Griffin State of Mind

Griffin State of Mind | Home Views – Colleen Mullins

Posted on November 11, 2021

Colleen Mullins is a photographer and book artist living and working in San Francisco. Her work, The Bone of Her Nose, will be featured as part of the Home Views show, and will be on the walls of our Atelier Gallery until December 5th. If you missed her artist talk on November 5th we have another opportunity here to learn more about her work and creative processes. Here is what she had to say:

Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.

I first met Paula Tongarelli at PhotoLucida in 2007 as one of her reviewees. At the time I was trying to place a body of work I had made traveling, off and on, for six years on cruise ships with my mother. It was so long ago, that in my follow up thank you to Paula, I sent her a sheet of twenty slides!

How do you involve photography in your everyday life? Can you tell us about any images or artists that have caught your attention recently?

My phone has become my most frequent camera, as I use it to take notes, record that which I am also photographing with a “real” camera, and it’s always in my pocket. A picture I keep going back to is An-My Le’s “The Silent General, Fragment VI: General Robert E. Lee and General P.G.T. Beauregard Monuments, Homeland Security Storage, New Orleans, Louisiana.” I started working on a project in 2018 in Humboldt County in far northern California, where the first statue of an American President would be eventually removed, William McKinley. Because of a long-term project in New Orleans, I had been watching with interest, both arc of the monument removals there, and the arc of Le’s relationship with the city. But back to that picture: I am enraptured with it. The conversations in scale are terrific—the way Robert E. Lee interacts with P.G.T. Beauregard, and how their grandeur is further emphasized by the human scale of the door. And then there is the building. It is makeshift, and built only large enough to imprison and cover these archaic traitors. The floor is dirt. A good photographer sees these things, and combined with the opportunities of light and access, uses their camera as a big index finger to point. It is informative at its basis. Here they are. Protected and put away. But the picture is so far beyond reportage.

Please tell us a little about your series The Bone of Her Nose, and how it was conceived.

The Bone of Her Nose was conceived as I worked for the Friends of the Urban Forest pruning trees in 2015. Each week we are assigned to a different neighborhood, and I started noticing how ridiculous an amount of house renovation was happening in all parts of the city. Over the weeks, I then started observing this phenomenon that they also had a homogeneity to their completion. It was first and most obvious in the Sunset District that was built all at the same time, and has a particular kind of house number with a little black frame. Those vanished, and were replaced with mid-century styled sans-serif font numbers, on a substrate of grey paint. The phenomenon of removing color from San Francisco had been documented by San Francisco Chronicle writer, John King, the prior year in an article in which he posited that “In the world of San Francisco architecture, black is the new black.” By 2015 this had spread from new development and apartment buildings in the trendier areas of the city to residential neighborhoods. And I was just seeing it everywhere. The doors were often painted a bright color that mimicked, also, the mid-century. And garage doors were either frosted glass or horizontal redwood.

Having returned to the city to live in 2014, after a 25-year hiatus, to occupy my childhood apartment, I had been grappling with numerous internal complaints. What had happened to “real” San Franciscans? Nobody was funky anymore. The streets were filled with over-moneyed 25-year-old tech-industrialists looking to party, and as it turned out, spill grey paint everywhere. The houses, I thought were a physical manifestation of what I had been observing and thinking about. A Greek-chorus of the new folks saying to we “natives” again and again—both verbally and in paint, “If you can’t afford to live here, move somewhere else.” My approach takes me back to that phone camera—a typologic taking of notes. Evidence of what is troubling….a slow tide of “fog grey.”

Has there been a Griffin Museum exhibition that has particularly engaged or moved you?

I have never been to the Griffin! But I am a huge fan of Amani Willet’s book “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer” (Overlapse Books). I would have loved to see that exhibition in person.

What is your favorite place to escape to?

New Orleans.

What is a book, song or visual obsession you have at the moment?

I know I should have some brilliant on-brand answer to this, but I’m going to say Travels with Charley in Search of America. I’ve been taking these trips in a tiny delivery van with no windows, with an idea about being a woman traveling alone in America. In the year plus of the pandemic that has left us without the ability to see America, while America has been on full display in a sense of liberty and death, but not physical space, I have been roaming in my tiny mobile Covid-avoidance vehicle. I’m a little obsessed with Steinbeck’s privilege, as a white male, to forge forth with his largest concern being not recognized as a famous author. But he says in the prologue, “When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet…” That’s certainly where I am.

If you could be in a room with anyone to have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?

My dad. The stuff I didn’t know to ask.

To see more about Colleen Mullins creativity log onto her website. Follow her on Instagram @colleen_mullins_photography

Griffin State of Mind | Home Views – Kathleen Tunnell Handel

Posted on November 5, 2021

We are excited to bring you the Griffin State of Mind featuring Kathleen Tunnell Handel. Her work is featured in our current exhibition Home Views on the walls through December 5th, 2021. Kathleen will be part of an online panel discussion on November 10th at 7pm Eastern. We wanted to know more about Kathleen and her work, so we asked her a few questions. Here is what she had to say.

Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.

