GORDON PARKS: Centennial Honoring the Legendary African American Photographer

Untitled, Mobile, Alabama, 1956 
(c) The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery

Ondria Tanner and Her Grandmother Window-shopping, 1956
(c) The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery

The two images above are included in a Limited Edition Portfolio of 12 color photographs taken by Gordon Parks for a 1956 Life Magazine photo-essay, The Restraints: Open and Hidden. The set of twelve 16 x 20" images is printed in a limited edition of twelve numbered sets released in a Portfolio published by the Gordon Parks Foundation, available from the Howard Greenberg Gallery.

Untitled, Shady Grove, Alabama, 1956
(c) The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery

The color photograph, Untitled, Shady Grove, Alabama, 1956, of a family waiting in front of an ice cream shop on a hot summer day, is on view for the first time as part of the "Segregation Story" series taken for Life Magazine.

Muhammad Ali, Miami, Florida, 1966
(c) The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery

Ingrid Bergman at Stromboli, 1949
(c) The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery

"Gordon Parks is the most important black photographer in the History of Photojournalism. Long after the events that he photographed have been forgotten, his images will remain with us, testaments to the genius of his art, transcending time, place and subject matter.”– Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Gordon Parks, born into poverty and segregation on a farm in Kansas in 1912, was the youngest of 15 children. He worked at odd jobs before buying a camera at a pawnshop in 1938 and training himself to become a photographer. Parks was a photographer at the Farm Security Administration and later at the Office of War Information in Washington D.C. from 1941 to 1945. As a freelance photographer, his 1948 photo essay on the life of a Harlem gang leader won him widespread acclaim and a position from 1948 to 1972 as the first black staff photographer and writer for Life Magazine, the largest circulation picture publication of its day. He was also a noted composer and author, and in 1969, became the first African American to write and direct a Hollywood feature film, The Learning Tree, based on his bestselling novel of the same name. This was followed in 1971 by the hugely successful motion picture, Shaft. Parks was the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Medal of Arts in 1988 and over 50 honorary doctorates. Parks died in 2006 at the age of 93.

In honor of the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Gordon Parks, the Howard Greenberg Gallery in collaboration with the Gordon Parks Foundation will present two simultaneous exhibitions of his work. Contact: Gordon Parks, Ralph Ellison, and “Invisible Man” curated by Glenn Ligon and Gordon Parks: Centennial, which includes nearly 40 works spanning five decades of the artist’s career beginning in the early 1940s, including some of the legendary photographer’s most seminal images. Most noteworthy in the exhibitions will be a number of color prints from Segregation Story, 1956.

The exhibitions will coincide with Gordon Parks Collected Works, a five-volume book on his photographs. (Steidl, 2012). The book will be the most extensive publication to document Gordon Parks’s legendary career.

HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY
September 14 – October 27

Read "Greenberg on Parks"and
"An Interview with Howard Greenberg"

Untitled, 1950
(c) The Gordon Parks Foundation, courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery

Paris Fashions, Countess Maxine de la Falaise, 1950
(c) The Gordon Parks Foundation, courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery

The Gordon Parks Foundation permanently preserves the work of Gordon Parks, makes it available to the public through exhibitions, books, and electronic media, and supports artistic and educational activities that advance what Gordon described as "the common search for a better life and a better world." The Foundation is a division of the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation.

A number of other exhibitions in New York will coincide with the exhibition at Howard Greenberg Gallery including Gordon Parks: 100 Years at the International Center for Photography through January 6, 2013; Gordon Parks: 100 Moments at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture through December 1, 2012; Gordon Parks: Crossroads at the Tisch School of the Arts, Gulf+Western Gallery, from September 4 through September 25, 2012; and Gordon Parks: A Harlem Family 1967 at the Studio Museum of Harlem from November 7, 2012 through February 2013.

