Deal Speed limit 25 mph", Montana, for LIFE magazine in 1936

Margaret Bourke-White, photograph from “Franklin Roosevelt’s Wild West,” LIFE, November 23, 1936 © LIFE Picture Collection, Dotdash Meredith Corp. Margaret Bourke-White became one of the first four staff photographers at LIFE in 1936.

This exhibition has been generously supported by Joyce B. Cowin, with additional support from Sara Lee Schupf, Jerry Speyer, Robert A.M. Stern and Northern Trust.

Support for this exhibition at the Greenwich Historical Society has been generously provided by Josie Merck and annual donors to the Greenwich Historic Trust.


 

Sunday, February 25, 2024

60 Years Ago Today, February 25, 1964: Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) Shocked the World

 


Forthcoming exhibition: 1964

April 19 - June 23, 2024

The most pivotal year of the 1960s, arguably, is 1964. That’s the year American culture fractured and eventually split along ideological lines — old vs. young; hip vs. square; poor vs. rich; liberal vs. conservative — establishing the poles of societal debate that are still raging today.


Friday, February 9, 2024

60 Years Ago Today: The Beatles on Ed Sullivan




Via The Ed Sullivan Show -- At 8 o’clock on February 9th 1964, America tuned in to CBS and The Ed Sullivan Show. But this night was different. 73 million people gathered in front their TV sets to see The Beatles’ first live performance on U.S. soil. The television rating was a record-setting 45.3, meaning that 45.3% of households with televisions were watching. That figure reflected a total of 23,240,000 American homes. The show garnered a 60 share, meaning 60% of the television’s turned on were tuned in to Ed Sullivan and The Beatles.

Ed opened the show by briefly mentioning a congratulatory telegram to The Beatles from Elvis and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker and then threw to advertisements for Aero Shave and Griffin Shoe Polish. After the brief commercial interruption, Ed began his memorable introduction:

“Now yesterday and today our theater’s been jammed with newspapermen and hundreds of photographers from all over the nation, and these veterans agreed with me that this city never has witnessed the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool who call themselves The Beatles. Now tonight, you’re gonna twice be entertained by them. Right now, and again in the second half of our show. Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles! Let’s bring them on.”

At last, John, Paul, George and Ringo came onto the stage, opening with “All My Loving” to ear-splitting screeches from teenaged girls in the audience. The Beatles followed that hit with Paul McCartney taking the spotlight to sing, “Till There Was You.” During the song, a camera cut to each member of the band and introduced him to the audience by displaying his first name on screen. When the camera cut to John Lennon, the caption below his name also read “SORRY GIRLS, HE’S MARRIED.” The Beatles then wrapped up the first set with “She Loves You,” and the show went to commercial. Upon return, magician Fred Kaps took the stage to perform a set of sleight-of-hand tricks.

Concerned that The Beatles’ shrieking fans would steal attention from the other acts that evening, Ed Sullivan admonished his audience, “If you don’t keep quiet, I’m going to send for a barber.”

As hard as Ed tried to protect them, the other acts that night suffered from the excitement surrounding The Beatles. Numbered among those performers were impressionist Frank Gorshin, acrobats Wells & the Four Fays, the comedy team of McCall & Brill and Broadway star Georgia Brown joined by the cast of “Oliver!”

The hour-long broadcast concluded with The Beatles singing two more of their hits, “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to the delight of the fans in attendance and those watching at home.

The show was a huge television success. As hard as it is to imagine, over 40% of every man, woman and child living in America had watched The Beatles on Sullivan.


Related: Bill Eppridge: 1964 The Beatles and Their Cameras
 

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Associated Press Photo Operations Head Hal Buell: ‘I had the greatest job in the whole world.’

 Via AP

January 31, 2024


Hal Buell, who led AP’s photo operations from darkroom era into the digital age, dies at 92


SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) — Hal Buell, who led The Associated Press’ photo operations from the darkroom era into the age of digital photography over a four-decade career with the news organization that included 12 Pulitzer Prizes and some of the defining images of the Vietnam War, has died. He was 92.

Buell died Monday in Sunnyvale, California, after battling pneumonia, his daughter Barbara Buell said in an email. His final two months were spent with her and her husband, and he died in their home with his daughter at his side.

“He was a great father, friend, mentor, and driver of important transitions in visual media during his long AP career,” Barbara Buell said. “When asked by the numerous doctors, PT, and medical personnel he met over the last six months what he had done during his working life, he always said the same thing: ‘I had the greatest job in the whole world.’”

Colleagues described Buell as a visionary who encouraged photographers to try new ways of covering hard news. As the editor in charge of AP’s photo operations from the late 1960s to the 1990s, he supervised a staff that won a dozen Pulitzers on his watch and he worked in 33 countries, with legendary AP photographers including Eddie Adams, Horst Faas and Nick Ut.


Famous black and white photograph from the Vietnam War of South Vietnamese National Police Chief Brig Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a suspected Viet Cong officer with a single pistol shot in the head in Saigon, Vietnam, Feb. 1, 1968.. (AP Photo/Eddie Adams, File)

FILE - South Vietnamese National Police Chief Brig Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a suspected Viet Cong officer with a single pistol shot in the head in Saigon, Vietnam, Feb. 1, 1968. The image won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for spot news photography. (AP Photo/Eddie Adams, File)


“Hal pushed us an extra step,” Adams said in an internal AP newsletter at the time of Buell’s retirement in 1997. “The AP had always been cautious, or seemed to be, about covering hard news. But that was the very thing Buell encouraged.”

