Images of Winter Are Frozen in Time

 Via Pasatiempo

November 29, 2024

Ida Wyman: Wrought Iron Design in Snow, New York City, 1947

In the 2023 photograph Ancestral Strength by Eugene Tapahe, four Indigenous women — Cayuse, Umatilla, Newe Sogobia, and Tséstho’e — stand side by side wearing brightly colored traditional garb, staring toward the sky behind the photographer. The stark winter beauty of the background in Wyoming’s Teton National Park further highlights the women’s projected power.

In the 1949 photograph Southern Pacific Steam Engine by John Dominis, a steam engine plows through a snowy landscape at Donner Pass, California.

Both images showcase forms of strength, but that’s not the tie that binds them. Both are part of Frozen in Time, an exhibition that Monroe Gallery of Photography describes as an “imaginative survey of compelling images.” It covers a range of human experiences, from the joy of exploration in George Silk’s 1946 shot Tourists Climb Fox Glacier in Tasman National Park, taken in New Zealand, to the ugly brutality of war in Tony Vaccaro’s White Death, Pvt. Henry Irving Tannebaum Ottre, taken in Belgium in 1945. 

It opens with a reception from 4-6 p.m. Friday, November 29. — Brian Sandford

details

Through January 19

Monroe Gallery of Photography

112 Don Gaspar Avenue

505-992-0800, monroegallery.com

Depths of winter: 'Frozen in Time' brings images of joy, despair to Monroe Gallery

 Via The Albuquerque Journal

By Kathaleen Roberts

November 24, 2024

Winter brings both beauty and brutality.

Open at Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography, “Frozen in Time” brings images of both joy and despair by some of the most renowned American photojournalists. The photographs cover the 2016 protests during the Standing Rock pipeline construction, a skating waiter at St. Moritz, Switzerland, in the early 1900s, and images of the grim winter conditions during World War II.

Several of the photojournalists worked for Life magazine.

"It always makes for a beautiful, serene, contemplative experience,” said Michelle Monroe, gallery co-owner, of the frosty season. “We know it’s cold, we know it’s quiet, we know there is a veil of light.”

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection: Ice Skating Waiter, St. Moritz, 1932

Alfred Eisenstaedt’s “Ice Skating Waiter” encapsulates the grace of skating while balancing a tray of glasses and liquor.

“He had a very rudimentary camera with glass plates,” Monroe said. “He said the whole thing was a technical challenge.”

The photographer focused on the chair until the waiter swanned by.

Tony Vaccaro: Battle of Hurtgen Forest, Germany, 1944

Tony Vaccaro’s photograph of soldiers partially buried in snow during the 88-day Battle of Hürtgen Forest captures the longest fight on German ground of World War II. An estimated 24,000 were killed, wounded or captured.

“There was no one more uncomfortable than the other,” Monroe said. “You couldn’t even find any comfort being together. (Vaccaro) said there was a lot of dark humor.”

In 2023, Navajo photographer Eugene Tapahe took “Ancestral Strength” in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park.

Eugene Tapahe

Ancestral Strength, Teton National Park, WY, Cayuse, Umatilla, Newe Sogobia and Tséstho’e, 2023

Tapahe was studying at Utah’s Brigham Young University when the pandemic hit. He decided to take four Native jingle dancers (two of whom were his daughters) across the country.

“The jingle dress has always been used for healing,” Monroe said. “Since the schools were closed, perhaps he could heal the country. They went all over performing. It had a tremendous effect on people.”

Those stops included Mount Rushmore, Yosemite and New York’s Central Park.

Ryan Vizzions photographed the protests over the Standing Rock pipeline in 2017, including a portrait of a medicine man.

Ryan Vizzions: Standing Rock, Winter, 2016

“He was a spiritual counselor and guide for everything there to keep people in focus,” Monroe said.

“(For) a lot of the older photographers, in order to be put on the front page, it was to get out there and get a shot of this latest snowstorm,” Monroe said. “She was part of the Photo League (cooperative.) They were shut down by the Red Scare movement for being subversive.”

Ida Wyman: Wrought Iron Design in Snow, New York City, 1945

The photographs also include images of the 1939 Russo-Finnish War, harsh winter conditions in the northern Soviet Union taken during its collapse in the 1990s and several ice skating scenes, including Truman Capote at New York’s famed Rockefeller Plaza in 1959, as well as tranquil snow scenes of the American West.

Carl Mydans/Life Picture Collection: The newly created 'Japanese Police Force' moves out of camp for winter training, Hokkaido, Japan, 1951

Monroe Gallery specializes in photojournalism. It was the recipient of the 2010 Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Excellence in Photojournalism.