I initially connected with the Griffin through meeting and having one of my first portfolio reviews at PhotoNola 2018 with Paula Tognarelli, the Griffin’s esteemed Executive Director and Curator. Her positive, encouraging comments and immediate connection with my work, as an emerging photographer, gave me a wonderful sense of my own possibilities in a way that I continue to build on to this day.

How do you involve photography in your everyday life? Can you tell us about any images or artists that have caught your attention recently?

Photography IS my everyday life! Since I’m writing this response on Indigenous Peoples Day, I will mention the photographer who goes by the name of Ryan Vizzions and his impactful work made during his time at Standing Rock.

Please tell us a little about your project, Where the Heart Is: Portraits from Vernacular American Trailer and Mobile Home Parks, and how it was conceived.

My ongoing project Where the Heart Is: Portraits from Vernacular American Trailer and Mobile Home Parks wasn’t so much conceived as it has continued to evolve. My curiosity has basically led me in new directions in response to experiences photographing in mobile home communities beginning in 2017. Many conversations with residents about their lives, communities, and concerns, along with my being captivated by the feelings of community and the personality on display outside of many homes, inspired my going beyond photographing to deeply researching and reaching out to residents, advocates, and scholars to collaborate with.

Has there been a Griffin Museum exhibition that has particularly engaged or moved you?

In general, I feel that the excellent quality of curation and online programming has been incredibly inspiring and supportive of a diverse range of people and is truly commendable.

What is your favorite place to escape to?

Are we dreaming of pre and post-Covid escape or whatever we currently feel comfortable with? Escape to me implies a distance from everyday responsibilities, so I’d have to say either Utah or Kenya, and maybe be unable to leave Croatia out!

What is a book, song or visual obsession you have at the moment?

Given my intense focus on preparing for my first solo exhibition at the Griffin, I’d have to say my obsession is with trying to make perfect the self-published catalog of Where the Heart is with all twenty-seven of my exhibited images, a foreword by Paula Tognarelli, and my essay that dives deep into the project and includes quotes from some of the recorded oral histories that I’ve begun incorporating into the project.

If you could be in a room with anyone to have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?

I’m fairly practical, so I’d say the new Governor of New York State – Kathy Hochul, and I’d focus on trying to amplify the voices of those working on the affordable housing crisis and tidal wave of evictions underway in our state that are universal across the country. Without housing stability, it’s almost impossible to lead a healthy, productive life and current regulations often leave out mobile and manufactured housing as a hybrid of land-lease ownership.

To see more of Kathleen Tunnell Handel‘s work visit her website. See her on Instagram @kathleen_tunnellhandel

Griffin State of Mind – Stefanie Timmermann

Posted on August 16, 2021

In today’s Griffin State of Mind, we feature Stefanie Timmermann. Her creative work, Blue Morphs is on the walls of the Griffin until August 29th, 2021. We wanted to get to know more about Stefanie and her work, so we asked her a few questions.

Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.

Stefanie Timmermann

My friend Janice Koskey told me about the Griffin, and was incredibly positive about her experience. Naturally, I checked the Griffin out a few days later. Just coming up on it, I loved the house and surroundings. And I felt very welcome inside, too. A funny thing happened right away – I only had a $20 bill to pay admission (I wasn’t a member yet), and there was not enough cash in the till, so the staff graciously let me in for free. It kind of set the tone, and I was glad to become a member soon after.

How do you involve photography in your everyday life? Can you tell us about any images or artists that have caught your attention recently?

Photography is pretty integral to my day-to-day life. Of course, I’m usually the dedicated photographer on any outing or party, but that just scratches the surface. On our walks, my teenage daughter and I collect anything out of the ordinary that could be used as a prop, and we do impromptu photoshoots where she might be wearing a fish head or gluing pufferfish spines to her face. I also use my camera as a license to be curious: A question might come up, and I will investigate and document the answer with photography. My most recent research answered whether chocolate burns or simply melts when you use a focused magnifying glass on it.

As to which artists have caught my attention recently – they don’t all have to be photographers, right? – I’m very much enjoying Serena Korda’s bizarre sculpture conglomerations right now (@serenakorda). Very recently, I discovered the phantasmagorical drawings of Anna Zemánková – in a way they feel like kin to my Blue Morphs.

For photographers, I’m really digging Suzanne White (@shepherdess1), Anneli Kunosson (@annelikunosson) and Laura de Moxom (@alibraryoflaura). Then there’s the always incredible Cho Gi Seok (@chogiseok), and also Sarah Waiswa (@lafrohemien) for cool fashion photography.

Anna Zemánková, Untitled, undated.

@Alibraryoflaura: “Anthotype of my spirit city Berlin. Made with a beetroot emulsion, the sun and patience.”

Please tell us a little about your exhibition, Blue Morphs and how it was conceived.

Stefanie Timmermann, “Youth”, 2019

Blue Morphs is a series of cyanotypes layered with marks from paints, pens and the heat from a soldering iron. It is a melding of deliberate photography and expressive painterly gestures, and incorporates environmental and social justice messages in some images.

I started working on Blue Morphs during my Artist in Residence in Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia in upstate New York, in 2019. The natural surroundings really inspired me to make a lot of different cyanotypes from the available plants, and to research different ways to make my images multi-layered.

