Events

June is Photobook Month!

Posted on May 19, 2023

It’s that time again! We are so excited to bring you another round of conversations about the photobook! This year we are focused on the process of how to move from concept to completion.

We are thrilled to launch the month of conversations and opportunities with Mary Virginia Swanson and Susan kae Grant with their seminar on demystifying the process of publishing.

This year we have a series of Publishers in Residence. Have a book project and need some feedback? Want to start figuring out what to do with your project? We have a group of publishers, editors, designers and consultants ready to help you find your next step.

Our publisher conversations this year include one with Minor Matters publisher Michelle Dunn Marsh and Annu Palakunnathu Matthew to discuss the process of publishing Matthew’s mid career survey The Answers Take Time.

Here is a look at month of events. More are being added daily. Check back or check our events page for more information.

Seminar – Online in the Griffin Zoom Room

Sunday June 4th – 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM Eastern / 8:00 AM Pacific

Mary Virginia Swanson & Susan kae Grant | Making the Match, Bringing Your Artwork to Book Form

Panel Discussion & Book Signing –

Saturday June 10th – 3 to 6pm (at the Griffin Museum)

Caleb Cain Marcus | Workshop Arts with Caleb Cain Marcus, Elizabeth Clark Libert, Rita Nannini and David Bernstein | The Road to Publishing

Tuesday June 13th – 2pm Eastern / 11am Pacific Preston Gannaway & Stuart Smith | Remember Me – GOST publishing

Friday June 23rd – 6 to 8pm

Sarah Malakoff | Personal History

Publisher Conversations – Online in the Griffin Zoom Room

Thursday June 15th – 7.00pm – 8.30pm Eastern Michelle Dunn Marsh & Annu Palakunnathu Matthew

Publisher in Residence –

Saturday June 10th 11.30am to 2.30pm (Griffin Museum) – Caleb Cain Marcus

Sunday June 11th 11.00am to 1.00pm (Online) – Alexa Dilworth

Sunday June 14th 1.00am to 3.30pm (Online) – Karen Davis

Saturday June 17th 10.00am to 12.30pm (Online) – Melanie McWhorter

Saturday June 24th 11.00am to 2.00pm (Online) – Michelle Dunn Marsh

Photobook Sale!

Sunday June 25th Photobook & Ephemora Sale! 1 – 5pm – Charles Meyer Collection

The Griffin Museum is honored to celebrate the life of photographer Charles Meyer with the sale of select tomes from his personal collection of photobooks as well as collected ephemera on Sunday June 25th at 1pm. Over 150 books in the collection, plus photo equipment, including a Beseler 4×5 enlarger will be available for purchase.

29th Annual Juried Members Exhibition

Posted on February 1, 2023

29^th Annual Juried Members Exhibition

Juror – Lisa Volpe, Curator of Photography, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

20 April – 28 May, 2023

Artist Reception 21 April, 6.30 – 8pm

man in plastic — © Liam Hayes, Arthur Griffin Prize Winner
28th Annual Juried Exhibition

Our annual call for entry is now open for submissions from February 1st thru 28th, 2023, for all creative artists using photography as a primary medium, highlighting still images and including moving images, installation, and public works, experimental and mixed techniques for inclusion in our summer exhibition.

The Griffin Museum celebrates the craft of photography and the community it serves in its thirtieth year with our Annual Juried Members Exhibition.

We want to know what you have been up to creatively over the last 3 years.The call for this years exhibition is Under the Mask.

This call for entry invites photographers to submit work about the psychological, social, and emotional results of the last three years. We’ve all seen the photographs of masked citizens, but what transpired behind the mask? What were the aftereffects when we put our masks away? Artists are invited to submit work made since 2020….

About our Juror Lisa Volpe – Lisa Volpe is Curator, Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Previously, she was the Curator of the Wichita Art Museum, held various curatorial roles at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA), and fellowships at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Her 2021 exhibition catalog, Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer, was one of two finalists for the Association of American Publishers Prose Awards. Gordon Parks: Stokely Carmichael and Black Power, published for the 2022 exhibition, was named a “must read” by Esquire and New York Magazines.

Submission Guidelines –

Fee – $35 for submission of up to 5 images

Submissions accepted through CaFE – https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=11390

Submission period ends March 1st, 2023 at 11:59 Mountain time.

Evaluation Criteria

The Griffin Museum invites member photographers working in all mediums, styles and schools of thought to participate. Experimental and mixed techniques are welcome. We are excited to review all forms of the photographic image, including moving image, installation and public works, experimental and mixed techniques are welcome. The members exhibition celebrates the creativity of all of our members using photography in their practice.

The number of photographs in the exhibition will be approximately 60 photographs.

Eligibility

ELIGIBILITY: This Call for Entries is open to all active member photographers. Entrants must be members of the Griffin Museum of Photography (with a current membership through April 2023). We always welcome new members as part of our family and offer a broad range of member opportunities. While some opportunities are for long distance members like our on-line classes, and programs, we want you to feel like part of our community from wherever you reside.

There is a membership level for Distance Members for those outside of New England.