Many thanks to the Howard Greenberg Gallery for images and text above; and to Diana Revson, Director of External Affairs for The Gordon Parks Foundation, for keeping me informed over the years of the Foundations artistic and educational activities that advance what Gordon Parks described as "the common search for a better life and a better world." –EA

FALL 2012: Exhibitions + Events

Sightlines, 2011 | Photograph (c) Helen Sear

HELEN SEAR: Sightlines
Sept 13 – Oct 26
KLOMPCHING GALLERY

Artist Talk and Book Signing
Sept 15, 2-4PM, Aperture Gallery

Pete Brook | Photograph (c) Lara Shipley

Men & Women
Photographic Portraits by Daniel W. Coburn and Lara Shipley
John Sommers Gallery, UNM

FRACTION MAGAZINE: Review

from On Hollywood | Photograph (c) Lise Sarfati
LISE SARFATI: On Hollywood
Sept 6–Oct 13
YOSSI MILO GALLERY

from The Mark of Abel | Photograph (c) Lydia Panas

LYDIA PANAS: The Mark of Abel
Sept 5–Oct 7
RAYKO PHOTO CENTER, SF

Artist Talk and Book Signing
Sept 13, 5:30PM

from A Girl and Her Room | Photograph (c) Rania Matar

RANIA MATAR: A Girl and Her Room
Sept 14–Dec 14
SOUTHEAST MUSEUM of PHOTOGRAPHY

Artist Talk and Book Signing
Sept 14, 6-8PM

Photograph (c) Ruben Natal-San Miguel

RUBEN NATAL-SAN MIGUEL
Nocturnal/Activo de Noche

Sept 8–Oct 31
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Curated by Elizabeth Barragan
Artist's Talk - Sept 15 @ 3:30 pm

Girl Dancing in Pink, Baptist-Town, Greenwood, MS Delta
Photograph (c) Magdalena Solé

MAGDALENA SOLÉ: Mississippi Delta
Sept 27–Nov 10
SOUS LES ETOILES, Soho, New York

Seeker
Photograph (c) Vicki Hunt1st Place Award | SlowExposures 2011 Exhibition

2011 SlowExposures Gang
Many returning to this years event

Click to Enlarge. Top row, l to r: John A Bennette; Jerry Atnip, John Bennette, Sylvia Plachy, Elisabeth Biondi, Nancy McCrary, Gabrielle Larew; Sylvia Plachy, David Simonton, and Magdalena Sole; Bennette Exhibition crowd, on the right, Alex Novak. Bottom row, l to r: Slow Exposure Co-Directors, Chris Curry and Nancy McCrary; Peter Essick; Sylvia Plachy and Jessica Hines; Elisabeth Biondi , Nancy McCrary, and Steve Harper. Last year's event here

2012 SLOW EXPOSURES PHOTO FESTIVALCelebrating Photography of the Rural South
Sept 21–23, 2012
About last year's event here
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SVA Lecture Series
a few of the great line-up of Speakers this Fall

Sept 25: Stephen Mallon
Oct 9: Darren Ching
Nov 27: Miriam Romais

School of Visual Arts
136 West 21 St, Rm 418F, 7pm

THOMAS ALLEN: Beautiful Evidence Opens Foley Gallery's New Space

from the series Beautiful Evidence
Photograph (c) Thomas Allen/Courtesy of Foley Gallery, NY

After eight years in Chelsea, the Foley Gallery relocated to the Lower East Side on Allen Street. Opening the new gallery space is their fourth solo exhibition of artist Thomas Allen.

Foley Gallery writes, "Playing the role of scientist, Thomas Allen enlists mid 20th-century books on the natural phenomenon of science (astronomy, physics, electricity, biology) and presents his research as if through the eyes of his 8-year old daughter. How would she understand and portray these theories and absolutes of science?"

"Allen’s signature use of cutting and repurposing book illustrations has not vanished. Instead of the pulp fiction genre, Allen plays with 50’s era versions of clean cut youths and domesticated moms. His unmistakable talent for creating the illusion of 3D in photography with his deft cuts and crimps, establishes a magical world in which a boy and girl play tag creating their own kind of electricity, a milkman makes a very special delivery in space, young toughs play marbles with the solar system and a mother busily sews her own version of “string theory.”

THOMAS ALLEN | FOLEY GALLERY
Sept 9 through Oct 14, 2012
97 Allen St, NYC
Open Wed – Sun 11AM – 6PM

W.M. HUNT: The Unseen Eye Looks at Portland

THE UNSEEN EYE LOOKS AT PORTLAND

Collector W.M. Hunt will be in Portland to present a special performance of his monologue “The Unseen Eye: A Life in Photographs and Other Digressions …” This free event is presented in partnership with the Museum’s Photography Council.

