"The fact journalists were arrested for documenting events should concern all who believe in the free flow of information. "

 Via The Santa Fe New Mexican "Our View"

May 21, 2024

Journalists must be able to do their jobs

Journalists have no right to break the law in covering stories of public interest — that goes without saying even though the Constitution’s First Amendment clearly protects freedom of press. That freedom includes gathering the news, not just its publication.

Because of that protection, news reporters and photographers must be left alone to do their jobs. That’s especially true in a breaking-news situation in which impartial witness is essential. That’s one — but only one — reason police officers’ decision to arrest a reporter and photographer on the University of New Mexico campus while they documented the clearing of an encampment of student protesters is so distressing.

Independent journalist Bryant Furlow and photographer Tara Armijo-Prewitt — a married couple — were at the campus Wednesday morning to observe what likely would be the last days of the encampments. Furlow said he accompanied Armijo-Prewitt, who had been documenting the weeks-long protests, early Wednesday because UNM President Garnett Stokes had said the day before that police would be tearing the camps down.

Like reporters everywhere, Furlow wanted to be on the ground as news was happening. As with any potential clash between police and protestors, the public interest is clear. Journalists must be allowed to do their work. That did not happen last week.

According to a statement released through New Mexico In Depth — an online organization to which Furlow often contributes — the reporter gave his account of events, citing his request for information from officers on where to stand and his willingness to follow police instructions. He said he also informed officers he was a member of the media.

Nevertheless, both Furlow and Armijo-Prewitt were arrested.

The fact journalists were arrested for documenting events should concern all who believe in the free flow of information. Both state police and UNM campus police were involved in removing the encampments. Their bosses — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Stokes — should be investigating to find out why journalists doing their jobs and complying with officers were arrested.

The arrest after a reporter asked for a badge number and while photographing police actions is particularly troubling. It shows an apparent unwillingness on the part of police to have their actions documented for the public to see.

As Foundation for Open Government Executive Director Melanie Majors said, “If the media is arrested for doing their job, where does that leave the rest of us?”

The two, according to Furlow’s statement, were charged with criminal trespass and wrongful use of public property. They spent about 12 hours in custody after their arrests. Campus police made the arrests, and the correct action now is to drop the charges and apologize.

Further, given the tenor of the times — these protests are not going away — police at every level must be better educated about the rights of the media. Officers must understand they have no right to stop journalists from doing their jobs. In fact, when they do so, those officers are violating the Constitution.

There can be no freedom of the press without freedom to gather the news. Period.

 Statement from New Mexico reporter about his arrest at UNM encampment protest 

“Upon arriving on the scene, I asked officers where news media were permitted to stand to document the operation and did not receive an answer. I asked officers several times if there was a public information officer on scene with whom I could speak and was told there was not. I also inquired about who was in charge but got no response. We at all times followed instructions we received from police and stayed behind the yellow police tape. We were arrested while photographing the operation and shortly after asking an NMSP officer for his badge number and name. As I was being arrested, I said I was a member of the press repeatedly and loudly. 

“We spent approximately 12 hours in custody following our arrests. 

“We want to secure legal representation to fight the criminal charges before we speak further about our arrests.

“Thank you.” 

Save the date June 8 for a Gallery Talk With Amalie R. Rothschild

 

Amalie R. Rothschild

Janis and Tina, Madison Square Garden, November 27, 1969

Gallery Talk With Amalie R. Rothschild

Award-winning photographer, filmmaker and author of “Live At The Fillmore East”

Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is pleased to announce a gallery talk, free and open to the public, with acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Amalie R. Rothschild on Saturday, June 8. RSVP is essentialRSVP is essential, seating is limited and the talk will begin promptly at 4:30. A special selection of Rothschild’s rock photographs will be on exhibit alongside the current “1964” exhibit. current “1964” exhibit.

An award winning filmmaker and photographer, Rothschild studied with Harry Callahan at RISD and Paul Caponigro at NYU where she made her first film; it was shown at the 1970 New York Film Festival.

