SAVE THE DATES JUNE 30/JULY 1: TONY VACCARO IN SANTA FE

Kiss of Liberation: Sergeant Gene Costanzo kneels to kiss a little girl during spontaneous celebrations in the main square of the town of St. Briac, France, August 14, 1944

94-year Old Tony Vaccaro travels to Santa Fe for screening of documentary and exhibit  

Santa Fe, NM -- Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to announce a major exhibition of 50photographs by Tony Vaccaro. The exhibit opens with a public reception for Tony Vaccaro on Friday, June 30 from 5 – 7 PM. The exhibit continues through September 17.  

Monroe Gallery will sponsor a free screening of  HBO Films' “Under Fire: The Untold Story of Private First Class Tony Vaccaro” at CCA on Saturday, July 1, starting at 3:45 pm. The screening will be followed by a Q & A with Tony Vaccaro moderated by former senior editor and reporter for LIFE magazine, Richard “Dick” Stolley. (Seating is limited, RSVP required to Monroe Gallery by June 28.)

The film tells the story of how Tony survived the war, fighting the enemy while also documenting his experience at great risk, developing his photos in combat helmets at night and hanging the negatives from tree branches. The film also encompasses a wide range of contemporary issues regarding combat photography such as the ethical challenges of witnessing and recording conflict, the ways in which combat photography helps to define how wars are perceived by the public, and the sheer difficulty of staying alive while taking photos in a war zone

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania on December 20, 1922, Tony Vaccaro spent the first years of his life in the village of Bonefro, Italy after his family left America under threat from the Mafia. Both of his parents had died by the time he was eight years old and he was raised by an uncaring aunt. When World War II broke out, the American Ambassador in Rome ordered Tony to return to the States. He settled in with his sisters in New Rochelle, NY where he joined his high school camera club.

A year later, at the age of 21, Tony was drafted into the war, and by the spring of 1944 he was photographing war games in Wales. By June, now a combat infantryman in the 83rd Infantry Division, he was on a boat heading toward Omaha Beach, six days after the first landings at Normandy. Denied access to the Signal Corps, Tony was determined to photograph the war, and had his portable 35mm Argus C-3 with him from the start. For the next 272 days, Tony fought on the front lines of the war. He entered Germany in December 1944, a private in the Intelligence Platoon, tasked with going behind enemy lines at night.

 After the war, Tony remained in Germany to photograph the rebuilding of the country for Stars And Stripes magazine. Returning to the US in 1950, Tony started his career as a commercial photographer, eventually working for virtually every major publication: Look, Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Newsweek, and many more. Tony went on to become one the most sought after photographers of his day, photographing everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren to Pablo Picasso and Frank Lloyd Wright. He visited Georgia O’Keefe in Abiquiu in 1960 on assignment for LOOK magazine.

Georgia O'Keeffe, Abiquiu, New Mexico, 1960

Now 94, Tony still carries a camera and puts in six or seven hours without a break; creating prints in his darkroom and identifying jobs for his staff. Tony has won numerous honors and awards,  including the Art Director’s Gold Medal (New York City, 1963), The World Press Photo Gold Medal (The Hague, 1969), The Legion of Honor (Paris, 1994), The Medal of Honor (Luxembourg, 2002), Das Verdienstkreuz (Berlin, 2004), and the Minerva d’Oro (Pescara, 2014).

Tony Vaccaro

Since retiring in 1982, Tony has been exhibited over 250 times and has published or been the subject of ten books and two major films. In 2014, the Tony Vaccaro Museum  was inaugurated in Bonefro (Italy). Tony’s photographs are in numerous private and public collections including The Metropolitan Museum in New York, The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Library of Congress in Washington.

Legendary photographer Tony Vaccaro to speak at the Pollock-Krasner House, exhibit in Santa Fe

Willem de Kooning, standing in front of Leo Castelli's house, protecting a statue that Castelli himself had made in his driveway. Jackson Pollock disliked it and had threatened to run it over. East Hampton, 1953. By Tony Vaccaro.


Legendary photographer Tony Vaccaro will speak at the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, Sunday, May 28, 2017, at 5:00 pm, for the official opening and reception for the exhibit "East End Art World, August 1953, Photographs by Tony Vaccaro."

The exhibition of unpublished photographs has been up since May 4, and features twenty photographs selected by museum director Helen A. Harrison from eleven rolls of film found among Vaccaro's 450,000 negatives and transparencies. Maria Vaccaro, Tony's daughter-in-law, and Grace Ann Taylor, an NYU graduate student specializing in archiving, have both been working on the project for the Tony Vaccaro Studio, Long Island City, for nearly seven months.