The artist paint manufacturer Golden Artist Colors is located quite close to Cazenovia, and after we artist residents toured the factory, we got a large box of seconds to take home. I started adding acrylics to the cyanotypes and was hooked!

I continued experimenting with overprinting and layering colors on cyanotypes when I came home. At first, I mainly worked intuitively, picking colors and forms subconsciously. During the pandemic, this meditative approach increasingly felt at odds with my escalating worry about social injustices and looming environmental disasters. I read a lot of thought-provoking articles during this time. Soon, I realized that my cyanotypes connected with these theories and constructs, and I developed these ideas further with the help of a paintbrush. My approach therefore shifted to meditating on the forms presented in the cyanotype before picking up the brush. Once I settle on a fitting theme, I interact with the raw cyanotype as if writing an essay.

Has there been a Griffin Museum exhibition that has particularly engaged or moved you?

Oof, there have been so many! Most recently, I’ve been enamored with the sublime and thought-provoking exhibit “Spirit: Focus on Indigenous Art, Artists and Issues”.

‘Balancing cultures’, by Jerry Takigawa, was another standout. Such a beautiful and subtle exhibit on a heart-rending theme (the Japanese-American experience before and during WWII). Having Jerry talk so eloquently about his series in a Zoom presentation really deepened my understanding of his work and his subject matter.

The same can be said for Edie Bresler’s incredible photo/embroidery hybrids (‘Anonymous’). Her talk opened the subject matter to me, and in I engaged much deeper with her show when I visited. In general, being able to zoom into presentation has made it much easier for me to participate in evening talks, and I really hope that this format continues to be offered by the Griffin for quite some time.

Of older shows, Rocio de Alba’s ‘Honor thy mother’ still is very much on my mind. The unabashed campiness of the images hides the rather sordid truth of stereotyped roleplaying that goes on in so many families.

Last but not least, Gary Beeber’s ‘Personalities’ was in turn funny, sad, and poignant and has stayed with me all this time.

I should also mention that the annual member shows, both the juried Summer show and the open Winter solstice shows are also always very engaging. I personally love to see the variety of styles, techniques and thematic approaches that comingle under one roof during these shows.

What is your favorite place to escape to?

The beach in winter, when it’s mostly empty; the woods in summer; and always my own mind whenever I can have a little quiet space.

What is a book, song or visual obsession you have at the moment?

‘Braiding sweetgrass’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer was an eye-opening and hope-inspiring book. I wish books like this would be required reading in high school.

Griffin State of Mind – Vicky Stromee

Posted on July 28, 2021

In today’s Griffin State of Mind, we feature Vicky Stromee. Her creative work, Envisioning Solitude, is on the walls of the Griffin until August 29th, 2021. We wanted to get to know more about Vicky and her work, so we asked her a few questions.

Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.

I met Paula in Portland at Photolucida. This was my first portfolio review and I really had no idea what to expect or how it worked. She was so kind in conversation. She was supportive of my work and encouraged me to stay in touch. Several years later she contacted me about doing an exhibition at one of the Griffin’s satellite sites where they had an unexpected cancellation. I had a show I had just taken down so I jumped at the chance to send off a crate of framed botanicals. My partner and I traveled to Boston for the opening and got such a warm welcome from Paula and the staff. I remember seeing Jane Fulton Alt’s Burn series in one of the gallery spaces at the Griffin and falling in love with her work. I’ve been a fan of the Griffin ever since.

How do you involve photography in your everyday life? Can you tell us about any images or artists that have caught your attention recently?

Vicky Stromee in her studio

I walk every morning with a good friend and our dogs and I carry my camera everywhere. I try to take pictures everyday – plants, animals, insects, patterns, and shadows – whatever catches my attention. I’m pretty much in my studio every day where I build light experiments that I shoot for source images. I’m fortunate to have many rich connections with photographers – mostly through virtual connections on Facebook and Instagram, through my local ASMP chapter and an international group that I belong to – Shootapalooza. I have to say lately I’ve been following the work of Alanna Airitam – not only are her images beautifully executed (portraits and still lifes), but she is an impassioned and eloquent writer about her own journey as an artist and a person of color. I’m fascinated with the surreal qualities of Fran Forman’s work and the emotional explorations of Sandra Klein. I’m always inspired by Melanie Walker’s out of the box constructions and immersive installations. Annu Palakunnathu Mathew’s exploration of cross-cultural experience and invisibility also comes to mind.

Please tell us a little about your exhibition, Envisioning Solitude, and how it was conceived.

Vicky Stromee, “Capturing the Moon”, 2019.

Pattern and texture, light and shadow, movement and transformation –these are undercurrents that have dominated my explorations throughout my life. From an early interest in math and science, an education in literary criticism, my chosen profession in mental health and my interest in photography beginning at age 8, I have been fascinated with the continual processes of deconstruction and reconstruction, looking for what is eternal amidst the transitory.

I am interested in edges and intersections of transformation where one thing moves inexorably to become something else. When is the moment when love fades into anger and resentment; when disillusionment erupts into a violent uprising; when order descends into chaos? And when is the moment when war turns towards peace; unbearable grief shifts towards acceptance; or when pain gives way to relief?

