FREEDOM SUMMER

 

 

 

 

 

In the hot and deadly summer of 1964, the nation’s eyes were riveted on Mississippi.

 

 



Over ten memorable weeks known as Freedom Summer, more than 700 student volunteers joined with organizers and local African Americans in an historic effort to shatter the foundations of white supremacy in Mississippi, the nation’s most segregated state. The summer was marked by sustained and deadly violence, including the notorious murders of three civil rights workers, countless beatings, the burning of thirty-five churches, and the bombing of seventy homes and community centers.

In the face of this violence, these organizers, volunteers, and Mississippians worked together to canvass for voter registration, create Freedom Schools, and establish an alternative challenge to the State Democratic Party — the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Borne of Freedom Summer, and in response to the challenges of registering voters directly within hostile Mississippi, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party registered its own voters outside of the discriminatory system, ultimately sending a delegation of 68 members to attend the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City to confront and unseat the all-white delegation.

Directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker and MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders, The Murder of Emmett Till), FREEDOM SUMMER highlights an overlooked but essential element of the Civil Rights Movement: the patient and long-term efforts by both outside activists and local citizens in Mississippi to organize communities and register black voters — even in the face of intimidation, physical violence and death. The Freedom Summer story reminds us that the movement that ended segregation was far more complex than most of us know.

American Experience will broadcast the film this summer, which marks both the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer and the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder decision, which struck down key protections afforded by the landmark civil rights legislation borne of the political momentum generated by this historical movement — The Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Join  the Bronx Documentary Center this Saturday, July 12, at 8:15 PM for Freedom Summer
Film by Emmy award-winner Stanley Nelson followed by panel discussion with veterans of the 1964 Freedom Rides. The event is part of the Bronx Documentary Center’s summer exhibition and program series, The 60s: Decade of Change.

Watch online via PBS here.

Related: June 21, 1964: The Murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner

 

Happy Fourth of July.....

Steve Schapiro: "Be Happy", Fourth of July, Michigan City, Indiana, 2000

JULY 4 IN SANTA FE

© Steve Schapiro: Boy with Flag, Selma March, 1965

2014 Pancakes on the Plaza



It's almost automatic. When locals think Fourth of July in Santa Fe, Pancakes On The Plaza comes to mind first. From the deliciousness of the pancakes to the cool cars on display ... from the toe-tapping music to the unique art show, Pancakes On The Plaza has something for everyone. And as it brings the communities of Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico together to celebrate our nation's birthday, the proceeds generated from Pancakes on the Plaza make a big difference in the lives of people in need.

Get All Your Pancake Info here


Then, stroll over and preview the Steve Schapiro exhibition "Once Upon A Time in America". The gallery will be open Friday, July 4 from 9 to 3, and Saturday July 5 from 10 - 5. There will be a public reception welcoming the renowned photographer Steve Schapiro to Santa Fe and celebrating the official opening of his exhibit from 5 - 7 Saturday evening.

Once Upon a Time… Veteran photog Steve Schapiro serves up poignant history

Steve Schapiro: Boy with Flag, Selma March, 1965

Via The Santa Fe Reporter
July 1, 2014
By Enrique Limón


 More than 50 iconic photographs by LIFE veteran Steve Schapiro go on display this Saturday at Monroe Gallery’s Once Upon a Time in America.


Over the last five decades, Schapiro has documented the transcendent and the mundane surrounding some of the country’s greatest battles, accomplishments and cultural milestones—ranging from Robert F.Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign to candid moments depicting Marlon Brando on the set of The Godfather.


 A lifelong practitioner of the craft, Schapiro developed a love for photography at age 9, when he would try to emulate the shots of the father of photojournalism, Henri Cartier-Bresson.


“This is a show about America and different aspects of America,” Schapiro tells SFR from his Chicago home.


 Aspects like 1965’s MLK-led Selma to Montgomery marches.


