Category: reality

Exhibition: ‘Icon & archive: photography & the World Wars’ at the Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne

Exhibition dates: 16th April – 11th July, 2010

 

Many thankx to Mark Hislop and the Monash Gallery of Art for allowing me to reproduce the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photos for a larger version of the image.

 

Photographer unknown. 'Matron Grace Wilson doing a round, Mudros' 1915 from the exhibition 'Icon & archive: photography & the World Wars' at the Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, April - July, 2010

 

Photographer unknown
Matron Grace Wilson doing a round, Mudros
1915
Gelatin silver print
Australian War Memorial

 

NOTHING could have prepared Grace Wilson for her first day at Turks Head Point on the drought-stricken island of Lemnos, where she was to run a field hospital for injured soldiers being shipped out from Gallipoli, 65km away.

“Things are just too awful for words… we found only a bare piece of ground with wounded men in pain, still in filthy, bloodstained clothes, lying amid stones and thistles,” she wrote in her diary.

Matron Wilson and her 40 nurses had arrived in the island’s Mudros harbour aboard the Dunluce Castle on August 2, 1915, to discover to their dismay there was no sign of the supply ship Ascot, which had been due there a week earlier with the tents, medical equipment, crates of tinned food and other essentials.

In a bizarre display of military pomp, a regimental piper led the women – wearing heavy, ankle-length dresses and petticoats – on a long march in searing summer heat to what would be their home for the most harrowing five months of their lives…”

Read the full article: Daryl Passmore. “Brisbane snubs unsung war heroine Matron Grace Wilson,” on The Sunday Mail (Qld) on The Courier Mail website April 21, 2013 [Online] Cited 15/10/2019

 

Norman Stuckey (Australian, 1914-1983) 'The Pimple, Shaggy Ridge, New Guinea' 1943 from the exhibition 'Icon & archive: photography & the World Wars' at the Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, April - July, 2010

 

Norman Bradford Stuckey (Australian, 1914-1983)
The Pimple, Shaggy Ridge, New Guinea
1943
Toned silver gelatin print
Australian War Memorial

 

The Battle of the Shaggy Ridge was part of the Markham and Ramu Valley – Finisterre Range campaign, consisting of a number of actions fought by Australian and Japanese troops in Papua New Guinea in World War II. Following the Allied capture of Lae and Nadzab, the Australian 9th Division had been committed to a quick follow up action on the Huon Peninsula in an effort to cut off the withdrawing Japanese. Once the situation on the Huon Peninsula stabilised in late 1943, the 7th Division had pushed into the Markham and Ramu Valleys towards the Finisterre Range with a view to pushing north towards the coast around Bogadjim, where they would meet up with Allied forces advancing around the coast from the Huon Peninsula, before advancing towards Madang.

A series of minor engagements followed in the foothills of the Finisterre Range before the Australians came up against strong resistance centred around the Kankiryo Saddle and Shaggy Ridge, which consisted of several steep features, dotted with heavily defended rocky outcrops. After a preliminary assault on a forward position dubbed The Pimple in late December 1943, the Australians renewed their assault in mid-January 1944 and over the course of a fortnight eventually captured the Japanese positions on Shaggy Ridge and the Kankiryo Saddle, after launching a brigade-sized attack up three avenues of advance. In the aftermath, the Australians pursued the Japanese to the coast and subsequently took Madang, linking up with US and Australian forces.

Text from the Wikipedia website [Online] Cited 25/10/2019

 

Barbara Joan Isaacson (Australian, 1923-2017) 'Journalist Iris Dexter standing under the starboard engine of a Douglas C-47 aircraft' February - March 1943 from the exhibition 'Icon & archive: photography & the World Wars' at the Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, April - July, 2010

 

Barbara Joan Isaacson (Australian, 1923-2017)
Journalist Iris Dexter standing under the starboard engine of a Douglas C-47 aircraft
February-March 1943
Gelatin silver print 2008
Image courtesy of the AMW

 

Joan Barbara Isaacson was born into a dynamic and family. Her mother, Lynka Isaacson (also known as Caroline Isaacson), was the first female journalist to be employed by a metropolitan newspaper in Australia, and was a strong role model for her daughter. After the war Isaacson’s mother and brother set up the Southern Cross publishing business.

Isaacson attended the Melbourne Technical College, where she studied photography. When she was 18 years old she joined the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS). Working in the Army Public Relations section, she travelled the east coast taking documentary and recruitment propaganda photographs and meeting press journalists and photographers.

In 1943 Isaacson married Richard L. Beck, a graphic designer and photographer. During the period from 1946-1948 they set up their own photographic business in Melbourne, specialising in child portraiture. Isaacson took over the business c.1950 when her husband went back to working as a graphic designer, and continued to manage the studio until the birth of her third baby. After her departure from the photography business Isaacson was involved in a variety of other ventures and gave up her photography.

Text from the Australian Women’s Register website [Online] Cited 24/10/2019

 

Max Dupain (Australian, 1911-1992) 'The dozing soldier' 1943

 

Max Dupain (Australian, 1911-1992)
The dozing soldier (Tired Soldier in Train North Queensland)
1943
Gelatin silver print
Australian War Memorial

 

 

Photographs are an inseparable part of our memory of the First and Second World Wars. They help us remember events which many of us have no direct experience.

Monash Gallery of Art’s new special exhibition Icon & archive: photography and the World Wars draws on the Australian War Memorial’s vast photographic collection to consider the relationship of photography and war. This extraordinary exhibition opens to the public on Friday 16 April.

Direct from the Australian War Memorial, Icon & archive demonstrates the powerful role played by photography in the efforts of Australians to make sense of and remember the terrible events of the First and the Second World Wars.

“Visitors to MGA will see many ‘iconic’ photographs that have become lodged in our national memory,” said MGA Director and curator of the exhibition, Dr Shaune Lakin.

“Icon & archive also presents previously unseen photographs to showcase the experiences of both service personnel and the families left behind during the wars. These photographs provide contemporary audiences with a remarkable picture of the effects of the World Wars on private, family and social life in Australia. In doing this, the exhibition will help members of our community better understand that experience and its relevance to contemporary Australia,” said Dr Lakin.

Icon & archive will play a significant role in the City of Monash’s Anzac Day commemorations, in this the 95th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. Icon & archive includes some of the most historically significant pictures from Gallipoli, as well as other important sites involving Australians during both the First and the Second World Wars.”

Press release from the Monash Gallery of Art website [Online] Cited 09/07/2022. No longer available online

 

Algemon Darge (Australian, 1878-1941) 'Private George Beamish Swanton with his wife Nellie and their young baby Joan' 1915

 

Algemon Darge (Australian, 1878-1941)
Private George Beamish Swanton with his wife Nellie and their young baby Joan
1915
Gelatin silver print
Australian War Memorial

 

Studio portrait of 1159 Private (Pte) George Beamish Swanton, Australian 24th Battalion, of Werribee, Victoria, with his wife Nellie and young baby, Joan Helen. Pte Swanton enlisted on 28 April 1915 and embarked on board HMAT Euripides on 8 May 1915. He died of wounds on 28 July 1916 at Pozieres, France. Pte Swanton had two brothers who were also killed in action; 222 Pte John (Jack) Swanton, 2nd Battalion, enlisted on 27 August 1914 and was killed in action at Gallipoli Peninsula on 2 May 1915; and 2760 Pte Henry Swanton, 29th Battalion, enlisted on 5 March 1916 and was killed in action at Pozieres, France on 2 November 1916.

This is one of a series of photographs taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had the concession to take photographs at the Broadmeadows and Seymour army camps during the First World War. In the 1930’s, the Australian War Memorial purchased the original glass negatives from Algernon Darge, along with the photographers’ notebooks. The notebooks contain brief details, usually a surname or unit name, for each negative. The names are transcribed as they appear in the notebooks.

Text from the Australian War Memorial website [Online] Cited 25/10/2019

 

Norman Bradford Stuckey (Australian, 1914-1983) 'Engineers exhausted after destroying obstacles, Tarakan' 1945

 

Norman Bradford Stuckey (Australian, 1914-1983)
Engineers exhausted after destroying obstacles, Tarakan
1945
Gelatin silver print
Australian War Memorial

 

The Battle of Tarakan was the first stage in the Borneo campaign of 1945. It began with an amphibious landing by Allied forces on 1 May, code-named Operation Oboe One; the Allied ground forces were drawn mainly from the Australian 26th Brigade, but included a small element of Netherlands East Indies personnel. The main objective of the landing was capture of the island’s airfield. While the battle ended with success for the Allied forces over the Japanese defenders, this victory is generally regarded as having not justified its costs. The airfield was so heavily damaged that it ultimately could not be repaired in time to make it operational for other phases of the Allied campaign in Borneo.