She is noted for her documentaries about social issues as revealed through the lives of people in the arts, and for her photographs of seminal rock events, venues and musicians from 1968 to 1974. She was a member of the Joshua Light Show at the Fillmore East Theater in New York producing special effects photography, slides, graphics, films and film loops used during performances and was considered the theater’s unofficial house photographer. She had unlimited access onstage and backstage to all the happenings at the Fillmore East, and was on staff at the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

During that period she photographed most of the major rock music events on the East Coast including the 1969 Newport Festival, Tanglewood 1969 & 1970, The Who’s U.S. premiere of their rock opera Tommy and the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden, Bob Dylan’s 1974 tour, and in England the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, as well as anti-war/peace demonstrations in the U.S. during the 1960s. Her monograph “Live at the Fillmore East: A Photographic Memoir,” was published in 1999.

In this talk she will discuss how being in the right place at the right time, and the accident of her documentary impulses, led her to record the birth of rock theater and how this created a 20,000 picture archive which has sustained her professionally into her 70s.

Gallery hours are 10 to 5 Daily. Admission is free. For further information, please call: 505.992.0800; E-mail: info@monroegallery.com. Both exhibitions continue through June 23, 2024.

Out There: When I’m (19)64

 Via Pasatiempo

May 17, 2024

Steve Schapiro: "Freedom Now", Canton, Ohio, 1964

Not to make anyone feel elderly, but the 1960s are now more than 60 years old.

That startling fact leaps to the fore when one considers Monroe Gallery of Photography’s newest exhibit, simply titled 1964. The gallery calls it the year the 1960s truly began, complete with inflection points such as the musical British Invasion, Muhammad Ali becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion, and the slayings of three civil rights workers in Mississippi.

Several images show fans in states of euphoria over seeing — or preparing to see — The Beatles. In Bill Eppridge’s The Beatles With Ed Sullivan, about a dozen men hold cameras to document the band’s every move. It’s not unlike fans in 2024 using cellphones for the same purpose. In Bob Gomel’s Black Muslim leader Malcolm X Photographing Cassius Clay, Ali hams it up, while the usually stoic civil rights figure grins behind the camera. In Eppridge’s Kent Courtney, National Chair of the Conservative Society of America, Courtney tightens his tie, cutting a powerful image of buttoned-up status quo conformity.

The gallery will host a talk with Amalie R. Rothschild, a filmmaker and photographer who has created documentaries about social issues, at 4:30 p.m. June 8. — B.S.

details

Through June 23

Monroe Gallery of Photography

112 Don Gaspar Avenue

505-992-0800; monroegallery.com

E-Photo Newsletter: New York Photography Show, Presented by AIPAD, Returned to Form at the Park Ave. Armory

 Via The E-Photo Newsletter

May 14, 2024

By Michael Diemar

"The 43rd edition of The Photography Show felt very much a homecoming for exhibitors and visitors alike. Following stints at Pier 94 and Center415, the fair returned to what many regards as its rightful home, the Park Avenue Armory. The venue itself looked better than ever and the overall quality of the works on show was excellent. But there was also something else that came into play. While most of the people I talked to described the fair as beautiful, they also pointed out that it was manageable. There were 77 exhibitors in all, plus a separate section for publishers and rare book dealers. Some art fairs have twice that number of exhibitors, if not more, and it gets exhausting, plus, quality tends to suffer."  Click for full article.

"Next, I spoke to Sidney S. Monroe, of Monroe Gallery, Santa Fe. The gallery showed a powerful presentation of photojournalism, including works by Mark Peterson, Ryan Vizzions and Sanjay Suchak.

Monroe explained. "Photojournalism has been our focus for over 30 years, photographers who document our history and our times. We have a wide roster of photojournalists, some go back to the mid-20th century and right up to events that are happening today. For this edition of the fair, we brought a little bit more of the contemporary work than we have in the past. It's important work and artistic work but I think with all the challenges the world faces, it's more important than ever."

I was particularly struck by Sanjay Suchak's images of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville being melted down and repurposed. Monroe told me, "The monument was a flashpoint for the protests following the death of George Floyd, as were the other Confederate monuments in the South. Sanjay photographed the protests at the statues, the removal of them, and we are including two images of the melting down of the Charlottesville statue, the end of the circle for that community, and we have had great success with them here. Our booth has been very well received. We have always had great success with museums at this fair. It's extremely satisfying to see museums taking the leap towards contemporary, more immediate work. When all is said and done, I think it will have been a very successful fair for us."

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.

Columbia Student Journalists on the Front Lines of Gaza Protests

 

Via Vanity Fair

May 6, 2024

They’ve gotten a crash course in breaking news, capturing the Hamilton Hall occupation and the NYPD’s crackdown, while surviving on pizza and operating on little sleep. The students, says one professor, have “become professional journalists reporting on the biggest story right now, not only in the city, but in the nation.”