 “It was really a turning point, in the sense that so many people were mobilized,” Schapiro reminisces, “because, really what a lot of the Civil Rights movement was about was trying to energize people in the South—particularly black people—to vote and to feel that it was safe to vote and that they could vote, despite the fact that the culture of the times was against them.”


Witnessing several interruptions and threats of violence during the marches, Schapiro kept on shooting and at one point captured a youth resting under the shadow of an American flag.


“It’s symbolic of the spirit that kids have regarding their feelings that things were only going to get better, and that nonviolence was the proper course to take."


That particular picture wasn’t selected by magazine editors at the time, but was like many in his oeuvre, one that came to be by chance after he went through his old contact sheets.


 “Sometimes you look at pictures and you don’t know why they’re iconic or why people relate to them,” he says. “It’s a subtle thing, but there are just moments where all of that happens and the image presents a statement that goes in some ways beyond what you’re seeing.”


 Once Upon a Time in America
Opening Reception with Steve Schapiro: 5-7 pm Saturday, July 5
Exhibition continues through September 21, 2014
 Monroe Gallery of Photography
112 Don Gaspar Ave., 992-0800
www.monroegallery.com

STEVE SCHAPIRO: Once Upon A Time In America

Steve Schapiro: Entering Montgomery, Selma March, 1965

One of the most respected American documentary photographers, Steve Schapiro has photographed American history, and the fractured fabric of contemporary American life, over the last five decades. The list of people Steve Schapiro has photographed during his career reads like a Who's Who of the most influential politicians, celebrities and newsmakers in contemporary American history.


Join us Saturday, July 5, from 5 - 7 PM for a public reception with Steve Schapiro for the opening of the new exhibition "Once Upon A Time in America".


Steve Schapiro discovered photography at age of nine at a summer camp. Excited by the camera's potential, he would spend the next decades prowling the streets of his native New York trying to emulate the work of the great French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Schapiro was a disciple of the great photographer W. Eugene Smith, and shared Smith's passion for black and white documentary work. From the beginning of Schapiro's career, he had already set a mission for himself: to chronicle the "American Life". His career in photography began in 1960 with personal documentary projects on "Arkansas Migrant Workers" and "Narcotics Addiction in East Harlem". Schapiro became involved in many civil rights stories including the Selma March and covering Martin Luther King; he traveled with Bobby Kennedy on his Senate campaign and Presidential campaign; and did photo essays on Haight Ashbury, the Pine Ridge Sioux Indian Reservation, and Protest in America. He photographed Andy Warhol and the New York art scene, John and Jacqueline Kennedy, poodles, beauty parlors, and performances at the famous Apollo Theater in New York. He also collaborated on projects for record covers and related art. As picture magazines declined in the 1970's and 80's he continued documentary work but also produced advertising material, publicity stills and posters for films, including, The Godfather, Rambo, The Way We Were, Risky Business, Taxi Driver, and Midnight Cowboy.

Related: The Santa Fe Reporter  Once Upon a Time… Veteran photog Steve Schapiro serves up poignant history

REVIEW SANTA FE JUNE 26 - 29

"Review Santa Fe is the premier juried portfolio review event in the world. Considered one of the most important events for photographers who seek career advancement, Review Santa Fe is designed to facilitate relationships between photographers and leading industry professionals looking for new work.

Nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain, up to 100 photographers meet with up to 45 of today’s most relevant and esteemed reviewers comprised of curators, editors, publishers, gallerists and others who can offer professional development advice and opportunities."

See the Review Santa Fe 100

CENTER is expanding the long-standing conference Review Santa Fe, to include more exhibitions, ongoing artist’s presentations, a night of Portfolio Viewing and a Party in Black & White. Please join us in celebrating our favorite medium with many public programs before and throughout the weekend.

