“I think we all need to recognize the assault on media across the world and even in our country over the last few years is chilling”

 

Via The New York Times

By Kellen Browning

April 18, 2021

Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, on Sunday responded to reports that the state’s police officers had assaulted journalists covering the unrest in a Minneapolis suburb, saying, “Apologies are not enough; it just cannot happen.”

Protests have erupted in Brooklyn Center, Minn., in the wake of the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who was killed by a veteran police officer during a traffic stop. Law enforcement officers have fired tear gas or pepper spray into crowds and have made dozens of arrests.

“I think we all need to recognize the assault on media across the world and even in our country over the last few years is chilling,” Mr. Walz said in an interview with a local CBS station. “We cannot function as a democracy if they’re not there.”

On Saturday, a lawyer representing more than 20 news media organizations sent a letter to Mr. Walz and leaders of Minnesota law enforcement organizations detailing a series of alleged assaults of journalists by police officers in the past week. Journalists have been sprayed with chemical irritants, arrested, thrown to the ground and beaten by police officers while covering protests, wrote the lawyer, Leita Walker.

The letter provides details of some of the alleged incidents, including ones involving journalists working for CNN and The New York Times.

Joshua Rashaad McFadden, a freelance photographer who was covering the protests for The Times, said in an interview on Sunday that the police surrounded the car he was in on Tuesday as he tried to leave the protests. They beat on the windows with batons, then entered the car to force him out, beating his legs and striking his camera lens, he said.

“It was definitely scary — I’ve never been in a situation like that with so many police officers hitting me, hitting my equipment,” Mr. McFadden, 30, said.

Mr. McFadden, who is Black, said the police did not believe his press credentials were real until another photographer vouched for him — a situation that has happened to him and other Black journalists many times, he said.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” he said, to know that “if a situation like this happens, they’re not going to believe or care about anything I’m saying.”

Later in the week, he said, he was forced to the ground along with other journalists and photographed by the police.

A spokeswoman for The New York Times Company on Sunday confirmed that Ms. Walker’s letter represented the company’s response.

On Friday, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order forbidding the police to use physical force or chemical agents against journalists. But Ms. Walker wrote that officers were still engaging in “widespread intimidation, violence and other misconduct directed at journalists.”

Mr. Walz said in a tweet on Saturday that he had “directed our law enforcement partners to make changes that will help ensure journalists do not face barriers to doing their jobs.”

“These are volatile situations and that’s not an excuse,” he said during the television interview on Sunday. “It’s an understanding that we need to continue to get better.”

Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World

 

Adam Karls Johansson

Greta Thunberg's first school strike for Climate, outside the Swedish Parliament, August 20, 2018

The first episode of Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World airs tonight (Monday 12 April) at 9pm on BBC One; then premieres in its entirety as a special presentation on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22 at 8:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS stations nationwide in the United States.

 

Via PBS:  Greta Thunberg is on a mission to save the world. She is asking every one of us to act and to mobilize in order to slow down the growing climate change that is destroying our planet and threatens our way of life. The message is clear, and scientists agree—we need to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees in order to give our species the best possible chance of avoiding a catastrophic future. 

This revealing series follows Greta as she steps from behind the podium and onto the front lines. Over the course of the three episodes, Greta explores the science as she travels to extraordinary locations across the globe, meeting leading climate scientists, witnessing first hand the consequences of climate change and confronting the complexity of what is required to make change happen. She travels from the burning tar sands of the Canadian oil industry to the coal mines of Europe and the melting glaciers of the U.S.—places where the impact of a changing climate is glaringly obvious, both for the planet and for the inevitable human costs—making clear the reasons why scientists call for action to be taken. The series also hears from a range of academics, economists and experts, further exploring the climate change science Greta encounters on the ground.

