Monday, May 2, 2011

THEN AND NOW: V-J DAY AND THE DEATH OF OSAMA BIN LADEN



©Michael Appleton for The New York Times



The news of the death of Osama bin Laden by US Forces has led to a huge spike of hits to our blog post about VJ-Day. Alfred Eisenstaedt's photograph of a sailor and a nurse kissing amidst the celebrations in Times Square for "Victory over Japan" has become a visual symbol of the joy surrounding the end of World War II. Today, images of celebrations and reactions to the news of Osama bi Laden's death are being published everywhere (the Newseum's daily post of notable front-pages of newspapers from around the world crashed earlier today from overwhelming traffic).

Will a single image come to represent the defining moment in the American-led fight against terrorism?

EXHIBITION PREVIEW: COMPOSING THE ARTIST


Richard Avedon, New York, NY 1994
John Loengard: Richard Avedon, New York, NY 1994


THE Magazine
Santa Fe's monthly Magazine of and for the Arts
May, 2011

Composing The Artist
May 6 through June 26
Monroe Gallery of Photography
112 Don Gaspar Avenue, Santa Fe, 505.992.0800
Reception: Friday, May 6, 5 - 7 PM

There are rarely sufficient words to describe an artist's personality and work. Often it takes a fellow creator to capture the essential nature of the artist. Richard Avedon's severe, black and white images dramatically expose the nature of his subjects. His portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Twiggy, and mental hospital patients are defining images in the annals of American photography. John Loengard's photo essays for LIFE magazine, which include series on Georgia O'Keeffe and the Shakers, earned him the title of one of America Photo's "one hundred most influential people in photography". in 2005. In 1994, Loengard captured Avedon seated before the clutter of his studio. Loengard's photograph of Avedon, straddling a chair and twiddling his glasses, captures the quiteness of a photographer known for his intense and energized images. On may 6, the Monroe Gallery of Photography will open an exhibition entitled Composing The Artist, where viewers can see Loengarg's image of Avedon in addition to many more photographs of renowned creators. Over 50 images will be shown, capturing iconic artists and writers at work or in portraiture. The short list includes Salvador Dali, Georgia O'Keeffe, William Faulkner, Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol, and Vladmir Nobokov. In these photographs, the essential personality of the artist is revealed, and an image of the past becomes visual history.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Vietnam war ended on April 30, 1975. Many of the photographs that came out of that war are still etched in our minds


In this March 1965 file photo, hovering U.S. Army helicopters pour machine gun fire into a tree line to cover the advance of South Vietnamese ground troops in an attack on a Viet Cong camp 18 miles north of Tay Ninh, northwest of Saigon near the Cambodian border, in Vietnam. (AP Photo/Horst Faas

 



Little has been made of this anniversary. Thanks to TampaBay.com All Eyes Blog.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Andreas Feininger: Nature and the Architect at the National Gallery of Canada


Andreas Feininger, Reflection on a Car, 1980. Gelatin silver print, 40.4 x 50.3 cm; image: 38 x 48.2 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Gift of the Estate of Gertrud E. Feininger, New York, 2009. Photo: Andreas Feininger © AndreasFeiningerArchive.com, c/o Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen


Via artdaily.org

OTTAWA.- Two years ago, the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) received an extraordinary donation of 252 exquisite photographs by Andreas Feininger, one of the greatest modernist photographers. Best known for his dynamic urban views of Manhattan and Chicago, Feininger left a legacy on his 1999 death at 93 of 346 Life magazine photo-essays, thousands of photographs and more than 50 publications. Beginning this Saturday, until August 28, visitors to the NGC can enjoy 27 of these remarkable works in Gallery C202b.


"Andreas Feininger's photographs reveal his technical virtuosity and his incisive eye," said NGC director Marc Mayer. "We are grateful to his family for the gift of these important works."

Modernist photographer Andreas Feininger's vast body of work spans a period of nearly six decades. From his dynamic urban views of New York to his extreme close-ups of natural forms, Feininger's work shows his instinct for graphic forms and patterning, and his ability to highlight the sculptural qualities of objects. His urban scenes convey his excitement at the visual complexity of city life, while his macro-photographs of shells and bones, often interpreted through a highly surrealist lens, demonstrate his fascination with the elegant precision of nature.

