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Archive for 2010|Yearly archive page

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Preview: Huntington Witherill, Verve Gallery, Santa Fe

In Black and White Photography, Exhibits, Gallery, Photo Print Collector, Photographer on December 10, 2010 at 3:33 pm

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Rock Forms, Salt Point, CA

From landscapes to architectural shoots, with color or Black and White, Huntington Witherill has mastered the use of light and form. In a current exhibit at the Verve Gallery in New Mexico you can see this virtuoso at work.

Having studied photography in the early 1970′s with such notables as Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock, Steve Crouch and Al Weber, Witherill has remained faithful to his classical photographic training while progressively transitioning toward a more contemporary approach to the medium. Since 1970, his work has been featured in more than one-hundred individual and group exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the world.

Indicative of a diverse approach to the medium, Witherill works in both color and black & white, and his subjects include landscapes, studies of pop-art, botanical still-life, urban architecture, abstracts, and digital imaging. His black & white photographs have been published in two award winning hardcover monographs titled: Orchestrating Icons (2000) and Botanical Dances (2002). Both books were published by LensWork Publishing. In 1999, Witherill was recipient of the "Artist of the Year" award presented by the Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA.

Now through January 8, 2011.

For more information: Verve

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Preview: ”Discovering the Language of Photography”, Ransom Center, Austin,Texas

In Art Museum, Black and White Photography, Exhibits on December 9, 2010 at 5:09 pm

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Winifred Casson, “Accident”

This impressive survey of the history of photography is available for viewing at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin.

Featuring more than 175 items, the exhibition showcases one of the seminal collections of the history of photography in the United States. Amassed by the renowned husband-and-wife team of Helmut and Alison Gernsheim between 1945 and 1963, it contains an unparalleled range of more than 35,000 images, beginning with the world’s earliest-known photograph from nature, made by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826-27. Its encyclopedic scope-as well as the expertise with which the Gernsheims assembled the collection-makes the Gernsheim collection one of the world’s premier sources for the study and appreciation of photography.

Along with photographs from the collection, the exhibition includes equipment, albums, correspondence and other manuscript materials that illustrate a visual history of photography from the earliest-known photograph to images of the mid-20th century. Also included are some of the 30 photography books the Gernsheims authored.

While a substantial portion of the Gernsheim collection focuses on 19th-century British photography by artists such as Lewis Carroll, Julia Margaret Cameron, Roger Fenton, Henry Peach Robinson, and David Hill and Robert Adamson, several of the collection’s works by unknown or lesser-known artists who used various means to improve or to exploit the relatively new invention of photography will also be displayed. The exhibition will highlight key moments in the history of photography as well as important technological and ideological shifts in the act of picture making.

Now through Jan. 2, 2011

For more information: Harry Ransom Center

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Notable: Spend Your Holiday In New York

In Article, Black and White Photography, Books on December 5, 2010 at 5:45 pm

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Margaret Bourke-White

The New York Times today selected the “New York Holiday Must-Have Book”:

NEW YORK: Portrait of a City by Reuel Golden, the executive editor at Photo District News.

The selection includes photographs by virtuosos like Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz and Weegee, assembled by Reuel Golden, the executive editor at Photo District News, and graced by his concise accounts of five historic periods since 1850.
The photographs capture the city’s zaniness, raffishness and panache – the cover has crimson and black high heels kicking up against a gray skyline. And the book is delightfully accented with quotations from writers dazzled or dismayed by the city – Wharton, Fitzgerald, Salinger, Ellison, Bellow – and homage paid by composers and moviemakers. "There are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn’t advise you to try to invade," is Bogart’s impudent valentine from "Casablanca."
The photographs evoke not just the city’s energy – as Golden observes, "the ambitious, the visionary and the opportunistic" are "part of the city’s DNA" – but its haunting fragmentation. A photograph by Walker Evans shows a teeming city where too many people live Hopperesque lives of loneliness and alienation. The mood is underscored by a quote from Holden Caulfield: "New York’s terrible when somebody laughs on the street very late at night. You can hear it for miles."

Check out the review at : NY Times

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On Site: Best of 2010 Photo Review Competition Winners

In Black and White Photography, Photo Print Collector, Photographer on December 1, 2010 at 3:13 pm

David Johndrow, “Anole Lizard”

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Miranda Powell, "When Time Dies I"

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Rita Bernstein, “Aftermath”

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The prestigious Photo Review competition this year had some impressive submissions and the judge Brian Paul Clamp (of CLAMPART Gallery in NYC) has picked 14 excellent  “best of show” photographs on exhibit through December 9 at the University of Arts in Philadelphia.

