Griffin News

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.

August Photo Chat Chat | Member’s Exhibition Edition

Posted on August 12, 2020

We are so excited to showcase more of our talented artists from our 26th Annual Members Exhibition, curated by Alexa Dilworth.

Join us this Thursday August 13th we see presentations from four photographers followed by a q&a about their work. Dennis Geller, Rachel Jessen, Sandra Klein and Jerry Takigawa. These are the stories we will be seeing and hearing about.

To get tickets to the Photo Chat Chat head to our Events Page.

Introducing our featured artists –

Dennis Geller

Close your eyes, when open them and look at the first object you see. In that first instant, when you think you are seeing an object, your eye is seeing a smear of colors and brightness. It jumps at least three times, and in each jump only a small bit of the image on the retina is in focus. Light impinging on the retina causes chemical changes, which causes neurons to carry signals to the brain. Each change take time to dissipate, but the eye does not stop moving during that time, so that every spot on the retina is affected by light coming from different parts of the object, causing a cascade of overlapping chemical changes. The images here, motivated by processes of vision, ask the question: What has changed in a scene as we look at it? As we look around us, we don’t actually see the changes, just their effects, but we are aware of them. Calling them out, as these images do, offers a different way to experience the ordinary.

Rachel Jessen

This campaign season, I went back to Iowa, my home state and the first state in the nation to hold caucuses for the presidential primary. Not to cover the candidates, no. I turned my camera away from the politics—the faces and speeches of presidential hopefuls, the conventions and rallies, the moments votes are cast—and toward the people and places of Iowa. I’m making my way through a feat known as the “Full Grassley,” an endeavor named for the long-time Iowa Republican senator wherein candidates make a point to visit each of the Hawkeye State’s 99 counties vying for that coveted caucus victory. I wasn’t looking for support at a local town hall or fish fry—instead, I searched for the stories in the individuals and communities that make Iowa the unique, contradictory, and complicated place it is. From Adair to Jasper to Wright, I’m documenting everything from corn shucking to TrekFest to ghost towns to grandparents, and that which lies between, beyond the campaign trail. My hope is that my photographic Full Grassley results in a distinct perspective of Iowa, one that, while alluding to its political significance within the caucus system, demonstrates the limits of such a lens, and reveals it to be much more than the first state to assert its electoral opinion. It’s a portrait of a place—my home—which continues to exist even after all the TV cameras and politicians have gone.

Sandra Klein

“In the dark times Will there be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About dark times.” Bertolt Brecht

Is it possible to portray a grief so deep that it is difficult to endure? For a number of years, I have visited Japan in winter, but this past January, less than a year after the tragic death of my oldest son, I longed to visit this surreal, almost otherworldly land with the anticipation that I could grieve here in a way I couldn’t at home. The stunning snow-covered landscapes I captured for this series, with their muffled silence, hiding almost all color, all vestiges of humanity and the modern world, almost seemed to weep for me. Japan’s unfamiliar religious rituals and ancient objects, with their histories and iconography, affected me deeply. The images in this project straddle the real and surreal. The re-contexualizing of photographs and ephemera, where images are composited to include historical art and objects, reflects my altered state of reality. The materiality of these collages satisfies a need to define my personal despair with a more physical, unique object, as I cut and sew into the photographs as an act of memorializing not only my son, but my own journey into a new reality. Grieving in Japan is a meditation on a life that feels unhinged and unbearable. I experience periods of isolation from all that is familiar as I am pulled far away into the unknown world of loss. And yet, I am reminded, at moments, of the small joys this world reveals, inviting me to experience flashes of utter pleasure, even as I mourn.

