LENSCRATCH: The Elizabeth Avedon Mixtape

Greeting Lucille Ball, Hobby Airport, Houston, Texas

LENSCRATCH is revisiting some of our favorite posts, Mixtapes, and Interviews this week! Today we feature Elizabeth Avedon’s Mixtape and learn more about her remarkable life and celebrate her contributions to our community. Elizabeth carries a lifetime of creative seeing, that combined with her exposure to the greats of design and photography, add up to a remarkable ability to make her mark on all aspects of design that surround the photograph. Her down-to-earth generosity and unflagging enthusiasm for all things photographic make her a very special member of our community. It is with great pleasure that I introduce THE ELIZABETH AVEDON MIXTAPE!

LENSCRATCH is a daily journal that explores contemporary photography and offers opportunities for exposure and community. Created in 2007, Aline Smithson set a goal of writing about a different photographer each day, presenting work in a way that allows for a deeper understanding of a photographer’s intent and vision. Thanks to LENSCRATCH for this Mixtape Rerun!

THE ELIZABETH AVEDON MIXTAPE

LENSCULTURE STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS: Call for Entries!

UPDATE September 2016: Magnum Photos and LensCulture announced 44 remarkable photographers from around the world who have been chosen by our international jury for the first annual Magnum Photography Awards www.lensculture.com....

"Mr. Leiter was a photographer less of people than of perception itself." In honor of our recently opened LensCulture Street Photography Awards 2016, celebrate the street photography of the American master, Saul Leiter.

 Saul Leiter Link

 LensCulture ‪Street Photography‬ Awards 2016 

are open to all photographers and all approaches!

Final entry deadline - August 16, 2016
lensculture.co/street-photography-awards

UPDATE: Magnum Photos and LensCulture

announced 44 remarkable photographers from around the world 

who have been chosen by our international jury

for the first annual  

Magnum Photography Awards 

 www.lensculture.com.... 

STEIDL / HOWARD GREENBERG LIBRARY: Launches New Imprint

Howard Greenberg and Gerhard Steidl

Photograph © Elizabeth Paul Avedon

Saul Leiter: Early Black and White

Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library

 Hats, c.1948

Saul Leiter: Early Black and White

Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library

Gregory Wakabayashi

Book Design, Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library

Photograph © Elizabeth Paul Avedon

 Leon Levinstein. Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library

 Coney Island, c.1970

Leon Levinstein, Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library

 James Karales, Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library

Martin Luther King, Jr., 1962. 

James Karales, Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library

Howard Greenberg and his gallery teamed up with Gerhard Steidl, the preeminent German art and photography book publisher, to launch their new imprint “Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library,” with the release of three monographs – Saul Leiter: Early Black and White, James Karales, and Leon Levinstein.

 

“Steidl is a gifted publisher who prints photography books at the caliber they deserve to be printed,” says Howard Greenberg. “It’s a wonderful partnership, and we will be working on photography books for many years to come.”

BOOKS
 
Saul Leiter: Early Black and White
Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library, 2 volumes, 388 pages
ISBN 978-3-86521-413-3

James Karales
Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library, 176 pages
ISBN 978-3-86930-444-1

Leon Levinstein
Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library, 320 pages
ISBN 978-3-86930-443-4

Read the entire piece 

here: L'Oeil de la Photographie

HOWARD GREENBERG: The Collection and Interview

Nahui Olin, 1923 by Edward Weston

Howard Greenberg Collection

Migratory Cotton Picker, Eloy, Arizona, 1940 

by Dorothea Lange / Howard Greenberg Collection

© Library of Congress

Madrid, Spain, 1933 by Henri Cartier-Bresson

(3.14 x 4.72") Howard Greenberg Collection

"I have the first print of one of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s greatest pictures ever, and it’s a wonderful little print on beautiful paper, and went through the hands of Edward Steichen. How much more could you want?" – Howard Greenberg, read more: L'Oeil de la Photographie

Boy, 1950 by Saul Leiter. Howard Greenberg Collection

"There are millions of pictures of people looking out windows. Leon Levinstein did so many great ones and other people did great ones. There’s something about that picture and the print. For me, it’s got this haunting quality and it’s very Saul in its sensitivity"

– Howard Greenberg, read more: L'Oeil de la Photographie 

  +  +  +

"Masterpieces from the Howard Greenberg Collection," photographs from the private collection of Howard Greenberg, owner of New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery, one of the most prestigious photography galleries in the world, are on exhibition at the Joods Historisch Museum / Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam. Greenberg has been a leader in the modern photography market, establishing himself early on as one of the pillars of the New York photography scene for over three decades.