Submission Requirements

Must be a member of the Griffin Museum of Photography through April 30, 2023. There is the availability to renew memberships.
All images must be submitted as jpeg files, sized to 1200 px on the longest dimension, (72 dpi is fine), and in Adobe RGB or sRGB color space only.
All entries that do not adhere to the guidelines above will be rejected.
Upload through the Café Portal 5 images.
8 images can be submitted for members at the dual/family level ($75) or above. Do not submit 8 images if you are not a Dual/Family Member or above. We will contact you to remove 3 images from your submission if your membership is not at the Family or above levels.
All memberships will be verified before delivery to juror. The jurying will be anonymous.

AWARDS:

$1,000 Arthur Griffin Legacy Award
$500 Griffin Award
$100 Honorable Mentions (5)
(2) Exhibition Awards that will take place next June and July 2023.
(1) Director’s Prize with exhibition and catalog

A catalog of the 29th Members Juried Exhibition will be produced.

An online digital showcase from photographs not chosen by the juror will be produced and available for viewing in the Museum.

Exhibition Dates –

April 21 – May 28, 2023

Artist Reception – April 21, 6.30 to 8pm.

Online Artist Panels highlighting Winning and Honorable Mention Artists.

April 27th – 7pm Eastern
May 4th – 7pm Eastern
May 16th – 7pm Eastern

TBD – Member Project(ions) – Participating members of the exhibition will have the opportunity for a slide show evening event on the Griffin Rotary Terrace.

Curator in Residence opportunity for exhibiting artists to meet with the jurors for a 30 minute portfolio review.

If selected for exhibition –

Artwork must be framed and ready to hang. Artists will pay shipping to and from the museum.

Evaluation Criteria

The Griffin Museum invites member photographers working in all mediums, styles and schools of thought to participate. Experimental and mixed techniques are welcome. There is no theme. We are excited to review all forms of the photographic image, including moving image, installation and public works, experimental and mixed techniques are welcome. The members exhibition celebrates the creativity of all of our members using photography as an element in their practice.All entrants must use the CallForEntry (CaFE) online entry system.1. Access the CaFE site and create a free personal account. https://www.callforentry.org/
2. Upload your files into your CaFE portfolio with these specifications:
Image resolution: 1920 pixels (long dimension) @ 72 ppiProfile: AdobeRGB(1998). Save file as an 8bit Jpeg. Files must not exceed 5MB.Please remove any visible names, titles, watermarks, etc.

8 images can be submitted for members at the dual/family level ($75) or above. Please submit 5 images through cafe and send the remaining 3 images to photos@griffinmuseum.org – subject line Additional Submission Juried Show
All memberships will be verified before delivery to juror. The jurying will be anonymous.

Notification and Submission of Artwork: All entrants will be notified of the results via email after March 15th, 2023. Check your spam or junk folders for this notice.

For invited gallery artists ONLY (online artists do not send artwork) artwork must arrive at GMP no later than Friday April 14, 2023 . Work delivered after this date will not be exhibited without prior arrangements.

The number of photographs in the exhibition will be approximately 60 photographs. There are additional opportunities for digital and public art presentations in addition to the museum exhibition throughout the course of the exhibition.

Preparing your image for exhibition
All artwork for display in the gallery must be ready-to-hang. Framed pieces can be wood or metal and in any style or profile and must be glazed, Plexiglas is preferred. Mounted prints are welcome as long as they have some hanging method. Matted but unframed work will not be displayed. Your finished piece must not exceed 30 inches on the long side and weigh less than 10 pounds, with hanging wire securely attached to the back of the frame. No saw tooth hangers. Diptych, triptych, multiple images, etc. must not exceed 30 inches combined on the long side. For the safety of your piece and our gallery visitors, no exceptions will be granted for these framing requirements.

Delivery of Art
Accepted work needs to arrive at the Griffin Museum of Photography no later than Friday, April 14, 2023 via only Federal Express, UPS or USPS. Hand deliveries are welcome during gallery hours, Tuesday – Sunday, Noon – 4:00pm.

If you ship your work please use sturdy, reusable packaging — we will use the same packaging to return the piece to you. You may use reusable fiberboard containers or sturdy cardboard boxes, with additional bubble wrap and cardboard for shock protection. Use of Styrofoam peanuts or similar loose packaging material is discouraged.

FedEx, UPS or USPS can be shipped to the Museum. Please include a prepaid return-shipping label with additional insurance if desired for the return of your work. No cash or personal checks please.

Prints that do not meet our requirements, arrive late or damaged, cannot be hung properly, or are deemed by the jurors and Griffin Museum of Photography to be of poor quality will be not be exhibited. While your work is in our possession, in the event of loss, damage or theft, the Griffin Museum liability is limited to replacement cost of materials only.

A signed Exhibitor Agreement needs to accompany your work or be completed upon our receipt of the piece.

Questions? email us at photos @ griffin museum . org or call the museum during business hours Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 4pm.

Alice Sachs Zimet | Griffin State of Mind

Posted on August 30, 2022

Collecting 101: Why is Buying a Photograph Harder than Buying a Van Gogh Painting?

