ELLEN JANTZEN: Disturbing The Spirits

Let The Others Follow

 © Ellen Jantzen

Toward Profusion

 © Ellen Jantzen

Into The Unknown
 © Ellen Jantzen

Encounter

 © Ellen Jantzen

"In Disturbing the Spirits I am using imagery to convey my feelings about the state of nature, the nature of trees, and how to express their connection to past, present and future. By obscuring a portion of the image through a veil, I strive to heighten the remaining reality through discovery and reflection."

–Ellen Jantzen

Disturbing the Spirits
 

These are a few images from Ellen Jantzen's newest series, Disturbing The Spirits. This series deals with both reality and time (past/present/future) and her growing attachment to the healing powers of the natural environment.

Trees teach us about belonging; they remind us that life doesn’t need permission to prevail. Trees are sanctuaries. If we listen closely, we can learn the ancient law of life. They are seen as powerful symbols of growth, decay and resurrection.They have played a prominent role in many folktales and legends and have been given deep and sacred meanings.

But, a tree’s longevity can lull us into a false sense of immortality. It is this very impermanence that I long to understand through my photographic explorations. There is an ineffable natural beauty.... too great to be expressed or de-scribed in words." (Text: Ellen Jantzen)

Ellen Jantzen was awarded PX3's First Prize in the 2013 Prix de la Photographie Paris Competition for her series Transplanting Reality; Transcending Nature.

Ellen Jantzen.com

Represented by the Susan Spiritus Gallery

APERTURE 40TH SPECIAL ISSUE FALL 1992-II: Richard Misrach + Mary Ellen Mark

                         Richard Misrach (click to enlarge)

White Man Contemplating Pyramids, Egypt 1989

© Richard Misrach, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, 

Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles and Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 APERTURE Cover by ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG
40th Year Anniversary Issue, Fall 1992

I recently came across APERTURE'S 40TH YEAR SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY ISSUE, published in Fall 1992. It's an extraordinary look back at Photography before the popularity of digital camera's came into the picture. ("Not until 2001 did Kodak begin selling mass-market digital cameras"–Ben Dobbin, AP). Michael E. Hoffman was still Director and Publisher of the Aperture Foundation. Hoffman published the legendary Diane Arbus Monograph by Marvin Israel and Doon Arbus in 1972, now in it's 40th-Year Anniversary printing, as well as books by Edward Weston, W. Eugene Smith, Paul Strand and Dorothea Lange, among many other greats.

The following excerpt is from Aperture's 40th Anniversary Issue: 

"1992, ABOUT APERTURE: Forty Years after it's origination, Aperture celebrates the Founders' affirming spirit. Seventy photographers published in Aperture since 1952 selected photographs especially for this Anniversary Issue. One image from each artist was chosen. The photographers also wrote their thoughts on photography in general or, if they referred, about their work in particular, much as the founders suggested should happen in their first editorial."

"...In keeping with the spirit of Dorothea Lange and other Founders who measured Aperture's success in part by the depth and expression of it's social conscience, Aperture will continue to be a forum for those photographers who are committed to confronting the crises and concerns of our time...." –THE EDITORS, Number One Hundred Twenty-Nine, Fall 1992

Also included in this issue were photographs by Josef Koudelka, Eugene Richards, Eudora Welty, Sophie Calle, McDermott and McGough, Alex Webb, Sally Mann, Maggie Steber, Chuck Close, Thomas Struth, David Turnley, Helen Levitt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Carrie Mae Weems, Joel Sternfeld, Masahisa Fukase, Jan Groover, Nick Knight, Barbara Morgan, David Wojnarowicz and Margaretta K. Mitchell. There may have been others I missed. See APERTURE'S 40TH YEAR SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY ISSUE: Part I here

Left, RICHARD MISRACH, White Man Contemplating Pyramids, 1989, as seen on page 50, APERTURE 1992 40th Year Anniversary issue. Right, ELAINE REICHEK, Red Delicious, 1991.

Left, INGE MORATH, Untitled, 1961, and right, MARY ELLEN MARK, Acrobats Rehearsing, Great Golden Circus, Ahmadabad, India, 1989, as seen on pages 32 and 33, APERTURE 1992 40th Year Anniversary issue.

