Griffin News

Griffin State of Mind | Home Views – Jane Szabo

Posted on November 19, 2021

“The series Somewhere Else maps an emotional route of exploration and escape. When I am here, I want to be there. Yet once I get there, I am left to wonder if this place answers or fulfills my quest.” — Jane Szabo

Los Angeles based fine art photographer, Jane Szabo explores themes of self and identity through utilizing hand-made constructions, self-portraiture, and still life. Her latest body of work, Somewhere Else, is featured alongside ten other artists in our Home Views exhibition; exploring the spaces that we dwell literally and spiritually, Jane’s exhibition grapples with the notion of “home,” the role of family, and the impact of displacement. A beautifully nostalgic exhibition, Somewhere Else will be on display in our Main Gallery until December 5th, 2021. Hear more from Jane as she shares insight into her art-making, and her personal inspirations in our Griffin State of Mind Interview. Thank you, Jane, for speaking with us and giving us a glimpse into your photographic practice.

Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.

When I switched my artistic focus to working as a fine art photographer, I started to connect with a network of fellow photographers, and over time watched as several of my peers and mentors were selected for solo shows at the Griffin. This of course became a goal of my own. Over the years, I was honored to have work curated into assorted group shows at the Griffin – and having my series selected for a solo show now, as one of Paula Tognarelli’s final curatorial projects prior to her retirement, is truly an honor.

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

I am a visual person. Even if I am not actively taking pictures – I am seeing. Everything I look at is seen as colors and textures. For inspiration, I am moved by people who push the envelope, and who engage the space. Oftentimes, this means I am drawn to artists who work in installations – not limited to just photography. Artists Tara Donovan and Andy Goldworthy are fine examples of people that inspire me with their creative use of materials, and ability to make us see the tiny details.

Please tell us a little about your series Somewhere Else, and how it was conceived.

Though visually different from its precursor, the series Somewhere Else is a response or a continuation to the series Family Matters, which was a collection of still lifes. Family Matters was created by staging objects taken from my family home after my parents were moved to assisted living. These family objects were paired with other elements to create tension, and used metaphors to share a narrative.

Somewhere Else is a continuation of the conversation. Once my parents were placed into assisted living, I became painfully aware of the sense of displacement they felt over losing their home. And as I travelled back and forth to see them, and on other work-related travels, I also had a longing for a place that truly felt like home. I conceived the series to address this sense of longing, and the desire to connect to familial memories.

One really special thing about this project is that I was able to bring my mother along on some of the shoots. At age 93, I turned her into a photo assistant, and she was tasked with wrangling the gear! It was a magical time to spend together in a way we never had before.

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

Though my experience with the Griffin to date has always been from afar, the show Bullet Points that featured artists Deborah Bay, Christopher Colville, Garrett Hansen and Sabine Pearlman in 2016 really stays in my memory. I have such a discomfort with guns and violence, that it surprises me this is the exhibit I mention – but I found it powerful to see this deadly object portrayed in so many beautiful ways.

What is your favorite place to escape to?

Natural environments are my go-to escape place. When I travel, I head to the local wildlands. I love tropical jungles and rainforests, snorkeling in warm waters, exploring boggy marshes and swamps – basically any place I can immerse myself in the tall trees, greenery, and be among birds and other wildlife.

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

Memoirs! I am drawn to memoirs where people reveal their truths, and share their vulnerabilities. This way of processing personal experiences is what I try to do with my image making.

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

This is a surprisingly difficult question for me – especially after such a long time of isolation due to the pandemic. If given the opportunity, I would love to talk with Andy Goldworthy, and lend him a pair of hands making one of his constructions in nature. But for a real sit down conversation – and I know this is cliche – but I would want to have a deep conversation with Barack Obama. I have never been a “fan” or celebrity follower, but Obama is someone who has moved me deeply with his integrity and positive outlook in spite of so many challenges. Over the last few years I have gotten more disappointed in humanity – how people are treating each other, how we treat our planet, and more. I would ask Obama how he maintains a positive outlook and remains hopeful in the face of daunting challenges.

