Griffin News

Atelier 32 | Claudia Ruiz-Gustafson

Posted on September 18, 2020

Claudia Ruiz Gustafson is our focus today. A member of the Atelier community, her work was featured last month in the Griffin Member’s Exhibition curated by Alexa Dilworth. Still exploring a very personal story of family and home, we now see a new side of her creativity with a project inspired by the pandemic, Suspended World, for Atelier 32. An interactive work, there is a slide show and video to accompany the work now up on the walls of the Griffin. We asked her a few questions to learn more about the work.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

When I joined Atelier 32, my idea was to continue working on my family project. When we started the classes and the pandemic hit us and we were asked to stay home, everything changed for me. The stay at home advisory and the cancellation of my art shows and my work for the remaining of this year really hit me. I felt very depressed and was considering dropping off from the Atelier. I know Meg was very nervous moving the Atelier online and I didn’t want to disappoint her, so I decided to stay. I couldn’t produce any new work for the first couple of weeks but gradually as I was working on a “image + text’ homework, it all started to make sense. Using my body to mirror my state of mind, I followed my instincts and produced three mini bodies of work, one in each room in my house. At the end I decided to create a slideshow to show my images and poetry together set to music.

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

My intention with this body of work is to express the endless possibility of photography for being a vehicle of self expression, a way to reflect your inner life, your emotions and so that viewers could relate to the work in any way that is meaningful for them.

How has the Atelier helped you hone your vision as an artist?

The Atelier has been a life changing event for me, since my first one I took back in 2014 to the one I recently took. I found a mentor in Meg and Paula and a community of like minded people, many of them who have become my best friends.

Tell us what is next for you creatively.
I am waiting for the airport in Peru to open to visit my family and to continue working on a video that will be an extension of my family project.

About Claudia Ruiz Gustafson –

Claudia Ruiz Gustafson is a Peruvian-born, Massachusetts-based visual artist, educator and curator. Her work is mainly autobiographical and self-reflective; often portraying themes of femininity, memory, dreams and personal mythology. She regards image making as a powerful medium for exploring her inner world.

Claudia has exhibited in museums and galleries across the US and abroad at venues including the Danforth Art Museum, Agora Gallery, Millepiani Gallery, Galleria Valid Foto, Fountain Street Gallery, Griffin Museum of Photography, Cambridge Art Association, Concord Center for the Arts and the RI Center for Photographic Arts. She had her first solo show in 2020 at the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, MA titled Historias de Tierra y Mar (Stories of Land and Sea).

She has received grants and awards from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Cambridge Art Association, L.A. Photo Curator: Global Photography Awards, PX3 de la Photographie Paris, The Gala Awards, among others. Her work has been published in Fraction Media, Black & White Magazine, Shades Collective, F-Stop Magazine and has been reviewed by Artscope Magazine, Metrowest Daily News and What Will You Remember.

Claudia has self published several books that incorporate her photography and poetry. She is the owner of a portrait photography business and also teaches creative photo workshops in the Boston area. Currently she is curator and participating artist of the traveling exhibition Crossing Cultures: Family, Memory and Displacement, a multi-media project made up of artwork created by multi-cultural artists reflecting on identity and diaspora.

She holds a BA in Communications from Universidad de Lima, and a Professional Photography Certificate from Kodak Interamericana de Perú.

5% of the net income from her fine art and portrait business goes to benefit two organizations: 1. Humane Society of the US, an organization that provides direct care to more than 100,000 animals each year through their sanctuaries, veterinary programs and emergency shelters and rescues and 2. Farm Sanctuary, an organization that advocates for farmed animals, promotes laws and policies that support animal welfare, animal protection, and veganism through rescue, education, and advocacy.

See more of Claudia Ruiz-Gustafson‘s work on her website. Find her onInstagram @claudiaruizgustafson

Atelier 32 | Michael King

Posted on September 17, 2020

Mike King‘s series Fish Market is on the blog today, celebrating the artists of Atelier 32 now up on the walls of the Griffin. We asked him a few questions about the work.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

For Italians, food is the opera of life. It is important to use the best local ingredients. It’s important to think about it, talk about it, dream about it, dwell on minuscule details of the preparation and finally ,sit down with family and friends to partake in the communal meal. In Italy the preparation and enjoyment of good food is the metronome for life.