Buell made the crucial decision in 1972 to run Ut’s photo of a naked young girl fleeing her burning village after napalm was dropped on it by South Vietnamese Air Force aircraft. The image of Kim Phuc became one of the most haunting images of the Vietnam War and came to define for many all that was misguided about the war.

After the image was transmitted from Saigon to AP headquarters in New York, Buell examined it closely and discussed it with other editors for about 10 minutes before deciding to run it.


black and white photograph from the Vietnam war of  terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
FILE - In this June 8, 1972, file photo taken by Huynh Cong “Nick” Ut, South Vietnamese forces follow behind terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places. The image won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for spot news photography. He was 92. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)


“We didn’t have any objection to the picture because it was not prurient. Yes, nudity but not prurient in any sense of the word,” Buell said in a 2016 interview. “It was the horror of war. It was innocence caught in the crossfire, and it went right out, and of course it became a lasting icon of that war, of any war, of all wars.”

Ut was just 20 when he made the iconic photo that won him the Pulitzer Prize. Without Buell’s support, he said, the photo might never had become a symbol of the war.

“He thought it was powerful, and he wanted to get it out right away,” Ut said by phone Tuesday.

He said he last spoke several weeks ago with Buell, who he called a mentor and a great friend.

“Hal was the best boss I ever had,” Ut said. “He was very supportive of me.”

Santiago Lyon, a former vice president and director of photography at AP, called Buell “a giant in the field of news agency photojournalism.”

David Ake, who recently retired as AP’s director of photography, said Buell set the standard for that role.

“I can’t tell you the number of times I would get a pearl of ‘Hal wisdom’ from one staffer or another,” Ake said. “He will be missed both in the AP and by the entire photojournalism community.”

Buell joined the AP in the Tokyo bureau on a part-time basis after graduating from Northwestern University in 1954 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism. He was serving with the Army at the time, working on the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Out of the Army two years later, he joined AP’s Chicago bureau as a radio writer, and a year later, in 1957, was promoted to the photo desk in AP’s New York office.

Buell returned to Tokyo at the end of the decade to be supervisory photo editor for Asia and came back to New York in 1963 to be AP’s photo projects editor. He became executive news photo editor in 1968 and in 1977 he was named assistant general manager for news photos.

During his decades with AP, technology in news photography took astonishing leaps, going from six hours to six minutes to snap, process and transmit a color photo. Buell implemented the transition from a chemical darkroom where film was developed to digital transmission and digital news cameras. He also helped create AP’s digital photo archive in 1997.

“In the ‘80s, when we went from black-and-white to all color, we were doing a good job to send two or three color pictures a day. Now we send 300,” Buell said in the 1997 AP newsletter.

Former AP CEO Lou Boccardi said in a statement that Buell drove this remarkable period of innovation and transition, but he never forgot, nor did he let his staff forget, that capturing “the” image that told the story was where it all had to start.

“Fortunately for us, and for news photography, his vision and energy empowered and inspired AP Photos for decades,” Boccardi said.

After retiring in 1997, Buell wrote books about photography, including “From Hell to Hollywood: The Incredible Journey of AP Photographer Nick Ut;" “Uncommon Valor, Common Virtue: Iwo Jima and the Photograph That Captured America;” and “The Kennedy Brothers: A Legacy in Photographs.” He was the author of more than a dozen other books, produced film documentaries for the History Channel and lectured across the United States.

“In the ‘80s, when we went from black-and-white to all color, we were doing a good job to send two or three color pictures a day. Now we send 300,” Buell said in the 1997 AP newsletter.

Former AP CEO Lou Boccardi said in a statement that Buell drove this remarkable period of innovation and transition, but he never forgot, nor did he let his staff forget, that capturing “the” image that told the story was where it all had to start.

“Fortunately for us, and for news photography, his vision and energy empowered and inspired AP Photos for decades,” Boccardi said.

After retiring in 1997, Buell wrote books about photography, including “From Hell to Hollywood: The Incredible Journey of AP Photographer Nick Ut;" “Uncommon Valor, Common Virtue: Iwo Jima and the Photograph That Captured America;” and “The Kennedy Brothers: A Legacy in Photographs.” He was the author of more than a dozen other books, produced film documentaries for the History Channel and lectured across the United States.

FILE 




Friday, December 29, 2023

Ed Kashi - PHOTO TALK - WTF-STOP PODCAST

 Via What the F-Stop Podcast - Life Through Photography

December 28, 2023



Ed Kashi is a renowned photojournalist, filmmaker, speaker, and educator who has been making images and telling stories for 40 years. His restless creativity has continually placed him at the forefront of new approaches to visual storytelling. Dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times, a sensitive eye and an intimate and compassionate relationship with his subjects are signatures of his intense and unsparing work. As a member of VII Photo, Kashi has been recognized for his complex imagery and its compelling rendering of the human condition.

Kashi’s innovative approach to photography and filmmaking has produced a number of influential short films and earned recognition by the POYi Awards as 2015’s Multimedia Photographer of the Year. Kashi’s embrace of technology has led to creative social media projects for clients including National Geographic, The New Yorker, and MSNBC. From implementing a unique approach to photography and filmmaking in his 2006 Iraqi Kurdistan Flipbook to paradigm shifting coverage of Hurricane Sandy for TIME in 2012, Kashi continues to create compelling imagery and engage with the world in new ways.

Along with numerous awards from World Press Photo, POYi, CommArts, and American Photography, Kashi’s images have been published and exhibited worldwide. His editorial assignments and personal projects have generated fourteen books.