We are thrilled to have Art Advisor Alice Zimet be part of our Griffin faculty. This fall she has a class on collecting, from the basics of how, to the engaging question of why, and assisting in the what of bringing home a photograph that can start or feed a collection. Starting in September, this online class, Collecting 101, is perfect for those about to travel to Paris for Paris Photo, staying home to see an auction in New York, or head into a local gallery, wherever you may be.

Tell us a little about your background?

I have two degrees in art history and began my career as a summer intern at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The following year, the Met hired me to run its summer intern program (I was 22 years old!) and I’ve been in the art world ever since. After working in the museum world for a few more years, I was hired – the day I was interviewed – by The Chase Manhattan Bank where I created the first corporate sponsorship program in a commercial bank. As Director, Worldwide Cultural Affairs, I used the arts as a strategic marketing tool across 14 countries and 20 US cities to generate $2 Billion for the bank.
At the same time, with a very small annual bonus, I began to collect photography. Today, I’ve amassed a collection of over 300 photographs. I chair two museum acquisition committees – at the Harvard Art Museums (photography) and at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York City – and I’m also on the board of the Magnum Foundation. In addition to teaching for the Griffin Museum, I’m on faculty at the ICP School, Maine Media College + Workshops, LA Center of Photography and Christie’s Education, where I offer workshops on how to collect photography and how photographers can access the market. I’m also an Adjunct Professor at New York University’s Graduate Program, Arts Administration, teaching ‘Corporate Sponsorship and the Arts’.

How did your experiences culminate in a career in the art world?

I’ve never left the art world!! I’m just on career #3. First, I was in the museum world; next, in the corporate philanthropy / corporate sponsorship space; and now as a teacher and advisor tied to fine art photography.

Can you tell us about your business today?

In 1999, I founded a consulting boutique called Arts + Business Partners. I originally specialized in corporate sponsorship given I was a pioneer in the field. I worked with both business sponsors and with nonprofit arts groups, teaching each side how to create strategic partnerships. However, more recently, my business has shifted to focus the fine art photography marketplace, teaching workshops about collecting and advising buyers on acquisitions. My passion for photography won out!

Why do you teach about collecting photography?

About 15 years ago when a photographer suggested that I teach about collecting photography, my immediate response was ‘this is my private world’ and I declined. Then I realized that no one was teaching how to collect photography. Given all the years I’ve collected – making good choices but also making mistakes – I wanted to share my knowledge and experience. My goal has always been to empower students to feel confident, ask the right questions, and to better navigate the complex world of fine art photography.

Tell us about your own photography collection.

I began to collect fine art photography in January 1985 and have amassed a museum-quality collection of over 300 images from 20th Century masters to the present. My first purchase was on a trip with the legendary curator, collector and partner to Robert Mapplethorpe, Sam Wagstaff, who had lent a portion of his collection to a museum on the eastern end of Long Island. I fell in love with one image. But when it came to buying another print of that image, I couldn’t buy just one. I felt the need for a second companion piece. And so, a collection was born. And to this day, I often buy in pairs or in threes.

I started to collect with two initial very personal themes: France and Artist Portraits, mostly in black and white. (My grandfather lived in France and I studied art history). My love of artist portraits morphed into emotional humanistic portraits of people living their lives, often showing deep humanity. These portraits usually address key social issues: identity, racism, loneliness, the challenges of adolescence, family relations, life on the streets of New York, but also the joy of living life to its fullest, whether as a young child or as an adult.

Where does your passion for photography come from?

My photo passion was sparked when I interned at the International Center of Photography in 1975, the year ICP was founded. It took nearly 10 years for me to jump in and buy my first image. Back then, the photo world was still nascent, and I didn’t feel overwhelmed by this relatively small community. In fact, I had to defend my passion as everyone kept telling me ‘photography is not art.’ Boy, do they wish they had listened to me!

What are the key aspects of your new collecting class at the Griffin?

While photography is a multiple, each image is unique. This course teaches students what to consider before making a purchase and helps explain why buying photography can be so complex. Each week, we focus on a different subject — questions to ask before spending a penny, the marketplace and where to shop (for-profit and non-profit platforms) along with how to buy at auction. We also discuss budget considerations, signature indications, negative vs. print date, editions, condition issues as well as collection management. To round out the experience, the final class includes exclusive intimate visits (virtually) with two prominent photography dealers.

What are the learning outcomes that students come away after spending 5 weeks with you?

First, those who initially felt overwhelmed by the photography market will feel more confident and knowledgeable. Second, students will feel empowered before buying a photograph. We teach them how to vet, do research and ask the right questions. Third, photographers will have a better grasp of what collectors might ask when considering a purchase and how this might impact their practice. Whether a collector or photographer, students leave the class with a greater understanding of today’s photography marketplace – from where to shop to today’s trends.

What is the most rewarding part of teaching?

I love to watch students become smart collectors. The most rewarding aspect? It’s to have students circle back after class has ended and ask for help with an acquisition. That is the greatest compliment a teacher could ask for… nearly everyone wants to buy!

If you had to give 3 words to describe yourself, what would they be?

Students like my enthusiasm, passion and energy. I love to connect people and enjoy making introductions to galleries for those who are curious about a particular photographer. But, most of all, I like to have fun.

