Griffin News

Lisa Ryan | Griffin State of Mind

Posted on August 15, 2023

Lisa Ryan’s Becoming Light is up at WinCam in Winchester. Her works show transformation from stillness to motion, from dark to light, from body to energy. Light painting has a performance element to it; in that respect it is like dance.

Tell us a little about your background.

My family was always interested in the arts. One grandfather collected art for what is now the Glypotek Museum in Copenhagen. Another was the painter John Graham. I grew up surrounded by wonderful art and took drawing and painting lessons from an early age.

When I got to Pratt Institute of Art in NYC, I started out as a painting major but became fascinated by photography. I wanted to work directly with light and in color.

Now, many years later, as a night photographer and light painter, I have come full circle: I paint and draw with light, captured by the camera.

Do you have an end goal in mind when you begin creating a photo?

I work in series of images. The process of light painting and drawing is repetition and trial and error. One image leads to the next as I refine or develop the idea. Sometimes projects lie dormant, then come to life again. Projects I have worked on include Light Gardens (light drawings), and Fire People (double exposures of fire and people). The Becoming Light (light drawings of the human figure) series began in 2016, and I have worked on it on and off since then.

What feeling do you wish to convey with each piece?

In Becoming Light I would like the viewers to imagine themselves dancing, transforming into light/energy. I would like them to feel a sense of freedom: Imagination is the only limit.

What inspires you to keep making?

Making photographs is both sustaining and fun for me. It’s an important part of how I live in the world. I can’t imagine life without it.

ABOUT LISA RYAN

Lisa Ryan is a night photographer and light painter. The influence of her fine arts education can be seen in her use of light to draw and paint. Working with various light tools she incorporates gestures and movement. In addition to lighting landscapes at night, she creates scenes, including clothing the figure and creating night gardens from light.

Ryan’s photographs have been exhibited in shows presented by the Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester MA, the Center for Photographic Art, Carmel CA and in many juried exhibits throughout the US. She has curated group exhibits of night photography at the Front Street Gallery, Scituate MA and at the Art Complex Museum, Duxbury MA.

Her images have been featured in print and digital publications including NASA’s APOD, “RechargeTheArts”, a juried group exhibition on Instagram, Fraction Magazine, and The Literate Image.

Ryan has been co-organizer of the Greater Boston Night Photographers Meetup since 2014.

Ruben Natal San Miguel | Collection Acquisition

Posted on August 9, 2023

We are thrilled to announce a new donation to the Griffin Contemporary Collection from photographer Ruben Natal-San Miguel.

From the exhibition and series Women R Beautiful we have four prints to add to the collection. This generous donation will represent a broad selection of San Miguel’s magnum opus and years long series featuring the women of New York.

Frank and honest, the women are confident, self aware and direct with their gaze into the lens. His exhibition was featured during Women’s History Month at Griffin @ Lafayette, and we are excited to showcase the diversity and breadth of the female gaze and shared experience of portraiture at its most pure.

From Left to right –

Brotherly Love (Never Dies), Jennifer (Unlock the Vixen), 3 Muslim Girls and Nykki & Ari (Valentine Twins & Morning Glories)

In a partnership with Boston Downtown Association we had a special Mother’s Day Street Portrait studio. Ruben spent 2 hours on the streets of Downtown Crossing, creating a series of the same name. This digital collection is also part of the Contemporary Collection here at the museum.

We are so grateful to Ruben for sharing his creativity and unique vision with the museum and our patrons.

About Ruben Natal San Miguel –

RUBEN NATAL-SAN MIGUEL is an architect, fine art photographer, curator, creative director and critic. His stature in the photo world has earned him awards, features in major media, countless exhibitions and collaborations with photo icons such as Magnum Photographer Susan Meiselas. Gallery shows include: Asya Geisberg, SoHo Photo, Rush Arts, Finch & Ada, Kris Graves Projects, Fuchs Projects, WhiteBox Gallery, Station Independent Projects Gallery, LMAK Gallery, Postmasters Gallery Rome & NYC and others. His work has been featured in numerous institutions: The New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Griffin Museum of Photography, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, African American Museum of Philadelphia, The Makeshift Museum in Los Angeles, University of Washington, El Museo del Barrio and Phillips Auction House and Aperture Foundation.

