Monday, April 1, 2013

Survey of five-decade career of photographer Steve Schapiro on view at Kunsthalle Rostock




US photographer Steve Schapiro poses next to some of his works during a press conference at the Kunsthalle museum in Rostock, northeastern Germany. From March 23 to May 5, 2013, the museum presents around 150 photographs by Schapiro in the exhibition titled "Steve Schapiro - Then and Now - A Retrospective". AFP PHOTO / BERND WUESTNECK   

Via Artdaily.org


ROSTOCK.- Steve Schapiro is the photographer behind countless now-classic portraits of rock stars, film stars and politicians from the 1960s and 70s. He is also an accomplished documentary photographer who recorded many of the greatest political and social upheavals of our times. While working as a 'special photographer' for the film studios, he designed several iconic film posters, most notably for Midnight Cowboy, Taxi Driver and The Godfather Part III. His extraordinary access has been the hallmark of an illustrious career.

A retrospective of Schapiro's work opened at the Kunsthalle Rostock, Museum of Modern Art in Germany on March 24, 2013. The show, which is curated by Dr. Ulrick Ptak, presents 150 photographs, many of them recently published for the first time in Schapiro's critically acclaimed retrospective Steve Schapiro: Then and Now (Hatje Cantz). The exhibition and companion book look back at Schapiro's diverse half-century career spanning 1961 to 2011. They portray the celebrities and politicians who shaped a generation, as well as new and unseen documentary work focusing on the marginalized and unidentified people on the street.

Then and Now includes whimsical portraits of the stars: Robert De Niro in full Taxi Driver combat costume, posed in front of his cab with a Mohican and an improbably chirpy smile; Jack Nicholson, nose bandaged, tongue out at the camera on the set of Chinatown; and Marlon Brando, grinning with theatrical devilishness while being made up for The Godfather.

Also gathered are portraits that include artists René Magritte, Nico, and Andy Warhol; film directors Robert Altman, Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorcese; film stars Drew Barrymore, Mia Farrow, Jodie Foster, Dustin Hoffman, Sophia Loren, Paul Newman and Robert Redford; and musicians David Bowie, Ray Charles, Simon and Garfunkel, Diana Ross, Ringo Starr, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, and Ike and Tina Turner.

When Schapiro started shooting in the sixties, it was the golden age of photojournalism. Schapiro's extensive work in this genre include his depiction of migrant workers in Arkansas, drug addicts in East Harlem, freedom bus riders, the Selma March to Montgomery, Alabama with Martin Luther King, Jr., and presidential campaigns, most notably that of Robert F. Kennedy. Among his most striking works is a triptych that presents photographs Schapiro took in Memphis in 1968 the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. while on assignment for Life. Schapiro was the only photographer to capture the ominous handprint of King's assassin on the wall above the bathtub in the boarding house bathroom from where the fatal shot was fired.

The thread that connects all of Schapiro's photographs is his humanistic approach to his work. Whether shooting a celebrity or an anonymous person he is searching for that iconic moment. In his essay in the book, curator and author Matthias Harder writes that Schapiro's work reflects "the spirit of the times. It is not only his famous individual photos and groups of works from his engagement with Hollywood that ensure him a firm place in the history of photography of the twentieth and twenty first centuries, but also the diversity of his subjects and the sovereign, continuing mastery of them over such a long period of time."

Born and raised in New York City, Steve Schapiro started taking photographs at age ten while at summer camp. He attended Amherst College and graduated from Bard College, and studied photography with the legendary W. Eugene Smith. As a budding photographer, he got an early break: an assignment from Life magazine. He has never stopped working since. His work has been published in prestigious magazines and on numerous covers around the world, including Life, Look, Vanity Fair, Paris Match, People, and Rolling Stone. Schapiro's photographs were included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 1968 exhibition Harlem On My Mind. His work can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian, The High Museum of Art, and the National Portrait Gallery. Schapiro's recent solo shows were in Los Angeles, Amsterdam, London and Paris. The Fotografiska Museum in Stockholm, Sweden presented a retrospective of his work in the spring of 2012. An exhibition of his work entitled Schapiro: Living America opened at the Center for Photography Lumiere Brothers, Moscow in the fall of 2012, and included 180 images.



