Tuesday, January 31, 2012
WHAT TO READ ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY
Conscientious is a consistently great blog about photography. This new post is not to be missed:
"But when you see the photograph first - as I did - and then the title, it’s still a shock. Or maybe more accurately an aftershock. You see the photograph, and you think you know what’s going on, or maybe you wonder what’s going on, you wonder whether this could possibly… and then there’s the title. It’s almost as if someone knew what we would be asking and decided, “I am going to tell all these people exactly what they want to know.”
Full post here.
About:
Conscientious is a website dedicated to contemporary fine-art photography. It offers daily profiles of photographers, in-depth interviews, exhibition and book reviews, and general articles about photography and related issues. More detailed contents – such as the interviews and longer articles, including contributions by guest writers – can be found in the "Extended" section.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Everyday People: Vivian Maier
Vivian Maier: September 28, 1959, East 108th St.,
New York
New York
©Maloof Collection
Vivian Maier was essentially unknown throughout her lifetime. But that’s changing very quickly.
Maier, who worked as a nanny in Chicago, is setting the photography and art world on fire with her work in street photography that spanned more than 40 years. But she’ll never see it – which is the way she wanted it – because she died in 2009 at age 83.
“I never imagined that I would find a gem like Vivian,” says John Maloof, of the Maloof Collection based out of Chicago. “I saw her work and immediately worked on making sure she was in the right place in the history books.”
Exhibitions of Maier’s work have been held in New York, Chicago, England, Germany, Denmark and Norway. And it’s coming to Santa Fe.
The exhibit “Vivian Maier: Discovered” will run at Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe beginning Friday, Feb. 3.
Gallery owner Sidney S. Monroe says the exhibit will have approximately 35 prints, the majority of which have never been seen.
“Vivian’s story is fascinating and it keeps getting better,” he says.
Monroe says the gallery has been working to bring the show to the City Different since September and was thrilled to be one of the first venues to host the exhibition in the United States.
“This is such a huge international story, and it speaks to Vivian’s significance in the art world now,” he says. “Our goal from day one was to bring in top-flight exhibitions. It speaks to Santa Fe and it being a world-class destination for art and photography.”
In 2007, Maloof, a real estate agent and historian, purchased 30,000 negatives on a hunch from an auction house in Chicago. Buried deep in that purchase were the virtuosic street photographs taken by a reclusive nanny in Chicago.
Maloof says he bought the 30,000 prints and negatives from an auction house that had acquired the photographs from a storage locker that had been sold off when Maier was no longer able to pay her fees.
He says after buying the collection in 2007, he acquired more from another buyer at the same auction. He now owns 100,000 to 150,000 negatives, more than 3,000 vintage prints, hundreds of rolls of film, home movies, audio tape interviews, original cameras of Maier’s, documents and other items, representing roughly 90 percent of Maier’s work.
“She has become a fascinating person to me, and I wouldn’t be promoting her work if I didn’t think it was amazing,” he says.
Maloof says he had no idea of his find until he started perusing the negatives.
“I was captivated by what I saw,” he explains. “It’s really a great body of work and no one had seen it. Of course, not all the photos were great, but the ones that are stood out immediately.”
Maloof was credited with the find, and Maier’s profile as a street photographer was born and soon went viral.
“She lived her life in a private way,” he says. “I think that’s what makes it interesting. She was a normal, working-class woman who loved photography. It really could be any one of us.”
Maloof says at 25 Maier moved from France to New York, where she worked in a sweatshop. She later made her way to Chicago in 1956, where she became a nanny.
“Most of the families said Vivian was very private and spent her days off walking and shooting pictures,” he says. “I can just imagine her walking around town with a Rolleiflex around her neck, snapping pictures.”
Maier’s photographs gain interest because of the subjects. She had an eye for fashion as well as capturing the daily lives of people.
“You can see how Vivian lived through the photographs,” Maloof says. “She captured everything that seemed interesting to her.”
Maloof says three years after Maier’s death, he’s surprised at how much interest she has gotten in the past year.
“My initial goal was to get her noticed and for her to take her place in the art world,” he explains. “I know she was a private person, but I believe her photos are a gift to the world that needed to be shared.”
If you go
WHAT: “Vivian Maier: Discovered”
WHEN: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Daily; opening reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. Continues through April 22
WHERE: Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar in Santa Fe
HOW MUCH: Free
Friday, January 27, 2012
Life of Marital Bliss (Segregation Laws Aside)
Grey Villet: Mildred and Richard Loving, King and Queen County,
Virginia in April 1965
We have been covering the forthcoming documentary film about Mildren and Richard Loving, an inter-racial couple who made civil-rights history. "The Loving Story" film will premiere on HBO on Valentine's day, February 14. An exhibition of Grey Villet's vintage photographs is currently on exhibition at the International Center of Photography.
Today's New York Times has a review of the exhibit:
"Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple from Virginia whose marriage prompted a benchmark 1967 Supreme Court ruling overturning state miscegenation laws, are portrayed in “The Loving Story: Photographs by Grey Villet” as heroes who fell into history by accident.
Grey Villet, a South African photographer who worked for Life magazine, entered the story in 1965 when he traveled to Virginia to photograph the family, by then living together under an unofficial amnesty with their three children. Mr. Villet shot 73 rolls of film, but Life published only 9 images. The photographer then sent 70 prints to the Lovings. The vintage prints in this show are from that collection, as well as from Mr. Villet’s estate.
The images represent the heyday of social documentary, but also the photo-essay format established by magazines like Life and Look. There is the whiff of Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange and other 1930s documentarians, but also of W. Eugene Smith, a revered midcentury photo essayist, and David Goldblatt, a South African chronicler of apartheid" Full post and photographs here.
Concurrently, Monroe Gallery of Photography is opening the exhibition "Grey Villet: The Lovings" on February 3, concurrent with the exhibition "Vivian Maier: Discovered". The exhibition continues through March 18, and Grey Villet's photographs of the Lovings will be on exhibit during the AIPAD Photography Show March 29 - April 1 at Monroe Gallery, Booth #419. Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to represent the Estate of Grey Villet.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
"LIFE Photographers: What They Saw": masterpieces of the magazine's photographers
La Lettre de la Photographie:
"John Loengard was born in New York City in 1934. He began working as a professional photographer for Life magazine while still a senior at Harvard University. He spent much of his career photographing for Life in its various incarnations, also acting as picture editor of the monthly Life magazine relaunch from 1978-1987. He is the author of eight books on photography including Celebrating The Negative ( Arcade Publishing, 1994), and As I See It ( Vendome Press, 2005 ).
In 1998, John published a book called: "LIFE Photographers: What They Saw" on some of the masterpieces of the magazine's photographers with their commentaries. Each week, we are going to share with you the pictures that John talks about. Today we start with two of them."
Life: Loomis Dean
The Andrea Doria
S.S. United States sailing in New York harbor © Andreas Feininger / Time Life
Life: Andreas Feininger
SS United States
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Director's Interview: The Loving Story
Grey Villet: Mildred and Richard Loving,
King and Queen County, Virginia in April 1965
This is a compelling, riveting, promotional clip from the HBO documentary "The Loving Story":
"Almighty God created the races....The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mate"
Friday, January 20, 2012
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.
Grey Villet: Mildred and Richard Loving
"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.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
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!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
GREY VILLET: THE LOVINGS
Grey Villet: Richard and Mildred Loving in the spring of 1965
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
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
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
Sunday, January 15, 2012
“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
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