In the fall of 2019, then-16-year-old Greta took a year off from school to embark on an international mission to spread her message: that we must act to drastically reduce our carbon emissions—immediately. The world was transfixed as this teenager spoke with directness and clarity to power, from diplomats at the United Nations to the world’s economic elite at Davos. However, just as her journey was gaining serious momentum, a new threat emerged, and everything became uncertain. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a terrifying standstill when the global economy, modern society and Greta’s journey all came to a halt. However, as days turned to months and people around the world were confined to their homes, an unintended consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the ongoing global shutdown, revealing how much we can lessen our impact on the planet if we radically change our behavior.

“Through Greta’s exploration of the science, we get a deeper understanding of the problems of climate change and the complexity of resolving them,” said Bill Gardner, Vice President, Programming and Development, PBS. “This is also a very personal, intimate and moving story about an incredibly brave person who has found herself in the global spotlight and navigates the challenges of unsought fame. PBS is proud to bring this powerful story to our viewers of all ages.” 

Storytelling Pictures

 

Via Joe McNally's Blog

April 6, 2021

A recommended read from photographer Joe McNally:

"Storytelling pictures. Moments in time. Photographers, I would submit, are more important than ever, even though, along with the rest of the world, we have taken it on the chin of late. Truth be told, our profession has been under assault for many years now, long before COVID, with the diminution of rates paid for our services, and the evisceration of rights to the images we create. Many newspapers have abandoned the notion of maintaining a staff, deeming it too expensive. Most magazines are a shell of what they once were, if they continue to publish at all. Bleakness abounds. A photo editor of a major publication, in an interview not too long ago, offered sobering advice to young, would-be photojournalists. Basically, she counseled that it would be advisable to have a trust fund, should you try to do this job.

In the face of all the daunting headwinds photographers face, what do they do? What they have always done. They retain passion and excellence. They continue to find a way, creating new and unique paths to continue to shoot and report effectively."

New HBO Series "Exterminate All the Brutes" Features Ryan Vizzions Standing Rock Photographs

Trailer

VIA HBO

Premieres Wednesday, Apr. 7, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO

Exterminate All the Brutes, from acclaimed filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro, HBO’s Sometimes in April), is a four-part hybrid docuseries that provides a visually arresting journey through time, into the darkest hours of humanity. Through his personal voyage, Peck deconstructs the making and masking of history, digging deep into the exploitative and genocidal aspects of European colonialism — from America to Africa and its impact on society today.

Based on works by three authors and scholars — Sven Lindqvist’s Exterminate All the Brutes, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, and Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s Silencing the Past — Exterminate All the Brutes revisits and reframes the profound meaning of the Native American genocide and American slavery and their fundamental implications for our present.

The series disrupts formal and artistic film conventions by weaving together rich documentary footage and archival material, as well as animation and interpretive scripted scenes that offer a counter-narrative to white Eurocentric history. Through a sweeping story in which history, contemporary life and fiction are wholly intertwined, the series challenges the audience to re-think the very notion of how history is being written.

Exterminate All the Brutes is produced by Velvet Film. Written and directed by Raoul Peck. Executive produced by Raoul Peck and Rémi Grellety.

"There’s a collage effect to its assemblage of maps, photographs, paintings, film clips, home movies, animation, nature videos, thought-experiment sketches and occasional pop-music interludes."

--Hollywood Reporter

Ryan Vizzons

Defend The Sacred, Standing Rock, Cannonball, North Dakota, 2016

One of five photographs by Ryan Vizzions featured in

"Exterminate All The Brutes"

View Ryan Vizzions' print collection here

Current Exhibition "Ida Wyman: East Harlem, New York, 1947 in Color" in the Press

 

Blind Magazine: In a League of Her Own: Ida Wyman, Girl Photographer in a World of Men

The Albuquerque Journal - Ida Wyman captured the ordinary through an extraordinary eye.

"Despite the fact Wyman did not live to see her book published, her work is receiving its proper due in the new exhibition in Santa Fe, Ida Wyman: East Harlem, New York, 1947 in Color, which showcases a recently discovered collection of Ektachtomes Wyman made at the age of 21."

"Her photographs reveal the exceptional within what initially might appear unremarkable. The images trumpet Wyman’s abiding curiosity about the human condition."

