Artist Statement
Searching for a place to be at peace in the wilderness, my dad bought seven acres of undeveloped land in central New Hampshire in the late 1970s. It wasn’t until 2010 that I became curious about the story of a man named Joseph Plummer, who we were told lived in the same woods during the late 1700s and 1800s. It was said this local legend left his town of a mere 100 people to be in seclusion. Researching and finding very little concrete information about Joseph has paradoxically heightened his presence in my mind and inspired me to seek out what drove him from his life. I uncovered some of his personal belongings and spent summers tracking down the places where he spent his days. Interviews with local residents told of his hostility to “loafers and spendthrifts” and his “mortal opposition to progress, generally.” But the scant information about Joseph only inspires more questions and feeds his local mythology.

I believe the story of Joseph Plummer parallels my dad’s and now my desire to disappear into the landscape of central New Hampshire. Joseph’s world is an unabashedly romantic view of nature and its sublime power, yet his life and the landscape he inhabited exude the mystery of the unknowable. My dad and I often take long walks in the New Hampshire woods, usually ending up searching for where the hermit lived. While we’ve been to the site of his long-gone home many times, we somehow always get lost along the way – and getting lost seems to be the point. In our modern world when it can be difficult to disconnect, following Joseph’s path into the woods offers a welcome respite. – AW

Bio
Amani Willett is a Brooklyn and Boston-based photographer whose practice is driven by conceptual ideas surrounding family, history, memory, and the social environment. Working primarily with the book form, his two monographs have been published to widespread critical acclaim. Both books, Disquiet (Damiani, 2013) and The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer (Overlapse, 2017), were selected by Photo-Eye as “best books” of the year and have been highlighted in over 50 publications including ​Photograph Magazine, PDN,​ ​Hyperallergic, Lensculture, New York Magazine and 1000 Words​ and recommended by ​Todd Hido,​ ​Elisabeth Biondi (former Visuals Editor of The New Yorker), Vince Aletti and Joerg Colberg (Conscientious), among others.

Amani’s photographs are also featured in the books​ Bystander: A History of Street Photography (2017 edition, Laurence King Publishing), ​Street Photography Now​ (Thames and Hudson), ​New York: In Color​ (Abrams), and have been published widely in places including A​merican Photography,​ Newsweek,​ Harper’s,​ ​The Huffington Post, The New York Times and The New York Review of Books​.​ His work resides in the collections of the Tate Modern, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Oxford University, and Harvard University, among others.

Amani completed an MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts, NY in 2012 and a BA from Wesleyan University in 1997. In addition to his artistic practice, Amani currently teaches photography at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston​.

CV
EDUCATION

M.F.A. Photography, Video and Related Media, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, 2012
B.A. American Studies, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 1997

SELECTED SOLO AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019
Mutable/Multiple: Format Photo Festival, Derby, England
The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, The Griffin Museum of Photography
The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, Fordham University
Showing: Working Families: University of Colorado
Winter Pictures, Humble Arts Foundation

2018
Recent Photo Books, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA
Photography Book Show, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
Showing: Working Families: University Art Gallery, California State University

2015
Underground Railroad: Hiding in Place, Adelphi University
Photography Book Show, Athens Photography Festival
In-Public at “Foto Mexico,” Mexico City

2014
Tough Turf: New Directions in Street Photography, Humble Arts Foundation
Camera Club of New York Benefit Auction, New York, NY
Disquiet (solo show), Citibank Cultural Center, Asuncion, Paraguay

2013
Book, Film, Painting – Stuart Pilkington Projects (online)
Family, Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography, Detroit, MI
In Public – In Stockholm, Center for Urban Photography, Stockholm, Sweden
Ideas City Festival, The New Museum, New York, NY
In-Public: On the Street, Bangkok, Thailand

2012
Conscious Things, Picture Space, Bushwick, Brooklyn
The 2nd International Photography Festival, Tel Aviv-Jaffa Port, Israel
School of School of Visual Arts Thesis Exhibition, SVA Gallery, New York, NY
Emerging Artists Auction, Daniel Cooney Fine Art, New York, NY
New York: In Color, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

