PDS | Two Paths: A conversation with Rose Marie Cromwell & Irina Rozovsky

Lecturers:   Irina Rozovsky and Rose Marie Cromwell 

Title :            Two Paths:  A conversation with Rose Marie Cromwell  and Irina Rozovsky of Claxton Projects

Date:             Monday, April 10th 2023  via Zoom

Times:          7 – 8:30 pm EST

Rose Marie Cromwell and Irina Rozovsky will trace their parallel and intersecting paths towards a self-sufficient life with photography. The two artists, both represented by Claxton Projects, will share stories and anecdotes from their photographic journeys, touching upon the melding of art, commercial, and editorial, book making and publishing, exhibiting, and the tricky balance between life and work. Their conversation will be followed by an invitation to ask questions and engage with the audience.

About Irina Rozovsky: 

Irina Rozovsky (born USSR, lives US), makes photographs of people and places, transforming external landscapes into interior states. She has published three monographs: One to Nothing (Kehrer, 2011), Island in my Mind (Kettler Verlag, 2015), and In Plain Air (MACK, 2021). Her work is exhibited internationally and is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, among others. She has photographed for The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, GQ, Harpers, Vice, and Zeit Magazin. Irina lives and works in Athens, Georgia where she and her husband Mark Steinmetz run the photography project space The Humid. Irina is represented by Claxton Projects.

Instagram: yabliko

About Rose Marie Cromwell: 

Rose Marie Cromwell is a photographer whose work explores the effects of globalization on our intimate lives, and the tenuous space between the political and the spiritual. Currently based in Miami, she spent the past 15 years between New York, Panama, and Cuba. Her first book, El Libro Supremo de la Suerte was published in 2018 by TIS books, and was awarded the Light Work Photo Book Prize named one of the “25 Best Photobooks of 2018” by TIME Magazine. In 2021, she published two more books, Eclipse with TIS Books, and A More Fluid Atmosphere with Pomegranate Press. She has had solo exhibitions at Diablo Rosso Gallery and Antitesis Gallery, both in Panama City, Panama, and Institute 193 in Kentucky, and at Filter in Chicago. She has a forthcoming exhibition at the High Museum in Atlanta for 2024. Her work has also been exhibited at Aperture Foundation in New York, PRIZM Art Fair in Miami, The Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, and The Silver Eye Arts Center in Pittsburgh, among many others. Cromwell is recipient of a Fulbright Grant, a Getty Reportage grant, two Oolite Creator Awards and was a Light Work Artist in Residence. She has been commissioned by many publications such as The New York Times, TIME, The New Yorker, National Geographic, and Harpers and is represented by Claxton Projects in NYC.

https://www.rosemariecromwell.com/

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The Griffin Museum of Photography is pleased to offer a monthly series of lectures highlighting the tools of the trade and conversations with individuals who are invested in furthering the art and careers of photographic artists.

We have gathered a group of artists, curators and creatives to discuss how they find their way in the creative space, with best practices, ideas for growth and future artist and business development.

Join us each month as we talk about new paths in creativity. The series is available to attend in a single lecture, or join us for the series.

Whole series (5 lectures): members : $100   non-members: $150  ( the non-member fee includes a 1 year membership to the Griffin Museum) 

Individual lectures:  members: $25 non-members: $35 / free to students and academic members

Free access for STUDENTS – if you do not have a current student membership to the Griffin Museum, request registration  to lecture(s) by emailing Sue D’Arcy Fuller (sue@griffinmuseum.org).  Once you’ve registered, you’ll get the zoom link(s) to attend.

January – Sasha Wolf, Sasha Wolf Projects

February – Gregory Harris, Keough Family Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art

March – TBD

April – Irina Rozovsky and Rose Marie Cromwell, Creative Artists and members of Claxton Projects

May – Mindy Nierenberg, Educator and former Senior Director of Programs at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life

For more information about each of our presenters –

JANUARY

Lecturer:      Sasha Wolf

Title:              The Artists of Sasha Wolf Projects

Date:               Monday, January 30 2023

Times:          7 – 8:30 pm EST via Zoom 

 This lecture focuses on how Wolf chooses photographers to represent. Wolf will present portfolios by a handful of her roster artists and discuss what she deems important or special about the work.

About Sasha Wolf:

Sasha Wolf, director of Sasha Wolf Projects, established in 2007, represents emerging and mid-career, fine art photographers.  Sasha reviews or judges work for leading art institutions and fairs numerous times a year and conducts artist’s workshops around the country on professional practices and working with galleries. Sasha’s book, PhotoWork; Forty Photographers on Process and Practice, first published by Aperture in the Fall of 2019,  is already in its third printing. Her popular Podcast of the same name, PhotoWork, is available on all streaming platforms.

