Photo Exhibitions

On Saturday, November 23, 2024, PDNB Gallery will open a new exhibition celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the release of Neal Slavin’s book and photography series from the 1970’s, When Two or More are Gathered Together. The expanded edition includes an essay by Kevin Moore, along with new portraits. Neal started his series in the 1970’s, traveling around the United States in search of any organizations, clubs, and societies. Groups include Trekkies at a Star Trek convention, bodybuilders, Delorean car collectors, Sabrett Hot dog vendors and Miss America contestants lined up in their one-piece swimsuits. Slavin’s vibrant color photographs mark a shift in the art world of the 70’s. Previously, photography was mostly viewed as the classic black and white prints done by the masters. Color photography was popularized by the young artists of the 70’s like William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Larry Sultan and more. Color became part of the subject and photographs became more conceptual, adding more dimension than the typical beautiful landscape. Bold primary colors shine through in Neal’s photograph of the Sabrett Hot Dog Vendors. A quartet of men stand by their respective carts, in front of the K & P Distributor’s Sign. They are about to roll out into the streets of New York City, serving up the classic hot dog that tourists crave and business men grab for a quick lunch. Conventions provide the optimal opportunity for interesting groups, as seen in this 1970’s Star Trek Convention. Today this has morphed into a ComicCon convention. Slavin's mismatched group of young adults in handmade costumes is sure to charm even the non-Trekkie and will transport serious fans into the Captain Kirk time zone. Channel Swimmers depicts an eclectic group of all ages, still wearing their swim caps and goggles from their grueling swim. The photograph featured in this exhibition was taken with the 20 x 24 inch Polaroid camera. Slavin used this camera to document groups in Great Britain. A book was published on this project, The Britons, but not included in the new edition of When Two or More are Gathered Together. Slavin always asks the subjects to arrange themselves, allowing the group dynamics and natural hierarchies to become the main subject. This process creates a typology of sorts, like August Sander’s document of Germans in the early 20th century. Slavin’s portraits celebrate these found communities of shared interests, while provoking questions of the groups’ dynamic. Do they all look alike? Do they share similar beliefs? Which chose to blend into the group, and who is commanding attention? These portraits serve as a visual sociological study, presenting unity and individuality in one photograph. Neal Slavin will be in attendance on opening night, Saturday, November 23rd from 5 – 8pm. His book, When Two or More are Gathered Together, can be purchased in gallery or on the gallery’s website.

Chicana Photographers LA! features the work of five Chicana artists from Los Angeles who share common concerns about families, neighborhoods, sacred spaces, and body and identity politics. Featuring 41 photographs produced from the early 1980s to 2024, this exhibition considers domestic and environmental transformations occurring across the artists’ home turf, some cultural, demographic, and diasporic, others directly confronting the impact of gentrification on Chicanx communities. From Christina Fernandez’ suburban landscapes to Sandra de la Loza’s archaeological ruins of a beloved neighborhood to the situated biographical and autobiographical portraits by Laura Aguilar (1959–2018), Amina Cruz, and Star Montana, the vast cultural terrain of Southern California, is depicted and infused with family narratives, memory, and belonging. Image: Suburban Nightscape (Theo and Diego) #4, ​2023

Baldwin Lee was born in 1951 in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in Manhattan’s Chinatown. He studied photography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) with American photographer Minor White and received an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Art, where he studied with photojournalist Walker Evans. After becoming the first Director of the Photography Department at the University of Tennessee in 1982, Lee set out from Knoxville the following year with a 4 x 5 view camera on a 2,000 mile journey of self-discovery, photographing his adopted homeland – the American South. Lee’s artistic goal for the trip was to partially re-trace and re-photograph the 1930s-40s routes made across the South by his teacher and mentor Walker Evans. Unlike Evans’ iconic depression-era photographs, Lee would eventually focus on documenting Black Americans, many of whom were living in poverty on the fringes of society. As a Chinese-American, Lee described having a semi-pass to enter into Black spaces, allowing him to make intimate portraits of Black life. Over the next seven years Lee traveled thousands of miles on the back roads of the South, taking over 10,000 photographs – producing one of the most important visual documents of and about the American South in the past half century. With this work, Lee had found his primary subject, and credits his many years of working within Black communities throughout the South as having a “political” effect on his life and art. The compassion Lee felt for those he photographed resonates within his work. Although Lee’s 1980s photographs documenting the human condition of Southern Blacks were known and respected by his fellow photographers and collectors; until recently this work has remained largely unknown and under appreciated by the larger public. In the fall of 2022, Hunter’s Point Press published “Baldwin Lee,” a book of the artist’s 1980s Southern photographs. The book became an instant classic and the first edition sold out in less than a month. The book’s success led to solo exhibitions at Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York City and Joseph Bellows Gallery in La Jolla, California. After nearly 40 years, Baldwin Lee is finally being recognized for his groundbreaking work. Baldwin Lee will feature a selection of over 40 gelatin silver prints culled from thousands of images Lee made across the South in the 1980s. Many of these photographs will be exhibited for the first time. The exhibition will include compelling portraits of Black Americans, as well as a collection of landscape and cityscape images that visually encapsulate the Reagan-era American South. Baldwin Lee will be on view at Ogden Museum of Southern Art October 5, 2024 through February 16, 2025. The exhibition is curated by Richard McCabe, Curator of Photography, Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Image: Untitled, ca. mid 1980s. © Baldwin Lee

When one thinks of American landscape photography, the first region of the country that comes to mind is usually the West. The iconic photographs made in the late 19th century by Timothy O’Sullivan and Carleton Watkins, captured the majestic views of the West’s endless wide-open expanses and formed the visualization of manifest destiny. In the 20th century, America’s most important and famous landscape photographer, Ansel Adams, visually defined the dramatic scenery of Western landscape in art and popular culture through the Half Dome in California’s Yosemite National Park and the moon rise over Hernandez, New Mexico. Unlike the West, the American South is not well known as a subject of landscape photography. Perhaps, this is due to the Southern landscape not being as visually dramatic or as photogenic as the West. The Appalachian and Ozark mountains of the South are beautiful, but cannot compete visually with the much more rugged and higher peaks of the West’s Rockies, Tetons and Sierra-Nevada mountains. The sandy dunes of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico beaches that ring the South are much more sublime when compared to the roaring waves, rocky beaches and jagged cliffs of the Pacific Ocean. The landscape in Southern art is much more about the romantic idealization of a place. Place along with time, are the central components of Southern art, music and literature. Within Southern art, place can be actual, imaged or metaphysical. When O’Sullivan and Watkins were documenting the virgin Western landscape, the lands of the American South (east of the Mississippi River) had been almost entirely tamed for hundreds of years through European settlement. The settlement came with European romantic ideas of art and literature. The 18th century European concept of Romanticism in art and literature (which had an emphasis on imagination, idealization and emotion) were first infused into Southern landscape painting and later into photography. Southland examines the role photographs have played in the visualization of the natural landscape of the American South. The exhibition explores the many technical and aesthetic methods photographers have employed in approaching the subject of the Southern Landscape. Highlighting the marshlands in Louisiana, the beaches of Florida, the flatlands of the Mississippi Delta and the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia, the exhibition shows the landscape of the American South is as diverse as the people and culture of the region. Southland not only investigates the topographical physical characteristics of the land of the American South, but the metaphysical and emotional role romanticism plays in the understanding of landscape photographs made of and about the American South. Image: Mississippi River from the Bluffs (Near Port Hudson, LA.), 1962 © Elemore Morgan, Sr.

Ghanaian photographer Gerald Annan-Forson portrays both political transformation and daily life in the African city during the last decades of the 20th century. This exhibition is only the second time his work has been shown in North America. His photographs tell the visual story of Ghana after it won independence from British imperial rule on March 6, 1957. Annan-Forson documents the changing landscape of Accra, the nation’s capital, with its subtle moods and evolving cosmopolitanisms. His compositional style, playful focus, and formal repetitions challenge photographic conventions and disrupt viewer expectations by centering quirky figures and offbeat moments. His commitment to both spectacular occasions and the quiet intimacies of Ghanaian life places his images in dialogue with the previous generation of independence-era African photographers such as Felicia Abban, James Barnor, and Malick Sidibé and anticipates the recent explosion of photographers across the continent who are experimenting with documentary storytelling.

Marian Goodman Gallery is very pleased to announce a forthcoming exhibition of works by the acclaimed Ukrainian photographer Boris Mikhailov which will be on view from 10 January to 22 February 2025. Known for his groundbreaking photographic practice which combines his interest in cinema, documentary, performance, and writing, Mikhailov has been an inventive, tender but uncompromising witness to the changing fate of his native Ukraine and the consequent experiences of war and displacement. The exhibition explores his rethinking and reworking of the photographic image by including two video works – one from the late '60s-'70s, Yesterday’s Sandwich, and the most recent, Our Time is Our Burden, 2024 – as well as showcasing three iconic photographic series from the ‘80s and ‘90s. One of the most acclaimed photographers of the former USSR, he represented Ukraine at the Venice Biennale in 2007, and debuted his work in the United States with a solo presentation at MoMA in 2011. Mikhailov was born in 1938 in Kharkhiv, Ukraine, and has spent his life living between Kharkhiv and Berlin. Educated as an engineer, he encountered photography as an art form quite by chance. Through his raw pictures which offer an unequivocal critique of everyday life, he has represented the collective unconscious of Ukraine for over five decades. His embrace of social truths often involves the incorporation of deliberate accidents in his image construction to allow the abject to surface. His work is known also for specific aesthetic innovations, such as hand coloration as part of his conceptual practice, and the superimposition of images as a metaphor for the duality of Soviet life, as first seen in Yesterday’s Sandwich (1960s-70s). Alongside the videos, three seminal sets of photographs will be presented, taken between 1986-1993, which reflect on the changing conditions and inevitable contradictions of Ukrainian life. Operating in a society in which prescribed portrayals of idealized Soviet life were part of the era, these pictures represent the complex scrutiny, irony, and dissent that Mikhailov brought to his work. From the mid eighties, operating behind the ideological façade of the times, just as ‘glasnost’ was on the horizon, to the social upheavals that followed the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991, he seeks to represent everyday humanity, questioning legacies of heroic identity. The earliest of the series on view is a set of black & white works, Salt Lake, 1986, in which we see bathers around a body of water in Southern Ukraine, recalling as Mikhailov says, ‘ times gone by post- revolution, where seemingly, like in the 1920’s and 1930’s people bathed naked, believing in the healing properties of waters. ’ This everyday portrayal of a lakeside idyll, with people mingling and socializing in regenerative spirit, actually depict the ‘underside of a proselytized utopia’ taking place against an industrial landscape with a factory looming in the distance, that was known to pollute the waters with waste. “It seemed to be the quintessence of the life of an average person in the Soviet context; despite the atrocious, polluted, humane environment, the people were relaxed, calm and happy … families, old men, and women lying down like odalisques or Greek statues. “ By the Ground, 1991, a series made five years later, was created the same year as the fall of the Soviet Union. Through a horizon camera that featured a panoramic point of view on his subjects in a novel sepia tone, a destitute reality emerged, reflecting life of the people at ‘ground level. ’ Shot from hip height, solitary figures are captured against an urban landscape, leaving the easy idyll behind. Having depicted subjects in a purposefully nostalgic manner through sepia tones, Mikhailov writes of these images: “Things were beginning to fall apart, the country was breaking up. This was life beyond the collapse. This series begins with a photo of a man lying on the ground… Suddenly I thought of Maxim Gorky’s play “The Lower Depths,” and this inspired the title of the series.” Two years later, Mikhailov continued his experiment with color, returning to the street with his series At Dusk, 1993. Evoking memory and war, At Dusk continues to document a worsening condition in Ukraine, following independence and collapse of the USSR. Using a horizon panoramic camera again, the images are hand-colored cobalt blue, recalling a complex beauty but also the foreboding of the night sky, which Mikhailov remembers having fled as a young boy from ‘sirens, searchlights, and bombs’ in 1941 Kharkhiv, during the advance of World War II. Mikhailov writes, “Blue for me is the color of the blockade, hunger and war.” In his documentation of Soviet life, there’s an underlying tone of dark humor, which serves a means to subvert the status quo, and as commentary to denote the failure of the prevailing systems of communism and capitalism. The narrative that he captures is in stark contrast to the reality and expectation from society and its government, then and especially now, in light of current events. In 1971, Mikhailov co-founded the Vremya group, an underground art collective exploring experimental forms of photographic techniques and methods, which later formed the basis of the Kharkiv School of Photography. He was the head of the photography department of Panorama, the Ukrainian Union of Experimental Photography, from 1987 until 1991. His work was included in the Carnegie International in 1991; and his series By the Ground was included in a show of New Photography that same year at MoMA in 1993. In 1993, he spent a year in Berlin, sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Organisation (DAAD). He was a visiting professor at Harvard University in 2000 and a professor at the Leipzig Academy in 2002-2003. Mikhailov has received many prestigious awards, including the Coutts Contemporary Art Award (1996), the Albert Renger-Patzsch Prize (1997), the Goslarer Kaiserring Award (2015), the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography (2000), the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize (2001). In 2000, his book “Case History” won the prize for best photography book at the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie in Arles, France, and the Kraszna Krausz Book Award in London. In 2021, his slideshow installation Temptation of Death (2017-2019) was awarded the Shevchenko National Prize, the first official recognition of Mikhailov’s work in Ukraine. Mikhailov’s work has been shown in numerous solo exhibitions at such institutions as the Ukrainian Pavilion at Venice Biennale (2007 and 2017), Tate Modern, London (2010), MoMA, New York (2011), Berlinische Galerie (2012), Sprengel Museum, Hannover (2013), PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv (2019), Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden (2020), Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris (2022), Palazzo Esposizioni, Rome (2023), and Fotomuseum Den Haag, The Hague (2024), and the Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen (2024). Marian Goodman Gallery champions the work of artists who stand among the most influential of our time and represents over five generations of diverse thought and practice. The Gallery’s exhibition program, characterized by its caliber and rigor, provides international platforms for its artists to showcase their work, foster vital dialogues with new audiences, and advance their practices within nonprofit and institutional realms. Established in New York City in 1977, Marian Goodman Gallery gained prominence early in its trajectory for introducing the work of seminal European artists to American audiences. Today, through its exhibition spaces in New York, Los Angeles, and Paris, the Gallery maintains its global focus, representing some 50 artists working in the U.S. and internationally.