In 2002, Kashi in partnership with his wife, writer + filmmaker Julie Winokur, founded Talking Eyes Media. The non-profit company has produced numerous award-winning short films, exhibits, books, and multimedia pieces that explore significant social issues.

In 2019, The Enigma Room, an immersive installation, premiered at NYC’s Photoville festival and has since been seen in Israel, the Netherlands, South Korea, and New Mexico, USA. The Enigma Room is an experimental multimedia projection created in collaboration with Brenda Bingham, Michael Curry, and Rachel BolaÅ„os.

Kashi is represented by Monroe Gallery, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For print sale inquiries, contact info@monroegallery.com


Ed Kashi's photographs are included in the current This Fragile Earth exhibition, on view through January 21, 2024.





Monday, December 4, 2023

Remembering Tony Vaccaro on the anniversary of his 100th birthday and subsequent passing

 

Galleriests Michelle and Sid Monroe pose with Tony Vaccaro in front of his photograph of Sophia Loren at a Pop Up exhibition in New York, 2016
Tony Vaccaro with Michelle and Sid Monroe at his Pop Up exhibition in New York, 2016




Beginning in 2016, Monroe Gallery of Photography presented annual exhibitions of photographs by Tony Vaccaro to honor his birthday, December 20. He travelled to Santa Fe to attend 3 exhibits and meet hundreds of collectors and enthusiastic admirers.

To celebrate his 100th birthday in December, 2022, Monroe Gallery of Photography hosted two exhibitions, in New York City and Santa Fe. Despite recently having been hospitalized for emergency surgery for complications from an ulcer, Tony recovered and attended the pop-up Tony Vaccaro Centennial Exhibition of his photographs in New York City. The City of New York officially proclaimed December 20, 2022 “Tony Vaccaro Day”, and Vaccaro was feted by friends at a surprise birthday party at his favorite local Italian restaurant that evening.


Tony at his Centennial Pop Up exhibition in New York, December, 2022



Tony Vaccaro passed away peacefully on December 28, eight days after celebrating his 100th birthday. 


 Throughout the month of December, we will be posting tributes and memories of Tony Vaccaro on our Instagram feed. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation's Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona is currently featuring the exhibition American Icons: Wright and O'Keeffe, photographs by Tony Vaccaro; and his work is on display at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe.




Thursday, November 23, 2023

Photojournalist Ed Kashi Discusses "City of the Dead" in Cairo

 Via Sada Elbalad English

November 22, 2023

portrait of Ed Kashi speaking
Ed Kashi


Prominent American photojournalist Ed Kashi celebrated the 30th anniversary of his "City of the Dead" project in Cairo. He opened an exhibition in Cairo to celebrate the project, in addition to having a talk about the visual storyteller's journey.

During a round table with Egyptian journalists hosted by the US Embassy in Photobia, Kashi discussed various topics related to his "City of the Dead" project, upcoming projects, especially those linked to current sociopolitical challenges, and the current trends of journalism. (click for full article).

"Great photographs do not need words but this is photojournalism. The whole, structure, the point of it is to uses images and words to communicate, especially when it comes to journalism. In the time moment we're living in; it is so critically important that I contextualize my work so that when you look at this picture as best as I've humanly been able to do you can rely on the facts. You know that this is where it happened this is what's going on the name of that person is correct their age is correct all of the things you know the circumstances around their situation are presented in an accurate way because I still believe in facts can I say it in another order." -- Ed Kashi

Ed Kashi's photographs are included in the current exhibition This Fragile Earth.




Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Join Curator Niki Stewart on Nov. 9 for an in-depth look at the Tony Vaccaro photography exhibition American Icons: Wright & O’Keeffe

 

Via Taliesin West

black and white graphic for the Taliesin West exhibit "American Icons: wright and O'Keeffe" with portraits of Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O'Keeffe




American Icons: Wright & O’Keeffe

Taliesin West is the winter home and desert laboratory of Frank Lloyd Wright. The site in Scottsdale, Arizona, welcomes visitors year round through tours and programs for all ages. Since 2021, Taliesin West has offered changing exhibitions to explore during tours. From October 20, 2023 – June 3, 2024, American Icons: Wright & O’Keeffe is on display, featuring  photographs by Michael A. “Tony” Vaccaro.

In this course, exhibition curator Niki Stewart will take you on an in-depth journey into the similarities between Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O’Keeffe. Both legendary figures, they are typically seen in isolation. Through this exhibition, we compare and contrast the photographs, homes, and lives of these influential figures.

In these photographs — many of which have never been seen before — we see an intimate view of Wright and O’Keeffe in their homes and studios. Taken at Wright’s Wisconsin home, Taliesin, and O’Keeffe’s homes in New Mexico, Vaccaro casts an intimate lens on these well-known figures. By viewing the pictures in pairs, we begin to see all the ways Wright and O’Keeffe were similar, beyond the photographs themselves.

Thursday, November 9, 2023

10-11 am MST

Register here.

The exhibition is organized and presented at Taliesin West by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. All photographs courtesy of the Tony Vaccaro Studio and Monroe Gallery of Photography.


About the Curator Niki Stewart:

Educator, Artist, and Museum Leader

Niki Stewart is passionate advocate for arts and education.  She serves as the Vice President and Chief Learning & Engagement Officer at The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Based at Taliesin West, Wright’s winter home and desert laboratory, she oversees all public engagement programs, tours, and exhibitions at this UNESCO World Heritage site.  Her museum experience also includes leadership roles at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA), Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, AR), and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (Sarasota, FL).  Niki has also worked as an Art Educator in the public schools, as program administrator of Art Bridges, and with the Walt Disney Company. She’s a founding faculty member of the National Art Education Association’s School for Art Leaders, and a graduate of the Getty Museum Leadership Institute. She holds a BFA in Illustration from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL.