International art fair representation includes: Outsider Art Fair, SCOPE, PULSE, Art Chicago, Zona Maco, Mexico, Lima Photo, Peru and Photo LA. and Filter Photo Festival in Chicago Ill. His photography has been published in a long list of publications, highlights: New York Magazine, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Time OUT, Aperture, Daily News, OUT, American Photo, ARTFORUM, VICE, Musee, ARTnet and The New Yorker, PBS and NPR. In 2016, Ruben’s Marcy’s Playground was selected for both the Billboard Collective and website for Apple. His photographs are in the permanent collections of El Museo Del Barrio in NYC, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY, The Contemporary Collection of the Mint Museum Charlotte, North Carolina, The Bronx Museum for the Arts, School of Visual Arts, NYC, The Fitchburg Museum of Art, Massachusetts, The North Carolina Museum of Art at Raleigh, NC., The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, The Studio Museum of Harlem and The Museum of The City of NY, The Provincetown Art Museum, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Museum Center at Vassar College and The Museum of Fine Arts , Boston, MA.

Rolls and Tubes | Griffin State of Mind

Posted on July 7, 2023

With the exhibition of Rolls and Tubes coming to a close on July 9th, the four artists were asked to delve into their process and thoughts behind the work. Be sure to stop by the museum to see each artists reinterpretation of a known photograph in the arc of contemporary, and the history of photography, utilizing toilet paper as an element of the image.

Tell us a little about how your work with photography began?

“My father was an incessant amateur photographer and filmmaker. He was armed with his Bolex movie camera or some manner of camera his whole life—though an architect by trade. SO it is no surprise that Santa brought me a Kodak Instamatic in 1971. My formal training, however, began in high school.” – Colleen Mullins

“My introduction to photography was when I was a child. Home movies and slideshows –then learning to process and print in elementary school when I was 12. From that time on, photography was simply a part of me, it never occurred to me to stop, in fact it felt very wrong to stop. It wasn’t until my late twenties that I thought of myself as ‘a photographer’ and ‘an artist.'” – Jenny Sampson

“I took my first photography class in high school but it wasn’t until college when I had conversation with a career counselor who asked me “How would you like to spend your day if you could do whatever you want” and without hesitation I said “I’d walk around taking photos of people out in the world.” Neither the career counselor nor I knew what that meant in terms of an actual job, but it was that single conversation that ultimately led me to majoring in Art/Photography at UC Berkeley and becoming a photographer. While I have done all kinds of photography for work since then, walking around out in the world taking photos of people is still my favorite way to spend a day and is now my primary practice.” – Christy McDonald

“It’s weirdly straightforward. I took photography classes at the Art Institute of Boston while in high school and that was it. I had found something that allowed me to understand the world around me, and much later, myself. But I suppose my real formative experience was at MassArt. That place, and more importantly the people within it, were the catalysts for much of the way that I still think about and approach image making. Now, as a professor of photography, I try to emulate the environment I experienced there in my own classroom.” – Nicole White

What do you want this work to convey to the public? Has the message changed between showing on instagram vs showing in a museum?

“At first, this project was for us; a means to find some humor, reconsider the photographic canon, and question societal priorities during the pandemic. As we progressed, there was a realization that other people were getting something out of watching the project unfold via Instagram. The public response showed us that it provided a small escape from the pandemic through the daily task of looking at our work and investigating the source. Along with that, maybe they got a little chuckle from our reinterpretation.

