Archive of Photojournalist Eddie Adams Donated to Briscoe Center for American History

September 18, 2009

AUSTIN, Texas – The photographic archive of renowned photojournalist Eddie Adams has been donated by his widow, Alyssa Adams, to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin.

The archive documents Adams's career and includes "Saigon Execution," his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of General Loan executing a Vietnamese prisoner in 1968. "Saigon Execution" is widely considered to be one of the most influential photographs taken during the Vietnam war.

"Eddie Adams was a photojournalist of immense talent," said William Powers Jr., president of the university. "His collection gives the university another invaluable resource to advance our understanding of 20th century American history and photojournalism. We are grateful to Alyssa Adams for this gift of such power and significance."

"The Eddie Adams Photographic Archive is one of the most important collection gifts ever made to the Briscoe Center, said Dr. Don Carleton, executive director of the Briscoe Center. "It is a monumental addition to the photojournalism component of our news media archive. Adams was a hugely influential photographer and journalist, whose body of work would be remarkable for its visual impact alone. But more important, his work had the power to shape the course of history. I cannot overstate the degree to which this donation enhances our already impressive photographic and news media holdings."

Adams began his photography career as a high school student in Kensington, Pa. He was a Marine combat photographer during the Korean War, and in 1962, he joined the Associated Press (AP). After 10 years, Adams left the AP for Time magazine and freelance work. In 1976, he rejoined the AP as the first and only photographer to hold the title of special correspondent. From 1980 until his death in 2004, he was a photographer for Parade magazine, which featured more than 350 of his photos on its covers.

While he was on assignment for the AP, Adams carried his camera through 150 operations in Vietnam. He also covered wars in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Cyprus, Portugal, Ireland, Lebanon, and Kuwait. "Boat of No Smiles," his series on the Vietnamese boat people, influenced the United States to admit 200,000 Vietnamese refugees at the end of the war.

"It was important that Eddie's legacy be preserved by an educational institution, one that collects photojournalism for teaching and research," said Alyssa Adams. "He was such an important mentor and colleague to the community of photojournalists, so it's particularly fitting that his work will be in the same institution that holds the archives of his peers."

Measuring 200 linear feet in size, the Eddie Adams Photographic Archive includes slides, negatives, prints, audio and video materials, news stories, diaries, notes and tear sheets. In addition to substantive coverage of the Vietnam War, the collection includes his in-depth features on poverty in America, the homeless, Mother Teresa, Brazil, alternative society, anti-war demonstrations, and riots. The collection also includes his intimate portraits of such high-profile figures as Ronald Reagan, Fidel Castro, Malcolm X, Clint Eastwood, Bette Davis, Bill Cosby, and Jerry Lewis.

Adams was awarded more than 500 photojournalism awards during his lifetime, including the George Polk Award for News Photography in 1968, 1977 and 1978, the Robert Capa Gold Medal in 1977 and numerous awards from such organizations as World Press Photo, the National Press Photographers Association, Sigma Delta Chi, and the Overseas Press Club.

The Adams collection joins the archives of a number of his colleagues already held at the Briscoe Center, including David Hume Kennerly, Dirck Halstead, Wally McNamee, Diana Walker, Dick Swanson, Flip Schulke, and Cynthia Johnson.

In conjunction with the announcement of the donation of the Adams collection, the Briscoe Center will host an exhibit of his photographs at its Sid Richardson Hall location. For details on the exhibit, which closes Jan. 16, 2010, please visit the Briscoe Center's Web site. The Briscoe Center will also host a screening of a documentary that examines Adams's life, on Oct. 28 at the Blanton Museum of Art. The screening is free and open to the public, and will be followed by remarks from Alyssa Adams and Eddie Adams's professional colleague David Hume Kennerly. Details on the event will be available shortly.

Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to represent Eddie Adams' photographs.

112 Don Gaspar

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STEPHEN WILKES INTERVIEW IN F-STOP MAGAZINE; RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION PREVIEW

Stephen Wilkes: Snow Covered Shore

The September issue of F-Stop magazine features the work of Stephen Wilkes. Editor Zack Seckler interviews Wilkes about his career and his craft.

"Whether shooting Jason Kidd for Sports Illustrated or the anonymous maintainers of Times Square’s “guts” for the New York Times Magazine, Stephen Wilkes frames his subjects to reveal a truth about them. He captures the humanity of a glistening Chinese skyscraper, of an Ellis Island office a century removed from the last huddled masses it welcomed. His impressive career encompasses editorial, advertising, and fine art work of equal skill and renown. All are united by his attention to detail and his keen sense of the eye’s hidden rhythm." Continue reading the full article here.


Stephen Wilkes: Glacier and climber, Alaska

Monroe Gallery of Photography is pleased to present a retrospective exhibition featuring the documentary projects of leading contemporary photographer Stephen Wilkes. The exhibition includes new photographs and opens on Friday, October 2.

Stephen Wilkes will discuss his work in the gallery from 5 - 6; with a public reception for the photographer from 6 – 7:30 PM. This is a unique opportunity to hear Wilkes discuss his varied photography projects in an intimate setting. The exhibition continues through November 22.

Featured in the exhibition are large-format photographs from several of Wilkes' major projects, including:

"America in Detail": In 2000, Wilkes crisscrossed the country over a 52-day to create a millennial portrait of the United States and record the photographic details that captured the mood and texture of America as the new century began.

"Bethlehem Steel": In 2002, Wilkes photographed the abandoned buildings that once formed the great Bethlehem Steel plant. Known as “The Steel”, the former plant, which closed on November 18, 1995, encompasses about 100 acres with more than 25 buildings and other structures dating from as early as 1863. . Using natural light, Wilkes painstakingly photographed the peeling paint, rusted iron, broken glass and halls with wind-strewn debris and created an ethereal diorama that is captivating and compelling. Wilkes’ photographs capture the haunting beauty of these historic buildings and preserve a memory of that not-too-distant age, when proud men and women produced "the steel that built a nation".