APERTURE 40th Year, Fall 1992: PART I

Many thanks to the Fraenkel Gallery for your help in posting Richard Misrach's, White Man Contemplating Pyramids, Egypt 1989

APERTURE 40TH SPECIAL ISSUE FALL 1992: DAVID WOJNAROWICZ | Face in Dirt

David Wojnarowicz  |  Untitled (Face in Dirt) 1993

Courtesy of The Estate of David Wojnarowicz and P.P.O.W Gallery, New York

"All behind me are the friends that died; I'm breathing this air that they can't breathe; I'm seeing this ratty monkey in a cheap Mexican circus wearing a red and blue embroidered jacket and it's collecting coins and I can reach out and touch it like they can't. And time is now compressed; I joke and say that I feel I've taken out another six month lease on this body of mine; on this vehicle of sound and motion, and every painting or photograph or film I make I make with the sense that it may be the last thing I do and so I try to pull everything in to the surface of that action. I work quickly now and feel there is no time for bullshit; cut straight to the heart of the senses and map it out as clearly as tools and growth allow....I see myself seeing death; it's like a transparent celluloid image of myself is accompanying myself everywhere I go." David Wojnarowicz died of AIDS July 22, 1992

  Aperture Cover by Robert Rauschenberg
40th Year Anniversary Issue, Fall 1992

David Wojnarowicz's image "Untitled (Face in Dirt) 1990"
as seen on page 77 in Aperture's 40th Year Special Anniversary Issue

I recently came across APERTURE'S 40TH YEAR SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY ISSUE, published in Fall 1992. It's an extraordinary look back at Photography before the popularity of digital camera's came into the picture. ("Not until 2001 did Kodak begin selling mass-market digital cameras"–Ben Dobbin, AP). Michael E. Hoffman was still Director and Publisher of the Aperture Foundation. Hoffman published the legendary Diane Arbus Monograph by Marvin Israel and Doon Arbus in 1972, now in it's 40th-Year Anniversary Edition printing, as well as books by Edward Weston, W. Eugene Smith, Paul Strand and Dorothea Lange, among many other greats. In 1992, Basketball star “Magic” Johnson announced he was HIV-positive and Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen, died of complications from AIDS. 

The following excerpt is from Aperture's 40th Anniversary Issue:

"1992, ABOUT APERTURE: Forty Years after it's origination, Aperture celebrates the Founders' affirming spirit. Seventy photographers published in Aperture since 1952 selected photographs especially for this Anniversary Issue. One image from each artist was chosen. The photographers also wrote their thoughts on photography in general or, if they referred, about their work in particular, much as the founders suggested should happen in their first editorial."

"The process of bringing together a "forty years" celebration forces one to see photographs as, among other things, indicators of their time. Several photographers address AIDS in their text or images; the brutality of this devastating epidemic became all the more jolting when David Wojnarowicz died of AIDS during the preparation of this issue, having selected his photograph, but without having had the time to write his text."

"Whereas images cannot directly combat the overwhelming reality of such tragedies, history–recent and distant– has proven how powerful photographs are in revealing injustices, insisting upon action, and inspiring controversy and often, change. In keeping with the spirit of Dorothea Lange and other Founders who measured Aperture's success in part by the depth and expression of it's social conscience, Aperture will continue to be a forum for those photographers who are committed to confronting the crises and concerns of our time...." –THE EDITORS, Number One Hundred Twenty-Nine, Fall 1992

Also included in this issue were photographs by Josef Koudelka, Eugene Richards, Mary Ellen Mark, Eudora Welty, Sophie Calle, McDermott and McGough, Alex Webb, Sally Mann, Maggie Steber, Chuck Close, Thomas Struth, David Turnley, Helen Levitt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Carrie Mae Weems, Joel Sternfeld, Masahisa Fukase, Jan Groover, Nick Knight, Barbara Morgan, and Margaretta K. Mitchell. There may have been others I missed.

See APERTURE'S 40TH YEAR SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY ISSUE: Part II here

The Aperture Foundation

**Text by David Wojnarowicz was from excerpts published in Aperture's 40th Year Special Issue, page 76, and originally excerpted from an interview by Barry Blinderman with David Wojnarowicz in Tongues of Flame, University Galleries, 1990, page 49,

STREET TYPES OF NEW YORK: Paul Moakley and Anthony LaSala Curators

 "The Street Types of New York" 

Alice Austen House Museum Exhibition Reception

View It Here

 Photographs by Richard Renaldi

  Photograph by An Rong Xu

 Photograph by Ruddy Roye

A powerful exhibition co-curated by Paul Moakley and Anthony LaSala, opened at the Alice Austen House Museum in Staten Island. Alice Austen (1866-1952) was one of America's earliest female photographers and “Street Types of New York” was her groundbreaking portfolio of the city’s working class just before the turn of the century. Today a new generation of photographers continues her legacy of documenting the ever-changing city in an exhibition that includes work by Chris Arnade, Alice Attie, Dmitry Gudkov, Peter Funch, Wayne Lawrence, Erica McDonald, Greg Miller, Christina Paige, Susannah Ray, Richard Renaldi, Ruddy Roye, Andy Vernon-Jones, Geordie Wood, and An Rong Xu.