Once the work was made physical (i.e. a book), the possibility of how it could function changed. The book allowed us to consider a level of engagement and interaction with the work that was not possible with Instagram. Showing the work on a wall is an entirely different experience, one which enables us to put different pieces in conversation with one another each time it is installed.” – Nicole White (answering for the group)

Were there any rules you began to follow but lost over time?

“We stayed pretty true to our initial prompt. As we kept making them, we allotted ourselves more time because our processes became more elaborate. Outside of that, the initial prompt gave us enough flexibility that we felt like we could make a piece that was a very close duplicate to the original or something that was more of a nod to the original.” – Nicole White (answering for the group)

“Well, there really weren’t any rules of the group except that we had to use toilet paper in some way to recreate a photograph. I had my own personal rules, which I allowed myself to break if necessary. My overall rule was that I can do whatever I want because there are no rules; within that rule, I wanted to make things with my hands, and I accomplished this with few exceptions –because I could do whatever I wanted.” – Jenny Sampson

Has there been a piece of contemporary art that has particularly engaged or moved you?

“It changes. I saw a remarkable work by Edward and Nancy Keinholz at Frieze this year. My Country ’Tis of Thee, 1991.

A sculpture of four unrepentant businessmen, pantsless. Life size. All had their right legs in the same barrel, their right hands over their hearts, and their left hands reaching back to stoke the penis of the man behind. Red white and blue bare lightbulbs drained out from the barrel like water. And it felt so present. So now. So raw. So hopeless, in that it was made 30+ years ago.” – Colleen Mullins

“A local Bay Area photographer, J.M. Golding, has been making these gorgeous lumen print diptychs –of course work born out of an accident– that I cannot stop thinking about. They are dreamy, haunting, bewildering and engaging.” – Jenny Sampson

“When I was in college my photography class went to a lecture given by Sebastiao Salgado where he presented his series on Brazilian mine workers. I was blown away by the deep dark richness of his images and by his focus on the human condition, at the time, I had never seen anything like it. This was when I realized documentary photography could be fine art. I have also been heavily influenced by the work of Bruce Davidson, Robert Frank and Josef Koudelka, three of my favorite photographers.” – Christy McDonald

“Sure. I look at work all the time to better inform my practice and my teaching. Last month, I was in Paris and saw the Lynne Cohen and Marina Gadonneix exhibition at the Centre Pompidou and it has stuck with me. While both artists’ work read as somewhat detached as first, there is a beauty and depth to the pieces that really surprised me. I was taken by the entire exhibition. I’m still thinking about it. It also made me want to dust off the 4×5 camera…” – Nicole White

Where do you expect to take your art next?

“I am working on a small edition artist book about love letters my mother exchanged with the scientist who later decoded RNA and was the first to use the term mRNA. The work uses certain characteristics of RNA, and the search for its alphabet as the formation of the physical object. I am interested in storytelling, and as a bookbinder—I naturally first gravitate to the book in my work.” – Colleen Mullins

“I have several projects in the works –a few tintype studies that have grown out of (literally and figuratively) my time spent at home during the pandemic including pasiflora mutliples (multiple exposure tintypes) and my weeds. In addition, I am working on an upcoming exhibition of my Skater Girls and Skaters tintype portrait series. And also there’s the collage. Never a dull moment.” – Jenny Sampson

“I’m off to Palestine in the Fall to take more photos for a project I started there in 2016.” – Christy McDonald

“I have no idea. I’m juggling several projects at the moment, but I couldn’t tell you anything about expectations other than those that I put onto myself as an art maker.” – Nicole White

ABOUT THE ROLLS AND TUBES COLLECTIVE

Colleen Mullins is a photographer and book artist. She has garnered numerous grants and fellowships, including two McKnight Fellowships, four Minnesota State Arts Board Grants, and in 2020, she was a nominee for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award for her project “Expositions are the timekeepers of progress”. Additionally, she has been an artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center, the Penland School of Crafts Winter Residency, and In Cahoots Residency. Mullins’ work is in the collections of the US Embassy in Moscow, Ogden Museum of Southern Art and Southeast Museum of Photography, among others. Her publications include Photo District News (PDN), The Oxford American Eyes on the South, The New York Times Lens Blog, and numerous textbooks. She has authored articles for Afterimage and PDNedu. Recent exhibitions include Griffin Museum of Photographic Art, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and Tilt Institute for the Contemporary Image with the Rolls & Tubes Collective.

