Reception: Photography Atelier 29, Mother Series, & Myths

Join us for the reception for three shows: Photography Atelier 29 with various artists, Mother Series with Jennifer Georgescu, and Myths by Ralph Mercer. Reception will be followed by the Chervinsky Award and brief talk on March 10, 2019 6-6:15 PM.

© Darrell Roak

Photography Atelier 29 – Tony Attardo, Carole Smith Berney, Becky Behar, Terry Bleser, Ann Boese, Dawn Colsia, Frank Curran, Tim H. Davis, Mark Farber, Dennis Geller, Sarah Gosselin, Janis Hersh, Tira Khan, Bruce Magnuson, Amy Pritchard, Astrid Reischwitz, Darrell Roak, Leann Shamash, Susan Swirsley, Amir Viskin and Jeanne Widmer.

The Atelier is a course for intermediate and advanced photographers offered by the Griffin Museum of Photography. Photography Atelier Instructor and Photographer Emily Belz said, “It has been my immense pleasure to work with the photographers of Atelier 29. Seeing each student’s individual work evolve over the 12 weeks of the course was inspiring; many risks were taken and boundaries pushed, and the resulting portfolios showcase the diverse interests and talents of these 21 photographers. I am honored and humbled to have taken part in the evolution of this work, and to lead the Atelier, a workshop with such a long and meaningful history for photographers in the Boston area and beyond. My thanks to Dennis Geller for his stellar assistance during the course, and to the Griffin Museum of Photography for providing emerging-to-advance photographers the incredible opportunity to build their work and present it to the public in the Museum’s galleries.

© Jennifer Georgescu

Mother Series – Jennifer Georgescu

In 2015, I became a mother.  I was prepared for the grueling labor, and sleepless nights, but the loss of my sense of self can as a surprise.  I had no time to think and I began to feel like a shell of a person. My early days of motherhood were alienating and awful as well as sentimental and dear. I began to see myself as defined only by a relationship. I felt that my son was an appendage of myself; the embodiment of self and other.  It was hard to accept that he was a growing, changing person while I was to remain forever split. When he is near my thoughts are entangled around him and when I am away I cannot seem to be the person I was before. A child is how we remain on Earth; they are our legacies. As I see my son grow I feel my time begin to speed up; I feel my decay.  When we think about birth we must realize our death. Motherhood is precious and raw; wonderful and dark. – JG

© Ralph Mercer

Myths – Ralph Mercer

Whether the subject is abstract imagery, the natural world, or the human figure, Mercer’s photography strives to foster contemplation and encourage intimacy with the image. His photography of women is meant to honor womanhood’s qualities of sensual beauty, procreation and motherhood. This work is a metaphysical meditation that ponders the powerful, creative, and archetypal character of womanhood. The series Myths implies a spiritual connection through merging of a human figure with a natural organic subject.  This visual blending of man and nature suggests an erotic transcendentalism, and promotes meditations on spiritual integration and the oneness of an individual with the comprehensive environment.

Featured Image © Amir Viskin, “Overflow Ice”