WEEK IN REVIEW: Selected Photography Stories

Supermarket Pickets, New Jersey, 1963 © Steve Schapiro,

Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe

La Lettre de la Photographie has a wrap-up of the 2012 edition of Photo LA, reported by Jeff Dunus with a slide show of highlights here.

Vivian Maier: September 28, 1959, 108th St. East, New York

©Maloof Collection, Ltd.

 

Art Critic Roberta Smith of The New York Times writes a review of 2 concurrent Vivian Maier exhibitions in New York. The exhibition "Vivian Maier: Discovered" opens at Monroe Gallery of Photography on February 3, and continues through April 22.

Grey Villet: Mildred and Richard Loving

The International Center of Photography opened the exhibition "The Lovings Story: Photographs by Grey Villet".  The Amsterman News has the most recent article about this remarkable collection of photographs, taken by Life magazine photographer Grey Villet:

"Brown v. Board of Education. Plessy v. Ferguson. The list of notable court cases that blazed the trail for civil rights in our nation is long, but there is one case that many have forgotten but is no less important: Loving v. Virginia."

More about the Lovings photographs here.


Raw File Blog covers Tim Mantoani's  new book Behind Photographs: Archiving Photographic Legends. "The Tank Man of Tienanmen Square. Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston in victory. The portrait of the Afghan Girl on the cover of National Geographic. Many of us can automatically recall these photos in our heads, but far fewer can name the photographers who took them. Even fewer know what those photographers look like." We are very proud that several of Monroe gallery's photographers are featured.

WINTER FIESTA, VIVIAN MAIER, AND SKIING!

Vivian Maier: March 18, 1955, New York, NY

© 2012 Maloof Collection, Ltd

Santa Fe Winter Fiesta : January 27th - February 5th: The Second Annual, 10-day Santa Fe Winter Fiesta is presented by SantaFe.com and the City of Santa Fe and offers an exciting array of exhibits, concerts, parties, culinary experiences, comedy, dining, shopping, hotel and ski discounts and more to help you beat the winter blues! Full details here.

As part of the Fiesta, Monroe Gallery of Photography invites you to join us for the opening reception celebrating the exhibition "Vivian Maier: Discovered" on Friday, February 3, from 5 - 7 PM. The exhibit continues through April 27.

The name Vivian Maier was unfamiliar until recently, because the prolific street photographer was essentially unknown throughout her lifetime. Now, Maier is posthumously being recognized as one of the greatest American street photographers of the 20th Century. The recent discovery of Maier’s pictures has resounded through the photography world and her story has been sweeping the international press, including The New York Times, American Photo, NPR, La Republica, Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, CBS News, Smithsonian, and more. Please join us to view this remarkable discovery.

Additionally, the New Mexico Tourism Department has kicked off a year-long Centennial Promotion called "Get the Picture". Figure it out, photograph it, and file it online. Get out there and "Get the Picture" for a chance at the $10,000 prize.

 And, in case you didn't know, New Mexico ski resorts are off to the best start in years! Many of the best skiing conditions in the entire United States are right here!

GREY VILLET: THE LOVINGS

Grey Villet: Richard and Mildred Loving in the spring of 1965

UPDATED: La Lettre de la Photographie:
ICP: Grey Villet and the Loving Story


A must-see post on Wednesday's New York Times Lens Blog:

The Heart of the Matter: Love



Related:

New York Times Sunday Magazine: The Case of Loving v. Bigotry

John Edwin Mason: Grey Villet, Interracial Love, and Drag Racing, 1965

International Center of Photography Exhibit: The Loving Story: Photographs by Grey Villet

The Loving Story Movie Website

HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY: MUHAMMAD ALI

Steve Schapiro: Cassius Clay, Lexington, Kentucky, 1963

Via Life.com:
Muhammad Ali: The Greatest Pictures
Via TIME Light Box:
Happy Birthday, Muhammad Ali: 70 Iconic Images for 70 Years
Via ArtDaily.org:
Muhammad Ali is coming home to Louisville to celebrate another milestone — his 70th birthday:
Muhammad Ali returning to Kentucky for 70th birthday- fundraiser for center and museum organized

Via MSNBC:
Muhammad Ali soaked in familiar cheers and chants along with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" on Saturday night as friends and admirers celebrated the boxing champ's coming 70th birthday at a party in his Kentucky hometown.

As party-goers mingled in a lobby of the Muhammad Ali Center before the party, Ali walked slowly to a second-floor balcony overlooking them. The crowd immediately began to clap, then broke into chants of "Ali! Ali!" followed by singing as Ali watched for about two minutes.

Neil Leifer:

But my favorite subject, no matter what the sport, was and still is Muhammad Ali.

I took my most famous picture on May 25, 1965, when Ali stopped Sonny Liston with one punch in the first round of their heavyweight championship fight in Lewiston, Maine. When Sports Illustrated published its special issue, "The Century's Greatest Sports Photos," my picture of Ali standing over Liston was the cover, and I was honored and thrilled by SI's choice. "It is a great picture of a key moment, filled with emotion and destined to remain etched in the minds of its viewers," says Steve Fine, SI's director of photography. "You can describe this picture to someone, without showing it to them, and they know exactly what you're talking about. It's a true icon of sports photojournalism." This image represents the way people want to remember Ali: strength, confidence and braggadocio. A two-minute fight might be a major disappointment for the fans, but for a photographer, it doesn't matter whether it goes 15 rounds or 15 seconds. All any editor ever expected from me was a great knockout picture. In Lewiston, the knockout happened exactly where I wanted it to, and my only thought was, "Stay right there, Sonny! Please don't get up!"