In these photographs (taken in 2017) of the Catania Fish Market (La Pescheria) in Sicily I portray the opening beat. For me the first photo depicts the opening operatic scene where all the players are preparing to break out in song. From there the photos depict the buyers partaking in an animated ritual of talking, joking, smelling and hand movements all aimed at securing the finest and freshest item at the lowest price.

How did the Atelier help to hone my vision as a photographer?

The Atelier has created opportunities to explore areas outside my normal photographic comfort zone. The assignments covered such diverse subjects such as abstraction, the use of words, still life, telling a story etc. These activities helped me to develop and refine new skills and expand my photographic vision.

In the past my photography activity began with stepping on an airplane taking me to some exotic destination. The Atelier has better prepared me for this post Covid-19 world in which I can now appreciate the photographic opportunities closer to home.

About Mike King –

Michael King is a retired physicist who worked in diverse fields of optical imaging. He has achievements and inventions in 3-dimensional holographic imaging, electron device photolithography and refractive eye surgery (PRK). A lifelong interest in photographic expression has led him to explore astrophotography along with underwater, travel and nature photography. In the early days of digital photography, he taught children attending summer camp to use digital cameras to develop an appreciation for nature.

He has exhibited at the Griffin Museum, two juried shows at Concord Art, and has studied at the Griffin Museum, NESOP and the deCordova Museum all located in Massachusetts. One of King’s bird photos was included in the book “Who’s Who in the Natural World” by Kay Fairweather. He also had an early hologram accepted into the Museum of Holography in Manhattan. In recent years King has used photography to explore the human condition and man’s place in the natural world.

You can see more of Mike King‘s work on his website. Follow him on Instagram @mikeking1940

Atelier 32 | Conrad Gees

Posted on September 16, 2020

We continue our focus on the talented artists of Atelier 32. Through the lens of Conrad Gees, we take a trip to Cuba and Los Habaneros.

Los Habaneros (Havanans)

I have been fortunate that for a brief period of time, travel restrictions to Cuba from the US were eased and ordinary citizens such as myself could visit the island independently without a specified itinerary. The impetus for this series was to finally begin pulling together the images taken during several trips to Havana beginning in 2015.

Born at the height of the Cold War, I was eight when the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred. Fidel Castro was the enemy and Cuba became the isolated isle. The US embargo took effect in the 60’s and the collapse of the Soviet Union Left the Cuban economy hamstrung, the effects of which are evident today. My photographs reflect that, but that is not their intended subject. What fascinated me most was how the people living in three sections of Havana, Habana Vieja, Centro Habana and the Vedado, have developed strong, vibrant neighborhoods working and living together as a community. Their homes, the means by which they get food, their jobs, and even the newly sanctioned small private enterprise ventures, left me, an American with many privileges in life, awed and humbled by the resilience and ingenuity of the “Habaneros.”

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

The four images chosen here could be subjects of Norman Rockwell paintings (grabbing a snack, getting a haircut, enjoying cake with a friend, coming home to a brother) but the backdrop is Cuba. These are the universal human experiences we often forget about when visiting countries vastly different from ours. In my images I want to share the commonalities we share.

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

There are ten images in this show, but ultimately my goal is to make a book.

How the Atelier has helped you hone your vision as an artist?

My second Atelier proved to be as helpful as the first one I participated in three years ago. The project I am undertaking had me frustrated by its sheer size and scope, and I was struggling for a focus. Meg Birnbaum is an excellent facilitator, and even on line she brought together a group of eight individuals, each at different points in their development, and pushed us to think deeply about what each of us is trying to convey with our photographs. At the end of the Atelier, I was left with a very strong set of ten images which helped narrow my focus, yet at the same time have also given me a frame work to expand on for this project.

About Los Habaneros –

There is truth in the statement, Havana is a city frozen in time sixty plus years ago. This is clearly evident in the American cars from the 1950’s still traveling the streets, and in many of the storefronts with their limited consumer goods, but it is also a characterization, which can lead one to a false sense of sentimentality or condescension.

The 1961 US embargo did, in one sense, freeze Havana and cut it off from consumer goods progress, and severely limited its economic development, but the Havana of today is not the Havana of 1961. Havana today is the outgrowth of the 1959 Revolution, the US embargo and the Cold War which forced the inhabitants of this city, just 90 miles off the US coast to develop in ways they can speak of with great pride and in ways which leave them longing for more.

In 2015 I traveled through Mexico to Havana for the first time. Although restrictions on travel from the US to Cuba had just been eased, I was one of very few Americans on the streets of Havana not tied to a tour. The excitement and openness expressed to me by the Habaneros was infectious and led to my returning three additional times.