"The New Street Types draws connections from early street portraiture like that of Alice Austen (1866-1952) to contemporary image-makers. The artists selected for the exhibition work in a similar style to Austen, often employing large format photography to create portraits of New York City’s diverse communities and subcultures – including the outer fringes of the expanding city like the Rockaways and Orchard Beach. Some of the artists conceptualize themes in portrait typologies and use social media to communicate online, while artists like Peter Funch take the traditional street portrait a step further, creating digital tableaus to capture life on the streets and see it anew. Photographer Ruddy Roye utilizes Instagram to create his images - sharing them in a spontaneous and wide-reaching way Austen could have never imagined.

In addition to the contemporary images, Alice Austen’s rare and fascinating “Street Types” portfolio, produced c.1896 by the Albertype Company, will be on display.  The show examines Austen’s intentions behind the portfolio of portraits and leaves the viewer to ponder her reasoning for the project – a question that was left unanswered at the time of her death in 1952." (Text: Alice Austen House Museum)

The New Street Types

July 17 - September 28

Alice Austen House Museum

FRESH: Curated by Wm Hunt and Darren Ching

FRESH: KLOMPCHING Gallery. Curators: Wm Hunt + Darren Ching

FRESH: KLOMPCHING Gallery

Curated by W.M. Hunt + Darren Ching

New Yorkers braved the 100+ degree heat wave to see this very fine show co-curated by distinguished collector/curator W.m. Hunt and Klompching Gallery owner Darren Ching. The work of five upcoming photographers is presented at KLOMPCHING Gallery, 111 Front Street in Brooklyn's Dumbo Art district to August 10.  Read more here and my W.m. Hunt Interview here

KERRY SKARBAKKA: 10 Years of Falling at Kopeikin Gallery

 Blue Tree © 2002 Kerry Skarbakka

 Reflected © 2003 Kerry Skarbakka

 Studio © 2003 Kerry Skarbakka

Ten Years of Falling 

July 20 – September 7

Ten Years of Falling is a significant selection of work from Kerry Skarbakka's long term project, The Struggle to Right Oneself. "Skarbakka photographs himself perpetually falling to an uncertain fate in a series of ambiguous narratives. These images stand as ominous messages and reminders that we are all vulnerable to losing our footing and grasp. Moreover, they convey the primal qualities of the human condition as a precarious balancing act between the struggle against our desire to survive and out fantasy to transcend our humanness."(Kopeikin Gallery)

KERRY SKARBAKKA

Kopeikin Gallery, L.A.

KLOMPCHING GALLERY: Annual Summer Show Curated by W.M. Hunt + Darren Ching

 Mountain IV, 2012 from the Mountain series ©Peter Croteau
Pigment Print, 46" x 36" image on 50" x 40" sheet
Edition of 5, from $4,850 ($4,000 unframed)
www.petercroteau.com

Blue Organza, 2012 from the Fabrication series ©Maxine Helfman

Pigment Print, 17" x 25" image on 24" x 36" sheet
Edition of 12, from $2,400 ($1,800 unframed)
www.maxinehelfman.com

FRESH 2013: ANNUAL SUMMER SHOW

July 18 - August 10

The FRESH exhibition is curated, from an international open call for submissions, by the esteemed collector/curator, W.M. Hunt and Klompching Gallery owner, Darren Ching. Five photographers were then selected from the 300+ submissions.

"This is an opportunity for the gallery to present work by upcoming photographers, who we would not normally have the opportunity to work with. It's also an excellent platform upon which to alert collectors to five new voices in photography and invest in their photographic artworks–through acquisitions–early in their careers. With this in mind the exhibition has been carefully curated, with each of the photographers well represented, through having several photographs from one body of work included in the exhibition."(KLOMPCHING)

KLOMPCHING GALLERY

111 Front Street, Suite 206  |  Brooklyn  NY 11201

Artists Reception: July 18th, 6pm–8pm

An Interview With W.M. Hunt

HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY: Staff Picks

 © Nino Migliori, Il Tuffatore, 1951

Selection by Howard Greenberg

© Saul Leiter, Self Portrait, c.1955

Selection by Nancy Lieberman

© Leon Levinstein, Untitled, 1955

Selection by Franny Vignola

A must see Exhibition! 