Rare images of Tino Nivola, Leo Castelli, Alfonso Ossorio, and Wilfrid Zogbaum, make up some of the new finds. All the photographs on display are for sale, and some may eventually be part of limited editions. Remembering the visit, the 94-year old Mr. Vaccaro says:

“I went to the Hamptons because I was intrigued by Jackson’s work. It just grabbed me. I  knew it was the kind of work that would last forever. I also liked Marcel Duchamp. I had  photographed him on the streets of New York City in 1952. He told me ‘Many artists are  moving to the Hampton’s.’ I also knew Tino Nivola. We spoke Italian when we bumped  into each other on 8th Street. Nivola told me: ‘Many artists are setting up studios on Long  Island. It’s cheaper than New York City. So I kept telling Look Magazine art director  Charlotte Willard that this was a job that had to be done. In the Spring of 1953, Look  editor Fleur Cowles assigned me and Miss Willard to spend a week there. Willard went back to New York City after the week was up. I stayed an entire month.”

The Pollock-Krasner House is located at 830 Springs-Fireplace Road, East Hampton, NY, 11937.

The Sag Harbor Express covered the exhibition:
http://sagharborexpress.com/photographer-witness-revolution/

The Pollock-Krasner House press release:
http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/pkhouse/exhibitions.php

Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to announce a major exhibition of more than 50 photographs by Tony Vaccaro at the Santa Fe Gallery this summer. The exhibit opens with a public reception for Tony Vaccaro on Friday, June 30 from 5 – 7 PM. The exhibit will continue through September 17, 2017.

 

"exhibition currently on view at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, pays tribute to one of the most acclaimed photojournalists of the last century"

Grey Villet, A portrait of LIFE in America

May 15, 2017 -

United States , written by L'Oeil de la Photographie

Fidel Castro, Hometown Greetings, 1959 ©Grey Villet

Born in South Africa, Grey Villet traveled America and the world for LIFE magazine like an observant explorer, mapping its emotional contours in the faces and lives of its people. His in-depth, personal studies of the American scene of the 1950s through the 1970’s illuminated the complex reality of those years with a truth that, in his own words, were “as real as real could get.” His images of presidents and revolutionaries, sports heroes, and everyday people struggling for their rights tell an emotional and compelling story of an era that shaped the present. This exhibition currently on view at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, pays tribute to one of the most acclaimed photojournalists of the last century.

Slideshow here.



Grey Villet, A portrait of LIFE in America
May 5 — June 25, 2017
Monroe Gallery
112 Don Gaspar Ave
Santa Fe, NM 87501
USA

http://www.monroegallery.com/

GREY VILLET: A Portrait of LIFE in America

Farm Collapse: Sarah Vogel, leader of class-action case on behalf of 240,000 farmers to stop USDA from seizing family farms, visiting neighbors who are facing foreclosure, North Dakota, 1982

Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is honored to announce an extensive exhibition of compelling photography of LIFE magazine photographer Grey Villet. The exhibition runs from May 5 through June 30.

Born in South Africa, Grey Villet traveled America and the world for LIFE magazine like an observant explorer, mapping its emotional contours in the faces and lives of its people. His in-depth, personal studies of the American scene of the 1950s through the 1970’s illuminated the complex reality of those years with a truth that, in his own words, were "as real as real could get." His images of presidents and revolutionaries, sports heroes, and everyday people struggling for their rights tell an emotional and compelling story of an era that shaped the present.

Fidel Castro, Hometown Greetings, 1959

Grey Villet was born in a sheep herding center called Beaufort West in the Karoo desert of South Africa in 1927. His father expected him to follow him into medicine and Grey was duly enrolled in the pre-med program at Cape Town University.  It didn't take; he spent most of his time at a cafe downtown where there was music and a lot of smoke...At about this time his sister's fiancé gave him a camera and that did take...It was the excitement of seeing his own pictures emerge in a friend's   dark room that set the course of his life.  By the late 1940's, his despairing father sent him to London to study photography---but after a few months Grey left school to earn a meager living doing wedding snaps while living in a trucker's stop hostel. At 20 he landed a job on the Bristol Evening News--and within 2 years had moved up to Reuters International in London on the strength of his newspaper work. At 24 he returned to South Africa and a job at the country's leading newspaper, the Johannesburg Star--but the pomposity of management's objection to his disheveled look after a night of chasing a rough news story decided his future. Already determined to become a "magazine photographer" he quit the Star on the spot and soon set off for New York hoping to land a chance at LIFE. So it was that Grey's Villet’s career with LIFE magazine began in April of 1954. Within a year of being added to LIFE’s legendary roster of photographers in 1955, he won photojournalism’s most prestigious award when he was named Magazine Photographer of the Year. Other honors followed, including multiple firsts from NPPA and Gold from World Press Photo.

Villet excelled at LIFE’s acclaimed essay format, which exemplified his mastery of the medium, attesting to his credo that every story be, in his words, "as real as real could get". To achieve this, he generally used only available light and while shooting became as unobtrusive as a "fly on the wall" to allow meaningful moments to emerge naturally from a fluid reality.  