The Santa Fe New Mexican Pasatiempo -  Ektachrome moments: The color work of Ida Wyman

"She landed assignments through sheer perseverance. “I give her a lot of credit, a young girl — 18, 19, 20, 21 — especially in a man’s world, walking into these offices and self-advocating.” 

The Eye of Photography: Monroe Gallery : Ida Wyman : East Harlem, New York, 1947 in Color

"Reflecting the related practices of documentary photography, photojournalism, and street photography, these images are a testament to Wyman’s abiding curiosity about the human condition and the complexity of human experience, both familiar and unfamiliar.

View the exhibition here

“A City Ruptured” with Ashley Gilbertson and Renee Melides

 

Photo by Ash Gilbertson / VII for The New York Times.

 Third Ave, Midtown East, September 30, 2020

Via VII Insider

Date: Monday, March 22, 2021

09:00–10:15AM EDT

Join here

Join NY Times Editor Renee Melides and VII Photographer Ashley Gilbertson to discuss “A City Ruptured” on March 22 at 9 AM EDT.

The duo will discuss their year of COVID-19 coverage in New York City, the concepts behind the work, the production of a months-long story, and the importance of collaboration on projects.

Renee Melides

Renee Melides is a Photo Editor at The New York Times and is currently based in New York. Renee also worked for The Times in both their London and Hong Kong bureaus. Prior to this, she was the Deputy Photo Editor at Monocle Magazine in London.

Ashley Gilbertson

Ashley Gilbertson is an Australian photographer and writer living in New York City widely recognized for his critical eye and unique approaches to social issues. Gilbertson is a member of the VII Agency, a frequent contributor to The New York Times, and a collaborator with the United Nations.

View the exhibition "History Now" featuring several of Ashley Gilbertson's photographs.

View a selection of Ashley Gilbertson's prints

In a League of Her Own: Ida Wyman, Girl Photographer in a World of Men

 

Via Blind

By Miss Rosen

March 17, 2021

A new exhibition looks at rare color photographs of documentary photographer Ida Wyman made on the streets of New York in the 1940s.

American photographer Ida Wyman (1926–2019) achieved her every dream except one — the opportunity to publish her illustrated memoir Girl Photographer: From the Bronx to Hollywood and Back before she died. Though Wyman was humble, she never lacked for confidence or nerve, becoming one of the few women photographers working for Look and Life magazines in the 1940s.

 

 

Park Avenue Archway, East Harlem, NY 1947

© Ida Wyman / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

As with many things, Wyman was ahead of the times. “She never wanted to be the most famous,” says Heather Garrison, her granddaughter and executor of the Ida Wyman Estate. “I think in her later years she finally understood how important her journey was as a woman in a male dominated industry. She took meticulous notes and records, and had her archive well organized. She wanted to put it all into one piece.”

Despite the fact Wyman did not live to see her book published, her work is receiving its proper due in the new exhibition in Santa Fe, Ida Wyman: East Harlem, New York, 1947 in Color, which showcases a recently discovered collection of Ektachtomes Wyman made at the age of 21. The only color body of work from the period, Wyman’s photographs offer a poignant portrait of working class life in New York after the war. Neither activist nor ethnologist, Wyman was a humanist with a profound love for street portraiture. She eschewed the term “street photography,” seeing it as an anachronistic term to describe the documentation of urban life.

 

Street scene in East Harlem, NY 1947

© Ida Wyman / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

A Magical Process

Born to Askenazi Jews who immigrated to the United States, Wyman was born in Malden, Massachusetts, and raised in the Bronx, where her family ran a small grocery store. “Ida was very practical and frugal, and a lot of that came out of necessity, how her parents raised her, and the era she grew up in,” Garrison says of Wyman’s childhood throughout the Great Depression. “She had a lust for life, and found that in normal, accessible ways: laughter, music, dancing, and beauty in the most ordinary things.”