2011
From Distant Streets, Galerie Hertz. Louisville, KY
Street Photography Now, Fundacja. DOC. Warsaw, Poland
Street Photography Now, London Street Photography Festival
In-Public, Derby Museum, Format International Photography Festival, Derby, England
Street Photography Now, Uno Art Space, Stuttgart
Street Photography Now, Contributed, Berlin

2010
Street Photography Now, Third Floor Gallery, London
In-Public, Photofusion, London, May 28 – July 9, 2010
13th Annual Friends of Friends Photography Show and Auction

2008
Picturing Cuba (solo exhibition), Cuban Art Space, Brooklyn

2006
Crosswalks: Contemporary Street Photography, Oklahoma City Museum
Here Is New York, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

2003
Life In The City, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

2002
Towards a New Era: Photographs from South Africa, Open Society Institute, Washington DC

2001
Here Is New York, New York, NY
August Art, Raw Space, New York, NY
South Africa, Madiba, Brooklyn, NY
Fort Greene Photo Association, Brooklyn, NY

2000
Fragments, Taranto Gallery, New York, NY

1998
New Photographs, The Park Gallery, New York, NY

MONOGRAPHS

“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” fall 2017, Overlapse, London.
“Disquiet,” spring 2013. Damiani, Italy. Text by Marvin Heiferman.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2019
Fisheye Magazine Photobook Vol. 3

2018
All the Pretty Pictures: Review Presents Review Santa Fe, Pasatiempo

2017
Bystander : A history of Street Photography, 3rd Edition, Phaidon (forthcoming) 

2015
Exchange Edit, Fototazo, March 2015
“Selfie,” Ain’t Bad Magazine, December 2015

2014
Exhibition Essay, Tough Turf, Humble Arts Foundation, February 2014
Ten Minutes with Amani Willett, This is the What, April 2014
Find Your Beach, The New York Review of Books, October 2014
When the Levee Breaks, The Mockingbird, Fall 2014
Gateway to Freedom, Harper’s Magazine, December 2014

2013
Lenscratch, April, 2013
The LPV Show – Episode 10, Spring 2013
How to Start a Project, Fototazo, Spring 2013

2012
LPV Magazine, Issue 5. November, 2012

2011
New York: In Color, Abrams, Fall 2011
Fototazo, The Image, Summer 2011
Fototazo, Portfolio and Interview, Winter, 2011

2010
Street Photography Now, Thames and Hudson, Fall 2010
American Photography 26, November 2010
10ʼ 10 Years of In-Public, Nick Turpin Publishing, Spring 2010

2006
American Photography 23, 2006

2003
Regeneration: Telling Stories From Our Twenties, Tarcher, Spring 2003

2000
Popular Photography, April 2000
The Millennium Photo Project, Smashing Books! 2000

Additional Publication Credits: Adbusters, American Photography, Art in America, BOMB, Popular Photography, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Whitney Museum

SELECTED PRESS

2018
“Yogurt Magazine,” Feature, May
“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” Book Review, Phroom, April
“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” Book Review, Musee Magazine, March
“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” Book Review, Clavoardieno Magazine, March
“Project Spotlight: The Disappearance of Joseph Plumer,” Photo Emphasis, February
“Book Review,” Foto Cult Magazine, January
“Getting Lost in the Woods,” Huck Magazine, January
“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” Book Review, Black and White Magazine, January
“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” Book Review, Conscientious Photo Magazine, January
“Disquiet” feature, This is Paper Magazine, february

