Mark Kirchner – Soka University Founders Gallery

Photographs copyright of Mark Kirchner

On February 1st, 2009, at the Soka University’ Founders Hall Art Gallery, Aliso Viejo, CA, was the opening of Mark Kirchners “Manzanar Pilgrimage – Photograhs from the Manzanar National Historic Site 1983-2008” exhibition. The exhibit runs through May 15th, 2009. The artist reception was on Thursday, February 12th.

This is a photographic series about a specific location in Central California, the location where many Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II and where they spent the war. There were a number of such camps within the United States were those whose national allegiance was at question. Actually, there were no questions, they were relocated purely on the ethnic appearance.

Kirchner states;

On my first trip I spent five days walking and camping on the Manzanarsite. Walking grids and sight lines, I found the land full of artifacts that had passed through time. The remains of old structures and gardens lay hidden in tumbleweeds and sagebrush. Acacia trees that had once been pruned with care stood silently like overgrown Bonsai. I discovered names and dates inscribed in concrete lying quietly as messages and memorials to a hidden past.

This is a black and white photographic project that Kirchner initiatedin 1983. The majority of the serene landscape photographs are from this early period, augmented with recent photographs when Kirchner became re-engaged with this project in 2006. These photographs only start to hint at the injustice that the Japanese-Americans suffered during World War II in the early 1940’s. It mattered not that that they were born in the U.S. or that they had full U.S. citizenship, they just happened to look incorrect, have the wrong heritage, as well as having the wrong skin color.

As Kirchner documents with the recent inclusion of Muslims who have particiapted in this annual ceremony, we have not learned very much during the ensuing years since World War II.

This particular location on Route 395 is also near the place and occuring at the same time that Ansel Adams made a number of his central California landscape photographs. You can see some of those same snow cover peaks in the background of Kirchner early photographs.

Kirchner recently remarked that this exhibition has had a deep emotional effect on the local Japanese-American community, as there are many who can trace their personal and family history through these camps. It has allowed them to share experiences with their younger generations, about times that have remained hidden and only whispered about.

Kichner has explored this scared ground and found traces of memories, and perhaps for some, a place of angst that is now become more fully revealed. The veil of secrets is quietly being lifted and we need to ensure that this is not repeated again.

 

 

 

 

By Douglas Stockdale

Richard Avedon at FOAM

Friedlander and Avedon

with a footnote on Gerhard Richter.

The first major exhibition of Avedon’s work since his death, Photographs: 1946-2004 is a sweeping retrospective of his work currently on show at FOAM. It covers all of his work, from early fashion work for Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and others through to his later celebrity portraits. Virtually all of the work comes from the Avedon Estate, all original prints by the artist as none of his work has been reprinted since his death.

This is a large collection, more that 200 prints on display, taking the entireity of the exhibition space in the rather small FOAM building (thhe permanent collection has decamped across the road for the duration of this exhibition).

I had limited exposure to Avedon’s work in the past, and certainly nothing in any kind of context. Starting with the early work, the fashion photography looks fresh and modern. The settings and poses seem very typical of fashion photography, until one looks at the dates of the work – they are all from the early fifties. It is clearly evident how Avedon was breaking the mould of static, posed fashion photography, turning it into a living, vital visual expression. One can see the origins of modern aspirational fashion marketing in Avedon’s photographs.

Satchmo

One then moves through the galleries, away from the assignment-style magazine shoots into the portraiture for which he is probably better known. Here, again, there is a sense of innovation. These are much more that glamorous celebrity pictures or environmental portraits, with descriptive props all around. These are deeper, more intimate probing into the deeper character of the subjects. Avedon’s use of white backdrops focuses attention on the sitter and the masterful prints have a sense of depth and solidity that makes these people real in way that I’ve not often seen in photographs. The quality of the prints really has to be experienced first hand.

Eisenhower and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

The exhibition itself is well constructed to show the work to maximum advantage. The framing, lighting, and annotation all help to enhance the work by not detracting from it. Pairs and groups of images are selecting to draw comparisons between the work and the subjects. Even the free brochure is well done.