'FROZEN IN TIME'

WHEN: Opening Reception on Friday, Nov. 29, 4-6 pm; exhibition continues through Jan. 19, 2025

WHERE: Monroe Gallery, 112 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe

MORE INFO: monroegallery.com, 505-992-0800

"As A.I. Becomes Harder to Detect, Photography Is Having a Renaissance"

 Via The New York Times

October 25, 2024

"After at least a decade of focusing almost exclusively on painting, many of the largest and most powerful art dealers are dedicating significant attention and real estate to photography.

It is part of a broader renaissance for the medium that is arriving, perhaps counterintuitively, just as images produced by artificial intelligence become virtually indistinguishable from real documentation."

Click for full article

New Exhibition: The Best Of Us

 Santa Fe, NM

October 2, 2024

“The Best Of Us" is an exhibition of compelling and provocative photographs depicting the ideals and diversity of the human experience which explore the characterization of extraordinary and everyday people who renew our faith that all things are possible and exemplify our ideals.

The phrase “the best of us” is often used idiomatically to refer to brave, courageous, selfless, and audacious people that celebrate the human spirit of drive and determination to make a difference.

“Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity.”

— Maya Angelou

View the exhibition on-line here.

 Via Musee Magazine

July 16, 2024

An exhibition of more than 40 photographs celebrates the extraordinary life and career of photographer Tony Vaccaro.

Monroe Gallery of Photography honors the late Tony Vaccaro with Tony Vaccaro: The Pursuit of Beauty, an exhibition continuing through September 15. On display are photographs from 1944 to 1979 which depict a wide range of subjects, from the battlefields of Europe to the rooftops of Manhattan. Vaccaro, who died on December 28, 2022 at 100 years old, had seen it all. --full review here.

Travel + Leisure readers selected Santa Fe as the #2 U.S. destination; "a photographer's dream"

 Via Travel & Leisure

July 9, 2024

Travel + Leisure readers selected Santa Fe as the #2 U.S. destination on the 2024 World’s Best Awards’ list of the, “15 Best Cities in the U.S.” for the second consecutive year! 

"This artsy Southwestern destination has ranked high on our list for nearly 20 years, and it’s not just because of the 320 days of sunshine it receives each year, though it certainly doesn’t hurt. “Santa Fe is like its own country within a country,” gushed one reader. “It’s such a unique blend of culture and history that you don’t see in the rest of the USA.” Another visitor called its downtown, with Pueblo-style buildings and independent galleries, “a photographer's dream and a shopper's delight.”

Big Idea: The Power of Imagery and the Civil Rights Experience

 

Via Humanities Kansas Big Idea series.

May 7, 2024

Note: Due to copyright restrictions, the images are accessible by clicking on the corresponding links.

Margaret Bourke-White, World’s Highest Standard of Living (1937)

Great photographs open your eyes to the world around you, raise awareness, and make you feel emotion. They are powerful reminders of our history and allow us to bear witness to our collective past. Perhaps some of the most powerful early images are of activist, orator, and formerly enslaved man Frederick Douglass. (More by Margaret Bourke-White)

Various Artists, Photos of Frederick Douglass.

Douglass escaped slavery in 1838, the same year that Louis Daguerre took the first photograph of a person in Paris. Douglass recognized that photography could be a powerful tool, and he constantly sat for the camera to communicate to the world a serious, intelligent, engaged, good-looking, and dignified man. This made him the most photographed American in the 19th century. Douglass said, “When you look at a photograph of me you will never deny that I am a man worthy of freedom and citizenship. You will look me in the eye and see my humanity.”

Just as Douglass recognized the power of photography as a tool to help put an end to slavery and injustice, photographers during the Civil Rights era turned their cameras toward the fight for equality and human rights. Their business was to tell the truth about the lives of African Americans.

Dr. Ernest C. Withers, Sanitation Workers assemble in front of Clayborn Temple for a solidarity march, Memphis, TN (1968)

These photographers were brave, steadfast, and determined to shed light on our behavior as a nation. They used the power of the still image to expose the atrocities that were occurring in this country on a daily basis.

Their work was tireless and dangerous, done out of duty and honor. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and part of that vigilance comes from a visual way of understanding what we are experiencing and what needs to be confronted.

One of the most famous photographers of this era was a Kansan: Gordon Parks was born in Fort Scott in 1912, the youngest of 15 children in a family deeply affected by the racial terror used to enforce Jim Crow segregation. As his memoir of the same title explains, he saw the camera as his “choice of weapons” against all the things he disliked about living in America as a Black man.

Gordon Parks, Doll Test, Harlem, New York, 1947

Parks became the first Black photographer for Life Magazine, giving a voice to the marginalized, downtrodden, and underrepresented. In 1947 he photographed the Doll Test for Ebony magazine. This famous psychological test by Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark presented young children with a white doll and a Black doll. They were asked to identify which doll they preferred, which one was good, and which one was bad. Most children chose the white doll. When asked which doll was most like them, some children became upset when they had to identify with the Black doll. The study revealed the psychological damage of segregation and influenced the Supreme Court’s monumental Brown v. Board of Education decision that separate was not equal.