While concentrating on the sections of Havana known as “Habana Vieja,” and “Centro Habana”, now United Nations World Heritage Sites being renovated and brought back to life, I decided to document not only the buildings but the people living in these currently run-down sections of the city. Their homes, the means by which they get food, their jobs, and even the newly sanctioned small private enterprise ventures, left me, an American with many privileges in life, awed and humbled by the resilience and ingenuity of the Habaneros.

The images in this body of work grew out of, and helped me to develop, a deeper understanding of Havana and its people. Havana is truly a city of resilience.

See more of Conrad Gees‘ work on his website.

Atelier 32 | Sarah Forbes

Posted on September 15, 2020

Today’s featured artist from the Griffin Atelier 32 is Sarah Forbes. These lovely quiet images from her series, Illuminating the Invisible is what we are looking at today. We asked her a few questions about her experience.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

Dried American Beech Leaf, 2020 was the impetus for this series. It was taken during a walk at the beginning of the pandemic. While I was excited to be out of the confinement of my house, the woods still felt dormant and dreary until my eye caught the golden glimmer of the American Beach tree leaves dangling from their branches. Intrigued, I moved closer and noticed the delicate texture of their skin and the fractal patterns that their veins created. Inspired by this experience, I continued to look closer at the natural world and find things that were often invisible to my naked eye. It allowed me to observe nature in its constant state of change and gave me some perspective on the changes going on in my own life.

How the Atelier has helped you hone your vision as an artist?

Atelier 32 was a wonderful creative community to connect with during a very strange time. I looked forward to the weekly Zoom call. Presenting my work each class and having to discuss it helped me to recognize, develop and articulate my own vision and what I was trying to convey through my images. My classmates and Meg, our instructor, were an important part of that process as their feedback and reactions would sometimes introduce something that I may not have seen on my own.

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

I plan to continue working on this series following the seasonal changes and capturing more of the nature world as it transitions. I am also enrolled in the Griffin’s Monthly Mentoring and Critique Program with Vaughn Stills, which should help me to continue to develop my artistic vision and work.

About Sarah Forbes –

Sarah Forbes is an emerging landscape photographer based in Boston, Massachusetts whose work explores the natural world and the perspective it can reveal.

Her artistic vision has been influenced by a variety of mediums and genres. Earning her BA at Connecticut College, Sarah’s childhood interest in photography became a passion as she immersed herself in the dark room and experimented with landscape, still life and portraits. A career in marketing communications introduced her to graphic design and computer presentations, which she continued to explore through her custom stationery and invitation business and multimedia shows to celebrate milestones.

Photography resurged with the arrival of her two children as she documented their adventures. As they grew to adolescents and no longer wanted to be her muse, she turned her lens to their athletic contests and captured the finesse and emotions of the players. With her passion rekindled, Sarah began taking classes at the New England School of Photography and had her first group exhibition at the Garner Center for Photographic Exhibitions in January 2020. This spring she enrolled in the Griffin Museum’s Photography Atelier 32, which culminated with an exhibition that can be seen at the Museum through September 29th or viewed online.

To see more of Sarah Forbes work, log onto her website. She is on Instagram @sforbesphotos

Atelier 32 | Adrien Bisson

Posted on September 14, 2020

Today we are pleased to present Atelier 32 member Adrien Bisson and his project – Alone Together, looking at the 90 days of sheltering in place during COVID.

Atelier 32 is on the walls of the Griffin until September 27th. The museum is open by appointment. We look forward to seeing you in a safe and healthy way to experience the talented Griffin artists community.

Which of these images was the impetus for this series? How did it inform how you completed the series?

I had been doing some still life images in my condo in mid-March of this year, just as most of us had become aware of the scale of the pandemic. It quickly became clear that “normal” life was going to be changed for some time. Over the weeks of the Atelier I began to realized that my project had to be a story about my newly-limited world in the condo. The photo called “On the sill” was one of the first that became part of the project and still reminds me of that early period of self-isolation, feeling unable to do much, while at the same time mourning the separation that my wife and I felt from my son and his family. The sill on which the herb plantings were placed was our window to the outside world, and the pots contained images of our granddaughter whom we could only see in photos and FaceTime.

What do you hope we as viewers take away from viewing your work?

