The Founder's Gallery

My slanted eyes betray my Western tongue, and in this yellow body of mine I deeply understood the meaning of longing and belonging. My pathway into art stems from the necessity to forge a pathway towards representation – of myself, my identity, but also to translate personal experiences into a conversation that resonates universally. I am interested in the semiotics of childhood artefacts and language, and the significance of this mean-making within abstraction. The mugwort – a central image of my current works – become both an image and a mark; at once referencing one of the first familiar things I encountered as a new transplant to New York City, but also acknowledging how this herb – while culturally significant in Korea for its resilience – exists for those same reasons as an invasive species in the United States. I am interested in image capturing, processing, and transferring, and how the lexicon of photosensitive processes mimics those of immigration. I think a lot about the notion of exposure, which I’ve defined as assimilation, and how exposure works within cyanotype processes to capture time-based documentation of whitening, erasure, and the invisibility that comes with the transience of constant migration.

My practice, and the breadth of my interests, tells a fragmented story constantly reassembling itself – a story of how a boy grew into his body and into his home. A story about migrating, and the rituals and labors of that journey. A story about feeling the politicized, fetishized, and abstracted body so deeply long before learning the vocabulary to describe it. A story about dreaming and finally waking up. 

About Imprints

An imprint is a mark formed by pressing something against another; it is a residue of an interaction past, and serves as a reminder for the future. The works presented in this collection of works are imprints of experiments, exercises, and works that serve as formative reminders and cues to Timothy Hyunsoo Lee’s large-scale practices in image capturing, transferring, preservation and deterioration. His works in image transfer techniques highlights a rebellion to, and rejection of, the manic archival practices of photography in the era of smartphones and the Cloud, and how the deterioration of the image through each subsequent transfer process mirrors the natural deterioration of memories. He is particularly interested in the significance of meaning-making when referential points in representation get increasingly obscure, and how it affects our relationship to the original image, and original memory. Within his works in cyanotype printing – an attempt that documenting the ritual of performance, iterations, and endurance that defines Timothy’s practice in the visual arts, he is particularly interested in how the lexicon of this photosensitive process mimics those of immigration, and thinking about the terminology of exposure as assimilation. His abstractions in cyanotype utilizes exposure lengths to capture time-based documentation of whitening, erasing, and ultimately the invisibility that comes with the transience of constant migration – something that he has deeply felt as a child immigrant in the United States. 

About Timothy Hyunsoo Lee –

Timothy Hyunsoo Lee is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice explores the relationship between rituals of (in)visibility, community and the abstracted, queer body. Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in New York City, he received his B.A. in Neuroscience, Biology and Studio Art from Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) and his MFA in computational arts from Goldsmiths, University of London (UK). Lee’s background in laboratory research and emerging technologies ushers in an empirical approach to investigating the materiality and precision in his practice, his interests in legacies of craft, representation, and labor, that is complemented with the existential urgency of growing up between cultures. Timothy’s works have been exhibited at venues such as the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Orlando Museum of Art, the Studio Museum, The Wallach Art Gallery of Columbia University, The YoungArts Foundation Gallery, Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, and La Casa Encendida, with a public project with the MTA Arts & Design (New York). He is currently based between Boston and NYC and lectures at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology W20 Art Studios. 

All images Courtesy of the artist and Sabrina Amrani Gallery (Madrid, Spain)

The Griffin Museum of Photography invites you to take a glimpse into the archives of Arthur Griffin. This collection of Griffin’s photographs, primarily taken throughout Greater Boston during the 1940’s, connects us with a past generation of art enthusiasts, budding scientists, and dreamers. From museums, galleries, observatories, and libraries to the beauty of the natural world – engagement with the arts and sciences has nourished our minds and our souls throughout time. The little moments of awe on display here demonstrate that a collection is only truly illuminated when it ignites wonder in its audience. This exhibit was curated by Griffin Museum intern Samantha Snow.

About the Curator

Samantha Snow is a Museum Education master’s student at Tufts University and the Education and Programming Intern at the Griffin Museum of Photography. She previously worked as a museum educator at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and as a museum evaluation contractor with Kera Collective. Currently, she works in visitor experience and science communication at the Broad Discovery Center in Cambridge. Her primary interests lie in the connections between the arts and sciences and the intersection between museums and the public – topics she is enthusiastic to explore as an emerging museum professional.

Using a camera or my smartphone to record the events I attend, I capture images of the people around me. Photography these days is so ubiquitous, who even notices? Software then extracts the faces for me, and connects them to a location, date and time, which is used as a title.

I manipulate the images, crop and enlarge the faces, and create a layer of digital glitches and errors to exaggerate the degradation of image I often see in surveillance photos on the news. I also add a custom facial recognition grid. All of this plays with perception and identification. Under the digital noise there is still a person, but reality has been altered on a screen. Size also matters, and these faces are more recognizable when small, so I enlarge the final images for print. (If you can’t see the face in the photograph, try looking at it on your cellphone) Sometimes my subjects don’t even recognize themselves.

