Oui!

Have you ever visited Maison Europeenne de la Photographie when in Paris?  It is a small gem in the city of lights.  Paris is full of wonderful things to see and this is one you do not want to miss.  It is a small and quiet space to view and contemplate photography.  A breather from the massive crowds at the larger museums. This upcoming exhibition "Terres d'Exil" looks like it is worth the visit if you find yourself in Paris in April or May.  It is the work of Jean-Francois Joly featuring portraits of the marginalized Romani people in Romania, Kosovo, France and Macedonia.

Plan Ahead

Plan ahead so that you can make your plans to head on over to the Whitney Museum and see "Danny Lyon: Message to the Future".  This will be the first retrospective of his career in over twenty-five years.  The exhibition will also include his film work.  If you are unfamiliar with who he is, here is a short interview.

This Place

Here is another interesting exhibition for those of you in NY to check out.  "This Place" currently at the Brooklyn Museum  " explores the complexity of Israel and the West Bank, as place and metaphor, through the eyes of twelve internationally acclaimed photographers."

Pack your bags

So sorry for the incredibly long silence.  I have been trying to get things in order on my end.  Very soon I will have a large inventory ready for purchase in the shop.  If you are interested in vintage cameras, etc.  Check back here for shop updates.  For now I have decided that it would be better if I posted some future exhibitions worth viewing.  That way, when I slack off at least the information will have already been posted.  Let us start with the upcoming exhibition at the Getty.  "Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Medium."  Oh, if I only had my own jet to fly around and view everything that I want to.  What I find interesting about this particular exhibition is that it is being shown at the same time as "The Thrill of the Chase: The Wagstaff Collection of Photographs".  In past posts I have encouraged anyone reading this who is unfamiliar with Sam Wagstaff to take the time to do some research on him.  Since Mapplethorpe was so closely tied to Wagstaff it is a special opportunity to see both of these exhibitions at one time.  Please contact me if you get the chance to see these shows.

Manipulating the Traditional

The current Getty exhibition Light, Paper, Process: Reinventing Photography explores artist experimentation with the basic components of photography.  I know that I may come across as a strong traditionalist, but I thoroughly enjoy alternative  processes using traditional materials.  It's really the whole digital thing that puts me off.  I just can't help it.  I am set in my ways.  If I were in California, I would be here.  Let's face it.  I don't really think there is a day where I would not be at the Getty if I could.

Dandy Lion

Sorry for the radio silence.  I recently went to see   Dandy Lion: (Re)Articulating Black Masculine Identity    at the Museum of Contemporary Photography.  I had not been to this museum in many years.  In fact, I believe it was at another address.  It is now three floors.  I have read reviews by people complaining that it is a very small museum, but that is the beauty of it.  It encourages an intimate viewing of the artwork.  You can't just blow by.  You should embrace the opportunity to slow down and observe.

The works included in this exhibition utilize both modern and traditional techniques.  There were digital prints as well as silver gelatin.  Though beautiful, I have to admit that the actual digital prints do not really hold my interest.  Show me some beautiful grain and tonal range and I am yours.  Some of the pieces that I found especially interesting were contemporary wet collodion prints.  They beckoned you closer to observe their beauty.  You have to appreciate the level of difficulty there is when working in this particular medium.  It takes incredible skill and patience.

 It is interesting to observe the many black sartorial experience from various countries around the globe.

This exhibition is up for another month so there is plenty of time to view it or plan on seeing it if you are planning a visit to Chicago.

Lone Star

This is going to be one of those posts based solely on my own interests.  This may be of interest to those of you in Texas.  Since I have never been to Texas and do not foresee a visit in the near future, I am making this suggestion in hope that it will inspire somebody in the Austin area to go out and view this exhibition.  It is Wildly Strange: The Photographs of Ralph Eugene Meatyard at the Blanton Museum of Art.  Ralph Eugene Meatyard has always been among my favorite photographers.  I am pretty sure that it has nothing to do with the fact he comes from Normal, Illinois.  I just remember feeling a connection to his work from the first time I viewed it.  That would have been way back in high school.  Something about the children in combination with the masks in those surroundings.  If you are not familiar with his work you should go and check it out.
     As an aside, there is also a contemporaneous exhibition about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland there.  I only mention this because few people realize that Lewis Carroll was a well known photographer.  I am assuming that they will exhibit some of the many portraits Carroll took of the real Alice who was his neighbor.  I am hope they will share some of his other photographic works as well..

To Celebrate the Year of the Goat

Chinese New Year will arrive on February 19.  The year of the goat.  For those of you lucky enough to be in Manhattan, you can indulge in some dim sum, char siu, lo mein, watch a little lion dance and then add a little photography into the mix.  Head uptown a bit and atop in at Aperture to view "The Chinese Photobook".  I wish I could join you.

Black History Month

February is Black History Month, but it is also the shortest month of the year.  That being the case I thought I had better post about this as soon as possible before time runs out.  I have listed below a very short list of some influential African-American photographers for your exploration.  If I was unable to find a current exhibition to suggest, I simply added a link to information about the photographer.

Lorna Simpson

Gordon Parks  - Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott, Gordon Parks: Segregation  Story,

James Vander Zee

Carrie Mae Weems

I decided to cast a wider net.  Why limit the list to American history?   I have a few global options for you to explore as well.

Staying Power : Photographs of Black British Experience 1950s - 1990s

Human Rights Human Wrongs

Alice Seeley Harris  Brutal Exposure: The Congo  

Black Chronicles II  - this traveling exhibition just finished up in Uruguay, but there is no indication                                       if it will be traveling to a new location next.  Hopefully, it will.

Something to see

     I will do my best to post about interesting photography exhibitions around the world.  I admit that the sole criteria for these choices will be that they will be shows that I would go and see if I could travel anywhere in the world.  This way I will not limit the options to my own geographic location.  To kick this off I am suggesting that everyone that lives in the Philly area jump at the chance to go to the Carnegie Museum of Art to see the various Duane Michals exhibitions  - "Storyteller: The Photographs of Duane Michals" and "Duane Michals: Collector" .  I have long been a fan of his work.  I enjoy his use of a sequence of photographs as filmic storytelling.   I only wish I had a tiny hint of his ability to successfully marry image and text.  I have a wish list of photographs I want to add to my personal collection and a particular piece by him has always been at the top.  If I were able to go there I would also check out the exhibition "Teenie Harris Photographs: Civil Rights Perspectives"