Steve Schapiro's photographs will be on exhibit during the AIPAD Photography Show April 3 - 7, Monroe Gallery of Photography, Booth #419.


Friday, March 29, 2013

"a moving tribute to an excellent photographer that also speaks to the power of the medium itself"



Tim Hetherington takes cover as a US Black Hawk helicopter lands on a rooftop during 'Operation Rock Avalanche' in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan on October 20, 2007. Photo: Balazs Gardi

Via The Verge

HBO documentary on the life and death of conflict photographer Tim Hetherington premieres next month

Conflict photographers have the opportunity to create powerful and enduring images that can live on to define a time period — the downside is that they typically have to put themselves in harm's way to do so. Tim Hetherington, one of the more famous conflict photographers in recent memory, was killed while covering the front lines of Libyan city Misrata in April of 2011; now, his story will be told by his friend and filmmaker Sebastian Junger in Which Way is the Front Line From Here: The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington. Junger previous worked with Hetherington on Restrepo, a documentary about the Afghanistan war that premiered just before Hetherington's death.
 
The documentary, which was shown at this year's Sundance Film Festival, will make its HBO debut on April 18th. Judging from the quick trailer HBO has just released, we're expecting the documentary to be a moving tribute to an excellent photographer that also speaks to the power of the medium itself. For more about the film and Hetherington's career, check out this profile from Outside.
 
 
 

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Webcast: Arnold Newman's Life and Work



Via The Harry Ransom Center

Marianne Fulton, writer, teacher, and former chief curator of the George Eastman House, discusses the work of photographer Arnold Newman on Thursday, March 28, at 7 p.m.
 
 
The program is in conjunction with the exhibition Arnold Newman: Masterclass, which runs through May 12. The exhibition explores the career of Newman (1918–2006), who created iconic portraits of some of the most influential innovators, celebrities, and cultural figures of the twentieth century. Newman's archive resides at the Ransom Center.
 
Fulton wrote the introduction for Arnold Newman: At Work (2013), published by the University of Texas Press and Ransom Center. Fulton has worked in the field of photography as a curator, editor, archivist, and writer for over 30 years. From 1975 to 2002, Fulton served in a variety of positions, including chief curator, acting director, and senior scholar, at the George Eastman House.
 
The book will be available for purchase at the event.
 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Annenberg Space for Photography offers live programming during WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY Exhibit




LOS ANGELES-- The Annenberg Space for Photography has announced the lineup of speakers for their popular IRIS Nights lecture series presented in conjunction with the upcoming WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath exhibition.
 
While the Photography Space typically hosts IRIS Nights weekly on Thursday evenings, WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY curator Anne Wilkes Tucker and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographers David Hume Kennerly and Carolyn Cole will kick off the series with a special Saturday evening lecture on March 23, 2013.
 
WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY will open free to the public on March 23, 2013, and run through June 2, 2013. This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and is made possible with generous support from the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation. The exhibit encompasses over 150 images going as far back as 1887 through present-day and is arranged by themes presenting both the military and civilian points of view including the advent of war, daily routines, the fight itself, the aftermath, prisoners of war, refugees, remembrance and more.
  
Specific to the Los Angeles exhibit will be the Annenberg Space for Photography's original short documentary film entitled The War Photographers and digital image presentation produced by Arclight Productions. Together, they will feature over 500 photographs exclusive to the Photography Space from six acclaimed contemporary conflict photographers: Alexandra Avakian , Carolyn Cole , Ashley Gilbertson , Edouard H.R. Gluck , David Hume Kennerly and Joao Silva . The film offers intimate interviews that reveal experiences and life-threatening situations faced by war photographers and their subjects.
 
IRIS NIGHTS LECTURE SERIES
The Annenberg Space for Photography offers live programming through our IRIS Nights lecture series, a public program offered free of charge, by online reservation on a first-come, first-served basis. The series brings to life the most current exhibit with presentations by featured and guest photographers and notable experts. These programs give attendees unique access to the artists in an intimate setting.
 
All IRIS Nights lecture series will take place on Thursday evenings from 6:30pm-8pm unless otherwise noted. Schedule and participants are subject to change.
 