Jenny Sampson was born and raised in San Francisco and currently resides in Berkeley, California. She earned a B.A. in Psychobiology in 1991 at Pitzer College and has since dedicated her time to her photographic endeavors: wet plate collodion, traditional black and white photography and commissioned portraits. Sampson is a member of The Rolls and Tubes Collective. Her first monograph, Skaters, was published in October 2017 by Daylight Books and Jenny’s Skater Girls in September 2020.

Nicole White is a Bay Area artist and curator. White uses historical and contemporary photographic processes to examine the medium’s varied functionality while looking at the American cultural landscape. She holds a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art (2002), a MA in Art History from the University of Connecticut (2010) and a MFA in Studio from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2012). She is a Professor of Art (Photography) at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, CA. In 2021, she published a book, Rolls & Tubes: A History of Photography, in collaboration with Christy McDonald, Colleen Mullins, and Jenny Sampson.

Christy McDonald uses photography as a way of engaging with the world and exploring the varied cultural and social conditions she encounters. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Christy holds a B.A. in Art (photography) from UC Berkeley, is a member of the Rolls and Tubes Photographic Collective, and has ongoing personal projects in parts of the Middle East and the California Central Valley.

Fern Nesson | Griffin State of Mind

Posted on June 23, 2023

Fern Nesson’s E=mc² is up at the Griffin Museum until July 9th, 2023. Here is your chance to learn more about her work if you missed the Artist Talk!

Tell us a little about your background.

I am a fine art photographer who came to it a bit late in life. I studied religion in college and law after I graduated. After Harvard Law School, I practiced criminal and constitutional law for 10 years. Subsequently, I got a masters degree in American History and taught history and mathematics for the next 25 years. As must be obvious, I believe in changing things up and, in 2018, I completed my MFA in Photography at the Maine Media College.

Although my career path has been varied, I see it not as a rejection of what came before but as a synthesis of my interests and passions accompanied by the pursuit of the craft and technique necessary to realize them. I try always to remember what I’ve learned before as i acquire new ideas and skills.

What compelled you to combine science and art?

Photography impels me to continually broaden my knowledge and skills as well as my range of experience and perception. I begin each of my projects by choosing a theoretical subject that fascinates me. I do love physics but I also love math, philosophy, translation, poetry — all subjects that employ abstraction as a means of seeking truth.

When I choose a subject, I read as much as I can about it and then write about the ideas that inspire me. Then I go out and shoot. I do not to illustrate these ideas but instead to respond to them aesthetically. Invariably, these other disciplines provide parallels which illuminate the issues I face in creating non-objective, abstract photographs.

Can you describe how you see color and motion, and how that impacts your work?

I don’t look specifically for color or motion. I look for energy. I want to my images to embody the moment when mass becomes energy. Sometimes, color aids in conveying energy, sometimes motion, but neither is the necessary. What is critical is form:

I believe that an energy-filled photograph requires

1) active lines and interesting angles

2) contrast of light and dark

3) clarity of focus

4) attention to scale:

There is immensity in the miniscule as well as in

the cosmos. The immensity within us

is equal to the immensity without.

5) room to breathe:

Empty space in an image is as important

as the forms themselves.

6) rhythm:

Rhythm gives life to an image.

The universe is not a still life.

7) spare elegance:

Less is more. Too much going on

in an image destroys harmony,

creates confusion, muddies the message.