Feininger's vision is unified by an attraction to the organizing principles behind both constructed and natural forms. After studying at the Bauhaus in Germany, and training as an architect, Feininger worked in Paris and Stockholm before establishing his career in the United States, first as a photographer for the Black Star Picture Agency and then with Life magazine. He was technically inventive, devising his own super-telephoto and super-close-up cameras. He even built his own radio in 1927, seen in his self-portrait of that year. This selection of 27 photographs reveals the keen insight of a photographer who never ceased his quest for order and beauty in the world around him.

Several other exquisite photographs by Feininger will be included in the exhibition Made in America 1900-1950. Photographs from the National Gallery of Canada, opening this Fall.

Friday, April 29, 2011

BILL EPPRIDGE EXHIBIT AT FAIRFIELD MUSEUM

Fairfield Museum IMAGES

IMAGES 2011: The 3rd Annual Fairfield Museum Photography Exhibition

Featuring a Retrospective of Award-Winning Photojournalist Bill Eppridge
May 1 to August 28, 2011


IMAGES is an annual juried photography exhibition hosted by the Fairfield Museum to celebrate the exceptional work of talented regional photographers. The exhibition provides an excellent opportunity for artists to connect with prominent collectors, gallery owners, fellow photographers and the public.


This year the Fairfield Museum will also feature a retrospective exhibition celebrating legendary photojournalist Bill Eppridge, whose storied career spans over fifty years. His iconic collection of work for magazines such as LIFE, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated captures many of the most important moments in American political and cultural history.

Preview Gala Tickets and Exhibit Programming here.


The Chaney family as they depart for the burial of James Chaney, Meridian, Mississippi, August 7, 1964
The Chaney family as they depart for the burial of James Chaney, Meridian, Mississippi, August 7, 1964.

Photograph © Bill Eppridge.
All rights reserved.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Top Ten Galleries Every Photographer Should Visit

April 27, 2011


Top Ten Galleries Every Photographer Should Visit

Via The Photo Life
Written by Rachel LaCour Niesen

Call me old school. Go ahead, it’s true. I love seeing photographs in galleries. Not the galleries confined to a computer. I’m talking about the ones with walls.

There’s just something magical about stepping into a gallery and approaching large photographs hanging around you. It’s like meeting a kindred spirit for the first time; by standing face-to-face, you have a chance to savor their subtle nuances, to get lost in the rich hues of their eyes. Above all, you feel comfortable exploring, discovering and learning.

Sometimes, my palms sweat as I walk into a favorite gallery and glimpse a new exhibit. Rounding the corner of Canal and Chartres in New Orleans, I instinctively look up, toward the worn wooden sign and bold red door marking the entrance to A Gallery for Fine Photography. It was the first real photography gallery I visited, when I was a high school student discovering my passion for photojournalism. When I’m in New Orleans, A Gallery is my first stop. The space always draws me in, like the magnetic force of first love.

When I view photographs in a gallery, I don’t just see them. I experience them. It’s like full immersion in another culture, and it can’t be matched by a computer.

For years, I’ve been visiting galleries, cataloging my favorites. Here are my must-see galleries for photographers. I hope you’ll have a chance to stop by each of them and get lost for awhile. Please share your favorite galleries in the comments section. I look forward to finding some new places to visit!

1. A Gallery for Fine Photography, New Orleans, LA

Located in an historic 19th-century building at 241 Chartres in New Orleans’ French Quarter, A Gallery houses a dazzling collection of historic photographs spanning the 19th and 20th centuries. Set up like a living room, or informal Parisian Salon, the gallery immediately makes visitors feel at ease. Poke around, walk upstairs, and stare at images of Ernest Hemingway and Louis Armstrong. The singular vision and unforgettable personality of gallery owner, Joshua Mann Pailet, are evident around every corner. That’s precisely why this space feels like home to me.