"In Katrina's Wake": Wilkes' photographed the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and created a lasting record of the terrible destruction. Wilkes said at the time: "Maybe with our age of technology we have lost some respect for nature. The warnings about Katrina were not taken seriously and evacuation was not done properly. In conclusion we should learn to work with nature instead of against it and ignoring nature always leads to catastrophes."

"Ellis Island": Perhaps Wilkes’ most ambitious project was photographing the south side of Ellis Island (1998 – 2003).The result is visual history of the benign neglect of the medical facilities and dormitories of the historic immigration center, which at that time, unlike the Great Hall, had not yet been restored. Wilkes’ photographs capture the haunting beauty of this century old building. With his exclusive photographs and video work, Wilkes was able to help secure $6 million in funding to restore the south side of the island. Today all that remains of the past are Wilkes' haunting images. These photographs are featured in the monograph "Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom" and will be included in several museum exhibitions in 2010.

"China": Traveling throughout old and new China during a period from 2005 through 2008, Stephen Wilkes expertly portrayed a nation amidst rapid and vast transformation. Focusing on both rural and industrial settings – and the increasing number of areas where they collide – Stephen Wilkes draws our attention to a changing way of life.

New Work: Wilkes is constantly looking for photo projects to feed his soul. Wilkes is relentlessly taking and making pictures that let us feel the experience of being there, the experience of being in the moment. Included in the exhibition is the premiere of several recent photographs never before exhibited, including the following:

Stephen Wilkes: The Highline, New York

Stephen Wilkes: Huntington Beach, California

Gallery hours are 10 to 6 Monday through Saturday, 10 to 5 Sunday. Admission is free. For further information, please call: 505.992.0800; E-mail: info@monroegallery.com.

MONROE GALLERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

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Great French Photographer Willy Ronis Dead at 99

September 12, 2009

©The Associated Press

Published in The New York Times

PARIS (AP) -- Willy Ronis, the last of France's postwar greats of photography who captured the essence of Paris in black and white scenes of everyday life, died Saturday. He was 99.
Ronis died at a Paris hospital where he had been admitted days earlier, said Stephane Ledoux, the president of the Eyedea photo agency.

Lovers, nudes and scenes from Paris streets were the mainstay of Ronis' photographs, which reflect the so-called humanist school of photography in an award-winning career that began in the 1930s and reaped honors for him in France and abroad.

In a wheelchair and on dialysis for some time, the mustachioed Ronis nevertheless managed to address the crowd at the annual Arles photographic exhibition in July, where he was honored.
''We have lost the last of the great men,'' said Stephane Ledoux, head of the Eyedea agency, which took over the Rapho Agency that for decades handled Ronis' photographs.

Ronis, along with friend Robert Doisneau and photojournalist Henri-Cartier Besson, were among France's great photographers who emerged after World War II. The three along with two other photographers were honored as early as 1953 by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Ronis' genius spilled forth in his spontaneous photos of the streets of working class Paris, from its bistros to its lovers and gardens and even its strikes, always captured with a benevolent eye.

''I never took a mean photo,'' Ronis in an interview with The Associated Press in 2005. ''I never wanted to make people look ridiculous. I always had a lot of respect for the people I photographed.''

Photographs of eastern Paris, where Ronis lived, were collected in a book of the Belleville and Menilmontant neighborhoods that reached cult status in France. His photos of lovers against the Paris skyline or a nude at a wash basin also helped define him. Ronis' last photo, taken in 2001, was of a nude.

Born in Paris on Aug. 14, 1910, Ronis studied violin, but gave up a music career to take over the family photo studio when his father, Emmanuel Ronis, fell ill. For four years, he photographed weddings, babies and communions.

A month after his father died in 1936, Ronis did his first reportage, a Bastille Day parade. He worked steadily until World War II, when he joined the army. When the Nazis invaded France, Ronis, born to Jewish parents who had fled the pogroms, moved to unoccupied France.
The golden age of photography followed, and Ronis emerged as one of its leaders.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy praised Ronis as the ''chronicler of postwar social aspirations and the poet of a simple and joyous life.''

Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said Ronis immortalized ''for each of us the poetry of our daily lives and saved it from lost time. This immense narrator gave us a gift that will last forever.''

Ronis worked for numerous publications, including Life magazine, and collected dozens of honors throughout his career, in France, the U.S. and elsewhere.

After nearly 75 years of taking pictures, Ronis, encumbered by canes and no longer able to snap photos, set aside his camera.

''If I can't run, climb up onto a bench ... rush toward something I see far away that might interest me, it's over,'' Ronis said in the AP interview. Age, however, did not defeat Ronis. At 85, he went skydiving, snapping a photo of himself on the way down, his typical childlike joy showing through.

His numerous awards began with the Kodak prize in 1947. A decade later, he received the gold medal at the Venice Biennale. In 2007, he was honored in New York at the 5th annual Lucie Awards, which celebrates photographers, for lifetime achievement.

Ronis is an Officer in France's prestigious National Order of Merit and was named a Commander of Arts and Letters. In 1983, Ronis bequeathed his works to the French state.

There was no immediate information on funeral arrangement or survivors.

THE Magazine Review: "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism"

Mother and child in Hiroshima, four months after the atomic bomb dropped, 1945

Alfred Eisenstaedt ©Time Inc.

The September issue of THE magazine just hit the streets today, and it features a review of "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism". The exhibition continues through September 27.