Jerry Takigawa

“Jerry Takigawa, “EO 9066”

Balancing Cultures is a personal history project that reveals the racism and xenophobia that permeate American culture. The discovery of old family photographs compelled me to express the impact on my family resulting from being incarcerated in WWII American concentration camps. The emotions expressed in this project bring humanity to the historical record. I seek to give voice to experiences my family kept hidden for shame and fear. If silence sanctions, communication is resistance. The process of researching and creating these images greatly informed my understanding of what happened in the past—and what is important going forward. These images are a reminder that hysteria, racism, and economic exploitation became a force during WWII in our country. Xenophobia can live just under the surface of civility and emerge in a permissive environment. Cathy Park Hong wrote in a New York Times article: “After President Trump called the Covid-19 the “Chinese Virus,” in March (2020), the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council said more than 650 incidents of discrimination against Asian-Americans were reported to a website it helps maintain in one week alone.” Decades have passed since Executive Order 9066 was enacted. Many Americans are only now learning of this transgression. There is no scientific basis for race; race and racism are social constructs. Balancing Cultures recalls a dark chapter in American history—censored in part by the Japanese precept of “gaman” (enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity) and the fear that if my family spoke too loudly, it might happen again. I raise my voice today because it is happening again.

Photosynthesis XV | Student Online Exhibition

Posted on August 8, 2020

PhotoSynthesis XV is a collaboration of the Burlington High School and Winchester High School facilitated by the Griffin Museum of Photography. This creative student exhibition is online through August 30th here at the Griffin.

By creating photographic portraits of themselves and their surroundings, students from Burlington High School and Winchester High School have been exploring their sense of self and place in a unique collaborative program at the Griffin Museum.

In its fifteenth year, the 5-month program connects approximately 20 students – from each school – with each other and with professional photographers. The goal is to increase students’ awareness of the art of photography, as well as how being from different programs and different schools affects their approach to the same project.

The students were given the task of creating a body of work that communicates a sense of self and place. They were encouraged to explore the importance of props, the environment, facial expression, metaphor, and body language in portrait photography.

Mentors for the PhotoSynthesis program this year were Suzanne Révy and Bill Franson. See their bios below. With the pandemic we had to eliminate the final exhibition that culminates in the Main Gallery of the museum and the one on one critiques that Alison Nordstrom, former photography curator of the George Eastman House, has done for 14 years. See Dr. Nordstrom’s bio below. We added an installation for photo students onto the Photoville Fence in Winchester and also have provided a virtual exhibition on our exhibition our website.

Rory Golden – BHS

Piper Ladd – BHS

Kacey Pustizzi – BHS

Bridget Conceison – BHS

Amanda Tsai – WHS

Anna Robinson – WHS

Audrey Fitzgerald – WHS

Beaujena Stoyanchev – WHS

Beaujena Stoyanchev – WHS

Kaitlin Collins – WHS

Kathryn Degnan – WHS

Lulu Girotti – WHS

Mackenzie Murray – WHS

Molly Bannon – WHS

Nicole Mazzeo – WHS

Seamus Slattery – WHS

Sophie Farnhill – WHS

Valerie Ngo – WHS

Vivian Zander – WHS

Students met with mentors Suzanne Révy in November and Bill Franson in February.

After graduating from high school in Los Angeles, Suzanne Révy (b. 1962) moved to Brooklyn, NY and earned a BFA in photography from the Pratt Institute where she was immersed in making and printing black and white photographs. She studied with Phil Perkis, Bill Gedney, Ann Mandlebaum, Christine Osinski, and Judy Linn among others. Following art school she worked as a photography editor for U.S.News & World Report magazine in Washington, DC and later as acting picture editor for Yankee magazine in Dublin, NH.With the arrival of two sons, she left the world of publishing and began to make pictures of her children, their cousins, and friends rekindling her interest in making and printing black and white pictures in a traditional wet darkroom. The resulting monochrome series, Time Let Me Play is an exploration of the nature and culture of childhood and childhood play. A second portfolio, To Venerate the Simple Days, was made using a simple plastic camera with color film; it pictured the time spent during the summers with her pre-teen aged children. The images represent an emotional response to that brief moment between childhood and adulthood. She continued to work with color film in the final series of visual family diaries, I Could Not Prove the Years Had Feet. This last portfolio was begun while earning her MFA in photography from the New Hampshire Institute of Art, and it chronicled the shifts and changes of her growing boys as they navigated their teen years.