A Gallery New Orleans


A Gallery New Orleans


2. Monroe Gallery, Santa Fe, NM



 

Located just off the historic city center, The Plaza, the Monroe Gallery specializes in classic black-and-white photography with an emphasis on humanist and photojournalist imagery. From Robert Capa’s pioneering photojournalism to Joe McNally’s contemporary coverage of New York city firefighters, the Monroe gallery is a living, breathing archive of photojournalism. Plus, the owners are casual, friendly and willing to strike up a conversation about their passion for photography.


3. Polka Galerie, Paris, France


Polka Galerie Paris France


The Polka Galerie is located in my favorite Parisian neighborhood, The Marais, and is actually part of three outlets dedicated to photography. The physical space is supplemented by a beautiful, quarterly magazine and a website showcasing exhibits. The founder and owner of Polka is Alain Genestar, former editor-in-chief of Paris Match, which is one of the most powerful weekly magazines in the France and is renowed for its use of photographs.

4. Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, NY

Formerly a photographer and founder of The Center for Photography in Woodstock in 1977, Howard Greenberg is one of a small group of gallerists, curators and historians responsible for the creation and development of the modern market for photography. The Howard Greenberg Gallery, which was founded in 1981, was the first to consistently exhibit photojournalism and ‘street’ photography, which are now accepted as important components of photographic art.

5. International Center for Photography, New York, NY

Nestled in the heart of New York City, the International Center of Photography is dedicated to exploring the photographic medium through dynamic exhibitions of historical and contemporary work. More than a gallery, ICP is a haven for education and scholarship. ICP also holds the famed “Mexican Suitcase,” which comprises a rare collection of rediscovered Spanish Civil War negatives by Capa, Chim, and Taro.

6. The George Eastman House, Rochester, NY

The world-renknowed George Eastman House combines the world’s leading collections of photography and film with the stately style of the Colonial Revival mansion that George Eastman called home from 1905 to 1932. This is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the world’s oldest film archives, which originally opened to the public in 1949.

7. Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

The Fahey/Klein Gallery is devoted to the enhancement of the public’s appreciation of photography through the exhibition and sale of 20th Century and Contemporary Fine Art Photography. Since the gallery’s inception, exhibitions have embraced a diverse range photographers from Edward Weston to Berenice Abbott; Man Ray to Henri Cartier-Bresson.

8. Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA

Founded in 1980, the Robert Klein Gallery is devoted exclusively to fine art photography. The gallery deals with established photographers of the 19th and 20th centuries including those who are considered masters such as: Muybridge, Berenice Abbott, Ansel Adams, Irving Penn, Brassai, Cartier Bresson, Helen Levitt, Yousuf Karsh, Man Ray, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston and Walker Evans. The exhibition schedule is also designed to introduce new photographers to the public. Recently exhibited contemporary artists include: Julie Blackmon, Bill Jacobson, Jeff Brouws, Cig Harvey, Laura Letinsky, Wendy Burton and Chip Hooper.

9. Photo Eye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

If you’re into collecting photo books, especially rare and out-of-print volumes, don’t miss Photo Eye! Simply put, it’s a treasure trove of photo books. You’ll be consistently surprised every time you step into this gallery a few blocks off Canyon Road. Dealing in contemporary photography, the gallery represents both internationally renowned and emerging artists.

10. Peter Fetterman, Santa Monica, CA

Peter Fetterman set up his first gallery over 20 years ago. He was a pioneer tenant of Bergamot Station, the Santa Monica Center of the Arts, when it opened in 1994. His gallery has one of the largest inventories of classic 20th Century photography. Diverse holdings include work by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastião Salgado, Ansel Adams, Paul Caponigro, Willy Ronis, and André Kerstez. Peter and his colleagues are committed to promote awareness and appreciation of photography in an intimate, user-friendly environment.


Link to article and comments here.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

MOMENTS OF OUR TIME

Via wayneford's posterous

Notes and thoughts on the photography that I am looking at...
April 27, 2011


 Moments of Our Time: Photographs that Define Modern History


 

Above Execution in Saigon, 1968. (©AP Eddie Adams/Courtesy of Monroe Gallery).