Our pick for the best of Brian’s selections are photo’s by David Johndrow, Miranda Powell and Rita Bernstein.

If you are in the area the exhibit is worth a visit.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners.

For information on the exhibit: U of Arts

For more on: David Johndrow

For more on: Miranda Powell

For more on: Rita Bernstein

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Notable: The Fine Art Photography of Robert Welsh

In Black and White Photography, Photo Print Collector, Photographer on November 30, 2010 at 11:59 am

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Robert Welsh, Boccie Ball, Prague

With his classic use of light and tone while documenting interesting subjects … Robert Welsh is a photographer worth knowing:

1. What is your statement as an artist to your viewers?

Growing up working class in Boston and then having the opportunity to travel to Europe and the Middle East allowed me to appreciate different cultures and showed me other perspectives. I often see through a child’s perspective, informed by my experiences as a stay-at home dad and my work in special education.  I invite the viewer to share in my observations, hoping to elicit a feeling. I also encourage the viewer to interpret the photograph through his or her filter, recalling a memory, a dream, or personal story. I would hope that my images enable an individual to slow down, take a second look, and reflect for a moment.

2. Your images have a moody feel to them, how did this "feel" come about?

Much of my work has working class elements to it. I react to this theme on an emotional and subconscious level, and I believe that this translates into a certain feeling in the imagery. When I print, I try to recreate the mood at the time the picture was taken. It is important for me to continue to print my work using traditional methods. I feel that the final act of creating in photography takes place in the darkroom.

3.  You work in B&W and color. When do you prefer B&W?

My decision as to whether I work in color or B&W depends largely on the weather. I usually prefer B&W on an overcast day because of the mood and light it creates. Color has a more immediate impact on the viewer. Removing the color forces the viewer to look deeper and appreciate the emotional impact of the image or story, allowing things to resonate. When photographing in B&W, one must have a well-trained eye to look beyond and eliminate the color that we see in everyday situations. When I work in B&W, I
respond to the subtlety of the tones and the sculptural quality of the object I am photographing. I concentrate on the highlights in the shadows-the details, textures and shapes.

4.  What is your next project?

I hope to return to the Public Housing Project where I grew up in Boston-to photograph the buildings, hallways, rooftops, and basketball courts where I played as a child. I want to interview my friends who also grew up there, to photograph them in their old environment, and talk about our experiences.

For more of Robert’s work: Robert Welsh

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On Site: Rita Bernstein “Ghost of Summer”, Gallery 339, Philadelphia

In Black and White Photography, Exhibits, Gallery, Photographer on November 29, 2010 at 10:27 am

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Rita Bernstein, Bathers

In a striking exhibit of print making skill and sensitivity, Rita Bernstein shows off her talent in unexpected images she titles “Ghost of Summer”.

The images are varied, well composed “snapshots” that take on an ethereal and sometimes eerie mood at her hand.

The scale and intimacy of these remarkable photographs belie the complexity and daring of Bernstein’s work.  Her images walk a delicate tightrope; they evoke a sense of memory and of keenly felt private thoughts, yet their poignancy is controlled and perfectly modulated by their austerity and ambiguity.  They are tender and mysterious, yet never stray into the sentimental.  Bernstein further explores this dichotomy of heart versus mind through her print-making process, which demands a high level of skill yet remains uncertain and serendipitous.  The process involves liquid silver emulsion applied to delicate Japanese Gampi paper.  With the fragility of the paper, it is impossible to produce a flawless print or make a print that is identical to an earlier one.

Great photographs, each unique, that present their subjects in an artful manner.

Now through January 29, 2011.

For more information: Rita Bernstein: Ghost of Summer

Also check out the companion exhibit: Martine Fougeron: After Prom

And visit Gallery 339 exhibit in Miami: Agua 10

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Notable: Strength In The Photography Market

In Article, Black and White Photography, Photo Print Collector on November 28, 2010 at 10:32 pm

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Richard Avedon’s "Dovima with Elephants"

An article catching the action in the auction market worth reading in today’s Financial Times:

When a photograph sells at auction for $1m, the market can surely be considered healthy. The oversize print of Richard Avedon’s "Dovima with Elephants", which made €841,000 ($1.12m) at Christie’s in Paris last Saturday, was just one of 13 prints in that sale to achieve more than €100,000 (all prices quoted include premium). And the event achieved the still-rare accolade of being a "white-glove sale", one in which every lot finds a buyer.