Regarding America (In the American West series)

I’m rather glad that I was delayed in writing this review as I have had a chance to visit the National Portrait Gallery in London, in particular the current exhibition Gerhard Richter: Portraits. It is not directly related to photography as Richter work from photographs to produce his paintings but it draws interesting comparison in artistic philosophy. Richter said that

“A portrait should not express anything of the sitter’s soul, essence or character”

Working from photographs, Richter produced work that looks rather like photographs greatly enlarged but often distorted enough to obscure context and introduce abiguity of subject or meaning.

In contrast, Avedon expressly uses the ability of personal contact and the literal nature of photography to get beyond the surface impression of his subjects.

It was also interesting to view some of the photography galleries at NPG. After seeing Avedon’s work, suddenly the other portraits I saw seem rather staid and derivative. It only served to highlight what a master of the form Avedon really was.

There is also a book that accompanies the exhibition which I was able to peruse at length at FOAM. While the reporductions don’t have quite the depth of tone and certainly none of the impact of size, they are, nonetheless, excellent prints for a book. There are also some rather good essays to accompany the work. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in portrait photography – it is almost a single volume masterclass in the genre.

Gerhard Richter: Portraits is at the National Portrait Gallery, London until31st May 2009

Richard Avedon: Photographs 1946-2004 is on at FOAM until13th May 2009 and then travelling on.

The accompanying book Richard Avedon: Photographs 1946-2004 is published by Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

Focus on Photography: Peter Feldstein

Peter Feldstein will be at the Harry Ransom Center, Austin, Texas, on April 16th to discuss his book, The Oxford Project. This project started in 1985, when Peter set up a shop on Augusta Street in Oxford, Iowa. He hung a sign that said he wanted to make free portraits of everyone in the town (population of 673). By the finish he’d photographed 670 of the residents. 20 years later, Peter went back and photographed the same people. The book records and displays the passing of time and how those people in that small town in middle America have changed over the years.

This is a fascinating collection of before and after photographs, along with revealing interviews, conducted by Stephen G. Bloom.

The lecture is at 7p.m. on Thursday April 16th, at the Harry Ransom Center in the Charles Nelson Prothro Theater.

An evening with Mary Ellen Mark

This is the first of a series of lectures, from the newly formed Austin Center for Photography. Mary Ellen Mark has published 17 books and won numerous awards for her photography. In this lecture she’ll discuss some of her favourite work and contributions.

“ MARY ELLEN MARK has achieved worldwide visibility through her numerous books, exhibitions and editorial magazine work. Today, she is recognized as one of our most respected and influential photographers. Her images of our world’s diverse cultures have become landmarks in the field of documentary photography. Her portrayals of Mother Teresa, Indian circuses, and brothels in Bombay were the product of many years of work in India. A photo essay on runaway children in Seattle became the basis of the academy award nominated film STREETWISE, directed and photographed by her husband, Martin Bell.”

For more details, check out the Austin Center for Photography newsletter, First Exposure.

Thursday, March 12th at 7pm

Blanton Museum Auditorium, University of Texas, Austin, Texas (map)

Cost: Members Free, $10 General Admission, $5 Students/Seniors/Military Tickets at the door (Seating is limited so please arrive early to ensure admission)

Fritz Henle : In Search of Beauty

A new exhibit recently opened at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, in Austin, displaying the work of Fritz Henle. There are over 125 photographs on display, taken across Henle’s 60 year career. There is a wide range of subject matter on display, fashion images for Harper’s Bazaar, industrial landscapes, images from Life magazine, portraits, nude studies, landscapes. Henle was nicknamed ‘Mr. Rollei’ and much of his work is shot in that camera’s square aspect ratio. There is a strong sense of design and a different point of view running through all of his photographs.

“Fritz Henle: In Search of Beauty” can be seen at the Ransom Center on Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended Thursday hours to 7 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays the galleries are open from noon to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed on Mondays. The exhibition runs from Feb. 3 to Aug. 2, 2009.

This Thursday, March 5th, at 7pm, Alison Nordstrom, Curator of Photographs at the George Eastman House, presents “The World Every Week: Picture Magazines and the Golden Age of Photojournalism.”