Will Counts, Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan (or “The Scream Image”), 1957

Will Counts was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, and took one of the most iconic images of the Civil Rights movement: Elizabeth Eckford trying to enter high school surrounded by a white mob; Hazel Bryan is yelling at her from behind, her face contorted with anger. This image has become a notorious symbol of white hatred and followed both Eckford and Bryan throughout their lives. In 1963 Bryan apologized to Eckford for her behavior. Counts photographed them again in 1997; they struck up an unlikely friendship and spoke at schools about tolerance, but the friendship eventually ended.

Charles Moore, Alabama Fire Department Aims High-Pressure Water Hoses at Civil Rights Demonstrators, Birmingham Protests, May 3, 1963

Photographer Charles Moore was born in Hackleburg, Alabama, in 1931. He credited his parents for giving him strength, faith, and acceptance of all people. He said, “Pictures can absolutely make a difference and have an impact on society, that’s what photojournalism is. They allow white people to see the violence and cruelty that Black Americans must endure.” The protests in Birmingham were a turning point for Civil Rights as Moore captured the violence and brutality that peaceful protesters endured. Moore said that “they seemed to enjoy beating on these people, and had such hatred in their faces as they committed these atrocities and spewed their anger and venom.”

McPherson & Oliver, Escaped slave Gordon, also known as "Whipped Peter," showing his scarred back at a medical examination, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (1863)

Spider Martin, Alabama God-Damn (1965)

In 1965, James “Spider” Martin captured this image from the Selma Voting Rights March. It’s a powerful message and one that calls back to the infamous photograph of the formerly enslaved man named Peter, taken 102 years earlier. Peter (also known as Gordon) endured a harrowing 10-day journey while barefoot and chased by bloodhounds. He found safety among Union soldiers encamped at Baton Rogue; when he was examined by military doctors, they discovered the horrific scars on his back from beatings. The image, which came to be known as “Whipped Peter,” is one of the strongest testaments of the brutality of slavery and helped to fuel the abolitionist movement. Fast forward to 1965; this unidentified man is fed up and defiant. Rev. Martin Luther King once said to Spider Martin, “Spider, we could have marched and protested forever, but if it weren’t for guys like you it would have been for nothing. The whole world saw your pictures, and that’s why the Voting Rights Act passed.”

Bob Gomel, Black Muslim Leader Malcolm X photographing then Cassius Clay, Miami, 1964

Bob Gomel was a photographer for Life Magazine and was known for his iconic images of world leaders and popular culture. He took this image of Malcolm X photographing Cassius Clay in Miami. Gomel said, “The atmosphere was celebratory and jubilant, and it was very easy to be around these men and capture their true essence.” Both men would make sure to carefully craft their public images, assuring they were taken seriously and knowing that controlling the narrative was a source of power for Black people. The site—a diner lunch counter, itself a symbol of resistance—was certainly no accident. Clay would change his name later that same year, abandoning his “slave name” and adopting Muhammad Ali, which filled him with pride and power. Tragically, Malcolm X would be assassinated early the following year.  (See more at the exhibition 1964)

 .

Devin Allen, Time Magazine covers, 2015 and 2020

Today, a new generation of Civil Rights photographers stand on the shoulders of trailblazers like Douglass and Parks: Devin Allen, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Sheila Pree Wright, Patience Salanga, and Daewoud Bey among many others continue the work of showing us the struggle for equality. We need these important images and voices to make sure the stories are told and not brushed under the rug. Through photos, we feel these incidents and can see a mirror of ourselves. They show us that this is our burden as Americans: that united we stand, but divided we fall.

Ann Dean is an artist and freelance photographer who teaches photography at the Lawrence Arts Center.

Photojournalism in the Occupied West Bank - Moderated by Nina Berman

 Via eventbrite

April 15, 2024

Three photographers with deep experience in the region will present recent work and discuss the challenges of reporting in the region, moderated by Nina Berman.

Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank have faced increased violence, detentions and land seizures by Israeli forces and settlers since October 7. Three photographers with deep experience in the region will present recent work and discuss the deteriorating situation for Palestinians in the West Bank and the challenges of reporting in the region.

Join us April 26 in the World Room for a panel with:

Salwan Georges/The Washington Post

Tanya Habjouqa/The New Yorker

Maen Hammad/Caravan Magazine

Moderated by Prof. Nina Berman, sponsored by The Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism and The Li Center for Global Journalism.