While pursuing her MFA, she was mentored by photographers a Cheryle St. Onge, a former professor Christine Osinski, Edie Bresler, Stephen Dirado, and independent curator Francine Weiss. Anticipating the imminent departure of her children, she also turned her attention to the mundane in a series of mobile phone images featured in A Certain Slant of Light, which led to an interest in making landscape diptychs and triptychs using medium format and color film seen in a work in progress tentatively titled A Murmur in the Trees.

Her work has been shown at the Newport Art Museum in Newport, RI, the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA, the Fitchburg Art Museum in Fitchburg, MA, the Danforth Art Museum, and the Garner Center Gallery at the New England School of Photography among others. She is on the faculty of the Institute of Art and Design at New England College and the Associate Editor for the online magazine What Will You Remember?

Bill Franson worked as a staff photographer at several production houses in the Boston area until going out on his own in the mid 90s. Clients include Johnson & Johnson Innovations, Polaris Venture Partners, Paul Russell and Co., Classic Cars Magazine UK, Childrens’ Hospital-Boston, Brigham and Womens’ Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, Lahey Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, The Peabody Essex Museum, The Boston Globe, Genuine Interactive, and The Governors Academy. He’s exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and NYC, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia, Texas, and Toronto Canada. Personal highlights have been the Danforth Museum New England Photographers Biennial in 2015, 2011, and 2003, Strange Days at Philips Exeter in 2015, A Nickel and a Kopek at the NESOP Center for Photographic Exhibitions in 2008, Calvin College in 2011, and Panopticon Gallery in 2013. His work resides in various institutional and private collections.

In 2006 New England School of Photography offered Bill a teaching position. He never looked back. Teaching has reconnected him with those who are passionate about image making and actively exploring its possibilities. He taught his last class at NESOP in their 2019 Spring semester, finishing up two days before the school announced that it will close in 2020.

He is currently a professor of photography at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. and is represented by Gallery Kayafas in Boston.

Alison Nordstrom, the former curator of the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., and photographer Sam Sweezy usually gather with students for a one-on-one discussion of their work and a final edit was created for the exhibition at the museum. This year the critique and the exhibition were cancelled due to the pandemic and social distancing requirements. As student couldn’t access the darkrooms the teachers Robert Gillis and Lexi Djordjevic worked independently from home with students and developed projects and created powerpoint presentations. These have been created as reduced pdf’s to present on-line for our public. Our regrets to these students that they have had such losses this school year. I hope they know we are still watching out for them.

“In collaboration and through creative discourse these students have grown,” said Paula Tognarelli, Executive Director of the Griffin Museum. “We are very pleased to be able to share this year’s students’ work. We thank the mentors and teachers for providing a very meaningful experience for the students. We also want to thank the Griffin Foundation and the John and Mary Murphy Educational Foundation, whose continued commitment over the past 15 years to this project made learning possible. To paraphrase Elliot Eisner, the arts enabled these students to have an experience that they could have from no other source.’’

Griffin State of Mind | Martha Stone

Posted on August 7, 2020

Martha Stone

Martha Stone is our weekends operations manager here at the Griffin Museum. Her multifaceted artistic talents often go unseen when most people see her working her day job. But in our Griffin State of Mind interview we peel back the front desk you often see in front of her and Martha showed us what creativity and thoughtfulness lies behind her hobbies and personal artwork.

Martha’s work is featured in a permanent collection at Delloitte and Touche in Boston and in private collections throughout the United States and Europe.

Describe how you first connected with the Griffin. How long have you been part of the Griffin team and please describe your role at the Griffin.

I worked for Paula Tognarelli in the 1990’s when we were both employed by a commercial printer. After spending the early 2000’s concentrating on my artwork as a painter and a good portion of my time living in Italy, I reconnected with Paula.