©THE Magazine

Richard Tobin

Keepers of the Light— Is a picture worth a thousand words? That cliché is credited to a Fred R. Barnard writing for a trade journal in the early 1920s who popularized the sentiment in an article promoting the use of images in advertising on the sides of streetcars. He passed it off first as a Japanese, then as a Chinese proverb when he pitched it again six years later, changing it to “A picture is worth ten thousand words,” no doubt to justify a jump in advertising costs. Though this is probably the only adage not spoken by Kung Fu’s Kwai Chang Caine, the sentiment if not the sound bite can arguably be traced, in European culture at least, as far back as the Renaissance, when the first modern treatise on painting advanced the notion that an effective image speaks volumes (well, two volumes at the time, actually, the Iliad or the Bible).

Does that mean that a good photo should “say” what it would take a thousand or more words to convey? Consider the Civil War photographs that Matthew Brady staffer Alexander Gardner took of the young Union and Confederate dead who had fallen in a cornfield near Antietam in 1862, displayed for the American public the year before Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg. The grim Gardner photos achieve a mournful parity with the Gettysburg speech, whose two hundred and fifty or so words took Lincoln less than two minutes to deliver. The point is that what gives both image and text their lasting power to teach and to move us is their common quality of economy—or understatement—achieved by circumstance for the images, by intent for the text.

The Monroe Gallery’s current exhibition, A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism, celebrates that quality of economy, or understatement. Some sixty prints by the likes of Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White, Robert Capa, and lesser-known masters make graphically evident what separates the run-of-the-mill photographer from the
seasoned photojournalist.

The exhibition’s black-and-white photographs cover the American scene from World War II to the mid-1970s, virtually all of them gelatin silver prints. As I am not a photographer I am not qualified to discuss the relative merits of the traditional process versus the new digital technology. From what little I’ve gathered, the quality of black-and-white gelatin silver prints, and palladium-platinum, for that matter, has been a challenge for digital photography, though a significant number of Magnum photojournalists now make use of the new technology. More to the point, the primacy of the gelatin silver print in pre-digital photography has made it something of a hallmark of good photojournalism. The gelatin silver print requires a sure command, gained with experience, of the formal aspects of the craft and their function in capturing the subject. Alfred Eisenstaedt’s image of the Hiroshima mother and child four months after the atomic bomb is a masterful composition in lights and darks demanded by the gelatin-silver process. That very formal mastery enables Eisenstaedt’s placement and setting of his two figures to tap into the Renaissance mother-and-child motif with great effect, transforming its conventional Raphaelite repose into the pathos of a sixteenth-century pietà.

Chance is said to play a key role in capturing an image that becomes “iconic.” Perhaps it is more accurate to say that what is critical is the training and experience to be in the right place at the right time, recognize the chance, and seize it. Cases in point here: Nick Ut’s untitled photograph of Vietnamese children fleeing an aerial napalm attack, John Filo’s Kent State J’accuse showing a young girl grieving over a slain student, and Stanley Forman’s The Soiling of Old Glory.

A parallel requirement for the photojournalist is an intuitive grasp of the momentous in the everyday moment, as in Bourke-White’s You Have Seen Their Faces, Carl Mydans’s Migrant Woman, Capa’s print of Henri Matisse in his studio, and Martha Holmes’s iconic photo of Jackson Pollock in his studio.

Perhaps the most significant role of the photojournalist in an age of sound bite and image manipulation is to force us to confront the timeless question, “What is truth?” Two Eisenstaedt photographs in the exhibition, from the close of World War II, speak to this role. One is a Rodinesque image of a sailor kissing a nurse taken in Times Square on VJ Day (Victory over Japan); the other is his mother and child photograph taken four months later in Hiroshima. Viewed in tandem, these images attest to the power of the medium to cut to the truth, and, in rare moments, to intimate its often
tragic complexity.

--Richard Tobin

STEPHEN WILKES COMMENTARY ON PASSING OF WALTER CRONKITE

Pardon our delay in posting this. Stephen Wilkes had a very thought-provoking commentary in The Huffington Post on the passing of Walter Cronkite.

As a gallery devoted to photojournalism, we are often engaged in discussions about the changes in contemporary journalism. In fact, the gallery's current exhibition hearkens to the "golden age" of photojournalism. In today's ocean of bad news for the press--picture editors being laid off, agency, newspapers and magazines closures, diminished fees being paid to photojournalists (see post about the $30 Time cover!), Wilkes' reflections offered a refreshing look at part of what is missing.

The Huffington Post

July 23, 2009

The Art of Listening: In Memory off Walter Cronkite

by Stephen Wilkes

It was a beautiful spring day in March 1974. I was a high school student in the tenth grade and as excited as I've ever been in my entire life. I was the photographer/reporter for my high school T.V. station and my best friend was the manager and lead reporter. It was through his fearless tenacity that we had set up a number of interviews with some of our local TV anchors for our combined piece on great broadcast journalists of the day. We had sent letters to several well-known reporters requesting an interview but were met with disappointment, as many of our letters were unanswered and seemingly unimportant. However, we had somehow managed to pique the interest of one reporter to give us an exclusive. It was on this day, the 20th of March in the spring of 1974, that the legendary Walter Cronkite granted us our first interview and a life changing experience.

We were scheduled to meet Mr. Cronkite at 2:00pm, yet we realized early on that his schedule might change because it was the day that Chet Huntley had died, and Mr. Cronkite was in the midst of writing a eulogy. Yet, with all that was going on during that busy day, he still managed to sit down with us for a full one-hour interview. We sat in his office, both of us with our yellow notepads and all our pre-written questions. He was incredibly gracious and patient as we both read our questions one at a time and answered every single one of them.

At the end of questions he looked at us and in a very calm yet direct manner asked,
"Boys, I'd like to ask you both a question."

Well, my friend and I both looked at our notepads, and quickly realized that this was NOT part of our script. As we blankly stared upward, Mr. Cronkite looked at us and said, "Do you know what makes a good interview?"