Exhibition: Staff Picks 2013

HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY 
41 East 57th, New York

July 12 – August 31

 An Interview With Howard Greenberg

SVA MASTERS in DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Silent Auction to Benefit Scholarship Fund

End of the Year Party + Silent Auction

and photos from my "Thesis: Book + Branding" Class Review

SVA Digital Photography End of the Year Party and Silent Auction to benefit the 2014 Scholarship Fund was a HUGE success raising $4200 that was matched 100% for a total of $8400! View photos here

SILENT AUCTION: SVA Masters in Digital Photography Scholarships • Auction July 10!

Silent Auction: Photograph by Daniel Bolliger

The School of Visual Arts Masters in Digital Photography Graduate Program invites you to join them for their End of Year Party and Silent Auction to celebrate and to raise money towards Scholarships for the Class of 2014. All money raised will be matched (up to $5000) by friends of the department!  Event and Registration Page here

Silent Auction: Books

Amy Stein Tall Poppy Syndrome, signed by both authors 

Jaime Permuth Yonkeros, signed

Ellen Wallenstein Respecting My Elders, signed

Greg Gorman Framed

Katrin Eismann Photoshop Masking + Compositing, signed
Robert Hermann The New Yorkers, signed

Silent Auction: Services 
  Stella Kramer, Michael Foley, Elizabeth Avedon

Career Development with Stella Kramer
One one-hour meeting with Stella Kramer will create clarity and a strategy for your artistic career. Must be redeemed by December 31, 2013 and may be given as a gift.

Pulitzer Prize-winning photo editor and creative consultant Stella Kramer has worked with such top publications as The New York Times, Newsweek, People, Sports Illustrated and Entertainment Weekly. Stella lectures, curates, appears at photo festivals around the country as a portfolio reviewer, and consults with companies on their visual image. www.stellakramer.com

Portfolio Review with Michael Foley
One one-hour portfolio review with NY Gallerist Michael Foley. Michael’s keen insights, articulate manner, and rich knowledge of contemporary photography insure that the portfolio review will be a meaningful turning point in your artistic career. Must be redeemed by December 31, 2013 and may be given as a gift.

Michael Foley opened Foley Gallery in the fall of 2004 after several years of working with notable photography galleries including Fraenkel Gallery, Howard Greenberg Gallery and Yancey Richardson Gallery. He is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts where he teaches and lectures on issues in contemporary photography. foleygallery.com
 
Book Design Review with Elizabeth Avedon
One one-hour book and/or branding design review with Elizabeth Avedon. Issues to be addressed include: image sequencing, layout, font treatment, design, and the next step in publishing your photo book. Must be redeemed by December 31, 2013 and may be given as a gift.

Elizabeth Avedon has worked with and influenced countless photographers with her design, curatorship, writing, and review prowess.  She is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts where she teaches and lectures in the BFA Photography and MPS Digital Photography departments. 
elizabethavedon.com

Silent Auction: Services by Eduardo Angel, Tom P. Ashe

Workflow Evaluation with Eduardo Angel
One one-hour onsite workflow review with Eduardo Angel. Issues to be addressed include: strategies for an efficient and repeatable workflow, hardware & software configurations, and building a back-up strategy that allows you to sleep at night. Must be redeemed by December 31, 2013 and may be given as a gift.

Eduardo Angel wears many hats – as a photographer, dSLR video expert, tech geek, writer, SVA faculty member, and formerly a practicing architect. Continually asking questions and delving into the technical and aesthetic issues of photography and storytelling, Eduardo is busy traveling the world to speak at a variety of conferences.
eduardoangel.com/

Color Management Assessment with Tom P Ashe
One one-hour onsite color management review with Associate Chair Tom P Ashe. Tom will come to your studio or office and complete a through review of your hardware and software configuration, calibrate your monitor, and build one color profile for your printer and paper configuration. Must be redeemed by December 31, 2013 and may be given as a gift.

Tom Ashe combines an engineer’s attention to detail and love for problem solving with a photographers passion for beautiful images and flawless prints. He is the Associate Chair of the MPS Digital Photography department and has most recently completed the text for his upcoming publication, Color Management & Quality Output: Mastering Color from Camera to Display to Print.

 Silent Auction: Photograph by Bojune Kwon

Silent Auction: Prints (many signed) by:

Allen Furbeck, Robert DeRosa, Bojune Kwon, Daniel Bolliger, Giselle Behrens, Greg Gorman, Jack Reznicki, Jaime Permuth, John Delaney, Josephine Dvorken, Katrin Eismann, LaNola Stone, Maryana Hordeychuk, Matthew Baum, Raissa Venables, Robert Herman, Lavonne Hall, Alice Kivlon, Randhy Rodriguez     

...and Products by:
Calumet, Ilford, MAC on Campus, MOAB, X-Rite, B&H Photo

End of Year Party and Silent Auction!