Featured in the exhibition are excerpts from Villet's intimate images of the interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving, who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry. The 2016 film “Loving” Loving”, from acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols starred Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga in the roles of Richard and Mildred Loving. 

“Unwilling to promote himself, Grey Villet modestly rejected the idea of organizing his own retrospective only months before his sudden death in 2000. “The work will tell” he told me then, “the work will tell.” Self effacing, quiet, Grey was truly a quintessential photojournalist in the service of truth.” -- Barbara Villet

In an era before any digital tinkering with results was possible, Grey Villet’s technique was one that required intense concentration, patience and understanding of his subjects joined with a technical mastery that allowed rapid use of differing cameras and lenses to capture and compose the "right stuff" on film as it happened. “RIGHTS, RACE & REVOLUTIONS:A Portrait of LIFE in 1960s America by Grey Villet” was exhibited at the Museum at Bethel Woods April 2 – December 31, 2016. 

THE LOVINGS: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT, a new book that documents the extraordinary love story of Mildred and Richard Loving, was published in April by Princeton Architectural Press and is available in the gallery.

O'Keeffe on Camera: Capturing an American Icon

Via the Brooklyn Museum of Art

Get insider views of Georgia O’Keeffe. Join us for a conversation with a filmmaker and three photographers who worked closely with the artist and made images of her. Participants include filmmaker Perry Miller Adato and photographers Christopher Makos, Tony Vaccaro, and Malcolm Varon. Moderated by Wanda Corn, guest curator of Georgia O'Keeffe: Living Modern.

Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to represent the photography of Tony Vaccaro. The gallery will present a major retrospective exhibition of Tony's work June 30 - September 17, 2017. Tony Vaccaro, now 94, will be present at the opening Friday, June 30, from 5 to 7 pm.

STEVE SCHAPIRO: EYEWITNESS CONTINUES THROUGH APRIL 30

Steve Schapiro

On the road, Selma March, 1965

The current exhibition Steve Schapiro: Eyewitness continues through April 30 in the gallery.

The Guardian newspaper featured Schapiro's forthcoming book today in a feature article, link here.

"But before mobile phone videos and Twitter allowed black Americans to directly telegraph their plight to the world, it was up to photojournalism to visualise the message, as Schapiro’s images did in Life magazine."

And the New York Times featured the cover photograph, "CORE Stall In, 1964" from the exhibition announcement in their review of the AIPAD Photography Show last week.

"Steve Schapiro’s astounding “CORE ‘Stall In,’ New York World’s Fair 1964,” at the Monroe Gallery of Photography, which documents a vehicular protest of racism.”

HAPPY 95th BIRTHDAY ART SHAY!

"I took this street montage near 26th and California Ave. in Chicago. It’s a lovely accident, created by a mis-wound Super Ikonta B. The Super Ikonta B's main feature was an 80mm lens that focused through a range finder and you focused it by turning around one element.  I was playing around with the camera because I thought it was peculiar that it took 11 shots on a roll.  I shot this, essentially four frame, montage while shooting out my 1949 Pontiac car window. “ Art Shay, March 30, 2017

We are extremely proud to wish Art Shay a very Happy 95th birthday! Visit us in booth # 534 during the AIPAD Photography Show this week in New York to see his acclaimed photographs!

Art Shay is an American photographer and writer. Born March 31,1922, he grew up in the Bronx and then served as a navigator in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, during which he flew 52 bomber missions. Shay joined the staff of Life magazine as a writer, and quickly became a Chicago-based freelance photographer for Life, Time, Sports Illustrated, and other national publications. He photographed seven US Presidents and many major figures of the 20th century. Shay also wrote weekly columns for various newspapers, several plays, children's books, sports instruction books and several photo essay books. Shay's photography is in permanent collections of major museums including the National Portrait Gallery and The Art Institute of Chicago.

New York Times review of the 2017 AIPAD Photography Show

Extremely honored to have the lead photograph in Friday’s New York Times review of the AIPAD2017 Photography Show: “Aipad’s Photography Show Grows Up”.

“Steve Schapiro’s astounding “CORE ‘Stall In,’ New York World’s Fair 1964,” at the Monroe Gallery of Photography, which documents a vehicular protest of racism.”

Hope you can visit us at Pier 94 through Sunday, booth #534. The exhibit Steve Schapiro:Eyewitness continues through April 30 at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe.

THE AIPAD 2017 PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW

March 30-April 2, 2017

Monroe Gallery of Photography Booth # 534
     Pier 94 | New York City

TicketsPurchase Show and Vernissage tickets online for the best value and to avoid lines.