Marian Goodman Gallery is very pleased to announce a solo exhibition of new work by An-My Lê, Dark Star/Grey Wolf, which will be on view from 10 January to 22 February 2025. The exhibition follows on two important solo museum exhibitions in the United States including her recent 2023 career retrospective, Between Two Rivers/Giữa hai giòng sông/Entre deux rivières at MoMA, and the exhibition On Contested Terrain, at the Carnegie Museum, 2020-2021, which traveled to the Milwaukee Museum and the Amon Carter Museum. In this exhibition, An-My Lê presents two new series of recent photographs, Dark Star and Grey Wolf, continuing her exploration of the contradictory nature of the manifest and the sublime within the contemporary American landscape, and the latter as a present-day locus of technology, power and ambition. In Lê’s work, scale is both temporal and historical, encompassing themes of displacement, war, memory, and resilience. These are present in her earliest black and white pictures of Vietnam (1994-1998) in which she returned to a scarred homeland as a political refugee, to her pictures of war re-enactors in the southern U.S. (Small Wars, 1999-2002), to staged military training exercises in the American desert (29 Palms, 2003-04), to her more recent lens on polarization in the United States through a series of historical fragments (Silent General, 2015 to today). With extraordinary consideration of history and culture, Lê’s view onto her subjects often incorporates an elevated perspective to achieve its signature precision and ethical neutrality. In zooming out to look closer, her stepped back ‘proscenium framing’ brings into crystal clear vision her observations and stories not unlike layers of a history painting. This strategy expands in the current exhibition in which two new series of photographs, both cinematic in their depiction of the constructs of war, explore a new geopolitical gravity, and what Lê defines as the nexus between photography and the post-atomic world. Establishing a thin line between reality and fiction, what is visible and unknown, each begins from reverse points of view: Dark Star, presents starscapes taken in Mesa Verde, and Grey Wolf, aerial views in Montana. While embarking on the latter, Lê discovered her interest in documenting the stars, as well as the evolution of a contemporary and paranoid sublime.

Flower blooms at night invite us to delve into enchanting gardens after dark. Gardens require attention and care, slowly growing and evolving. The gardener must listen and negotiate the vast will and system of its universe. Each plant carries histories, symbolisms, mysteries, and mutations, emerging in these collages as emblems of adaptation. Robert Mann Gallery is pleased to present Night Gardens, a solo exhibition of works by Mary Mattingly on view from December 12, 2024 through February 7, 2025. Gardens produce food, medicine, fragrances of the earth—flowers, mulch, compost—textures, colors, and life. Birds, insects, and hidden movements stir in the dark, reminders that a garden is a world of its own. In this vibrant exhibition, Mattingly creates hyper-detailed images merging physical and digital realms into magical worlds. The twelve images in this exhibition are set in riparian zones where biological life responds to shifting water levels; the stories of these precious ecosystems go back to ancient times. In some myths, lotuses and water lilies rise from waters. Similarly, the thistle, both cursed and cherished, embodies resilience, even dispelling melancholy with its roots. Walking around Socrates Sculpture Park at twilight, the artist became inspired by the moonlit gardens. Mattingly took cuttings, scanned plants, painted and drew flowers, experimented with using fish tanks and mirrors, made flowers out of fabric, and used a digital program to further shape the subjects of her collages. Through these garden scenes, Mattingly “explores how disparate elements—ancient symbols, mythic blooms, evolving plants—come together to speak of survival, imagination, and transformation in a time of environmental upheaval. Night Gardens is an inquiry into the wild and shifting relationships between lifeforms, the self included.” In these images, Mattingly cultivates a garden that begins in reality and transforms into an ethereal myth of what could be. “The garden becomes a miniature world, echoing Foucault’s idea of a symbolic and even sacred enclosure—a universe in-between, where time and space, nature and artifice, history and future all overlap.” Mattingly’s work has been exhibited at locations including the International Center of Photography, the Seoul Art Center, the Bronx Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the New York Public Library, deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Museo National de Belles Artes de la Habana, and the Palais de Tokyo among other venues. Her writings were included in Nature, edited by Jeffrey Kastner in the Whitechapel Documents of Contemporary Art series. She is a recipient of support from the Guggenheim Foundation, A Blade of Grass, New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Art Matters Foundation.

Through portraiture and biography, “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900–1939” illuminates the accomplishments of sixty convention-defying women who crossed the Atlantic to pursue personal and professional aspirations in the vibrant cultural milieu of Paris. As foreigners in a cosmopolitan city, these “exiles” escaped the constraints that limited them at home. Many used their newfound freedom to pursue culture-shifting experiments in a variety of fields, including art, literature, design, publishing, music, fashion, journalism, theater and dance. An impressive number rose to preeminence as cultural arbiters, not merely participating in important modernist initiatives but orchestrating them. The progressive ventures they undertook while living abroad profoundly influenced American culture and opened up new possibilities for women. “Brilliant Exiles” highlights the dynamic role of portraiture in articulating the new identities that American women were at liberty to develop in Paris. “Brilliant Exiles” is the first exhibition to focus on the impact of American women on Paris – and of Paris on American women – from the turn of the 20th century until the outbreak of World War II. Included will be portraits of cultural influencers, such as Josephine Baker, Isadora Duncan, Zelda Fitzgerald, Loïs Mailou Jones, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Anaïs Nin, Gertrude Stein, Ethel Waters, and Anna May Wong. The exhibition is curated by Robyn Asleson, curator of prints and drawings, and will be accompanied by a major catalogue, published by the National Portrait Gallery and Yale University Press. Image: Josephine Baker by Stanislaus Julian Walery, Gelatin silver print, 1926 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

INST-gallery-the-hole-200-H.jpg The Hole is pleased to present tinyvices archive 20th anniversary exhibition curated by Tim Barber. tinyvices.com, the influential emerging artist platform founded and curated by Tim Barber, ran from 2005 - 2011 and showcased an eclectic, international roster of over 600 photographers and artists. The site was a unique, pre-social-media hub, where thousands of daily visitors came to discover new and exciting work. For the site's 20th anniversary, Barber brings together over 100 artists for a show at the gallery, and launches the newly designed website tinyvicesarchive.com. Contributing artists include : Mustafah Abdulaziz, Gilda Aloisi Louise, Aurélien Arbet, Corey Arnold, Tim Barber, Gideon Barnett, Anthony Blasko, Julia Burlingham, Asger Carlsen, Elísabet Davíðsdóttir, Alexandra Demenkova, Chris Dorland, Jessica Eaton, Shayne Ehman, Thobias Faldt, Leo Fitzpatrick, Greg Halpern, Balarama Heller, Victoria Hely-Hutchinson, Alexi Hobbs, Jerry Hsu, Maciek Jasik, Klara Kallstrom, Thatcher Keats, Richard Kern, Sandy Kim, Michael Koehler, Marten Lange, Alain Levitt, Allan Macintyre, Craig Mammano, Ryan McGinley, Santiago Mostyn, Nguan, Reza Nader, Jason Nocito, Boru O'Connell O’Brien, Patrick O’Dell, Christine Osinski, Skye Parrott, Christian Patterson, Asher Penn, Brad Phillips, Matthew Porter, Gus Powell, Caitlin Price Teal, Nuria Rius, Lina Scheynius, Michael Schmelling, Aurel Schmidt, Stephen Schuster, Robin Schwartz, Darnell Scott, Dan Siney, Brooke Smith, Lenard Smith, Dash Snow, Brea Souders, Peter Sutherland, Ed Templeton, Agnes Thor, Nathanael Turner, Alexis Vasilikos, Hannah Whitaker, Logan White, Daisuke Yokota, Nick Zinner & many more.

St. Louis-based contemporary artist Jess T. Dugan explores facets of identity through their photography, video, and writing. Grounded in their own experience as a queer, nonbinary person, Dugan’s work addresses the universal human need to understand, express oneself, and connect with others. Dugan’s previous body of work, To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults (2018), a series of portraits and in-depth interviews collected in collaboration with scholar Vanessa Fabbre, received acclaim for providing visibility to a community whose lives and struggles have largely gone unrepresented in a nuanced or thoughtful way. This exhibition is curated by Christopher Jones, Stanton B.and Nancy W. Kaplan Curator of Photography and Media Arts.

The Oceano Dunes just south of San Luis Obispo in California are known in part for their majestic natural formations and miles of windswept rolling sand. These are the iconic dunes of Edward Weston’s breathtaking photographs; of Cecil B. DeMille’s recently excavated and restored sphinxes from his 1923 Ten Commandments movie set; of the Dunites—a bohemian group of artists who squatted in dune shacks in the 1920’s-40’s—and of the nearly lost Northern Chumash tribe who holds a vast and rich cultural history going back over 10,000 years. Today, the Oceano Dunes have been transformed into a place that is far from the utopian American West landscape that was embraced by the Dunites. Rather, it is now an active and wildly popular State Vehicular Recreation Area filled with hikers and campers, RV encampments, and members of the local community. California State Parks issues 1,500 day passes and 600 nightly camping permits to the riders for their off-road, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) that they rip up and down the dunes wreaking havoc on the environment. Vehicles grinding sand under their wheels everyday creates dust blowing off the dunes, generating days of the worst air quality in the nation for the nearby residents. The dust contains particulate matter small enough to lodge in the lungs, causing asthma and other medical conditions. Photographer Lana Z Caplan, who hails from Brooklyn, now calls this region home herself, and for seven years she has engaged with tribal leaders, land use and city pollution boards, historians, the ATV community, and other vested people to learn, photograph, and create a visual conversation about the complexities of this unique part of the country. Caplan invested herself in not only learning and understanding the vast history of the area, but also spending significant time getting to know the people on a human level that she was photographing. Her book Oceano - for seven generations, published by Kehrer Verlag, is a rich exploration of the histories and intersections of people and place. In addition to landscape images of the dunes and surrounding structures and geographies, Caplan’s solo exhibition, Oceano - for seven generations at the historic Harvey Milk Photo Center provides photographic and video portraits of some of the RV inhabitants, the ATV riders, as well as individuals who live in the area year round. Floor to ceiling color video portraits of riders in the style of Andy Warhol’s screen tests are projected in contrast to mural size photographs of the undisturbed landscape in striking black and white. She also includes photographs of related historical objects and writings that bring Chumash history and the Dunites to life. Threaded throughout the book and exhibition are quotes from archives of past inhabitants, as well as essays from current tribal leaders, and cultural thinkers. Mona Olivas Tucker, the tribal chair of the yak tityu tityu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe (ytt Tribe) and her son, Matthew D. Goldman, deepen the weight of the considerations in the writings they provided for this project. Goldman's essay encapsulates what is at stake with the intersection of landscape and human impact. He writes, “I watch over special places and feel proud of my ancestors. Walking the Dunes can feel like heaven. On the nights when no one is there, it’s a sanctuary. ... During the times when the beach is flooded with people and vehicles, I feel sick and sad. Huge amounts of filth trash is left behind in a place I love. Damage by vehicles is happening to the dunes, damage to animals, birds, plants, and beautiful flowers. Some won’t survive and won’t be seen again.” Professor, author, and artist Hanna Rose Shell accompanied Caplan on an excursion into the dune area and her essay for the book includes observations on both the topography as well as the people and messaging present. The viewer is led along with Caplan and Shell as they navigate the conflicting human interests and agendas with the region. She writes, "There is a defiant aggression in the air, infused with the saltwater, and a controlled chaos of vehicles large and small revving engines, spinning in circles. The smell is a mixture of chorizo and motor oil." All of this combines to present a wide-arcing consideration of the significant scope and implications of using and utilizing natural spaces for human gain. Environmental and cultural losses and implications are inherent, charging this cultural landscape with significance far beyond the Oceano Dunes.

The Fahey/Klein Gallery is pleased to present Soft White Underbelly, an exhibition of photographic works by Mark Laita. This powerful series reveals raw and real glimpses of humanity’s most vulnerable communities, encouraging a conversation around the individuals and realities that often go unseen. Soft White Underbelly, a metaphor for vulnerability, was born from Laita’s 2009 photo series Created Equal. These new portraits, shot against stark and simple backdrops, highlight the individuality and humanity of his subjects. By emphasizing the lived experiences of his sitters, Laita’s photographs eschew judgment and focus instead on storytelling. Each image in the series captures a sense of unguarded honesty and reflects the vulnerability and complexity of life on the edges of society. Soft White Underbelly explores how a photograph can serve as a document of a person’s state at a specific moment in time. The Soft White Underbelly project has garnered international attention through its accompanying video interviews, which have amassed over a billion views. This exhibition offers an opportunity to experience these works in a new context—up close, and on a scale that allows for deeper reflection on the stories behind the faces. “In my view, my video interviews and portraits are character studies that attempt to reveal what’s behind our tendency to self-destruct.” Mark Laita. Mark Laita, a Los Angeles-based photographer, is renowned for his striking portraiture and meticulous attention to detail. Raised in Detroit and Chicago, Laita discovered his passion for photography at fifteen, documenting Chicago’s homeless population—a project that evolved over three decades. He holds a photography degree from Columbia College and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Laita’s work has been exhibited internationally and is included in prominent public and private collections. He currently divides his time between Los Angeles and New York City.