In this series: “Envisioning Solitude,” I seek out close-up views of known objects to reveal patterns of color, texture and form, then capture these images and layer them together to create objects of meditation on that transformative process. Central to this series is the image of the moon – a solitary celestial body reflecting the light of the sun. In mythology the moon is alternately a symbol of love, desire, change, passion, fertility, insanity, and violence. Often associated with the feminine, the nighttime illumination provided by the moon offers us a different perspective and cause for reflection.

Hear Vicky discuss Envisioning Solitude on the Griffin Museum YouTube channel In Their Own Words

Has there been a Griffin Museum exhibition that has particularly engaged or moved you?

Wow, that’s a tough question. I was moved by Jane Fulton Alt’s Burn work when I first saw it. Living at a distance, the experience of seeing images online is not the same as being in the room with the work. That said, of recent note was Jerry Takigawa’s Balancing Cultures. My best friend in high school was second generation Japanese-American and I remember her frequently crying in front of the mirror because “she didn’t look like everyone else.” Both her parents had survived the internment camps. I’m also so fond of Patricia Bender’s work and loved Euclidian Dreams. I am amazed with the variety of exhibitions that the Griffin offers – often showcasing artists I am unfamiliar with. Paula and the Griffin are real treasures for the photographic community.

Jane Fulton Alt, “The Burn”, undated.

Jerry Takigawa, “Like Goes With Like”, undated.

What is your favorite place to escape to?

We have a 100+ yr old log cabin in the Pecos Wilderness of New Mexico – if I’m looking to just be – that’s the place. I lose track of time and can sit for hours listening to the river and watching the weather and the wildlife from the front porch. It is a place that brings me great peace. Beyond that, I love to travel and mostly to places that are so unfamiliar to me that it wakes up all my senses. India comes to mind as a favorite destination.

What is a book, song or visual obsession you have at the moment?

Most of the reading I do is of an academic nature. I do, however, listen to music when I’m working on images on the computer. I like a mix of jazz, blues, pop, world music – my current favorites are anything Taylor Swift, Adele, and Dua Lipa. My current visual obsession is watching the refracted early morning light that comes through the beveled glass window this time of year and fills the walls with rainbows.

If you could be in a room with anyone to have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?

First, I think James Hillman, a Jungian analyst. The conversation would be wide ranging and of a spiritual nature – about the soul’s progression, the meaning of existence, and where creativity comes from. If I could have a second option it would be to sit in on a gathering of the Bloomsbury Group (Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strachey), of whom Dorothy Parker famously said: “they lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles.” I would be content to just listen in to their conversations about life and art.

How do the people in your life influence your art?

Wow this could be a very long essay! Growing up our home was filled with gatherings of artists and scientists, rabbis and priests, and concerts with string quartets. I was surrounded by dancers, painters, musicians, photographers, actors, and philosophers. Art has always been a part of who I am. I’ve explored a variety of mediums with many great teachers who have taught me so much about “seeing.”

When I was getting started as a fine art photographer many people told me I should go see Mary Virginia Swanson (who, lucky me, lives in Tucson). I guess I heard it enough that I set up a session with her. I brought my favorite prints and set them down on the table. I still remember the humbling moment as she rifled through my stack, sliding them quickly off the pile with “seen it, seen it, seen it,” and then a pause: “I haven’t seen this.” I began to take an interest in looking at my work as others might see it.

I have a tendency to fall in love with my most recent work and count on my wife and close friends to offer honest feedback and ask insightful questions. Through this process I have increasingly learned to step away from my work and view it as an outsider. I value their perspectives and hold that alongside my own resonance with a particular piece. These conversations and participating in critiques with mentors have helped me to cultivate my ability to see and reflect on my work.

Five years ago, we realized a dream with our best friends and created an artist compound with two houses and four studios. We are all artists in different mediums (author, painter, musician and photographer). We often share long conversations about our latest projects, our hopes, and our challenges. Our home is filled with an eclectic mix of art that I draw inspiration from every day.

Griffin State of Mind | Elizabeth Buckley

Posted on June 25, 2021

In today’s Griffin State of Mind, it is a great pleasure to introduce the newest member of the Griffin team, Elizabeth Buckley. Coming full circle as an early Photography Atelier student, now an instructor, Elizabeth can’t wait to get started this September. Welcome to the Griffin Elizabeth!

ELIZABETH BUCKLEY is a photography based Artist-Educator, whose current preoccupations are image sequencing, assemblage, social and cultural considerations and humor. She often presents her work in handmade artist books and installations. In addition to digital photography, she has also worked in graphic design, set design for theatre, and enjoys mixed media and experimental photographic processes. Buckley has exhibited her work nationally. Most recently, Buckley taught Digital Imaging, Illustration, and Layout programs to Fashion Communication and Merchandising Students at Lasell College. In the past, she taught extensively in the Photography & Media Arts Dept. at Chester College of New England (Chester, NH). The highlights of her time there were facilitating a study abroad residency in Ireland at the Burren College of Art (Ballyvaughan, County Clare), and guiding students in Directed Study projects. Buckley earned her MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College (Plainfield VT) in 2005, which informs her current art practice and teaching. She also holds a BA in Photography from Salem State University (Salem MA).

Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.