This extraordinary exhibition originated at the Musée de l’Elysée Photography Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland to critical acclaim. It was followed with great success at the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation in Paris (jointly produced by both) and then traveled to the Hungarian House of Photography in the Mai Manó House in Budapest, bringing us up to the current show at the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam until January 11, 2015.

Masterpieces from the Howard Greenberg Collection
Joods Historisch Museum / Jewish Historical Museum
Through January 11, 2015 / Amsterdam

+  +  +

Read the entire Interview with Howard Greenberg

here: L'Oeil de la Photographie

Howard Greenberg, September 2014

Photograph © Elizabeth Paul Avedon

SAUL LEITER: Early Black and White Photography from the 1940's and 50's

Jean, c. 1948

Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery

Scarf, c.1948

Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery

Debra and Regina, c.1948

Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery

‘He has a rapturous way with color, which stems from his love of the masters of modern art,’ writes Max Kozloff in the introduction to "Saul Leiter: Early Black and White." ‘But his black and white production is just as indebted to lessons he learned from those same masters.’

Saul Leiter 

Howard Greenberg Gallery

to October 25, 2014

Saul Leiter, presented by Howard Greenberg Gallery, represents the first solo show of the artist’s early black and white photography from the 1940s and 50s, focus's on more than 40 images including many unique prints that have never before been exhibited. Leiter made an enormous and unique contribution to photography with a highly prolific period in New York City in the 1940s and 50s. His abstracted forms and radically innovative compositions have a painterly quality that stands out among the work of his New York School contemporaries. Well-known for his color work, Leiter’s earliest black and white photographs also show an extraordinary affinity for the medium. His distinctive imagery stems from his profound and touching response to the dynamic street life of New York City. This show includes the artist’s iconic street photography and intimate portraits of friends and family.

The exhibition coincides with the publication of "Saul Leiter: Early Black and White" a two-volume monograph published by Steidl / Howard Greenberg Library, a new imprint at Steidl. With text by Max Kozolff and an additional essay by Jane Livingston, the volumes show the impressive range of Leiter’s early photography.

From Wedding as a Funeral, c.1951

Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery

LIFE Magazine, September 3, 1951

"Saul Leiter, who is a young free-lance photographer, spends a great deal of his time searching for incongruity...."text accompanying Leiter's award winning "Young Photographers Contest" spread in Life Magazine, displayed at Howard Greenberg Gallery.

Saul Leiter's 1951 LIFE Magazine "Young Photographers Contest" Entries displayed at Howard Greenberg Gallery.

Wedding as a Funeral, c.1951

Saul Leiter 

Howard Greenberg Gallery

41 East 57 St NY NY

to October 25, 2014 

Many thanks to Howard Greenberg Gallery for images and text

LENSCRATCH: Mixtape by Aline Smithson

Photograph © Jerry Atnip

I've been L E N S C R A T C H E D  by the remarkable ALINE SMITHSON. L E N S C R A T C H is considered one of the 10 Photography-related blogs you should be reading by Source Review, Wired.com, Rangefinder and InStyle Magazine. I'm honored to be included in Smithson's Mixtapes, profiling many distinguished professionals in the fine art photography world.

Aline writes: "Constructing today’s MIXTAPE was incredibly exciting–I learned in-depth about a friend and design icon who has traversed a remarkable photographic terrain, creating a legacy for excellence and creativity. Elizabeth Avedon's blog  is a go-to destination for photographers, bringing her unique perspective to her observations and posts.  I first met Elizabeth Avedon when she reviewed my work at Review Santa Fe. I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out that our twenty minutes was my favorite of the event. She was warm, funny, engaging, and encouraging.  We kept in touch and several years later, when I was exhibiting in New York, she attended my opening. It was a reflection of the kind of person she is, someone who makes the extra effort to support, encourage, and educate. It was great to reunite with her in Chicago at the Filter Photo Festival this past fall."

"Elizabeth carries a lifetime of creative seeing, that combined with her exposure to the the greats of design and photography, add up to a remarkable ability to make her mark on all aspects of design that surround the photograph. Her down-to-earth generosity and unflagging enthusiasm for all things photographic make her a very special member of our community." 

