Ernest Withers: A Life's Work Exhibit Opens Oct. 4, 2013

Ernest C. Withers: Sanitation Workers assemble in front of Clayborn Temple for a solidarity march, Memphis, TN, March 28, 1968 ©The Withers Trust



Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is pleased to present "Ernest Withers: A Life's Work". The exhibition opens with a public reception on Friday, October 4, from 5 - 7 PM with very special guest Rosalind Withers, Ernest's daughter and President/Board Chairman of the Withers Collection Trust. The exhibition continues through November 24, 2013.

Ernest C. Withers was, in his own words, 'a news photographer', 'recording events that were taking place.' Momentous events were occurring and he recorded them for newspapers and magazines across the country, covering dramatic civil rights stories, Memphis as the epicenter of the musical life of the nation, and the plethora of outstanding African American players that gave rise to Negro League baseball. His life's work is an encompassing and moving chronicle of the great American crusade of the second half of the Twentieth Century.

Ernest C. Withers' interest in photography began in his eighth grade year at a Memphis school. More than seventy years later, he continued to maintain a studio on Beale Street - once the Memphis epicenter of the musical life of the nation. After graduation from high school in 1941, Withers joined the army. He attended the Army School of Photography and later operated a freelance business photographing white soldiers stationed in Saipan. Withers died October 15, 2007, following complications from a stroke.

With his photographs appearing in Life, Time, Newsweek, Jet, and the Defender, among many others, Withers' more than 50 years of images validates the message emblazoned on his business card: PICTURES TELL THE STORY. (More)

Related: Monroe Gallery of Photography at the DC Fine Art Photography Fair Oct 4-6.

Monroe Gallery of Photography at the DC Fine Art Photography Fair

Monroe Gallery of Photography is pleased to be a returning exhibitor for the second Annual  DC Fine Art Photography Fair. The Fair takes place on Saturday and Sunday, October 5 and 6. The show will be held at the West Hall Conference Center, George Washington University's MOUNT VERNON CAMPUS, conveniently located at 2100 Foxhall Rd, NW, Washington, DC. [Whitehaven Parkway Entrance].

The Second Annual DC Fine Art Photography Fair will feature 18 of the best fine art photography galleries from across the United States, each representing the masters of photography, from classic 19th- and 20th-century photographs to cutting-edge contemporary images. 

Monroe Gallery will be exhibiting a special collection of significant 20th and 21st Century Photojournalism, featuring important civil rights photographs, selections from the acclaimed 1963 exhibition, a rare vintage portrait of Robert Capa taken on board a ship prior to the Normandy landing, Stephen Wilkes' stunning large format print of Hurricane Sandy, Seaside Heights, NJ, 2012, and much much, more.

Fair Hours:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4: Evening Preview by Invitation of the Exhibitors
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5: 12noon to 7pm
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6: 11am to 5pm

A Saturday morning panel discussion, “On Collecting Photography: Advice from the Experts,” will be held from 11am to 12noon in the West Hall Conference Center Black Box Theater.

All Saturday and Sunday events are FREE and open to the public. We look forward to seeing you!

Nina Berman Presents "Fractured:The Shale Play" at Photoville 2013

Via Photoville

PHOTOVILLE will return Brooklyn Bridge Park from September 19–29 on the Uplands of Pier 5
 
The rush to drill down and explode the ground in pursuit of energy is transforming the natural landscape in rural America. Photographing this kind of industrial activity presents a paradox. The visual spectacle is alluring, yet the effects are toxic and polluting. This form of natural gas drilling, also called fracking, is steeped in controversy and unknowns. In these images, all made in rural Pennsylvania, I sought to capture the strange beckoning and fear where the landscapes shifts from natural to industrial, where what appears as rays of sunshine are actually methane flares; where pitch dark dirt roads, end in a burst of artificial light. In this unsettling environment, I include portraits of individuals who are trapped amid this altered, contaminated landscape.