Friday, April 26 · 6 - 8pm EDT

Location: Columbia Journalism School

World Room 2950 Broadway New York, NY 10027

Tickets here

Limited Edition of Lowrider Magazine Dedicated to the Women Shaping the Culture Features Photographs By Gabriela E. Campos

 

Limited Edition of Lowrider Magazine Dedicated to the Women Shaping the Culture 

Special issue was completely written and designed by women.  

Gabriela E. Campos

Known for their hopping hydraulics, custom upholstery, and intricate paint jobs, lowrider cars are symbols of empowerment and freedom, and a celebration of the broader lowrider culture. To honor Women's History Month and celebrate women who have played integral roles in lowriding culture, Mexican beer manufacturer Modelo partnered with MotorTrend Group (the parent company of MotorTrend and Lowrider magazine) to produce a limited edition of Lowrider.

The special, one-time reissue of Lowrider (which you can read in digital format here) champions the women of lowriding. It's made by women, for women—from the editorial direction led by Dr. Denise Sandoval, a professor of Chicana/o studies, to the photographers, creative directors, writers, and more. Modelo donated advertising space in the publication to women-owned businesses to further support and spotlight entrepreneurs driving the lowrider industry.

The roots of lowriding trace back to the 1940s when car culture was beginning to take hold across post-WWII America. As the hot rod trend swept the country, Mexican Americans began to alter their cars as a means of distinguishing themselves on and off the road. Eventually, the concept of lowriders and the broader lowriding culture stretched far beyond customizations and the Mexican American community.

Historically, depictions of women in Lowrider magazine were often limited to models on the hoods of cars. This limited-edition revival highlights the women behind the wheel who have fought for their place as drivers, builders, mechanics, painters, and welders in a male-dominated world.

Lowrider magazine ceased regular print publication in 2019. Fans in the Los Angeles area can be the first to get a copy of the magazine at the Lowrider Long Beach Super Show at the Long Beach Convention Center on Saturday, March 9, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific time. Fans nationwide can access the digital version of the issue here.

'A walk back in time': Monroe Gallery of Photography takes viewers back to classic Hollywood

Via The Albuquerque Journal

March 11, 2024

By Kathaleen Roberts

Francis Ford Coppola directing Marlon Brando.

Jimmy Stewart working on “Harvey.”

James Dean taking a nap in his truck.

Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography is taking viewers back to old movie glamour with photographs from classic Hollywood.

“We wanted to take a little break from some of our more serious exhibitions,” said Sidney Monroe, gallery co-owner. “And this being awards season with the Academy Awards coming up, there’s a great range of materials with the photographers we represent.”

The 45 images feature such Hollywood icons as Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Steven McQueen, Robert Redford, Rock Hudson, Audrey Hepburn and more. The photographs depict them both on and off the set and in studio portraits.

“It’ll be a little bit of a walk back in time,” Monroe said.

Steve Schapiro was the on-set photographer for “The Godfather” (1972).

Marlon Brando and Francis Ford Coppola, “The Godfather,” Steve Schapiro.

Courtesy of Monroe Gallery

“I remember him telling us they were collaborating,” Monroe said. “Coppola’s telling Brando where the camera’s going to come in. It’s an interesting behind-the-scenes moment with an actor and director.”

Photographer Richard Miller captured James Dean sleeping during a break in the filming of “Giant” (1956).

“He’s napping in his truck with his feet up in the window,” Monroe said. “That James Dean was killed shortly after contributed to that icon. (Miller’s) got another one of Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean taking a break.

James Dean takes a break from filming “Giant,” Richard C. Miller, Texas.

Courtesy of Monroe Gallery

“It’s photography that creates images of these bigger than life characters,” he added.

In “Harvey” (1950), James Stewart played a man dubbed crazy due to his insistence that he has an invisible six foot-tall rabbit for a best friend. Life magazine’s Ida Wyman, best known for her images of New York street life, shot Stewart during the filming. Wyman was one of the early female photographers. The field was almost exclusively male when she started during the 1940s.

“She found a lot of work for Life in Los Angeles,” Monroe said.

Sonia Handelman Meyer’s striking 1948 image of the Paramount Theater encapsulates the glitz and glamour of the movies.

“We’ve got a beautiful photograph of the marquee.” Monroe said. “The movies (functioned) as an escape from hard times.”

Tony Vaccaro’s on-set shot of Federico Fellini directing 1960s “La Dolce Vita” reveals the old school cameras used in the production.

Fellini on the set of “La Dolce Vita,” Tony Vaccaro, Italy.

Courtesy of Monroe Gallery

“The director’s stepping in,” Monroe said. “To me, it looks like he’s telling the actress how to pose.”

Ocean’s Eleven” cast, Sid Avery/mptv images

Courtesy of Monroe Gallery

Sid Avery’s photograph of the 1960 “Ocean’s 11” cast features Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Peter Lawford, among others.