 

Muhammad Ali Knocks Out Sonny Liston, Lewiston, Maine, May 25, 1965

“I think his message is the key to world peace, to peace here in this country. And I think Martin Luther King Jr. was so ahead of his time”

Steve Schapiro: Martin Luther King, Alabama, 1965

On this day, we remember Martin Luther King.

If you are in the Los Angeles area, it is the final day for Photo LA 2012:

Grey Villet, Steve Schapiro, and Paul Schutzer photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe, at Photo LA (Booth 500).

Related: Throngs reflect on Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream

The Politics of Photographs

PROGRAMMING

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15

All general admission and programming tickets can be purchased at boxoffice.

9:30 - 11:00 AM

Docent Tour with Scarlet Cheng


The Politics of Photographs

What do photographs tell us about history, society, and culture, and how? Photojournalism is seen as "objective" -- an event is captured, showing the principals involved. Yet the photographer's selection of subject matter, framing, angle, and context -- Henri Cartier-Bresson's "decisive moment" -- gives us a world of information and a distinct point of view. In fact, the more distinct and personal, the more memorable the image. Arts photography can do the same, although often with more subtlety and ambiguity. Examples of the politics of both photojournalism and arts photography will be examined in works on display at the fair.

Photo LA Features Work of Masters, Amateurs, the Avant-Garde and Everything in Between

Grey Villet and Paul Schutzer photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe. (Photo by Rebecca Joyce/special to LAist via Flickr)



Via LAist

By Rebecca Joyce/Special to LAist

You might think photography shows are for the collectors and connoisseurs. They’re for people who wear turtlenecks, and sport coats over t-shirts. For people with shiny shoes and who use words like “exquisite” when discussing an artist’s work. People who begin conversations by identifying the art school they attended and sound very important even when discussing lunch.

That’s what I thought, too.

Art buyers and collectors are very important—after all, patrons keep galleries open and make it possible for artists to keep working—but photography shows are for everyone.

In addition to a good collection of works by master photographers, such as Ansel Adams, Photo LA is the place to see what is new and fresh in the photography world, a world ever-growing and constantly changing. Photography is an accessible art, and Photo LA has done everything possible to make this show accessible as well. Anyone who is a lover of photography at any level can be inspired here. There are photographs of the Civil Rights Movement and other works from the 60s, 50s and even earlier.

But for those wanting to see more contemporary work, there is music photography by Jerome Brunet and Ingrid Herfelder, digital work by Catherine Nelson, photographs of urban decay by Thomas Jorion, and the very popular work of Jay Mark Johnson and Stephen Wilkes.

Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe. On the right is one of the Stephen Wilkes "Day to Night" photographs. (Photo by Rebecca Joyce/special to LAist via Flickr)

 

There are great resources for photographers on hand. Lucie Foundation, which sponsors photography scholarships and Month of Photography, is currently accepting submissions from photographers at all levels. Women in Photography International accepts submissions for year-round photography contests for women of all levels and provides a way for new photographers to interact with established artists.

Check out the event schedule. In addition to guided tours, there are lectures and panels with photographers, collectors, and curators. For new photographers, the Emerging Focus learning series has educational lectures on topics such as travel photography and fine art printing. A Canon representative will be teaching a class on working with RAW files.

If you need further proof that this show is for everyone, The Emerging Focus installation, featuring finalists of a photography contest open to amateurs, seemed to be the most popular and drew the largest crowd while I was there.

So, collectors, curators, students, artists, professionals, enthusiasts, just-got-a-camera-for-Christmas people, whether you love it or don’t understand it, this photography show is for you.
Photo LA is on exhibit at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium until Monday. For more information about the event check out its website.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@laist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

PHOTO LA 2012 OPENS

Monroe Gallery of Photography

The 21st edition of The International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition ("photo la") opened last night with a reception benefiting the Wallis Annenberg Department of Photography at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The fair continues through Monday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, hours and ticket information here.

We look forward to welcoming you at Booth B-500.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Framework

Via The Los Angeles Times: Capturing the world through photography, video and multimedia

Photo LA: Jan. 12-16

• Posted By: Kathy M.Y. Pyon
• Posted On: 3:24 p.m. | January 11, 2012
• VENUE:
  Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
• VENUE LINK:
  http://www.photola.com/
• VENUE LOCATION:
  1855 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401-3209
• VENUE TIMES:
  Friday, January 13, 2012 at 11:00 AM - Monday, January 16, 2012 at 6:00 PM
• VENUE ADMISSION:
  ranges from $10 – 30 depending on the program

This year the event kicks off with a benefit gala with special host Moby on Thursday.  Ticket are available at: http://www.lacma.org/event/photola or at the box office.

The 21st annual event celebrates photography from all around the world and provides easy access to participating dealers and galleries.  The event brings a plethora of photography for seasoned collectors as well as the newbies.  The four-day programming is rich with educational content that will surely fulfill any questions of photography answered by a range of professionals.  It’s a great way to gallery hop in an extremely convenient manner and, from my experience, a great avenue to discover new and up-and-coming artists.

The stunning photograph featured above is photographer Quentin Shih’s “The Stranger In The Glass Box” and will be on exhibit at the event.

(Visit Monroe Gallery of Photography in Booth B-500)

White House Photog Wrongfully Arrested Considering Suing After Being Banned

Continuing an alarming trend : The photographer who took the iconic portrait used in President Obama’s “Hope” poster lost his White House press credential in October after police arrested him on a charge of disorderly conduct. He is now considering a civil rights suit against the police. NY Times Lens Blog:

After an Arrest, Civil Rights Questions