Over the past 100 years, the photograph has formed an important part of both our social and cultural history, with many images becoming icons of our time and often forming the the impetus to set political social changes in motion. Moments of Our Time at London’s Atlas Gallery brings many of these key images together, in what could be considered a sequel to the 2010 exhibition, Faces of Our Time.


Amongst the exhibitions many recognisable photographs, are Robert Capa’s (1913-1954) D-Day, Omaha Beach, Normandy, 6th June 1944, an image that places us, the viewer, at the very heart of the action, as the soldiers struggle to reach the beachhead through a raging surf, whilst under the threat of enemy fire, a photograph that clearly reflects Capa’s credo, ‘...if your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.’

Whilst American Joe Rosenthal (1911-2006), received a Pulitzer Prize for his iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, taken in 1945, five days after the U.S. Marine corp landed on Iwo Jima. When asked about the photograph later in life, Rosenthal replied, ‘I took the picture, the Marines took Iwo Jima.’


Marines of the 28th Regiment of the 5th Division Raise the American Flag Atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, 1945

Above U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, on Friday, Feb. 23, 1945. (©Joe Rosenthal/AP Photo/Courtesy of Monroe Gallery).


And several decades later it was a different war that took centre stage. On 2 February 1968, Eddie Adams' (1933-2004) photograph Execution in Saigon, South Vietnam, appeared on the front page of The New York Times (and syndicated around the world), a day after South Vietnam’s chief of police, Nguyen Ngoc Loan, executed a suspected Viet Cong collaborator. Just seconds before this man looses his life, we are presented with the fear in his eyes, and with the photographs publication, public opinion turned against the Vietnam War, reflecting the power of the photograph.

The attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001, was captured by Magnum photographer, Thomas Hoepker. His Twin Towers, Brooklyn, NYC, 9/11, 2001, depicts an almost idyllic scene, with a group of young people sitting and chatting in the late afternoon summer sunshine, as smoke billows from the ground zero, raising questions over about onlookers reactions to the scenes unravelling before their very eyes.

Whilst many of the images in this exhibition are by notable photographers, such as Capa, Rosenthal, Adams, and Hoepker, and others including, Ian Berry, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Elliott Erwitt, Stuart Franklin, Leonard Freed, Burt Glinn, Yevgeny Khaldei, Alberto Korda, Josef Koudelka, Don McCullin, Mark Power, Marc Riboud, W. Eugene Smith, Nick Ut, and Abraham Zapruder, works by authors who remain unknown, but whose images are no less poignant are also included.

On the 6 August 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, the second such attack on the country. This now iconic image of the attack, depicting what The Times described as a ‘huge mushroom of smoke and dust,’ has become one of the most powerful symbols of the anti-war movement. Whilst the ethereal, almost cinematic image of President John F. Kennedy slumped in the back of his presidential car, and cradled in the arms of Jackie Kennedy, which has been utilised in artworks by contemporary artists Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, is etched on our shared memory of this tragic event.

These photographs, and others in Moments of Our Time, are rarely easy to look at, but are powerful markers of history over the last 100 years, and represent the important place the photograph holds in informing, and setting in motion social and political change.



Moments of Our Time is at the Atlas Gallery, London, until 28 May 2011.


(Monroe Gallery of Photography is pleased to have provided several key photographs to this exhibition.)

44 YEARS AGO: MUHAMMAD ALI STRIPPED OF HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP



Bon Gomel: Heavyweight boxer Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali, posing outside the Alvin theater where "The Great White Hope" is playing, New York, 1968

Clay Refuses Army Oath; Stripped of Boxing Crown

The New York Times
By ROBERT LIPSYTE


Houston, April 28 (1967)--Cassius Clay refused today, as expected, to take the one step forward that would have constituted induction into the armed forces. There was no immediate Government action.

Although Government authorities here foresaw several months of preliminary moves before Clay would be arrested and charged with a felony, boxing organizations instantly stripped the 25-year- old fighter of his world heavyweight championship.