David Yarrow: The Adventure Continues… invites viewers on a journey through the remarkable work of internationally acclaimed photographer David Yarrow. Featuring a dynamic mix of his awe-inspiring wildlife images and meticulously staged narrative scenes, the exhibition showcases Yarrow’s ability to merge the raw beauty of the natural world with the evocative power of storytelling. Since 2014, Yarrow’s collaboration with Holden Luntz Gallery has introduced audiences to his unique photographic vision. Known for his large-format black-and-white images, Yarrow’s work immerses viewers in dramatic and untamed environments, offering an extraordinary sense of intimacy and immediacy. “The reason I take pictures is not just to show people what I saw, but to make them feel what I felt,” Yarrow explains, a sentiment that resonates throughout his body of work. In his wildlife photography, Yarrow captures apex predators and vast, untouched landscapes with a tension and immediacy that transports viewers directly into the scene. His narrative works, meanwhile, are grand cinematic productions, often featuring cultural icons like Cindy Crawford, who remarked on his ability to create images that feel “timeless and fresh at the same time.” These intricate compositions blur the lines between reality and imagination, underscoring Yarrow’s dedication to crafting stories that transcend traditional photography. Yarrow’s work has garnered praise from figures across fields. Tom Brady has said, “David’s photographs make you stop, look, and think,” a testament to the emotional and intellectual impact of his images. Each piece reflects Yarrow’s relentless pursuit of excellence, whether it’s trekking through remote wilderness or directing elaborate staged shoots. David Yarrow: The Adventure Continues… celebrates the artistry and adventurous spirit that define Yarrow’s career. From the raw intensity of wildlife encounters to the richly layered storytelling of his narrative images, the exhibition is a testament to Yarrow’s ability to reframe the world through his lens, making the extraordinary feel close, real, and unforgettable. Image: Bad Asses (Colour) © David Yarrow:

Peter Fetterman Gallery is delighted to announce the upcoming exhibition, Willy Ronis, celebrating the profound impact of one of the great French Humanist photographers of the 20th century. Opening on December 7, 2024, this exhibition will offer an opportunity to experience the iconic works of Willy Ronis, whose intimate and evocative images captured the heart of post-war France. Willy Ronis will feature a carefully curated selection of the photographer’s most celebrated images, as well as rare, lesser-known works that highlight the full scope of his remarkable career. Known for his timeless portrayals of everyday life in Paris—from children playing in the streets to the quiet moments of love and work — Ronis’ photography resonates with a universal tenderness and deep human connection. The exhibition will be on view from December 7, 2024, to March 1, 2025. A reception to celebrate the opening will be held on Saturday, December 7, 2024, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, with accompanying refreshments, offering an opportunity to explore the works of this legendary artist.

Peter Fetterman Gallery is excited to announce "Woof Woof: The Dog in Photography," an exhibition celebrating the special bond between humans and dogs through the lens of some of the most iconic photographers in history. Opening on December 7, 2024, this exhibition will feature a captivating collection of images that explore the deep connection, joy, and companionship shared with our canine friends. Woof Woof: The Dog in Photography will include works by renowned artists such as Kristoffer Albrecht, Sid Avery, Dorothy Bohm, Wynn Bullock, Giacomo Brunelli, Susan Burnstine, Mark Citret, John Cohen,Georges Dambier, John Divola, Robert Doisneau, Elliott Erwitt, René Groebli, Cig Harvey, William Helburn, Thurston Hopkins, Horst P. Horst, Jamie Johnson, Herman Leonard, Jacques Lowe, Kurt Markus, David Montgomery, Daido Moriyama, Sebastião Salgado, Pentti Sammallahti, Traer Scott, George H. Seeley, Sabine Weiss and more. Each photograph in this exhibition offers a unique perspective on the dog’s role in human life, from playful street scenes to intimate moments of quiet companionship. With both historic and contemporary images, this show invites viewers to reflect on the emotional richness that dogs bring to our lives, captured in unforgettable moments. Woof Woof is a must-see for photography enthusiasts and dog lovers alike, highlighting the universal and timeless bond between humans and their furry companions. Image: Dog - The Animals 2010 © Giacomo Brunelli

Kwame Brathwaite, Renée Cox, Gordon Parks, Ming Smith. “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1968, three months before his assassination. Profound and timely when delivered during the Civil Rights Movement; this positivity has helped shape the landscape of Black American ethos. In times of uncertainty and disappointment, Dr. King’s passage is a reminder that hope is evergreen. Jenkins Johnson Gallery is pleased to present Infinite Hope, an exhibition of historical photographs by groundbreaking, internationally renowned artists Kwame Brathwaite, Renée Cox, Gordon Parks, and Ming Smith. The exhibition opens following Martin Luther King Jr. Day and remains on view through February, Black History Month. Jenkins Johnson Gallery will present this ambitious museum-scale exhibition at 1150 25th Street, San Francisco, a 6,000 square foot venue formerly housing the McEvoy Foundation. Spanning the late 20th century, Infinite Hope presents a discourse around philosophical, social, and aesthetic developments for African Americans. Starting in the 1950s with Parks, and Brathwaite, it continues through the present with Smith and Cox. The multigenerational artists address the unique social circumstances of their lives and times. Each artist represents the triumph over the challenges faced by their ancestors, with “hope” as the torch passed from one to the next. Leaning on the exhibition’s central theme of unity, the artists reject the notion of the Black family as fragmented, and the Black male is present and celebrated. The images emphasize both the power and endurance of hope, as well as the disquiet, friction, and doubt that hope dispels. Image: Kwame Brathwaite, Untitled (Couple’s Embrace), 1971

Pace is pleased to present an exhibition of recent photographs by Richard Misrach at its 540 West 25th Street gallery in New York. On view from January 17 to March 1, 2025, this will be the first presentation devoted to CARGO, a body of work that Misrach began in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the last week of the show, advance copies of CARGO (Aperture, May 2025) will be available to view at the gallery. Pace will also host a talk between the artist and Sarah Meister, Executive Director of Aperture. Misrach is known for his poignant, large-scale color images that lean into social, political, and environmental issues while also engaging with the history of photography. In his radiant, contemplative works, Misrach—who is based in California—often examines the destructive impact of human interaction with the natural world. His works have examined man-made fires and floods, nuclear test sites, and animal burial pits in the American West; the petrochemical corridor in Louisiana; the landscape of the US-Mexico border; as well as more lyrical subjects like San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge and his recent hydrofoil surfer series in Hawaii. Harkening back to his Golden Gate Bridge series—which the artist produced from his front porch over the course of four years beginning in 1997—CARGO centers on the light, water, and weather of the San Francisco Bay. He began creating this body of work in 2021 amid the pandemic and its attendant lockdowns. Captured at different times of day from a single location in San Francisco, these photographs speak to his enduring interest in bearing witness to the world around him from a singular vantage point over the course of months or years. In a statement, Misrach describes this series as a meditation on and celebration of the setting of the San Francisco Bay. With these works, he also contemplates the design, function, and history of the ships in the bay, and all of the thousands of workers implied in the images. “Behind these ships, there is a remarkable—if invisible—global workforce that builds them, and inhabits them, that packs and unloads them, that maneuvers them over oceans and canals, sometimes in dangerous situations, toward their eventual berths,” Misrach writes. “Along with the extraordinary achievement and value these cargo ships symbolize, they also represent the complex, challenging side of our critical, intertwined, international commerce. In this historical moment, they allude to the threat that is global warming.”

Drawing from works by more than 40 photographers in the ICP collection, with the addition of exhibition prints from contemporary photographers, American Job: 1940-2011 highlights the collection’s breadth and contemporary relevance by surveying the photographic response to labor organizing and strike activity, race and gender discrimination in labor, organized labor’s role in politics, labor and activism, and the intersection of labor and the social changes wrought by the economic restructurings of the twentieth century. This exhibition is guest curated by Makeda Best, photography historian.and Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Oakland Museum of California. Organized chronologically in five sections, the exhibition explores the transformation of work in America, and with it the rise of activism and new forms of solidarity in pursuit of humane working conditions and economic equity. Including over 130 photographs, along with photobooks and a wide range of ephemera that underscore text and image based storytelling, American Job: 1940-2011 introduces lesser-known images from the ICP collection, provides new contexts for celebrated bodies of work, illustrates the contributions of professional photojournalists and community-based documentarians to the historical record of the twentieth century, and demonstrates the breadth of ICP’s collection of works from across the country. This exhibition features works by photographers including Cornell Capa, Chien-Chi Chang, Arnold Eagle, Robert Frank, Otto Hagel, Bettye Lane, Freda Leinwand, Ken Light, Danny Lyon, Susan Meiselas, Charles Moore, Barbara Norfleet, Gordon Parks, Sophie Rivera, Accra Shepp, Eugene Smith, Dylan Vitone, Todd Webb, Dan Weiner, Bill Wood, and many more.

Curated by Sara Ickow, Associate Director of Exhibitions, Keisha Scarville Guest Curator, and Elisabeth Sherman, Senior Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Collections at ICP, To Conjure: New Archives in Recent Photography brings together the work of seven artists primarily working in photography—Widline Cadet, Koyoltzintli, Tarrah Krajnak, Shala Miller, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Keisha Scarville, and Sasha Wortzel. The exhibition reimagines what an archive can be or might look like—more than just a means of recuperating the past, these artists utilize the archive as a form for imagining new futures. Moving away from the centrality of the institutional archive, the artists in To Conjure expand its parameters by engaging with materials—clothing, instruments, the landscape and more—beyond photographs and documents alone. By working with a myriad of contemporary materials, these artists create new histories and material sensibilities.

The career of photographer Weegee (born Arthur Fellig, 1899-1968) is often divided into two distinct phases, one gritty, the other glamorous. Celebrated for his sensationalist images of crime scenes, fires, car crashes, and the onlookers who witnessed these harrowing events across New York City in the 1930s and ‘40s, Weegee also spent time in his career documenting the joyful crowds, premieres, and celebrities of Hollywood. His documentary images on both coasts gave way to experimental portraits late in his life, which were distorted using a kaleidoscope and other tricks from his technical toolbox. Weegee: Society of the Spectacle aims to reconcile these two sides of Weegee through an investigation of his focus, throughout his career, on a critique of 20th century popular culture and its insatiable appetite for spectacle. Weegee: Society of the Spectacle is curated by Clément Chéroux, Director of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson (FHCB), Paris, in collaboration with the Weegee Archive at the International Center of Photography (ICP), New York. The exhibition opens at ICP after a run at the FHCB and the Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid. The exhibition will be accompanied by the publication Weegee: Society of the Spectacle (Thames & Hudson).

The upcoming four years promise significant shifts in political, social, economic, and identity politics. These changes demand a reevaluation of how we define and interact with geographic and interpersonal boundaries at all levels. The exhibition "Beyond Boundaries" invited artists to explore the multifaceted nature of these lines. It prompts us to consider not only the limitations boundaries impose, but also their potential as catalysts for innovation and change. The works presented represent a diverse range of perspectives, challenging assumptions and encouraging dialogue about where boundaries are defined, how they are enforced, and what happens when they are crossed or redrawn. Are these lines static or dynamic? Are they inclusive or exclusive? And how can artistic expression help us imagine a future where boundaries are redefined to create a more just and equitable world, especially in the context of evolving political landscapes? The more than 40 works included in this exhibition serve as a platform for reflection and conversation, a space where we can grapple with the complex realities of a rapidly changing world and explore the potential for transformative action in the face of uncertainty. The artists featured offer potent visual and conceptual narratives that reveal the transformative power of art in reimagining our relationships with the boundaries that shape our lives. Juror, Demetri Broxton, is a Bay Area artist, independent curator, and the Executive Director of Root Division in San Francisco. Born and raised in Oakland, CA, he earned a BFA at UC Berkeley with an emphasis in painting and an MA in Museum Studies from San Francisco State University. His artwork has been exhibited internationally and most recently at the Chinese Historical Society of America, Art Gallery of Alberta, de Young Museum, Crocker Art Museum, Kala Art Institute, and the Norton Museum of Art. Broxton’s artwork is held in several private and public collections including the Monterey Art Museum, de Young Museum, and Crocker Art Museum. He is represented by Patricia Sweetow Gallery in Los Angeles, CA.