At the time I was ready to return to working outside of my studio and she suggested I come to the Griffin Museum as an intern. Little did I know that I would become the Weekend Manager and Director of Visitor Services for over ten years. It has been a wonderful experience to have great colleagues, see an amazing variety of exhibitions, meet photographers and develop friendships with members.

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

I have seen many high-quality exhibitions at the Griffin, so it is difficult to choose only one. As a painter of landscape, I was very drawn to the “Voice of the Woods” by Koichiro Kurita. The exhibition was derived from a larger project commemorating the 200 year anniversary of the birth of Henry David Thoreau. The photographs were taken at Walden Pond using the method of Henry Fox Talbot, a contemporary of Thoreau. The work is quiet, ethereal and mesmerizing.

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

Although I enjoy looking at photography and can be moved and inspired by it, I am unable to make a decent photograph. I take snapshots of scenes and objects as reminders for use in my paintings.

On a recent morning I heard an interview with one of our members, Edward Boches, who curated the website, Pandemic Boston, as a visual documentation of the Covid-19 outbreak. I immediately viewed the website and was struck by the unique perspectives of the six photographers, Edward Boches, Lou Jones, Margaret Lampert, Jeff Larason, Coco McCabe and Juan Murray; each captured palpable images of pandemic life ranging from quiet isolation to heroism.

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

“Michelina’s Letter” edited by Victor Pisano is a collection of the memories of my sculptor friend’s mother, who was born in 1901 and immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1919. She was a self-taught writer, feminist, wife, mother and a designer of fine women’s clothing.

I was impressed by her strength and determination, while amazed at how closely her story parallels some of today’s difficulties traversing the discrimination of immigrants, equal rights for all and the 1918 Spanish Influenza.

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

I cannot last too long without visiting the sea as it provides me with an expansive sense of tranquility. Having lived a number of years in the hills of Chianti, Italy, I immediately feel at peace when I return.

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

The absence of touch has been difficult. No hugs!

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?

My late husband was an artist and a political activist. I would love to know what he would have to say about the current state of our country and the world. It would be a joy to walk together through a museum and continue the dialogue we shared while looking at art.

Griffin State of Mind | Silke Hase

Posted on July 31, 2020

Photo of Silke during Focus Awards 2017. (photo by Sylvia)

Volunteer, event photographer, and free-spirit Silke Hase works with the Griffin Museum in a multitude of ways all of which challenge us to expand our perspective and understanding of fine art photography. Her work and deep connection with nature helps cultivate a community of wellness and creativity here at the Griffin and we are glad to share some of her thoughts and considerations with you.

We talked with Silke this past week and got an insider view into some of her quarantine living and quarantine dreaming. And you will see her drive towards photography and creating guarantees her ideas, whether a success or failure, always come to pass, and in that freedom to create she finds her Griffin State of Mind.

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

I was taking the Zone System workshop at the New England School of Photography in 2005 when the instructor, Nick Johnson, told the class. “If you don’t know the Griffin Museum of Photography you should check it out”. So I did.

Even though I had been interested in photography for many years, and had worked in a darkroom many times, this was the first time that I experienced the world of fine art photography outside of its obvious Ansel Adams corner.

I loved attending the Griffin openings, and tried to see as many shows as possible

One day I noticed a really, really bad official group photo on the Griffin’s FB page of the exhibiting artists taken at an opening reception with a cellphone. I couldn’t resist teasing Paula about it. She explained that Walter, their official event photographer, had health issues. Since I was at most of the openings anyway, I offered to bring my camera next time and take some photos if Walter wasn’t there. I have been covering the Griffin events ever since.

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

I find that I have two different kinds of photographs in my life that require completely different mind sets.

One is the everyday personal documentary kind that I use to capture situations and things to share with family and friends in Germany. So, this kind of photography is very important for me to stay connected. I take these kinds of photographs almost every day.