"It will take at least 30 days for Clay to be indicted and it probably will be another year and a half before he could be sent to prison since there undoubtedly will be appeals through the courts," United States Attorney Morton Susman said.

Statement Is Issued

Clay, in a statement distributed a few minutes after the announcement of his refusal, said:
"I have searched my conscience and I find I cannot be true to my belief in my religion by accepting such a call." He has maintained throughout recent unsuccessful civil litigation that he is entitled to draft exemption as an appointed minister of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, the so- called Black Muslim sect.

Clay, who prefers his Muslim name of Muhammad Ali, anticipated the moves against his title in his statement, calling them a "continuation of the same artificially induced prejudice and discrimination" that had led to the defeat of his various suits and appeals in Federal courts, including the Supreme Court.

Hayden C. Covington of New York, Clay's lawyer, said that further civil action to stay criminal proceedings would be initiated. If convicted of refusal to submit to induction, Clay is subject to a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.

Mr. Covington, who has defended many Jehovah's Witnesses in similar cases, has repeatedly told Clay during the last few days, "You'll be unhappy in the fiery furnace of criminal proceedings but you'll come out unsinged."

As a plaintiff in civil action, the Negro fighter has touched on such politically and socially explosive areas as alleged racial imbalance on local Texas draft boards, alleged discriminatory action by the Government in response to public pressure, and the rights of a minority religion to appoint clergymen.

Full-Time Occupation

As a prospective defendant in criminal proceedings, Clay is expected to attempt to establish that "preaching and teaching" the tenets of the Muslims is a full-time occupation and that boxing is the "avocation" that financially supports his unpaid ministerial duties.

Today, Clay reported to the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station on the third floor of the Federally drab United States Custom House a few minutes before 8 A.M., the ordered time. San Jacinto Street, in downtown Houston, was already crowded with television crews and newsmen when Clay stepped out of a taxi cab with Covington, Quinnan Hodges, the local associate counsel, and Chauncey Eskridge of Chicago, a lawyer for the Rev. Martin Luther King, as well as for Clay and others.

Half a dozen Negro men, apparently en route to work, applauded Clay and shouted: "He gets more publicity than Johnson." Clay was quickly taken upstairs and disappeared into the maw of the induction procedure for more than five hours.

Two information officers supplied a stream of printed and oral releases throughout the procedure, including a detailed schedule of examinations and records processing, as well as instant confirmation of Clay's acceptable blood test and the fact that he had obeyed Muslim dietary strictures by passing up the ham sandwich included in the inductees' box lunches.

Such information, however, did not forestall the instigation, by television crews, of a small demonstration outside the Custom House. During the morning, five white youngsters from the Friends World Institute, a nonaccredited school in Westbury, L.I., who had driven all night from a study project in Oklahoma, and half a dozen local Negro youths, several wearing Black Power buttons, had appeared on the street.

Groups Use Signs

Continuous and sometimes insulting interviewers eventually provoked both groups, separately, to appear with signs. The white group merely asked for the end of the Vietnam war and greater efforts for civil rights.

The Negro eventually swelled into a group of about two dozen circling pickets carrying hastily scrawled, "Burn, Baby, Burn" signs and singing, "Nothing kills a nigger like too much love." A few of the pickets wore discarded bedsheets and table linen wound into African-type garments, but most were young women dragged into the little demonstration on their lunch hours.

There was a touch of sadness and gross exaggeration throughout the most widely observed noninduction in history. At breakfast this morning in the Hotel America, Clay had stared out a window into a dingy, cold morning and said: "Every time I fight it gets cold and rainy. Then dingy and cool, no sun in sight nowhere."

He had shrugged when Mr. Hodges had showed him an anonymously sent newspaper clipping in which a photograph of the local associate counsel had been marked "Houston's great nigger lawyer."

Sadly, too, 22-year-old John McCullough, a graduate of Sam Houston State College, said: "It's his prerogative if he's sincere in his religion, but it's his duty as a citizen to go in. I'm a coward, too."