Related Programming:

Artist Talk: Nina Berman, Fracking the Marcellus Shale

2:50 – 3:50pm | Saturday 9/28

Nina Berman is a documentary photographer, author and educator, whose photographs and videos have been exhibited at more than 90 venues including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Portland Art Museum, Dublin Contemporary and the Museum for Modern Art, (MMK) Frankfurt. She’s received awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts, (NYFA), the Open Society Foundation, World Press Photo and Hasselblad. She is the author of two monographs: Purple Hearts – Back from Iraq, and Homeland, which examine the aftermath of war and the militarization of American life. She lives in New York City, is an associate professor at Columbia University and is a member of the Amsterdam based NOOR photo collective.

9.11.13

 

 ©Carolyn Schaefer

World Trade Center and Washington Square Arch, New York, 1998

 

 

 

 

One Life: Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Bob Adelman (born 1930)

Via The National Portrait Gallery


Prologue

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. . . .
Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

-- Martin Luther King Jr.


Under the inspired leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968), nonviolent protest became the defining feature of the modern civil rights movement in America. A brilliant strategist, King first demonstrated the efficacy of passive resistance in 1955–56, while helping to lead the prolonged bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, that succeeded in dismantling bus segregation laws. Fresh from the victory that brought him national recognition, the charismatic King cofounded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and took the lead in directing its civil rights initiatives. In a carefully orchestrated campaign of peaceful protest to expose and defeat racial injustice, King awakened the nation’s conscience and galvanized support for the landmark civil rights legislation of the 1960s. Honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, he took a public stand against American involvement in the Vietnam War and also became a vocal advocate for those living in poverty. King’s words were as powerful as his deeds, and his moving and eloquent addresses, which gave hope to millions, continue to inspire people throughout the world.

Unless otherwise noted, all images are from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy ride the first integrated bus in Montgomery, Alabama Ernest Withers (1922–2007)
Gelatin silver print, 1956 (printed later)

King proved to be the ideal choice to orchestrate and sustain the Montgomery bus boycott. As a relative newcomer to Montgomery, he was able to bring together all factions of the black community without regard to past rivalries. Through inspirational addresses delivered at mass meetings in Montgomery’s black churches, King galvanized support for the boycott and clearly articulated the case for nonviolent action, declaring, “We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love; we must meet physical force with soul force.” He found a strong ally in fellow Montgomery minister Ralph Abernathy, and during the course of the boycott the two men forged a strong working relationship and a deep friendship. Continuing for an unprecedented 381 days, the bus boycott ended only after the United States Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional. When the first integrated bus rolled through Montgomery on December 21, 1956, King and Abernathy sat side by side.  (Via National Portriat Gallery)



Selected Portraits / Curator's Statement

As we mark the fiftieth anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, I believe it is important to remember King not merely as a dreamer but as a doer. In his thirteen years of public life as an advocate for civil rights, economic opportunity, and world peace, King motivated others not only by communicating his vision for a brighter future but by acting boldly to challenge injustice. Despite enormous odds and the ever-present risk of failure, King led by example, exhibiting courage and character as he maintained his steadfast commitment to nonviolent resistance and direct action. Anyone can dream of a better and more just world. Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to making that dream a reality.

—Ann M. Shumard, Senior Curator of Photographs

Watch: Ann Shumard, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s senior curator of photographs, on the exhibit, “One Life: Martin Luther King Jr

This exhibition has been funded by the Guenther and Siewchin Yong Sommer Endowment Fund and an anonymous donor.