Saturday, March 23 - Anne Wilkes Tucker , Carolyn Cole and David Hume Kennerly WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: A Discussion Anne Wilkes Tucker has been the Gus and Lyndall Wortham Curator of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston since 1976. Tucker has curated over 40 exhibitions, including WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY, and was selected in 2011 as "America's Best Curator" by Time magazine.
 
Carolyn Cole is a multiple award-winning photographer and a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times. She has covered conflicts in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Haiti and Liberia, where she earned the Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the siege of Monrovia.
 
David Hume Kennerly won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Vietnam War. He has been shooting on the front lines of history for more than 45 years and has photographed eight wars, as many U.S. presidents, served as chief White House photographer for President Gerald R. Ford and was named "One of the 100 Most Important People in Photography" by American Photo.
 
March 28 - Sara Terry and Marissa Roth
War: Witnesses to Aftermath
Photographer Marissa Roth has spent 28 years working on a personal, global photo essay that addresses the immediate and lingering effects of war on women in different countries and cultures.

Photographer Sara Terry created the Aftermath Project, a nonprofit committed to educating the public in peace building and post-conflict studies. Both photographers will share images from their work and insights into the long-term consequences of conflict and the resilience of the human spirit.
 
April 4 - Alexandra Avakian
Malibu Teen To Conflict Photographer: Journeys In The Muslim World
Photojournalist Alexandra Avakian has been published in National Geographic, Time, LIFE, The New York Times Magazine and more. Her photographic and written memoir, Windows of the Soul: My Journeys in the Muslim World, was named as one of American Photo's year-end best.
 
April 11Peter van Agtmael
Disco Night Sept 11
Award-winning photographer Peter van Agtmael has documented the consequences of America's wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and at home. His journey and experiences of life during conflict will be discussed. A monograph of his work, 2nd Tour Hope I Don't Die, was published in 2009.
 
April 18 -Benjamin Lowy
Innovation in Documentary Storytelling
An award-winning photojournalist, Benjamin Lowy has embraced new technology and mediums to promote stories. Lowy will discuss his work in conflict zones and the U.S. His image of Hurricane Sandy graced the cover of Time magazine, the first camera-phone image to ever be so featured.
 
April 25 - Stephen Mayes and Michael Kamber
Tim Hetherington: A Very Personal War Two years after Tim Hetherington 's death while documenting the Libyan war, this lecture will explore alternative representations of conflict. Hetherington sought to shift the emphasis from the military hardware to the "software" of conflict, making war a personal matter. The discussion will explore the legacy of Hetherington's work with contributions from colleagues Stephen Mayes , Director of VII Photo in New York, and Michael Kamber , conflict photographer, author and co-founder of the Bronx Documentary Center.
 
May 2 - Ed Ou
Personal Stories in the Context of Breaking News 
Ed Ou is a Canadian photojournalist who has been bouncing around the Middle East, former Soviet Union, Africa and the Americas since 2006. With work recognized by POYi and World Press Photo among others, Ou will discuss personal stories of how people in the news are shaped and affected by the world changing around them.
 
May 9 - Donna De Cesare Children of War
Photographer/educator Donna De Cesare has spent two decades focusing on the lives of Central American children exposed first to war and later to gangs. Her newly published book Unsettled / Desasociego: Children in a World of Gangs is both a memoir and a visual history of her experiences. De Cesare teaches documentary photography at the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.
 
May 16 - Lynsey Addario
The Saturation of War
An American photojournalist based in London, Lynsey Addario photographs for The New York Times, National Geographic and Time. She will discuss her work documenting conflict over the past decade, and the challenges photographers face making compelling images from ongoing wars, when our society is saturated by these images.
 
Friday, May 17 - Slideshow Night is a special presentation that showcases hundreds of additional images related to the exhibit themes in WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY.
 
May 23 - Jeff & Andrew Topham
LIBERIA '77 – Photo is Life
In 2010, Canadian brothers Jeff and Andrew Topham returned to the war-torn West African country of their childhood, Liberia. Discovering that much of Liberia's photographic record of its peaceful past had been destroyed by war, they created a documentary and online photo project culminating in an exhibition currently housed at the National Museum in Monrovia. They will discuss the importance of photography in the rebuilding of a society devastated by war.
 