46 Called to Report

Then Mr. McCullough, who is white, went up the steps to be inducted. He was one of the 46 young men, including Clay, who were called to report on this day.

For Clay, the day ended at 1:10 P.M. Houston time, when Lieut. Col. J. Edwin McKee, commander of the station, announced that "Mr. Muhammad Ali has just refused to be inducted."

In a prepared statement, Colonel McKee said that notification of the refusal would be forwarded to the United States Attorney General's office, and the national and local Selective Service boards. This is the first administrative step toward possible arrest, and an injunction to stop it had been denied to Clay yesterday in the United States District Court here.

Clay was initially registered for the draft in Louisville, where he was born. He obtained a transfer to a Houston board because his ministerial duties had made this city his new official residence. He had spent most of his time until last summer in Chicago, where the Muslin headquarters are situated, in Miami, where he trained, or in the cities in which he was fighting.

After Colonel McKee's brief statement, Clay was brought into a pressroom and led into range of 13 television cameras and several dozen microphones. He refused to speak as he handed out Xeroxed copies of his statement to selected newsmen, including representatives of the major networks, wire services and The New York Times.

The statement thanked those instrumental in his boxing career as well as those who have offered support and guidance, including Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Muslims; Mohammed Oweida, Secretary General of the High Council for Islamic Affairs, and Floyd McKissick, president of the Congress of Racial Equality.

The statement, in part, declared:

"It is in the light of my consciousness as a Muslim minister and my own personal convictions that I take my stand in rejecting the call to be inducted in the armed services. I do so with the full realization of its implications and possible consequences. I have searched my conscience and I find I cannot be true to my belief in my religion by accepting such a call.

"My decision is a private and individual one and I realize that this is a most crucial decision. In taking it I am dependent solely upon Allah as the final judge of these actions brought about by my own conscience.

"I strongly object to the fact that so many newspapers have given the American public and the world the impression that I have only two alternatives in taking this stand: either I go to jail or go to the Army. There is another alternative and that alternative is justice. If justice prevails, if my Constitutional rights are upheld, I will be forced to go neither to the Army nor jail. In the end I am confident that justice will come my way for the truth must eventually prevail.

"I am looking forward to immediately continuing my profession.

"As to the threat voiced by certain elements to 'strip' me of my title, this is merely a continuation of the same artificially induced prejudice and discrimination.

"Regardless of the difference in my outlook, I insist upon my right to pursue my livelihood in accordance with the same rights granted to other men and women who have disagreed with the policies of whatever Administration was in power at the time.

"I have the world heavyweight title not because it was 'given' to me, not because of my race or religion, but because I won it in the ring through my own boxing ability.

"Those who want to 'take' it and hold a series of auction-type bouts not only do me a disservice but actually disgrace themselves. I am certain that the sports fans and fair-minded people throughout America would never accept such a 'title-holder.'"

Clay returned to his hotel and went to sleep after the day's activities. He is expected to leave the city, possibly for Washington, in the morning.



Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali Photographs Tell Stories of Two American Icons


Andrew Berg, 12, of Souderton, Pa., views photographs of Muhammad Ali by Neil Leifer, right, and an anonymous photographer, left, at the James A. Michener Museum in Doylestown, Pa. Two American superstars have crossed paths in suburban Philadelphia at the museum, where a pair of photography exhibits called American Icons offers a peek into the lives of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali. AP Photo/Matt Rourke.

Via artdaily.org

By: Kathy Matheson, Associated Press


DOYLESTOWN, PA (AP).- In a culture saturated with celebrity magazines, paparazzi and red carpets, it's hard to imagine capturing an image of a young Elvis Presley alone on the sidewalk in New York. Or a picture of Muhammad Ali at play with neighborhood kids in a parking lot.

No screaming fans, no camera flashes, no entourages.

These unguarded moments are among dozens featured in "Ali and Elvis: American Icons," a pair of photography exhibits sharing gallery space through May 15 at the James A. Michener Museum in Doylestown, Pa., about 25 miles north of Philadelphia. This is the first time the exhibits have been displayed together.