Saturday, October 28, 2023

The Prix Bayeux Calvados-Normandie celebrates its 30th edition, honoring the contributions of photojournalists across the globe.

 Via Blind Magazine

October 27, 2023


This year holds special significance as it anticipates the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings—witnessed by war correspondents who risked their lives to document it. (click for full article)


"The late Tony Vaccaro (1922 - 2022), one of the earliest photographers to be featured at the Baueux exhbitions, spoke with brutal honesty about his experience: "We felt like we were going someplace to die and never return. People have no idea what war is like, so I risked my life to capture the horror of it" 



view of Normandy beach taken from a landing craft in June, 1944
Tony Vaccaro: Normandy, June, 1944


Friday, October 27, 2023

BYU Museum of Art debuts new exhibit ‘Life: Six Women Photographers’

Via The Daily Universe

Oct. 26, 2023


BYU’s Museum of Art debuted its new exhibit “Life: Six Women Photographers” earlier this month, highlighting six influential women photographers’ work from the 1930s to the 1970s.

The exhibit features the work of photojournalists Margaret Bourke-White, Hansel Mieth, Marie Hansen, Nina Leen, Martha Holmes and Lisa Larsen.

Featured within the new installation are a variety of photos, such as Marie Hansen’s photo essay showcasing the 20th century Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, and Margaret Bourke-White’s photographs depicting the impact of the American economic depression on the people of the 1930s. Photographer Nina Leen highlights the work of women and mothers, while portraits of Hollywood personalities are featured in Martha Holmes’ photos of Billy Eckstine. Hansel Mieth’s photos focus on depicting the reality of labor forces and the experiences of the general public.

BYU students, local community members and visitors now have the opportunity to visit the Museum of Art’s new exhibit and appreciate the talent of these six female photojournalist pioneers.

“I think it’s cool that we’re honoring female photographers,” Sally Bradshaw, a BYU junior, said.

Bradshaw continued to describe the photos in the exhibit as “down to earth.”

“They capture very emotional moments, it seems. It’s pretty inspirational,” BYU student Logan Berry said.

Life Magazine, which ran weekly from 1883 to 1972 and monthly from 1978 to 2000, focused on showing “The Most Iconic Photographs of All Time,” according to Life Magazine‘s website.

The “Life: Six Women Photographers” exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art gives visitors the opportunity to witness for themselves the photographs of the six featured photographers. The exhibit displays photos both published and unpublished by Life.

“It’s like a crazy cool opportunity to be able to see these things that at one point were just in a magazine but are now really important,” BYU student Katy Turner said.

Turner continued to express interest in the past and future BYU Museum of Art photography shows because of the focus on important events.

“A lot of times we try to make it a focus and like a point to remember prominent women in history or maybe women in history who were amazing but we don’t really know about,” Bradshaw said. “I think it’s really cool that BYU wants to give a space to that because we’re all about honoring amazing people.”

“Life: Six Women Photographers” was organized by the New-York Historical Society and will be on display in the BYU Museum of Art until Feb. 3, 2024.

There will be a panel discussion discussing the exhibit and photography, art history and journalism on Thursday, Oct. 26 at the Museum of Art. BYU professors and faculty members Heather Belnap, Melissa Gibbs and Paul Adams will be presenting.

Museum of Art educator Liz Donakey will also host a gallery talk regarding the exhibit on Wednesday, Nov. 29.

Students can schedule a tour of the exhibit on the Museum of Art website.


Related exhibit: The LIFE Photographers

Friday, September 29, 2023

New Exhibit and Gallery Conversation: Bob Gomel - Classics

 BOB GOMEL: CLASSICS




Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is pleased to announce a special exhibition of photographs celebrating Bob Gomel’s recent 90th birthday with several never-before-see photographs from three of his most iconic assignments for LIFE magazine: photographs of The Beatles, Muhammad Ali, and President John F. Kennedy.

The exhibition opens with a Gallery conversation with Bob Gomel on Friday, October 6. Talk begins promptly at 5:30, seated is limited and RSVP is essential; contact the Gallery for live Zoom registration. The exhibition continues through November 19, 2023.

The photographs of Bob Gomel put you in a diner with Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X after Ali’s defeat of Sonny Liston, poolside with the Beatles, and in the audience at Rice University as President John F. Kennedy delivered his historic “We choose to go to the Moon” speech. This exhibit explores three classic assignments for LIFE magazine with many never-before-seen photographs of The Beatles, Muhammad Ali, and President John F. Kennedy.

 “I had no idea the 60s would be so iconic. It seemed quite ordinary at the time, but looking back on it now, I realize how fortunate I was.”

From the tumult of battle to the glamour of movie stars, from the wonders of nature to the coronation of kings, queens, and presidents, the work of LIFE photographers is as much a history of American photojournalism as it is a history of the changing face of the latter part of the Twentieth Century. On the pages of LIFE, through the images captured by these masters, the eyes of a nation were opened as never before to a changing world. 

The triumphs and tragedies of the 1960s provided photographer Bob Gomel and his LIFE magazine colleague’s extraordinary opportunities to advance American photojournalism. "LIFE was the world's best forum for photojournalists. We were encouraged to push creative and technical boundaries. There was no better place to work in that extraordinary decade." 