Text from the Wikipedia website [Online] Cited 25/10/2019

 

Asti Studios. 'Studio portrait of an unidentified First World War soldier in Australian service uniform' 1914-1918

 

Asti Studios
Studio portrait of an unidentified First World War soldier in Australian service uniform, including greatcoat and slouch hat
c. 1914-1918
New South Wales, Sydney
Toned silver gelatin print
Australian War Memorial

 

 

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Review: ‘Jill Orr: Vision’ at Jenny Port Gallery, Richmond, Melbourne

Exhibition dates: 2nd June – 3rd July, 2010

 

Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952) 'Megan' 2009 from the exhibition Review: 'Jill Orr: Vision' at Jenny Port Gallery, Richmond, Melbourne, June - July, 2010

 

Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952)
Megan
2009

 

 

A huge gallery crawl on Wednesday last saw me take in exhibitions at Nellie Castan Gallery (Malleus Melficarum: strong sculptural work by James and Eleanor Avery; Broken Canon: vibrant mixed media collages by Marc Freeman); Anita Traverso Gallery (Peristereonas: sculptures, photographs and mixed media by Barry Thompson); John Buckley Gallery (Perpetua by Emma can Leest, beautiful cut paper works; rather mundane paintings by Christian Lock); Karen Woodbury Gallery (Every breath you take: wonderful galaxy-like paintings, perhaps as seen by the Hubble telescope, with a geometric / cellular base by Lara Merrett); The Centre for Contemporary Photography (Event horizon: a group exhibition that “engages the horizon as a means to establish a physical locality with relation to the Earth’s surface and more broadly to the universe of which it is a miniscule component.” An exhibition that left me rather cold); and ACCA (Towards an elegant solution by Peter Cripps, again a singularly unemotional engagement with the precise, contained work: interesting for how the work explores spatial environments but in an abstract, intellectual way).

The stand out work from this mammoth day was Jill Orr: Vision at Jenny Port Gallery. Simply put, it was the strongest, most direct, most emotionally powerful work that I saw all day.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to Amelia Douglas and Jenny Port Gallery for allowing me to publish the photographs in this posting.

 

 

Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952) 'Megan' 2009 from the exhibition Review: 'Jill Orr: Vision' at Jenny Port Gallery, Richmond, Melbourne, June - July, 2010

 

Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952)
Megan
2009

 

 

Jill Orr’s new participatory performances are photographs of children from Avoca Primary School painted with white clay from the area, displayed in pairs. The children are photographed once with eyes open, once with eyes closed. Orr asked the children to imagine their future life when they had their eyes closed. The key to the work is a group photograph of the ghostly children outside the primary school where everyone is isolated from each other (see photograph below).

“White faces loom up out of a dark ground, described by Orr as a void. On the surface these portraits are finely crafted, the skin of masked face becomes one with the digital file to create a facial landscape. The materiality of the face and the photographic file are exposed for the viewer. Titling the series ‘vision’ Orr ventures into a ‘haptic visuality’ where “vision itself can be tactile, as though one were touching a film with one’s eyes.”


From the catalogue essay by Professor Anne Marsh, Monash University

 

 

In the performance, the ritual of being photographed, Orr instructs the children who are placed under the surveillance of the camera. “We are confronted with the pose, the conscious composition of the image to be photographed, the inherent constructedness of the posed photograph.”1 The child assumes the pose by which they wish to be memorialised. The gaze (of the camera, of the viewer) is returned / or not in this spectacle.

Something happens when we look at these photographs. The text of the photographs becomes intertextual, producing as Barthes understands a “plurality of meanings and signifying / interpretive gestures that escape the reduction of knowledge to fixed, monological re-presentations, or presences.”2 This is because, as Foucault observes, texts “are caught up in a system of references to … other texts, other sentences: it is a node within a network …  Its unity is variable and relative.”3

The photographs invite us to share not only the mapping of the surface of the skin and the mapping of place (the history of white people living on the land in country Australia) and identity but the sharing of inner light, the light of the imaginary as well – and in this observation the images become unstable, open to reinterpretation. The distance between viewer and subject is transcended through an innate understanding of inner and outer light. The photographs seduce, meaning, literally, to be led astray.

As American photographer Minor White, who photographed in meditation hoping for a revelation in spirit though connection between person > subject > camera > negative > print, observes in one of his Three Canons

When the image mirrors the man
And the man mirrors the subject
Something might take over 4


Here the power of the photographer acting in isolation, the modernist tenet of authorship, is overthrown. In it’s place, “White supposes a relationship with subject that is a two way street: by granting the world some role in its own representation we create a photograph that is not so much a product solely of individual actions as it is the result of a negotiation in which the world and all its subjects might participate.”5 The autobiography of a soul born in the age of mechanical reproduction. This is the power of these photographs for something intangible within the viewer does take over. I found myself looking at the photographs again and again for small nuances, the detail of hairs on the head, the imagining of what the person was thinking about with their eyes closed: their future, their fears, their hopes, the ‘active imagination as a means to visualise sustainable futures’ (Orr, 2010).

These photographs seem to lengthen or protract time through this haptic touching of inner light. As Pablo Helguera observes in his excellent essay How To Understand the Light on a Landscape that examines different types of light (including experiental light, somber light, home light, ghost light, the light of the deathbed, protective light, artificial light, working light, Sunday light, used light, narrated light, the last light of day, hotel light, transparent light, after light, the light of the truly blind and the light of adolescence but not, strangely, inner light)

“Experience is triggered by light, but not exclusively by the visible light of the electro-magnetic spectrum. What the human eye is incapable to perceive is absorbed by other sensory parts of the body, which contribute to the perception that light causes an effect that goes beyond the merely visual …

There is the LIGHT OF ADOLESCENCE, a blinding light that is similar to the one we feel when we are asleep facing the sun and we feel its warmth but don’t see it directly. Sometimes it marks the unplace, perhaps the commonality of all places or perhaps, for those who are pessimists, the unplaceness of every location …

We may choose to openly embrace the darkness of light, and thus let ourselves through the great gates of placehood, where we can finally accept the unexplainable concreteness of our moments for what they are.”6


In the imagination of the darkness that lies behind these children’s closed eyes is the commonality of all places, a shared humanity of memory, of dreams. These photographs testify to our presence and ask us to decide how we feel about our life, our place and the relation to that (un)placeness where we must all, eventually, return.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

 

1/ Feiereisen, Florence and Pope, Daniel. “True Fiction and Fictional Truths: The Enigmatic in Sebald’s Use of Images in The Emigrants” in Patt, Lise (ed.,). Searching for Sebald: Photography after W.G. Sebald. Los Angeles: The Institute of Cultural Inquiry, 2007, p. 175.

2/ Barthes, Roland. “From Work to Text” in Image, Music, Text. trans. S. Heath. New York: Hill and Wang, 1977 quoted in Thumlert, Kurt. Intervisuality, Visual Culture, and Education. [Online] Cited 10/08/2006. www.forkbeds.com/visual-pedagogy.htm (link no longer active)

3/ Foucault, Michel. The Order of Things: An Archeology of the Human Sciences. New York: Vintage, 1973 quoted in Thumlert, Kurt. Intervisuality, Visual Culture, and Education. [Online] Cited 10/08/2006. www.forkbeds.com/visual-pedagogy.htm (link no longer active)

4/ White, Minor. Mirrors, Messages and Manifestations. Aperture, 1969

5/ Leo, Vince. Review of Mirrors, Messages and Manifestations on the Amazon website [Online] Cited 26/06/2010

6/ Helguera, Pablo. “How to Understand the Light on a Landscape,” in Patt, Lise (ed.,). Searching for Sebald: Photography after W.G. Sebald. Los Angeles: The Institute of Cultural Inquiry, 2007, pp. 110-119

     

     

    Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952) 'Jacinta' 2009 from the exhibition Review: 'Jill Orr: Vision' at Jenny Port Gallery, Richmond, Melbourne, June - July, 2010

    Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952) 'Jacinta' 2009 from the exhibition Review: 'Jill Orr: Vision' at Jenny Port Gallery, Richmond, Melbourne, June - July, 2010

     

    Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952)
    Jacinta
    2009

     

    Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952) 'Avoca Primary School' 2009

     

    Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952)
    Avoca Primary School
    2009

     

     

    Jill Orr’s work centres on issues of the psycho-social and environmental where she draws on land and identities. Grappling with the balance and discord that exists between the human spirit, art and nature, Orr has, since the 1970s, delighted, shocked and moved audiences through her performance installations.

    This current body of work involved children from the Avoca Primary School as active participants in Orr’s performance for the camera. The result is a series of high contrast black and white photographic portraits, which are shown as diptychs portraying the different states of seeing both outwardly and inwardly. One of each pair frames the child looking directly at the camera. The gaze meets the viewer. Who is looking at whom? The second captures the child whose eyes are closed. An inner world is intimated, but not accessible to the viewer.

    In terms of the ‘gaze’, these works turn to the child as conveyer of the imaginary engaging both within and without. “I have found that creative acts require the visionary sensibilities of both the inner and outer world to operate simultaneously, consciously and unconsciously as dual aspects of the one action. In this instance the action is that of active imagination as a means to visualise sustainable futures.” (Jill Orr, 2010). The portraits also reflect the present relationship to place that is etched into the faces of youth as already kissed by the harsh Australian sun.

    Avoca is one of many townships that has been socially, economically and environmentally affected by drought and climate change. The portraits are created against this background.

    Text from the Jenny Port Gallery website [Online] Cited 26/06/2010 no longer available online

     

    Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952) 'Vision' installation photograph at Jenny Port Gallery

    Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952) 'Vision' installation photograph at Jenny Port Gallery

     

    Jill Orr (Australian, b. 1952)
    Vision installation photographs at Jenny Port Gallery
    June 2010
    Photos: Marcus Bunyan

     

     

    Jenny Port Gallery

    This gallery has now closed.