Form is key to making a successful abstract image. But the deeper question is why I seek to create energy in each of my images. I can best explain this way:

Many, if not most, photographers make images of “decisive moments,” records of the past, memento mori. Like Roland Barthes that believe that ” a photograph is a witness, but a witness of what is no more — a record of what has been. Every image is an image of death.”

I challenge Barthes by aiming to create images that are alive. An image that embodies energy and engages the viewer in a mutual experience of it is not merely a record of a past moment. It creates new energy. Like Cezanne’s paintings, it breathes.

I use my camera to create life and to defy death. Everything in my images is real, never constructed. Even absent living subjects, they possess the energy that was present at the moment of capture and that energy remains there now. A photographe that embodies energy, like a moment of transcendence, reminds us that we are infinite — a part of the universe, connected to and melded into everything else. If only for fleeting seconds, we perceive that we will never die; we will merely change in form. Nothing is ever lost. Those we loved exist forever all around us in a different form. And we will too.

I aspire to create images that breathe and pulse. I (and they) follow the gentle, exhilarating command of that wisest of verses in the Tao Te Ching: “be living, not dying.”

Has there been a piece of contemporary art that has particularly engaged or moved you?

I am captivated by Malevich, Lissitsky and Moholy-Nagy, artists who incorporate the energy of “space/time” (the fourth dimension) into their work.

Where do you expect to take your art next?

One of my completed projects, “Tilt!,” will open at the Beacon Gallery in Boston on September 1. “Tilt!” explores the relationship of point of view in architecture and in abstract photography. It consists of 40 still photographs, 2 videos and a book of essays.

I’ve also just finished a project entitled “The Music of the Spheres” on the mathematics of harmonics amd its relationship to abstract photography. It includes 24 still photographs, 1 video, and an essay on Pythagorus’s Theory of Harmonics.

This summer, I’m beginning a new project on William Butler Yeats. Yeats is not only a superb poet who uses abstraction and metaphor skillfully but also a philosopher. He has a great deal to teach me about the challenge of maintaining the creative impulse and joy as one faces aging and the end of life. I’ve just begun to read, write and shoot and I’m excited to turn to Yeats every day.

ABOUT FERN NESSON

Fern L. Nesson is a fine art photographer who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She received her MFA in Photography from Maine Media College (2018), a J.D. from Harvard Law School (1971.) She has had solo exhibitions abroad at the Politecnico University in Torino, Italy, Les Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, France, Ph21 Gallery in Budapest, Hungary, the University of The West Indies in Jamaica and in the United States at the MIT Museum Lab, The MetaLab at Harvard, the Beacon Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts, the Pascal Gallery in Rockport, Maine, and Through This Lens Gallery in Durham, NC.

Nesson’s solo show, Tilt!, will open in September, 2023 at the Beacon Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts. Additionally, Nesson’s work has been selected for numerous juried
exhibitions in the U.S., Barcelona, Rome and Budapest. Her photobooks, Signet of Eternity and WORD, won 10th and the 12th Annual Photobooks Awards from the Davis-Orton Gallery.

Brianna Dowd | Griffin State of Mind

Posted on June 10, 2023

We were thrilled to have Brianna Dowd’s series, Mother Pearl, at the Griffin Museum! Read more to hear about the process and background to the beautiful work.

Tell us a little about your background.

I have an artistic background in photography and graphic design. My journey with photography started in the digital sphere, and in my undergraduate years of college I began to work with combining 19th century processes with digital technology (ie. cyanotype, van dyke). More recently, I have moved into, especially with my thesis work, exploring creating works of collage.

What made you want to focus on this topic for your thesis?

I’ve been working in themes of identity, memory, and loss since my undergraduate years at UNC Greensboro, and developed a series about my paternal grandfather while I was there. From then I knew I wanted to have a body of work that revolved around my father’s mother as well, but was very strategic about how to approach it carefully because there was so much I didn’t know about her but still felt a close connection. I spent much time gathering photos, hearing and documenting stories, even visiting where my father grew up to aid me as I worked on what is now “Mother Pearl”. My love and appreciation for family, history, and paying homage to those who came before us was a huge inspiration in me choosing to move forward with this being my thesis work, as well as my personal experience with connecting to those who are no longer with us.