“A Life …” is a monologue with projections and video, a rumination on Hunt’s many years of collecting and a life in photographs. Hunt began collecting during his early years as an actor. He has been a fundraiser (Photographers + Friends United Against AIDS, The Center for Photography at Woodstock and the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund), a dealer (Ricco/Maresca Gallery and his own Hasted Hunt), as well as a writer and teacher (ICP and School of Visual Arts).

"The Unseen Eye: A Life in Photographs and other digressions "
Special performance by W.M. Hunt

Saturday, September 8, 2:00 PM, Miller Room,
Portland Art Museum. Free admission

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The Blue Sky Gallery, Portland

"The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the W.M. Hunt Collection"
September 6 - September 30

Collector and curator W.M. Hunt will be in attendance, and Ampersand Gallery & Fine Books will be at Blue Sky with copies of Hunt's book "The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious" (Aperture) available for purchase that evening. Free admission.

Imogen Cunningham, Veiled Woman, 1910/1975
from The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious
by W.M. Hunt (Aperture, 2011)

...W.M. Hunt began collecting over forty years ago with his first acquisition, Veiled Woman, by Imogen Cunningham. Hunt...was profiled in the BBC series, appropriately titled in his case, The Genius of Photography...read more here

Read: W.M. Hunt Talks To Elizabeth Avedon
Le Journal de la Photographie here

NADAV KANDER: Obama's People - The Book

Barack Obama, 2009Book: Obama's People available hereCourtesy of Flowers, London/New York
The 44th President of the United States

Samantha Power Advisor, 2009
Photograph (c) Nadav Kander/Courtesy of Flowers, London/NY

Now Special Assistant to the President and Senior
Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights

Denis McDonough Senior Foreign Policy Aide, 2009
Photograph (c) Nadav Kander/Courtesy of Flowers, London/NY
Now Deputy National Security Advisor

Eugene Kang
Special Assistant to the President, 2009
Photograph (c) Nadav Kander/Courtesy of Flowers, London/NY

Hilary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State, 2009
Photograph (c) Nadav Kander/Courtesy of Flowers, London/NY
The 1st First Lady elected to the United States Senate,
currently the U.S. Secretary of State

Joseph R. Biden Jr. Vice President, 2009
Photograph (c) Nadav Kander/Courtesy of Flowers, London/NY
The 47th Vice President of the United StatesOBAMA'S PEOPLE | NADAV KANDER

"Early on in the process of making these 53 portraits, I made the fundamental decision not to impose my personal opinion. Instead, I wanted to create works of accurate representation." –Nadav Kander, Obama's People

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January 18 2009, a special edition of the New York Times Magazine published, Obama's People, portraits of the incoming administration of Barack Obama by Nadav Kander. This series was commissioned by Kathy Ryan, Director of Photography, and Gerald Merzorati, editor of the New York Times. Photographic critic, Francis Hodgson wrote, "Nadav Kander has been a brilliant portraitist for years. He has published three series which I see as specific precursors to Obama's People. In all three, the plain background is there, each sitter posed like a medieval saint (or devil) in a niche on a cathedral wall."
Although all of Kander’s photographs are color, they are often compared to Richard Avedon’s black-and-white portraits of The Family, published in Rolling Stone Magazine in 1976 of the 'Power Elite' taken during the Reagan Administration. Having worked on the Avedon project in 1976, I don't see the similarity in their actual portraits, just in the editorial assignment itself. A beautifully created book of Kander's series, Obama's People, is now available through Flowers Gallery (here).

Upcoming News: An exhibition of Nadav Kander’s Prix Pictet award-winning photographic series, Yangtze —The Long River, will be at Flowers, New York October 19th - November 24th. Yangtze — The Long River is a body of work that captures the dramatic effects of a nation at the precipice of enormous industrial and economic change and considers the history and folklore of the waterway that runs through the blood of the people. More on this in October.

Obama's People
Flowers Gallery, London/New York

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I designed the cover and layouts for Richard Avedon's The Family, portraits of the 'Power Elite' during the Reagan Administration published in Rolling Stone Magazine. New Yorker writer/author Renata Adler sequenced the images with Avedon. More views here.