    Jill Orr website

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    Exhibition: ‘Detroit Experiences: Robert Frank Photographs, 1955’ at Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit

    Exhibition dates: 3rd March – 4th July, 2010

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Assembly Plant, Detroit' 1955 from the exhibition 'Detroit Experiences: Robert Frank Photographs, 1955' at Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, March - July, 2010

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Assembly Plant, Detroit
    1955
    Gelatin silver print
    8 7/8 × 13 1/8 inches (22.5 × 33.3cm)
    Founders Society Purchase, Coville Photographic Fund
    © Robert Frank, from The Americans. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

    Many thankx to Pamela Marcil and the Detroit Institute of Arts for allowing me to reproduce the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

    Marcus

     

     

    “I am always looking outside, trying to look inside, trying to say something that is true. But maybe nothing is really true. Except what’s out there. And what’s out there is constantly changing.”


    Robert Frank, 1985

     

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Belle Isle' 1955 from the exhibition 'Detroit Experiences: Robert Frank Photographs, 1955' at Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, March - July, 2010

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Belle Isle – Detroit
    1955, printed between 1966-1968
    Gelatin silver print
    12 5/8 × 18 7/8 inches (32.1 × 47.9cm)
    Museum Purchase, Ernest and Rosemarie Kanzler Foundation Fund, Forum for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Purchase Fund, and General Art Purchase Fund
    © Robert Frank, from The Americans. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Detroit River Rouge Plant' 1955 from the exhibition 'Detroit Experiences: Robert Frank Photographs, 1955' at Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, March - July, 2010

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Detroit River Rouge Plant
    1955, printed 1970s
    Gelatin silver print
    9 1/8 × 13 7/8 inches (23.2 × 35.2cm)
    Founders Society Purchase, Coville Photographic Fund
    © Robert Frank. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Drive-In Movie, Detroit' 1955

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Drive-In Movie, Detroit
    1955, printed 1977
    Gelatin silver print
    8 1/4 × 12 1/2 inches (21 × 31.8cm)
    Founders Society Purchase, Tina and Lee Hills Graphic Arts Fund
    © Robert Frank, from The Americans. Detroit Institute of Arts.

     

     

    Detroit Experiences: Robert Frank Photographs, 1955 showcases more than 50 rare and many never-before-seen black-and-white photographs taken in Detroit by legendary artist Robert Frank. The exhibition will be on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) March 3 – July 4, 2010. The exhibition is free with museum admission.

    In 1955 and 1956 Robert Frank traveled the U.S. taking photographs for his groundbreaking book The Americans, published in 1958. With funding from a prestigious Guggenheim grant, he set out to create a large visual record of America, and Detroit was one of his early stops. Inspired by autoworkers, the cars they made, along with local lunch counters, drive-in movies and public parks such as Belle Isle, Frank transformed everyday experiences of Detroiters into an extraordinary visual statement about American life.

    According to Frank, The Americans included “things that are there, anywhere, and everywhere … a town at night, a parking lot, the man who owns three cars and the man who owns none … the dream of grandeur, advertising, neon lights … gas tanks, post offices and backyards …” The exhibition includes nine Detroit images that were published in The Americans, as well as, for the first time, an in-depth body of work representative of Frank’s Detroit, its working-class culture and automotive industry.

    Frank was drawn to Detroit partly by a personal fascination with the automobile, but also saw its presence and effect on American culture as essential to his series. Frank was one of the few photographers allowed to take photographs at the famous Ford Motor Company River Rouge factory, where he was amazed to witness the transformation of raw materials into fully assembled cars. In a letter to his wife he wrote, “Ford is an absolutely fantastic place … this one is God’s factory and if there is such a thing – I am sure that the devil gave him a helping hand to build what is called Ford’s River Rouge Plant.” Frank spent two days taking pictures at the Ford factory, photographing workers on the assembly lines and manning machines by day, and following them as they ventured into the city at night.

    Whether in the disorienting surroundings of a massive factory or during the solitary and alienating moments of individuals in parks and on city streets, the Swiss-born photographer looked beneath the surface of life in the U.S. and found a culture that challenged his perceptions and popular notions of the American Dream. Further accentuating his view of America, Frank developed an unconventional photographic style innovative and controversial in its time. Photographing quickly, Frank sometimes tilted and blurred compositions, presenting people and their surroundings in fleeting and fragmentary moments with an unsentimental eye.

    Beat poet Jack Kerouac expressed the complex nature of the artist and his work in a passage from his introduction to The Americans stating, “Robert Frank, Swiss, unobtrusive, nice, with that little camera that he raises and snaps with one hand he sucked a sad poem right out of America onto film, taking rank among the tragic poets of the world.”

    Born in 1924 in Zurich, Switzerland, Frank emigrated to the U.S. in 1947. He worked on assignments for magazines from 1948–53, but his photographic books garnered the highest acclaim. After publishing The Americans, he began filmmaking and directed the early experimental masterpiece Pull My Daisy, in collaboration with Jack Kerouac in 1959. Frank continues to work in both film and photography and has been the subject of many traveling exhibitions in recent years. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. established Frank’s photographic archive in 1990 and organised his first traveling retrospective, “Moving Out, in 1995” as well as a 2009 exhibition “Looking In: Robert Frank’s “The Americans”.” Frank lived in Mabou, Nova Scotia, and New York City with his wife, artist June Leaf.

    Press release from the Detroit Institute of Arts website [Online] Cited 24/06/2019 no longer available online

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Untitled' 1955

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Untitled
    1955, printed c. 1970s
    Gelatin silver print
    10 3/4 × 15 7/8 inches (27.3 × 40.3cm)
    Founders Society Purchase with funds from Founders Junior Council
    © Robert Frank, from The Americans. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Ford River Rouge Plant' 1955, printed c. 1970s

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Ford River Rouge Plant
    1955, printed c. 1970s
    Gelatin silver print
    13 13/16 × 9 1/8 inches (35.1 × 23.2cm)
    Founders Society Purchase, Coville Photographic Fund
    © Robert Frank. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, b. 1924) 'Assembly Plant, Ford, Detroit' 1955

     

    Robert Frank  (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Assembly Plant, Ford, Detroit
    1955, printed c. 1960s
    Gelatin silver print
    12 7/8 × 8 1/2 inches (32.7 × 21.6cm)
    Founders Society Purchase, Coville Photographic Fund
    © Robert Frank. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Drugstore, Detroit' 1955

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Drugstore, Detroit
    1955, printed c. 1960s
    Gelatin silver print
    23 1/4 × 15 3/4 inches (59.1 × 40cm)
    Founders Society Purchase, with funds from the Founders Junior Council
    © Robert Frank, from The Americans. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Detroit' 1955

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Detroit
    1955, printed c. 1960s
    Gelatin silver print
    9 1/16 × 13 1/2 inches (23 × 34.3cm)
    Founders Society Purchase, Coville Photographic Fund
    © Robert Frank, from The Americans. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Detroit - Belle Isle' 1955

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Belle Isle – Detroit
    1955, printed between 1960 and 1979
    Gelatin silver print
    12 1/2 × 18 3/4 inches (31.8 × 47.6cm)
    Museum Purchase, Ernest and Rosemarie Kanzler Foundation Fund, Forum for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Purchase Fund, and General Art Purchase Fund
    © Robert Frank, from The Americans. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Rodeo - Detroit' 1955

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Rodeo – Detroit
    1955, printed 1960s
    Gelatin silver print
    6 1/2 × 9 7/8 inches (16.5 × 25.1cm)
    Museum Purchase, Ernest and Rosemarie Kanzler Foundation Fund, Forum for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Purchase Fund, and General Art Purchase Fund
    © Robert Frank, from The Americans. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

    In 1955, Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank traveled across the United States photographing how Americans live, work, and spend their leisure time. Detroit was a critical stop on his itinerary, as the Motor City was world renowned for its automobiles along with its factories and labor force. Frank spent several days in Detroit at its legendary Ford Motor Company Rouge Plant and visited dime-store lunch counters, drive-ins, and public parks as well. He may have found Stetson-wearing spectators at a local rodeo an unlikely and uncharacteristic subject for Detroit – a large, industrial, midwestern city. Nonetheless he included Rodeo – Detroit, in addition to eight other photographs taken in the city, as part of the 83 images found in his ground-breaking photo book The Americans from 1958. The book brought Frank great acclaim for his critical commentary on America during the boom years following World War II.

    From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Detroit' 1956

     

    Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
    Detroit
    1956
    Gelatin silver print
    © Robert Frank, from The Americans. Detroit Institute of Arts

     

     

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    Sculpture: ‘Drawing Water’ (2010) by Fredrick White

    June 2010

     

    Unknown photographer. ''Drawing Water' by Frederick White' 2010

     

    Unknown photographer
    Drawing Water by Frederick White
    2010

     

     

    Australian sculptor Fredrick White, has been commissioned to create two public sculptures in Western Queensland. The first has been completed at Thargomindah (see Google map), a town located 1014 km west of Brisbane and was commissioned by artplusplace and Thargomindah Regional Council. In a small town of 250 people this is the town’s first public sculpture.

    “The town’s one claim to fame is its artesian bore. The bore, which lies 2 km out of town on the Noccundra road, was drilled in 1891 and by 1893, having drilled to a depth of 795 metres, the water came to the surface. It was then that the town successfully attempted a unique experiment. The pressure of the bore water was used drive a generator which supplied the town’s electricity. Enthusiasts have described this as Australia’s first hydro-electricity scheme. The system operated until 1951. Today the bore still provides the town’s water supply. The water reaches the surface at 84°C.”1


    The work Drawing Water (2010) addresses the need for water in such an arid location and the numerous bores that are sunk around the town to draw water to the surface. The earth is reflected in the sky and the sky in the earth in the central polished stainless steel disks (as friend Perry observes, like a tunnel connecting earth and heaven). A forest of bore pipes surround the central platform. Of the work Fred says:

    “Drawing Water speaks of our connection to the Earth, specifically the Great Artesian Basin and the bores that provide the only continuous source of water throughout much of inland Australia. The 52 galvanised poles symbolise not only our year round need for water but are also as a reminder of how extensively taped the artesian water is.”