Invitation card with 3 images by Bob Gomel: Black Muslim leader Malcolm X photographing Cassius Clay after he defeated Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight Championship, Miami, 1964 2. John F. Kennedy, Houston, before giving his famous speech at Rice University about going to the moon, 1962 3. The Beatles on pool chairs,, Miami, 1964


Bob Gomel was born (1933) and raised in New York City. After serving four years in the U.S. Navy, he was promptly offered a job at the Associated Press. But by then, he had changed his mind about what he wanted to do. “I just felt one picture wasn’t sufficient to tell a story,” he explains. “I was interested in exploring something in depth. And, of course, the mecca was Life magazine.”He turned down the offer from AP, and began working for LIFE in 1959, producing many memorable images. When LIFE ceased being a weekly in the early 1970s, he began making photographs for other major magazines. Also in the 1970s, he branched out into advertising photography. Among other accounts, he helped introduce Merrill Lynch’s Bullish on America campaign.

Bob says, “Each time I raised a camera to my eye I wondered how to make a viewer say, “wow.” What followed were the use of double exposures to tell a more complete story; placing remote cameras where no human being could be; adapting equipment to reveal what could not ordinarily be captured on film. My goal with people was to penetrate the veneer, to reveal the true personality or character. The ideal was sometimes mitigated by circumstances, a lack of time or access. But more often than not what the mind conceived could be translated into successful photographic images. Life Magazine in the 60s sold 8,000,000 copies a week. It was a great honor to be a part of that information highway.” 


Wednesday, September 20, 2023

IN CONVERSATION ONLINE – Frank Vaccaro on Tony Vaccaro

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation graphic - white text on orange background


 Via Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

 Taliesin West

October 5, 2023


Explore the Life and Lens of Legendary Photographer Tony Vaccaro!


Michael A. “Tony” Vaccaro (1922 – 2022), was an American photographer perhaps best known for his World War II photos. After the war, he became a fashion and lifestyle photographer for American magazines, capturing the joys and beauties of the world we live in. He lived to be 100 years old.

Join us on October 5, 2023, for an exclusive online conversation with Tony Vaccaro’s son, Frank. He will share invaluable insights into his father’s remarkable legacy and unveil his father’s captivating story. We’ll delve deep into Tony’s early career, the different chapters of his life, and get unique insights into his time with O’Keeffe and Wright ahead of the debut of American Icons: Wright & O’Keeffe at Taliesin West opening on October 20.

Details:

Links for virtual programs will be sent via email in advance.
If you have any questions about Cultural Programs at Taliesin West, please refer to our FAQ.  

Time:
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Online

Price:
Adults $25
Students (13-25 with student ID) $17
Members $22.50

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Frank Vaccaro is the eldest child of photographer Michael A. “Tony” Vaccaro and Marimekko model Anja Kyllikki Lehto. He was born in Rome, Italy, in 1965 while his father was on assignment. Frank came of age surrounded by the stories and images that make up the Tony Vaccaro collection of photographs. After graduating Stony Brook University in 1988, Frank managed bars and restaurants in New York City before joining Pepsi Cola in 1994. For the last eighteen years, Frank has been the elected representative for over 150 unionized workers there.

At his father’s request, Frank and his wife Maria created and launched the Tony Vaccaro Studio in 2015. The studio organizes over 800,000 images, and partners with the Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Upon Tony Vaccaro’s passing last year, Frank and his wife created the Tony Vaccaro Archive in Long Island City, Queens.






Sunday, June 4, 2023

Spencer Museum of Art Adds Prints By Gabriela Campos and Sanjay Suchak To Permanent Collection

 

Spencer Museum of Art text logo


June 5, 2023


The Spencer Museum of Art has acquired photographs by Gallery photographers Gabriela Campos and Sanjay Suchak.

Male Native American dances on top of pedestal where a statue of Spanish Conquistidor Juan de Onate was removed, New Mexico, 2020

Gabriela Campos: Than Tsídéh, 19, of the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo dances on the empty platform where a statue of Juan de Oñate was removed, Rio Arriba county, New Mexico, June, 2020



Overhead color photograph of Robert E. Lee statue  with grafitti arond base and sidewalk in Richmond, Virginia, 20202

Sanjay Suchak: Robert E. Lee Monument Overhead, Richmond, Virginia, July 2, 2020


With a diverse collection of more than 47,000 art objects and works of cultural significance, the Spencer is the only comprehensive art museum in the state of Kansas and serves more than 100,000 visitors annually. 

The Museum’s vision is to present its collection as a living archive that motivates object-centered research and teaching, creative work, and transformative public dialogue. The Spencer facilitates arts engagement and research through exhibitions, artist commissions and residencies, conferences, film screenings, musical and dramatic performances, artist- and scholar-led lectures, children’s art activities, and community arts and culture festivals.

Friday, April 21, 2023

Pulitzer-winning photojournalist, Kent State shooting survivor John Filo discusses modern journalism

 Via The Berkeley Beacon

Pulitzer-winning photojournalist, Kent State shooting survivor John Filo discusses modern journalism


By Shannon Garrido, Content Managing Editor

April 20, 2023

A little more than half a century after the 1970 massacre at Kent State University, the Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist John Paul Filo feels that the nation is in a state of confusion and outrage.

Filo, a survivor of the tragic shootings, photographed 14 year-old protester Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the body of 20-year-old Jeffrey Miller, a college student protesting the Vietnam War, who was shot dead by the Ohio National Guard soldiers. In an event last week, sponsored by Emerson’s Communication Studies Department, Filo and Vecchio were invited to speak to students last week at the Bright Screening Room of the Paramount Theatre.

Filo’s kind eyes and enthusiastic tone make his otherwise tall demeanor and impressive reputation less intimidating. Yet, in an interview with the Beacon, Filo went quiet before answering how people view that tragic event today—“I don’t know,” he says.