“Now there’s been I don’t know how many remakes or new versions have been made,” Monroe said. “We actually had that picture in the gallery in New York when the first remake was being made. Julia Roberts came in and bought it as a gift for the director (Steven Soderbergh.)”

'THE MOVIES'

WHEN: Through April 14

WHERE: Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe

MORE INFO: monroegallery.com, 505-992-0800

The Real Frame In The Digital Age

 Via David Butow/The Real Frame

July, 2023

David Butow: The AI/photography space is moving so fast I created a website with fellow photog David Paul Morris to help keep track and open a dialogue as things unfold, for better or worse.

By David Butow and David Paul Morris –

There are existential questions about how Artificial Intelligence will modify the appeal and strength of photography. The principle one is: what impact will the technology have on viewers, from the pure enjoyment of an aesthetically pleasing image to the usefulness of pictures to tell us something truthful about the social and natural conditions of the world?

That is why we’ve created this website, to consider these questions as they’re unfolding, and allow people to contribute to the discussion in comments at the bottom of the posts. The have been many articles about the subject in the last few months so we’ve consolidated several of them onto the posts marked “AI & Fautojournalism.”

We’ll also discuss the opposite of AI photography, with gear reviews and posts tagged “Real Frames” which feature single, non-computer generated photographs, from ourselves and various contributors, and tell the backstory about how they were created. Our first RF post is from Rian Dundon‘s new book “Protest City“.

Welcome and thank you for joining us. If you’d like to sign up for our mailing list write us at TheRealFramePhoto@gmail.com and put “subscribe” in the subject line. You can find more about us on our “About” page.

So let’s go…

The recent rapid advances in artificial intelligence raises a question for many people who like making photo-style images: “Do I even need to leave the house?” For some I think the answer will be “no.” Before the emergence of AI imagery there has been a dynamic emerging of enthusiasts who take photo tours to get specific types of pictures that are essentially set up for them when the get to the destination. The less adventurous wing of that crowd will probably gravitate towards AI, doing everything at home or perhaps creating some combination of real and imagined pictures.

THE EXPERIENCE

The other approach, the thing we most enjoy about making real frames, is being there. The desire not just to create, but to experience something first-hand. The picture becomes of the synthesis of the two. It’s about taking chances and being open to fulfillment, or disappointment. This means witnessing something for the first time, not knowing exactly what will unfold, but knowing it’s often something more interesting than we could have imagined.

Great pictures were not made by photographers who knew exactly what they were going to get. They hiked mountains, went to neighborhoods that made them feel strange. They faced dangers, they ate weird food, they got too cold or too hot, they got lost, and then they found something no one had ever seen before. 

You don’t have to travel far and wide to find of these moments, they might occur in your own home or walking down the sidewalk. But being “present” in that moment, connecting with your environment in some way enriches your own experience and the picture becomes a reflection of that experience.

TRUTH AND RESPECT

The value of that experience runs through the whole process of making the images, starting with the subjects, be they people, animals, cityscapes or natural scenes. If a photographer has been physically present in the environment there will always be an element of truth to the work, no matter how interpretive it is. 

We’re already seeing very clever and fun uses of the technology. Good art always pushes boundaries and I think in the broad field of visual communication, we should embrace the possibilities. The trouble lies in the potential for misuse of these pictures for disinformation, false historical revisionism, and deceitful propaganda.

Beyond just a single fake image or video being used to mislead people, the cumulative effect of repeated examples is likely to have a detrimental effect on the public such that people might question the veracity of nearly everything they see online, particularly things that challenge them in some way. In other words, they might believe the stuff that’s fake, and not believe the things that are real. This could be a gnarly combination of cynicism and denial, accelerating the “post-truth” dynamic.

So while we’ll discuss AI and its alarming implications, we’ll also have a lot of upbeat discussions about making real frames. The photographer gets satisfaction from making these kinds of pictures and the viewer is served by seeing something that is really out there, something they might have seen themselves, albeit in a different way. That’s where the value of photography lies and that’s what separates it from other art forms. It’s what’s kept photography alive for nearly 200 years and hopefully what will keep it relevant in the midst of these profound technological changes.

The Real Frame

AIPAD The Photography Show fair will relocate to New York’s Park Avenue Armory in 2024

 Via The Art Newspaper

July 12, 2023

The Photography Show, the longest-running fair devoted specifically to the medium, will mark its 43rd edition in April 2024 with a return to the Park Avenue Armory in New York, organisers say. Put on by the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (Aipad), the fair is open for applications only from member galleries.

“The Park Avenue Armory has always been the favourite venue of our members, collectors and curators,” Aipad executive director Lydia Melamed Johnson said in a statement, adding that the organisation has “evolved post-Covid with a renewed sense of optimism and vitality and a burgeoning membership of young galleries offering new perspectives on the medium”.