    The next commission is at Blackall in Western Queensland (see Google map). A drawing of the work Lifespan (2010), which is 8 metres long, is at the bottom of the posting. Blackall already contains public sculptures by William Eicholtz (Towners Call – Edgar Towner V.C. Memorial (2009)) and Robert Bridgewater (Wool, Water and Wood (2008)).

    Dr Marcus Bunyan

     

    1/ Text from the Sydney Morning Herald travel website February 8, 2004 [Online] Cited 17/08/2019

     

     

    Unknown photographer. ''Drawing Water' by Frederick White' 2010

     

    Unknown photographer
    Drawing Water by Frederick White
    2010

     

    Unknown photographer. ''Drawing Water' by Frederick White' 2010 (detail)

    Unknown photographer. ''Drawing Water' by Frederick White' 2010 (detail)

    Unknown photographer. ''Drawing Water' by Frederick White' 2010 (detail)

     

    Unknown photographer
    Drawing Water by Frederick White (details)
    2010

     

    Fredrick White (Australian) 'Lifespan' (2010), drawing for commission at Blackall, Queensland

     

    Fredrick White (Australian)
    Lifespan
    2010
    Drawing for commission at Blackall, Queensland

     

     

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    Exhibition: ‘Harry Callahan: American Photographer’ at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

    Exhibition dates: 21st November 2009 – 3rd July, 2010

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor, Chicago' 1949 from the exhibition 'Harry Callahan: American Photographer' at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Nov 2009 - July 2010

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Eleanor, Chicago
    1949
    Gelatin silver print
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

     

    I admire the use of strong horizontals and verticals in the work of Harry Callahan and the exquisite sense of space, stillness and sensuality he creates within the image plane. A true American master. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

    Dr Marcus Bunyan


    Many thankx to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

     

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor and Barbara' 1953 from the exhibition 'Harry Callahan: American Photographer' at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Nov 2009 - July 2010

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Eleanor and Barbara
    1953
    Gelatin silver print
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor and Barbara, Lake Michigan' 1953 from the exhibition 'Harry Callahan: American Photographer' at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Nov 2009 - July 2010

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Eleanor and Barbara, Lake Michigan
    1953
    Gelatin silver print
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor and Barbara' c. 1954

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Eleanor and Barbara
    c. 1954
    Gelatin silver print
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor, Chicago' 1953

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Eleanor, Chicago
    1953
    Gelatin silver print
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Detroit' 1943

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Detroit
    1943
    Gelatin silver print
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

     

    The brilliant graphic sensibility of Harry Callahan (1912-1999), a major figure in American photography, is the focus of Harry Callahan: American Photographer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). Debuting November 21, the exhibition features approximately 40 photographs that survey the major visual themes of the artist’s career. It celebrates the Museum’s important recent acquisitions – by both purchase and gift – of Callahan’s photographs and showcases significant examples of his artistry from the collections of friends of the MFA. The many sensitive pictures that Callahan made of his wife Eleanor, his depictions of passers-by on the street, his carefully composed landscapes and close-ups from nature, and experimental darkroom abstractions reveal a wide-ranging talent that was enormously influential.

    “Harry Callahan was one of the most innovative photographers working in America in the mid 20th-century,” said Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the MFA. “His elegantly spare, introspective photographs demonstrate his lyricism and the originality of his sense of design.”

    The Detroit-born photographer, whose career spanned six decades, became interested in the camera in the late 1930s while working as a Chrysler Corporation shipping clerk. He was largely self-taught, and attracted admiration early on for his originality. By 1946, Callahan was hired as a photography instructor by the Hungarian-born artist László Moholy-Nagy for the Institute of Design, a Bauhaus-inspired school of art and design in Chicago. In 1961, Callahan was invited to head the photography program at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he was based until retiring to Atlanta two decades later.

    “Harry Callahan’s approach helped shape American photography in the second half of the 20th-century,” said Anne Havinga, Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Senior Curator of Photographs, who organised the exhibition. “His way of seeing inspired countless followers and continues to feel fresh today.”

    Callahan concentrated on a handful of personal subjects in his work, exploring each theme repeatedly throughout his career. These include portraits of his wife Eleanor, depictions of anonymous pedestrians, expressive details of the urban and natural landscape, and experimental darkroom abstractions. The MFA exhibition is organised into five themes: Eleanor, Pedestrians, Architecture, Landscapes, and Darkroom Abstractions …

    Press release from the MFA website [Online] Cited 20/06/2010. No long available online

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor' 1948

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Eleanor
    1948
    Gelatin silver print
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Chicago' 1950

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Chicago
    1950
    Gelatin silver print
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor, Chicago' 1949

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Eleanor, Chicago
    1949
    Gelatin silver print
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor and Barbara (baby carriage)' 1952

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Eleanor and Barbara (baby carriage)
    1952
    Gelatin silver print
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

     

    In 1936, around the time that Callahan began to explore photography, he married Eleanor Knapp, who served as one of his first and most frequent subjects. Callahan’s portraits of his wife, characterised by their intimate yet detached poetry, have become a landmark in the history of photography. In the photograph Eleanor (about 1948, see second photograph above), Callahan portrays his wife in a private interior setting, facing away from the camera. After the birth of their daughter Barbara in 1950, she too entered these family pictures, which capture the intimate moments of daily life as seen in the photograph, Eleanor and Barbara (1953, see photograph second from top).

    Callahan photographed the natural landscape throughout his career, focusing on its evocative forms and textures. In images such as Aix-en-Provence, France (1957), he explored the visual effects that he could create either through high contrast or closely related tonalities. Callahan also utilised a range of different experimental darkroom techniques – from photographing the beam of a flashlight in a darkened room, to developing one print from multiple negatives. Many of his multi-exposure pictures were made by superimposing images from popular culture onto studies of urban life. Callahan’s openness to experimentation was stimulating for the many students who worked with him.

    Callahan made many of his best known images during his 15 years in Chicago, where he also began his role as an influential teacher. During the 1950s, the photographer embarked on a series of close-ups of anonymous pedestrians in the streets of Chicago, most of them women. Using a 35mm camera with a pre-focused telephoto lens, he captured passersby unaware of his presence, resulting in snapshot-like images that record unsuspecting subjects absorbed in private thought or action, such as Chicago (1950, see photograph above), a close-up of a preoccupied woman’s face. Callahan returned to this theme frequently, working in both black and white and colour.

    Callahan was repeatedly drawn to architectural and urban subjects. Prior to moving to Chicago, he explored the spaces of Detroit, photographing the formal patterns he discovered there. In Detroit (1943, see photograph above), Callahan depicts a street scene, with the people in transit appearing as a pattern. He experimented with colour in these pictures as early as the 1940s, but he worked more extensively in colour later in his career, from the 1970s onward.

    Text from the Art Tatler website [Online] Cited 20/06/2010. No long available online

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Chicago' 1961

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Chicago
    1961
    Gelatin silver print
    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Barbara and Gene Polk
    © The Estate of Harry Callahan, courtesy Pace/MacGill, NY
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor' about 1947

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Eleanor
    about 1947
    Gelatin silver print
    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Barbara and Gene Polk
    © The Estate of Harry Callahan, courtesy Pace/MacGill, NY
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Cape Cod' 1972

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Cape Cod
    1972
    Gelatin silver print
    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Barbara and Gene Polk
    © The Estate of Harry Callahan, courtesy Pace/MacGill, NY
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Cape Cod' 1972

     

    Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
    Cape Cod
    1972
    Gelatin silver print
    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Polaroid Foundation Purchase Fund
    © The Estate of Harry Callahan, courtesy Pace/MacGill, NY
    Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

     

     

    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
    Avenue of the Arts
    465 Huntington Avenue
    Avenue of the Arts
    Boston, Massachusetts 02115-5523
    617-267-9300

    Opening hours:
    Thursday – Monday 10am – 5pm
    Closed Tuesday and Wednesday

    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston website

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    Exhibition: ‘Paul Graham – a shimmer of possibility’ at Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam

    Exhibition dates: 2nd April – 16th June 2010

     

    Many thankx to Fenna Lampe and the Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam for allowing me to publish the photographs in the post. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956) 'Las Vegas, 2005' from the series 'a shimmer of possibility' from the exhibition Exhibition: 'Paul Graham - a shimmer of possibility' at Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, April - June 2010

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956)
    Las Vegas, 2005
    2005
    From the series a shimmer of possibility
    © Paul Graham

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956) 'New Orleans 2004 (Woman Eating)' from the series 'a shimmer of possibility' from the exhibition Exhibition: 'Paul Graham - a shimmer of possibility' at Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, April - June 2010

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956)
    New Orleans 2004 (Woman Eating)
    2004
    From the series a shimmer of possibility
    © Paul Graham

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956) 'New Orleans 2004 (Woman Eating)' from the series 'a shimmer of possibility'

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956)
    New Orleans 2004 (Woman Eating)
    2004
    From the series a shimmer of possibility
    © Paul Graham

     

     

    a shimmer of possibility is the latest project by influential British photographer Paul Graham. This work was created during Graham’s many travels through the United States since 2002. a shimmer of possibility consists of twelve sequences varying in number: from just a few images to more than ten. Each sequence offers an informal look at the life of ordinary, individual Americans – from a woman eating to a man waiting for the bus. The sequences focus attention on very ordinary things, which Graham has photographed with affection and curiosity.