"Since the beginning of the encampment, Nina Berman, a professor and documentary photographer and filmmaker, had been doing nightly outings with students, training them in the field while also keeping them safe."

Related: Nina Berman Photographs "Columbia's Campus in Crisis: for The New Yorker

Lynsey Addario at the 2024 Santa Fe International Literary Festival

Via The Santa Fe International Literary Festival

 On the Big Stage with Lynsey Addario

May 18, 2024, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

Tickets here

LYNSEY ADDARIO is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir It’s What I Do and a celebrated photojournalist covering conflicts in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Darfur, South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She regularly photographs for The New York Times, National Geographic, and Time and has been named by American Photo Magazine one of the five most influential photographers of the past 25 years. Addario was the official photographer for the Nobel Peace Center’s 10th Peace Prize Exhibition and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a MacArthur “genius” fellowship and the Overseas Press Club’s Olivier Rebbot Award for best photographic reporting from abroad in magazines and books. She was also part of the New York Times team to win the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. In 2018 Penguin Press published her first solo collection of photography, Of Love and War. She lives in London.

Featured Book: It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario

The Massacre at Kent State University

 

John Filo

Mary Vecchio grieving over slain student, Kent State, May 4, 1970

Via Field of View: Rarely-seen alternate angles of one of the most iconic photos in history.

"Bullets were whizzing over John Filo’s head during his lunch break from the student photo lab at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. He dropped his camera and stood motionless as National Guard troops suddenly opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War.

Thirteen seconds and sixty-seven shots later, four students were dead and nine wounded.

“Was I shot?” Filo wondered."  Full article here.

Via ABC News/AP: AP Was There: Ohio National Guard killed protesters at Kent State University

Here is one of the news stories the AP published at the time

Via KSU News: Remembering the May 4 shootings at Kent State University 54 years later

The 2024 May 4 events at KSU come as protests have been happening on campuses across the country, including Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Via Inside Higher Ed

The Long Shadow of May 4, 1970

The lessons of Kent State should not go unremembered

Search Continues for Bill Eppridge's Skateboarder

 

Via SKATEboarding

May 1, 2024

Tony Hawk and Dan Rodo Are One Step Closer to Finding 'Central Park Mystery Skater' From 1965

The search for the dapper skater from LIFE magazine (1965) continues.

Brian Blakely
May 1, 2024



For as long as I can remember, Tony Hawk has periodically hopped on Instagram in hopes of identifying what he calls "the icon of style" in a photo shot by photographer Bill Eppridge in 1965 for LIFE magazine. Maybe you've seen it?

Well, on April 19th, artist (and downright impressive investigative journalist, whether he considers himself one or not), Dan James Rodo joined forces with the Birdman to see if the social media world could help them uncover the story of the mystery man in this iconic photo. They just dropped the fourth installment... and they're getting extremely close! This is getting good. Check it out:

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dan James Rodo - The Danocracy (@danocracy)

If you're just hearing about this, you should definitely stop what you're doing and follow Tony and Dan on Instagram (@tonyhawk / @danocracy) because they've really been digging deep to uncover this mystery, but like thousands and thousands of others, I've become personally invested. Again—Tony has been posting about this mystery skater forever and I'm pretty thrilled that they're not giving up.

They've been in touch with everyone from ex-LIFE magazine editors to Surfer magazine editors; the New York Parks Department to folks who were in Central Park during the shoot that day... as well as the gallery that represents photographer Bill Eppridge's work, his wife and so much more. This is the real deal!

There has been no shortage of comments on the posts either, offering potential leads, support and generally keeping the conversation going. It's so rad. Dan mentions that he plans on having another update posted within a week (honestly, these videos can't be that easy to make... so we salute you, Dan!) and we're all patiently waiting to see if he struck gold or uncovered anymore gems.

We'll be posting any updates here as they're available. In the meantime... keep it up, dudes! We're all rooting for you. Let's find this mystery man!

Gallery Photographer Nina Berman Photographs "Columbia's Campus in Crisis" for The New Yorker

 Via The New Yorker

May 2, 2024

Every day since the start of the encampment, Nina has come to campus with her camera, positioned herself inconspicuously in the crowd, and captured slices of this fraught and fractured moment in our history.

See more from Nina Bermans here.