What makes you unique as a photography educator?

I’ve been collecting photography for nearly 40 years and am a collector, first and foremost. I’ve built a network of deep personal relationships across all aspects of the photography world – from dealers, installers, photographers to auction specialists. That said, I’m neutral. I do not represent any gallery or any photographer. I have a unique insider perspective and am honest, to a fault. I’m overly generous when it comes to providing abundant tips. And while I’ve made a few mistakes over the years, I want to protect my students from making those same mistakes.

What’s your #1 tip about collecting photography?

Buy with your heart then buy with your brain asking all the right questions. And never buy with your ears.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Please join us online for an engaging look at the photography market. The first class is September 20, and runs through October 18, 2022. For more information, look here on our education page for the details.

About Alice Sachs Zimet

Alice Sachs Zimet is President, Arts + Business Partners, a consulting boutique specializing in the fine art photography marketplace. As a collector, advisor, and educator, Alice began to collect fine art photography in 1985 and has amassed a museum-quality collection of over 300 images from 20th Century masters to the present. Alice is Chair, Photography Curatorial Committee, Harvard Art Museums; Chair, Acquisitions Committee, International Center of Photography (ICP); and a board member, Magnum Foundation. She is on Faculty at Christie’s Education, the ICP School and Maine Media College + Workshops, where she teaches workshops on how to collect photography and how photographers can better access the marketplace. Zimet pioneered the field of corporate sponsorship as Director, Worldwide Cultural Affairs, The Chase Manhattan Bank (20 years). Here, she used the arts as a strategic marketing tool across 14 countries and 20 US cities to generate $2 Billion in new business for the bank. She is Adjunct Professor, New York University’s Graduate Program, Arts Administration teaching Corporate Sponsorship and the Arts. Alice holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in Art History, began her career at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and continues to live, work and collect in New York City.

Art of the Photobook | June 2022

Posted on May 5, 2022

We are excited to showcase the photo book in the month of June with a series of conversations, workshops and lectures all highlighting the creativity of the printed page.

Are you a collector of photo books? Have you wondered how to get your ideas to print? Looking for the perfect independent publisher? We are excited to offer the following opportunities for artists to connect and learn from our professionals and creatives. We are continuing to build out our program, and will add more events as they confirm.

We are looking to host a book and zine fair in person in Winchester. If you would like to be part of that event, please contact us for more information.

This series of Artist and Panel programs are FREE to all our Griffin members, and individual tickets for Non Members are $10. Not a member? See the benefits of Membership here.

Current list of Events – All events are online unless otherwise listed.

Artists & Publisher Conversations

June 2 – Eat Flowers, A Conversation with Cig Harvey and Two Ponds Press

June 9 – Ice Fog Press | A conversation with publisher Ben Huff & Eirik Johnson of Ice Fog

June 15th – 21st Editions | Adger Cowans and Stephen Albahari

June 16th – Visual Voices in Print | J. Sybylla Smith with Karen Marshall, Lydia Panas and Amy Touchette

Artist Publishing Resources

June 4 – Curator in Residence with Melanie McWhorter | online book project reviews

June 5 – Curator in Residence with Karen Davis | online book project reviews

Artist Talks

May 24 – Ed Kashi | Abandoned Moments

June 7 – Sue Michlovitz & Eliot Dudik| Handmade. From vision to production.

June 14 – On Seeing | Alyssa Minahan, Linda Morrow and David Sokosh all discuss thier path to creating their beautiful hand crafted works.

June 22nd – Minny Lee | Field Notes. A presentation about Lee’s residency, publication and exhibition with Datz Press.

Closing Conversation:

Placing your Photographic Bookworks in Collections

June 26th – Mary Virginia Swanson, moderator;

Panelists

Jon Evans, Chief of Library and Archives, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Susan kae Grant, lens-based artist whose creative practice includes book arts, having produced twelve limited edition artists’ books to date

Deborah Hollis, Associate Professor, Rare and Distinctive Collections, University of Colorado Boulder Libraries

Picturing the Future 2021

Posted on October 6, 2021

Picturing the Future 2021

The Griffin Museum presents the 2021 Picturing the Future benefit print sale happening October 15 through October 31st. Preview begins October 6th.

The Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts, along with photography creatives from across the United States invite you to add new photographic works to your collection. The Picturing the Future Benefit Auction brings together forty prints from emerging and established artists with sales benefiting the Griffin’s educational programs, exhibitions and operations.

We are thrilled to be part of a community of photographic artists who are supporting the Griffin by donating their time and creative work to help sustain the Museum. This special event will be a silent auction via the auction platform GiveSmart and will be available for viewing all over the world. There will be images that will excite both seasoned photography collectors, as well as those just starting to collect. Prints will be affordable and the proceeds will help support the Griffin and enhance our programming. Participation in the auction is free, and the auction items will be on view for one week prior to bidding.

Preview of the works opens on October 6^th – October 15^th, with bidding available starting October 16^th – October 31^st.