    Each sequence is a short, casual encounter, where we consider for a moment something that attracts our attention. Then life goes on, full of new possibilities. The way Graham presents the diverse sequences in the exhibition is crucial. Instead of being shown in a linear fashion, a sequence fans out over the wall like a cloud. Due to the carefully considered and inventive structure, no viewing direction or predominant hierarchy is imposed on the individual images. The eye of the viewer wanders over the photos, offering the opportunity to make personal connections in an associative manner.

    a shimmer of possibility can be seen as the ultimate antithesis of what Henri Cartier-Bresson called ‘the decisive moment’. This French master endeavoured to record exactly those moments where subject matter and formal aspects combined perfectly in a single image. Paul Graham, by contrast, defends how we normally look around us. We move through the world and look from left to right, see something that grabs our attention, move towards it, glance to the side while en route, pass that by and continue on our way. Observation is a never-ending series of ‘non-decisive moments’, full of potential for anyone who is open to see it.”

    Text from the Foam website [Online] Cited 06/06/2010 no longer available online

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956) 'California 2006 (Sunny Cup)' from the series 'a shimmer of possibility'

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956)
    California 2006 (Sunny Cup)
    2006
    From the series a shimmer of possibility
    © Paul Graham

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956) 'New Orleans 2005 (Cajun Corner)' from the series 'a shimmer of possibility' from the exhibition Exhibition: 'Paul Graham - a shimmer of possibility' at Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, April - June 2010

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956)
    New Orleans 2005 (Cajun Corner)
    2005
    From the series a shimmer of possibility
    © Paul Graham

     

    Graham walked the streets of residential neighbourhoods in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana, and the sidewalks of New Orleans, Las Vegas, and New York, and when he encountered someone who caught his eye, he photographed them: an older woman retrieving her mail; a young man and woman playing basketball at dusk; a couple returning from the supermarket. Graham followed people navigating their way through crowded city sidewalks, and tracked and photographed lone figures crossing a busy roadway, unaware of the camera.

    Reviewing several trips’ worth of photographs on the large, flat screen of his computer, Graham realised that the more or less randomly gathered pictures could be united into multipart works. As in a poem, where language and rhythm organise words, lines, and stanzas into an imaginative interpretation of a subject, Graham’s imposed yet open-ended structures imply – through close-ups, crosscutting, and juxtapositions of people and nature-specific narratives and overarching ideas. Images of people placed in tandem with other people and with nature suggest the flow of life, pointing to the unknown and the possibility of change, with nature acting as a balm, whether as raindrops, trees silhouetted against a burning sunset, or the bright green grass on a highway meridian.

    In his reconstruction of the world in pictures, Graham describes an America at odds with itself, filled with contradictions and inconsistencies. Yet, through the gloom, the small felicities of life peek through. Fluid, filled with desire, and marked by extremes, his view is what the late curator, critic, and photographer John Szarkowski called, in another context, a “just metaphor” for our times.

    Text from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) website [Online] Cited 14/08/2019

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956) 'Pittsburgh 2004 (Lawnmower Man)' from the series 'a shimmer of possibility'

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956)
    Pittsburgh 2004 (Lawnmower Man)
    2004
    From the series a shimmer of possibility
    © Paul Graham

     

    Inspired by Chekhov’s short stories – and by his own contagious joy in the book form – photographer Paul Graham has created A Shimmer of Possibility, comprised of 12 individual books, each a photographic short story of everyday life. Some are simple and linear – a man smokes a cigarette while he waits for a bus in Las Vegas, or the camera tracks an autumn walk in Boston. Some entwine two, three or four scenes – while a couple carry their shopping home in Texas, a small child dances with a plastic bag in a garden. Some watch a quiet narrative break unexpectedly into a sublime moment – as a man cuts the grass in Pittsburgh it begins to rain, until the low sun breaks through and illuminates each drop. Graham’s filmic haikus shun any forceful summation or tidy packaging. Instead, they create the impression of life flowing around and past us while we stand and stare, and make it hard not to share the artist’s quiet astonishment with its beauty and grace. The 12 books gathered here are identical in trim size, but vary in length from just a single photograph to 60 pages of images made at one street corner.

    Text from the Mack website [Online] Cited 14/08/2019

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956) 'Las Vegas (Smoking Man)' 2005 from the series 'a shimmer of possibility', 2003-2006

     

    Paul Graham (English, b. 1956)
    Las Vegas (Smoking Man)
    2005
    From the series a shimmer of possibility, 2003-2006
    Colour coupler print
    © Paul Graham

     

     

    a shimmer of possibility by Paul Graham
    12 volumes
    376 pages, 167 colour plates
    24.2 cm x 31.8 cm
    12 cloth covered hardbacks
    Limited edition of 1,000 sets
    MACK
    ISBN: 9783865214836
    Publication date: October 2007

     

    Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam
    Keizersgracht 609
    1017 DS Amsterdam
    Phone: + 31 (0)20 551 6500

    Opening hours:
    Monday – Wednesday 10.00 – 18.00
    Thursday – Friday 10.00 – 21.00
    Saturday – Sunday 10.00 – 18.00

    Foam website

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    Exhibition: ‘Lincoln, Life-Size’ at The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut

    Exhibition dates: 13th February – 6th June, 2010

     Curators: Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., Director of the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation, and Robin Garr, Director of Education, Bruce Museum

     

    Many thankx to Mike Horyczun, Director of Public Relations and the Bruce Museum for allowing me to publish the images in the posting. Please click on the photographs for even larger version of the image.

    Marcus

     

    Alexander Hesler (American, 1823-1895) 'Abraham Lincoln' June 3,1860 Springfield, Illinois from the exhibition 'Lincoln, Life-Size' at The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut, February - June, 2010

     

    Alexander Hesler (American, 1823-1895)
    Abraham Lincoln
    June 3, 1860 Springfield, Illinois

     

    Alexander Hesler or Hessler (1823-1895) was an American photographer active in the U.S. state of Illinois. He is best known for photographing, in 1858 and 1860, definitive iconic images of the beardless Abraham Lincoln. …

    Hesler’s known portraits include photographs of the two chief Illinois political figures of his day, Lincoln and federal senator Stephen A. Douglas. In the 1860 presidential election, Lincoln’s friends took steps to have Hesler’s images copied and recirculated, cementing their stature as works of Lincoln image-making.

    Hesler was an award-winning photographer whose goal was to create photographs of lasting artistic value. He was recognised for the quality of both his portrait work and his outdoor photography. Upon Hesler’s retirement in 1865, he transferred his Chicago studio and negatives to a fellow photographer, George Bucher Ayres. Several of Hesler’s best-known images of Lincoln are platinum prints produced by Ayres from Hesler negatives.

    Text from the Wikipedia website

     

    Preston Butler. 'Abraham Lincoln' August 13, 1860 Springfield, Illinois from the exhibition 'Lincoln, Life-Size' at The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut, February - June, 2010

    Preston Butler. 'Abraham Lincoln' August 13, 1860 Springfield, Illinois

     

    Preston Butler
    Abraham Lincoln
    August 13, 1860 Springfield, Illinois
    Ambrotype
    Plate 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 in
    Library of Congress

     

    Abraham Lincoln as candidate for United States president. Half-length portrait, seated, facing front.

    Thought to be the last beardless portrait of Lincoln, this photo was “made for the portrait painter, John Henry Brown, noted for his miniatures in ivory. … ‘There are so many hard lines in his face,’ wrote Brown in his diary, ‘that it becomes a mask to the inner man. His true character only shines out when in an animated conversation, or when telling an amusing tale. … He is said to be a homely man; I do not think so.'” (Source: Ostendorf, p. 62)

    Published in: Lincoln’s photographs: a complete album / by Lloyd Ostendorf. Dayton, OH: Rockywood Press, 1998, pp. 62-63.

    Between 1856, the year of Preston Butler’s arrival in Springfield, and Feb. 11, 1861, when President-elect Abraham Lincoln departed from Springfield, Butler took at least 8 photographs of Lincoln and at least 1 photograph of Mary, Willie and Tad Lincoln. Also, in 1857 or 1858, Butler photographed each of the 4 sides of Springfield’s public square. These photographs are the primary source of information about the appearance of the public square in Lincoln’s Springfield.

     

    Abraham B. Byers (American, 1836-1920) 'Abraham Lincoln' May 7, 1858 from the exhibition 'Lincoln, Life-Size' at The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut, February - June, 2010

     

    Abraham B. Byers (American, 1836-1920)
    Abraham Lincoln
    May 7, 1858 Beardstown, Illinois
    Ambrotype

     

     

    The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut, presents its newest exhibition Lincoln, Life-Size, from February 13, 2010, through June 6, 2010. The exhibition features photographs of Abraham Lincoln reproduced full size, hanging alongside original 19th-century images and artefacts that tell the story of Lincoln’s tumultuous presidency. The exhibition is drawn from the Meserve-Kunhardt Collection which it has on loan from the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation. Lincoln, Life-Size is supported by Fieldpoint Private Bank & Trust, New England Land Company, Ltd., a Committee of Honor co-chaired by Tom Clephane and Nat Day, and the Charles M. and Deborah G. Royce Exhibition Fund.