2017
“Best Books of 2017,” Photo Eye Books, December
“Best Books of 2017,” Humble Arts Foundation, December
“Best Books of 2017” Elin Spring (Photographic Resource), December
“Moors Magazine,” “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer” review, December
“Phroom Magazine,” “Disquiet” feature, December
“Don’t Take Pictures,” December
“PH Museum,” Review, December
“Photo Eye – Book of the Day,” December
“Josef Chladek’s Bookshelf,” December
“II Post,” “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer” Review, December
“II Sole 24 Ore,” The Disapperance of Jospeh Plummer” Review, December
“Photo N Magazine,” December
“PDN Holiday Gift Guide Recommendations” November
“Lenscratch” feature, November
“Phases Magazine” November
“Lifo Magazine” feature, November
“Hyperallergic Interview” November
“Internazionale Magazine” November
“This Isn’t Happiness” November
“Photo Eye” Interview with Adam Bell, October
“Loeil de la Photographie” – Feature, October
“Photo Book Store” Review of “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, October
“Le Monde de la Photo” Review of “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, October
“The Photo Show” Podcast interview, October
“Creative Boom” Bewitching books for Halloween, October
“Responses Photo” Review of “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, October
“Huffington Post” – Interview and portfolio feature, February

2016
“American Photography “ magazine, June 2016
“New Books in Photography” New Books Network, December 2016

2015
“Hiding in Place” on Lenscratch, February 2015
Bleek Magazine, August 2015
We Heart Magazine, November 2015
“Underground Railroad,” Selektor Magazine, October 2015
“Hiding in Place” on Lenscratch, February 2015

2014
Harper’s Magazine,  December , 2014
 Possession Box, We Heart It, August 2014
Street, The Tree Mag, August 2014
Disquiet, Books are Nice!, July 2014
Disquiet, The Angry Bat, June, 2014
Disquiet, Joseph Chladek, May 2014
Disquiet Book Review, MutantSpace, February 2014
Disquiet feature, Broken Spine, February 2014
Disquiet, The New Frame, February 2014
Disquiet, Broken Spine, February 2014
Best Books of 2013, Photo-Eye, January 2014
Best Books of 2013, Mark Power, January 2014

2013
Favorite Books of 2013, Conscientious Photo Magazine, December 2013
Best books of 2013, PDN, December 2013
PDN “Exposures,” October, 2013
Photograph Magazine, Vince Aletti review, September 2013
Paper Journal, Disquiet review, August 2013
LensCulture, August 2013
Fan the Fire Magazine, August 2013
Beauty in Photography, August 2013
Disquiet Book Review, Photo Eye, June 2013
Disquiet Review, Conscientious Photo Magazine, June 2013
Disquiet, Le Journal de la Photographie, June 2013
Book of the Day, PhotoEye, May 2nd, 2013
The Real New York, Complex, Spring 2013
Booooooom, Spring 2013
Disquiet, PhotoHab, Spring 2013
Dark Side of the Moon, Spring 2013
Disquiet, Athena Magazine, Spring 2013
Disquiet, Design You Trust, Spring 2013
Hustle and Bustle, It’s Nice That, Spring 2013
Street Masters, DeviantArt, Spring 2013

2012
Photographs on the Brain, December, 2012
Photographs on the Brain, October, 2012
Verve Photo, March, 2012
Design You Trust, February, 2012
Le Journal de La Photographie, “New York: In Color” Review, February, 2012
The Gaurdian, “New York In Color “Review, February 2012

2011
LEO Weekly, “From Distant Streets Review,” November 2011
The Red List, Winter, 2011

2007
The F Blog, December, 2007

TALKS/PANELS

Hampshire College, Amherest, MA 2017
Adelphi University, New York, 2015
Citibank Cultural Center, Asuncion, Paraguay, October 2014
Camera Club of New York, November 2013
Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, September 2013
School of Visual Arts, August 2013
International Center of Photography, November 2012
School of Visual Arts Commencement Speech, May 2012
Making Photographs in Color, Howard Greenberg Gallery, February 2012

AWARDS

Review Santa Fe, 2016
Alice Beck Odette Scholarship Recipient, 2012
American Photography 23 and 26
Eddie Adams Workshop, 2000

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

 

Review What Will You Remember