Again, we looked down at our yellow pads, as if we might have written something during our one-hour conversation that could have given us THE answer. Scrambling as we were, we could barely even get a word out, and rather than let us struggle with a long silence, he looked at us both, and in the nicest way possible, told us what he was looking for.

"Being a good listener boys. That's what makes for a good interview."

We stared, dumbstruck and in awe.

"Being a good listener will always lead you to the next question."

My friend and I looked at each other, and realized in that very moment that Walter Cronkite just told us what we invariably had missed during our one-hour interview.

I remember leaving his office that day and feeling that I had learned an incredible lesson. It is a lesson that I have applied throughout my life.

He was known as a great and legendary newsman, but I'll always remember him from that brief meeting in March 1974 where he inspired me to listen.

Monroe Gallery of Photography is pleased to announce a major retrospective exhibition featuring the documentary projects of leading contemporary photographer Stephen Wilkes. The exhibition includes new photographs and opens on Friday, October 2. Stephen Wilkes will discuss his work in the gallery from 5 - 6; with a public reception for the photographer from 6 – 7:30 PM. The exhibition continues through November 22.

SEPTEMBER IN SANTA FE

As the summer season wanes, September in Santa Fe is busy with events.

Santa Fe, America's Oldest Capital City, is having its 400th Anniversary and the celebration starts September 5. The 400th Anniversary kick-off event will launch the 16 month Commemoration on Labor Day weekend. Taking place on September 5th and 6th at Fort Marcy Park, ¡VIVA! Santa Fe is a FREE cultural festival on Magers Field. More information here.

The cry of "Viva la Fiesta" has been reverberating through the streets of Old Santa Fe every autumn for 297 years. The sound generates a curious blend of thanksgiving, revelry and pride in the hearts of Santa Feans who celebrate Fiesta annually to commemorate Don Diego De Vargas' reoccupation of the City of Holy Faith in 1692. Fiesta weekend starts with the annual burning of "old man gloom", Zozobra, on September 10.

These are only a couple of the numerous events scheduled through September, check the calender here for a full list.

September is also your last chance to see the Gallery's exhibit, "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism". Gathered together for the first time are 60 examples of the greatest photographs from the field of photojournalism. We have often seen these photographs reproduced numerous times in newspapers, magazines, books and documentaries. Universally relevant, they reflect the past, the present, and the changing times. These unforgettable images are embedded in our collective consciousness; they are defining moments chronicling our visual history. They are, indeed, worth a thousand words.

Behind the scenes we are hard at work preparing for the Stephen Wilkes' retrospective exhibition, opening October 2. Stephen Wilkes will be here for the opening, and present a very special gallery talk from 5-6 PM. Featured in the exhibition are large-format photographs from several of Wilkes' major projects, including: America in Detail, Bethlehem Steel, In Katrina's Wake, Ellis Island, China; and a selection of new photographs.

We hope to see you in September!

-- Sid and Michelle Monroe

NY TIMES DISCUSSION ON FAKED (AND MISUNDERSTOOD) PHOTOGRAPHS

The New York Times had an interesting article this weekend on "faked photographs". A slide show accompanies the article.

Two photographs featured in the gallery's current exhibition "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism" are discussed in the article, not as "fakes" but as misunderstood and altered examples.

One of the photographs singled out is Joe Rosenthal's iconic flag raining at Iwo Jima. We were especially pleased that the New York Times discussed this long-misunderstood photograph. Whenever it is displayed in the gallery we always overhear visitors speaking about their own version or interpretation of the photograph, almost always wrong.

"Questions dogged Joe Rosenthal’s Pulitzer Prize-winning shot of Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima from the start — the result of a conversation overheard and misunderstood", according to Hal Buell, who wrote a book about the image.

The photo was a sensation when it appeared in newspapers in the States. Back on the war front, someone asked Mr. Rosenthal if his picture had been staged. The photographer, who did not know which frame had been published, said yes — referring to a different picture of those same Marines whooping it up for the camera at Mr. Rosenthal’s request.

Time magazine prepared an article about the alleged set-up that was never published, but details leaked out and went viral in the manner of the day. Mr. Buell, the retired head of the Associated Press photo service, says that despite film of the whole event proving the authenticity of Mr. Rosenthal’s work, a whiff of controversy stubbornly lives on."

Also discussed is John Filo's photograph from Kent State:

"One famous photo has been subject to a mundane form of fakery that it can’t seem to shake, years later. The photographer John Paul Filo caught the death of a Kent State student and the anguished reaction it provoked in a young bystander, and won the Pulitzer Prize for it. But the editors of Life magazine saw room for improvement, removing a post from behind the bystander’s head to tidy things up a bit.

The altered image has been published and republished, Mr. Filo lamented, despite his protests. “The picture keeps on living and working,” he said."

In light of the current exhibit, it is interesting to note how so many famous photographs have inspired stories that are mis-informed. To this day, people often dismiss Alfred Eisenstaedt's photograph from VJ-Day in Times Square as "staged" (it wasn't, Eisenstaed tirelessly would recount the circumstances of the photograph each time someone questioned it). And also to this day, numerous people claim the be, variously, the sailor or the nurse.

Another photograph in the exhibit that people misconstrue is Carl Mydans' photograph of General Douglas MacArthur returning to Luzon in the Philippines. Mydans' recounted in his book, Carl Mydans: photojournalist:

"I thought MacArthur was the most brilliant man I had ever known. I had good moments with him and bad moments. I rejoined MacArthur in Leyete, and was the only photographer to accompany him on his command ship the USS Boise for the invasion of Luzon. And I was invited to go ashore with him. As our landing craft neared the beach I saw that the SeaBees has laid a pontoon walkway out from the beach. I climbed the boat’s ramp and jumped onto the pontoons to photograph MacArthur. But in the instant of my jumping, I heard the boat’s engines reversing, and I saw the boat swinging away. Judging from what was happening, I raced to the beach and stood waiting for the boat to come to me. It dropped its ramp in knee-deep water and I photographed MacArthur coming ashore. No one I have ever known in public life had a better understanding of the drama and power of a picture”.