Years ago I was accepted into an exhibit held at the Griffin Museum, and attended the opening. I remember being impressed with the beautiful gallery devoted to Photography. I often prefer regular Museum hours though; the Griffin Museum is a peaceful place where you can spend time experiencing images and exhibits at a slower, more meaningful pace.

How do you involve photography in your everyday life?

I’ve been editing an image, nearly daily for several years, as a simple exercise in possibilities. Many are images I passed by before. I try to see them with fresh eyes. I’m mostly drawn to these daily exercises for their lack of focus on specific outcomes, which frees you to discover new ideas and processes.

Can you tell us about any images or artists that have caught your attention recently?

I recently revisited August Sander’s portrait work. I had the thought then that I should revisit Diane Arbus too. I found a review of Diane Arbus & August Sander, an exhibition at the Edwynn Houk Gallery In Zurich in 2011. It’s interesting to study what connected them, and why I was instinctively seeing it. Examining connections like this helps you consider your own place, and context among other photographers.

As a new instructor for the Photography Atelier, can you talk a bit about your philosophy for this creative program? I’ve taken part in the Atelier myself, very early in its inception at Radcliffe College in 2001, and my experiences there were important in my own artistic development. I see the current Atelier as a community finding connections, both between each other and between the images that we present. When stretching out ideas, we’ll give space to learn from perceived success or failure in order to give room for unexpected discoveries, and define personal preferences in our own work. We’ll ask questions that begin with “what if__?” and “why not__?”. Then we’ll refine our intentions, grow our projects, and consider traditional and alternative ways to best present our photography for exhibition.

Has there been a Griffin Museum exhibition that has particularly engaged or moved you? I just visited the Griffin Museum this week and saw Spirit: Focus on Indigenous Art, Artists and Issues. The exhibition’s considerations of indigenous identity are quite moving. But I was especially engaged by it as a group exhibition. It included ten photographic artists all addressing the same social concerns, but each artist’s process seemed significantly different. I spent some time with each participant’s presentation, to study how and why they may have made their choices in bringing the final images to exhibition.

What is your favorite place to escape to? Living in nature in general, with few belongings, at the water’s edge of a river or lake. My work often includes organic elements, so this feeds the actual making of some images, but also provides a spiritual connection with nature.

What visual obsession do you have at the moment?

It’s actually an ongoing visual attraction. I have often photographed hands, but for a variety of reasons – sometimes as a portrait, sometimes for the hand’s ability to express and communicate, sometimes to represent humankind, sometimes to suggest a narrative or to make marks, and sometimes simply for their ability to hold things.

If you could be in a room with anyone to have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?

I think it would be great to have a cup of tea with Alfred Steiglitz and talk about art and photography. His skill in curating exhibits and championing photography are legendary. Also, I can hardly believe the changes and progress in Photography in my own lifetime. It might be great fun to show Steiglitz the Internet and explain Instagram.

Griffin State of Mind | Dana Smith

Posted on May 19, 2021

We are continuing our Griffin State of Mind series by introducing you to one of our newest instructors, Dana Smith. Dana will be teaching a workshop at the museum called Mastering Flash: An On-Location, Low-Frills Approach this summer. We hope you will join us in welcoming Dana to the Griffin community.

Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.

It’s impossible to be a member of the Boston photo community and not know about the Griffin. I’ve been a photography teacher for 20 years and the Griffin Museum has never ceased to be an invaluable resource for anyone learning, teaching, or loving photography.

How do you involve photography in your everyday life? Can you tell us about any images or artists that have caught your attention recently?

@Wing Shya

Fortunately it’s not something I ever have to try to do—it’s involuntary. From the minute I wake up to the moment I fall asleep my brain is thinking about pictures I’ve made, am hoping to make, or saw someone else make that I wish I had made or will eventually become capable of making. I never tire of the process and have yet to live a day where I didn’t want to create an image. As for artists that have inspired me lately, Wing Shya (Hong Kong) is someone that I’m constantly in awe of and whose work is a never-ending treasure trove of cinematic pageantry. While he’s hardly new his work never gets old.

Can you tell us about the new class you will be teaching at the Griffin this summer?

My ‘low-frills’ flash class was designed to take the lighting panic out of on-location photography. Portable flash is a powerful tool but every minute spent futzing with equipment is a minute that could be spent engaging with your subject. The ability to combine strobe with natural/available light opens up so many visual possibilities and allows the photographer to utilize light to custom build their narrative and covey a meaningful story about their subject. As someone who makes a living as an editorial/magazine portrait photographer, nothing ever goes as planned and time is always of the essence. In this workshop we will learn to be resourceful (on the cheap) and work fluidly to create portraits that are beautiful, complex, and emotionally rich.

Has there been a Griffin Museum exhibition that has particularly engaged or moved you?

Years ago there was an exhibition that I can’t recall the name of but it featured the history of the ‘snapshot’ and vernacular photography. As someone who has built his career photographing people, I’ve realized that the soul of nearly every successful portrait is usually connected to something or someone that the viewer has known or seen in their own family photo albums.

What is your favorite place to escape to?

I love Istanbul but the history, colors, and textures can be visually overwhelming so I can’t really call it an escape. I suppose I like to get lost on any left-behind Mainstreet, USA.

What is a book, song or visual obsession you have at the moment?