My work shifts back and forth between highly manipulated, computer-enhanced imagery and recognizable documentary-style photographs. I know how easily technology can be used to transcend truth, distort reality and produce unintended consequences. Facial recognition seems inescapable, but it is not always accurate, especially with women and people of color. The misuse of these tools is all too possible.

About Sheri Lynn Behr –

Sheri Lynn Behr is a photographer and visual artist with an interest in perception, photography without permission, and the ever-present electronic screens through which we view the world. Her project on surveillance and privacy, BeSeeingYou, was exhibited at the Griffin Museum of Photography and released as a self-published photo book, selected by Elizabeth Avedon as one of the Best Photography Books of 2018. She was invited to participate in A Yellow Rose Project, a photographic collaboration of over a hundred women photographers in response to the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.

Behr’s work was exhibited at the Amon Carter Museum of Art, MIT Museum, Center for Creative Photography, Musée McCord, and the Colorado Photographic Arts Center, among others. Her photographs have appeared in publications world-wide, including Harper’s Magazine, People’s Photography (China), Orta Format (Turkey), Toy Camera (Spain), and The Boston Globe. She received a Fellowship in Photography from the New Jersey State Council of the Arts, a grant from the Puffin Foundation, and, most recently, a New York City Artist Corps Grant in 2021.

And back in the day, she used to shoot rock-and-roll. And Polaroids.

Illuminating the archives of Arthur Griffin

I was delighted to have been invited by Crista Dix to study the archives of Arthur Griffin, choose works from among his nautical photographs, and match them to my own.

To begin this process, I repeatedly scrolled through Mr Griffin’s varied array of photographs of beach, wharf, and waterfront. As I perused these images, certain ones would jump out at me as if there were some thing familiar about them that connected his vision to mine. 

One image that I was particularly drawn to was a young child looking out over the beach from the shore. It reminded me of my childhood years spent on Lynn beach and how much the ocean is a part of me. As it turned out, that image was made by Arthur’s wife, Claire Griffin. I feel that it holds the heart of a mother within it.  

Once I had chosen my six images, I kept each one in mind while I took a stroll through my own shoreline archives. From there it was easy to zero in on one or two of my images that seemed to dance with theirs. I truly enjoyed comparing and contrasting my subtle and vibrant-colored, contemporary digital photos with the monochromatic photos made in the dark room of the past. 

During this process I learned that though cameras and methods of development may have changed, each photograph produced then and now contains beneath the surface a deep love and appreciation for the ocean as well as the moods and gestures of the vessels and humans depicted nearby. These feelings will be held permanently in the souls of the photographers as well as within each photograph we have made. 

I hope you enjoy the connections that link past and present in this exhibit and share our gratitude for Arthur Griffin, founder of the Griffin Museum of Photography. 

About Janice Koskey

Janice Koskey has lived a lifetime with a camera close at hand. She was given her first Brownie as a child, worked in a dark room in college, and during her long career in the Lynn Public Schools utilized photography in her classroom before taking up digital photography upon her retirement in 2008. More recently she has focused her study on what lies behind the photograph, the connection between individuals and their art. 

Though she has attended dozens of photographic workshops and classes, Janice’s favorite source of learning and encouragement comes from the Greater Lynn Photographic Association where she received a NECCC service award has led an Artistic Vision group. 

Janice has published articles in the Journal of the Photographic Society of America on contemplative and travel photography and through PSA she makes presentations in person locally and via Zoom around the country and the world. 

As a member of the Griffin Museum of Photography, the Galleries at Lynn Arts, Marblehead Arts Association, and Rockport Arts Association and Museum, Janice exhibits her work regularly, has won various awards, and her photographs have found their place in many comfortable homes. 

Mother Pearl

Mother Pearl is an exploration of a connection I feel to a woman who I have never known. While she and I have never met face to face, we are far from strangers. We are connected through lineage and bloodline; she is a part of who I am. She is beautiful, full of grace, and has a smile that lights up a room. Our relationship is unique, as I can engage with her only through photographs, momentos, and dreams. Her life’s story is a mystery to me, as I have little to no information to pull from. I am left with mere imaginations of this woman, who she is, and her impact on my life. This woman is my grandmother, Margaret Dowd… Mother Pearl.

This body of work is a projection of images recording my innermost desires of what my relationship would have been like with my deceased grandmother, had we been afforded the chance to meet.In this series I have taken a variety of constructivist approaches to photography by staging memories I long to have created with her. Found photographs, personal objects belonging to my grandmother, and pearls are used to emphasize the closeness of her presence felt around and within me, as well as handwritten letters addressed to her, outpouring my emotions as I travel on this journey to know her deeper.