 

The shoe shine man, East Harlem, NY 1947

© Ida Wyman / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

At the age of 14, Wyman bought a camera and immediately got to work documenting her community and joined the Walton High School Camera Club, where she learned to develop and print photographs. “[Photography] seemed like a magical process, allowing me to hold forever on film what my eyes saw and my heart felt, as I explored the various neighborhoods of New York City,” Wyman wrote in an artist statement.

Bernard Hoffman, a staff photographer at LIFE magazine, met with students of the camera club, and encouraged Wyman to pursue her dream of becoming a professional photographer. After graduating high school in 1943, Wyman took a job at age 16 as the first “girl” mailroom boy at Acme Newspictures. After being promoted to printer, Wyman purchased a 3¼ x 4¼ Graflex Speed Camera, loaded up her film holders, and took to the street during her lunch break.

 

Guess your age, East Harlem, NY 1947

© Ida Wyman / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

The Keymaker, East Harlem, NY 1947

© Ida Wyman / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

After three years at Acme, Wyman came to understand her true passion was not in news photography but in making photo essays and telling stories of daily life. She created assignments for herself, crafting a body of work that she could sell to picture magazines. In 1945, Wyman sold her first story to Look. It was fortuitous timing, for that fall she lost her job at Acme after the company dismissed her in order to give her position to a returning military veteran.

“Photography has enabled me to understand the lives of others, lives different in experience and age from my own.”

A League of Her Own

In 1946 Wyman married Acme staff photographer Simon Nathan, who introduced her to Morris Engel, a member of the illustrious New York Photo League. “I considered myself a documentary photographer, and the League’s philosophy of honest photography appealed to me,” Wyman wrote in Girl Photographer. “I also began to understand the power of photographs to help improve the social order by showing the conditions under which many people lived and worked. Even after leaving the League the following year, I continued to emphasize visual and social realities in my straightforward photographs.”

Stickball on St. Nicholas East Harlem, NY 1947

© Ida Wyman / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

Wyman’s photographs in East Harlem are a testament to a shared vision of photography as a tool to amplify the political, economic, and social issues of the times. But Wyman was not overtly political with her work; she sought to tell a story without using it as a cudgel. Her vibrant color photographs of working class life are empathetic but devoid of a moralizing tone; she sees her subject as equals worthy of veneration as individuals, rather than objects to serve a larger agenda.

“Everyday life and where it was happening was what interested me,” Wyman said in her artist statement. “Taking pictures enabled me to hear the stories of the people I photographed, which satisfied an immense curiosity to learn and understand the lives of others, lives different in experience and age from my own.”

Man with guitar, East Harlem, 1947

© Ida Wyman / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

Bobby Soxer Makes Good

Although Wyman could be shy, the camera afforded her the ability to engage with people and connect, creating a space for mutual recognition. Her photographs are imbued with tenderness and intimacy, in no small part due to the fact that she sought to obtain her subjects’ consent before making the photograph.

“She would introduce herself and ask permission,” Garrison says. “She was able to connect with people and put them at ease. Even though the photograph was candid and unposed, she was never trying to surprise them or grab the shot. Connecting with people brought her a lot of joy.”

Man on Fire Hydrant, East Harlem, NY 1947

© Ida Wyman / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

The stringless Banjo, East Harlem, NY 1947

© Ida Wyman / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

As one of the few professional women photographers working at the time, Wyman could move through the streets openly without catching people off guard; that they may have underestimated her worked to her advantage every time. Garrison explains, “She was a girl in bobby socks taking pictures and I think people were endeared to that. They would relax because it was a girl taking pictures — no big deal, no stress, no high stakes. She got better photos because people were at ease and not putting on airs for the photograph.”



By Miss Rosen

Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer focusing on art, photography, and culture. Her work has been published in books, magazines, and websites including Time, Vogue, Artsy, Aperture, Dazed, and Vice, among others.


Ida Wyman: East Harlem, New York, 1947 in Color
Through April 11, 2011
Monroe Gallery, 112 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
https://www.monroegallery.com/

"Life is Wonderful" exhibition presents Tony Vaccaro's 80-year prolific career for the first time in Finland

Via Helsingin Taidehalli

Photo: Tony Vaccaro: Anja with Oranges, Naples, Italy, 1965.

 Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography and the Tony Vaccaro Studio.

Tony Vaccaro: Life is wonderful

5.6. - 8.8.2021

Photographs by Tony Vaccaro (b. 1922, U.S.) dive into the moods and a few seconds of past worlds.

The Life is Wonderful exhibition presents iconic fashion and lifestyle images by an internationally renowned photographer from the 1950s and 1970s. In addition to the glamour of New York, the pictures show a nostalgic summer atmosphere from Finland; The art hall also features the atmospheric Marimekko photos of Porvoo and Helsinki taken by Vaccaro in the summer of 1964 for LIFE magazine. The visit became special for the artist: Vaccaro met his future wife, Anja Kyllikki Lehto, who modelled for Marimekko.

In Tadehall, Helsinki, Vaccaro's nearly 80-year prolific career is presented with 130 photographs. In addition to fashion images, the exhibition will feature several photographs of visual artists and public figures. The first images of Vaccaro's career, known for his war photographs, of the battles of The Second World War in Germany and France, as well as a selection of shots of post-war European moods during the reconstruction period, are also on display.

The Life is Wonderful exhibition presents Tony Vaccaro's production for the first time in Finland. The exhibition is carried out in collaboration with Tony Vaccaro Studio, Monroe Gallery and Marimekko.

 Tickets and more information here.

View the Tony Vaccaro collection of fine art prints here.

Ashley Gilbertson: "My requiem to the New York that we knew before the pandemic, but also a love letter to the resilient people who never gave up."

 

Via The New Yok Times

March 10, 2021

Food line, Allen Street, New York City, August 11, 2020

The pandemic shattered the city’s economy, affecting people’s homes, livelihoods and wallets. One photojournalist documented the hardships, as both a lament and a tribute.

"I needed to photograph our decimated economy in a way that brought the various elements to life — through the people living it. The resulting photo essay is my requiem to the New York that we knew before the pandemic, but also a love letter to the resilient people who never gave up." -Ashley Gilbertson

View the interactive photo essay here.

Read Ashley Gilbertson's essay here.

More of Ashley Gilbertson's fine art prints here.

Leica Camera USA Announces the Second Annual Leica Women Foto Project Award Winners, including Gallery photographer Anna Boyiazis

 

For the second year in a row, three award recipients will receive $10,000, a Leica Q2 camera and mentorship to support a personal photographic project through the female perspective

ALLENDALE, N.J., March 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dedicated to the expansion of diverse representation and inclusion in photography, Leica Camera USA is proud to announce on International Women's Day the three recipients of its second annual Leica Women Foto Project Award. This prestigious award is a part of the Leica Women Foto Project, an ongoing commitment to diversity in visual storytelling to help empower the female point of view through photography. This year's winners: Matika Wilbur, Karen Zusman and Anna Boyiazis were selected by a diverse panel of judges ranging from award-winning photojournalists to renowned contributors to the world of photography. Each recipient is awarded $10,000, a Leica Q2 (valued at $4,995) as well as a mentorship to support the continuation of their award-winning photo project.

The three winners are: 

Swim instructor Siti, 24, helps a girl float in the Indian Ocean off of Nungwi, Zanzibar, 2016

Anna Boyiazis is a documentary photographer whose areas of focus include human rights, public health, and women and girls' issues. Based between Southern California and East Africa, Boyiazis has been working on her project Finding Freedom in the Water since 2016. The winning series bears witness to women and girls in Zanzibar who are learning to swim, which she describes as, "an act of emancipation in an ultraconservative region where such an act conflicts with patriarchal, religious norms." Boyiazis' work focuses on an in-depth, visual narrative of these women and girls, revealing the intimate context of their daily lives. With the support of the Leica Women Foto Project Award, she will be able to resume her work on the project later this year by returning to Zanzibar during the dry season and continuing to document the women and girls she has built relationships with so far.