    Lincoln, Life-Size is organised by guest curator Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., Director of the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation, and Robin Garr, Director of Education, Bruce Museum. Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., is the great-great-grandson of Frederick Hill Meserve one of this country’s premiere Lincoln collectors. Frederick Hill Meserve’s passion for Lincoln was ignited in the 1880s when his father, William Neal Meserve, who had served in the Civil War, asked him to hunt for photographs to illustrate his handwritten war diary. Five generations of the family have preserved this massive historical record over the past century.

    The exhibition chronicles the toll of war etched into the face of our 16th president. Life-size enlargements of Lincoln’s portraits circle the entire central gallery. Visitors will experience what it was like to stand before him and look into his eyes. Beneath this facial timeline of his presidency is a selection of photographs of people who touched his life and events that nearly wore him out.

    The show explores the time from Abraham Lincoln’s arrival in Washington in 1857 through his assassination in 1865. Photographs chronicle events as the war unfolds, his son dies, and he struggles with generals and mounting death tolls. In the photographs, Lincoln is revealed in a variety of poses, each bearing a significance that attests to the historic nature of his life, be it as he is grappling with emancipation or drafting words that would become sacred; serving as husband and father or being pulled in all directions by his constituents; and ultimately as he holds the country together throughout the turbulent times of the Civil War.

    Highlights of the exhibition include Leonard Volk’s bronze life mask of Lincoln’s head and hands, glass negatives by Mathew Brady, original albumen war prints by Alexander Gardner and Timothy O’Sullivan, and carte-de-visites of Lincoln, his family, his cabinet, and his generals. Viewers can study official government war maps, view a Thomas Nast drawing depicting the slavery issue, and walk around an early “triptych” photograph that portrays Lincoln, Grant, or Sherman, depending on where the viewer stands. An oversize “imperial” print shows Lincoln just days before delivering his Gettysburg address. In another imperial print a lab technician’s thumb print obliterates Lincoln at his second inaugural, but what is visible is a spectator in the crowd who appears to be John Wilkes Booth. Another photograph of Booth has these words written on the back side: “Recognize him and kill him.” Lincoln, Life-Size also include artefact related to Lincoln and his era.

    “We have presented these works so that viewers can see how the toll the war and personal tragedies aged him during his years in office,” said Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr. “In fact, he was just 56 years old when he was assassinated.” This is the first museum exhibition dedicated to the collection of the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation, which is now housed on the campus of SUNY Purchase. The recent book, Lincoln, Life-Size, co-authored by Phillip B. Kunhardt III, Peter W. Kunhardt and Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr. is available in the Bruce Museum Store. A full array of exhibition programming related to the exhibition is scheduled.

    Text from the Bruce Museum website [Online] Cited 01/06/2010. No longer available online

     

    Mathew B. Brady (American, c. 1822-1896) 'Abraham Lincoln' January 8, 1864 Washington, DC

     

    Mathew B. Brady (American, c. 1822-1896)
    Abraham Lincoln
    January 8, 1864 Washington, DC
    National Archives and Records Administration

     

    Anthony Berger (American born Germany, 1832 - after 1897) 'Abraham Lincoln' February 9, 1864 Washington, DC

     

    Anthony Berger (American born Germany, 1832 – after 1897)
    Abraham Lincoln
    February 9, 1864 Washington, DC
    Collodion negative
    Quarter-plate glass transparency
    10.9 x 8.7cm (case)
    Brady’s National Photographic Portrait Galleries
    Library of Congress

     

    This is one of a series of photographs that Anthony Berger took of President Abraham Lincoln at the Brady Gallery in Washington in the winter of 1864, as the Civil War dragged on. Modern albumen print from 1864 wet-plated collodion negative. National Portrait Gallery.

    “The Famous Profile” by Anthony Berger, manager of Brady’s Gallery, Washington D.C., made direct from an original collodion negative in the Meserve collection (M-82). One of seven poses taken by Berger on Tuesday February 9, 1864, it is perhaps the most familiar of Lincoln profiles, a more handsome pose than its companion view (0-89) because Lincoln’s profile is less severe and his left eyebrow is more visible.

     

    Alexander Gardner (Scottish 1821-1882; emigrated America 1856) 'Abraham Lincoln' November 8, 1863 Washington, DC

     

    Alexander Gardner (Scottish 1821-1882; emigrated America 1856)
    Abraham Lincoln
    November 8, 1863 Washington, DC
    Library of Congress

     

    Alexander Gardner (Scottish 1821-1882; emigrated America 1856) 'Abraham Lincoln' February 5, 1865 Washington, DC

     

    Alexander Gardner (Scottish 1821-1882; emigrated America 1856)
    Abraham Lincoln
    February 5, 1865 Washington, DC
    Library of Congress

     

    Alexander Gardner was a Scottish photographer who immigrated to the United States in 1856, where he began to work full-time in that profession. He is best known for his photographs of the American Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, and the execution of the conspirators to Lincoln’s assassination.

    This is one of the last photos taken of Lincoln, who was assassinated ten weeks later, on April 14, 1865.

     

    Alexander Gardner (Scottish 1821-1882; emigrated America 1856) 'Abraham Lincoln' February 5, 1865 Washington, DC (detail)

     

    Alexander Gardner (Scottish 1821-1882; emigrated America 1856)
    Abraham Lincoln (detail)
    February 5, 1865 Washington, DC
    Library of Congress

     

     

    The Bruce Museum
    1 Museum Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA.

    Opening hours:
    Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 5pm
    Closed Mondays and major holidays

    The Bruce Museum website

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    Exhibition: ‘Romy Schneider. Wien – Berlin – Paris’ at Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television, Berlin

    Exhibition dates: 5th December 2009 – 29th August, 2010

     

    Heinz Köster (German, 1917-1967) 'Romy Schneider, Berlin 1962' from the exhibition 'Romy Schneider. Wien – Berlin – Paris' at Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television, Berlin, December 2009 - August 2010

     

    Heinz Köster (German, 1917-1967)
    Romy Schneider, Berlin 1962
    1962
    Gelatin silver print
    © Foto: Heinz Köster
    Quelle: Deutsche Kinemathek

     

     

    I seen to have become a little smitten by Romy Schneider. What charisma!

    Marcus


    Many thankx to the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television for allowing me publish the images in the posting. Please click on the images for a larger version.

     

     

    Heinz Köster (German, 1917-1967) 'Romy Schneider, Berlin 1962' from the exhibition 'Romy Schneider. Wien – Berlin – Paris' at Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television, Berlin, December 2009 - August 2010

     

    Heinz Köster (German, 1917-1967)
    Romy Schneider, Berlin 1962
    1962
    Gelatin silver print
    © Foto: Heinz Köster
    Quelle: Deutsche Kinemathek

     

    Max Scheler (German, 1928-2003) 'Romy Schneider, Venice 1957' from the exhibition 'Romy Schneider. Wien – Berlin – Paris' at Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television, Berlin, December 2009 - August 2010

     

    Max Scheler (German, 1928-2003)
    Romy Schneider, Venice 1957
    1957
    Während Dreharbeiten zu SISSI – SCHICKSALSJAHRE EINER KAISERIN
    R: Ernst Marischka, A 1957
    Gelatin silver print
    © Foto: Max Scheler
    Quelle: Max Scheler Estate, Hamburg

     

     

    The exhibition documents the eventful career of Romy Schneider, who by the late 1950s no longer wanted to be Sissi, and by the 1970s was a celebrated star of French cinema. A large number of unknown photographs of Romy Schneider, her film partners, and family from the 1950s and 1960s will be on display from the collections of the Deutsche Kinemathek. The exhibition will also present loans from private individuals and institutions from France and Austria …

    The exhibition Romy Schneider. Wien – Berlin – Paris, which the Museum für Film und Fernsehen will present beginning on December 5th, documents the varied and wide-ranging career of Romy Schneider, who no longer wanted to be “Sissi” at the end of the 1950s and was celebrated as a star of French cinema in the 1970s.

    Romy Schneider publicly bemoaned her roles in Germany and went to Paris to play women who did justice to her acting abilities and her expectations. She settled in France at the beginning of the 1970s, where she advanced to one of the biggest stars of French cinema. She won several awards and made films with nearly all the great directors and actors of that period. The paparazzi followed the actress at every turn, documenting her strokes of fate for the international popular press, and throughout her life Romy Schneider considered herself to be their victim. Romy Schneider died in Paris in May 1982. To this day, she is admired by millions of fans around the world as one of cinema’s international stars.

    This homage, which can be seen in 450 sq. m. of exhibition space at the Filmhaus, treats both the diverse roles and changing image of the actress, as well as her representation in the media.

    Pictures from films, the press and her private life are grouped according to recurring motifs and combined with film clips. Media installations show the interplay between projection and active self-promotion. Posters, costumes, correspondence and fan souvenirs will augment the presentation.

    Numerous photographs from the 1950s and 1960s of Romy Schneider, her film partners and her family, largely unknown until now, originate from the collections of Deutsche Kinemathek. Loans from other institutions and private individuals will also be on view, for instance from the photographers F. C. Gundlach and Robert Lebeck, as well as from the personal archives of the film director Claude Sautet.