Obscura Gallery presents IAN MARKUS: Fragments of the Frontier, a photographic exploration of the fading culture of ranching in Montana. With imagery created from a 4 x 5” film camera, Ian composites two or more negatives in the darkroom to create ethereal, large-format gelatin silver prints. The resulting ghostly images give a visceral interpretation of the fading cowboy culture that Ian has encountered in the contemporary ranches of Montana. Santa Fean Ian Markus is the son of the late Obscura Gallery photographer Kurt Markus, who had a long storied career including photographing cowboy culture, and publishing three cowboy monographs since the 1980s. Ian has witnessed this subject matter since he was a young boy accompanying his father on photographic expeditions in the West and assisting Kurt for many long hours in the darkroom. This work provides an insightful perspective into the current state of ranching, showing the juxtaposition of a practice that is facing numerous challenges in our contemporary climate. "’So, you're here to photograph the end?’ a couple of cowboys asked me without any prompting. At the time, I didn’t know how to respond. My father’s photographs of the West and cowboy culture had always inspired me. They made me curious about what it was really like—not staged, not polished. I didn’t want to dress anyone in new, starched clothes or have them stare meaningfully into the sunset. I wanted to capture life as it is now. That was why I was there.” -IM “It wasn’t until I began reviewing contact sheets with Jennifer Schlesinger [Director, Obscura Gallery] that I realized there was more to my work at those ranches. The fading traditions of cowboy culture—the shift from horses to ATVs (or ’ram and jam,’ as one legendary cowboy put it)—mirrored my own journey with photography. Like the cowboys adjusting to a new way of life, I was navigating my practice using film cameras, tools that require patience and a connection to the past.” - IM “The Graflex camera became the perfect medium to reflect this duality. It bridged the time between the cowboys my father photographed and the ones I met—generations still deeply connected to their heritage. To them, wearing that hat still means something.” –IM Ian Markus (b. 1988) grew up in Kalispell, Montana and graduated from Montana State University with a focus on Graphic Design. The son of the late Kurt Markus widely known for his Cowboy and fashion photography, Ian was immersed in the world of photography at a very early age as he spent most of his life working alongside Kurt—whether in the darkroom or out on photo shoots—and those experiences shaped the artist that he is today. In 2009, Ian and Kurt collaborated on the documentary It's About You, a Super 8 film chronicling John Mellencamp's tour of baseball fields across America while recording his latest album. Celebrated for its creativity, the film was featured at SXSW and the Tribeca Film Festival. Ian has been working on his own photographic documentary about the fading Cowboy culture the past several years, and the show at Obscura Gallery is the debut of his first solo photographic exhibition.

This ongoing exhibition celebrates the diverse perspectives artists have brought to the medium of photography, featuring a varied presentation of works from the Museum’s holdings. The latest selection of photographs, on view through spring 2025, focuses on music, from community bands to Tina Turner. Works by Ernest Withers offer a glimpse of the vibrant Memphis music scene of the 1950s and 1960s, while Henry Horenstein captures country music performers and fans alike. With works by seven artists that range across five decades, this installation attests to music’s power to offer us joy, community, and catharsis.

Endicott College is excited to host Fran Forman – Suspended Realities: A 20-Year Journey through Whimsy to Noir, an exhibition showcasing two decades of the artist’s imaginative work. The exhibition will run from January 21 to March 14, 2025, at the Heftler Visiting Artist Gallery in the Walter J. Manninen Center for the Arts. Closing Reception: Join us on March 12, 2025, from 4:00–6:00 PM for a closing reception to meet the artist and explore her work. Fran Forman combines photography, digital painting, and AI techniques to create stunning, layered visual narratives that explore themes of longing, disconnection, and hidden emotions. With 25 years of experience in graphic design and an MFA, Fran’s work blends technical skill with emotional depth. The exhibition highlights her evolution from whimsical imagery to darker, noir-inspired themes, drawing inspiration from Caravaggio, Edward Hopper, Hammerschøi, and Gregory Crewdson. Over 35 images are on display, plus some recent short experimental videos.

Born in 1947 in Douglas, Arizona, and based in Tucson, Louis Carlos Bernal was a pioneering Chicano photographer, among the very first to envision his work in the medium not as documentation, but as an art form. He began his career in the early 1970s in the wake of the Chicano civil rights movement, articulating a quietly political approach to photography with the aim of heralding the strength, spiritual and cultural values, and profound family ties that marked the lives of Mexican Americans who were marginalized and little seen. Initially focusing on the people of modest means he encountered in the barrios of Tucson, the city where he lived and taught, Bernal eventually traveled to small towns throughout the Southwest, where he portrayed individuals and families in outdoor settings or in their homes surrounded by belongings, tabletops filled with religious statuary and curios, and at times, rooms absent of people that nevertheless express the tenor of the lives lived within them. In a relatively short career that spanned the 1970s and 1980s, Bernal demonstrated his profound gift for magnifying the lives of his subjects and for capturing the essence of their character in a single image. In addition to the photographs made in Southwestern barrio communities, the exhibition will also include examples of Bernal’s early experimental work, photographs he made during his frequent trips to Mexico, and a selection of never-seen images he produced in Cuba. It is curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, a specialist in the history of Latinx photography, and will be accompanied by a catalog to be co-published by the Center for Creative Photography and Aperture. Image: ​​Louis Carlos Bernal, El Gato, Canutillo, New Mexico, ​1979, Gift of Morrie Camhi, ​© Lisa Bernal Brethour and Katrina Bernal

To mark the 25th anniversary of the apexart Fellowship Program, we're presenting 30 Days of Culture Shock, a group exhibition of photography and video works by current and former Fellows from the U.S. and abroad. The apexart Fellowship is an alternative educational program that invites creative individuals to step far outside their comfort zones and engage with unfamiliar cultures, ideas, people and experiences. Differing from residencies that focus on production, the apexart fellowship asks artists to pause their creative endeavors and immerse themselves for thirty days in a city they have never been to. Instead of networking and art tourism, Fellows engage in a rigorous itinerary of activities including: hands-on workshops, lectures, dance classes, and community focused volunteering. Unlike most artist residency programs, the apexart Fellowship provides a rich, 30-day schedule of non-art activities, while requiring Fellows to refrain from producing creative works. The apexart Fellowship schedule prioritizes educational experiences that are outside of the Fellow's stated interests. This diversity of activities leaves Fellows with new ideas, approaches, and content to incorporate into their creative practices. Our NYC fellowship is for internationally based artists to travel to New York City, and our INTL fellowship is for NYC-based artists to travel outside of the USA. In doing new and interesting things, and having time away from their usual responsibilities, apexart Fellows can reflect on what they do with greater perspective. apexart Fellows keep a public journal for the duration of their program, and participate in a recorded exit interview at the end of their Fellowship, which can be found online. By providing a space for contemplation and exposure to new experiences, the apexart Fellowship is designed to be a catalyst for creativity. 30 Days of Culture Shock is a reflection on the transformative power of the program, showcasing how these diverse experiences influence and inspire the Fellows' work. For some of the artists in the exhibition it has been years while for others it has only been months, but all of the work featured is in some way in response to their time in the fellowship. Join us.

An exhibition of photography by the acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders will be on view from January 28 through March 15, 2025 at Howard Greenberg Gallery. Written Once will showcase images made in the 1970s and 1980s when Wenders was researching locations for his films in the American West or traveling the country for film events. A key element of the exhibition is text written by Wenders to accompany a number of the photographs, which will be featured together with the images in the gallery. Wenders’ poetic stories surrounding the images give the viewer an extraordinary window into his filmmaking as well as his day-to-day life in the film world. The title of the exhibition, Written Once, is a nod to the two photographic series on view: Written in the West (1983-1987) and Once (1977-1984). Written in the West In 1983, Wenders set out on a road trip of the American West, photographing the unique light and desolate landscape in preparation for his iconic film Paris, Texas (1984). Wenders’ images from Texas, Arizonia, New Mexico and California are transformed by the filmmaker’s cinematic vision as he searches for the mythology of the frontier in the vast landscape. The trip resulted in the series, Written in the West, which was first exhibited in 1986 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. “It was another way of preparing for the film, too, a different kind of research that had less to do with locations than with the light in the West. I had never made a film in that landscape and was hoping that taking photographs would sharpen my understanding of the light and landscape, my sense of empathy with it. So although these photos were taken in connection with the film we made in that part of the country, they are quite independent of it, despite the fact that a lot of the photos were taken in Houston, Los Angeles, and other locations in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico where we did in fact shoot the film. But these large-format photos were my own personal, private way of preparing for the film,” Wenders noted in an interview in his 2015 photography book, Written in the West Revisited (Schirmer/Mosel & D.A.P.) Once In the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, Wenders photographed his travels and encounters in Hollywood. Using the same command of the art of storytelling found in his films, Wenders presents a written anecdote with each image that often starts out with “Once, I…..” These behind-the-scenes accounts feature stories about his travel experiences often with the extraordinary group of actors and directors that have crossed his path including John Lurie, Jim Jarmusch, Dennis Hopper, Claire Denis, Elia Kazan, Isabella Rossellini, and Harry Dean Stanton. Among the highlights is a 1977 photograph, When Martin Scorsese had a flat tire II. Wenders is both the imagemaker and the narrator of an unpredictable moment: while traveling in the remote landscape of the Valley of the Gods in Utah, he encountered a car pulled over by the side of the road with a flat tire. The man underneath the car was Martin Scorsese, who subsequently discovered that the rental car did not have a spare tire! Autobiographical in scope with a literary tradition found in his filmmaking, the narrated texts and photographic trajectories provide an intimate look at the making of picture stills and their relationship to moving images. About Wim Wenders Wim Wenders (born 1945 in Düsseldorf) became internationally known as one of the protagonists of the New German Cinema of the 1970s. Today, he is considered as one of the most important figures of contemporary world cinema. The work of the screenwriter, director, producer, photographer and author includes multiple award-winning feature and documentary films, photo exhibitions presented worldwide, as well as numerous photo books, film books and text collections. He lives and works in Berlin with his wife Donata Wenders. His films Paris, Texas (1984) and Wings of Desire (1987) are today part of the international canon of film heritage, as are his innovative documentaries Pina, Buena Vista Social Club and The Salt of the Earth. His two most recent films had their world premiere at the Festival de Cannes in 2023: Anselm, his documentary film in 3D about Anselm Kiefer, and his Japanese feature film Perfect Days, for which lead actor Kōji Yakusho received the award for Best Actor in Cannes. Perfect Days, became his internationally most successful film and was nominated for an Oscar in the “Best International Feature Film” category in 2024. In 2012, Wim and Donata Wenders established the Wenders Foundation in Wenders' native city Düsseldorf. The non-profit foundation brings together the artist's cinematic, photographic and literary lifework and makes it permanently accessible to the public. In the process, the films are restored to state-of-the-art digital masters. The Wim Wenders Foundation is also engaged in film education for schools and supports (in cooperation with the Film und Medienstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen) the promotion of young talent in the field of innovative cinematic storytelling with the Wim Wenders Scholarship. Image: Sun Dries, Las Vegas, New Mexico from the series 'Writen in the West' 1983 © Win Wenders

Haines Gallery proudly presents State Shift, our second solo exhibition with artist MEGHANN RIEPENHOFF. Opening in tandem with SF Art Week 2025, this highly anticipated show debuts a poetic, visceral, and personal body of work that expands Riepenhoff’s collaboration with both the cyanotype and the environment. Riepenhoff creates her cyanotypes directly within the landscape, allowing the elements to leave physical inscriptions on paper coated with photographic materials. Marking an important breakthrough in her practice, State Shift sees the introduction of new pigments and gestures into Riepenhoff’s process. The signature inky indigos and glacial blues of her cyanotypes are transformed with vivid flashes of green, coral, magenta, and shimmering metallic hues, the result of organic materials (mica, mushroom ink, and ginkgo chlorophyll) and manufactured pigments (a nod to the human presence in the landscape). The title State Shift, which names both the exhibition and the series on view, is a geological term describing dramatic and sudden changes to ecosystems — often when critical thresholds are crossed. “The physical nature of my work, where photography-based media come in contact with rain, waves, wind, and wintry environments, is a call to be in closer contact with our environment, in a time of deep separation between humans and our ecosystems,” Riepenhoff has said. In issuing this call — both to herself and to viewers — the artist invites us all to consider the personal and collective shifts we might make to preserve our shared home. State Shift emerged from difficulty and explores sites of climate devastation, but is rooted in the possibilities of transformation and hope. “Hope,” the author and activist Rebecca Solnit has written, “is a belief that what we do might matter, an understanding that the future is not yet written.” State Shift coincides with Second Nature: Photography in the Age of the Anthropocene, a major group exhibition opening at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University in February 2025 that features Riepenhoff's work. Originating at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, Second Nature will travel to the Anchorage Museum, AK following its presentation at the Cantor.

The Norton is proud to welcome Mexican artist Fabiola Menchelli as the 2024-25 Mary Lucille Dauray Artist-in-Residence. Her solo exhibition, certain silence, features photographs through which Menchelli questions how risk and risk-taking impacts our understanding of photography and representation. Created in complete darkness and without the use of a camera, Menchelli relies upon touch and sound to guide her gestures. Each atmospheric work is not only the result of Menchelli’s physical movements, but also her total embrace of chance and accident, allowing streams of color-filtered light to reach each piece of light-sensitive paper.

NMWA presents evocative documentary and studio-based photographs by Bronx-based artist Samantha Box (b. 1977, Kingston, Jamaica) in her inaugural solo exhibition in Washington, DC. Seen together for the first time, Box’s two major bodies of work “Invisible” and “Caribbean Dreams” reveal layered conversations around the intersectionality of nationality, race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. In her breakthrough body of work, “Invisible” (2005 to 18), Box photographed a community of New York City’s LGBTQIA+ youth of color living at Sylvia’s Place, the city’s only homeless emergency shelter. She went on to document at-risk transgender and nonbinary youth participating in Kiki ballroom pageants and performances. Her images depict grief, joy, inner conflict, and resolve, signifying the intense bonds between these young people, who often lost their homes and faced discrimination after revealing their sexual identities to relatives and loved ones. In 2018, Box shifted from documentary photography to a studio-based practice in her ongoing series “Caribbean Dreams.” As the child of a Black Jamaican father and South Asian Trinidadian mother, Box explores her own experiences around her diasporic cultural identity. Staging color still lifes that recall the lush tableaus of 17th-century Dutch painting, Box connects the exploits and long-lasting impacts of colonialism through images of sumptuous, ripened fruit, family heirlooms, self-portraits, and vintage photographs. This exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Des Moines Art Center (DMAC). NMWA and DMAC are staging concurrent exhibitions of Box’s work in fall 2024, each highlighting a different facet of her practice. Image: Kristen, on 34th Street, on her way to work on the stroll, from the series “The Shelter, The Street,” 2008 © Samantha Box

Jeff Larason’s Boston and Lynn Saville’s New York is a captivating exploration of quiet moments within two bustling urban environments. This exhibition combines the powerful and evocative urban imagery of Boston photographer Jeff Larason and New York City photographer Lynn Saville. Both artists delve deep into the visual language of cities, capturing moments of solitude and reflection that are often overshadowed by the energy and chaos of urban life. Larason and Saville reveal a serene, reflective, and unexpectedly beautiful side of city life through their unique lenses.