Visit the Exhibition: Information here

 

Martin Luther King Marching for Voting Rights with John Lewis, Reverend Jesse Douglas, James Forman and Ralph Abernathy, Selma, 1965

Steve Schapiro

New doc exposes photo-snapping nanny Vivian Maier

Via The Globe and Mail
PublishedSunday, Sep. 08 2013, 4:00 PM EDT
Last updatedMonday, Sep. 09 2013, 10:26 AM EDT


"Finding Vivian Maier represents the resumption of the quest. Not only is Maloof a major presence and voice in its 83 minutes, he’s also the film’s co-producer, co-writer and cinematographer. Poignant, not a little sad, occasionally disturbing, the documentary does a yeoman’s job filling in quite a few of the blanks in the Maier biography and, by extension, her photographic practice. Who knew she went on a solo, around-the-world trip in 1959? Or that she tried to go into the postcard business in France? Or that she could be “mean” to some of her young charges? Still, as Roy Orbison would put it, she’s very much “a mystery girl” and likely will remain that way. This is not an entirely bad state of affairs, especially for her art. The great thing about Maier initially was that she seemed to come out of nowhere to posthumously elbow her way near the top of the photographic class. All there was was the art – pure, mysterious, uncompromised by gossip, New Yorker profiles, tweets, visits by TV crews to her nursing home. What we knew is what she saw and we saw that it was good."

"In a digital world, the pre-eminence of Vietnam-era photography is unlikely ever to be duplicated"

Eddie Adams/©AP Street Execution of a Viet Cong Prisoner, Saigon, 1968

 

Via The New York Times:


"Perhaps even more viscerally even than on television, America’s most wrenching war in our time hit home in photographs, including these three searing prize-winning images from The Associated Press newsmen Malcolm W. Browne, Eddie Adams and Nick Ut. They are the subject of retrospectives now, in a new book and accompanying exhibitions.
      

No single news source did more to document the bitter and costly struggle against North Vietnamese Communist regulars and Vietcong insurgents, and to turn the home front against the war, than The A.P."  Full article here.

PHOTOJOURNALISTS ON WAR AT 25TH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PHOTOJOURNALISM

KAMBER'S ACCLAIMED BOOK ABOUT THE IRAQ WAR TO BE FEATURED AT 25TH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PHOTOJOURNALISM

VISA POUR L'IMAGE, PERPIGNAN, SEPTEMBER 5 AND 6, 2013

A multi-media piece on Photojournalists on War: The Untold Stories from Iraq

(University of Texas Press) by Michael Kamber with a foreword by Dexter Filkins will be projected during the evening screening tonight, Thursday, September 5, at this year's international photojournalism festival at Perpignan in France. On Friday, September 6 at 16:00 hours, there will be a book signing with Michael Kamber and some of the photographers featured in the book in the courtyard of Le Poudrière near the Festival's bookshop, The Chapitre, where the book can be bought.

Photojournalists on War (University of Texas Press), which published in May of 2013 and has been receiving critical acclaim worldwide, is a ground breaking new visual and oral history of America's nine-year conflict in the Middle East. With visceral, previously unpublished photographs and eyewitness accounts by the world's top news photographers, Michael Kamber, a writer and photojournalist for over 25 years, interviewed thirty nine colleagues for the book, many of them from leading news organizations including Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, the Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, Magnum, Newsweek, The New York Times, Paris Match, Reuters, Time, The Times of London, VII Photo Agency, and The Washington Post.

 

Photojournalists on War photographers are: Lynsey Addario * Christoph Bangert * Patrick Baz * Nina Berman * Ben Brody * Andrea Bruce * Guy Calaf * Patrick Chauvel * Alan Chin * Carolyn Cole * Jerome Delay * Marco Di Lauro * Ashley Gilbertson * Stanley Greene *Todd Heisler * Tyler Hicks * Eros Hoagland * Chris Hondros * Ed Kashi * Karim Ben Khelifa * Wathiq Khuzaie * Gary Knight * Yuri Kozyrev * Rita Leistner * Benjamin Lowy * Zoriah Miller * Khalid Mohammed * John Moore * Peter Nicholls * Farah Nosh * Gilles Peress * Scott Peterson * Lucian Read * Eugene Richards * Ahmad Al-Rubaye * João Silva * Stephanie Sinclair * Bruno Stevens * Peter van Agtmael

Michael Kamber (www.kamberphoto.com) was the Times' principal photographer in Baghdad in 2007, the bloodiest year of the war. Other conflicts he has covered for the Times include Somalia, Afghanistan, the Congo, and Liberia. Kamber is an adjunct professor at Columbia University, and has taught at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, and the International Center of Photography. He is the founder of the Bronx Documentary Center (www.bronxdoc.org) and is the recipient of a World Press Photo and many other awards.