This lecture, which is held in conjunction with the Henle exhibition, explores the historical and cultural context of Henle’s work. Nordstrom discusses the era of great American photo magazines, such as LIFE and Look, and how these publications were made, marketed, consumed, and understood both then and now. Seating is free, but limited. There will also be a live webcast, starting at 7pm.

Unconcerned But Not Indifferent: Man Ray

Entrance Poster

This has been a well-publicised exhibit, a large retrospective covering the whole of Man Ray’s life and work at the Hague Fotomuseum. An ambitious undertaking but can it be completed successfully?

Let me begin by quoting from the press material

Unconcerned, but not indifferent is the first exhibition to reveal Man Ray’s complete creative process: from observations, ideas and sketches right through to the final works of art. By establishing the linkage between art and inspiration, it gives a new insight into the work of Man Ray.

Lofty ambitions for any exhibition.

This idea of creative connections, and how the artist is influenced by his relationships is always of interest to me – bringing that to an exhibition is what moves a museum past being a mere gallery.

The work on display is divided chronologically across the 4 periods in Man Ray’s life; his early life in New York, moving to Paris before the war, escape to LA and a final return to Paris in 195 until his death in 1976. In effect, though, the first period has little coverage and serves as a mere foreword to the rest of the work.

There is a wide range of material on display – much photography, obviously. But also drawing, painting, sculpture and some of the famous “Rayographs” and materials used.  The photographs are not great prints, although originals. Man Ray doesn’t seem to have been what would be considered a “master print maker” but that is in keeping with his general philosophy (from the exhibit):

The mass production of his work always appealed to Man Ray, who had always had a tenuous relationship to the aur of art objects. the act of making a unique object, he claimed, was validated by its reporduction, by means of which the inspiration, or idea, was disseminated.

The photographic prints are actually quite small, although framed in such a way to draw the viewer in. Often several are framed as a group together, which adds context.

So far, so good.

A wide range of exhibits: sketches, paintings, sculpture and, of course, photographs

The drawback of this range and variety of coverage is that it is necessarily fairly shallow. No particular area gets into any depth. The explanatory texts are brief and few, so I got very little sense of the connections between the man, his relationships and his work. I was left with many more questions than answers:

When did his first marriage end? How did that relate to his relationship with Kiki de Montmartre? There was evidence of changes in stles and work – was that driven by changes in relationship or conscious development as an artist?

What exactly was his relationship to contemporaries in Paris? As presented, Man Ray seemed little more than a portraitist to the stars, which is far short of the truth.

How did Man Ray’s work progress through ideas, photographs, painting & sculpture – which lead and which followed? Did this change over time (as seemed to be the case)?

I would have liked to see rather more in the way of explanatory panels and text throughout.

So what is my overall assessment? I think a less ambitious scope would have allowed greater depth of coverage and more exploration of the ideas. In many ways the exhibition falls short of the lofty ambitions. However, it is definitely a worthwhile exhibition and worthy of the modest entry fee but a little effort would have made it so much better.  Visitors would be greatly rewarded by a little Man Ray research in advance.

Tinn | vann – A small exhibit in Oslo

A couple of weeks back I exposed myself to the elements, and headed downtown Oslo to drop by a gallery opening. It was a sales exhibition by a young Norwegian artist calling himself Paida. The title of the exhibition is “Tinn | Vann”, which translates to “Tinn  | Water”. Tinn is a place in the mountainous parts of Telemark, Norway, known for steep mountains, deep lakes and wild nature. It is also the birthplace of the artist. The series is partly sponsored by the local community as part of 100 years anniversary of the city of Rjukan.

The artist has graduated from “Kulturama Konstnärliga Skola”, Stockholm, and is now studying art in Bremen, Germany. This exhibit is his first, and it has already been to a couple of other galleries if I understand his web page correctly.