Read It Here

THE ELIZABETH AVEDON MIXTAPE

L E N S C R A T C H

PHONE IN BIDS: Tonights Friends of Friends Photography Auction Absentee Bidding

S144 Saul Leiter
Street Scene, 1963

C-print. Printed in 2002. 13½ x 9". Signed in ink on the verso
Estimate $4,000. Donated by the artist courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery
http://www.howardgreenberg.com

S150 Daido Moriyama
Untitled from the series Japan: A Photo Theater, 1968

Gelatin silver print. Printed in 2012. 13 x 9⅛". Signed in pencil on the verso

Framed. Estimate $3,000. Donated by the artist courtesy of Daido Moriyama

Photo Foundation. www.moriyamadaido.com

 S75 Ken Rosenthal
Not Dark Yet #ZVB-52-9, 2002

Gelatin silver print. Printed in 2002. 15 x 15"
Signed, titled, editioned and year of work in pencil on the verso
Edition no. 4/25. Estimate $1,000
Donated by the artist courtesy of Klompching Gallery and Anne Reed Gallery

S85 Richard Gere
Gilmore Pond II, 2012

Pigment print. 6¼ x 9½". Signed and titled in pencil on the verso
Estimate $1,600. Donated by the artist courtesy of The Gere Foundation
www.gerefoundation.org

Sign up NOW! for Absentee and Phone Bidding

for Tonights Photography Auction

SILENT AUCTION LOTS here

Friends Without A Border
16th Annual Friends of Friends Photography Auction
December 10, 2013, 6-8:30 p.m.
Metropolitan Pavilion, NY

SAUL LEITER: Painter, Photographer, Artist

 Saul Leiter and Jean Pagliuso

Photograph (c) Elizabeth Paul Avedon

SAUL LEITER

(1923 – November 26, 2013)

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

2012 HOLIDAY BOOKS: A Few New Favorites I

 Saul Leiter
With Vince Aletti and Margit Erb, and others

Kehrer Verlag; First Edition (2012)
 

"Painter and Photographer Saul Leiter (b. 1923) exhibited alongside abstract expressionists like Willem de Kooning before beginning in the late 1940s to take photographs. Like Robert Frank or Helen Levitt, he found his motifs on the streets of New York, but at the same time was visibly interested in abstraction. Edward Steichen was one of the first to discover Leiter's photography, showing it in the 1950s in two important exhibitions at New York's Museum of Modern Art. This book, published to mark the first major retrospective of Leiter's work anywhere in the world, features his early black and white and color images, his fashion photography, the over painted nudes, as well as his paintings and sketchbooks."

 

 Joel-Peter Witkin

Delpire; First Edition (2012)

"In addition to the 89 photographs published, there are 68 details, 24 pages of sketch and preparatory drawings and a text, Crazy About Christ by Eugenia Parry, who aims to give clues, if not guidelines to his work." Read the books review by Bernard Perrine here + Interview with Joel Peter-Witkin here

 Howard Greenberg: An American Gallery,  

Twenty-Five Years of Photography

"...my 25th Anniversary show and book, “An American Gallery, Twenty-Five Years of Photography” (although published by Lumiere Press in 2007, this Collection is timeless). I labored for a couple of years about the 25th anniversary, I want to do a publication, I want to  do a show, I didn’t know what to do. Part of the problem was I’ve worked with so many photographers and estates and I have so many friends out there that I didn’t feel I could be politically correct. So I just took twenty-five pictures from my own collection and spoke about them and about my involvement in photography." –Read the Interview with Howard Greenberg here

 

 Jonathan Becker: 30 Years at Vanity Fair

Assouline, 2012

 "It’s a document of documents spanning 30 years of time – actually fairly important times with important people in important places – all touched by Vanity Fair." –Jonathan Becker

As one of the great visual storytellers of our time, Becker has worked in an exclusive world of aristocrats, artists, and heads of state most would never observe except through the lens of his Rollei. He’s documented for Vanity Fair HRH The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles at their first public appearance together in Buckingham Palace, "Dr. Death" Jack Kevorkian, China’s outspoken human rights activist Ai Weiwei, the mother of modern dance Martha Graham, as well as countless other fascinating characters from the rarefied worlds of art, literature, politics, pop culture, and society. Read more in my Interview with Jonathan Becker...