ISBN: 978-0-292-74408-0

$65.00 hardcover
10 x 12 inches, 288 pages
166 color and b&w photos

                     Publisher Website: here

 Media Contact: Andrea Smith, andreasmith202@gmail.com; 646-220-5950

Bob Gomel's 80th Birthday Photo Montage

 

A video that took 80 years to make. The LIFE and times of my father, Photographer BOB GOMEL. If he is not in the photo, he took the photo.

My dad was born (1933) and raised in New York City. After serving in the Navy, he began working for LIFE in 1959, producing many memorable images. When LIFE ceased being a weekly in the early 1970s, he began taking photographs for other major magazines. Also in the 1970s, he branched out into advertising photography.
--Cory Gomel

Related:

'One Night In Miami', More Than Clay Beats Liston

Acclaimed LIFE photographer Bob Gomel looks back

BOB GOMEL: LIFE IN THE 1960'S

Unpublished JFK Photos: Houston Remembers President Kennedy's 1962        "Moon Speech" At Rice Stadium

Bob Gomel: “Photography is all about having something to say before you pick the camera up to your eye and push the button”

Weekend To Do: 3 Years of Le Journal de la Photographie

Last evening the shocking news hit our inbox, La Journal de la Photographie was shutting down:

Goodbye !
by Jean-Jacques Naudet

There are limits that should never be crossed: that of showing disrespect to co-workers. These limits have all been violated. Unfulfilled promises, and commitments, technological improvements ignored, payments due canceled or denied, the last six months have been a living nightmare .The Team of the Journal and I draw the line. It's over, this is our last issue.

One should not scorn with impunity a great team who for nearly three years worked to help create the Journal , developed and led it to where it is today. The Journal was a concept, and it was mine, but above all it was a team who day after day showed passion, dedication and enthusiasm. There is sadness, bitterness, regret, of course. The Journal was you, every day more numerous and passionate.
Thank you, thank you to: Paul Alessandrini, Pauline Auzou, Elizabeth Avedon, Eliseo Barbàra, Karyn Bauer, Molly Benn, Frédéric Bourret, Marine Cabos, José Carlos Joaquim, Christian Caujolle, Céline Chevallier, Laurence Cornet, Jonas Cuénin, Stéphanie de Rougé, Gilles Decamps, Xavier Derache, Juliette Deschodt, Lola Dolfy, Virginie Drujon-Kippelen, Jeff Dunas, Wilfrid Estève, Sybile Girault, Eva Gravayat, Emmanuel Grynszpan, Sophie Hedtmann, Greg Hermann, Laura Incardona, Peter C. Jones, Fanny Lambert, Olivier Laurent, John Loengard, Christophe Lunn, Paul Melcher, Severine Morel, Yan Morvan, Magnus Naddermier, Patricia Nagy, Bernard Perrine, Anna-Maria Pfab, Michel Philippot, Michel Puech, Sylvie Rebbot, Damien Robert, Andy Romanoff, Miriam Rosen, Sara Rosen, Samantha Rouault, David Schonauer, Antoine Soubrier, Alison Stieven-Taylor, Emiliana Tedesco, Michael Verger, Ericka Weidmann.

And if I dare, it is only goodbye for now.
Jean-Jacques Naudet
julesnaudet@aol.com

We suggest you take the time to visit the archives and read 3 years of some of the best photographty related content.

UPDATE - Le Journal is off the internet as of Saturday, August 31. All links are now dead.

Full archive of posted articles here

and a few posts about our photographers

Santa Fe, rétrospective Bill Eppridge

LIFE : Robert Kennedy dying by Bill Eppridge

Santa Fe : Stephen Wilkes

Santa Fe: Mark Shaw The Kennedys