To preview and bid on the works in Picturing the Future the link is here PTF2021.givesmart.com

The Griffin Museum of Photography is a nonprofit organization dedicated solely to the art of photography. Through our many exhibitions, programs and lectures, we strive to encourage a broader understanding and appreciation of the visual, emotional and social impact of photography.

Forty prints spanning a wide spectrum of photographic genres will be available. Original photographs will be available from established photographic luminaries such as John Paul Caponigro, Harold Feinstein, Fran Forman, David Hilliard, Lou Jones, David Levinthal, Vaughn Sills, Joyce Tenneson, Bradford Washburn, Ernest Withers and so many more.

We are also pleased to introduce you to works from the next generation of creative artists, Granville Carroll, Raymond Thompson Jr, JP Terlizzi, Sal Taylor Kydd among others.

For additional information about how you can participate in this incredible auction of photographic works, please contact the Griffin Museum at 781.729.1158 or by email contact Crista Dix, Associate Director at crista@griffinmuseum.org.

Griffin Museum Photobook Week May 11-17, 2021

Posted on April 27, 2021

Griffin Museum of Photography

11 May – 17 May, 2021

Celebrate the creativity and artistry of the Photobook at the Griffin in a series of conversations with independent publishers and creators in May!

The Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts is highlighting the enduring creativity of the Photo Book! We have invited independent publishers and creative artists to share their work, from concept to completion. As a series of online talks and panels hosted by the Griffin Museum, this weekend of programming provides an in depth look at how Photobooks are made and the artists and craftsman who make them.

The majority of these events are FREE to Griffin Members.

** Linda Connor ** is a fully ticketed event. $5 for Members / $10 for Non-Members

We have created a Photobook Week Pass available for Non Members at a price of $85 a 50% savings from attending all 18 events during the week.

Not a member of the Griffin? To learn more about the benefits of being a member of our creative community see our Membership pages for more information.

Event Listings –

Tuesday May 11th –

7pm – Linda Connor Cost to Members $5 / Non-Members $10

Thursday May 13^th –

2pm – Grenade in a Jar with Melanie McWhorter

5pm – Larissa Leclair and the Indie Photobook Library

7pm – Mary Beth Meehan & Fred Turner

Friday May 14^th –

2pm – Yoffy Press with Jennifer Yoffy

6pm – Shelf Talkers Social Hour

7pm – Debi Cornwall

Saturday May 15^th –

1pm – Daylight Books with Michael Itkoff

3pm – Peanut Press with Ashly Stohl and David Carol

5pm – Too Tired with Kelly Burgess

7pm – +Kris Graves Projects

Sunday May 16^th –

11am – Schilt Publishing with Maarten Schilt with J. Sybylla Smith

1pm – Emily Sheffer of Dust Collective

3pm – Saint Lucy Books with Mark Alice Durant

5pm – 21^st Editions with Steve Albahari interviewed by J. Sybylla Smith

7pm – Datz Press with Sangyon Joo

Monday May 17^th –

2pm – Alexa Becker, Kehrer Verlag

5pm – Caleb Cain Marcus

7pm – Fran Forman – The Rest Between Two Notes

See you online in May!

Katalina Simon | Land Beyond the Forest

Posted on August 20, 2020

We are thrilled to be hosting an online conversation with Griffin exhibition artist Katalina Simon tonight, August 20th at 7pm Eastern.

For tickets see the Events page of our website.

Her beautiful series Land Beyond the Forest is hanging in our satellite gallery Griffin @ WinCam here in Winchester. The exhibition ends September 27th. We hope if you get a chance to get to Winchester you stop by and see this lovely body of work.

Katalina Simon is a British/Hungarian photographer whose work centers on the passage of time and cultural memory. Her interest in photography began when, as a child, she was told that taking pictures was not allowed in many public spaces in communist Hungary and she observed how precious photographs were to her family separated by the Iron Curtain.

Simon’s photography emphasizes her strong connection with history and the mood of the environments she photographs. Her image making is only part of a larger goal of experiencing a place, learning about a new culture or community.

Katalina holds a BA in Russian from the University of Bristol in England and is a graduate of the Professional Photography Program at the New York Institute of Photography. She is an exhibited member of the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA, PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont and Fountain Street Gallery in Boston, MA.

The Land Beyond the Forest is an ongoing series depicting a fading way of life in rural Transylvania. This mountainous and remote region of Eastern Europe is steeped in history and lore. The rugged Carpathian Mountains kept invaders at bay and kept the remote villages isolated from the passage of time.

I am drawn time and again to this region and these people because it reminds me of a way of life that I experienced at my grandparent’s village in Hungary every summer. As a child, I was oblivious to the hardships that people faced and experienced only kindness and warmth. With my camera I work to recapture this feeling of storybook wonder and show domestic tableaux and rural people as I remember them.

For this exhibition I am focusing on the last generation of women who live this traditional rural life. My hope is to show the magic and poetry of the women who inhabit the “The Land Beyond the Forest.”

August Photo Chat Chat | Member’s Exhibition Edition

Posted on August 12, 2020

We are so excited to showcase more of our talented artists from our 26th Annual Members Exhibition, curated by Alexa Dilworth.