“It’s a generational thing,” Filo said. “The people that don’t know anything about Kent State are only a little younger than me. Yet the killing of Americans is still going on. And it’s even become more efficient.”

Filo, at the time a student journalist, was in the college photo lab when he heard gunshots on campus, leading him to rush to the courtyard where he witnessed Vecchio crying out to a body on the ground. As he prepared his lens, he noticed a guard pointing and firing a gun directly at him. Once he realized the guards carried real bullets—something many of the students did not initially realize—he turned back to run. However, he experienced something he describes as a “combination of innocence and stupidity” causing him to change his mind, and before he knew it, Filo was running back to photograph the scene.

Filo said sarcastically that his actions on that day were normally reserved for conflict zones.

“I never wanted to be a war photographer,” he said. “I was shot at once, that was enough for me.”

Since the KSU shooting, semi-automatic weapons available to the public have become twice as deadly, yet Filo said that the outrage, and the corresponding need to understand the history behind gun violence, has become far less common.

For years, students from middle school to college would constantly contact Filo, curious to learn about his experience at Kent State that fateful day. He hasn’t received a call like that in nearly five years. He wonders if the more time goes by, the more people forget that the massacres’ consequences affect politics in this nation today.

Filo believes that this disconnection is part of the new wave of journalism, where quantity trumps quality and the more terrifying an issue becomes, the more desensitized people become to it.

“Great things happened when people started shining a light on the bad parts of our society,” said Filo. “In the turn of the 1800s, pictures showing child labor were horrible, but that brought in labor laws. Horrific pictures of the Holocaust or the Civil Rights Movement actually shocked people.”

Filo said that the Kent State shooting was another moment that shocked people. A wave of papers would not run his photographs, he said, because it revealed many truths across the nation.

Filo wonders if “the dumbing down of our whole industry,” where journalists stop trying to send a message, prevents stories from having the same impact.

“Now we are on this teeter totter of mass murder, funeral, mass murder, funeral,” Filo said. “And there’s nothing breaking this rocking back and forth. Personally, I’m saying there needs to be that shock and outright disgust that brings people to the street to protest.”

Although he is glad his photograph gained the traction it did, the efforts would be futile to Filo if journalism stops having the same impact today. In regards to how photojournalism could steer away from sensationalism while still being persuasive, Filo believes there is no harm in relying on tools of the past.

“What happens today is to get their money’s worth, the [newspapers] say ‘hey take a digital camera go out and shoot,’ said Filo. “Don’t try to edit down the visual space to try to get a message out of it, to push onto the viewer. Instead they go and take the 2000 photos.”

Photography, Filo said, held a different value during his career. When new film colors came out—and suddenly color meant more than just ink on paper—it transformed the photographer’s ability to tell stories. Filo said he misses the authenticity of it all, joking about a past frustration with sports photographers in the West Coast who could make their players look tanner and livelier than those in the east coast. Yet it was reflective to the West Coast sun—which is less constant here in the gloomy east.

Today, Filo said he fears he can no longer tell where the photos were taken, with photoshop and advanced camera equipment. He believes this makes it more difficult to trust, or even care about the pictures displayed in the media. However, the need for far-reaching photojournalism is more dire than ever.

Filo said that the media should not distinguish its coverage between what he considers state-sanctioned violence—like what occurred at Kent State—to the surplus of mass shootings the nation has experienced the last few decades. Yet he fears that a careless and repetitive media that “recycles” facts, photos and figures does little to make the viewer uncomfortable when mass shootings occur.

He referenced the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee where six lives were lost, including nine-year-olds—adding on to his initial point that regardless of how much coverage it received, there wasn’t nearly enough shock or outrage.

“It’s one thing to see a wounded adult,” Filo said. “It’s another thing to see a butchered child.”

He woders if the media’s approach to this news as “another day, another tragedy,” discourages action instead of promoting it.

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Save The Date - March 30, 2023: Nate Gowdy: The Insurrection in Photos

 


Via Town Hall Seattle

February 18, 2023

Nate Gowdy – Town Hall Seattle


color portait of photographer Nate Gowdy smiling at camera


Nate Gowdy had previously photographed 30 Donald Trump rallies. He thought he was fully prepared for what should have been the grand finale, but the events that unfolded on January 6th, 2021, were more than anyone could have expected. 

As the event transformed from protest to outright insurrection, Gowdy never stopped photographing. The result is his first monograph, Insurrection — a comprehensive yet intimate account of the events of that fateful day. The 150-page book moves readers through the day in timestamped, chronological order, bringing them a firsthand account of not just the attack on the U.S. Capitol, but what it was like to be a journalist on the front lines.

Juxtaposed are scenes of domestic terrorists kneeling and praying, posing for group photos, eating hotdogs, rampaging against the Capitol’s sworn protectors, and defiling the Inauguration Day stand, historically reserved for the stately pomp and circumstance of our representative government. On assignment for Rolling Stone, Gowdy was deemed “fake news” and assaulted twice for having professional cameras.

Gowdy joins us in the Wyncote NW Forum to share more about that historic day in January.

Nate Gowdy captures the complexities of American politics with striking clarity. Since chronicling Washington state’s fight for marriage equality in 2012, he has traveled the US to photograph pivotal events, figures, and movements across the political divide. His images have been featured in Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, PBS NewsHour, Thom Hartmann, CNN, and TIME, where his Bernie Sanders portrait graced the cover in 2016. As a co-founder of The American Superhero Project and co-author of Our Students, Their Stories, a book celebrating Seattle Public Schools’ LGBTQIA+ students, families, and staff, Gowdy is committed to elevating underrepresented voices. He serves as the official photographer for Seattle Pride, and his documentary fine art is represented at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe.