Over more than 25 years as photography dealers, we have noticed an increase in people's perception that, somehow, photographs must be "staged" or "altered". Perhaps with the spread of Photoshop and other digital technologies, we now must question what is "real".

We believe there are certain mysteries about great photographs that captivate viewers and cause us to pause in thought and remembrance. We have often seen these photographs reproduced numerous times in newspapers, magazines, books and documentaries. Yet these unforgettable images are embedded in our collective consciousness; they are defining moments chronicling our visual history.

CELEBRATING THE END OF SUMMER

As summer's end nears, we thought about a few of our favorite photographs of summer.

Going Fishing, Texas, 1952 by John Dominis

Jacqueline Kennedy swinging Caroline in surf, Hyannis Port, 1959 by Mark Shaw

John Kennedy on dunes, Hyannis Port, 1959 by Mark Shaw

Long Island, New York, 1954 by Ernst Haas

Man Looking in Waste Basket, Coney Island, NY, 1945 by Ida Wyman

Luna Park, New York, 1940 by Harold Roth

Stickball (Brooklyn Gang), New York, 1959, by Bruce Davidson

Mickey Mantle Having A Bad Day At Yankee Stadium, New York, 1965 by John Dominis

Yankee Stadium aerial at dusk, New York, September 6, 2005 by Neil Leifer

Enjoy these last days, hope you had a great summer. And remember to see the exhibit "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism", on view through September 27 at Monroe Gallery.

WOODSTOCK'S 40th ANNIVERSARY WRAP-UP

For the last several days, there has been a lot of attention for the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. Monroe Gallery Photographers Bill Eppridge and John Dominis had a crucial role in documenting the event. Here are some selected highlights:

For a few days in August, 1969, on a dairy farm in upstate New York, a half-million young people got together to hang out, dance, and listen to music. Forty years later, for many people, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair is the defining event of the Sixties. For LIFE photographer John Dominis, covering the festival became one of the most moving adventures of an amazing 25-year career. "I was much more interested in the people who were there than the musicians," he tells LIFE.com. "I liked the music okay, but I really liked the kids, and what they were doing, and how they felt about it all. I just wanted to capture that." Here, Dominis' favorite photographs from Woodstock. And here, he talks with CNN about the experience.

"We didn't know that it was going to be a huge event," Dominis remembers, "but I did take with me a wide angle camera for shooting big crowds, just in case. I put that in my kit, and of course I had the chance to use that camera a bit over the course of the three days I was there." To purchase a signed print of this photograph, or other classic John Dominis images, visit the Monroe Gallery of Photography online.

Another renowned LIFE photographer, Bill Eppridge was also at Woodstock. His photographs were recently featured in the New York Times.

The New York Times' excellent photo-blog Lens is featuring a slide show of Bill Eppridge's photographs from Woodstock, along with audio of Bill's recollections. Bill Eppridge is one of the most significant photojournalists of our time, for over four decades he has covered a remarkable assortment of stories for renowned national publications such as National Geographic, LIFE magazine and Sports Illustrated.

His collective assignments read like a list of the most important historical and cultural events from the latter half of the 20th Century. Eppridge recorded the Beatles’ first momentous visit to the United States. He photographed a young Barbra Streisand—living in a tiny railroad apartment in Manhattan—on the verge of super stardom. He was the only photographer admitted into Marilyn Lovell’s home as her husband, Jim, made his nail-biting re-entry into the atmosphere in the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft. He captured Clint Eastwood on the set of Dirty Harry. He was at Woodstock. And he was in Vietnam. He covered the funeral of civil rights activist James Chaney in Mississippi. His landmark photographic essay on Needle Park heroin addiction won the National Headliner Award and inspired the motion picture Panic in Needle Park, starring Al Pacino. That photo essay is included in Things As They Are: Photojournalism in Context Since 1955, the 2005 ICP award-winning book by World Press Photo.

Eppridge spent much of 1966 and 1968 on the road with Robert F. Kennedy, covering the presidential campaign for LIFE magazine. It was Eppridge who took one of the decade’s most poignant and iconic photographs: a stunned Los Angeles busboy, Juan Romero, cradling the candidate in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel, just seconds after he was shot.

Throughout his career Eppridge has been a respected force in training a new generation of photojournalists at the University of Missouri Photojournalism Workshop, as well as at the Eddie Adams Photography Workshop, and Photography at the Summit, in Wyoming. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the Museum of Television and Radio, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Visa Pour L’Image in Perpignon, France and throughout the U.S. and Europe. A comprehensive exhibit of his photographs of the Beatles are currently on a worldwide tour, and, in the spring of 2008, went on exhibit in the Beatles’ hometown of Liverpool.

Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to represent the photography of Bill Eppridge and John Dominis. Several of their photographs are featured in the current exhibition, "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism", on view through September 27.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO GREAT FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHERS LUCIEN CLERGUE AND WILLY RONIS

Willy Ronis

Lucien Clergue

We wish Lucien Clergue and Willy Ronis Happy Birthdays and congratulations on milestones - Clergue turns 75 and Ronis 99 - on August 14.

Lucien Clergue is a fine arts photographer, author, lecturer, educator, and filmmaker. He has enjoyed world-wide success with exhibitions across five continents. In 2003, Clergue was appointed a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor for his work in the field of photography, and in 2005 he was the Lucie Award recipient for the Lifetime Achievement in Fine Art. In 2007, he was elected into the Academie des Beaux-Arts.