Join us this Thursday August 13th we see presentations from four photographers followed by a q&a about their work. Dennis Geller, Rachel Jessen, Sandra Klein and Jerry Takigawa. These are the stories we will be seeing and hearing about.

To get tickets to the Photo Chat Chat head to our Events Page.

Introducing our featured artists –

Dennis Geller

Close your eyes, when open them and look at the first object you see. In that first instant, when you think you are seeing an object, your eye is seeing a smear of colors and brightness. It jumps at least three times, and in each jump only a small bit of the image on the retina is in focus. Light impinging on the retina causes chemical changes, which causes neurons to carry signals to the brain. Each change take time to dissipate, but the eye does not stop moving during that time, so that every spot on the retina is affected by light coming from different parts of the object, causing a cascade of overlapping chemical changes. The images here, motivated by processes of vision, ask the question: What has changed in a scene as we look at it? As we look around us, we don’t actually see the changes, just their effects, but we are aware of them. Calling them out, as these images do, offers a different way to experience the ordinary.

Rachel Jessen

This campaign season, I went back to Iowa, my home state and the first state in the nation to hold caucuses for the presidential primary. Not to cover the candidates, no. I turned my camera away from the politics—the faces and speeches of presidential hopefuls, the conventions and rallies, the moments votes are cast—and toward the people and places of Iowa. I’m making my way through a feat known as the “Full Grassley,” an endeavor named for the long-time Iowa Republican senator wherein candidates make a point to visit each of the Hawkeye State’s 99 counties vying for that coveted caucus victory. I wasn’t looking for support at a local town hall or fish fry—instead, I searched for the stories in the individuals and communities that make Iowa the unique, contradictory, and complicated place it is. From Adair to Jasper to Wright, I’m documenting everything from corn shucking to TrekFest to ghost towns to grandparents, and that which lies between, beyond the campaign trail. My hope is that my photographic Full Grassley results in a distinct perspective of Iowa, one that, while alluding to its political significance within the caucus system, demonstrates the limits of such a lens, and reveals it to be much more than the first state to assert its electoral opinion. It’s a portrait of a place—my home—which continues to exist even after all the TV cameras and politicians have gone.

Sandra Klein

“In the dark times Will there be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About dark times.” Bertolt Brecht

Is it possible to portray a grief so deep that it is difficult to endure? For a number of years, I have visited Japan in winter, but this past January, less than a year after the tragic death of my oldest son, I longed to visit this surreal, almost otherworldly land with the anticipation that I could grieve here in a way I couldn’t at home. The stunning snow-covered landscapes I captured for this series, with their muffled silence, hiding almost all color, all vestiges of humanity and the modern world, almost seemed to weep for me. Japan’s unfamiliar religious rituals and ancient objects, with their histories and iconography, affected me deeply. The images in this project straddle the real and surreal. The re-contexualizing of photographs and ephemera, where images are composited to include historical art and objects, reflects my altered state of reality. The materiality of these collages satisfies a need to define my personal despair with a more physical, unique object, as I cut and sew into the photographs as an act of memorializing not only my son, but my own journey into a new reality. Grieving in Japan is a meditation on a life that feels unhinged and unbearable. I experience periods of isolation from all that is familiar as I am pulled far away into the unknown world of loss. And yet, I am reminded, at moments, of the small joys this world reveals, inviting me to experience flashes of utter pleasure, even as I mourn.

Jerry Takigawa

“Jerry Takigawa, “EO 9066”

Balancing Cultures is a personal history project that reveals the racism and xenophobia that permeate American culture. The discovery of old family photographs compelled me to express the impact on my family resulting from being incarcerated in WWII American concentration camps. The emotions expressed in this project bring humanity to the historical record. I seek to give voice to experiences my family kept hidden for shame and fear. If silence sanctions, communication is resistance. The process of researching and creating these images greatly informed my understanding of what happened in the past—and what is important going forward. These images are a reminder that hysteria, racism, and economic exploitation became a force during WWII in our country. Xenophobia can live just under the surface of civility and emerge in a permissive environment. Cathy Park Hong wrote in a New York Times article: “After President Trump called the Covid-19 the “Chinese Virus,” in March (2020), the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council said more than 650 incidents of discrimination against Asian-Americans were reported to a website it helps maintain in one week alone.” Decades have passed since Executive Order 9066 was enacted. Many Americans are only now learning of this transgression. There is no scientific basis for race; race and racism are social constructs. Balancing Cultures recalls a dark chapter in American history—censored in part by the Japanese precept of “gaman” (enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity) and the fear that if my family spoke too loudly, it might happen again. I raise my voice today because it is happening again.

Bill Franson | Mason Dixon Line

Posted on May 13, 2020

The Griffin Museum continues to bring creativity to the photo community through our Artist Conversations. May 17th is the next installment, presenting photographer Bill Franson. The conversation will focus on his series of photographs along the Mason Dixon line. Hoping to get a preview of this what promises to be an engaging conversation, we asked Bill a series of questions. For more information and tickets, see our events page for more information.

What drew you to the Mason Dixon line to create this series. Why did you not take a more traditional tack and follow the line? What was it that led you to its periphery?