Everyone has their own stories about the pandemic, and mine is just one of them. Part of my story is simply about our lives together in those first months, but another part is about my desire to make something come out of that isolation and to work with the limitations that were imposed on me.

How the Atelier has helped you hone your vision as an artist?

Working those weeks with Meg and the rest of the group really helped me think through and refine a vision for a project. It was incredibly helpful to get criticism and feedback on what I would produce each week, as well as to be able to see the work that the others were creating and having the opportunity to formulate and express my thoughts about it.

Tell us what is next for you creatively.

I have been working for a year or so on a project about the small town in which I grew up. Because my introduction to photography came at that time and place, I am working with a toy camera in black and white for this project. I am also working on a project about the Merrimack River, which starts in the White Mountains, runs along the building in which I live, and ends up emptying into the Atlantic, in Newburyport, and how it affects the daily lives of those of us while live by it.

To see more of Adrien’s work – find it online on his website, and social media.
Web site: adrienbisson.com

Instagram: @adrien_bisson

Facebook: www.facebook.com/adrienbisson

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/AdrienBissonPhotography

Griffin State of Mind | Frank Tadley

Posted on September 11, 2020

We wouldn’t be who we are without an amazing support system. Our Griffin State of Mind series features the community of the Griffin Museum. Today’s focus is on Frank Tadley, a beloved museum volunteer and supporter of our exhibitions and programs. Having been with the museum for almost twenty years, he has had a hand in helping visualize the success of the museum, and is one of our pillars of support.

Frank has been there for the Griffin through thick and thin. He’s filled in for almost every job and effort. He’s greeted miles of guests as the monitor manager for our rentals. Every exhibition has his mark on it as he’s hung every installation in all of the galleries over the years. His affable manner has come in handy as he’s greeted museum visitors when staff members vacationed. His technical skills saved us on many occasion when software needed install or the network went down or the fire alarm went off. Frank always knew what to do. He’s researched energy costs and repaired equipment. He’s even spent hours on the telephone on behalf of the museum searching out answers from vendors when none of us had time. Frank Tadley is “a Jack of all trades” and master of every one. He is also the truest of friends and his heart is made of gold.

Describe how you first found the Griffin. How long have you been part of the Griffin community?

Frank Tadley at the Griffin Gala

I have been active at the Griffin Museum since 2001. My first connection was a show juried by Arthur himself. What a flamboyant character he was. I got second place in architecture and still life. Arthur was real old school. I still have my award placard which he presented to me at the opening. After that show I began to visit and see the different exhibitions. I would see Arthur at places like the CCA where we were both in a show. In June of 2003 there was a call to help install the Babbette Hines show, Photobooth. This was a tricky show to install as the size of the images were small and there were hundreds to install by hand. I was hooked. I volunteered for just about every show thereafter, at all the galleries, until I injured my neck in a gym incident around 2015.

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

I was a student at NESOP in the mid ‘90s in the workshop program so I have been active in photography for a long time. I actually got my start while serving in Vietnam as a medic with a Pentax camera so I was always active with photography. Since I injured my knee in February (reckless I am) I have not been out and about at all. Just before that I saw the Graciela Iturbide exhibition at the MFA and Mujer Ángel, Desierto de Sonora (Angel Woman, Sonoran Desert), 1979 was most moving. Her show is currently at the Women in the Arts National Museum in DC.

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

Susan May Tell installation at the Griffin

Since I was involved in so many of the installations it would be difficult to pick just one. Some shows that come to mind were the Civil War, which was an intense show to hang due to the content and we were under a lot of pressure to get it up. Guests were coming up the walkway when we finishing the last details. Museum life is not boring! Another show that was also intense was Susan May Tell’s A Requiem: Tribute to the Spiritual Space at Auschwitz. I created a different way of hanging the large images from the movable walls mimicking the structures in the images.

Frank and Frances Jakubek installing a Christmas Tree at the Griffin.

The immense archive of artists and show that the Griffin has shown is so great for the size of the museum. From many of the famous to new and emerging artists. Being the main installer I was at the intersection of art and the organizational end of museum life. An example was Charles “Teenie” Harris who was a black photographer and staff photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier. His nick name was “One Shot.” He was a quite the entrepreneur with a portrait business on the side. But the intersection was the quality of his work and the way it was archived at the Carnegie Museum of Art and delivered to the Griffin. They had custom made metal crates with precise sturdy foam inserts to keep each framed photo well protected and yet easy to remove and lay out. And meeting with many of the photographers was a special part of the experience. Some would insist on being present and help with the installation. Two such were Vincent Cianni (WE SKATE HARDCORE) and Stephen Wilkes (Ellis Island) both wonderful photographers and shows. Other shows that stuck with me were Sebastiăo Saligado (Polio) and Lynn Goldsmith (The Looking Glass.) But they all had something to say and it is impossible to pick just one, or two, or three…

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

The isolation and not knowing the outcome is the most difficult. The economic devastations is crushing for so many and particularly artists.