PURCHASE

Photographs made by Ashley Gilbertson of the refugee crisis in Greece, the Balkans, and Germany while on assignment for UNICEF in 2015 at Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe, are among the fine examples of photojournalism on view. --ArtFix Daily

DON HUNSTEIN 1928 - 2017

Don Hunstein: Bob Dylan and Suze Rotolo, New York, 1963

Don Hunstein died at home on Saturday morning, March 18, aged 88, after a long illness .

New York Times Obituary: Don Hunstein, Who Photographed Great Musicians, Dies at 88

Lebrecht Music&Arts have put out an obituary.

“I have photographed the famous and the not so famous: business execs and athletes and especially musicians – jazz, classical and pop. The resulting pictures have appeared on over 200 LP and CD covers and on promotional flyers and press kits, in magazines and company reports and advertising.”

--Don Hunstein

Don Hunstein’s iconic photographs have become symbols of an era. In the history of music photography, Don’s work during his 30 years at Columbia records is unsurpassed in its scope and breadth. Through his subtle humor and quiet nature, he was able to record many great moments in music history. He photographed the famous and the not so famous. Hundreds of album covers and behind the scenes work. His photographs documented a rare time when musicians spent time on their art, rather than their publicity.

Don Hunstein grew up in St. Louis, MO and attended Washington University, graduating in 1950 with a degree in English. After college he enlisted in the US Air Force and was stationed in Fairford, England, and assigned a desk job. It was this assignment that allowed him to travel around Europe. He began photographing casually, taking pictures to send home to his family, and then with the help of a Leica M3 purchased in the PX, and inspired by a book of renowned street photographer Henri Cartier Bresson’s work, his hobby began to take him on a lifelong path. After a year in Fairford, Don was transferred to a base outside of London.  There he joined a local camera club and took evening classes at London’s Central School of Art and Design, becoming influenced by the artists and designers whom he met there.

He returned to the States in 1954, ending up in New York City, where he eventually landed an apprenticeship in a commercial photography studio. There he honed his photography skills by mastering large format cameras and lighting.  At the time, photography was, as Don put it: “ not a glamorous profession,” but he didn’t have a pull in any other vocational direction and it satisfied his creative side. As chance connections were made, he soon met and became mentored by Deborah Ishlon, who worked in the publicity department at Columbia Records. She offered him a job helping her run the photo library there and supplying prints to the press. As he began to take his own photos for the company, they recognized his talent, and he gradually worked his way into the position of Director of Photography for CBS Records

Don’s most notable role was as chief staff photographer for Columbia Records during its heyday in the realms of rock and roll, jazz and classical music. Fortunately for Don, this was a time when the company was under the direction of Goddard Lieberson, who thought it important to document in photographs the cultural history of the music of their time. So he had the opportunity to do far more than album covers and publicity shots, covering their recording sessions and even visiting them on their home turf.   Don had the ability to listen with his camera. Instinctively he understood that to capture artists at their best moments, patience, trust and humility were needed.  This ability to set both new comers and experienced stars at ease in his presence is evident in his photographs, which captured the intimate personal moments as well as the quintessential portraits.

Don’s access to a broad range of musicians, in a wide variety of musical styles, was unparalleled in the photographic world. Over the course of his career at CBS, he shot hundreds of album covers and documented the recording of many of the great albums in music history.

We were tremendously fortunate to have known Don for many years, and send our condolences to DeeAnn and  his family

Tony Vaccaro on Panel at Brooklyn Museum for "Georgia O'Keeffe: Living Modern" Exhibit

Tony Vaccaro: Georgia O'Keeffe for LOOK magazine, New Mexico, 1960

This Sunday, March 19, Tony Vaccaro will make an appearance at the Brooklyn Museum in a panel discussion about Georgia O'Keeffe. The program kicks off the museum's "Georgia O'Keeffe: Living Modern" exhibit at 2:00 pm in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium on the third floor.

Fifty-seven years ago Look Magazine sent Tony and writer Charlotte Willard to Taos, New Mexico, for a feature length article on this adventurous modernist painter. O'Keeffe put the two into private rooms on her "Ghost Ranch" for one week.

But Tony has no photographs from the first two days. O'Keeffe expected another photographer to accompany Willard and when she saw Tony, she gave him the cold shoulder. He politely kept his camera by his side. He fixed her clothes washer, leveled and set the drapes, and gave the cook a few days off by preparing amazing dinners: penne, sausage, and broccoli, and bistecca fiorentina. Then, one night, O'Keeffe asked Willard if she knew anything about bullfighting. Willard didn't, but Tony said, "I knew the great Manolete. I took his photo." O'Keeffe swiveled in her chair at the head of the table and faced Tony with twenty questions about the bullfighting master. O'Keeffe then ignored Willard completely. By noon the next day, Willard left for New York alone. Tony stayed on for the week and took ten rolls of film.