The Family, Rolling Stone Magazine 1976
Photographs of the 'Power Elite' during the Reagan Administration

The Family, Rolling Stone Magazine, 1976

The Family, Rolling Stone Magazine, 1976

Thanks to Jay Prynne for images of The Family
and APhotoEditor.com

JOHN DELANEY: Hoboken Passing

from the series Hoboken Passing
Photograph (c) John Delaney

from the series Hoboken Passing
Photograph (c) John Delaney

from the series Hoboken Passing
Photograph (c) John Delaney

from the series Hoboken Passing
Photograph (c) John Delaney

"My love of photography began when I discovered Irving Penn's Worlds in a Small Room. Penn's work, as well that of Bruce Davidson, sparked my creative imagination. I attended Rochester Institute of Technology where I was taught the science and history of photography. But my real education began at the Richard Avedon Studio. I started as his studio assistant then eventually became his master printer. For 15 years I observed his passion, intelligence and meticulous craftsmanship.

That relationship opened the door to working with my original heroes, Irving Penn and Bruce Davidson. Each of these masters informs and inspires my work. Mr. Penn for his wide range and love for the exquisite print; Davidson for the way he immerses himself in his subject, instilling trust; and Avedon with his intense preparation and skillful cajoling, getting behind the "masks" of his subjects." –John Delaney

Hoboken Passing
A Limited Edition Portfolio

Hoboken Passing

A Portfolio of eighteen pigment ink prints printed in a limited edition of twenty-five with two artist’s and two printer’s proofs. The prints were produced with archival pigment inks printed on Canson Plantine Fiber Rag.

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"Hoboken Passing explores the survivors of a neighborhood in transition. Through the eyes of the old establishment family business owners and workers, I aim to better understand what defines a neighborhoods identity or uniqueness.

With these portraits I aim to reflect and celebrate a community's distinct character. Hoboken, New Jersey charmed me when I first moved here in the winter of 2007. Sitting in the shadow of Manhattan, Hoboken is only a mile square and has a long and proud history. I grew particularly fond of the old Mom & Pop shops that I encountered. Many of these establishments have existed for generations and within their walls I found a quiet contemplation of a cherished history.

Hoboken’s older family businesses are succumbing to the changing economy and are closing their doors. They are inevitably being replaced by the ever ubiquitous national chain store.

As an portrait artist, my method of working consists of walking the streets, camera in hand, and visiting. Conversation and quiet observation are the foundation of my creative process. Respect and mutual trust between myself and the subject are vital for this series. It was important that the personality of the subject directed the sitting and that the subject and environment combined to tell the story together.

A recurring theme of my photography is the effort to record what is vanishing from our collective memory - a way of living, a tradition, or trade. I try to capture the fleeting present so that we can honor that which is deeply rooted in our past." –John Delaney

John Delaney lives and works in New York City. He received his Masters in Digital Photography from the School of Visual Arts in 2012. He was the recipient of the Discovery of the Year at the 2008 Lucie/IPA Awards and is a 2012 Critical Mass 100 Finalist.

JOHN DELANEY PHOTOGRAPHY

MAGDALENA SOLÉ: Mississippi Delta Workshop

June Rhodes at the Hot Spot, Jonestown
from New Delta Rising (University of Mississippi Press)
Photograph (c) Magdalena Solé/All Rights Reserved

Amber Thomas at Messenger's Pool Hall, Clarksdale
from New Delta Rising (University of Mississippi Press)
Photograph (c) Magdalena Solé/All Rights Reserved

Dog Waking Up, Coahoma
from New Delta Rising (University of Mississippi Press)
Photograph (c) Magdalena Solé/All Rights Reserved

Wall Street Journal 2.11.2012

“Ms. Solé’s lushly colorful and formally striking images are restless. The people of Clarksdale are lively and in motion, con-trasting sharply with their crumbling surroundings. The colors Ms. Solé finds everywhere in Clarksdale—the bright green walls of the Wangz and Thangz restaurant, the deep blue backgrounds of Messenger’s Pool Hall, the red spotlight on the stage at Red’s Lounge—are visual metaphors for the culture and history that remain vivid even beneath the cracking surface. Like Clarksdale’s soundtrack, they electrify. “

A Master Class for Photographers
With Magdalena Solé
October 17 - 24 / Mississippi Delta
Seven Chimneys Farm in Stovall, MS