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

Well I am both a climber/hiker and a sailor so I am drawn to both the lake/sea and the mountains. For the past several years I have been part of a sailing/boating organization on Spot Pond in Stoneham which sounds so local but once you are out on the water, surrounded by the trees and little islands I could be anywhere. I did two series of images, one from Yosemite and the other on Monhegan Island which follow both these places I love.

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

I am obsessed with the Takács Quartet’s record of Amy Beach’s Piano Quintet in F sharp minor Op67. An American composer who has not gotten much recognition but very worth a listen.

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

Today that would be John Lewis but that moment is now gone. But it teaches not to put off reaching out and finding our heroes and acting on your instincts.

Atelier 32 | Miren Etcheverry – Oh My Goddess

Posted on September 10, 2020

We are pleased to highlight the talented artists of Atelier 32. Today we focus on the creativity of Miren Etcheverry.

Etcheverry’s Grandmother

I started with a formal photographic portrait of my grandmother, which has hung, since it was taken in the 1920’s, at her house, now our family home, in Bayonne, France (see next).I have always liked this portrait of my grandmother (whom, incidentally, I adored), but felt that it never captured her colorful and vivacious personality. So, I decided to “add some color” to it. One of my attempts at remaking her portrait, hence “Suzanne #2”. I made quite a few versions of this portrait. Some of them, I was told were reminiscent of one of my favorite artists Gustav Klimt, which, of course, inspired me to explore this work further.

So I continued on the Klimt theme, loosely, and created “Paulette”. She is my mother, now 93. This image is based on a snapshot I took of her about 10 years ago.

“Oh My Goddess” is a celebration of the women in my family. It is about honoring these women, most of whom are living full and active lives in southern France. (I wonder… is the secret to longevity in southern France the Madiran wine or the foie gras, or both…?)

Among these beautiful women are my nonagenarian mother, her peers, and other members of my extended family. A few of them have now passed, but their memories live on.

“Yvette”, which is a portrait of my 80-year old cousin, this one based on a photo I took of her recently.

“Suzanne #1” is one of my favorites. It is also of my grandmother, based on a snapshot of her when she was in her 60’s, where she was sitting at a dining room table. What I love about this one is that it totally captures her personality, the twinkle in her eye, and her mischievous spirit. This time, I decided to “channel” Frieda Kahlo, another one of my favorite artists.

During the recent period of the pandemic and its associated restrictions, the distance between me and my family of origin has never seemed so great. Knowing that I am no longer just a simple airplane flight away from visiting them saddens me.

These playful depictions of the women reflect happy moments spent with them, while I am here and they are far away. During my period of confinement, I revisited my family photographs and transformed these ordinary women, giving them a breath of new life, and capturing their lively spirits and dynamism. I mean to convey what is most beautiful about them, perhaps enhancing that beauty, even transforming them into goddesses.

These portraits are a pleasure for me to work on. Working on them allows to “spend time” with my family members, at lease figuratively. Some, like my beloved grandmother, have been gone for some time. Others, like my mother and Yvette, are far away. While France did not feel that far away prior to the pandemic, the complications of traveling during the pandemic has imposed a great distance between my family in France and me. Creating these portraits had brought them closer to me.

Meg and my Atelier group were a huge inspiration for my pursuing this project. For one, they responded very positively to the portraits, and to my verbal descriptions of these women. I had also created portraits of anonymous people, but Meg and the group members made it clear to me that it was my connection with these women that made it work. So I continued to focus on women in my family. One of my favorite assignments during the Atelier workshop is the conversation with an artist. I conversed with Gustav Klimt for that assignment, which led me to the “Paulette” and “Yvette” portraits.

Even the “goddess” concept came from a member of the group.

Indeed, these women are my goddesses. I come from a long line of strong women, who are my role models and source of my own strength and feminist spirit.