About Brianna Dowd

Brianna Dowd is an NC based artist whose background is in fine art photography and graphic design. She is a 2017 graduate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro obtaining a Bachelors of Fine Art degree, and is currently pursuing a Masters of Fine Art at the Savannah College of Art & Design.

Brianna is also the founder and CEO of Butterfly Visuals, LLC, a media company providing quality service to creative and goal oriented individuals in the areas of photography, graphic design, website design, promotional design, branding materials, social media content, and more.

When I was invited to browse the digital archives of Arthur Griffin’s work at the Boston Public Library and juxtapose any six of his shots with six photos of my own in a “then and now” scenario, I didn’t anticipate how enjoyable, educational and creative the experience would be.
Arthur was a prolific chronicler of New England life (8,000+ photos have been digitized, with more to come); many of the scenes he recorded in the first half of the last century were almost unchanged when I encountered the region as a student in the 1960’s—and some remain so today. His subjects were a mix of the prosaic (churches in snow), bizarre (underwear-clad men playing cards on a beach in the dead of winter) and curious (actor Bette Davis at her birthday party in Littleton, NH), so editing was a challenge.
I started in a general way with over 300 screen grabs of photos judged to be compelling in terms of graphics and subject matter, and that might align with my own work. I sorted these into 30 categories: parades, markets, fishing boats, fairs, farmers, politicians, streets, etc. Then I revisited each category with an eye to pairing my photos with Arthur’s. Since I have a rather “casual” filing system, this required recalling specific photos by title, then reviewing dozens of contact sheets (I shoot black and white film) to make sure I didn’t miss anything that could be a good fit. An added benefit: I rediscovered several shots that I disregarded years ago and that now looked pretty good.
In culling the pairs down to six as requested, I found I could align my work with Arthur’s in one of two ways: as identical subjects (e.g., both of us capturing kissing lovers) or as similar subjects with an ironic, humorous twist (e.g., Arthur’s photo of kissing lovers versus my shot of a young couple exuding extreme boredom). I chose the latter, hence the theme “Point / Counterpoint.”
I discovered the Griffin Museum years ago when I attended an exhibition of Arthur’s energetic photos of kids swimming and diving at a quarry. As a street photographer, I came away wishing I had taken those shots; his eye for composition and ability to capture the moment in a humanistic way were impressive. I have long admired Arthur’s work and it was an honor to participate in illuminating his archive.

About James Lustenader –

In French, a flâneur is an observer, someone who ambles through a city seemingly without purpose yet attuned to the place and in search of personal experience. And a flâneur with a camera and an inquisitive eye can become a street photographer, as I have been for decades, seeking to capture some of the subtle, unguarded bits of theater that make up people’s daily lives. Street photography refers as much to a style as to a place: the photos are candid, unplanned and, ideally, reflective of stories that can be found in the everyday. I focus on moments that evoke the humor, beauty, irony or absurdity of being human; people’s expressions, dress, body language and relationships to surroundings,  plus the contrast between darkness and brightness, are some of what I look for to create narratives that appeal to the viewer’s imagination. Having an element of drama in a shot adds interest, so I also seek a measure of visual tension that will stimulate engagement with the subject.

Artists create unique styles and languages, yet, they have more in common than what may appear on the surface. We exist in a single universe and share intersecting interests; therein lies the genesis of compelling conversations.  This exhibit compares the perspectives of two photographers on similar subjects across time, gender, and approach. 

Becky Behar curated a call and response between Arthur Griffin’s photographs and her ongoing project, The 50th Hour to spark a visual conversation focused on women, motherhood, and life transitions. Griffin is a photojournalist whose archive spans from the 1930’s to 1950’s and Behar is a contemporary fine art photographer who conveys personal narratives through staged images. Although Griffin and Behar work in different eras and styles, the resonances between their photographs are striking.

About Becky Behar

Born in Colombia and now living in the suburbs of Boston, Becky Behar’s bilingual home is not exclusively a geographic location, but also a place built on emotional connections. Behar’s art focuses on motherhood, domestic life and the link between generations. Her still lifes and portraits are suffused with light, reminiscent of Old Masters. The result is impactful photographs that elevate the everyday to evoke stories beyond the image.

Behar has exhibited at national and international galleries including solo exhibitions with the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA and at Workspace Gallery in Lincoln, NE.  Her group exhibitions include the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Cambridge Art Association, FotoNostrum Gallery, Photographic Resource Center, Davis Orton Gallery, Center for Photographic Art and SE Center for Photography.

She has received multiple acknowledgements including a 2021 awardee with the 16th Annual Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers, a 2020 Photolucida Critical Mass top 200 finalist, and 2020 finalist for the Griffin Museum of Photography John Chervinsky Emerging Photographer Scholarship.