My older son was in college in N. Carolina and every year I’d travel down to drop him off or pick him up and during the solo portion of the trip I would slowly wander, taking a few days photographing along the backroads of the South. Crossing the Maryland/Pennsylvania border I’d usually see a Mason Dixon sign and I got curious and discovered the Line predated the Civil War by one hundred years, predated the Revolutionary War by about ten.

How could that be, when most of what we hear about the Mason Dixon Line is related to the Civil War? It was fascinating to discover that the intention of the line was to end a violent land dispute between two families, the Penns and the Calverts, whose land grants were ill defined. The astronomer Charles Mason and surveyor Jeremiah Dixon were sent from England to “draw” the line, utilizing the stars to establish their position. By the early 1800s the Mason Dixon Line was already considered a demarcation between free states and slave states, now a dispute over human property. Land as property and slaves as property and never mind the indigenous tribes!

Granite mile stones were placed every mile, larger crown stone every five. My original intent was to discover as many of these stones as I could, an attempt to touch history, and simply look around and see. I discovered two things. One is that over time property overlaid property, and many of the stones were not publicly accessible. The second is very few roads follow the Mason Dixon Line, which leads me finally to answer why I photographed the periphery. Because it is what I could do. It was very exciting to come across a mile or crown stone but much more exciting to park my car in a border town, wander, and photograph what caught my eye. As I followed the line west or south, I was literally spinning circles over the line, stopping, wandering, moving on.

The Mason Dixon Line lives in a historical context like a story in a book, for most Americans. Your work is not to document the line so much as to explore the edges. How do you seek to visualize the line in context of that historic demarcation?

The Mason Dixon Line is as mythic as it is historic, and the line is blurry between the mythic and the historic. If I am working within a documentary tradition I am, with all humility, following Walker Evans, and Robert Frank. Photographs can describe accurately, and suggest poetically. I’m all for the later, within the former. I never want to hit someone over the head with one interpretation.

Do you have a single image you go back to again and again as a personal favorite? What is it about the image? Composition, timing or was it in the capture, the moment of shutter release?

I often tell students as they are working on a project that there are “sticky” photographs and there are “stand alone” photographs, both have their functions. Mason-Dixon: American Fictions contain both, the sticky ones are supportive, the stand alone’s are iconic. Even though the project is five years old the difference is still pretty fluid. When you ask what it is about certain favorite photographs, the composition, timing, moment of shutter release, my hope is I can suck my audience in to that moment, to feel me there, the now when all of that collides. When I look at photographs, that is what I imagine, and it’s an electric thrill.

You work in black and white. What is it about the absence of color that illuminates your narrative?

Why black and white? There are several reasons for this, (a) that I consider black and white to be one step of abstraction away from experience, and more poetic, for me. There are photographers working in color who make amazingly poetic images. (b) I prefer the darkroom to the computer screen as a working environment, (c) maybe most important, I think working within limitations is critically important for creative endeavors. The encouragement that one can do anything with a digital image gives me hives, a sandbox has edges.

You shoot many images interspersing churches, religion or expressions of faith combined with the local surroundings. I see you also have a series on HolyLand. How does faith play into this work?

On the presence of religious symbols, churches, expressions of faith in my photographs: A simple answer is that churches, crosses, faith expressions are as abundant as the flag. The Christian religion and American pride feel like the warp and weft of the culture within this section of the United States. I’m actually very conscious of how many images containing flags, crosses, gun culture I make. Do I need more, am I saying something new? I grew up in a Sunday Christian family if you know what I mean. Belief didn’t necessarily extend beyond Sunday.

Like many teenagers I ran away from church soon after my confirmation, only to run back to it in Art School when I started reading the bible backward. A fertile imagination and a sense of a world gone wrong took the apocalyptic vision of the book of Revelation and ran with it. I actually took a break from Art school, eventually transferring to study philosophy looking for answers, diving deeply into the problem of evil, time and eternity, the mind/body problem, language and knowledge. Along the way the qualities of an angry, judgmental, there’s only “one way” God were replaced by compassion, grace. If faith enters into this project I would have to say it is not dogma and judgement but the desire to accept, attempts to be compassionate and open, that have cooled suspicious minds, opened doors, properties, and photographic possibilities.

In building a portrait of this region, what would you like us as viewers to walk away from this series with?

Regarding what I want my viewers to come away from, I’m not sure that has ever been one of my motivations. As a philosophy student “The un-examined life is not worth living”, as a photographer ”The un-photographed life is not worth living.”

About Bill Franson –

“If your everyday life appears to be unworthy subject matter, do not complain to life. Complain to yourself. Lament that you are not poet enough to call up its wealth. For the creative artist there is no poverty — nothing is insignificant or unimportant.”
Rainer Maria Rilke

Observe, and get on with it.

This is the short form:
Co-opted the family cameras in my youth. Who doesn’t?
Studied Photography at the Art Institute of Boston and earned a BA in Philosophy at Calvin College in Michigan.

I worked as a staff photographer at several production houses in the Boston area until going out on my own in the mid 90s.
Clients include Johnson & Johnson Innovations, Polaris Venture Partners, Paul Russell and Co., Classic Cars Magazine UK, Childrens Hospital-Boston, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, Lahey Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, The Peabody Essex Museum, The Boston Globe, Genuine Interactive, The Governors Academy…..