Is there anything in particular that drew you to photography originally?

I would say nothing as far as a subject drew me to photography specifically, but more so the way photography has been and can be used. I grew up with parents who were wedding photographers, and to see them interact with couples and share in so many love stories helped me learn how important photography was with capturing important moments in life. My college journey specifically gave me a deeper love for photography, as I came to see the medium more than a means to record information and events, but one that can be used as a means to tell stories, express feelings, and encourage conversation.

Has there been a piece of contemporary art that has particularly engaged or moved you?

There are so many pieces I could choose from, but I would like to salute a body of work entitled Sugar Coat, by Christina Leslie who is based in Toronto, CA. Her entire series was emotionally and visually moving, and it serves as a means of education and dialogue about the truths around the history of sugar, slavery, and the Caribbean Diaspora. Her finished photographs were produced from sugar and presented to the viewer appropriated pieces of pro-slave literature, sugar ads, etc.

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.

We Got the Grant!!

Posted on June 1, 2023

THE GRIFFIN MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY is thrilled to announce the award of a $60,000 Cummings Foundation Grant!

The Cummings Foundation Artist Residency

Winchester, MA – The Griffin Museum of Photography is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a generous grant from the Cummings Foundation to support artist residencies over the next three years. This funding will enable the museum to provide exceptional opportunities for emerging and established photographers of diverse backgrounds to pursue their creative endeavors and engage with the local community in Winchester.

The Griffin Museum is one of 150 local nonprofits that will share in $30 million through Cummings Foundation’s major annual grants program. The Winchester based organization was selected from a total of 630 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $60,000 over the next three years.

The Cummings Foundation, renowned for its commitment to supporting local organizations, has once again demonstrated its unwavering dedication to the arts. Their belief in the transformative power of photography and their commitment to fostering artistic growth align perfectly with the Griffin Museum’s mission to cultivate an appreciation and understanding of the art of photography.

The Cummings $30 Million Grant Program primarily supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties.

The majority of the grant decisions were made by about 90 volunteers. They worked across a variety of committees to review and discuss the proposals and then, together, determine which requests would be funded. Among these community volunteers were business and nonprofit leaders, mayors, college presidents, and experts in areas such as finance and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion).

“It would not be possible for the Foundation to hire the diversity and depth of expertise and insights that our volunteers bring to the process,” said Vyriotes. “We so appreciate the substantial time and thought they dedicated toward ensuring that our democratized version of philanthropy results in equitable outcomes that will really move the needle on important issues in local communities.”

The Foundation and volunteers first identified 150 organizations to receive three-year grants of up to $225,000 each. The winners included first-time recipients as well as nonprofits that had previously received Cummings grants. Twenty-five of this latter group of repeat recipients were then selected by a volunteer panel to have their grants elevated to 10-year awards ranging from $300,000 to $1 million each.

This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including housing and food insecurity, workforce development, immigrant services, social justice, education, and mental health services. The nonprofits are spread across 46 different cities and towns.

Cummings Foundation has now awarded $480 million to greater Boston nonprofits. The complete list of this year’s 150 grant winners, plus nearly 1,500 previous recipients, is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Through this grant, the Griffin Museum of Photography will be able to invite artists of typically underrepresented identities to reside within our organization for a designated period. These artist residencies will provide photographers with a unique platform to experiment with innovative ideas, and explore pertinent issues in the contemporary world.

The financial support from the Cummings Foundation will ensure that the Griffin Museum can provide these artists with essential resources and tools during their residencies. From access to equipment, competitive honoraria, and per diems, the artists will have everything they need to realize their artistic visions.