The epic historical and artistic photographs of O. Winston Link (1914-2001) celebrate the wonder of the now obsolete steam-powered locomotive. With the exhibition Hot Shot, Robert Mann Gallery presents a selection of classic images from Linkʼs body of work produced in the 1950s. When the Norfolk & Western Railway began to convert its operations from steam to diesel, Link spent five years documenting the trains and the towns along the line in Virginia. A longtime hero of railfans, Link received overdue art world recognition for the prescience of his photographic vision in the decades before his death. His flare for cinematic mise-en-scène and for staging images is now acknowledged to have paved the way for the dramatic tableaux of luminaries such as Gregory Crewdson and Jeff Wall, while his interest in the socio-historical infrastructure of the railroad has inspired another vein of photographers such as Jeff Brouws and Mark Ruwede A consummate craftsman, Link yielded an array of artificial lighting innovations to produce exactly the atmosphere he desired, resulting in images that are uncanny and magical. A plane, a train and some automobiles are all aspects of high-speed American imagery in the iconic Hotshot Eastbound, Iaeger, West Virginia, 1956. Here the dramatic nature of Linkʼs production thematized by the eroticism-tinged space of the drive-in movie theater. Carefree summer nights continue for the children splashing playfully at the Hawksbill Creek Swimming Hole as a locomotive barrels by overhead. That his works have variously been described as surrealist, futurist, Norman Rockwell-ian, filmic, an (constructed) historical documents, is testament to their profound appeal as images. Indeed, for all their artful construction, his railroad photographs do not merely fetishize the sumptuous effects of smoke and light, but contextualize the trains within human narratives. Linkʼs works brilliantly animate the iconic steam railroad as a fantastical aspect of a bygone, everyday American life. Having worked directly with the artist in the last decade of his life, Robert Mann Gallery remains the premier source for and expert on the photographs of O. Winston Link. His legacy is honored in the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, Virginia. Linkʼs photographs are held in numerous prominent museum collections internationally, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, The Permanent Collections at Haverford College, Pennsylvania, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Paul Cupido, Cig Harvey, Jeffrey Conley, and Pentti Sammallahti The intricate connection between humanity and nature is as timeless as it is profound: a delicate interplay of observation, reverence, and shared existence. Presented by Peter Fetterman Gallery and Leica Store San Francisco, Interwoven brings together the evocative works of Paul Cupido, Cig Harvey, Jeffrey Conley, and Pentti Sammallahti, each artist offering a unique perspective on our relationship with the natural world. Paul Cupido’s ethereal compositions blur boundaries, inviting us to experience nature as an emotional and spiritual realm. His images, suspended between memory and reality, embody the fleeting and ephemeral beauty of life itself. Cig Harvey’s vivid and poetic imagery bridges the sensory and the symbolic. Through her lens, nature becomes a richly textured canvas, intertwining human presence with landscapes that feel both intimate and otherworldly. Jeffrey Conley’s black-and-white landscapes honor the serene and timeless rhythms of nature. With a mastery of light and shadow, Conley transforms ordinary moments into meditative spaces that quietly remind us of the earth’s enduring beauty. Pentti Sammallahti’s storytelling captures the harmony and humor of life in the natural world. His monochromatic works reveal fleeting moments of connection between humans, animals, and their shared environment, underscoring the unity of all living beings. Together, these artists weave a visual narrative that explores the fragile yet enduring bond between humans and nature. Their works ask us to reflect on our place within this intricate web and inspire us to see the natural world with renewed awe, gratitude, and respect. Interwoven is a celebration of this vital relationship, urging us to recognize nature not only as a backdrop to our lives but as an inseparable part of who we are.

“What knowing watchfulness in the eyes of a twelve-year-old… at once guarded, yet guileless. She is the very picture of contradiction: on the one hand diffident and ambivalent, on the other forthright and impatient; half pertness and half pout. Impossibly, she is both artless and sophisticated, a child and yet a woman.” - Sally Mann from At Twelve (1988) Jackson Fine Art is delighted to announce the premiere of previously unreleased photographs from Sally Mann’s groundbreaking series At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women, a collective portrait of twelve-year-olds on the verge of adulthood. The artist is renowned for her evocative work exploring themes of family, identity, and the American South. The portraits in this exhibition were taken by Mann between 1983-1985 with her large format camera in Rockbridge County, Virginia, the artist’s birthplace and where she continues to live and draw inspiration. She revisited her At Twelve archive last year, discovering unseen treasures, remarking: “One of the advantages of a long life is that you get to go back and revisit parts of your work that were overlooked, sometimes inexplicably, in early years.” Twelve is an age of expanding horizons, enriched by social experiences and shared connections. It is also a transitional period, navigating the delicate space between childhood and adulthood. The At Twelve portraits reveal this delicate balance, portraying both the innocence of youth and the yearning for maturity. The young women in these images are relatives or daughters of friends, but also, many are others living in her small Virginia community who trusted the artist to capture their individual spirit with grace and honesty. Taken nearly forty years ago, these images continue to hold relevance today, bridging the past and present in their exploration of this transformative stage in a young woman’s life. We are honored to be able to present the exhibition in close collaboration with the artist and Gagosian. Jackson Fine Art has exhibited Mann’s work since 1996 and this the artist’s sixth solo exhibition with the gallery. Image: Untitled, "At Twelve" Series (Lisa and Jenny on Car), 1983-1985 © Sally Mann

ROSEGALLERY is pleased to present The Language of Form, a presentation of works by Chiron Duong, Karl Blossfeldt, Manfred Müller, and Rinko Kawauchi that examines the roles that stillness and movement play in artistic endeavors. Viewers are invited to reflect on the enduring beauty of natural forms that illustrate the potential of organic shapes through photographs and collages. Through a blend of meticulously composed still- life photography and evocative collage works, the exhibition bridges the worlds of stillness and motion. Photography captures fleeting moments of exquisite detail, freezing the delicate textures and intricate patterns of flora, fauna, and organic materials. The collages, on the other hand, translate these natural inspirations into tactile, three-dimensional forms that celebrate movement, balance, and structure. The exhibition highlights the works of Manfred Müller, whose sculptures fuse geometric precision with organic inspiration, creating forms that evoke both strength and fragility. Chiron Duong’s still-life photography reimagines traditional aesthetics with modern narratives, celebrating the beauty of flowers and cultural motifs in intricate, layered compositions. Rinko Kawauchi’s serene photographic meditations capture ephemeral moments in nature, blending soft light and subtle textures to evoke a sense of quiet wonder. These contemporary works are presented alongside the pioneering photographs of Karl Blossfeldt, whose striking black-and-white close-ups of plants revealed the architectural elegance of nature and influenced generations of artists with their unique blend of aesthetic and scientific significance. The Language of Form underscores the timeless relationship between art and nature, stillness and vitality, form and flow, and celebrates the artistry of the natural world reimagined through the unique visions of these creators. A substantial amount of the proceeds from this exhibition will be donated to the Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles (PAC LA). PAC LA creates unique collaborative programming that engages and educates the community in an evolving public conversation about photography and photo-based art. Image: Chiron Duong

Featuring work by: Man Ray, György Kepes, André Kertész, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Oliver Gagliani, Jaromír Funke, Florence Henri, Josef Sudek, Ruth Bernhard, Bill Brandt, Josef Bartuška, Josef Ehm, Foto Ada, Ferenc Haar, Miroslav Hák, Philippe Halsman, Tibor Honty, István Kerny, Jiří Lehovec, Nathan Lerner, Emila Medková, László Osoha, Vilém Reichmann, Jan Saudek, Jindřich Štyrský, Drahotín Šulla, Karel Teige, Geza Vandor, František Vobecký, and Eugen Wiškovský. The Robert Koch Gallery is pleased to present an homage to Surrealism with an exhibition of surrealist photographs created between the years 1924 -1989. Drawn from the gallery’s holdings, this exhibition celebrates the centenary of Surrealism and its broad, historical influence on art. Surrealism revolutionized art and visual culture. Emerging in the aftermath of World War I, Surrealism responded to the disillusionment and trauma of the time, seeking to unlock the unconscious mind and explore alternate realities. Its influence endures, continuing to inspire contemporary artists and their exploration of the subconscious. This curated exhibition brings together works by American, British, Czech, French, Hungarian and Mexican photographers, examining how surrealism has shaped and intersected with artistic traditions over the past century. This exhibition illuminates Surrealism’s lasting legacy in photography, offering an insightful exploration of how artists from diverse backgrounds redefined the boundaries of visual art over the past century. Surrealism challenged conventional perspectives and continues to influence contemporary art, pushing the boundaries of how we perceive the world and our subconscious. This exhibition underscores the movement’s pivotal role in reshaping visual language and expanding the possibilities of photographic expression.

This February and March, Pictura Gallery is showing My Weather Diary by Finnish artist Jari Silomäki. Since 2001, Silomäki has made and catalogued one photograph for each day, starting with the idea that world events, personal events, and the weather will always repeat themselves.Silomäki examines our access to world news and the effect it can have on our emotional states. The series shares the artist’s private moments on any given day, and also a shared experience of history, despite our geographic locations.

Influenced by my own queer experience and ideals of mid-century American culture, my work investigates a familiar environment that alludes to something more enigmatic. Creating vignettes of this space and time allows for the images to exist in reality or remain fictitious. Initially making work about control of the environment, I am able to create a safe space for the narrative to unfold; purposely diverting from what we may consider conventional. The characters become distant protagonists as the work allows the viewer to respond as a voyeur. “Meditations in an Emergency” explores quiet amongst chaos. By focusing on themes of disaster and tragedy I am able to address the human condition; attempting to thrive in times of turmoil.

Imagine a world where it doesn’t matter who you love, just that you love. An Impossibly Normal Life is an artifact from another world, a more loving, inclusive one where who you love is of little societal importance. This fictional story, centered on my imagined uncle’s idealized life, is created from collected vintage snapshots from around the world. Four years ago, my mother offhandedly mentioned that I had an uncle who may have been gay, but he died not long after I was born. Hearing this revelation for the first time, nearly thirty years after I had struggled to come out to my disapproving family, sent my mind spinning. The thought of a family member so close to me going through some of the same things I did inspired me to create this story. Instead of returning to the hiding or shame of most pre-1970’s queer stories, a reality of how our world was (and in some cases, still is), I have created an alternate history where fluidity in gender and sexuality is the societal norm. Re-contexualizing found photographs and creating a new narrative, my Uncle Ken’s life becomes full of acceptance, friends and love, and shows anyone struggling with identity today the joy of what could have been and can still be.

Mengwen Cao, Jess T. Dugan, Yorgos Efthymiadis, Matthew Leifheit, Laurence Philomene, Anne Vetter What makes a family? How do we define community? These fundamental questions are explored in the exhibition Nuclear Family, which re-imagines the concept of family, expanding our vision beyond traditional norms through the lens of LGBTQIA+ artists. Traditional family values. The universal phrase for how we perceive and accept families in public. We are reminded of the standard visual narrative of a family as two heterosexual parents and their children. Family dynamics are complicated, not all of us fit into this vision of perceived perfection. In expanding the idea of family, we see these photographers present honest and authentic portrayals of themselves, their families and the broader community, challenging viewers to confront their own biases and assumptions through fresh eyes. Featuring a diverse range of photographic and video works, the exhibition presents a compelling exploration of diverse family structures. Jess Dugan‘s A Letter to My Daughter is a poignant video essay that delves into the joys and challenges of parenthood. Mengwen Cao‘s Liminal Space celebrates the everyday beauty, intimacy, and resilience of queer and trans people of color, with a particular focus on Asian queer identities. Yorgos Efthymiadis‘ Lighthouse Keepers offers a series of intimate portraits of friends in their own spaces, providing a glimpse into the artist’s personal connections and his shared community. Laurence Philomene‘s vibrant and colorful images serve as a visual diary reflecting their environment and their own trans and non-binary identity. Anne Vetter‘s Love is not the Last Room explores themes of gender, attachment, and family through intimate portraits of themselves and their partner. Matthew Leifheit‘s Queer Archives delves into LGBTQIA+ history through objects and archives that remind the community of its origins and those who came before. These artists utilize photography and video not only to document their lives but also to challenge societal norms and celebrate the diversity of love and family structures. By reclaiming the genre of portraiture, often used to uphold traditional ideals, they create powerful and moving works that resonate with viewers on a deeply personal level. Nuclear Family was conceived and created by curator and artist Katalina Simon, in collaboration with Crista Dix, Executive Director of the Griffin Museum, and exhibition designer Yana Nosenko. Image: Liminal Space © Mengwen Cao

Stephen, as the founder and editor of The Photo Review and editor of The Photograph Collector, has a deep understanding of both the artistic and technical aspects of photography. In his body of work, he leverages this expertise to create photographic vignettes that re-imagine the artwork of Baroque, Rococo, and Romantic masters. Using the digital darkroom as his modern-day canvas, Stephen translates the meanings and themes of these 17th- to early 19th-century masterpieces into a contemporary context, bridging the gap between historical and modern visual art. His work reflects a synthesis of classical aesthetics with modern technology, offering a fresh perspective on timeless themes. This approach not only pays homage to the original works but also invites viewers to consider how the meanings and messages of these Baroque, Rococo, and Romantic pieces might change or expand when viewed through the lens of today's world. Stephen is a distinguished figure in the world of photography, known for his role as the founder and editor of The Photo Review, a critical journal that has been exploring the international photography scene since 1976. Additionally, he serves as the editor of The Photograph Collector, a premier publication that provides in-depth insights into the photography art market. His photographs reside in many museum and private collections, including those of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the George Eastman Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the James A. Michener Art Museum, Lehigh University, Haverford College, and the University of North Dakota.