The fair previously took place at the Park Avenue Armory on 67th Street and Park Avenue from 2006 to 2016. The event moved to Pier 94 in Hell’s Kitchen in 2017, where it was held until 2019. After the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fair was held at Center415 in Midtown Manhattan in 2022 and 2023. Last year, the Photography Show welcomed 44 galleries to the fair.

Aipad’s new president, Martijn van Pieterson, says the expansive Park Avenue Armory will give the fair more space for galleries to take part. Aipad says between 70 and 80 galleries will be able to participate in next year’s edition, similar to the exhibitor numbers of other fairs held at the Park Avenue Armory, such as Tefaf New York and the Art Dealers Association of America's fair, The Art Show.

Originally built as a headquarters for a militia regiment made up of many members of New York’s social elite during the American Civil War, the sprawling Gothic Revival building is now leased to the non-profit arts organisation Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, which works to support art, music and performances in the Armory’s 55,000-square-foot drill hall and historic Gilded Age rooms.

The Photography Show 2024 April 25 - 28, 2024

Monroe Gallery of Photography at the 2023 Photography Show

"In Conversation: Zaiga Minka Thorson, Dana Keeton, & Ryan Vizzions,” February 23

 

Via River Cities Reader

Thursday, February 23, 6:30 p.m.

Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA

Ryan Vizzions

Protestor on illegal wall of shipping containers straddling the AZ / Mexico border , December, 2022

A lauded painter, a noted art therapist, and an award-winning photojournalist will share their histories and thoughts at the Figge Art Museum on February 23 when the Davenport venue hosts In Conversation: Zaiga Minka Thorson, Dana Keeton, & Ryan Vizzions, an informal and enriching conversation about how artists address personal trauma through their artistic practices.

Michigan native Thorson is a Black Hawk College Professor Emerita, having taught at the Moline institution since 1999. She holds a BFA in Painting from Western Michigan University and an MFA in Painting from Northern Illinois University, and is represented by Iowa Artisans Gallery in Iowa City. Having received numerous awards for her graphic design and artwork, which she exhibits both regionally and nationally, Thorson has served on the education committee for the Figge Art Museum, as well as on the Rock Island Preservation Commission and the Visual Arts Committee of Rock Island's Quad City Arts. She has stated that her reverence for nature is rooted in her Latvian heritage and growing up in Michigan, and her interests include research and travel to America's National Parks and UNESCO World Heritage sites, her points of interest particularly focused on sacred sites.

Based in Iowa City, Keeton is a registered, board-certified art therapist and a licensed mental health counselor whose trauma-informed psychotherapy work incorporates art therapy, EMDR, mindfulness, and breath work, as well as cognitive behavioral, client-centered, and strength-based approaches. She is also trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a therapeutic technique that assists in reducing the intensity of emotions associated with disturbing life experiences; YogaCalm, an integrated wellness approach utilizing yoga movement, meditation and mindfulness; and a certified Victim Service Provider with the Iowa Organization for Victim Assistance.

Vizzions has been named Creative Loafing's 2014 "Best Fine Art Photographer" (readers choice) and 2015 "Best Cityscape Photographer" (critics pick); worked alongside international brands such as Adidas and artists such as Pharrell Williams; collaborated with local companies including #WeLoveATL, The Atlanta Opera, and Van Michael Salon; and covered many music festivals, among them Outkast's long awaited reunion series "Outkast ATLast." In hosting his own annual photo exhibition Wander Never Wonder, Vizzions connects local photographers and helps provide a platform for local artists to make money off of their craft. The artist and photojournalist is also deeply involved with the community of Atlanta, Georgia, often donating portions of his art sales to various local charities and foundations.

In Conversation: Zaiga Minka Thorson, Dana Keeton, & Ryan Vizzions will take place on February 23, the 6:30 p.m. program will be preceded by a 5 p.m. cash bar, and participation in the evening discussion is free. For more information, call (563)326-7804 and visit FiggeArtMuseum.org.

Photography exhibition at Sioux City Art Center tells story of the American West; Features Ryan Vizzions photographs of demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline

Mary Anne Redding, curator at the Sioux City Art Center, while discussing the center's new exhibition, "Magnetic West." Photo by Jim Hynds, Sioux City Journal

Via Sioux City Journal

November 29, 2020

By Dolly Butz

SIOUX CITY -- Nearly 130 photographs of various aspects of Western life cover the third floor gallery space at the Sioux City Art Center.

"Magnetic West: The Enduring Allure of the American West," which is organized by the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa, is the first photography exhibition of this scale organized and presented by an Iowa museum. The exhibition explores the complicated history of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean and touches on five interwoven themes: An American Eden, Theme and Variation, Identity and Experience, Going West and Home on the Range. 

Art Center Curator Mary Anne Redding said the earliest images in the exhibition are from the 1860s and 1870s. She said those images were used to create national parks and monuments in the late 1800s. 