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Cummings Foundation for their extraordinary generosity and commitment to the arts,” said Crista Dix, Executive Director of the Griffin Museum of Photography. “This grant will empower us to nurture the talents of photographers, connecting them with the Winchester community, through education and visual literacy programs. We are currently in the midst of making artist selections, and are thrilled to hear from new voices and amplify them by way of our amazing museum’s platform.”

The Griffin Museum of Photography is eager to embark on this exciting journey made possible by the Cummings Foundation’s support. The residencies will not only enrich the artistic practices of the participating photographers but will also contribute to the cultural landscape of our local community and beyond.

About the Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester, MA and has grown to be one of the largest private foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn, and Cummings Health Sciences, LLC. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Rohina Hoffman | Griffin State of Mind

Posted on May 19, 2023

Our shared and common humanity is assumed but not always evident. Making work inspired from my own personal experiences, I look for ways to further and deepen our thoughts on this connection.

In Embrace, Los Angeles based photographer Rohina Hoffman reflects on the theme of uncertainty while combining two of her photographic projects. In Gratitude, made during the pandemic, is a typology of portraits celebrating food and family and how we find comfort in times of unease. Generation 1.75 is a visual memoir of identity, belonging, and the complexities of acculturation.

Embrace will be on display at the Griffin until May 28, 2023.

Tell us a little about your background.

I grew up in a family of doctors spanning three generations. I also became a doctor, specifically a neurologist. Despite our emphasis on science, everyone in my family also had artistic pursuits. Since high school,I have always been involved with photography and decided about ten years ago to focus on it.

Can you explain the thought behind your show, and why it is presented in the way it is?

I wanted the show to be a sensory engaging experience. There are the photographs of course, but there is also text (both prose and poetry), scent, in the form of a reed diffuser, and my book, Embrace, to hold and touch and skim through.

What feeling do you hope to leave your viewers with when surrounded by your work?

Walking into the Griffin Gallery, I want viewers to be wholly embraced by the art and to feel alive. I hope they that they feel and connect with the photographs and text elements, and walk out of the gallery with a softer more hopeful heart.

What is a literary, musical or visual obsession you have at the moment?

I am currently obsessed with Maira Kalman and her books (most recent being “Women Holding Things”.) Her combination of witty text and bold colorful images, her simple playful approach about the human condition is at once personal and universal. I can read them over and over again.

ABOUT ROHINA HOFFMAN:

Rohina is a fine art photographer whose practice uses portraiture and the natural world to investigate themes of identity, home, adolescence and the female experience.

Born in India and raised in New Jersey, Rohina grew up in a family of doctors spanning three generations. While an undergraduate at Brown University, Rohina also studied photography at the Rhode Island School of Design and she was a staff photographer for the Brown Daily Herald. A graduate of Brown University Medical School and resident at UCLA Medical Center, her training led to a career as a neurologist.

A skilled observer of her patients, Rohina was instilled with a deep and unique appreciation of the human experience. Her ability to forge the sacred trust between doctor and patient has been instrumental in fostering a parallel connection between photographer and subject.

Rohina published her first monograph Hair Stories with Damiani Editore (February 2019) accompanied by a solo exhibition at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School. Her monograph, Hair Stories, is held in many notable public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Getty, Cleveland Institute of Art, and over twenty-five university libraries.

Her second monograph, Embrace, with Schilt Publishing was just released October 2022 (Europe) and January 2023 (U.S.).

In 2021, she was the winner of the Altanta Photography Group’s Purchase Award and several of her prints were acquired by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia.

Her photographs have been exhibited in juried group shows both nationally and internationally in venues such as The Center for Fine Art Photography, Griffin Museum, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Los Angeles Center for Photography, Photo LA, and A. Smith Gallery. She has received numerous awards and has been published in Marie Claire Italia, F-Stop Magazine, The Daily Beast, Lenscratch, Shots Magazine, and Edge of Humanity among others. She lives with her husband, three children and two golden retrievers in Los Angeles.