Leica Store & Gallery Los Angeles presents a landmark exhibition celebrating a century of innovation in photography: 100 YEARS OF LEICA. This iconic exhibit will feature the work of two renowned artists, Joel Meyerowitz and Barbara Davidson, honoring Leica's transformative role in shaping the world of photography. The exhibition kicks off a year-long celebration of Leica's centennial, with inspiring events, cultural highlights, and exclusive releases throughout 2025. For 100 years, Leica has been at the forefront of photographic technology and artistry, empowering photographers to capture defining moments that have shaped our visual culture. In celebrate this milestone, Leica Store & Gallery Los Angeles invites visitors to experience a diverse range of photographs that reflect the evolution of the medium— from the streets of the 20th century to today's contemporary landscapes. ''When I first began making photographs, my focus was often on capturing an action or event at the center of the frame,'' Joel Meyerowitz explained. ''But as I grew and began questioning my methods, influences, and photography itself, I realized it was time to move beyond what I already did well and aim for more challenging, engaging images. This shift led me to move away from the ‘incident-based photograph' and toward a broader, ‘deep space, field photograph,' where every element in the frame carries meaning. Rather than relying on a single ‘hook' to draw the viewer in, I aimed to capture the essence of the entire frame as a cohesive, meaningful space.'' In her collection of intimate images, Barbara Davidson explores the current American landscape through the lens of social injustice. She delves into the complexities of inequality, empowerment, and hope, capturing the intersections of these themes in contemporary culture. Through her Leica 100 collaboration, Davidson, alongside Meyerowitz, reveals how the American panorama has evolved and devolved since the golden era of street photography in the 1960's and 70's. Her work reflects the stunning persistence of America's complex social fabric, examining how people coexist in a radically changed yet enduring country. This exhibit kicks off the exciting year-long celebration for Leica's 100th anniversary. Throughout 2025, Leica will host a series of events, exhibitions, and exclusive product releases to commemorate its century of photographic excellence. Visitors to Leica Store & Gallery Los Angeles will have the opportunity to experience the enduring legacy of Leica through the works of legendary photographers like Meyerowitz and Davidson, whose contributions continue to shape the visual landscape of today.

We are delighted to invite lens-based artists, 18 and older, to submit their work for Winter Light, an exhibition celebrating the season’s luminous glow in all its forms: the golden rays of a low winter sun, the shimmering reflections on snow and ice, and the soft glow of candles on long, quiet nights. This exhibition will be presented at the Jenks Center in Winchester, MA, from February 1 to April 4, 2025. We seek photographic works that interpret Winter Light, capturing its interplay of brightness and shadow, warmth and chill, hope and reflection. This is an opportunity to showcase light as both a physical phenomenon and a symbol of resilience, creativity, and connection during the winter season. Share your vision of Winter Light and join us in celebrating the beauty that radiates in winter’s stillness. Submission details and deadlines are provided below. Let your work inspire reflection and connection in this special community exhibition. Image: The Sound of Snow #26 by Xuan Hui Ng

Can a photographic portrait inspire political imagination? Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination examines how photographers and their sitters contributed to the proliferation of Pan-African solidarity during the mid-20th century. Embracing the international spirit of the time, the exhibition gathers striking pictures by photographers working in Central and West African cities. They created images of everyday citizens, dazzling music scenes, and potent manifestations of youth culture that reflected emerging political realities. Photographs by Jean Depara, Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé, and Sanlé Sory portray residents across Bamako, Bobo-Dioulasso, and Kinshasa at a time when the winds of decolonial change swept the African continent in tandem with the burgeoning US Civil Rights movement. The exhibition also spotlights James Barnor and Kwame Brathwaite—photographers living in Europe and North America who contributed to the construction of Africa as a political idea. Contemporary works by artists such as Samuel Fosso, Silvia Rosi, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby show the enduring relevance of these themes. Brimming with possibility, Ideas of Africa: Portraits and Political Imagination embraces the creative potential of the photographic portrait and its political resonance across the globe. Image: Sanlé Sory. Traveller (Le Voyageur). 1970–85.

See how documentary photography transformed during the 1970s. The 1970s was a decade of uncertainty in the United States. Americans witnessed soaring inflation, energy crises, and the Watergate scandal, as well as protests about pressing issues such as the Vietnam War, women’s rights, gay liberation, and the environment. The country’s profound upheaval formed the backdrop for a revolution in documentary photography. Activism and a growing awareness and acceptance of diversity opened the field to underrepresented voices. At the same time, artistic experimentation fueled the reimagining of what documentary photographs could look like. Featuring some 100 works by more than 80 artists, The ʼ70s Lens examines how photographers reinvented documentary practice during this radical shift in American life. Mikki Ferrill and Frank Espada used the camera to create complex portraits of their communities. Tseng Kwong Chi and Susan Hiller demonstrated photography’s role in the development of performance and conceptual art. With pictures of suburban sprawl, artists like Lewis Baltz and Joe Deal challenged popular ideas of nature as pristine. And Michael Jang and Joanne Leonard made interior views that examine the social landscape of domestic spaces. The questions these artists explored—about photography’s ethics, truth, and power—continue to be considered today. Image: Helen Levitt, New York, 1972, dye imbibition print , Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1995.36.99

History Reimagined showcases the work of three artists who use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to challenge our understanding of truth in photography. Through their thought-provoking explorations, the artists confront biases in AI algorithms, reimagine historical narratives, and question the boundaries between reality and fiction. In History Reimagined, photographic artists Todd Dobbs, Laura Rautjoki, and Phillip Toledano explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can shape our perceptions of truth. By harnessing AI, they challenge traditional notions of photographic authenticity, demonstrating how technology can both reflect and alter our understanding of the world. Photography has long been considered a tool for documenting and understanding the world around us. But as these artists show, the rise of AI forces us to reconsider the very nature of truth in image-making. History Reimagined invites us to examine the complex relationship between image-making, bias, and historical memory, and to ask ourselves: How do we define truth in a world where the lines between real and fabricated are increasingly hard to discern? Todd Dobbs’s work engages directly with the inherent biases embedded in AI’s algorithms. By prompting the AI with the phrase “photograph of a typical American,” Dobbs highlights the limitations and stereotypes that persist. Despite running the same prompt countless times, the resulting images are uniformly American, white, and suburban—a visual echo of dominant cultural norms. Dobbs is interested in AI’s ability to generate, interpret, and transform opening doors to imaginative realms that challenge conventional boundaries. In contrast, Laura Rautjoki’s The Image of a Woman subverts historical portrayals of Finnish women, using AI to create alternative depictions. Drawing from her own identity and the historical imagery of Finnish women, Rautjoki’s work reimagines femininity outside of the male-dominated narratives that have shaped much of art history. Using AI, she creates alternative perspectives on the portrayal of Finnish women, allowing them to break free from the viewer’s expectations Phillip Toledano’s Another America explores the fragility of truth in an age where the boundaries between reality and fiction are increasingly blurred. This series imagines an alternative version of New York City in the 1940s and 50s, telling a history that never was, built upon fictional stories penned by New York Times bestselling author John Kenney. In an era where AI-generated imagery can fabricate entire realities, Toledano’s work reflects on how easily visual evidence can be manipulated, offering a stark warning about the power of images to shape our beliefs, our identities, and even our understanding of the past. As a curator, I am particularly interested in how these works provoke conversation at the intersection of art and technology. And as a center for photography, I feel that we must acknowledge and respond to the technological innovations that are transforming the medium. History Reimagined is a conversation about the future of image-making, the impact of technology on our visual culture, and the urgent need to critically engage with the images that shape our world. — Samantha Johnston, CPAC Executive Director & Curator Image: From the series Another America, © Phillip Toledano

he BDC's upcoming exhibition on celebrated photographer Jamel Shabazz offers a comprehensive look at his work from the 1970s to the early 2000s, including iconic photo albums, early images of his junior high classmates, and photography spanning fashion, street, and documentary styles. It highlights Shabazz's talent for capturing powerful stories of identity, resilience, and community from the streets of New York and beyond. "I embarked on my photographic journey 50 years ago as a curious 15-year-old kid coming out of Brooklyn, using my mother's Kodak Instamatic 126 camera. From 1975 to 2024 I have amassed quite a number of photo albums showing a wide range of images–from my original prints from the 1970's, to some of the very first black and white prints I developed in my makeshift darkroom. There are fashion, street and documentary work featured in all of the albums. " —Jamel Shabazz

Athens, GA based artist Mo Costello will present a new body of work considering issues of accessibility in homes, communities, and institutions. Her practice considers the social lives of objects and the traces they leave as their uses and contexts shift and evolve. The exhibition will feature photography, ready-made sculpture, and a permanent accessibility intervention in our building’s architecture. Mo Costello (b. 1989) is an artist and educator drawn to the social life of objects. Costello’s working practice revolves around the maintenance of small-scale, community-supported infrastructure for the visual and performing arts. Curatorial and studio-based efforts emerge - and often converge - from within this ongoing commitment to place-based inquiry and infrastructures of care. Mo is a recent recipient of residencies from Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2022) and Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (2024).

Bruce Nauman: Pasadena Years is a historical reflection on the prolific decade that established one of the most important contemporary artists of our time. The exhibition emphasizes the radical foundation of Nauman’s practice while he lived in Los Angeles between 1969-1979. Across the entire gallery and garden, works on view will include sculptures, installations, sound works, videos, works on paper, and editions. Pasadena Years notably marks Nauman’s first exhibition in Los Angeles in over 30 years and will include a text for a room that the artist is recreating for the first time since its debut at the earliest retrospective of his work, which originated at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1972.

Abelardo Morell’s unconventional photographs provoke curiosity and wonder. Using optical science as well as illusion, he reimagines the world around us. Morell (American, b. Cuba, 1948) is best known for his use of the camera obscura process. A camera obscura is an ancient technology—a darkened room that admits light through a pinhole, projecting an image of the view outside onto the opposite wall. Morell’s innovation is in transforming everyday spaces into camera obscura: his projections interact with the room’s furniture and décor, and he photographs the results. Intermingling past and present, indoors and outside, these works encourage reflection on our relationship with memory, nature, and place. New Realities features sixteen of Morell’s inventive photographs, drawn from the Museum’s holdings. In addition to his camera obscura works, this exhibition will also highlight a selection of photographs from Flowers for Lisa. This varied series of floral still lifes alludes to philosophy, art history, and mortality through both physical and digital manipulations. Morell’s complex images subvert our expectations, uncovering new interest and beauty in familiar subjects. As he explains, “It’s encouraging to see strangeness come out of what we all know.”

Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs is pleased to present Artists’ Studies: Photographs Made for Painters by Vallou de Villeneuve and Others 31 January through 30 April 2025. The exhibition opens in conjunction with Master Drawings New York and reflects the sometimes complex relationship between photography and painting with works by Vallou de Villeneuve, Félix-Jacques Antoine Moulin, Bruno Braquehais, Sydney Richard Percy, Gustave Le Gray, and others. The photographs on display date from the 1850s when painters were still wary of the recently invented medium which was perceived as a threat to their livelihoods. Featured are several important works by Vallou, including a standing nude Courbet is thought to have used as the source for his muse in the monumental canvas “L’Atelier du Peintre” in the Musée d’Orsay. Julien Vallou de Villeneuve (1795-1866) was a French painter, lithographer and photographer. A member of the Société héliographique, in 1854 he helped found the Société française de photographie. Vallou created a rich photographic catalog of costumes and poses to make his pictures more marketable to painters. His photographic works are most closely associated with the painter Gustave Courbet who during the 1850s used some of Vallou's photographs as source material for his paintings. The formal affinities between Vallou’s photographs and the central nude figures in Courbet’s Bathers (1853) and The Painter’s Studio (1854-55) are notable. Recent scholarship by Dominique de Font-Réaulx has revealed that Vallou and Courbet shared a sitter, Henriette Bonnion. Félix-Jacques Antoine Moulin (1802-1875) first trained as a painter with Ingres. By 1849 he was selling daguerreotypes of nudes from his Paris studio before he began making photographic prints. He listed himself as a specialist in academies, or artist’s studies—a polite term for nude studies that often bordered on the pornographic—that were intended for artists to use as substitutes for live models. The vase in this albumen print of “Emma” is by Jules-Claude Ziegler, an accomplished ceramicist, painter, and photographer. Gustave Le Gray’s (1820-1884) fine seascape, L’escadre française en rade de Cherbourg, was made with a single large glass negative. The photograph documents the official visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to celebrate the opening of the greatly expanded port of Cherbourg. On the invitation of Napoleon III, the royal couple and their retinue observed the French fleet’s maneuvers from the safety of their steam-powered yacht. This view depicts the French ships greeting the royal couple. Upon closer inspection, the ships aren’t the only element in formation. Behind the royal yacht is a three-mast French vessel, its upper rigging packed with dozens of standing sailors preparing to cheer and wave their hats in the air on signal. These agile sailors waving boisterously from the rigging of the fleet’s ships was what the artist Jules-Achille Noël recorded in his 1859 painting commemorating the event, Napoleon III Receiving Queen Victoria at Cherbourg, 5 August 1858, in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Sydney Richard Percy (1821-1886), born into a family of notable painters, made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1842. Percy is a choice example of the interaction of painting and photography. During the 1850s he took up photography to produce source material for his own paintings. Percy was unapologetic in his use of the medium, a highly unusual stance during a period when most artists went to great lengths to hide the fact that they used photographs as a method of organizing their canvases. On view is Percy’s fine albumen print from a collodion negative, Gypsy girls, as well as three albums of 66 of his additional artist studies. Created in the mid-nineteenth century with barely a nod to conventional practice, the photographs of nudes, branches of apples, and trees in L'Album Simart are filled with a great sense of purpose. Assembled circa 1856-1860, the album is the work of an unidentified photographer attributed to the circle of French sculptor Pierre Charles Simart (1806-1857). Large in format, this study of a male nude posed in a torqued gesture of dramatic action is charged with the same energy as a quick pencil drawing in an artist's sketchbook. With arms outstretched, head raised with eyes rolling heavenward, the model enacts a drama of physical and emotional strife, theatrics not uncommon in history painting. Image: Julien Vallou de Villeneuve (French, 1795-1866) Reclining nude, 1853