There are a lot of women in my family and extended family of friends that provide with much more material to work with, and I look forward to continuing with this series. I am honored that since have shared these portraits, many people have responded by asking me to do portraits of their mothers and other women in their lives.

About Miren Etcheverry –

Miren Etcheverry is an award-winning photographer whose work has been exhibited internationally.

Based in Cambridge and Provincetown, MA, she spent her early childhood in Paris and in the Basque Country. Her passion for photography began early, as she traveled extensively throughout her youth and continued to travel throughout her career in international finance.

Her photographs have been selected for juried exhibitions at Danforth Art (Framingham, MA), in galleries, including Menier Gallery (London, UK), Darkroom Gallery (Vermont), Kiernan Gallery (Virginia), and at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Cape Cod Art Center, Cambridge Art Association and Bedford Public Library.

Miren’s photographs received various Honorable Mentions in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 International Photography Awards (IPA) , ArtAscent’s “Blue” competitions. Her work has appeared in publications and blogs, including the Cape Cod Times, Art Ascent and About Basque Country.

Miren studied photography at New England School of Photography, Maine Media Workshops and Griffin Museum of Photography, and with Alison Shaw and National Geographic photographer Michael Melford. She had her first formal training in photography while a student at Stanford University, where she worked in video production at the pioneering Stanford Instructional Television Network. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from M.I.T.

See more of Miren Etcheverry‘s work on her website. Follow her on Instagram @etchephoto. She’s on Facebook at Miren Etcheverry Photography.

September Photo Chat Chat | Berry, Dimmitt, Sunder & Yudelson

Posted on September 7, 2020

We are excited to launch ourselves into fall with a new Photo Chat Chat happening on September 9th at 7pm Eastern time. Each of these artists were part of our 26th Annual Members Juried Exhibition, curated by Alexa Dilworth.

Our Photo Chat Chat is a monthly conversation bringing together four members of the Griffin community to share their work, ideas and creativity with a broader audience. We are thrilled to bring together these four artists who have unique perspectives on life and loss, the environment and the simple joys of childhood.

See you Wednesday night at 7pm Eastern. For tickets log onto our Events page.

Anne Berry –

The Garden of Endearment

Child’s play, like life itself, is serious. Through play children address both their fears and their dreams. Animals, places, and objects are metaphors to help them make sense of the world as they act out their fantasies. The natural world possesses an invisible but powerful energy. Humans can communicate with animals. Children don’t doubt these facts. They still live in The Garden, close to nature, close to what’s essential. As adults, we know that they can’t stay. One gray night it will happen: a veil will fall, a gate will close, and the marvelous will cease to exist. What if we could help children keep their sense of awe and respect for nature and foster a belief in the value of things not seen but felt? What children learn to appreciate and love is what they will protect in the future.

Benjamin Dimmitt –

The Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge is a very fragile, spring-fed estuary on Florida’s Gulf Coast, north of Tampa. I was overwhelmed by its lush, primeval beauty on my first visit over 30 years ago and have photographed there extensively since 2004. The dense palm hammocks and hardwood forests were festooned with ferns and orchids and the fresh water creeks were a clear azure. There are other similar estuaries nearby but the Chassahowitzka River and the surrounding wetlands are protected as part of the federal National Wildlife Refuge system and the river itself is designated as an Outstanding Florida Water. Unfortunately, saltwater began creeping up into the spring creeks around 2011. Rising sea levels due to climate change are the primary cause. However, the saltwater intrusion was accelerated when the state water commissioners, appointed by climate change denier and former governor Rick Scott, determined that the wetlands could survive with less fresh water. This new minimum flow policy allows the state to increase the pumping of fresh water for large-scale inland developments and agricultural interests. The drawdown of fresh water for these lobbyists has taken fresh water away from the aquifer that feeds Chassahowitzka’s springs and many others nearby. As the fresh water flow in the estuaries decreased, saltwater advanced upstream and took its place. What had been verdant, semi-tropical forest is now mostly an open plain of grasses relieved by palms and dying hardwood trees. Sabal palms are the most salt tolerant trees in this ecosystem and are the last to expire. This is a widespread phenomenon, occurring all along the Big Bend section of the Gulf coast of Florida. In 2014, I began to photograph in the salt-damaged sawgrass savannas and spring creeks there as a way of reckoning with the ecosystem loss and of understanding what has become of my native Florida. I have narrowed my focus to a small, remote area that I know and love. My intention in bearing witness to this loss has been to portray the ruined landscape with respect, nuance and beauty. There is an elegiac quality in these evolving wetlands and the process of documenting it has been difficult for me. This landscape was imprinted on me as a child and it has been painful to see such verdant wetlands decimated. The submersion of these coastal wetlands is a disturbing bellwether; as they go, so goes the rest of Florida’s shorelines and the world’s.