At the moment I can’t stop listening to an in-store reel-to-reel tape played within K-Mart stores in 1973. Yup, it’s exactly the kind of twisted time warp you’d imagine

If you could be in a room with anyone to have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?

I’m obsessed with the art of storytelling and have been a Springsteen fan for as long as I can remember so I’d have to go with Bruce, but if he’s unavailable I’ll happily sit with Martin Scorsese.

About Dana Smith –

Dana Smith has been a widely published photojournalist and editorial photographer for the past twenty-five years. He has worked with many top editors & art directors in the industry and has photographed for publications such as Time, Newsweek, New York Times Magazine, Forbes, Fortune, and Yankee. His photo-illustrations have been recently in the Washington Post and the Boston Globe.

To see more of Dana Smith‘s work visit his website. He is on Instagram @danasmith17

Griffin State of Mind | Jürgen Lobert

Posted on May 1, 2021

Griffin State of Mind, a continuing series acquainting you with the members of the Griffin creative community, introduces you to Jürgen Lobert, one of our newest instructors here at the museum. His upcoming class on Daytime Long Exposure Photography class starts Wednesday May 26th. For more information on the class, see our Events and Programs page.

Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.

As part of my evolving business in fine art photography, I was looking for a creative outlet and community to engage in. The Griffin was a perfect fit, in my area, focused on photography and larger than some other organizations. I also had a couple of friends who were already a member, hence, I decided to join.

How do you involve photography in your everyday life? Can you tell us about any images or artists that have caught your attention recently?

Photography most certainly made me go through life with a lot more visual appreciation for my surroundings. I often find myself driving along a road, or walking / hiking around and thinking: “ooh, that would make for a neat photo location”. As part of my activity in organizing Meetups and workshops, I have explored and gotten to know the greater Boston area much more than any other of the numerous locations I have lived in before.

I constantly view other people’s image streams on Instagram, Facebook and more recently also the Griffin’s “Runway” and I find a lot of inspiration doing this. A few communities are catching my eye more recently, one being the light drawing community, the other being certain landscape images, but I do look for many other aspects, too. The main goal is to find inspiration and ideas on what to do or do differently. There are a lot of great artists out there, but what happens to catch my attention most is to see how some of my former students evolve into creating beautiful imagery that I find intriguing.

The most recent exploration was Alexey Titarenko’s time-bending “City of Shadows” collection, which targets something between freezing moments and blurring them away through long exposures. Quite evocative!

Can you tell us about the new class you will be teaching at the Griffin this summer?

I will be teaching Daytime Long Exposure photography, which in itself is really just a technique, but one that can transform landscape or cityscape photos into serene works of art. It is a technique that adds the element of time, or the effects of time to your composition, which is something we usually don’t capture during the day, because high shutter speeds freeze motion. Blurring motion by reducing the amount of light available not only enables us to record the path of clouds and smoothing over water waves, it also makes people, cars and boats disappear, giving the scenery an otherworldly look that sets it apart from most land or city-scapes that we usually view. Images created this way immediately set themselves apart from the mainstream, and they can make mundane places look exciting. It’s a great technique to add to your photography toolbox. In addition, the workshop’s main learning goal is to embrace manual photography, to get out of auto modes and truly master manually setting exposure time, aperture and ISO and playing each other off to arrive at the perfect illumination. It will be an interactive workshop with classrooms for image review, editing and theory, alternating with small group, in-field photo shoots. A safe but fun environment for all.

Has there been a Griffin Museum exhibition that has particularly engaged or moved you?

I haven’t seen too many exhibits yet, but I thought that the recent DIGITS was well thought out and presented a different aspect of photography, apart from mainstream collections we often see. I do also like the variety of the members and winter juried shows.

What is your favorite place to escape to?

Any location where I create photos! Photography itself is my escape, and it doesn’t matter so much where I am. Everyday life and whatever problems there may be magically disappear when I am out and about with my cameras. I do, however, particularly cherish moonlit nights, be it to capture the moment when our planetary companion comes over the horizon, or when it is brightly lighting up the landscape. And, of course, the grand landscapes of the western US, which seem to be made for night photography. I happen to be there this week, my first trip in 15 months.

What is a book, song or visual obsession you have at the moment?

I don’t know why, but lately my mind keeps playing a lot of my favorite tunes from the 70s and I made it a point to revisit my music library, amend it with more releases from my favorite artists and keep listening to what I have. My favorite genre is Progressive Rock, and the latest “ear worm” has been Greenslade. Perhaps age does that to you, but it’s fun.

If you could be in a room with anyone to have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?

Oh, that question needs to be more narrow! There are too many people whose minds I’d love to pick or understand. And, of course, to have one more conversation with those no longer among us for closure.

For photography, I would love to learn about Margarete Bourke-White’s mind when she was taking photos of a nighttime air raid on Moscow. I believe talking to her would be quite insightful.

About Jürgen Lobert

Jürgen Lobert

Jürgen Lobert is a Massachusetts-based fine art photographer born and raised in Germany. He received a Ph.D. in atmospheric chemistry before moving to the US in 1991. Jürgen specializes in night photography, daytime long exposures, urban exploration and infrared imagery.He has been taking photos since his early 20s, mostly using color negative or slide film. He adopted digital cameras in the late 1990s and found Nikon cameras to be most suitable for his work. Jürgen started embracing night photography after taking a course at the New England School of Photography in 2011, advanced his skills quickly and enjoys the technical aspects as much as the artistic vision required.