The Fahey/Klein Gallery is honored to present Reverie, photographs by Arthur Elgort. To celebrate his long career, this exhibition showcases Elgort’s spontaneous energy through expertly crafted photographs that have the unforced look of a personal snapshot. Born in New York City in 1940, Elgort discovered his passion for photography after initially studying painting at Hunter College. Finding the solitary nature of painting unfulfilling, he turned to photography and soon found his calling. His early work capturing ballet dancers in motion laid the foundation for his signature aesthetic: natural, unposed, and full of life. In 1971, his breakthrough came when British Vogue published one of his images, launching a career that would redefine the industry. At a time when fashion photography was dominated by rigid, studio-bound compositions, Elgort introduced a fresh, relaxed perspective. He encouraged models to move freely, embraced natural light, and brought his subjects into real-world settings—whether bustling city streets, sunlit gardens, or windswept beaches. His work captured fashion as it was meant to be worn: in motion, alive, and exuding energy. “Taking pictures is what I love and I like my subjects to be varied, a little bit of everything – fashion, jazz, ballet, my kids, landscapes, and even ‘street’ photography. I never want my work to be stuck in one category. Fashion might be what sells, but a girl on a subway could be fashion, a jazz musician in a club could be fashion, and a ballerina at the barre could be too. I’ve always like to integrate all of my interests into my photos and I think that’s reflected in this exhibit of nearly 50 years of my work.” – Arthur Elgort Over the past five decades, Arthur Elgort has not only become one of the most celebrated and imitated photographers in the world, but he has also redefined what fashion photography could be. From his iconic Vogue covers to his influential luxury-brand campaigns, his images remain as fresh and relevant today as ever. Reverie offers a rare opportunity to experience the breadth of his vision—a legacy that continues to inspire and shape the future of photography. Image: Kate Moss at Cafe Lipp, Pairs, Vogue Italia, 1993 © Arthur Elgort, courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles

In 1976, photographer MEM embarked on an arduous, self-assigned project with sociologist Dr. Karen Folger Jacobs to document the lives of women living in the high-security, all-female wing of the Oregon State Hospital in the city of Salem. The year before, Mark had photographed there on the set of the Milǒs Forman’s film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and she had met several women who lived on Ward 81 of the hospital. Hoping to better understand and represent their life experiences, Mark and Jacobs arranged to spend a month living alongside the women in Ward 81. The duration of their stay, and their extraordinary access to patients and staff, enabled the collaborators to produce a nuanced and compelling record of female psychiatric treatment in the United States during the mid-1970s. In 1978, Mark and Jacobs published the seminal book Ward 81, which revealed the often-porous line between sanity and mental illness for women relegated to the margins of society. In the words of Jacobs, “They are the women we might have been or one day become.” Mary Ellen Mark: Ward 81 greatly amplifies that earlier study. Most exciting are the newly discovered audio narratives that the women recorded with Jacobs, which have been integrated into a short film, Moonlight Heaven Black, made for the exhibition by Martin Bell, Mark’s husband. As well, the exhibition brings together never-before-seen prints, contact sheets, and rare archival materials. The original exhibition was organized by curators Gaëlle Morel and Kaitlin Booher for the Image Centre, Toronto, in collaboration with the Mary Ellen Mark Foundation, New York. It is accompanied by the publication Ward 81: Voices by Mary Ellen Mark and Karen Folger Jacobs, edited by Martin Bell, Julia Bezgin, and Meredith Lue (Steidl, 2023).

This exhibition, titled Recess, features the work of 2024 Saltzman Prize winner Keisha Scarville (American, born 1975). Scarville makes photographs that consider her personal experience of in-betweenness, exploring notions of diaspora, transformation, belonging, and loss. In her photographs, she creates spaces, stages, and still lives, often using clothing and textiles belonging to her late mother. When Scarville invokes her mother’s presence in her works, she creates alternate, liminal places that engage both memory and the possibilities of abstraction. In Recess, Scarville refers both to the hollow space beneath a flat plane and to any temporary pause or suspension. In this way, Scarville continues her exploration of thresholds. Neither here nor there, thresholds are spaces of becoming; they mark moments of “passing through,” suspended instants that are full of potential and prospects of the unknown. For Scarville, shadows function as these types of spaces. They are not only dark shapes that lack light and clarity, but also deep, productive zones where alternative temporalities and in-between narratives reside. In her photographs and installations, Scarville activates the shadow as a form in ways that require closer looking, deeper feeling, and the active negotiation of being. Recess is accompanied by a limited edition artist’s book by Keisha Scarville (published by CPW in collaboration with 1080PRESS).

During the 1970s and ‘80s, photographers Colleen Kenyon (American, 1951-2022) and Kathleen Kenyon (American, 1951-2023) were part of the movement of female artists who challenged the photographic establishment with innovative approaches to the medium. Colleen Kenyon was a pioneer in using hand coloring to enhance her portraits of herself and her sister in domestic settings; Kathleen Kenyon was adept at appropriating gender-specfic images of women from the mass media to create ironic photomontages. Beginning in 1981, the two sisters also served as directors of the Center for Photography at Woodstock, where they continued to advocate for the advancement of women in the arts and for artists of color. My Sister, My Self is curated by art historians Tom Wolf and Laurie Dahlberg. Organized by CPW, this retrospective features the Kenyons’ most iconic works, and is presented both at CPW in Kingston, NY, and at the Kleinert/James Art Center in Woodstock, NY. The exhibition materials are drawn from the archives of their works now held by CPW. This exhibition is accompanied by a hardcover catalog, My Sister, My Self: Photographs by Colleen Kenyon and Kathleen Kenyon with text by Wolf and Dahlberg, and CPW Curator Adam Giles Ryan

1000 Dreams seeks to change harmful refugee narratives through a storytelling project that tells the stories of 1000 refugees across the world. 1000 Dreams is entirely authored by storytellers with a refugee background. Witness Change, the organization behind 1000 Dreams believes that for the narrative to change, the lives of refugees have to be authentically represented – their voices must be heard. They have hosted a series of intensive storytelling workshops, training people with refugee backgrounds on how to make portraits and conduct interviews. With these new skills, the refugee storytellers collect testimonies from other refugees. Their stories amplify the voices of refugees and provide insights into their individual lives and the emotional impact of current policies and attitudes. About Witness Change: Witness Change (@witness_change) produces highly visual storytelling on seldom-addressed human rights abuses. The non-profit organization exists to improve life for marginalized groups by amplifying their stories. Their projects have reached more than 250 million people worldwide and have been on the cover of National Geographic and Time magazine. Witness Change’s current projects include Where Love Is Illegal, stories of discrimination and survival from the LGBTQI+ community, and In My World, a campaign to amplify stories of people living with mental health, psychosocial, intellectual, and cognitive disabilities.

In 1955, two photographers received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation for U.S. survey projects: Robert Frank and Todd Webb. Frank’s cross-country trip by car would result in the celebrated book “The Americans.” Webb was awarded a grant to walk, boat, and bike across the United States to depict “vanishing Americana, and the way of life that is taking its place.” Though the men had no knowledge of each other during the application process, both secured a recommendation from famed photographer Walker Evans, and both completed their cross-country surveys—though in radically different ways. Frank’s resulting work became a landmark text in the history of photography, and Webb’s project remains almost entirely unknown. Robert Frank and Todd Webb: Across America, 1955 brings together both 1955 projects for the first time. In some instances, Frank’s and Webb’s images are strikingly similar—both men took photographs of the highway and dim, smoky barrooms. Because each was unaware of the other’s work, these similarities can be traced to popular cultural trends and shared ideologies. Both men, after all, engaged in projects that challenged the idealistic purity of the “American Roadtrip.” Radically different photographs made in the same location reveal the photographers’ diverse perspectives and approaches. Frank’s grainy, off-kilter style was matched with his harsh examination of the darker side of American life. An immigrant born in Switzerland, Frank (1924–2019) harnessed his outsider perspective. The tender, carefully composed images created by Detroit-born Webb (1905–2000) celebrated the individual oddities of the American way of life. Ultimately, comparing the work of these photographers reveals the complexity of their projects and the impossibility of capturing a singular vision of “America.” Image: Between Lovelock and Fernley, NV 1956 © Todd Webb Archives

Dawoud Bey: Street Portraits is the first standalone museum show to explore a transformational phase of the celebrated photographer and 2017 MacArthur Fellow Dawoud Bey's work. The show features 38 portraits he took between 1988 and 1991, when he collaborated with Black Americans of all ages whom he met on the streets of various American cities. He asked a cross section of people in these communities to pose for him, creating a space of self-presentation and performance in their urban environments. Bey used a large format tripod-mounted camera and a unique positive/negative Polaroid film that created both an instant print and a reusable negative. Bey considers photography an ethical practice that requires collaboration with his subjects. As part of every encounter, he gave each person a small black-and-white Polaroid print as a way of reciprocating and returning something to the people who allowed him to make their portrait.. Street Portraits is organized by the community the photographs were taken in: Brooklyn; Washington, D.C.; Rochester; Amityville; and Harlem. Defying racial stereotypes, the resulting photographs reveal the Black subjects in all of their psychologically rich complexity, presenting themselves openly and intimately to the camera, the viewer, and the world. Image: Young Man Resting on an Exercise Bike, Amityville, NY, from the series Street Portraits, 1988. Pigment print. Courtesy of the artist and Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago. © Dawoud Bey

For Shore|Lines, Chicago-based artist Regina Agu (b. Houston, Texas) presents a large-scale panoramic installation at the Museum of Contemporary Photography as part of an exploration of placemaking and community memory—tracing sites and legacies of historical Black North American migration through an expansive tradition of the panoramic form. This Joyce Foundation Award (2023) special project and collaboration, focuses on connecting the landscapes, materiality, and human histories of the Gulf South region to the Great Lakes. Drawing on methods of field work and landscape photography, Shore|Lines examines waterways and natural environments as defining sites of Black life and belonging. This investigation grounds itself in close conversation with Chicago-area land and Great Lakes region environmental advocates and ecologists of color—community historians and academics, members of sailing clubs, librarians, archivists, geographers, and families that live and work along these long-storied bodies of water. The exhibition includes an artist book” documentation that Agu refers to as a “field guide,” connecting her Midwest and Gulf South experiences of the landscapes. Shore|Lines is proud to bring together discourses of Black geographies, landscape photography, and site-specific land histories, using the methodology of landscape panorama as a format for relating ideas and themes of Black cultural memory connected to place. This project uniquely explores and documents a nuanced assemblage of sociocultural geographies and cultures that connect to the Great Migration of the 20th century, in a way that is rarely considered within the wider visual lore or heritage narrative of the Great Lakes. Asha Iman Veal, MoCP Associate Curator. Regina Agu (American, b. Houston) is a visual artist, writer, and researcher based in Chicago, IL. Agu was raised between the United States, the Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, South Africa, and Switzerland. Her interdisciplinary practice includes conceptual and material inquiries into memory, history, representation, and Black geographies. Her work has been exhibited at the New Orleans Museum of Art, New Museum, The Drawing Center, the High Line, Project Row Houses, FotoFest, the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, among other venues. Agu is a 2023 Joyce Award winner with the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago. Agu has received an Artadia Houston award, grants from Houston Arts Alliance, The Idea Fund, a SEED grant from The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and the Center for Art and Social Engagement at the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts and Project Row Houses fellowship at the University of Houston for her research project Friends of Emancipation Park. Agu holds a BS from Cornell University and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Long before the term “power couple” found its way into English lexicon, dynamic duos had been making their mark on U.S. history. “Powerful Partnerships: Civil War-Era Couples” sheds light on the stories and faces of five couples whose work and lives shaped the nation around them during tumultuous times. Featuring photography by the iconic Mathew Brady Studio, the exhibition introduces visitors to the exploits of Nathaniel and Mary Banks, John and Jessie Frémont, Ulysses and Julia Grant, George and Ellen McClellan, and Charles and Lavinia Stratton (better known to the public as Mr. and Mrs. Tom Thumb).

Emerging from Micah Cash’s photography series and photo book of the same name, this exhibition focuses on the built and natural environments as seen through the windows of Waffle House restaurants. Captured from locations across the southeastern United States, these images contemplate the physical and social environments and commerce that surround each location of the southern cultural icon. The natural landscapes beyond the windowpanes are as diverse as the perspectives and stories of each guest at the tables. Yet the similarities of the restaurants’ interiors echo across states and time zones. The images look out from the restaurant’s iconic booths, past the signature midcentury pendant lamps and make viewers newly conscious of buildings so commonplace they often go unseen. Each guest, waiting for their hashbrowns, becomes witness to the intertwined narratives of economic stability, transience and politics. The familiar, well-worn interiors make us think about what we have in common. Yet the differences in environment call to mind the different ways we experience structures built and felt. This exhibition will premiere a newly commissioned time-based media component of the series. This video realizes Cash’s directive to “look up” through prolonged footage of views and sounds from three Waffle Houses. The video and its soundscape disrupt the nostalgia of the still photographs, which the audience animates with actual or imagined memories of a Waffle House meal. Instead, they emphasize a long, time-based vision of the surrounding landscape and architecture.