Tony became O'Keeffe's personal chauffeur over the second half of his visit, and he had his camera ready pre-focused on O'Keeffe and kept one eye on her in the mirror. One day, a desert cloudburst forced them to picnic in the car. When O'Keeffe looked at the world through her Swiss cheese, Tony lifted the camera and shot.

Tony Vaccaro

Tony Vaccaro's photographs of Georgia O'Keeffe will be included with many of his other iconic photographs in an exhibit during the AIPAD Photography Show, Monroe Gallery of Photography, booth #534, March 30 - April 2 at Pier Tony, now 94,  will be present in the booth, please contact the gallery to confirm times.

Monroe Gallery at AIPAD: Photography as history and photography as visual evidence

Irving Haberman

Holocaust Survivors arrive in New York City, 1947

Vintage gelatin silver print

 Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe, NM, will dedicate much of its exhibit at the 2017 AIPAD Photography Show to images that exemplify photography as history and photography as visual evidence . Recently, documentary evidence has been denied or disputed by those in power, and coupled with the new administrations attacks on the press, the exhibit is a reminder that photojournalism is a vital and necessary component of a free society.

Steve Schapiro, along with many other photographers of the civil rights era, not only brought awareness to the injustice of racial discrimination; they made people feel the injustice. The Gallery will exhibit several of Schapiro’s iconic civil rights era photographs, including James Baldwin in Harlem (1963), Martin Luther King marching for voting rights with John Lewis, Reverend Jesse Douglas, James Forman and Ralph Abernathy, Selma, (1965), and John Lewis in Clarksdale, Mississippi (1963) alongside several photographs of the 2015 refugee crisis in Greece, the Balkans and Germany by Ashley Gilbertson, VII photographer and author of the book Bedrooms of The Fallen. There will also be vintage photographs of refugee immigrants to the United States by Irving Haberman and Eddie Adams, as well as a large format color print of the abandoned Ellis Island Tuberculosis Ward by Stephen Wilkes.

Ashley Gilbertson

Refugees, primarily from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, disembark on the island of Lesvos, Greece, 2015

Archival Pigment print

Another featured photograph is one Ashley Gilbertson made earlier this year of Trump Tower in response  to President Trump’s attacks on the press: “I want the president to know we will not cease in our attempts to provide transparency, hold those in power accountable, and report on issues that affect us as a global community. As always, our armor is honesty, hardened and honed by our fact checkers and editors. Our mission as the fourth estate didn't change on Friday–it remains the same as it always has. Truth to power.”

Ashley Gilbertson: Trump Tower, New York, 2017

Archival pigment print

Rounding out our exhibit are significant prints from two 94-year old master photojournalists, Art Shay and Tony Vaccaro.

Rounding out our exhibit are significant prints from two 94-year old master photojournalists, Art Shay and Tony Vaccaro.

At the age of 21, Tony Vaccaro was drafted into World War II, and by the spring of 1944 he was photographing war games in Wales. By June, now a combat infantryman in the 83rd Infantry Division, he was on a boat heading toward Omaha Beach, six days after the first landings at Normandy. Denied access to the Signal Corps, Tony was determined to photograph the war, and had his portable 35mm Argus C-3 with him from the start. For the next 272 days, Tony fought on the front lines of the war. He entered Germany in December 1944, a private in the Intelligence Platoon, tasked with going behind enemy lines at night. The HBO documentary film “Under Fire: The Untold Story of Private First Class Tony Vaccaro” tells the story of how Tony survived the war, fighting the enemy while also documenting his experience at great risk, developing his photos in combat helmets at night and hanging the negatives from tree branches. The film also encompasses a wide range of contemporary issues regarding combat photography such as the ethical challenges of witnessing and recording conflict, the ways in which combat photography helps to define how wars are perceived by the public, and the sheer difficulty of staying alive while taking photos in a war zone.

 After the war, Tony remained in Germany to photograph the rebuilding of the country for Stars And Stripes magazine. Returning to the US in 1950, Tony started his career as a commercial photographer, eventually working for virtually every major publication: Look, Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Newsweek, and many more. Tony went on to become one the most sought after photographers of his day, photographing everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren to Pablo Picasso and Frank Lloyd Wright. Now 94, Tony still carries a camera and will be present in our booth #534 on Friday afternoon, March 30 during the AIPAD Photography Show.

Monroe Gallery of Photography will exhibit in booth #534 during the AIPAD Photography Show March 30 - April 2, 2017.