Thursday, March 30, 2023, 7:30PM

The Wyncote NW Forum

1119 8th Ave (Entrance off Seneca St.)

Seattle, Washington 98101

Get tickets here

Sunday, January 29, 2023

David Butow Photographs Star Ballroom Shooting Memorials and Resilience for CNN

 Via CNN

January 29, 2023


By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN. Photographs by David Butow

After tragedy struck Monterey Park’s vibrant dance community, residents insist they will return to their beloved ballroom --click for full article.

clolor photograph of people gathered at the Monterey Park City Hall for a candlelight vigil honoring 11 victims of a mass shooting in the city on Lunar New Year's Eve.
People gather at the Monterey Park City Hall for a candlelight vigil honoring 11 victims of a mass shooting in the city on Lunar New Year's Eve.



The gates outside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio have become surrounded by a makeshift memorial.


The gates outside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio have become surrounded by a makeshift memorial with flowers and portaits of the victims


The gates outside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio have become surrounded by a makeshift memorial.


Kevin Leung stands outside of the dance studio where he rented space for years to teach Kung Fu and traditional lion dancing. He knew two of those killed in the shooting.
Kevin Leung stands outside of the dance studio where he rented space for years to teach Kung Fu and traditional lion dancing. He knew two of those killed in the shooting.





Thursday, January 26, 2023

A show celebrating acclaimed photographer Tony Vaccaro at Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography (112 Don Gaspar) can be viewed for five more days—through Jan. 29

 Via The Santa Fe Reporter

January 25, 2023


Honoring Vaccaro


Speaking of countdowns, a show celebrating acclaimed photographer Tony Vaccaro at Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography (112 Don Gaspar) can be viewed for five more days—through Jan. 29. Monroe mounted two exhibitions—here and a New York pop-up last month—to honor Vaccaro’s 100th birthday; the photographer died on Dec. 28, just eight days after his centennial, which he celebrated in New York with friends at a surprise birthday dinner. 

A New York Times obituary recounts how Vaccaro became a war photographer in World War II—also the subject of a 2016 HBO documentary. After the war, he transitioned and began to make fashion, travel and celebrity photographs for the country’s leading magazines. 

Those celebrities included Georgia O’Keeffe, whom Life magazine assigned Vaccaro to photograph in 1960. O’Keeffe expected a more famous photographer and at first refused to pose: “To win her over, Mr. Vaccaro cooked a meal and made a picnic lunch. When the weather turned too windy for the picnic, he gave her a plate of Swiss cheese as she sat in the back of his car. And when she playfully peered through a hole in a piece of the cheese, Mr. Vaccaro went into action,” the obituary reads. His other famous subjects included John F. Kennedy, Pablo Picasso and Sophie Loren, to name a few. 

This quote from Vaccaro accompanies Monroe’s information on the exhibition: “We call each other German, French, Italian. There is no Italian blood. There is no French blood. It’s human blood. On this Earth there is one humanity. Let’s do something about it. Let’s live! In a way, photography was my way of telling the world, ‘We have better things to do than to kill ourselves.’”

Saturday, January 7, 2023

Gallery Photographer Nate Gowdy Interviewed on PBS New Hour for Anniversary of January 6 Insurrection

 

Via PBS News Hour

January 6, 2023

screen shot of PBS News Hour feature artice on Nate Gowdy's "Insurrection" book with image of crowd of rioter on Capitol steps, January 6, 2021


On Jan. 6, 2021, photographer Nate Gowdy was at the U.S. Capitol on assignment for Rolling Stone when what was billed as a pro-Trump rally escalated into an insurrection. He was on his way to take photos of the rally at the Ellipse when groups of people started walking toward the Capitol.

Hours later, Gowdy writes in his new book, he was “caught in a melee of war cries, adrenaline and suddenly surging bodies.”

After covering the mayhem outside the Capitol, Gowdy faced his own chaotic situation days later. His camera and computer with his Jan. 6 images were stolen from Washington’s Union Station.

“I would have sacrificed an arm or a leg to get those photos back,” he said.

Beyond capturing a shocking chapter in American political history, the images were also meant to be the conclusion to a book he had been long working on.

As friends tried to console him and help him replace his equipment, one acquaintance had a lucky, one-in-a-million break, spotting his original gear for sale online, and eventually reuniting him with his images.

“Insurrection,” a recent collection of 124 of Gowdy’s photos, offers a timeline of the day’s events through vivid portraits of the Trump supporters who broke into the complex while Congress counted Electoral College votes to confirm President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

More than 950 people have been arrested for participating in the Capitol insurrection, the Justice Department reported Wednesday — two days ahead of the attack’s two-year anniversary. Hundreds of demonstrators and law enforcement officers were physically injured. The Capitol building sustained $1.5 million in damage. Eighteen journalists were assaulted and news equipment and cameras were damaged, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Nine deaths have been connected to the attack and its aftermath.

“Almost four years prior to Jan. 6, 2021, I stood in the audience at the Inauguration Day stand and stared in disbelief as [President-elect Trump] vowed to uphold the Constitution and to end the specter of societal ‘American carnage,’” Gowdy said. “Now I found myself in the space – one historically reserved for solemn and dignified assembly – as it was flooded with true American carnage.”

Gowdy has worked since 2011 as a photographer for various editorial and commercial clients. He has also produced exhibitions and projects, including “The American Superhero Project” – a series of patriotic portraits featuring people of all stripes – and “Our Students, Their Stories: Celebrating LGBTQ+ Students, Families, and Staff,” a project commissioned by Seattle Public Schools.