May 30 - Nina Berman
Evidence and Fantasy: The War at Home
Photographer, author and educator Nina Berman is known for her work photographing wounded American veterans including her 2006 " Marine Wedding " image. Presenting selections from work made since 9/11, she will explain her motivations and approaches to photographing war on the domestic front.
 
The photographs in WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY and content in IRIS Nights lectures may not be suitable for all visitors.
 
About the Annenberg Space for Photography
The Annenberg Space for Photography is a cultural destination dedicated to exhibiting compelling photography. The Space conveys a range of human experiences and serves as an expression of the philanthropic work of the Annenberg Foundation and its Directors. The intimate environment features state-of-the-art, high-definition digital technology as well as traditional prints by some of the world's most renowned and emerging photographers. It is the first solely photographic cultural destination in the Los Angeles area.
 
Annenberg Space for Photography
2000 Avenue of the Stars
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Tel: 213.403.3000
annenbergspaceforphotography.org
Wednesday through Friday: 11 am6 pm
Saturday: 11 am7:30 pm
Sunday: 11 am6 pm
Closed Mondays* and Tuesdays.
*We will be open Memorial Day, Monday, May 27th.
Admission is free.

SOURCE The Annenberg Foundation


RELATED LINKS
http://www.annenbergfoundation.org
http://www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org

Monday, March 18, 2013

Monroe Gallery at The 2013 AIPAD Photography Show



We are very pleased that Monroe Gallery of Photography will once again be exhibiting at the AIPAD Photography Show, one of the most important international photography art events. The AIPAD Photography Show will be presented by The Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), April 3 - 7, 2013.

Monroe Gallery will be in the same location as last year, Booth # 419, along the left aisle, near the Cafe.
We will be exhibiting specially selected work from the gallery's renowned collection of 20th and 21st Century master photojournalists. Among the highlights selected for this year's exhibition are:
 
Empire State Building, Hurricane Sandy, 2012

- Nina Berman




 
 
Apple Tree illuminated by gas flaring, Susquehanna County, 2011

 
 
 
 
 
  
 "I Am A Man", Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, March 28, 1968
- Ernest C. Withers  ©The Withers Family Trust


Throughout the show we are honored that several of our photographers will be present in our booth, including Nina Berman, Bill Eppridge, John Filo, John Loengard, Brian Hamill, Stephen Wilkes, and many others. Rosalind Withers, Board President of the Ernest C. Withers Collection Museum, will be in attendance announcing the appointment of Monroe Gallery of Photography as representative of the Ernest C. Withers Estate.

We look forward to seeing you at the exhibition.

Very truly yours,
 
Sid and Michelle Monroe
 

Show Hours:
Thursday, April 4 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday, April 5 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, April 6 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday, April 7 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Park Avenue Armory 643 Park Avenue (between 66th and 67th Streets)


Thursday, March 14, 2013

A Must-Have Book


Ashley Gilbertson/VII
During fierce fighting in the southern part of Fullujah, four wounded men surrendered to Marines from the Bravo company, 1st Battalion, 8th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. The men claimed they were students trying to escape the fight, Nov. 13, 2004



Last summer, we posted about the forthcoming publication of a groundbreaking new visual and oral history of America’s now ten-year conflict in the Middle East, "Photojournalists on War". The New York Times Lens blog today has featured  the book's introductory essay by Dexter Filkin, with a slide show selection of photographs from the book. Among the 39 photojournalists in the book are Andrea Bruce, Carolyn Cole, Stanley Greene, Tyler Hicks, Chris Hondros, Yuri Kozyrev, Khalid Mohammed and Joao Silva.

The exhibit “Invasion: Diaries and Memories of War in Iraq,” featuring work by Tim McLaughlin, Gary Knight and Peter Maass, opens March 14 at Mr. Kamber’s Bronx Documentary Center.



Related: Overexposed: A Photographer's War With PTSD

Monday, March 11, 2013

The excitement and frenzy of Beatlemania is captured in Bill Eppridge exhibit opening Tuesday at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Massachusets


 
The Beatles exiting Pan Am Flight 101 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Feb. 7, 1964. The photograph, taken by Bill Eppridge, is included in the exhibit (Photo by Bill Eppridge. All rights reserved.)