NEW BOOK DOCUMENTS THE LOVE STORY OF MILDRED AND RICHARD LOVING

The Lovings
An Intimate Portrait
Grey Villet, Barbara Villet, Stephen Crowley
Princeton Architectural Press
10 × 8 inches, Hardcover, 128 pages, 82 duotones
Now available from the Gallery $24.95

The Lovings: An Intimate Portrait documents the extraordinary love story of Mildred and Richard Loving. The Lovings presents Grey Villet's stunning photo-essay in its entirety for the first time and reveals with striking intensity and clarity the powerful bond of a couple that helped change history. Mildred, a woman of African American and Native American descent and Richard, a white man, were arrested in July 1958 for the crime of interracial marriage, prohibited under Virginia state law. Exiled to Washington, DC, they fought to bring their case to the US Supreme Court. Knowledge of their struggle spread across the nation, and in the spring of 1965, the Life magazine photojournalist Villet spent a few weeks documenting the Lovings and their family and friends as they went about their lives in the midst of their trial. Loving v. Virginia was the landmark US civil rights case that, in a unanimous decision, ultimately ended the prohibition of interracial marriage in 1967.

Grey Villet (1927--2000) was an award winning photographer and photojournalist who worked at Life magazine for more than thirty years.

Barbara Villet is an author and journalist who was a photo editor at Life and collaborated on many of Mr. Villet's projects.

One of photojournalism's most distinguished practitioners, Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Crowley of the New York Times credits the influence of a Grey Villet Life essay with his decision, at age nine, to become a photographer.

Monroe Gallery will exhibit rare vintage prints from GreyVillet's Loving's photo essay on our booth #53 4during the AIPAD Photography Show in New York March 30 - April 2. A special book signing of The Lovings with Barbara Villet will take place in our booth # 534 on Saturday, April 1, from 3 - 4 PM.

"the exhibit is a reminder that photojournalism is a vital and necessary component of a free society"

L'Oeil de la Photographie

"Schapiro’s historic photographs are made more timely with the recent Presidential campaign and election. President Trump’s recent criticisms of civil-rights leader John Lewis drew widespread criticism and have done little to reassure those uneasy about the transition from the nation’s first black president to a president still struggling to connect with most nonwhite voters. This was the first presidential election since the gutting of the Voting Rights Act., and in recent days President Trump has promised a “major investigation of voter fraud” that he says cost him the popular vote, despite bipartisan condemnation of his allegations and the conclusion of Mr. Trump’s own lawyers that the election was not tainted. There are concerns Attorney General Nominee Jeff Sessions may further roll-back civil-rights protections.

Steve Schapiro’s photographs of the civil rights era not only brought awareness to the injustice of it all; they made people feel the injustice. Coupled with the new administrations attacks on the press, the exhibit is a reminder that photojournalism is a vital and necessary component of a free society."

--Sidney and Michelle Monroe

Sidney and Michelle Monroe are the directors of the eponymous gallery in Santa Fe, USA.

Steve Schapiro, Eyewitness

February 10 through April 23; 2017.
Monroe Gallery
112 Don Gaspar Ave
Santa Fe, NM 87501
USA

February 10 in Santa Fe: Steve Schapiro, "Eyewitness"

Steve Schapiro: CORE "Stall-In", 1964 World's Fair, New York

STEVE SCHAPIRO: EYEWITNESS

Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is honored to announce an extensive exhibition of photographs from key moments in the Civil Rights movement by one of the most respected American documentary photographers, Steve Schapiro. The exhibition opens with a reception for Steve Schapiro on Friday, February 10, from 5 to 7 PM, and will continue through April 23.

Schapiro’s photographs are made more timely with the recent Presidential campaign and election. President Trump’s recent criticisms of civil-rights leader John Lewis drew widespread criticism and have done little to reassure those uneasy about the transition from the nation’s first black president to a president still struggling to connect with most nonwhite voters. This was the first presidential election since the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and there are lingering concerns Attorney General Nominee Jeff Sessions may further roll-back civil-rights protections.

“EYEWITNESS” celebrates the completion of a project based on James Baldwin’s 1963 book, “The Fire Next Time”. Steve Schapiro’s photographs documenting the civil rights movement from 1963 – 1968 are paired with essays from “The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin in a major book to be published in March.

Schapiro covered many stories related the Civil Rights movement, including the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the push for voter registration and the Selma to Montgomery march. Called by Life to Memphis after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, Schapiro produced some of the most iconic images of that tragic event. When the civil rights movement came to a crossroads during the Selma-to-Montgomery march of 1965, photographer Steve Schapiro captured an iconic moment from the march in an image of Dr. Martin Luther King linking arms with fellow civil rights activists John Lewis, the Rev. Jesse Douglas, James Forman and Ralph Abernathy. The image captures the leadership, the unity, and the strength of the civil rights leaders, who faced violence from law enforcement as well as death threats during their fight for voting rights for African Americans.

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

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. His first formal education in photography came when he studied under the photojournalist 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”. 

Schapiro spent several weeks in the South with James Baldwin and became involved in many civil rights stories; 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. From 2000 through 2003 he was a contributing photographer for American Radio Works (Minneapolis Public Radio) producing on-line documentary projects. Schapiro has photographed major stories for most of the world’s most prominent magazines, including Life, Look, Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, People, and Paris Match.