And then there is the arty kind of photography that feels right, is more fulfilling, no matter if I just look at images or create them myself. To create though, I need to get into that special mind set and lose myself in it. Here I can try to see the world from unusual angles. Here I can play with ideas, explore new techniques, try out new things and fail, unleash emotions …

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

Hands down, the Prifti show.

Silke (with Horace & Agnes)

But since Paula already claimed that one, and there were SO MANY incredible shows, I want to point out (1) “Voice of the Woods” by Koichiro Kurita. Koichiro loaded a large format camera and all the equipment that goes with it into a canoe and paddled out in the woods where he captured Calotype negatives of which he made the final albumen or salted paper prints. There is an incredible amount of skill, time and dedication that goes into creating each frame. You cannot rush. You cannot afford mistakes – at least not many.

There was rich poetry in these images and the show as a whole.

And also (2) “Horace and Agnes”, the other end of the spectrum, which was so much fun. It was fun diving into the world of this wonderful ‘odd couple’. Of course it was fun looking at the photos. But it was also fun reading their stories, meeting their friends, and dancing to the accordion music at the opening

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

I am surprised how easy it was for me in the beginning. I work with computers and it really doesn’t matter where I am as long as I have internet access and a phone. My family and many of my friends lives in Germany, so I had been using Skype, WhatsApp and the plain old phone all along for years and was already comfortable with those tools. Cutting away 2+ hours in traffic every day has given me precious time to enjoy my backyard and its inhabitants every day.

That said, after a couple of months, while it is technically still easy to stay connected, not being able to be around people is getting to me. This again is surprising to me, given how I didn’t have any problems in the beginning.

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

I love kayaking on the ocean. I love the bobbing on the waves, the light, the air, the critters, the mystery, the salt, …. But for me, ocean kayaking is for day trips on non-thunderstormy summer days.

On a daily basis, my nature getaway is my backyard. I grab a cup of coffee in the morning, my journal and ‘the nut bag’ with three jars filled with different kinds of nuts/seeds. I sit in my comfy Adirondack chair and watch the light as the sun moves thru the trees and hits different parts of the garden: The bird bath (when birds splash in it backlit drops of water fly in all directions), sunlight sparkling in rain drops on the grass, or ice crystals (depending on the season) …this is very Zen.

And then there are all the critters that come for the nuts and seeds. When a squirrel I have known for 4 years sits in the chair next to mine munching on a peanut, or when a bright red cardinal come flying straight at me as I turn around the corner of my house and sit in a tree two feet away, or when a chipmunk holds my fingertips with her muddy little hands while she loads her cheeks with sunflower seeds … that’s a good start to any day.

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

I have been reading the books of Peter Wohlleben “The Hidden life of trees”, “The Inner Life of Animals”, “The Secret Wisdom of Nature”, and the fourth book that has not yet been published in English. He compiles scientific findings and his own observations to inspire people to re-connect with nature.

Portrait of Umedha Swarnapali (Sri Lanka), from the ongoing project “SCENTS OF EVANESCENCE” (2017-current))

As far as visual obsessions are concerned, there is a FB group called “Alternative photographic processes” which is another good way to start the day. Photographs posted here are different from the flood of pictures that is out there drowning you. These are salt prints, cyanotypes, pinhole images from people all over the world. There are some incredible photographers out there that you have never heard of, they are not famous, not accomplished, some are ‘just’ experimenting with unusual processes that you didn’t even know existed.

Here is an example from this page. It is a photograph printed by the sun on the pedal of a Poppy flower. (Photo by Fenia Kotsopoulou – she writes: “UMEDHA” – Petalotype on Papaver Rhoeas. The third successful print directly on the petal of a flower from my garden (and the most successful until now; fortunately, just saved it, at the last moment from a sudden rain). Time exposure: approximately 8 days (unstable British weather).

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?

Describe how you first connected with the Griffin. How long have you been part of the Griffin team and please describe your role at the Griffin.

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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?

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