Willy Ronis was born in Paris in 1910, the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Lithuania. As a young boy, he worked with his father in the family portrait studio and studied piano. His love of music as well as his early photography work developed Ronis' sense of composition. He followed his passions into a career in photojournalism, and, as a result, Ronis became part of the great Parisian group of documentary photographers that also included Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Doisneau. The images created by Willis Ronis capture the simple pleasures of everyday life. Not one to focus on suffering, his' photographs are often light-hearted, humor-filled, and full of compassion even as they capture the delight of French "joie de vivre." As one of the great masters of twentieth century photography his work is in the collections of major museums and private collectors around the world. His work is being celebrated at the 4oth annual Les Rencontres d'Arles festival.

Happy Birthdays!

LIFE PHOTOGRAPHER JOHN DOMINIS' PHOTOGRAPHS OF WOODSTOCK

Life.com has just posted an on-line slide show of Woodstock photographs by John Dominis.

For a few days in August, 1969, on a dairy farm in upstate New York, a half-million young people got together to hang out, dance, and listen to music. Forty years later, for many people, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair is the defining event of the Sixties. For LIFE photographer John Dominis, covering the festival became one of the most moving adventures of an amazing 25-year career. "I was much more interested in the people who were there than the musicians," he tells LIFE.com. "I liked the music okay, but I really liked the kids, and what they were doing, and how they felt about it all. I just wanted to capture that." Here, Dominis' favorite photographs from Woodstock.

"We didn't know that it was going to be a huge event," Dominis remembers, "but I did take with me a wide angle camera for shooting big crowds, just in case. I put that in my kit, and of course I had the chance to use that camera a bit over the course of the three days I was there." To purchase a signed print of this photograph, or other classic John Dominis images, visit the Monroe Gallery of Photography online.

Another renowned LIFE photographer, Bill Eppridge was also at Woodstock. His photographs were recently featured in the New York Times.

NIXON RESIGNS - 35 YEARS AGO

Richard Nixon giving a victory speech, 1968Photograph by Lee Balterman ©Time Inc

It was 35 years ago this weekend that President Richard M. Nixon resigned, ending a bitter and turbulent presidency. It is interesting to re-visit the newspapers of the day, and hear his resignation speech.

As we remember the 40th anniversaries this summer of Apollo 11 and Woodstock, we took a look into the Monroe Gallery archives for a selection of Nixon photographs.


Chinese Premiere Chou En Lai and US President Richard Nixon toast each other, Peking, 1972
John Dominis ©Time Inc.

Photographing protestors at Anti-Nixon rally, Washington, DC, 1968 ©Steve Schapiro

Republican delegation from New Hampshire meet in Shelbourne Hotel's 007 1/2 GoGo Room, where politically attired Go-Go girl dances atop table, 1968 Lynn Pelham ©Time Inc.

AUGUST AT MONROE GALLERY IN SANTA FE

Photo ©Bill Eppridge

July was an extremely busy month in Santa Fe, with dozens of events and activities. August promises to be another active month, with many great events happening.

The current exhibition "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism" continues. The exhibit is one of the most-talked about exhibits of the year, and has already drawn tremendous acclaim. Monroe Gallery is also featuring a special online exhibition of photographs from 1969. The commemorations for the 40th anniversary of Woodstock have started, last week the New York Times featured the photographs and memories of Bill Eppridge. However, now the New York Times is reporting: "Peace, love, understanding and nostalgia do not seem to be quite enough to resurrect a 40th anniversary version of Woodstock. Michael Lang, one of the event’s original promoters told Rolling Stone magazine that he has dropped plans to put together a third anniversary concert – after ones in 1994 and 1999."

Other highlights in August: The Santa Fe Opera, the Mountain Man rendezvous, Whitehawk antique show, Indian Market (August 22 and 23), and more.

We hope to see you in August!

Missouri School of Journalism Honors Bill Eppridge With Medal

Missouri School of Journalism Honors 7 With Medals

By E&P Staff Published: August 04, 2009

NEW YORK Six prominent media professionals and an online news outlet will receive the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, the school announced Tuesday.

The 2009 medalists will be honored on Tuesday, Oct. 20, on the University of Missouri campus.

They include: Mazhar Abbas, a press freedom advocate in Pakistan; Rance Crain, president of Crain Communications Inc.; Doug Crews, executive director, Missouri Press Association; Photojournalist Bill Eppridge; Rod Gelatt, professor emeritus, Missouri School of Journalism; Deborah Howell, former Washington Post ombudsman and veteran Washington journalist; and Slate, a daily online magazine.

The medalists also will present classes to Missouri School of Journalism students and other guests during Oct. 20. That evening, they will be recognized at an awards banquet at the Donald W. Reynolds Alumni Center on the MU campus.

The medalists are selected by the faculty "on the basis of lifetime or superior achievement in journalism," a release stated.

Note: see previous post about Bill Eppridge's photographs and memories from Woodstock and the 1960's.

RENOWNED PHOTOJOURNALIST BILL EPPRIDGE RECALLS WOODSTOCK ON NEW YORK TIMES "LENS" BLOG

Photo ©Tim Mantoani

The New York Times' excellent photo-blog Lens is featuring a slide show of Bill Eppridge's photographs from Woodstock, along with audio of Bill's recollections. Bill Eppridge is one of the most significant photojournalists of our time, for over four decades he has covered a remarkable assortment of stories for renowned national publications such as National Geographic, LIFE magazine and Sports Illustrated.