 JULY 10, 6-9PM

136 West 21st St., 11th Floor, NYC 

The School of Visual Arts Masters in Digital Photography Graduate Program invites you to join them for their End of Year Party and Silent Auction to celebrate and to raise money towards Scholarships for the Class of 2014. All money raised will be matched (up to $5000) by friends of the department. Whatever you bid will be doubled for the Scholarship Fund!  Event and Registration Page here

DAVID SCHEINBAUM: Hip Hop Portraits Book

 Professor Griff of Public Enemy, 2002
Photograph © David Scheinbaum

The Executioners, 2004

Photograph © David Scheinbaum

 Method Man and Redman, 2002

Photograph © David Scheinbaum

 Mos Def, 2002

Photograph © David Scheinbaum

New Publication

Hip Hop: Portraits of an Urban Hymn

"Since its inception in the 1970s, hip hop music and the culture surrounding it has become a hugely influential and popular musical form in America and around the world. Its popularity extends beyond the urban centers where it was born, and pervades and influences youth culture around the globe.  However, few artists have created serious and powerful photographs that explore the breadth of the phenomenon.  With this volume, David Scheinbaum has done just that.  His portraits of Erykah Badu, Chuck D., George Clinton, Common, Mos Def, Del-Tha Funkee Homosapien, Sage Francis, Professor Griff, KRS One, Mike Relm, Tajai, Wu-Tang Clan and Yelawolf (among others) approach hip hop as a positive cultural influence akin to the youth movement of the 1960s.  Scheinbaum's photographs are accompanied by essays by Gaye Theresa Johnson and Michael Eric Dyson, an artist conversation with Frank H. Goodyear III and an introduction by Brian Hardgroove of Public Enemy."

Pre-order David Scheinbaum's

Hip Hop: Portraits of an Urban Hymn 

David Scheinbaum is former Director/Chair of the Photography Department at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, and Professor Emeritus, College of Santa Fe. He is also one half of the well known fine art photography gallery, Scheinbaum and Russek LTD, the exclusive representatives for the Beaumont and Nancy Newhall Estate and for the Eliot Porter Estate.

Here is a little background. In 1978, Scheinbaum moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico with the hope of meeting and working with the pre-eminent photography scholar, Beaumont Newhall. This dream came true. Their professional relationship had many facets and a friendship quickly developed. In 1979 David began printing for Beaumont Newhall. The many people who came to work and study with Beaumont often asked to see his photographs – thus David found himself in the position of creating a “meeting place” for photographers and collectors. The idea for a gallery evolved and in 1980 when Janet Russek moved to Santa Fe they opened their doors with a retrospective of Willard Van Dyke’s work.

While David continued to work with Beaumont Newhall, Russek began assisting Eliot Porter. Their relationship also grew from the studio to the gallery and the gallery began to expand representing both local and international photographers. To date they have exhibited and worked with over 300 photographers. Scheinbaum and Russek have approached the gallery world through their roles as educators, artists, and collectors and bring to their gallery an appreciation of photographers, the fine print and the history of photography.

David Scheinbaum's other publications include, Bisti, photographs of New Mexico's Bisti Badlands (University of New Mexico Press, 1987), Miami Beach: Photographs of an American Dream (Florida International University Press, 1990), and Stone: A Substantial Witness (The Museum of New Mexico Press, 2006). He and his wife, Janet Russek, have collaborated on two projects; Ghost Ranch: Land of Light, Photographs by David Scheinbaum and Janet Russek (Balcony Press, 1997) and Images in the Heavens, Patterns on the Earth: The I Ching (The Museum of New Mexico Press, 2005). And now his most recent publication, Hip Hop: Portraits of An Urban Hymn (Damiani Editore) will be released in November 2013. This work was featured at The National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, entitled Recognize: Hip-Hop and Contemporary Portraiture, and at the Norton Museum of Art. His current work focused on the Lower East Side of New York.

I attribute my renewed love and appreciation for Photography to Janet Russek and David Scheinbaum. Their educational evenings, generously given in their Gallery on the fine art of printing and the history of photography, were highlighted by the most extraordinary examples of vintage original prints by Eliot Porter, Ansel Adams, Atget, Callahan, Kertesz, among so many other great photographers. Check out the Scheinbaum and Russek Gallery on your next visit to New Mexico.