PHOTO EXHIBITION

May 30 – August 1, Alumni exhibit at the Marion Center

PHOTO EXHIBITION

June 14 – August 10, The Curve exhibition at the CCA

WORKSHOP

June 25-26, Preparing for Portfolio Reviews

PORTFOLIO VIEWING

June 27, Review Santa Fe 100 at the Farmer’s Market Pavilion

ARTIST’S PRESENTATIONS

June 27-28, hear from the artists at Zane Bennett Contemporary Art

PARTY IN BLACK & WHITE

June 28, Print auction and more at the CCA

Click to learn more about the full schedule of events.

HAPPY SUMMER

John Dominis: Going Fishing, Texas, 1953

©Time Inc.

Happy first day of summer!

June 21, 1964: The Murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner

Bill Eppridge: Mrs. Chaney and young Ben, James Chaney funeral, Meridian, Mississippi, 1964

June 21, 1964: The Murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner

Steve Schapiro: John Lewis, Clarksdale, Mississippi, 1965

Rep. John Lewis 50th Anniversary of Mississippi Freedom Summer and the Lives of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner

The 50th Anniversary of Mississippi Freedom Summer

Jeff Widener, the photographer behind Tiananmen 'tank man' image

June 5, 1989, Tiananmen Square: A day after the military opened fire on protestors, photographer Jeff Widener was setting up the shot for the now iconic "tank man" image: "I was leaning over the balcony aiming at this row of tanks, and the guy walks out with this shopping bag and I was thinking 'the guy is going to ruin my composition.'" The final photo won the Scoop Award in France, the Chia Sardina Award in Italy, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize

The Charlie Rose Show:  Charlie Rose has a conversation with award-winning photojournalist Jeff Widener who took one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century

Time LightBox: Tank Man at 25: Behind the Iconic Tiananmen Square Photo


Bloomberg TV: `Tank Man’ Photographer Remembers Tiananmen Square


Voice of America: Q&A with Jeff Widener: 'Tank Man' Photographer



Jeff Widener is the photographer who took the famous ‘Tank Man’ photograph near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, during a crackdown on pro-democracy students that stunned the world. On the eve of the 25^th anniversary of the photograph, interviews with Weidner are featured in many news outlets, a few are linked below.


CNN: Jeff Widener, the photographer behind Tiananmen 'tank man' image


Widener: 'Tank Man photo changed my life'


The New York Times: 25 Years Later, Details Emerge of Army’s Chaos Before Tiananmen Square


Wall Street Journal: Forgotten Negatives From the ‘Tank Man’ Photographer


South China Daily Post: 'Many have forgotten the brief moment China was free', says Tiananmen 'tank man' photographer


Daily Mail: Tiananmen Square 'Tank Man' photographer shares forgotten negatives from bloody government crackdown on 25th anniversary



"Each year in the run-up to the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square killings, China tries to intimidate journalists into silence. The 25th anniversary seems to have prompted an even broader crackdown," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney from New York.

Bedrooms of the Fallen: Honoring the Casualties of War

BEDROOMS OF THE FALLEN

Over 5,000 men and women have died serving the United States in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This is a project about who they were - sons, daughters, sisters, brothers - and the bedrooms which they once called their own.

About This Project

These bedrooms once belonged to men and women who died fighting in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These fallen men and women were blown up by IEDs, RPGs, hand grenades and suicide bombers. They were shot down in ambushes and by snipers. They died in helicopters, in humvees, and in tanks. It all took place thousands of miles away from home, and the country they fought to defend.

The purpose of this project is to honor these fallen – not simply as soldiers, marines, airmen and seamen, but as sons, daughters, sisters and brothers – and to remind us that before they fought, they lived, and they slept, just like us, at home.

Bedrooms of the Fallen was conceived in 2007 as a way to memorialize soldiers and marines who died in Iraq. It was expanded to include casualties from Afghanistan in 2009. Order the book here.



Related: Time LightBox
Bedrooms of the Fallen: Honoring the Casualties of War