Griffin State of Mind | Home Views – Brandy Trigueros

Posted on November 12, 2021

“The idea of home instantly transports me to my childhood…It is a tiny home with a massive heart, built from love and toil of parents working multiple jobs. It is my mother in the sunlight of day on her knees laying a brick walkway for my brother and I to skip along, only later to be lost to foreclosure. For me, home and the domestic space continue to be a complex set of psychological instability as well as genuine gratitude for the very roof over my head, especially when others may not even have one.” —Brandy Trigueros

Featured in our Home Views exhibition, Brandy Trigueros’ There’s No Other Like Your Mother is a powerful exploration of the maternal subject and the domestic tradition. With photographs that explore psychological inner states in ways that are both compelling and nostalgic, Brandy’s exhibition is one we couldn’t wait to hear more about in our interview.

Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.

I’ve been following and a huge fan of the Griffin Museum for some time so it was really lovely to be able to meet with Paula Tognarelli while in Portland for Photolucida in 2019. Paula was so generous with her time and supportive of my work, that same year she selected a piece of mine for the Center for Photographic Art’s International Juried Exhibition. It is a tremendous honor to be a part of the 2021 Home Views exhibition at the Griffin Museum that Paula beautifully curated.

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

I love looking at photographs and absorb them like a sponge, whether at the local bookstore or online, photography fuels my soul. If I am personally not making pictures, I am imagining, conceiving, and note taking by way of visual sketches with my camera. I do a lot of journaling and normally have a physical paper journal with me that I write, sketch, and collage in but more recently found I haven’t been keeping it up as a daily habit as I’d like to, so on days that run away with me I use a digital journaling app called Day One and before bed I take a few minutes to write and attach an image or video to.

I recently found the playful portrait, performance, sculpture, and installation work of the German artist, Thorsten Brinkmann, who is definitely in my wheelhouse ~ so inspiring. I would love to meet him someday and scavenge junkyards together!

Please tell us a little about your series There’s No Other Like Your Mother, and how it was conceived.

When I was 29, my mother passed away suddenly, leaving a gaping hole in my heart and sense

of self, as my identity was completely interlocked with hers. This was during a time in which I was also considering becoming a mother myself. A daily ritual of journaling helped process my emotions. A riot of reoccurring ambivalent thoughts surrounding the idea of motherhood began to seep onto the page, which was a visual invitation to follow curiosity. The psychological underpinnings of my desires and ambiguities of bearing my own child provided a road map for this self-portrait series, which is a personal exploration of feminine identity and the maternal subject.

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

Living in Los Angeles I have not yet had the pleasure of visiting the Griffin Museum or the countless exceptional exhibitions in-person so I rely on the virtual programming but top of mind, I found these exhibitions particularly moving: The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer by Amani Willett, the 2018 Arnold Newman Prize Exhibition, Gray Matters, and Aline Smithson’s Self & Others.

woman with pink hat and gloves with magnifying glass held over her left eye

What is your favorite place to escape to?

The trees, a long indulgent bath, live musical performances, and The Museum of Jurassic Technology.

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

I’ve been particularly obsessed with mushrooms – reading, thinking about, and imagining fungal bodies and their underground networks as well as Prototaxites, the giant fungi of the Devonian period. My newest logo is even influenced by mushrooms. Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life is an eye-opening, informative book on fungi.

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

A seemingly difficult question because there are several influential women, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Ada Lovelace, Virginia Woolf, and Remedios Varo but first and foremost, it would be my mother Sherryl, as there are a multitude of unanswered questions, shared laughter, and unfinished craftworks, I would give anything to sit and create and just be together.

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

New England Portfolio Review | March 11 – 13, 2022

Posted on November 10, 2021

We are thrilled to start of 2022 with the New England Portfolio Reviews in March of 2022!

Since 2009 The New England Portfolio Reviews (NEPR) have been co-produced by the Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA and the Photographic Resource Center (PRC), Cambridge, Massachusetts with the mission of bringing reviewers and photographers from New England and beyond for two days of discussion, networking, and gaining fresh perspective on one’s work. This NEPR is an online event to be held on March 11-13, 2022 with a keynote lecture by Meghann Riepenhoff – March 11th at 7pm.

NEPR serves photographers who are just embarking on their careers and more established photographers hoping to reach new audiences. The online format allows for an expansion of participants in volume and in location including reviewers such gallerists, book publishers, museum professionals, critics, educators and advisors from all over the world who provide guidance and potential opportunities to grow artist practices.