"That was Andrew (Wallace's) premise for starting to look at how photography influenced then and continues to influence now how we understand the West," Redding said of Wallace, the Figge's director of collections and exhibitions, who curated "Magnetic West."

Mary Anne Redding, curator at the Sioux City Art Center, gestures toward "How the West Was One" by William Wilson while discussing the center's new exhibition, "Magnetic West."

She said Wallace also wanted to bring in "contemporary photographic voices," so many female, Native American, African American and Hispanic photographers' works are featured. 

"Traditionally, we have a Western European idea of what the West is, and so, a lot the photographs in this exhibition really say there are other voices that need to be part of this narrative," she said. "I do think that is the strength of the show."

You'll see Diné photographer William Wilson's self-portraits and a New Mexico moonrise by Ansel Adams, as well as photographs that touch on different aspects of Western life, including rodeo, architecture, car culture and demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Ryan Vizzions: "Defend The Sacred": Standing Rock, Cannon Ball, North Dakota, 2016

"In a lot of ways, these issues have never been resolved and we're still trying to figure it out," said Redding, who also worked with the Sioux City Public Museum to select 14 additional photographs for an auxiliary exhibition, which grounds the issues depicted in "Magnetic West" in Siouxland. 

Redding said the kinds of photographs included in "Magnetic West," which range from gelatin silver photographs to digital prints, are just as diverse as the subject matter. She pointed to a photograph of the Cerrillos Hills outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, which was taken by movie director Wim Wenders when he was scouting movie locations in the Southwest.

"It's so cinematic and it's just so romantic," she said. 

What really ties the whole show together, Redding said, are the same locations and iconic symbols of the West that photographers, both amateur and professional, are drawn to again and again, such as the Golden Gate Bridge and American bison.

"There's something for everyone to see. There's so many different points of entry," said Redding, who noted this is the last chance to see the exhibition, which debuted at the Figge over the summer. "It's here now through January 17, and then, all these photographs go back to their original owners, be it other museums, private collectors, the Figge."

STEPHEN WILKES TED TALK

Stephen Wilkes: Coney Island, Day To Night

Via TED
Ideas Worth Spreading

"Photographer Stephen Wilkes crafts stunning compositions of landscapes as they transition from day to night, exploring the space-time continuum within a two-dimensional still photograph. Journey with him to iconic locations like the Tournelle Bridge in Paris, El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and a life-giving watering hole in heart of the Serengeti in this tour of his art and process."

See more of Stephen Wilkes' photography here.

"When People Can See Time"

Via NPR All Tech Considered
February 19, 2016
Nina Gregory

Of all of the arts, photography may be the discipline most accustomed to the nudge of technology, and photographer and artist Stephen Wilkes fully embraces the challenge. His latest project, "Day to Night," takes on the idea of showcasing, in one composite still image, the transformation of a place over the course of a day.

Take his photo of Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. For 26 hours, Wilkes shot 2,200 photos without moving the camera and while suspended in the air in a tent-like structure with a little window, so that animals wouldn't see or hear him as he photographed them coming to a watering hole from sunrise to deep into the night.

"I photograph by hand; this is not a time lapse. ... It's my eye seeing very specific moments," Wilkes says. "I like to describe myself as a collector of magical moments."

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Day to Night, 2015

Courtesy of Stephen Wilkes                     

Once Wilkes has all the images, he picks the best moments of the day and the night and creates what he calls a master plate. Those images then get seamlessly blended into one single photograph, where time is on a diagonal vector, with sunrise beginning in the bottom right-hand corner. That process of creating a single image can take about four months — though it's photographed in a single day.

I spoke with Wilkes in Vancouver, ahead of his TED talk, about the powers of digital photography, the experience of looking in the face of time and the challenge of sharing emotion through an image. Below are some of the highlights of our conversation.

---

Interview Highlights

On watching animal life unfold during the Serengeti shoot

Times Square, NYC, Day to Night, 201   

 Courtesy of Stephen Wilkes 

          

I'm changing time within the picture. As the sun is rotating, light is changing and all these animals, you can see time change on the light in the animals. It's all based on time. ... (At) sunrise you begin to see the watering hole is quiet and the animals migrate in as the sun rises. Wildebeests and zebras graze together; one has terrible eyes and the other has lousy hearing — the blind leading the deaf. There are meerkats. It was like watching the movie Jungle Book. As time is changing, you see the sun getting higher, you see the light begins to rotate and starts to go behind the animals. I'm watching them. Guess who else is watching them? A lion.

They have this whole process of coming in and going out, it's a rhythm. I'm telling the story based on time. It's such a complicated process and yet there's so much luck involved.