Interview with Jonathan Becker here

John Schabel : Passengers

forthcoming from Twin Palms

"John Schabel’s series of photographs depicting anonymous airline passengers effectively captures the curious blend of impersonal efficiency and poignant humanity that pervades the experience of contemporary commercial air travel. Like products on an assembly line, the planes carrying Schabel’s subjects churn down the runway; and with the same regularity the individual passengers emerge, identically framed, from his camera and onto the gallery wall. Interestingly, it is precisely this mechanized process that lays bare the active, but often overlooked, emotional and intellectual relationship between human beings and flight.” — Laura M. Andre

 

Gary Briechle Twin Palms, 2012

The rocky coast of Maine is where Briechle found himself driven to make pictures, using the wet-plate collodion process, of the individuals who constitute his stand-in family. “I've been in Maine close to eight years now and there are some people I've photographed for the entire time. A few have died and I've shot their likenesses tattooed on the chests of those they've left behind.”

 Sailboats and Swans

Michal Chelbin, text by novelist A.M. Homes Twin Palms, 2012

There is nothing easy about it. It is a constructed moment, a scene within a scene, the real within the unreal. They are moments, lunga fermata, suspensions of time in the midst of what might otherwise be unbearable.

The images are about a kind of discomfort—theirs, hers, mine and ours. It is like an old fashioned staring contest—one guy looks at the other and the first one who blinks is the loser, except Michal Chelbin never blinks. Instead she captures with the click of a shutter. Chelbin is always looking, drawing what is hidden to the surface. She captures—we shudder. — A.M. Homes

+

My Interview with Twin Palms Publisher Jack Woody

+
2012 BOOKS: A Few Favorites II 

SAUL LEITER: ICP Book Signing 9.21.12

The Book: Saul Leiter (Kehrer Verlag, 2012, 296 pages)

Book Signing: Saul Leiter's Retrospective
ICP Store, 1133 Avenue of the Americas
Friday, Sept 21, 5:45pm–7:15pm

Join Saul Leiter for a signing of his retrospective book Saul Leiter

"This book, published to mark the first major retrospective of Leiter's work anywhere in the world, features for the first time, in addition to his early black and white and color images, his fashion photography, the overpainted nudes, as well as his paintings and sketchbooks.

Saul Leiter (b. 1923 in Pittsburgh) saw himself for a long time mainly as a painter. After coming to New York in 1946, he exhibited alongside abstract expressionists like Willem de Kooning before beginning in the late 1940s to take photographs. Like Robert Frank or Helen Levitt, he found his motifs on the streets of New York, but at the same time was visibly interested in abstraction. Edward Steichen was one of the first to discover Leiter's photography, showing it in the 1950s in two important exhibitions at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Back then color photography was regarded as "low art," fit only for advertising. Leiter accordingly worked primarily as a fashion photographer, for magazines such as Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. Nearly forty years would go by before his extraordinary artistic color photography was rediscovered." Publishers description

ICP: Signed books will be available on a first-come, first-served basis only, on the night of the signing. Mr. Leiter will be signing his new book only, and proof of purchase from ICP will be required. And as per the artist's request, no flash photography, please. Limit of two signed copies per customer.

This event takes place during voluntary contribution hours at the museum. Free Friday night programs in the Museum are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn.

Saul Leiter

AIPAD 2012: The Armory, New York City

AVEDON | LEITER

(l) William Burroughs, writer, New York City 7.9.75, in original plexi frame. Photograph by Richard Avedon. Rick Wester Fine Art (206). (r) Wall of Saul Leiter black+white photographs. Howard Greenberg Gallery (204)

Margit Erb with Saul Leiter Photographs
Howard Greenberg Gallery (204)

Untitled, Liberia, 2005

Photograph by Tim Hetherington (American and British, 1970 - 2011)
Yossi Milo Gallery (203)

(Troops at) Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan, 2008
Photograph by Tim Hetherington (American and British, 1970 - 2011)
Yossi Milo Gallery (203)

"Hetherington took these photographs over one year in 2007-2008. His year in Afghanistan also became the basis for the documentary Restrepo, which he co-directed with Sebastian Junger. The film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2011 for Best Documentary Feature."

Philip-Lorca diCorcia

Alex Soth: Dog Days Bogota

Susan Forristal | Martin Luther King
Photographs by Steve Schapiro and Paul Schutzer, Monroe Gallery (419)

Eric Miles, photo-eye Auctions

Photographer Bill Eppridge

Meet one of Life Magazines greatest photographers!
Monroe Gallery (419)

Susan May Tell | André Kertész

Collector John A. Bennette

John A. Bennette and Susan Forristal

David Scheinbaum | Scheinbaum & Russek (207)

(background) Janet Russek and their daughter, Andra (right)

AIPAD
Park Avenue Armory through April 1

Photographs/Snapshots above © Elizabeth Avedon
Please ask permission before reposting