Of the 90+ participating photographers, ten are emerging photographers that will receive full scholarships. We believe that providing professional opportunities to emerging photographers is key to keeping the industry strong and active.

Here is a list of current reviewers – more are being added, and all are subject to change.

Camilo Alvarez, Samson Projects, Boston, MA
Ernsto Bazan, Bazan Photos Publishing, Vera Cruz, Mexico
Emily Belz, Photographer and Educator
Makeda Best, Menschel Curator of Photography at the Harvard Art Museums
Nancy Burns, Stoddard Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, Worcester, MA
David Carol & Ashly Stohl, Peanut Press, LA & NY
Alyssa Coppelman, Photo Editor & Consultant, Austin, TX
Carrie Cushman, Edith Dale Monson Director/Curator of the Joseloff and Silpe Galleries, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT
Karen Davis, Gallerist, Davis Orton Gallery
David DeMelim, Managing Director, RI Center for Photographic Arts
Mark Alice Durant, Saint Lucy Books, Baltimore, MD
Michael Foley, Foley Gallery, New York
Donna Garcia, Executive Director, Atlanta Photography Group, Atlanta Georgia
Bill Gaskins, Director of Photography + Media & Society MFA, MICA, Baltimore, MD
Hamidah Glasgow, Executive Director, Center for Fine Art photography Fort Collins, CO
Lonnie Graham, Executive Director, PhotoAlliance, San Francisco
Karen Haas, Lane Curator of Photographs, Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Karen Harvey, Shutterhub, London, UK
Tailyr Irvine, Indigenous Photograph, Documentary Photographer
Ann Jastrab, Executive Director, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
Frances Jakubek, Director of Exhibitions, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, NY
Caleb Cain Marcus, Roving Exhibitions Editor, Damiani Publishing, NY, NY
Melanie McWhorter, Independent Photography Consultant
Bree Lamb, Fraction Magazine, Albuquerque, NM
Arlette Kayafas, Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA
Anne Kelly, Photo-Eye, Santa Fe, NM
Michael Kirchoff, Analog Forever Magazine, Los Angeles, CA
Paul Kopeikin, Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Kirsten Rian, Independent Curator, Oregon
J. Sybylla Smith, Independent Consultant, Boston MA
Aline Smithson, Founder, Lenscratch, Los Angeles, CA
Susan Spiritus, Susan Spiritus Gallery, Irvine, CA
Elin Spring, What Will You Remember, Boston, MA
Dana Stirling & Yoav Friedlander, Float Magazine
Mary Virginia Swanson, Educator, Author and Entrepreneur in the field of photography, and a respected advisor to artists and arts organizations.
Lauren Szumita, Independent Curator, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA
Barbara Tannenbaum, Chair of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs and Curator of Photography, Cleveland Art Museum
Lisa Volpe, Associate Curator Photography, Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Joanne Junga Yang, Artistic Director, Korea International Photo Festival, Seoul, Korea

Reviewer biographies and areas of interest will be online soon.

The cost of 4 portfolio reviews is $200. The event is SOLD OUT, and we are accepting waiting list registration. Registration is now open for the waiting list only. The possibility for additional reviews is available on a day to day basis during the reviews. All attendees will be alerted to those openings.

We will provide an artist index for download of all of the participants of the portfolio review that we will make available to participating artists, our reviewers and the public. The Artist Index for 2020 is available online.

Schedule:

Friday, March 11, 2022:
7:00 – 8:00 pm – Keynote Lecture with Meghann Riepenhoff

Saturday, March 12, 2022: NEPR Reviews
9:00 am – Noon
Noon – 3 pm
3 pm – 6 pm

Sunday, March 13, 2022: NEPR Reviews
9:00 am – Noon
Noon – 3 pm
3 pm – 6 pm

We would like to thank Joni & Mark Lohr and Larry Smukler for their sponsorship of our Scholarship Award Participants.

This year’s review is generously sponsored by Stanhope Framers and Digital Silver Imaging (DSI)

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

Picturing the Future 2021

Posted on October 6, 2021

Picturing the Future 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Griffin 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

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