Pont de la Tournelle, Paris, Day to Night, 2013      

Courtesy of Stephen Wilkes             

On evolving as a photographer

I discovered digital in 2000 and started to realize, because I had to come through the process of analog ... I wanted to push the medium outward. So what I've been exploring is this concept of day-to-night, where I change time within a photograph. I'm really exploring the space-time continuum within a two-dimensional photograph. And it's really cool because I can tell stories that photographs could never tell before. Compressing an entire day into a single image, the best moments, allows me to share things on a narrative level that you just couldn't see.

On the power of seeing the face of time

The most exciting part of it really is how people respond to the work. It's an amazing, emotional thing. When people can see time, the face of time in a way, it's this thing we can never put our hands around. But yet, when you look at it, it makes you feel a different way and there's an emotional thing that happens and that's exciting. I just think it's the best time to be alive as a photographer, really. I think as technology keeps evolving the things you could only imagine or dream are at your fingertips now. It's just about where you want to go.

View from The Savoy, London, Day to Night, 2013      

Courtesy of Stephen Wilkes             

On the advantages of digital photography

When you can capture an image on a silicon chip versus a piece of film you can see it instantly, that's the first thing. For me, when I do one of my photographs, I can shoot 2,500 images in a single day. Now, if I was doing that with an 8x10 camera, which is the image quality I have in my digital back*, that would be 2,500 sheets of 8x10 film. It would be impossible to do what I'm doing, just the visualization of that would be impossible — and financially, to boot. And my assistant would probably jump out of the cherry picker!

*Editor's Note: A digital back is a piece of equipment you can add to the back of a film camera to modify it to take digital images.

On the high level of detail in digital photography

So if I'm a storyteller, I love that, suddenly things that were insignificant are really significant now. And that's the power of what's happening now. Eventually photography is going to look like a window; you're going to have a visceral experience with my pictures on the wall. Because the way you'll see into my pictures is almost the way the eye sees, and that's the way it's going. For me, I want you to feel the way I felt when I stood there and took the picture.


On the future of photo printing
I work with a master printer in New York and I actually print on conventional photographic paper because of the depth perception. I really want to enhance that, but there are so many new technologies that are coming out in terms of 3-D printing and all kinds of different things. Who knows where we're going to be five, 10, 15 years from now based on what's happening and the speed of what's happening.



View the full Day To Night Collection here.

The Picture Show

Eerie Ellis Island, Then And Now

"Sinatra: The Photographs"

 

Sid Avery: Frank Sinatra at a Capitol Records recording session in 1958

There is a great article today in The Guardian about the forthcoming book "Sinatra: The Photographs":

"An impromptu gig with Nat King Cole, goofing around with the Rat Pack, chatting with George Harrison … the new book Sinatra: The Photographs captures the Chairman’s heydey as an entertainer, with rarely seen shots from the 1940s to the early 70s on set and in the studio."

Several photographs from the new book will be featured in the exhibition "The Broke The Mold: Photographs of ground-breaking entertainers" at Monroe Gallery November 27 - January 30, 2016. Copies of the new book are also available.

Joe McNally is the #1 Most Inspiring Photographer (Again)

 

 

 

2015 Survey Results: Joe McNally is the #1 Most Inspiring Photographer (Again)

Via Photoshelter

 

For the third year running, we’re excited to release our annual survey results from The Photographer’s Outlook on 2015. This survey, sent to thousands of photographers worldwide from the greater PhotoShelter community, aims to provide the industry with a solid understanding of what photographers hope to accomplish in the coming year – including how they plan to invest their money, hone their craft, and build a presence online.

As we did in 2014, this year’s survey compares the similarities and differences between the business goals and challenges among photo enthusiasts and professional photographers.* The survey includes responses from 7,408 people total.

 

For the complete overview of The Photographer’s Outlook on 2015, download the full survey results here.



GO WEST

Bill Ray: Hells Angels, Los Angeles, 1965  ©Time Inc.

 

 

See you at Photo LA, Booth #203 - Thursday, January 15 - Sunday.

Screening of the film Remembering Edward Weston

 

October 18, 2014

2:00 pm
Via The New Mexico Museum of Art

Celebrating its rich collection of photographs and the key role the medium has played in shaping New Mexico history, culture, and tourism, the museum presents a series of exhibitions in the year-long series Focus on Photography (March 7, 2014 – April 19, 2015). In conjunction with these exhibitions, the museum will host gallery talks by photographers as well as a photography film series:

October 18: Remembering Edward Weston is filled with stories and memories of this much-loved and influential photographer. The film includes interviews with two of Weston’s sons, his former wife Charis Wilson, historian Beaumont Newhall, and many others. Curator of Photography Katherine Ware will introduce the film with a short slide presentation about Edward Weston in New Mexico.

 

107 West Palace
Santa Fe, NM 87501
505.476.5072
www.nmartmuseum.org