His collective assignments read like a list of the most important historical and cultural events from the latter half of the 20th Century. Eppridge recorded the Beatles’ first momentous visit to the United States. He photographed a young Barbra Streisand—living in a tiny railroad apartment in Manhattan—on the verge of super stardom. He was the only photographer admitted into Marilyn Lovell’s home as her husband, Jim, made his nail-biting re-entry into the atmosphere in the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft. He captured Clint Eastwood on the set of Dirty Harry. He was at Woodstock. And he was in Vietnam. He covered the funeral of civil rights activist James Chaney in Mississippi. His landmark photographic essay on Needle Park heroin addiction won the National Headliner Award and inspired the motion picture Panic in Needle Park, starring Al Pacino. That photo essay is included in Things As They Are: Photojournalism in Context Since 1955, the 2005 ICP award-winning book by World Press Photo.

Eppridge spent much of 1966 and 1968 on the road with Robert F. Kennedy, covering the presidential campaign for LIFE magazine. It was Eppridge who took one of the decade’s most poignant and iconic photographs: a stunned Los Angeles busboy, Juan Romero, cradling the candidate in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel, just seconds after he was shot.

Throughout his career Eppridge has been a respected force in training a new generation of photojournalists at the University of Missouri Photojournalism Workshop, as well as at the Eddie Adams Photography Workshop, and Photography at the Summit, in Wyoming. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the Museum of Television and Radio, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Visa Pour L’Image in Perpignon, France and throughout the U.S. and Europe. A comprehensive exhibit of his photographs of the Beatles are currently on a worldwide tour, and, in the spring of 2008, went on exhibit in the Beatles’ hometown of Liverpool.

Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to represent the photography of Bill Eppridge. Several of his photographs are featured in the current exhibition, "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism", on view through September 27.

PHOTOGRAPHER JOE McNALLY ON VISIT TO "A THOUSAND WORDS: MASTERS OF PHOTOJOURNALISM"

Photos courtesy of Joe McNally

We were very proud to have the great photographer Joe McNally in Santa Fe last week, and thrilled when he brought his workshop in to see the exhibit "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism". In his early days Joe worked at Time Inc., and like us, was fortunate to know many of the legendary Life magazine photographers.

He posted very kindly on his Blog:

"So you know what saved the day? What elevated us all? A visit to Sid and Michelle. The Monroe Gallery of Photography currently has a show called “A Thousand Words.” Walking into those four walls adorned with those pictures is to leave all the other crap behind, and be lifted up by the most beautiful breeze you can imagine. The images cut to the chase and the heart. You get goose bumps. Your eyes sting. You remember why you picked up a camera in the first place.

Sid and Michelle are so knowledgeable, and for them, the pictures on the walls are family, just like the people who made them, though a fair number of those shooters are gone, which makes preserving their legacy all the more necessary. They told my class stories and a bit about their wonderful philosophy, which is, simply put, that pictures are important, and have value.

Bill Eppridge’s pictures from RFK’s campaign are on the wall, and Sid showed the class Bill’s book. In A Time It Was, Bill’s visual record of Bobby’s campaign, is the charred master print of the busboy cradling the senator’s head. It was damaged in the Laurel Canyon fires that swept through Bill’s home, but the core of the image is still there, and the charred edges make that moment all the more searing and painful to look at."

"The lead photo of the show is Eisie’s famous drum major shot. I used to bump into Eisie all the time as he padded the hallways of the 28th floor of Time Inc. “Hello McNally,” accompanied by a fairly dismissive wave of the hand was generally as far as the conversation got. As the story goes, Eisie was waiting at the elevator on 28 with a bunch of other photogs. The doors opened and they all crowded in, the diminutive Eisie found himself in close quarters, surrounded by younger, taller photographers.

He looked around. “I used to be just as tall as all of you,” he said in his German accent. He made a couple dramatic shrugs of his shoulders, the kind of motion you would make if you were carrying something heavy. “The equipment, the equipment,” was all he said."

Thanks Joe!

PHOTO ARTS FESTIVAL IN SANTA FE

As the ninth edition of Art Santa Fe draws to a close, July 24 is the launch of Photo Arts Santa Fe, a ten-day festival, which includes city-wide photography exhibitions and special events in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Local galleries and museums will feature special photography exhibits. Other events include demonstrations, lectures, workshops, portfolio reviews and guided photo shoots. Monroe Gallery will be open daily throughout the festival, and in addition to the current exhibition will be presenting a selection of icons of photography.

Also, as we remember the 4oth anniversary of the events of 1969, Monroe Gallery has a special web-exhibit devoted to Apollo 11 and the other momentous events of the time, of course including Woodstock.

The Opera will continue in full swing. No wonder Santa Fe was again named one of the Top Ten Cities to visit by Travel and Leisure magazine. Hope to see you in Santa Fe!

http://www.monroegallery.com/

MONROE GALLERY AT ART SANTA FE

Monroe Gallery of Photography will be exhibiting again at this year's Art Santa Fe Fair July 23 - 26 at booth #29 .

Art Santa Fe returns in style this season with its 9th edition to be held July 23-26, 2009 at El Museo in the heart of Santa Fe's hottest new district, The Railyard. Art Santa Fe's boutique style offers a perfect balance of breadth and intimacy, allowing visitors to speak to dealers and artists while experiencing a full range of art in a comprehensible context.

Be sure to attend the special presentation by Michael Kimmelman, chief art critic for the New York Times, on Friday.

Monroe Gallery will be featuring a wide selection of photographs by Stephen Wilkes, in advance of his important retrospective at the gallery this October. We will also be featuring a selection of highly significant vintage masterworks of photojournalism in our booth.

We look forward to welcoming you during Art Santa Fe.

MONROE GALLERY EXHIBIT FEATURED ON "PHOTO OF THE DAY"

We were very pleased that Loomis Dean's photograph was featured as the "Photo of the Day" by Photo District News. The exhibit, "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism,”is a summer show at Monroe Gallery that runs through September 27. Prints of more than 60 iconic photographs are included in the show, including images of JFK, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, the Apollo 11 launch and World War II.