He started organizing night photo events through Meetup groups in 2012 and founded the Greater Boston Night Photographers in 2013. Along with organizing some 40 photoshoots annually, he also lectures at camera clubs, serves as a photo competition judge and organizes professional tours and workshops. Jürgen is an executive member of the Boston Camera Club and member of the Stony Brook Camera Club, the Photographic Society of America and the Professional Photographers of America. Jürgen was an instructor at the New England School of Photography (NESOP) until 2019. Jürgen’s photography expertise is published in camera club newsletters, his own blog and on his Patreon channel. His artwork is in the permanent collection of the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, MA. Jürgen finds profound peace in roaming the nights in remote places. Capturing the element of time is the most intriguing part, where clouds become bands, cars are bright streaks in the roads, people disappear, stars form trails in the sky and water smooths over to a mirror finish. Night and daytime long exposure photography transform the familiar and create serene views of our surrounding, revealing beauty in the mundane, which we often rush by, but rarely acknowledge in its potential. The resulting images are otherworldly, hauntingly beautiful and serene lightscapes.

See more of Jurgen Lobert‘s work on his website. Follow him on Instagram @jmlobert

Griffin State of Mind | Donna Garcia

Posted on April 9, 2021

We are delighted to have artist and educator Donna Garcia join our team at the Griffin as a curator and instructor. Donna will be a part of our upcoming show Spirit: Focus on Indigenous Art, Artists and Issues, and she will be teaching a one-day workshop, Marketing for Emerging Artists on Saturday, April 24th, along with her Self Portraiture class, taking place this fall. To see what gets her in the Griffin State of Mind, we asked her a couple of questions.

Describe how you first connected with the Griffin.

Paula Tognarelli was a juror for a show that I had been selected for in New York City, and she really made me want to learn more about the Griffin.

Can you tell us about the workshop and the new classes you will be teaching at the Griffin?

I am excited to be able to share my experience in marketing and as an emerging lens-based artist, who has had to navigate ways to market my own work, in a one-day workshop, Marketing for Emerging Artists. However, Self-Portraiture is my passion. It is not just a contemplation of self, but it is a way we allows others to see us, reflects how we see the world and our place in it. Particularly during this past year, as we have all experienced an alienation of self in many ways.

We are so excited to have you join us as a curator for the Spirit: Focus on Indigenous Art, Artists and Issues. Can you tell us a little bit about the show and how a sense of spirit will influence the exhibition?

Spirit: Focus on Indigenous Art, Artists and Issues

Spirit is an initiative designed to educate the public, through lens-based art, regarding the true history of Indigenous people and recruit advocates for Indigenous issues everywhere, but with a specific focus on the US and Canada, where native lands and people аre still coming under attack. Collectively, this exhibition offers a partial glimpse, rather than a sweeping overview, of the many complex issues that Indigenous people navigate as part of their lived realities. It reflects, in part, the intricate nature of Indigenous identity. These ten artists have created images that reveal expressions of trauma, resiliency, resistance, healing, tradition, celebration and the undying spirit to preserve Indigenous culture even through the ravaging effects of centuries of colonization.

abstract woman in a dress with mirror, flowers, and tornado

As an adjunct professor you have said that mentoring students is very important. Can you tell us about why it is important to you to establish a time where students can come to you for support?

Teaching and learning the basic techniques of photography or filmmaking аre very straight forward, but learning to be an artist cannot be taught, it can only be learned. To help my students discover more about who they аre as artists and what they want to say, involves asking them the right questions, which only they can answer – that is how I view mentorship. That time of exploration where we find our own voice as artists usually happens before, after or in-between lectures.

How do you involve photography in your everyday life? How have your subjects changed during these unique times of distance and isolation?

As an artist who does a great deal of self-portraiture, photography is a conduit between my self and the world outside. Photography is often a way that I visually define my role during a particular time. We all have three “roles” in time; the person we are in the present, the past and the future, so what happens when we only have the present? During the pandemic, time became elongated, stretched out, hence those “roles” stopped being linear and for me, the challenge became about dealing with a distancing or alienation of self just as much as being isolated from others.

Joan Didion – Slouching Towards Bethlehem

What is one of your favorite exhibitions shown at the Griffin?

The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, by Amani Willett. I absolutely love that work.

What is one book, song, or other visual obsession that you have at the moment?

I have read a lot of Joan Didion over the past year with Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album being two that I would read again. One of my favorite quotes from her is, “I have already lost touch with a couple of the people I used to be” – Joan Didion.

To learn more about Donna Garcia and view her work, visit her website, and check out her Instagram, @DonnaGarcia23.

Griffin State of Mind | Erin Carey

Posted on March 26, 2021

Artist, curator, and educator Erin Carey had been a valued member of the Griffin Museum Community since 2019. We are so excited to have Erin join us as an instructor for Siren Song: Exploring Poetry & Photography and Making Better Pictures: Fundamentals of Design. We interviewed Erin to hear about the origins and influences of her Griffin State of Mind.