Neelakantan Sunder –

Children of ITIPINI

Itipini was a slum built on a garbage dump in a corner of Mthatha in South Africa. The name Itipini means dump in Xhosa language. It was one of the poorest slum in the region. There was no electricity , no running water and primitive dwellings for shelter. There was a community center and a clinic run by a dedicated group of volunteers of the African Medical Mission. People there belonged to Xhosa tribe and have their own traditions. My wife and I visited Itipini during our volunteer work in Mthatha. I was struck by the resilience and the energy of the children. Children would ask to be photographed and then run to me and look at the screen to see the image. They were excited to touch the camera and move the image around. There was laughter and amusement in doing that. Extreme poverty and difficult living condition did not dampen their enthusiasm. I spent sometime photographing in the community and enjoyed interacting with the people. My challenge was to photograph the people and not focus on poverty or living conditions. Sadly, a short time after my visit the whole area was bulldozed and the people were relocated moved randomly to different shelters and camps. These are the last photographs of the community and the area. I had made a book of the photographs of Itipini and gifted copies to the African Medical Mission. These are some of the photographs of the children at the community.

Dianne Yudelson –

“With each loss of my 11 babies, I kept mementos. They are all kept pristinely stored in a white box in my closet, as are the memories of their short lives kept pristinely stored in my heart.” My series “Lost” is based on my personal experience. It had been ten years since my last loss. I had never shared these mementoes with anyone as they are private and personal and go to the core of my emotions both heartwarming and heart wrenching simultaneously. I have read the assertion that meaningful art occurs when you share yourself and create from the depths of your soul. So I shared. Creating this series has both served to honor these precious lives, as well as bring a voice to my personal plight. I am hopeful that in sharing these images I will touch the lives of numerous women who have experienced or are in the midst of experiencing the painful loss of a baby. They are not alone in their journey. I created my “Lost” images in a humble and pristine fashion in direct correlation to their short and pure lives. There are 10 images in this series.

Katalina Simon | Land Beyond the Forest

Posted on August 20, 2020

We are thrilled to be hosting an online conversation with Griffin exhibition artist Katalina Simon tonight, August 20th at 7pm Eastern.

For tickets see the Events page of our website.

Her beautiful series Land Beyond the Forest is hanging in our satellite gallery Griffin @ WinCam here in Winchester. The exhibition ends September 27th. We hope if you get a chance to get to Winchester you stop by and see this lovely body of work.

Katalina Simon is a British/Hungarian photographer whose work centers on the passage of time and cultural memory. Her interest in photography began when, as a child, she was told that taking pictures was not allowed in many public spaces in communist Hungary and she observed how precious photographs were to her family separated by the Iron Curtain.

Simon’s photography emphasizes her strong connection with history and the mood of the environments she photographs. Her image making is only part of a larger goal of experiencing a place, learning about a new culture or community.

Katalina holds a BA in Russian from the University of Bristol in England and is a graduate of the Professional Photography Program at the New York Institute of Photography. She is an exhibited member of the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA, PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont and Fountain Street Gallery in Boston, MA.

The Land Beyond the Forest is an ongoing series depicting a fading way of life in rural Transylvania. This mountainous and remote region of Eastern Europe is steeped in history and lore. The rugged Carpathian Mountains kept invaders at bay and kept the remote villages isolated from the passage of time.

I am drawn time and again to this region and these people because it reminds me of a way of life that I experienced at my grandparent’s village in Hungary every summer. As a child, I was oblivious to the hardships that people faced and experienced only kindness and warmth. With my camera I work to recapture this feeling of storybook wonder and show domestic tableaux and rural people as I remember them.

For this exhibition I am focusing on the last generation of women who live this traditional rural life. My hope is to show the magic and poetry of the women who inhabit the “The Land Beyond the Forest.”

Griffin State of Mind | Meg Birnbaum

Posted on August 14, 2020

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

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

How did you first connect with the Griffin?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jerry Takigawa

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

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

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

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

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

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

Griffin News

Describe how you first found the Griffin. How long have you been part of the Griffin community?

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

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

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

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

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

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

How did you first connect with the Griffin?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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