Thanks also to Joe McNally for his post on his terrific blog:

"Bound for Santa Fe, home of the Monroe Gallery of Photography, run by the wonderful, decent, and incredibly knowledgeable Sid and Michelle Monroe. The gallery is a breathtaking repository of historically important photojournalism that has transcended categorization and is regarded as art. Art that means something. Art that you can chew on. Whenever I am in Santa Fe, that mecca of all manner of art, and I can’t stand to hear another wind chime, or see another painted cow skull, or see another show of poorly shot photographs printed with the collodion print process (which makes them marred, chipped, aged looking and thus somehow “significant”) I go to Monroe and I wander the room.

And I find I’m looking at my memory, right there on the walls."

Joe is too modest to add that his photographs are represented by Monroe Gallery.

JOE McNALLY IN SANTA FE

From July 19 - 25, Monroe Gallery welcomes Joe McNally to Santa Fe. Joe will be instructing his intensive and always popular Location Photography and Lighting workshop at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. Joe has over thirty years in the field as a shooter: twenty plus on the road for National Geographic; a LIFE staffer, and Sports Illustrated contractor. 54 countries. 50 states. And the author of the award-winning books Faces of Ground Zero, The Moment It Clicks, and Hot Shoe Diaries.

Be sure to check out Joe's terrific blog.

The gallery has signed copies available and represents Joe's fine-art prints.

MONROE GALLERY CELEBRATES 4OTH ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO 11

Apollo 11 Roll-Out, Cape Canaveral, Florida, May 20, 1969 ©Bill Eppridge

Monroe Gallery of Photography joins everyone in celebrating the 4oth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that landed man on the moon. The original audio feed between mission control and the Apollo 11 spacecraft is being streamed on Wechoosethemoon.org, and the NASA Web site, Nasa.gov. On both sites, the 109 hours of audio started on Thursday and will continue until Monday night. Presented here is a brief selection of photographs from the Monroe Gallery archive documenting the Apollo 11 mission.


Apollo 11 lift off, July 16, 1969 Ralph Morse ©Time Inc.

Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. on the lunar surface, 1969 ©NASA

Apollo 11 lunar module ascent from surface of moon, 1969 ©NASA

Edwin E. Aldrin on lunar surface (after stepping out of space craft) July 1969 ©Time Inc/NASA

Just for fun, here is a still from the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

NO CAPTION NEED FEATURES "A THOUSAND WORDS" EXHIBITION

The influential blog today posted a feature about Monroe Gallery's current exhibition, "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism".

See the post here.

JULY EVENTS FOR MONROE GALLERY IN SANTA FE

The month of July is full of events for Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe.

On July 3, the major exhibition "A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism" opened to widespread acclaim. The exhibition continues through September 27, and features 60 great photographs by masters including: Eddie Adams, Harry Benson, Margaret Bourke-White, Cornell Capa, Robert Capa, Ed Clark, Loomis Dean, John Dominis, Bill Eppridge, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Andreas Feininger, John Filo, Bob Gomel, Martha Holmes, John Loengard, Neil Leifer, Leonard McCombe, Ralph Morse, Carl Mydans, NASA astronauts, Gordon Parks, Bill Ray, Joe Rosenthal, Mark Shaw, Stan Stearns, Peter Stackpole, and many others.

After a heralded run in Denver, the Eddie Adams documentary film "An Unlikely Weapon" is showing in Los Angeles July 10 - 16. Read the Los Angeles Times review here. The film opens at the Siskel Film Center in Chicago July 17, and will run through July 23. Dates for other cities may be found here. Monroe Gallery is the exclusive representative for Eddie Adams' photographs.

A special on-line exhibition of photographs from 1969 is showing on the Monroe Gallery website. The exhibit includes photographs from the Apollo 11 mission and Woodstock, among other events.

Monroe Gallery will be exhibiting again at this year's Art Santa Fe Fair July 23 - 26. Art Santa Fe returns in style this season with its 9th edition to be held July 23-26, 2009 at El Museo in the heart of Santa Fe's hottest new district, The Railyard. Art Santa Fe's boutique style offers a perfect balance of breadth and intimacy, allowing visitors to speak to dealers and artists while experiencing a full range of art in a comprehensible context. Monroe Gallery will be featuring a wide selection of photographs by Stephen Wilkes, in advance of his important retrospective at the gallery this October. We will also be featuring a selection of highly significant vintage masterworks of photojournalism in our booth.

From July 19 - 25, Monroe Gallery welcomes Joe McNally to Santa Fe. Joe will be instructing his intensive and always popular Location Photography and Lighting workshop at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. Joe has over thirty years in the field as a shooter: twenty plus on the road for National Geographic; a LIFE staffer, and Sports Illustrated contractor. 54 countries. 50 states. And the author of the award-winning books Faces of Ground Zero, The Moment It Clicks, and Hot Shoe Diaries. The gallery has signed copies available and represents Joe's fine-art prints.

July 24 is the launch of Photo Arts Santa Fe, a ten-day festival, which includes city-wide photography exhibitions and special events in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Local galleries and museums will feature special photography exhibits. Other events include demonstrations, lectures, workshops, portfolio reviews and guided photo shoots. Monroe Gallery will be open daily throughout the festival, and in addition to the current exhibition will be presenting a selection of icons of photography.

Simultaneously, the Opera will be in full swing, and Santa Fe will host the 58th Annual Traditional Spanish Market July 25 and 26.

WOW! No wonder Santa Fe was again named one of the Top Ten Cities to visit by Travel and Leisure magazine. See you in July!

http://www.monroegallery.com/