Erin Carey

How did you first connect with the Griffin?

In 2008 I became Gallery Director at New England School of Photography and with my new appointment, I was invited to participate in NEPR as a reviewer that spring. I was completely new to the professional/academic photo scene in Boston and Keith Johnson, who was also teaching at NESOP at that time, took me under his wing introducing me to everyone including Paula, who later offered me (a perfect stranger!) a lift back to NESOP so I wouldn’t miss my afternoon class!

How do you involve photography in your everyday? Can you tell us about an image or images that have recently caught your eye?

book open to black and white images of nature

I carry a small, fixed lens film camera in my pocket with me everywhere I go. You’ll find rolls of film in my backpack, jacket pockets, the arm rest of my car. It’s a tool that has served me well.

Since the onset of the pandemic, I have been spending a lot of time looking at and thinking about landscape as a construct. My first true love in photography was the large format, color landscape work of the 1970’s. Robert Adams has been at the forefront of my mind, “Summer Nights Walking” and “From the Missouri West.” Sternfeld’s “Oxbow Archive” has also been a close friend to me in recent months, quietly powerful and debilitatingly beautiful. Last week I attended a fabulous lecture at ICP by Richard Misrach and was reminded of how much Desert Cantos moved me so many years ago and how relevant that work continues to be.

Can you tell us about the new classes you are teaching at the Griffin?

man fixing truck with water tower in background

I am so excited about Siren Song, it’s the first time I am offering it and it is many years in the making. I’ve always felt photography has everything to do with poetry… perhaps it has to do with asking questions and leaving something to the imagination.

Has there been a Griffin exhibition that is a favorite of yours?

This is Bliss by Jon Horvath was on view last winter, right before the pandemic hit. It is a magical and melancholy essay on a disappearing town in the midwest.

What is your favorite place to escape to?

I grew up spending summers in the lakes region of the white mountains and am extremely lucky to be able to spend time there as an adult. I also live near the seacoast, so when I can’t get away to the mountains I enjoy foggy bike rides on the Merrimack river.

What is one book, song or visual obsession you have at the moment?

Kamasi Washington’s Harmony of Difference is on my playlist every day. It was written as a collaboration with a film maker and debuted at the 2017 Whitney Biennial. I am continually surprised by the movements and the energy.

woman with umbrella, shot through car window

If you could be in a room with anyone to have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?

How can I answer this? There are so many people I could name here, historical figures, artists, deceased family members. In an attempt to keep the conversation related to photography I’d have to say Saul Leiter. I cannot imagine where the conversation might have taken us and that would have been part of the delight…no agenda at all, just coffee, a plaid scarf, a pile of books, and some stories about New York and art.

To view Erin Carey‘s work, visit her website, www.erin-carey.com, and check out her Instagram, @NegativeJoy.

Griffin State of Mind | Meg Birnbaum

Posted on August 14, 2020

Artist, photographer, and educator Meg Birnbaum has given us some of her time via email so we could ask her a few questions about her Griffin State of Mind. What is it that gets her creating, what puts her in the Griffin headspace to teach and imagine.

Meg has been a part of our team for many years now with her work on our core team creating graphic content for us, sharing her brilliant ideas, and even featuring in some of our more recent shows such as Corona which happened in May.

How did you first connect with the Griffin?

Many years ago a friend asked me if I had ever heard about this photography museum in Winchester. He was very excited because there was an annual juried member’s exhibition and he was going to enter. So I checked it out and went to hear a few talks and events.

How do you involve photography in your every day? Can you describe one photograph that has recently caught your eye?

Now that I have an iphone I take photos everyday. I love Instagram and am always looking for something good to post.

I recently saw a photo by Magnum photographer Wissam Nassar that has stayed with me. It is of a father in Gaza in 2015. He is trying to give his two children a bath in a bathtub. The room he is in is full of rubble. There are no walls. There are grey concrete bombed buildings not far away, visible because there are no walls. Human tenacity.

What has been the most eye opening part of our time of physical distancing?

I guess it would be the surprise of discovering that I liked teaching online. It is very different but I was surprised that I liked it.

What is your favorite place to escape to in nature…mountains? beach? woods?

I like freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers. There are so many surprises and discoveries. I like to swim and I enjoy the less restrictions and peaceful environment of an undeveloped place.

What is one of your favorite exhibitions shown at the Griffin?

Jerry Takigawa

I enjoy all of the exhibitions – even if I do not appreciate them in the beginning. When I am lucky enough to revisit and live with the images for a bit, I start to understand them and then appreciate them more. I don’t think I can pick a favorite. The shows at the Griffin cover a lot of styles and approaches. That said, Jerry Takigawa is a favorite.

What is one book, song or other visual obsession you have at the moment?

I’ve been starting a new project recently and am quite obsessed with that. It’s the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about at night.

If you could be in a room with anyone to have a one on one conversation about anything, who would that person be and what would you talk about?

This is a very difficult question to answer. There are so many people. Francesca Woodman perhaps because she was such a delightful and sad discovery when I started shooting again. Her work turned me around and it was the beginning of realizing that photography could be so much more than what I was familiar with.

To view Birnbaum’s photography, visit her website www.megbirnbaum.com.