Sasha Wolf Projects: https://sashawolf.com/

PhotoWork podcast:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/photowork-with-sasha-wolf/id1523742299

FEBRUARY

Lecturer:      Gregory Harris

Title :            An evening with Gregory Harris, Keough Family Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art

Date:             Thursday, February 9 2023

Times:          7 – 8:30 pm EST via Zoom

 Bring your questions and join us for a special evening with Gregory Harris, Keough Family Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art. Greg is happy to share how he selects artists, who he is following, as well as processes and procedures for curating shows. He hopes to ‘pull back the curtain’ and demystify the museum.

About Gregory Harris:

Gregory Harris is the Donald and Marilyn Keough Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. He is a specialist in contemporary photography with a particular interest in documentary practice. Since joining the High in 2016, Harris has curated over a dozen exhibitions including Picturing the South: 25 Years, Way Out There: The Art of Southern Backroads and Look Again: 40 Years of Collecting Photographs as well as solo shows with Thomas Struth, Paul Graham, and Amy Elkins. In 2018, he led the expansion and installation of the Photography Department’s new permanent collection galleries. Harris is currently working on the exhibitions Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City, Truth Told Slant, and Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis. Before joining the High, Harris was the Assistant Curator at the DePaul Art Museum in Chicago. He previously held curatorial positions in the Photography Department at the Art Institute of Chicago. Harris has also contributed essays to monographs by Matthew Brandt, Paul D’Amato, Amy Elkins, Jill Frank, and the Metabolic Studio. He earned a BFA in photography from Columbia College Chicago, and an MA in art history from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

MARCH

MAY

Lecturer:      Mindy Nierenberg 

Title :             Ethics Matter: Considerations for Fine Arts Photography in Practice and Profession

Date:              Monday, May 1 2023

Times:          7 – 8:30 pm EST via Zoom

 How are ethics relevant to fine art photography?

The College Art Association’s “Code of Ethics” comments on the difficulty of a creating a standardized code of ethics for artmaking. It states, “Artists must be responsible and accountable for their actions as they pursue their efforts to create manifestations of their humanity.” However, it also acknowledges that although standards and ethics exist, “artists highly value their ability to challenge, criticize, and transgress those standards”.  This session will provide a base of discussion for participants to think about ethical considerations and ways in which they might (or might not) be applied to their own work.

When aesthetic decisions contribute to the artist’s vision, moving beyond what is seen objectively through the camera lens, the photography is considered fine art. Ethical codes or guidelines for photography usually focus on documentary photography, given the importance of accurate representation. The lines between fine art and documentary photography can be blurred, making ethical considerations especially important. Participants will explore the ways in which a conscious ethical framework can provide a context for artmaking and a professional art practice.

We will consider ethical photography within the current social, political, and environmental climates. Although manipulation of what the eye sees has been discussed almost since photography began, photographical ethics are especially crucial now, with the impacts of social media, polarization, and denial of science and facts. How might power dynamics, inequality, social and economic justice, and human dignity be viewed within the lens of fine art photography? Although ethics might not always be applicable to the image itself, the contemplation of ethics is valuable for the development of a professional art practice.

Participants will have opportunities to view historical and contemporary images, share their viewpoints, and learn from each other as we examine personal ethics and ways that they intersect with professional fine art photography.

About Mindy Nierenberg: 

For 40 years, Mindy Nierenberg’s career in higher education has focused on community-based collaboration and transformative learning. Her work includes the development of ethical and equitable practices for civic engagement, including the practice of art for social change. She recently retired from Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life, where she served as the Senior Director of Programs. Mindy spent eighteen years designing and implementing programs and initiatives for Tufts undergraduate and professional students across the University that are mutually beneficial for student learning and local, domestic, and global communities.

Mindy previously spent ten years at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she served as an Assistant and Associate Dean and founded the Office of Community Partnerships and Service Learning. She created community-based art programs and worked with faculty in all art disciplines to incorporate community-based learning in Boston and the Navajo Nation.

University courses she has taught include Art, Activism and Community: Visual Art for Social Change; Education for Active Citizenship; Community-Based Art Education; Art in the Navajo Nation: History and Contemporary Social Contexts; and Internships for Social Change.

She was awarded an artist residency at the Blue Mountain Center; received the Tufts Distinguished Service Award for University Changemaker; served as a consultant for experiential civic learning at universities; been a presenter and speaker at conferences in the U.S. and abroad; facilitated workshops in multiple contexts; and developed curriculum, trainings, and workshops, including at the Griffin Museum. She currently works as a consultant and is returning to her own art practice.