Since the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s seminal 1969 exhibition, Harlem on my Mind, which included a number of his images, Schapiro’s photographs have appeared in museum and gallery exhibitions world-wide. The High Museum of Art’s Road to Freedom, which traveled widely in the United States, includes numerous of his photographs from the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr. Recent one-man shows have been mounted in Los Angeles, London, Santa Fe, Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin. Steve has had large museum retrospective exhibitions in the United States, Spain, Russia, and Germany.

Schapiro continues to work in a documentary vein. His recent series’ of photographs have been about India, Music Festivals, Mercicordia, and Black Lives Matter. Schapiro’s work is represented in many private and public collections, including the Smithsonian Museum, the High Museum of Art, the New York Metropolitan Museum and the Getty Museum. He has recently received the James Joyce Award and a fellowship to University College in Dublin.

 

Gallery hours are 10 to 5 daily.. Admission is free. For further information, please call: 505.992.0800; E-mail: info@monroegallery.com.

Selections from Photo LA 2017

Monroe Gallery of Photography is exhibiting in booths #205/302 this weekend at the Photo la fair being held at The Reef/LA Mart, through Sunday, January 15

Partial view of the "Loving" photographs by Grey Villet.

Partial view of the Tony Vaccaro exhibit. Tony was the subject of the recent

HBO documentary film "Underfire".

Carrie Fisher, "Star Wars", 1982 by Mario Cassilli

Debbie Reynolds. "JOY", for FLAIR Magazine c. 1950 by Tony Vaccaro

We are honored that our exhibition at the 2017 edition of photo la has attracted the attention of the following press:

The Creators Project: LA’s Longest Running Art Fair Nails Another Year of Stunning Photography

Crave:  Kick Off a New Year in Art with “photo l.a.”

LA Times: 1960s Life magazine photos of the 'Loving' couple, on view at Photo L.A.

Los Angeles Magazine: Preview the Stunning Images from the Massive Photo L.A. Exhibition

LA Taco: Preview: 26th Annual Photo L.A

Monroe Gallery of Photography at photo la 2017

Monroe Gallery of Photography is proud to exhibit at the 26th edition of photo la, held at The REEF, located in the historic LA Mart building in Downtown Los Angeles January 12-15, 2017. Monroe Gallery will occupy two large adjoining booths, #205/302, just to the right of the main fair entrance.

Among the many significant photographs being exhibited in our booth are Life Magazine photographer Grey Villet's intimate images of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown, will be on exhibit. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry. On November 4, the feature film “Loving” opened, from acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols and starring Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga in the roles of Richard and Mildred Loving.

Monroe Gallery of Photography will also feature Tony Vaccaro's incredible images..  In November, HBO films premiered the documentary film “Under Fire: The Untold Story of Private First Class Tony Vaccaro”. The film tells the story of how Tony survived the war, fighting the enemy while also documenting his experience at great risk, developing his photos in combat helmets at night and hanging the negatives from tree branches. The film also encompasses a wide range of contemporary issues regarding combat photography such as the ethical challenges of witnessing and recording conflict, the ways in which combat photography helps to define how wars are perceived by the public, and the sheer difficulty of staying alive while taking photos in a war zone. It is now available for viewing on-demand from HBO.

Already these two specially curated exhibits have generated excitement from the LA Times and Los Angeles Magazine.

Rounding out the exhibition in our booth will be historic examples of civil rights photojournalism, 1960's  cultural icons, and several of Stephen Wilkes' Day To Nigh and China photographs.

Fair hours are  Friday, January 13, 11am - 7pm, Saturday, January 14, 11am - 7pm, Sunday, January 15, 11am - 6pm; with a special VIP preview on Thursday, January 12 from 7 - 10. Ticket information here.

We look forward to welcoming you to our booth during photo la 2017.

2016 is History

Good-bye 2016. Hello 2017.


"All of us live in history, whether we are aware of it or not, and die in drama. The sense of history and of drama comes to a man not because of who he is or what he does, but flickeringly, as he is caught up in events, as his personality reacts, as he sees for a moment his place in the great flowing river of time and humanity.

I cannot tell you where our history is leading us, or through what suffering, or into what era of war or peace. But wherever it is, I know men of good heart will be passing there."

--Carl Mydans

Peace, Love, and Happiness

Peace, love, and happiness

in the New  Year.

Thank you for your continued encouragement and support.

We look forward to seeing you in the gallery soon, or visit us

during the Photo LA Fair in Los Angeles January 12 - 15;

 at the AIPAD Photography Show in New York March 30 - April 2;

or on-line anytime.

 Art Shay: Harmony in Snow, Des Plaines, Illinois, 1955

HAPPY 94TH BIRTHDAY TONY VACCARO!