    Press release from the Museum für Film und Fernsehen website [Online] Cited 25/05/2010 no longer available online

     

    Installation view of the exhibition 'Romy Schneider. Wien – Berlin – Paris' at Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television, Berlin
    Installation view of the exhibition 'Romy Schneider. Wien – Berlin – Paris' at Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television, Berlin
    Installation view of the exhibition 'Romy Schneider. Wien – Berlin – Paris' at Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television, Berlin
    Installation view of the exhibition 'Romy Schneider. Wien – Berlin – Paris' at Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television, Berlin

     

    Installation views of the exhibition Romy Schneider. Wien – Berlin – Paris at Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television, Berlin
    Photos © Marian Stefanowski

     

    F. C. Gundlach (German, b. 1926) 'Romy Schneider, Hamburg 1961'

     

    F. C. Gundlach (German, 1926-2021)
    Romy Schneider, Hamburg 1961
    1961
    Gelatin silver print
    © Foto: F. C. Gundlach

     

    F. C. Gundlach (Franz Christian Gundlach) was a German photographer, gallery owner, collector, curator und founder. In 2000 he created the F.C. Gundlach Foundation, since 2003 he has been founding director of the House of Photography – Deichtorhallen Hamburg.

     

    Alain Delon and Romy Schneider in 'La Piscine'/'Der Swimmingpool' 1969

     

    Alain Delon and Romy Schneider in La Piscine/Der Swimmingpool
    R- Jacques Deray, F/I 1969
    Gelatin silver print
    Foto/Quelle: Filmarchiv Austria, Wien

     

    Romy Schneider and Alain Delon in 'La Piscine'/'Der Swimmingpool' 1969

     

    Romy Schneider and Alain Delon in La Piscine/Der Swimmingpool
    R- Jacques Deray, F/I 1969
    Gelatin silver print
    Foto/Quelle: Deutsche Kinemathek

     

    Georges Pierre (French, 1927-2003) 'Romy Schneider, 1972'

     

    Georges Pierre (French, 1927-2003)
    Romy Schneider, 1972
    1972
    © Foto: Georges Pierre
    Quelle: Cinemémathèque française

     

    Robert Lebeck (German, 1929-2014) 'Romy Schneider, Berlin 1976'

     

    Robert Lebeck (German, 1929-2014)
    Romy Schneider, Berlin 1976
    1976
    Während der Dreharbeiten zu PORTRAIT DE GROUPE AVEC DAME/GRUPPENBILD MIT DAME
    R: Aleksandar Petrovic, F/BRD 1976
    Gelatin silver print
    © Foto: Robert Lebeck

     

    Romy Schneider and Claude Sautet during the shooting of 'UNE HISTOIRE SIMPLE' / 'A SIMPLE STORY' 1978

     

    Romy Schneider and Claude Sautet during the shooting of UNE HISTOIRE SIMPLE / A SIMPLE STORY
    1978
    Gelatin silver print
    Foto/Quelle: Yves Sautet, Paris

     

    Claude Sautet

    Claude Sautet (23 February 1924 – 22 July 2000) was a French author and film director. Born in Montrouge, Hauts-de-Seine, France, Sautet first studied painting and sculpture before attending a film university in Paris where he began his career and later became a television producer. He filmed his first movie, Bonjour Sourire, in 1955.

    He earned international attention with Les choses de la vie, which he wrote and directed, like the rest of his later films. It was shown in competition at the 1970 Cannes Festival, where it was well received. The film also revived the career of Romy Schneider; she acted in several of Sautet’s later films. In his next film Max et les Ferrailleurs (1971) she played a prostitute, while in César et Rosalie (1972) she portrayed a married woman who copes with the reappearance of an old flame.

    Vincent, Paul, François, et les Autres (1974) is one of Sautet’s most acclaimed films. Four middle-class men meet in the country every weekend mainly to discuss their lives. The film featured a cast of major stars of French cinema: Michel Piccoli, Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, and Stéphane Audran. He achieved even further critical success with Mado (1976).

    His 1978 film A Simple Story (Une Histoire simple) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film featured Schneider again, this time as a dissatisfied working woman in her 40s. She won the César Award for Best Actress for her performance.

    Text from the Wikipedia website

     

     

    Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen
    Potsdamer Straße 2
    10785 Berlin

    Opening hours:
    Monday: 10.00 – 18.00
    Tuesday: Closed
    Wednesday: 10.00 – 18.00
    Thursday: 10.00 – 20.00
    Friday – Sunday: 10.00 – 18.00

    Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television website

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    Exhibition: ‘The Navigators’ at Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne

    Exhibition dates: 5th May – 29th May 2010

    Artists: Lionel Bawden, Penny Byrne, Nicholas Folland, Locust Jones, Rhys Lee, Rob McHaffie, Derek O’Connor, Alex Spremberg, Madonna Staunton

     

    Lionel Bawden (Sydney, b. 1974) 'formless worlds move through me' 2010 from the exhibition 'The Navigators' at Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, May 2010

     

    Lionel Bawden (Australian, b. 1974)
    formless worlds move through me
    2010
    Coloured Staedtler pencils, epoxy, incralac
    51.0 x 51.0 x 9.5cm

     

     

    Some good work in this exhibition – especially the Staedtler hexagonal coloured pencil constructions by Lionel Bawden. Beautifully crafted by hand they remind me of ghosts, the ‘millefiori’ (thousand flowers) of Italian glass and the inside of caverns with their stalactites.

    Dr Marcus Bunyan


    Many thankx to the Karen Woodbury Gallery for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

     

     

    Alex Spremberg (Australian, born Germany 1950) 'Inside skins' 2002 from the exhibition 'The Navigators' at Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, May 2010

     

    Alex Spremberg (Australian born Germany, b. 1950)
    Inside skins
    2002

     

     

    These artists have been selected for their interest in ideas of assemblage and re-use of pre-existing materials. Working across a range of media, each artist in the exhibition employs a process of manipulation to create completely different concepts and forms with their finished works. These works comprise of found objects and assembled from disparate elements, scavenged or foraged by the artists and juxtaposed in inventive ways. All works included in The Navigators take on their own form and imbue a new meaning to the original source materials.

    Not originally intended as art materials, yet these artists have seen potential for a new idea in the materials; creating a new thought for the object. The original useful element of the preformed material thus comes under more aesthetic and creative significance. The impetus for such artistic practice is located in a desire by these artists to re-use, re-model, reshape and recycle within their practices. Despite an obvious interest and emphasis in the materiality of the works, the conceptual underpinning are the key motivation within these varying works and pose questions regarding the value of the objects within society. The artists included in The Navigators are continuously surveying and navigating their practice, allowing for deeper exploration in their work.

    The exhibition will include various two and three-dimensional objects that interact with each other in unique ways. In the example of Lionel Bawden’s sculptures, his work exploits hexagonal coloured pencils as a sculptural material, reconfiguring and carving into amorphous shapes. Here the rich qualities of colour are explored as pencils are carved, shaped and fused together. Bawden explores themes of flux, transformation, rhythm and repetition as preconditions to our experience of the physical world. Bawden’s wall mounted works ‘the caverns of temporal suspension’ explore shapes within and outside the work as they hover ominously, melting, conjoined, growing, in transformation. These works are at the forefront of his current practice.

    Penny Byrne’s work makes use of vintage porcelain sculptures that are adorned with a range of materials. Through this process, Byrne makes the base sculptures appear starkly different to that of the original, taking on new connotations that are often humorous and quirky but also convey political and social issues. In her work Mercury Rising. Hunted, Slaughtered, Eaten vintage porcelain dolphins and new plastic Manga figurines are employed to relate to the annual Japanese slaughter of tens of thousands dolphins as highlighted in the documentary ‘The Cove’. The Japanese eat the dolphins and then suffer mercury poisoning due to the high mercury levels in the dolphins flesh, leading to symptoms of madness.

    Nicholas Folland’s Navigator sculptures are indicative Folland’s continued interest in utilising, modifying and experimenting with various sourced materials. These sculptures comprise of various upturned intricately detailed crystal objects that sit above a wood panelled shelf. These glass object are lit and act as beacons or floating satellite cities. Folland personifies the intrepid creative explorer via his navigation of various found materials.

    Locust Jones’ three-dimensional globes are made from papier mache and pictorially and graphically convey global issues. These works sit on the floor and allow the viewer to orient themselves around the works allowing for a detached, objective perspective on contemporary societal issues. The quickly worked surfaces reflect a stream of consciousness in process. Imagery and themes are taken from various media such as the Internet, photojournalism, film culture and nightly news broadcasts.

    The two sculptures in the exhibition by Rhys Lee imbue associations of debris and deal with found objects such as a money box, a dead bird and a clowns face. These trophy-like pieces are decorated by old, worn and found vintage materials that engage with the everyday. The intimate scale of these works do not account for the potency of symbolism and accumulation of collected ideas. The blistered silver patina and bronze sculptures allude to a dark gothic sentiment that extends beyond the morphing forms. The shapes have been smashed, manipulated and stuck back together again resulting in frozen miniature icons that represent a contemporary zest for defiance.

    Rob McHaffie’s works comprise a pastiche of painted anonymous unrelated objects and shapes that somehow come together to create unlikely compositions and formations. The highly skilled execution of McHaffie’s paintings attracts the viewer, who is then faced with a banality in subject matter, often of depictions of clothing, crumpled paper, plants and disfigured creatures and figures. These perfectly rendered images of everyday objects are unsettling in their clarity and realism, which are then skewed, moulded and displaced in unlikely relationships. There is a sense of a deliberate haphazard nature to McHaffie’s work that draws upon a range of elements brought together to mimic something else. Humour surfaces through this stylistic creative process.

    Derek O’Connor’s re-worked painting collages resemble distorted and fragmented realities and stories via the manipulation and playful technique of alteration and re-use of book covers and record album and EP covers. O’Connor’s characteristic gestural sweeping luscious brushstrokes are employed with precision yet allow for organic spontaneity. The old material takes on new meaning and are given new life via O’Connor’s creations.