The Smithsonian-curated "Elvis at 21" show offers a glimpse into Presley's life just as his star begins to rise. Needing publicity photos, Presley's record company hired photographer Alfred Wertheimer in 1956 to shadow the rock-n-roll prince who would become The King.

Wertheimer had extraordinary access, said Smithsonian project director Marquette Folley.

"After this year, 1956, no one can ever get this close again," Folley said. "The walls go up."

The images of Ali, taken by multiple photographers, chronicle his years from teen boxer to his reign as The Greatest to a beloved figure battling Parkinson's disease. They were first displayed at a Hofstra University symposium on Ali in 2008.

Putting the exhibits together was simply an effort to take a broader look at the concepts of fame and the making of icons, said Brian Peterson, chief curator at the Michener Museum.

Certainly the two superstars had similarities. Both sons of the South, Presley and Ali enjoyed worldwide popularity but also alarmed some people with their swagger and attitude — Elvis with his thrusting pelvis and use of African-American rhythms in his music, Ali with his braggadocio and conversion to Islam.

Wertheimer's 56 images — most enlarged to 3-by-4-foot prints — capture Presley's electrifying stage persona but also his more intimate moments: standing in solitude in front of New York's Warwick Hotel; sprawling on a couch reading fan mail; and interacting with his family.

Wertheimer also chronicles one summer week that found the American idol rehearsing alone at a piano for an appearance on Steve Allen's show in New York, kissing a giddy fan backstage in Richmond, Va., and splashing in his swimming pool at home in Memphis, Tenn.

"I was basically putting Elvis under my microscope," Wertheimer, now 81, told The Associated Press. "He permitted closeness."

The bulk of "Muhammad Ali: The Making of an Icon" features shots of the heavyweight champ in and around the ring: training in Miami; absorbing blows from George Foreman in Zaire; and looming over a floored Sonny Liston in Neil Leifer's famous frame from 1965.

But the exhibit starts with less familiar and more personal images from when Ali was known as Cassius Clay — shadowboxing with his family, preening in front of a mirror and riding a bike with adoring local children. It ends with pictures of Ali the celebrity and humanitarian, lighting the Olympic torch in Atlanta and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Curator Hava Gurevich said the power of the 50-image show lies in its combination of fine art, documentary and news photography.

"It's like a kaleidoscopic view of Muhammad Ali's life," Gurevich said.

Peterson, the Michener curator, said he didn't find out until after booking them that Presley and Ali had actually crossed paths. Elvis visited Ali's training camp in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains and gave him a rhinestone cape; Ali gave The King an autographed pair of gold boxing gloves.

"I can't say it was part of our grand plan," Peterson said. "(But) it made us feel we were kind of on the right track."

The next stop for "Elvis at 21" is the William J. Clinton museum in Little Rock, Ark. The next stop for "Muhammad Ali: The Making of an Icon" is the Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center in Lake Charles, La.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press

Monday, April 25, 2011

Memorials Planned for Photographers Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington

Via Photo District News





Memorials Planned for Photographers Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington


The families of two photojournalists killed in a rocket attack on Misrata, Libya, on April 20 are organizing memorials.

Dean Hondros, brother of photographer Chris Hondros, announced that a memorial service will take place Wednesday, April 27, at 1 pm at Sacred Hearts St. Stephens Church in Brooklyn. Directions and information are available on the church’s Web site, http://www.delvecchiorc.com/; the phone number is (718) 246-8342.

In lieu of flowers, Hondros’s family and fiancee have suggested donations be made to The Chris Hondros Fund, which has just been launched: “This fund will provide scholarships for aspiring photojournalists and raise awareness of issues surrounding conflict photography.”

The Chris Hondros Fund
c/o Christina Piaia
50 Bridge Street #414
Brooklyn, New York 11201

The family of Tim Hetherington have created a web page, Timhetherington.org/condolences, where remembrances of their son are being posted. On the site, a note from Alistair and Judith Hetherington says, “We will be setting up a charitable organization to continue Tim’s humanitarian work around the world,” and adds, “Information will be posted here in the coming days.