Trump rallies became a focus of Gowdy’s work in recent years, he says in an attempt to better understand the movement. “I wanted to make photographs that could help us bridge this divide potentially. And now I see that because, again, we see what we want to see, they [my images] only perpetuate the divide, certainly with the climate we’re in. That’s not what I set out to do, but that’s what it’s become.”

The PBS NewsHour spoke with Gowdy by phone and email over the last few weeks about his experience covering the Jan. 6 attack and what led to his new book.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Some of the photos featured in this story are graphic.

I’m curious how you came to be on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6. What led up to that?

Time magazine had reached out after I photographed a Bernie [Sanders] rally here in downtown Seattle being interrupted by Black Lives Matter demonstrators. … And that kind of gave me the confidence to get out there and do it. … I ended up getting the Bernie Sanders cover of Time magazine in June of 2016. … At the time, I’d only had a camera for four and a half years. So that was pretty cool.

The whole time I was out there traveling, self-funding these trips to primary states, sleeping in rental cars and doing what I had to do just to get the photos while this was happening. I thought the whole Trump-MAGA thing was a blip and I thought I had to catch it then and it would be over soon. And, you know, it didn’t end…

I saw Jan. 6 as Trump’s last stand. Excuse my language, but I knew it would be a stupid day. … I didn’t anticipate it being deadly and what it was.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Some of the photos featured in this story are graphic.

I’m curious how you came to be on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6. What led up to that?

Time magazine had reached out after I photographed a Bernie [Sanders] rally here in downtown Seattle being interrupted by Black Lives Matter demonstrators. … And that kind of gave me the confidence to get out there and do it. … I ended up getting the Bernie Sanders cover of Time magazine in June of 2016. … At the time, I’d only had a camera for four and a half years. So that was pretty cool.

The whole time I was out there traveling, self-funding these trips to primary states, sleeping in rental cars and doing what I had to do just to get the photos while this was happening. I thought the whole Trump-MAGA thing was a blip and I thought I had to catch it then and it would be over soon. And, you know, it didn’t end…

I saw Jan. 6 as Trump’s last stand. Excuse my language, but I knew it would be a stupid day. … I didn’t anticipate it being deadly and what it was.

Did you ever go inside the Capitol at any point during the day?

No, I did not. … Everyone on that terrace where the inauguration platform [was on the West Front of the Capitol] had their backs to us. And so there was obviously something going on behind them. And that’s where the battle for the tunnel was. And that’s why I got to a higher elevation to have a view of it. But I didn’t want to be in the middle of it.

I didn’t have any protective gear, whereas a lot of my colleagues out there that day were militarized – wearing gas masks, goggles, helmets, boots, kneepads, you name it. But that also worked to “other” them, … whereas, I was wearing a maroon hoodie and Carhartt beanie and, besides my N95 mask and cameras othering me, a lot of people who were suspicious of me couldn’t be 100 percent certain I wasn’t a fellow “patriot” for the cause.

You were able to kind of blend in a little bit.

Yeah, I think in ways that worked to my advantage. But, that said, I was still attacked twice that day for having cameras.

How have you been since that day? How has what you saw affected you? Are you doing okay?

A lot of people care about me and ask that question a lot. And my response is that I don’t feel like I have any lingering trauma from that day. A whole lot of people do. And I’m just fine.

The trauma I experienced regarding that day didn’t have to do with the danger and the chaos or the events of Jan. 6. They had to do with on my way back to Seattle – … my camera, my computer and my photos were stolen. I’d just witnessed and photographed the most historic thing I’ve been to. And suddenly that was all gone, but for the 25 medium-res JPEGs I delivered to Rolling Stone.

Tell me about that.

This book’s photos were almost lost. On Jan. 8 at Union Station, my backpack—in it, my camera, hard drives, and laptop—were stolen. If not for the sleuthing efforts of an acquaintance, this book would not exist. Just two days after the theft, he found my camera listed on an online marketplace. I messaged the seller that it was unmistakably my Leica Q and laptop. Silence.

So close yet so far from recovering my things and particularly these images, I boarded my flight home to Seattle. Upon landing, I learned that the seller wanted me to call them. Over the phone, they claimed that they had “found” my backpack. “Praise be to God,” they exclaimed, for putting us in a position to help each other—as they attempted to extort $2,000.

Very fortunately, they agreed to return to the scene of the crime for the exchange the following day at Union Station with my friend. Amtrak Police officers went above and beyond to work with him to arrange a safe and successful sting operation. For a multitude of reasons, I didn’t press charges. The detained individual was banned from Union Station, but didn’t spend the night in jail.

What gave you the idea for a book?

I’ve been a photographer since I got a camera in 2011, and I’ve always been kind of pretty obsessed with photo books. Photography is the only thing that I let myself collect and get materialistic about. And so I’ve always kind of done long-form documentary projects in anticipation of curating the archives into books. And I’ve just never had the means to do that. And so I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. …

What spurred me to do this one was my ex-partner’s parents. When I met them, they’re very Trumpian. I love talking politics, but I tried to redirect away from politics with them. But when I mentioned, you know, I was there at the Capitol on Jan. 6 at the insurrection, her father threw a fit and made a scene at the restaurant we were at – at just me calling it an insurrection. That’s when I got the idea that, “Wow, people need to see this. They need something they can hold in their hands and point to and say, ‘Yes, this happened. Look, here it is.’”



Related: A Seattle photographer’s firsthand account of the Jan. 6 chaos | Crosscut