Newly liberated women in Nante, along the North bank of the Loire River, celebrate their freedom, Nante, France, July, 1944

We are very proud to wish Tony Vaccaro the happiest of birthdays on the 94th anniversary of his birth!

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania on December 20, 1922, Tony Vaccaro spent the first years of his life in the village of Bonefro, Italy after his family left America under threat from the Mafia. Both of his parents had died by the time he was eight years old and he was raised by an uncaring aunt. When World War II broke out, the American Ambassador in Rome ordered Tony to return to the States. He settled in with his sisters in New Rochelle, NY where he joined his high school camera club.

A year later, at the age of 21, Tony was drafted into the war, and by the spring of 1944 he was photographing war games in Wales. By June, now a combat infantryman in the 83rd Infantry Division, he was on a boat heading toward Omaha Beach, six days after the first landings at Normandy. Denied access to the Signal Corps, Tony was determined to photograph the war, and had his portable 35mm Argus C-3 with him from the start. For the next 272 days, Tony fought on the front lines of the war. He entered Germany in December 1944, a private in the Intelligence Platoon, tasked with going behind enemy lines at night. In the years after the war, Tony remained in Germany to photograph the rebuilding of the country for Stars And Stripes magazine. Returning to the States in 1950, Tony started his career as a commercial photographer, eventually working for virtually every major publication: Flair, Look, Life, Venture, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Quick, Newsweek, and many more. Tony went on to become one the most sought after photographers of his day.

On November 14. 2016 HBO Films premiered “Under Fire: The Untold Story of Private First Class Tony Vaccaro”. The film tells the story of how Tony survived the war, fighting the enemy while also documenting his experience at great risk, developing his photos in combat helmets at night and hanging the negatives from tree branches. The film also encompasses a wide range of contemporary issues regarding combat photography such as the ethical challenges of witnessing and recording conflict, the ways in which combat photography helps to define how wars are perceived by the public, and the sheer difficulty of staying alive while taking photos in a war zone. The film is available on demand from HBO.

Tony's remarkable oeuvre was exhibited in the Pop Up "War, Peace, Beauty" exhibit in New York November 14 - 21. Watch the official video of Tony's retrospective (courtesy of Astfilm.de).

Monroe Gallery will feature a selection of Tony Vaccaro's  photographs at the 26th annual Photo LA Fair, January 12 - 15, at the Reef/LA Mart. The Gallery will also exhibit Tony's photographs, including rare vintage prints, at the AIPAD Photography Show March 30 - April 2 at Pier 94 in New York.

View the Tony Vaccaro collection here.

John Loengard's Book "Moment by Moment" featured in The Guardian

Via The Guardian

John Loengard: Georgia O’Keeffe on the roof of her home at

Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, in 1967

John Loengard was formerly both a staff photographer and the picture editor of Life magazine, and in the preface to his new book says that ‘a good photograph cannot be repeated’. Moment by Moment published by Thames & Hudson contains 133 images from his career spanning five decades.

Full slide show.


View more of John Loengard's photographs on our website here.

"Harry Benson: Shoot First" at CCA in Santa Fe

Via Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe

Renowned photographer Harry Benson initially rose to fame alongside The Beatles, having been assigned to cover their inaugural trip to the United States in 1964. With unprecedented “behind the scenes” access, Benson captured some of the most vibrant and intimate portraits ever taken of the most popular band in history. His extensive portfolio includes iconic images of Winston Churchill, Bobby Fischer, Muhammad Ali, Greta Garbo, Michael Jackson, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Robert F. Kennedy assassination, and his work has appeared in publications including Life, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. Justin Bare and Matthew Miele’s film shows how Benson, now 86, shows no intention of stopping. (U.S., 2016, 87m, Magnolia Pictures) Starts December 16

Center for Contemporary Arts • 505.982.1338
1050 Old Pecos Trail Santa Fe, NM 87505

Streaming information here.

Related: Washington Post: ‘Harry Benson: Shoot First’ breezes through the photographer’s story

  Rolling Stone: 'Harry Benson: Shoot First' Review: Photographer Doc Is Stellar Portrait of an Artist

Stephen Wilkes' "Yosemite, Day to Night" Among National Geographic's "Best Photos of 2016"

National Geographic recently announced their "Best Photos of 2016".    In a  gallery of National Geographic's 52 best images of the year—curated from 91 photographers, 107 stories, and 2,290,225 photographs. Stephen Wilkes' photograph of Yosemite, Day To Night, was included as selection #29:

On a mountainside in Yosemite National Park, photographer Stephen Wilkes took 1,036 images over 26 hours to create this day-to-night composite.

This photo was originally published in "How National Parks Tell Our Story—and Show Who We Are," in January 2016.

View Stephen Wilkes' full Day To Night Collection here.

Related: See our full compilation of 2016 lists of the "Best" of all things photography here.