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.

Our Town | Vision of Winchester

Posted on May 8, 2023

Call for Entries –Our Town

griffin front with flowers — © Marybeth Dixon – *A Summer Evening at the Griffin*

As a part of the 2023 Photoville x Winchester public art program, the Griffin Museum of Photography is pleased to present Our Town, a public art installation and exhibition of your creativity. This year, we’re assembling photos that celebrates everyday life in our town of Winchester. Our Town will be featured on the fence surrounding the MBTA station construction on the Winchester Town Common from June to September, 2023.

Want your work featured?

Submit your best photographs showing what life in Winchester means to you. This could be images of your pets, your work, your friends; whatever feels most like home. They can be landscapes, portraits or still lifes. Anything that reminds you of home.

The exhibition Our Town will also be featured on the Griffin Museum website in an online gallery during the summer exhibition

Submission Information

Submissions can be sent as JPEG or PDF files to photos@griffinmuseum.org from now up through May 19th, at 11:59p.m.

Participation in the contest is free to everyone.

We look forward to seeing your submissions.

Questions? email us at photos@griffin museum.org

or call the museum during business hours, Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 4pm.

Ruben Natal-San Miguel | Griffin State of Mind

Posted on May 5, 2023

The Griffin Museum is excited to bring Ruben Natal-San Miguel to Lafayette City Center to celebrate his magnum opus, Women R Beautiful.

How might you define this work to a young child or to someone unfamiliar with your work? What are its core components?

The Women R Beautiful series was created from the starting point of me being only 4 years old and seen how my grandfather treated my mother . She was nt allowed to look directly at him while speaking to him. That disturbing memory will never leave my mind. The series are pretty self explanatory. It’ s a celebration of women from all walks of life and children are portrayed interacting with their mothers so, it is pretty self explanatory .

When thinking about your work, what drew you to the Griffin Museum?

The idea of this body of work was to travel to different locations and expand it content while at it. I had photographed women from the Massachusetts areas ( East Boston, Revere, Fitchburg, Provincetown , South Boston , Roxbury and Boston ) so wanted to show New England the variety of diversity of women from all walks of life from other areas outside MA. As you know, New England still it is not as diverse as other parts of America.

How has your relationship with your Mother impacted on your personal style and choices in this work?
I had a rare relationship with my mother. I loved her but, was never her favorite. I was just different and most times she did not knew what to do with me and handle me. I obviously loved her but, she never accepted me for who I am today so, was at times contentious. I did listed to her more then any of my siblings and this body of work was created to celebrate her life and her struggles. My mother was part of what I called ‘’ The Gary Winogrand Generation ‘ on high most women were told what to do, were objectified , could not even vote and their place to be was at home in the kitchen and tending to their families. I thought the Gary Winogransd series which were celebrated 52 years ago were limiting when it came to women representation, women were objectified ( the mentality at the time ) and wanted to give women a newer , fresher andplified voice and presence.

Color is a major part of this work and I’m curious as to how, in your eyes, it reflects or amplifies the meaning of this work?
There is color in most marginalized areas of most cities. Bodegas, murals and most areas have a great intensity of color all over in most building surfaces. I do not stage my work! I find my subjects by walking where no one usually goes to , find the subjects and make an environment portrait of it. It is all about the subject being comfortable and not confronted . The result are very intense and direct portraits where get to capture their true essence.

Lastly, What initially drew you to photographing people candidly on the street and out in public?
I am a September 11, 2001 survivor. I was at the North Tower that fateful day working as a financial controller in Wall Street. . After many months of complete human detachment, moved to Harlem and decided to start photographing based on the very rich street culture that witnessed every day on my way home . It helped me a lot to make and establish connections with total strangers . We could tell each other things that we cannot tell even our closest friends. We developed a quick bond based on humanity. I am a self taught photographer . There is no school in the world that can teach you what I do. It comes from something deeper than soul.