Via The Republican
By Ray Kelly, The Republican
on March 09, 2013

The excitement and frenzy of Beatlemania is captured in a photographic exhibit opening Tuesday at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield.

The black and white photographs, taken for CBS television and LIFE magazine, recall the arrival of the Fab Four in New York, their historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and much more.

Bill Eppridge, 75, of New Milford, Conn., a contract photographer for LIFE magazine at the time, is responsible for 33 of the 84 photographs in the exhibit. He was initially assigned to cover The Beatles’ airport arrival on Feb. 7, 1964. Instead, he photographed and chronicled their first six days in America.

When Eppridge arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport, he knew that long-haired musicians from England “who have caused a bit of a stir” were about to land.

“I thought this would be ‘four guys getting off a plane,’ but it turned out to be so much more,” Eppridge recalled. “Half of the New York photographer news corps was out there.”

Many members of the press expected a surly, possibly drugged out, rock’n’roll quartet to stumble off Pan Am Flight 101, but were instead charmed by The Beatles, he said.

“They were perfect gentlemen. These guys were laughing, smiling and treating the press with respect – perhaps deserved, perhaps not,” Eppridge said. “They were perfectly synchronized. One could start a sentence and the other could finish it. These guys were intelligent and they had control of the situation.”

He added, “There was something going on. I could feel it.”




Eppridge immediately called Richard Pollard, director of photography at LIFE, and offered to photograph The Beatles at the Plaza Hotel, Ed Sullivan show, Carnegie Hall performance and train trip to a Washington, D.C. concert

Unlike today when photographers typically deal with agents and handlers, Eppridge spoke directly with The Beatles.

Ringo Starr asked of him, “All right Mr. LIFE photographer, what can we do for you?”

“I told him, ‘Mr. Starr, just be yourselves and this will be painless,’” Eppridge responded.

A classical music aficionado, Eppridge experienced a Beatlemaniac’s fondest dream by witnessing the band’s first U.S. performances at CBS-TV Studio 50 (now the Ed Sullivan Theater), Carnegie Hall and the Washington D.C. Coliseum.

“The teenyboppers, the little girls, were just out of their minds. You couldn’t hear yourself from the screaming. You couldn’t hear the music at the concerts,” Eppridge said. “It was wonderfully crazy.”

During those six days, Eppridge shot nearly 100 rolls of 36-exposure film. Four photos were selected for use with LIFE’s Feb. 21, 1964 article "Yeah-Yeah-Yeah!"


life_feb_21_1964.jpg

Eppridge’s negatives went missing for several years before making their way back to him 1994. He is planning a book of his Beatles photography next year.

“As time goes by, you come away with a greater realization of what you have done,” Eppridge said.

While Eppridge never photographed the Fab Four again, he captured other historic moments for LIFE, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated.

He followed Robert F. Kennedy in the months leading up to his assassination on June 5, 1968 in Los Angeles.

Eppridge said he and other journalists viewed Kennedy as “totally reckless” for failing to take stringent security precautions in the wake of his brother’s assassination nearly five years earlier.

Eppridge said he was standing 12 feet behind Kennedy when the fatal shots rang out.

“Having been in Vietnam, I knew what incoming sounded like. The only thing I was wrong about was that I thought it was .25 caliber and it was .22,” Eppridge recalled.

Eppridge photographed the slain presidential candidate on the floor of the Ambassador Hotel.

“You operate on instinct. You do what you have to do,” he said. “You don’t even think about crying. I cried later.”

________

Bill Eppridge will share reflections on his memorable career at the D’Amour Museum on April 21 at 2 p.m.


IF YOU GO
Exhibit: “The Beatles! Backstage and Behind the Scenes”
When: Tuesday through June 2
Where: Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield
Cost: Adults, $15; seniors and college students, $10; ages 3 to 17 year, $8; ages 2 and under and museum members, free. Admission includes all four Springfield Museums. Springfield residents receive free general admission with proof of address
For more info: Call (413) 263-6800 or online at springfieldmuseums.org
 
 
Bill Eppridge will be in atendance during the AIPAD Photography Show in New York at Monroe Gallery of Photography, Booth #419, April 2 - 7, 2013.