Matika Wilbur, acclaimed Tulalip & Swinomish Pacific Northwest photographer and social documentarian, has produced a stunning visual narrative of Tribal sovereignties in the US, Project 562, to "change the way we see Native America". Wilbur has visited over 400 Tribal Nations in all 50 states by car, RV, plane, train, boat, horseback, and on foot. She has exhibited her work and presented at scores of leading galleries, universities, and other venues while hosting her groundbreaking podcast, All My Relations, ranked at the top of feminist and race & society categories. She is currently completing a 500-page book for Ten Speed Press of Project 562 photographs and oral narratives and is curating a massive career retrospective exhibition and is a National Geographic Explorer for her Alaskan Tribal series. Matika's extraordinary creative initiative and singular body of work began after a dream with her grandmother, who asked her to photograph their own peoples. Matika honors her ancestor by portraying the richness and diversity of lived experiences of Indian Country with bold and inspired creativity.

New York-based photographer Karen Zusman began her journalism career documenting human trafficking in Malaysia and over the past several years has made over 20 trips to Cuba for a photo book project. When travel came to a stop during the pandemic, Zusman was spending more time in New York and the inspiration for her winning project, The Super Power of Me Project was born. Growing out of her involvement with a Black Lives Matter bicycle protest group, her latest portrait series documents the strength and spirit of children of color in New York City, which the photographer says, "Shows who they are before the world tells them otherwise." With the assistance of the Leica Women Foto Project Award, Zusman plans to expand the project to an outdoor exhibit and workshops that foster creativity and self-esteem building for children to express, protect and expand their vision of who they are.

The second annual Leica Women Foto Project Award underscores our ongoing commitment to diversity in visual storytelling," says Kiran Karnani, Director of Marketing for Leica Camera North America. "With the Award and the overarching initiative, we aim to empower, inspire and amplify underrepresented voices in photography. Our commitment continues with a virtual summit in April and a call for entries for the next iteration of the Leica Women Foto Project Award this summer."

The projects submitted by Matika Wilbur, Karen Zusman and Anna Boyiazis were carefully selected by nine influential women in photography, art and journalism, which include:

Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director & Chief Representative, Leica Galleries International

Amanda de Cadenet, Entrepreneur, journalist, author, photographer, activist and found of Girlgaze & The Conversation

Laura Roumanos, Executive producer and co-founder, United Photo Industries and Photoville

Sheila Pree Bright, Fine-art photographer and visual cultural producer

Elizabeth Avedon, Independent curator, photo consultant, designer and writer

Elizabeth Krist, National Geographic photo editor and founding member of the Visual Thinking Collective

Lynn Johnson, Photographer and National Geographic contributor

Maggie Steber, VII Agency photographer and Guggenheim Grant Fellow

Sandra Stevenson, Assistant Editor in the photography department at The New York Times

In addition to the $10,000 award, recipients will each receive a Leica Q2, a fixed-lens compact camera with a rangefinder-style electronic viewfinder that produces unparalleled high-quality images. Designed with a weather-sealed body and crafted to last a lifetime, the Leica Q2 cameras will be gifted to this year's award recipients: Matika Wilbur, Karen Zusman and Anna Boyiazis so they can continue their groundbreaking work for years to come. To further elevate the voices of these female award recipients and their diverse photographic subjects, the new awardees will also be offered opportunities to participate in Leica Gallery exhibitions and Leica Akademie workshops as well as receive mentorship from notable photographers in the industry.

As part of the brand's campaign to celebrate the power of photography and continued dedication to amplifying diverse voices in photography, Leica Camera will also be holding a virtual Summit in April. The Summit will be open to the public and those who submitted for the Leica Women Foto Project Award will have access to exclusive programming, including panels, opportunities to meet with photographers and more. For additional details on timing and how to sign up, please be sure to visit the Leica Camera website and follow @leicacamerausa on social media.

To learn more about the Leica Women Foto Project Award and the award recipients, visit http://bit.ly/Leica_Women and @leicacamerausa on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.