    Alex Spremberg’s work Inside Skins highlights the artist’s accidental processes at work. This sculptural piece was made as an ancillary to his broader practice – working with acrylic, enamel and varnish on board and canvas. These objects where literally created via chance – an after thought that was noticed to be a finished piece in its own right. Left to dry within their containers these ‘skins’ were extracted and proved to provide aesthetic attraction and conceptual ideas of the ready-made.

    The mainstay of Madonna Staunton’s practice surrounds the physicality of assemblage. Essentially she is a collage artist. The components of her two- and three-dimensional assemblages are usually drawn from old, faded and battered discards such as frames and chairs that are carefully put together in new ways and given another life. A play between precision and randomness animates her work. Her sensitivity to tonal and formal arrangement always remains acute during this process and the results are austerely and chaotically beautiful.

    Press release from the Karen Woodbury Gallery website [Online] Cited 20/05/2010 no longer available online

     

    Nicholas Folland (Australian, b. 1967) 'Navigators 1' 2008 from the exhibition 'The Navigators' at Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, May 2010

     

    Nicholas Folland (Australian, b. 1967)
    Navigators 1
    2008
    Glassware, table and lightbox
    25.0 x 110.0 x 87.0cm

     

    Nicholas Folland (Australian, b. 1967) 'Navigators 2' 2008

     

    Nicholas Folland (Australian, b. 1967)
    Navigators 2
    2008
    Glassware, table and lightbox
    25.0 x 110.0 x 87.0cm

     

     

    Karen Woodbury Gallery

    This gallery has now closed.

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    Exhibition: ‘William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008’ at The Art Institute of Chicago

    Exhibition dates: 27th February – 23rd May, 2010

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Untitled (Memphis, Tennessee)' 1971 from the exhibition 'William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008' at The Art Institute of Chicago, February - May, 2010

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Untitled (Memphis, Tennessee)
    1971
    from 14 Pictures, 1974
    Dye transfer print
    15 7/8 x 19 15/16 in (40.3 x 50.6cm)
    Collection of Adam Bartos
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

     

    THE classic William Eggleston, the one and only. Feel the heat of sun on body. Look at the construction of the image plane, all angles and fractures. The slight movement of the woman’s hand as she sits on a cracked yellow wall. The distance between her body and the metal pole with wrapped chain and padlock, that ice/fire tension as Minor White would say. Man with gun vs melancholy monochromatic self portrait, the reverie of the lone thinker. Colour and light as emotional sounding board, “colour as a means of discovery and expression, and as a way to highlight aspects of life hidden in plain sight.” This is what Eggleston points his democratic camera at – life hidden in plain sight, revealed in all its intricacies, in all its mundanity and glory.

    Dr Marcus Bunyan


    Many thankx to Chai Lee and the Art Institute of Chicago for allowing to me reproduce the photographs in this posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

     

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Untitled' 1970 from the exhibition 'William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008' at The Art Institute of Chicago, February - May, 2010

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Untitled
    1970
    from Los Alamos, 1965-1974 (published 2003)
    Dye transfer print
    16 x 20 in (40.6 x 50.8cm)
    Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
    Purchased with funds from the Photography Committee
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Untitled' 1975 from the exhibition 'William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008' at The Art Institute of Chicago, February - May, 2010

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Untitled
    1975
    Dye transfer print
    16 x 20 in (40.6 x 50.8cm)
    Cheim & Read, New York
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Untitled' c. 1971-1973 from the exhibition 'William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008' at The Art Institute of Chicago, February - May, 2010

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Untitled
    c. 1971-1973
    from Troubled Waters, 1980
    Dye transfer print
    15 7/8 x 19 15/16 in (40.3 x 50.6cm)
    Collection Marcia Dunn and Jonathan Sobel
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Untitled' Nd from the exhibition 'William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008' at The Art Institute of Chicago, February - May, 2010

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Untitled
    Nd
    from Los Alamos, 1965-1974 (published 2003)
    Dye transfer print
    12 x 17 3/4 inches (30.5 x 45.1cm)
    Private collection
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy of Cheim & Read, New York

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Untitled' Nd from the exhibition 'William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008' at The Art Institute of Chicago, February - May, 2010

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Untitled
    Nd
    from Los Alamos, 1965-1974 (published 2003)
    Dye transfer print
    12 x 17 3/4 in (30.5 x 45.1cm)
    Private collection
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

     

    The unconventional beauty and artistry of works by photographer William Eggleston will be showcased in a major exhibition opening at the Art Institute of Chicago this winter. William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008 – on view from February 27 through May 23, 2010, in the Modern Wing’s Abbott Galleries (G182, G184) and Carolyn S. and Matthew Bucksbaum Gallery (G188) – is the most comprehensive retrospective to date of the Memphis-based contemporary photographer. The exhibition brings together more than 150 extraordinary images of familiar, everyday subjects with lesser-known, early black-and-white prints and provocative video recordings, all produced over a five-decade period.

    Born in 1939 in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised on his family’s cotton plantation in Mississippi, William Eggleston held a casual interest in photography until 1959, when he came across photo books by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans. Among his earliest pictures, made during stints at universities in Tennessee and Mississippi, were black-and-white scenes found in his native South, as well as portraits of friends and family members.

    By the 1960s and early 1970s he had begun experimenting with colour film, and he eventually produced rich, vivid prints through the dye transfer process – prints that are created through the alignment of three separate matrices (cyan, magenta, and yellow) generated from three separate negatives (red, green, and blue filters). The resulting prints are known for the vividness and permanence of their colours. Hence, Eggleston is often credited for single-handedly ushering in the era of colour art photography.

    Eager to show his work to a broader audience, Eggleston traveled to New York with a suitcase of slides and prints to meet with Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) curator John Szarkowski. This visit eventually yielded a controversial but revolutionary exhibition in 1976 – MoMA’s first solo show to feature colour photographs – and a classic accompanying book, William Eggleston’s Guide. At this point in his career, Eggleston had already distinguished himself by treating colour as a means of discovery and expression, and as a way to highlight aspects of life hidden in plain sight.

    William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008 demonstrates Eggleston’s “democratic” approach to his photographic subjects in both colour and black-and-white. Everything that happens in front of the camera is worthy of becoming a picture for the artist – no matter how seemingly circumstantial or trivial. Eggleston finds his motifs in everyday life, resulting in telling portrayals of American culture. His iconic images such as Elvis’s Graceland, a supermarket clerk corralling grocery carts in the afternoon sunlight, and a freezer stuffed with food proves that the photographer points his “democratic camera” at everything. Eggleston’s quiet, thoughtful pictures have profoundly impacted subsequent generations of photographers, filmmakers, and scholars.

    The exhibition also includes Eggleston’s cult video work, Stranded in Canton. In the 1960s, Eggleston used film to document Fred McDowell, a well-known Delta blues musician, but ultimately abandoned the film project. Eggleston later acquired a video camera and began using video to shoot in bars and in people’s homes; sometimes he shot monologues friends delivered for his video camera, most often at night. The result, Stranded in Canton, recently restored and re-edited, is a portrait of a woozy subculture that adds dimension and texture to the world of Eggleston’s colour photographs.

    Internationally acclaimed, Eggleston has spent the past four decades photographing around the world, responding intuitively to fleeting configurations of cultural signs and specific expressions of local colour. By not censoring, rarely editing, and always photographing even the seemingly banal, Eggleston convinces us completely of the idea of the democratic camera.

    Press release from the Art Institute of Chicago website [Online] Cited 15/05/2010 no longer available online

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Untitled' Nd

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Untitled
    Nd
    from Los Alamos, 1965-1974 (published 2003)
    Dye transfer print
    17 3/4 x 12 in. (45.1 x 30.5cm)
    Private collection.
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Untitled (Memphis Tennessee)' 1965

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Untitled (Memphis Tennessee)
    1965
    from Los Alamos, 1965-1974 (published 2003)
    Dye transfer print
    17 ¾ x 12 inches (45.1 x 30.5cm)
    Private collection.
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy of Cheim & Read, New York

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Memphis' c. 1969-1971

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Memphis
    c. 1969-1971
    from William Eggleston’s Guide, 1976
    Dye transfer print
    24 x 20 in (61 x 50.8cm)
    Collection of John Cheim
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Morton, Mississippi' c. 1969-1970

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Morton, Mississippi
    c. 1969-1970
    from William Eggleston’s Guide 1976
    Dye transfer print
    13 3/8 x 8 11/16 in (34 x 22cm)
    Cheim & Read, New York
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Huntsville, Alabama' 1971

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Huntsville, Alabama
    1971
    from William Eggleston’s Guide 1976
    Dye transfer print
    20 x 15 7/8 in (50.8 x 40.3cm)
    University of Mississippi Museum and Historic Houses, Oxford
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'Untitled' Nd from 'Los Alamos, 1965-1974'

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    Untitled
    Nd
    from Los Alamos, 1965-1974 (published 2003)
    Dye transfer print
    17 3/4 x 12 in (45.1 x 30.5cm)
    Private collection
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) 'En Route to New Orleans' 1971-1974

     

    William Eggleston (American, b. 1939)
    En Route to New Orleans
    1971-1974
    from Los Alamos, 1965-1974 (published 2003)
    Dye transfer print
    17 3/4 x 12 in. (45.1 x 30.5cm)
    Private collection
    © Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

     

     

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