A couple of tendencies to note: the Avedon image (a 1955 fashion shoot displaying a Dior dress, and now bought by Dior) echoes a strengthening market for pictures from the magazine world. Philippe Garner of Christie’s has nurtured the Gert Elfering collection, over several sales and several years, for example, which has resulted in something above $10m in sales. The most recent auction in the series, this summer, sold 67 prints by the late Jean-Loup Sieff, a magazine photographer if ever there was one, hitherto barely noticed by the market.

Read the full article at: Financial Times

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Notable: Report From Paris Photo 2010

In Art Fair, Article, Black and White Photography, Photo Print Collector on November 22, 2010 at 10:06 am

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‘Deco Stairwell, Havana’ (2010) by Michael Eastman

A very nice wrap up from Francis Hodgson on this year’s Paris Photo in the Financial Times:

The 2010 edition is superficially a good
vintage – although this report is necessarily
written before results are in any way clear.
The spread of imagery seems as wide as
ever. I saw wonderful early French calotypes from the 1840s – the very dawn of
photography – in the care of Robert
Hershkowitz, selected to chime with a
heroic exhibition on that subject at the
Bibliothèque Nationale. And there are
naturally more pictures dated 2010 than you can shake a stick at. Yet this catholic range conceals a definite shift back to steadier virtues than the shrill contemporary pageant of several recent instances of the fair.

This year there is a particular concentration on the photography of eastern Europe, with more rewarding results than the recent similar focus on Iranian photography, which fell very flat. Since eastern Europe has been a powerhouse of photographic invention, it makes for a very rich seam
indeed. Howard Greenberg is offering charming 1930s contact prints by Josef Ehms: the one which seduced me most was a plunging view of a modernist café terrace dotted with white parasols. There are splendid vintage Brassaï prints at Galerie Françoise Paviot from Paris and no shortage of Kertesz in the year of his huge show at the Jeu de Paume.

For more from the article: Financial Times

For more on the art fair: Paris Photo

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Notable: Fine Art Photography Price Index, 1985-2010

In Article, Black and White Photography, Photo Print Collector on November 21, 2010 at 9:19 am

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Compiled by Art Market Research

From today’s Financial Times:

The mainstream of the photography market [central 80%] peaked in September 2008 then fell by 21% in the 18 months to March 2010.  The top 10% of the market, where prices routinely climb steeply in good times, also peaked in September 2008, but by March 2010 this top sector had almost halved. All sectors of the market are now recovering fast and the long-term growth of 7% – 8% once again seems like a good bet.

For more: Financial Times

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On Site: Craig Sterling, Fine Art Photography, Fotoweek DC

In Art Fair, Black and White Photography, Photographer on November 19, 2010 at 1:25 pm

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Craig Sterling, U.S. Capitol Rotunda

We visited Craig’s studio in Alexandria and were struck immediately by the careful composition and elegant tonality of his work. “Inspired craftsman” comes to mind but does not do justice to the visual impact of his varied portfolios.

What draws you to photographing DC architecture?
My foray into photographing DC architecture really began as a challenge … how to show something we have all seen so many times before, but in a different way.   Having lived in the DC area most of my life, I see Washington and its architecture from a totally different perspective than most …   My goal/concept was to show the familiar in an unfamiliar way.  People frequently say after seeing my work … “I have seen that before, but never quite like that.”

Why Black and White?
I have always loved the classics … painting, sculpture, films and architecture.   In short … less is more … color can be so literal.  In my opinion, black and white imagery leaves more to the imagination … it has a feeling of timelessness … It takes you back … It stirs your imagination.  I think people in general have a greater response to black and white vs. color.  I strive to set a mood for my images by printing in a tonality that helps create a sense of intimacy … thus drawing the viewer into the image.

Who are your inspirations and what is it that you build upon in their work?
Having studied photography in the early 70s on the west coast, Ansel Adams had tremendous influence on the technical aspect of my craft.  Visually, creatively and esthetically, I have always been drawn to the work of Brassai and Atget, especially their night images.  Their influence is evident in my night time images of DC architecture as well as the work I have done in Italy and Paris.  Today, I would say the work of Michael Kenna inspires me most.  I love his simplicity and elegance. Kenna’s work is so far removed from the landscapes of Ansel Adams and Edward and Brett Weston.  Just an opinion, but I think the traditional landscape in the genre of Adams and Weston is for now dormant.

What is your current direction with your photography?
I am striving for more simplicity … less complexity of composition … Of course in black and white!  I have been focusing lately on “the passage of time,” utilizing water and sky as subject matter.  I think my work will always be more about creating a beautiful image as opposed to creating something of concept only.  For me, beauty trumps concept!

For more of his work: Craig Sterling

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