“While trying to accommodate the growing needs of an expanding, and very thirsty civilization, we are reshaping the Earth in colossal ways. In this new and powerful role over the planet, we are also capable of engineering our own demise. We have to learn to think more long-term about the consequences of what we are doing, while we are doing it. My hope is that these pictures will stimulate a process of thinking about something essential to our survival; something we often take for granted—until it’s gone.” – Edward Burtynsky "I wanted to understand water: what it is, and what it leaves behind when we're gone. I wanted to understand our use and misuse of it. I wanted to trace the evidence of global thirst and threatened sources. Water is part of a pattern I've watched unfold throughout my career. I document landscapes that, whether you think of them as beautiful or monstrous, or as some strange combination of the two, are clearly not vistas of an inexhaustible, sustainable world." – Edward Burtynsky (Walrus, October 2013) "The project takes us over gouged landscapes, fractal patterned delta regions, ominously coloured biomorphic shapes, rigid and rectilinear stepwells, massive circular pivot irrigation plots, aquaculture and social, cultural and ritual gatherings. Water is intermittently introduced as a victim, a partner, a protagonist, a lure, a source, an end, a threat and a pleasure. Water is also often completely absent from the pictures. Burtynsky instead focusses on the visual and physical effects of the lack of water, giving its absence an even more powerful presence." — Russell Lord, Curator of Photographs, NOMA

The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) Art in City Hall program, in partnership with PhotoAlliance, are proud to present Metaphors of Recent Times: A Dialogue of the Personal, the Political and the Cultural, an exhibition that features artwork from PhotoAlliance’s INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 portfolio, alongside works by 24 artists who have created work in response to the portfolio. Metaphors of Recent Times will be on display on the Ground Floor and North Light Court at City Hall through June 20, 2025. The exhibition features a wide range of incisive visual perspectives from artists of diverse identities and backgrounds, each responding to the issues of our times.. A public reception to celebrate the opening of the exhibition will be held on the Ground Floor of City Hall on Thursday, January 16, 2025, from 5 – 7 p.m.. “PhotoAlliance has been a vital force in the local arts community for over 20 years, providing a platform for photographers to engage with and reflect on the world around them,” said Ralph Remington, Director of Cultural Affairs. “The Arts Commission is proud to collaborate with PhotoAlliance to present this timely and thought-provoking exhibition at City Hall. Metaphors of Recent Times highlights how art can serve as both a mirror to our current socio-political landscape and a powerful catalyst for activism and change.”. The exhibition’s themes are rooted in PhotoAlliance’s 20th Anniversary portfolio of limited edition prints by local, regional, and international photographers. Curated by PhotoAlliance founder and creative director Linda Connor, the set of 20 prints was conceived as a distillation of the creative responses artists have made to the upheaval seen in our political, cultural, environmental, and personal spheres in recent years. INSIGHT/INCITE captured images of hope, challenges, resilience, and humanity and included work from renowned photographers such as Binh Danh, Mercedes Dorame, Lewis Watts, J. John Priola, Amanda Marchand, Adrian Burrell, among many others.. Metaphors of Recent Times expands on the themes of INSIGHT/INCITE and includes new work that respond to the themes explored in the portfolio. The artists included were juried by photographers Linda Connor, Lewis Watts, and exhibition curator Beth Davila Waldman from a pool of 128 artists who responded to a call for artists held in the fall of 2024. Artists were asked to submit a trio of images that would expand and deepen the dialogues provoked in INSIGHT/INCITE.. “The inspiration behind Metaphors of Recent Times was compelled by the desire to provide an extended platform for the various themes and concerns voiced by the INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 portfolio,” says exhibition curator Beth Davila Waldman. “The call for artists really showed how resonant these themes are, and we are excited to highlight the spirit of our city’s inclusivity with a group of emerging and established artists, combined with the impact of presenting this selection of work in San Francisco’s City Hall.”. “We are thrilled to collaborate with PhotoAlliance on this exhibition,” states Carolina Aranibar-Fernandez, SFAC Director of Galleries and Public Programs. “Metaphors of Recent Times provides a lens into the complexities of our time, capturing the turbulence of recent years while simultaneously highlighting hope and resilience. Through the camera, eyes of local, regional, and international artists, the work reminds us of the importance of capturing these stories.”. The exhibition will feature work by Pablo Tapay Bautista, Renee Billingslea, Barbara Boissevain, Kennedi Carter, Mima Cataldo, Yu-Chen Chiu, Katie Cofer, Mark Coggins, Izzy Cosentino, Kelly Fogel, David Gardner, Stuart Goldstein, Christine Huhn, Judi Iranyi, Strele Laurin, Anni Lopponen, Darcy Padilla, Eric Robertson, Lance Shields, Nina Sidneva, William Mark Sommer, Liz Steketee, Rusty Weston, and Harry Williams.. Works from the INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 folio are by Wesaam Al-Badry, Lisa K. Blatt, Leon Borensztein, Adrian Burrell, Jessica Chen, Sarah Christianson, Marna Clarke, Linda Connor, Binh Danh, Mercedes Dorame, Ed Drew, Germán Herrera, Marie-Luise Klotz, Wayne Levin, Amak Mahmoodian, Amanda Marchand, Paccarik Orue, J. John Priola, Zack Schomp, and Lewis Watts.

Nearly 60 years after The Beatles performed their final concert at Candlestick Park, Beatlemania is back in the Bay. Featuring more than 250 personal photographs by Paul McCartney, along with video clips and archival materials, this exhibition offers a behind-the-scenes look at the meteoric rise of the world’s most celebrated band. The images capture the period from December 1963 through February 1964 and the band’s journey to superstardom, from local venues in Liverpool to The Ed Sullivan Show and worldwide acclaim. Photographs of screaming crowds and paparazzi show the sheer magnitude of the group’s fame and the cultural change they represented. More intimate images of the band on their days off highlight the humor and individuality of McCartney and bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Rediscovered in the artist’s personal archive in 2020, these images offer new perspectives on the band, their fans, and the early 1960s, as seen through the eyes of Paul McCartney. Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–1964: Eyes of the Storm is organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London, in collaboration with Paul McCartney. It is curated by Paul McCartney with Sarah Brown for MPL Communications and Rosie Broadley for the National Portrait Gallery, London. The presentation at the de Young museum is organized by Sally Martin Katz.

Over the last four decades, image-editing software has radically transformed our visual world. The ease with which images and text can be digitally generated and altered has enabled new forms of creative experimentation, while also sparking philosophical debates about the very nature of representation. Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography, and Film examines the impact of digital manipulation tools from the 1980s to the present, for the first time assessing simultaneous developments and debates in the fields of photography, graphic design, and visual effects. Featuring over 150 works, the exhibition traces the emergence of distinctive digital aesthetic strategies, relationships to realism, and storytelling modes. The nearly 200 artists, designers, and makers in Digital Witness illuminate today's visual culture where digital editing tools are easier to access than ever before.

Navigating the Waves: Contemporary Cuban Photography traces the evolution of photography in Cuba from the 1960s to the 2010s. The exhibition looks at contemporary Cuban photography from its role in promoting the Cuban Revolution after Fidel Castro’s 1959 overthrow of the Batista government to engaging in social and political critique following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. In subsequent years, Cuban photographers created powerful personal expressions by exploring individual identity, the body and spirit, Afro-Cuban heritage, and the margins of society, all while navigating the changing prescriptions and proscriptions of official cultural policy. Showcasing 100 images, Navigating the Waves: Contemporary Cuban Photography celebrates the Museum's acquisition of some 300 photographs from Chicago-based collectors Madeleine and Harvey Plonsker. Image: Alberto Korda, Heroic Guerrilla (Guerillero heroico), 1960, printed 1995, gelatin silver print, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, museum purchase funded by Dan and Mary Solomon. © Estate Alberto Korda

The Hood Museum of Art will present the first major solo museum exhibition of photographs by Chemehuevi artist Cara Romero, titled Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light). The exhibition will be on view at the Hood Museum from January 18 through August 10, 2025, and will feature over 50 works, including several never-before-seen photographs, and site-specific installations that will invite the viewer behind the scenes to experience the sets of Romero's most iconic photographs. An exhibition catalogue co-published by the Hood Museum of Art and Radius Books will be released in June 2025. The exhibition is curated by Jami Powell, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Indigenous Art at the Hood Museum of Art. Says Romero, "The Hood Museum of Art under the leadership of curator Jami Powell and director John Stomberg is an excellent example of how an American museum can create meaningful and positive impacts on Native community, representation, and living artists. When offered my first major solo show to commence at the Hood, I cried because I never imagined this was possible for a Native woman photographer in her 40s. I am so honored to collaborate with this institution and the people making it a major force in sidelining preconceived notions about Native American art." Adds Powell, "Cara Romero is an immensely generous storyteller, and her images invite people into complex and transformative dialogues about the histories and lives of Indigenous peoples. Romero's photographs provide opportunities for audiences to recognize the humanity of Native Americans and Indigenous peoples and ask questions they might otherwise be afraid to ask." Image: Cara Romero, Zenith, 2022 © Cara Romero

“Life without photographs is no longer imaginable. They pass before our eyes and awaken our interest; they pass through the atmosphere, unseen and unheard, over distances of thousands of miles. They are in our lives, as our lives are in them.” – Lucia Moholy, A Hundred Years of Photography, 1839–1939 After opening its doors to the public in 1949, the George Eastman Museum quickly became known as one of the most important venues dedicated to the collection and care of photographs. At the time of its opening, it was one of only two American museums to establish a photography department, and this early commitment to the medium has inextricably bound the institution to the history of photography itself. Life with Photographs: 75 Years of the Eastman Museum explores the many ways in which photographic objects have come to shape our everyday lives. The exhibition encompasses broad cultural histories and image-making practices, from pre- photographic experimentation to critical advances that challenge our conceptions of the medium. While the objects on view highlight certain strengths in the museum’s holdings, lesser-known works are included to illuminate unexpected pathways into this rich and diverse collection. The museum’s holdings have been formulated through decades of gifts and purchases, and its distinguished exhibition history reflects the varied interests of its curators over the past seventy-five years. This presentation nods to this history while offering distinct perspectives on the medium from the vantage point of the twenty-first century. Curated by Jamie M. Allen, Phil Taylor, Daniel Peacock, and Louis Chavez, Department of Photography. Major support for 75th Anniversary exhibitions provided by the Rubens Family Foundation. Image: Acid Rain © Ming Smith

In Pictures for Charis, American photographer Kelli Connell reconsiders the relationship between writer Charis (pronounced CARE-iss) Wilson and photographer Edward Weston through a close examination of Wilson’s prose and Weston’s iconic photographs. Connell weaves together the stories of Wilson and Weston with her own and enriches our understanding of the couple from her contemporary Queer and feminist perspective. This exhibition features recent portrait and landscape photographs by Connell along with classic figure studies and landscapes by Weston from 1934–1945 one of his most productive periods and the span of his relationship with Wilson. Using Weston and Wilson publications as a guide, Connell and her partner at the time, Betsy Odom, traveled to locales where Wilson and Weston lived, made work, and spent time together creating new artworks in the process. Image: ​Betsy, Lake Ediza, ​2015, ​© Kelli Connell

When Langston Hughes Came to Town explores the history and legacy of Langston Hughes through the lens of his largely unknown travels to Nevada and highlights the vital role Hughes played in the Harlem Renaissance and beyond. James Mercer Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was born in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes studied at Columbia University in 1921 for one year and would eventually become one of leading writers of the Harlem Renaissance. A writer with a distinctive style inspired by jazz rhythms, Hughes documented all facets of Black culture but became renowned for his incisive poetry. The exhibition begins by examining the relationship of this literary giant to the state of Nevada through a unique presentation of archival photographs, ephemera, and short stories he wrote that were informed by his visit to the area. The writer’s first trip to Nevada took place in 1932, when he investigated the working conditions at the Hoover Dam Project. He returned to the state in 1934, at the height of his career, making an unexpected trip to Reno, and found solace and a great night life in the city. The presentation continues with work created by leading artists of the Harlem Renaissance who had close ties to Hughes, including sculptures by Augusta Savage and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, and paintings by Beauford Delaney, Aaron Douglas, Norman Lewis, and Archibald Motley, Jr., among others. The range of work on display foregrounds the rich expressions of dance, music, and fashion prevalent during the influential movement. The final section of the exhibition features contemporary artists who were inspired by Hughes and made work about his life. Excerpts from Hughes’s poems and short stories are juxtaposed with related works of art, demonstrating how his legacy endures in the twenty-first century. Isaac Julien, Kwame Brathwaite, Glenn Ligon, and Deborah Willis are among the artists whose works are included. Julien, for example, in his renowned series Looking for Langston Hughes reimagines scenarios of Hughes’s life in Harlem during the 1920s. His black-and-white pictures are paired with Hughes poem No Regrets. Similarly, Brathwaite’s impactful photographs highlight the continuation of the Harlem Renaissance through the Black pride movement of the 1960s and are coupled with the poem My People. Finally, Glenn Ligon’s black neon sculpture relates to Hughes’s poignant poem Let America Be America Again, which both leave viewers to ponder the question of belonging in America.