I’ve exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and NYC, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia, Texas, and Toronto Canada. Personal highlights have been the Danforth Museum New England Photographers Biennial in 2015, 2011, and 2003, Strange Days at Philips Exeter in 2015, A Nickel and a Kopek at the NESOP Center for Photographic Exhibitions in 2008, Calvin College in 2011, and Panopticon Gallery in 2013. My work resides in various institutional and private collections. In 2014 I curated 21st Century Monochrome, an exhibition at the Barrington Center for the Arts at Gordon College, an exhibit created to highlight select contemporary Boston area photographers and their chosen materials and processes.

In 2006 New England School of Photography offered me a teaching position. I’ve never looked back. Teaching has reconnected me with those who are passionate about image making and actively exploring its possibilities. I taught my last class at NESOP in their 2019 Spring semester, finishing up two days before the school announced that it will close in 2020.

I am currently professor of photography at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. and am represented by Gallery Kayafas in Boston.

You can see more of Bill Franson‘s work on his website.

May Online Photo Chat Chat | Photographers on Photography

Posted on May 5, 2020

Join us Thursday for a online Photo Chat Chat featuring the works of Bootsy Holler, Doug Johnson, Susan May Tell and J.P. Terlizzi.

The Photo Chat Chat is a lively conversation by photographers for photographers and photography lovers. Each artist has a short presentation about their work, process and creativity, and a Q & A session follows, inviting each member of the Chat to ask questions of the presenting artists.

Join us on Thursday May 7th, 2020 at 7pm Eastern / 6pm Central / 5 pm Mountain / 4pm Pacific

Tickets for the event are available here.

Here are the talented artists who will be joining us to discuss their work.

About Bootsy Holler –

Bootsy Holler is an intuitive artist who has been a working photographer for over 25 years in music, editorial, advertising and fine art. Best known for her remarkably sensitive style of portraiture, she has been noticed and awarded by the Society of Photographic Journalism (SPJ) and Association of Alternative News-media (AAN).

Now a fine art photographer her work examines the nature of identity and the reimagined family photo album.

She received her BA with a concentration on Textiles from Western Washington University, Bellingham. After a career as a freelance Director, Producer and Photographer she relocated to Los Angeles to focus on fine art.

About Doug Johnson –

Doug Johnson is a photographer, writer, illustrator, and printmaker currently living in Santa Fe, NM. I have published three books and occasionally write essays about photography, art and the creative process.

Much of my work focuses on the miracle of daily life — how we make our way in the world, safely and sanely. Remarkably, we often do so with kindness, humor, creativity, wisdom, friendship and teamwork. I want to better understand the unique worlds that people create for themselves; to explore the paths they follow or trails they blaze; to record the footprints and artifacts they leave behind. I wonder if they like their job, where they’re going, who cares if they’re sick, what makes them happy, is their family safe, what do they regret, what do they show and hide?

About Susan May Tell –

A visual poet, Susan May Tell was awarded recent artist fellowships to The MacDowell Colony and Yaddo. Her work is in the Smithsonian Museum’s Samuel Wagstaff Collection; her Oral History and Catalog of Works were acquired by Columbia University.

Tell’s photographs are featured in solo museum and university exhibitions including the Museum of Art / Fort Lauderdale and the University of California / San Francisco, as well as scores of brick-and-mortar galleries coast to coast.

Elizabeth Avedon included them in “fossils of time + light” — a book she curated and designed for the Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography.

Tell also had a celebrated 25-year career photographing in more than 20 countries, in the United States, Middle East and Europe, for pre-eminent publications, such as the New York Times, Time and LIFE Magazines. Stories included the women fighters of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, Iran-Iraq war, NBA Finals, actors, politicians, and more. She spent an amazing decade as a staff photographer and photo editor for her home town, in-your-face, newspaper, the New York Post.

Her traveling exhibition, A Requiem: Tribute to the Spiritual Space at Auschwitz, was presented at the Griffin Museum of Photography’s Main Gallery in 2009. In 2021, it will be at the Schumacher Gallery, Capital University. Please contact art2art Circulating Exhibitions, art2art dot org for more information and bookings.

About JP Terlizzi –

JP Terlizzi is a New York City visual artist whose contemporary practice explores themes of memory, relationship, and identity. His images are rooted in the personal and heavily influenced around the notion of home, legacy, and family. He is curious how the past relates and intersects with the present and how that impacts and shapes one’s identity.Born and raised in the farmlands of Central New Jersey, JP earned a BFA in Communication Design at Kutztown University of PA with a background in graphic design and advertising. He has studied photography at both the International Center of Photography in New York and Maine Media College in Rockport, ME.

His work has been exhibited widely in galleries and museums across the United States including juried, invitational and solo exhibitions. JP was recognized and named in The Critical Mass Top 50 (2019, 2018), Critical Mass Finalist (2016, 2015). His work is held in both permanent and private collections across the United States and Canada.

JP is currently represented by Foto Relevance Gallery in Houston TX.