"Workshop Description: For amateurs and professionals alike, Magdalena Solé's Workshop begins with reviews of each photographer’s work. We will explore a series of topics: including the process of photographing spontaneously and intuitively; how to photograph in cultures other than one’s own; how to edit photographs so they reveal a story. It is a Workshop that will emphasize the development of a unique, personal way of seeing and the development of an intuitive way of editing your photographs. We will also discuss with participants how to take their work to the next level. Participants should be prepared to bring twenty prints to class. The workshop will be held at beautiful Seven Chimneys Farm in Stovall, MS." About The Workshop Here

About Magdalena Solé Here
Preview: New Delta Rising at Photo-eye Books

IMAGE 12: Professional Winners Gallery

Professional Category | First Place

Photograph (c) Cathrin Schulz

Cathrin Schulz

Professional Category | Second Place
Judges Choice: Selected by Jody Quon, NY Magazine
Photograph (c) Anthony Wood

Anthony Wood

Professional Category | Third Place
Photograph (c) Hye-Ryoung Min

Hye-Ryoung Min

Professional Category | Honorable Mention
Judges Choice: Selected by Holly Stuart Hughes, PDN
Photograph (c) Bernie DeChant

Bernie DeChant

ASMPNY IMAGE 12
VIEW ALL OF THE GALLERY OF WINNERS HERE

MARIA TERESA FISCHER: IMAGE 12 Photo Competition (Student) First + Second Place

Student Category | First Place
Photograph (c) Maria Teresa Fischer

Student Category | Second Place
Photograph (c) Maria Teresa Fischer

Student Category | Judges Choice Selected by

Holly Stuart Hughes, PDN and Hosanna Marshall, Saatchi & Saatchi
Photograph (c) Maria Teresa Fischer

Student Category | Honorable Mention
Photograph (c) Maria Teresa Fischer

In the IMAGE 12 Photography Competition, Student Category, Maria Teresa Fischer was awarded both First and Second Place Prizes, and selected as Judges Choice by both Holly Stuart Hughes, Editor, Photo District News and PDNonline, and Hosanna Marshall, Art Buyer/Creative Producer, Saatchi & Saatchi NY.

"My mother’s mother died in a very unexpected way...My mother kept some of her belongings and through them memories were passed on and stories told. In this series of domestic landscapes, I explore people’s personal space and memories, focusing on objects as containers full of meaning."

Fischer, born and raised in Chile, received her Masters of Professional Studies in Digital Photography from The School of Visual Arts. She currently works as a freelance photographer in NYC. Preview Fischer's Book, And The Space Around

ASMPNY IMAGE 12 2012
VIEW ALL THE GALLERY OF WINNERS HERE

MariaTeresaFischer.com

CHRISTOPHER BORROK: ASMPNY IMAGE 12 Judges Choice Selected by Jody Quon

Sons Head | Student Category, Honorable Mention
Photograph (c) Christopher Borrok

Christopher Borrok's image Sons Head, from his current project Glimpse, was awarded Honorable Mention and selected by Jody Quon, Photography Director at New York Magazine, as Judges Choice in ASMP-NY's IMAGE 12 Competition.

Borrok is a "fine artist and photographer living in Brooklyn NY. Born in NYC, raised in Florida, Borrok was trained as an Architect at the University of Florida. In 2012 he received his Masters of Professional Studies in Digital Photography from The School of Visual Arts, where he received The Paula Rhodes Memorial Award, highest honors, in recognition of exceptional work amongst Masterʼs candidates. His career started in the early 90ʼs as sculptor amongst the thriving art community and social scene of the Lower East side and Williamsburg."

ASMPNY IMAGE 12 2012
VIEW THE GALLERY OF WINNERS HERE

borrok.com

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Glimpse. Desire for a presence.
Photographs by Christopher Borrok
First edition, 2012

preview and purchase

Glimpse. Desire for a presence.
--

Glimpse is a meditation on the fragmentary nature of presence and the collision between external reality and the internal space of memory, daydreams, and the subconscious. The mundane, rote engagement, daily landscapes and moments of seemingly little import provide a vacancy and spaciousness allowing for psychological drifts into a presence of greater resonance. This body of work illuminates and in turn embraces these interstitial moments that make up the majority of ones life.

Glimpse considers how to describe this obfuscated reality. The images serve as keepsakes of a desire for presence within the poignant normalcy of life's in-betweens. Glimpse will be on exhibition in “un/common skin” curated by Michael Foley in Fall of 2012 at the SVA Gallery in New York City.

borrok.com

All Photographs (c) Christopher Borrok