As mentioned, I dropped by the gallery at the opening, and I had a nice chat with the photographer, and he told me a little bit about his motivation and background. I also got permission to publish a couple of his photographs. According to the artist, his goal with these pictures is to make us appreciate water as a resource. Norway is privileged with an almost unlimited access to clean fresh water, which we take it for granted, and it shows in the consumption. Through his artist statement, Paida is focusing on the contrast between our water usage and supply as opposed to the reality in other parts of the world.

Paida has shot this series with his Hasselblad and B&W film. The pictures, which he offers in two sizes, 30×30cm (14×14in) and 60×60cm (28×28in), are made by the artist himself using traditional darkroom techniques, silver gelatin baryta paper. I will not claim to be an expert, but I have seen my share of both good and bad prints, and these seemed pretty well made. Not stellar, but very good.

And by the way, the first featured picture was the one that in my oppinion was best crafted (you don’t see that on screen, but anyway). The second one was my all time favorite.

If you want to hear some more about what happened that day, have a look at this post.

You’ll find all the pictures at the gallery web page (Tinn | Vann)

And more about Paida at the artist web page (paida.no)

(All photos are published with permisson from Paida. Do not download them or use them for any purpose without asking the artist)

Netherlands coverage

Thanks to Doug for inviting me along to contribute. A good opportunity to get me out to see some more exhibits.

I’m Martin Doonan and I’ve been living and working in The Hague for several years now. My photography is strictly an amateur affair but I have interests in most forms of photographic expression. In the context of the site, I’m also particularly interested in the connections between the art and the world around. I like to see how influences develop, how photography is reflected and reflects the world around.

There are two main museums for photography in the area: the Hague Fotomuseum and FOAM in Amsterdam. Both carry world-class photography exhibits, typically 4-6 per year each. Galleries here tend to focus much more on traditional art forms but if something interesting comes up, I’ll endeavour to try and get to that, too.

You can rad more of my thoughts on photography at large on my blog Pictures and Thoughts and catch a daily slice of my photography at my picture of the day.

Oslo coverage

I have lived in Oslo most of my life, but as it often is with the places we call home, we forget all the exciting stuff going on around us. I for one have seldom visited a photo gallery in here in Oslo, but maybe this blog will change that. There is one small catch though. I will become a father in the beginning of April, so there will probably not be that much writing during the summer, but I look at this as a long term project.

I am what you would call an advanced amature photographer. I choose my subject from what I have close by, and at the moment I have the forest just outside my doorstep (more or less). I make regular updates on my blog “In The Pocket“, and I have some galleries at my static web page at http://www.lentic.net. Please drop by and have a look at what I do.

Oslo, or Norway for that matter, is not that well known in the photography world.  I guess there is no surprise when I tell that the majority of Norwegian photographers tend to focus on nature, but there are other stuff as well, especialy in Oslo, which is the capitol and largest city. We are not exactly flooded with exhibits, but those that pop up are easy to keep track of as almost everything that happens in Norway is covered by the one big community site, http://www.foto.no (in Norwegian).

Regards,

Kjell Harald Andersen

the national portrait gallery, London

I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days in London last week. The weather was cold and wet, perfect for spending days meandering through galleries. I’ve been shooting a lot of portraits in the last year and made a beeline for the National Portrait Gallery, nestled behind the National Gallery, just off Trafalgar square. I was particularly interested to see the winners of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait prize, which unfortunately ended its run two days ago, on the 15th of February. You can still see some of the winning images on the web site and I wrote of some of my thoughts on this exhibit on my own blog.

Along side the Taylor Wessing exhibit, is the Champions series of sports portraits, which will be on display until the 8th of March. These are very striking nudes of athletes at the top of their field, very well lit and composed. The motivation behind the collection is to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and the portraits are described as ‘These people have the most amazing physicality, but despite this they are as vulnerable to HIV and AIDS as the rest of humanity, and hence the nudity becomes symbolic of this. We want to make them icons of a different sort with this work.’

The portrait gallery has a vast collection of historical portraits of significant figures in British history, from the 17th century to the present day. My wife and I spent a couple of hours viewing that collection, using the excellent audio guide. If you have the chance and are interested in photographic portraiture, you could do worse than spend some time looking at the composition and lighting employed by many master painters. This is a great place to do this.