Griffin Museum of Photography

October All Over

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Statement
October All Over is the culmination of several years spent living in, working in, and documenting the Southern Oregon cannabis industry prior to legalization and during the time shortly after. I began this series in 2014 and stopped in the fall of 2017. I started with no motive or intention that was specific to photography. In the way I prefer to work, I was just there and had a camera that could fit in my pocket. I certainly wasn’t given an assignment. 

Sometime late in 2015 or early 2016, the realization that things wouldn’t remain as they were started to sink in. The industry was rapidly changing and continuing to operate in a dubious legal manner was becoming more difficult than it was even prior to legalization. Around this same time, the idea that capturing this may serve as some kind of “first person” historical account began to develop. I realized that this was the end of an era and the beginning of something much different. 

Up until that point, any concept or idea of a project, if there could be one, was always rather open ended: “people living and working in this crazy underground industry from the perspective of someone also embedded in it”. Since I was doing the work and living a similar life as everyone else, it just made sense. Some part of me still wanted to portray a narrative that remained personal, while also making clear that this was in one sense a dying industry; or at least one that had for better or worse shed its chrysalis and emerged as something very different. -KS

Bio
Kyle Souder is a Portland, Oregon based photographer. From 2009-2014 Kyle played bass in math-rock band Duck. Little Brother, Duck! During this time, he toured the US and Japan. It was through these frequent travels, often finding himself on the other side of the camera, that his infatuation with the alchemy of candid photography was rekindled. Kyle prefers to work in the vein of documentary and candid based photography. He is deeply infatuated by the pursuit of serendipitous moments, often finding the camera more capable than his philosophy education in helping to make sense of our shared reality. Kyle recently was awarded a scholarship to attend the CENTER’s 2019 Santa Fe Review.

Kyle is currently working on a book that is an extension of his series October All Over.

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Publication 

“Photographers: Color” Eyeshot, September 2019 

Freeman, Jesse “Jesse’s Visual Interviews: Kyle Souder” Japan Camera Hunter, April, 2019 

ACCCG Press, “ANTIBody Vol. 1” ACCCG Collective Publication, May 2019 

Awards and Recognition 

Attended – CENTER Santa Fe Review 2019 

Short List – Athens Photo Festival 2019 

Westlands

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Statement
Showcasing California’s Central Valley, Westlands uses documentary photography to examine the danger drought and water policies represent to farming. The valley has been a productive food-growing region for decades, but water shortages and complicated laws have placed the region’s farms—and subsequently its communities and culture—in precarious conditions. Moving beyond simplified narratives of environmentalist versus farmer or government versus worker, Westlands reveals the complex story of fragile ecosystems, a growing population, and the need for social responsibility and sustainable solutions. The lessons suggested in these breathtaking photographs apply not just to California but to worldwide conversations about water usage and rights.

Bio
Randi Lynn Beach came from Brooklyn, NY. She migrated west after receiving a B.A. from New York University. Along the way, she lived in Albuquerque, Tucson, Denmark, San Francisco and travels extensively to pursue projects she is passionate about. 

An award-winning photojournalist, she has had her photography featured in everything from Rolling Stone, to the Washington Post, to People, to the New York Times. Her documentaries have been featured in A Photo Editor, Popular Photography, NPR and the Huffington Post as well as being recognized by the Webby Awards. Most recently she finished Westlands, a water story which was featured internationally in film festivals and recently won a Telly for Social Responsibility. Westlands, a Water Story was published by UNM Press. 

View a link to the book. 

View Randi Lynn Beach’s Instagram.

View Randi Lynn Beach on Behance. 

View Randi Lynn Beach’s Website.

Privileged

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Artist Statement
Privileged

Privileged

priv·i·leged

priv(ə)lijd

adjective

having special rights, advantages or immunities.

As a career photojournalist, I have been photographing issues about immigration for decades. My intimate experience with this subject has allowed me to witness the hypocrisy of today’s immigration policies.  It has also made me keenly aware that I too am an immigrant, a white immigrant. In this time of heightened scrutiny of immigrants from some parts of the world I am deeply troubled by what is happening and at the same time acutely aware of the advantages being a white immigrant has granted me.

My project “Privileged” is a reaction to the disparities I recognize because of the color of my skin.

In “Privileged” I juxtapose staged photographs of my white skin with images I have taken, while working as a photojournalist, that speak to different aspects of immigration. “Privileged” represents my personal experience as well as the current “sacredness” of white United States of America and the perceived ”invasion”  by people who do not look liked the privileged group.

Note: the skin images have been partially re-touched to give a “pristine” fake reality leaving the hidden part of each image un-retouched.

Bio
Born in Göteborg, Sweden, Ann Inger Johansson primarily uses documentary photography to look at social, political and environmental issues, from today’s heated debates about immigration to the long-term consequences of climate change.

Ann has 20 years of experience working as a freelance photojournalist for publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Le Monde, The Smithsonian and Der Spiegel among many others.

Ann was commissioned by Klimahaus, a 200,000 sq. ft. educational space about climates and climate change in Bremerhaven, Germany, ​to travel to six countries and document people living in different climate zones.  Her work can be seen throughout “The Journey” exhibition.

Her photographs are part of The Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, permanent collection and she recently exhibited in group shows at FotoNostrum in Barcelona, Spain and at the Houston Center for Photography in Houston, USA.

Ann Inger Johansson is based in Los Angeles.

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Professional Summary

Ann Inger Johansson has 20 years of experience working as a freelance photojournalist. Ann is committed to a long-term project visually connecting causes, effects and impacts of climate change globally with the ultimate goal of making all aspect of climate change relatable on a personal level.

Professional Experience 1998 – Present

Photographing news, features, and portraits within the United States and internationally on a full-time basis for numerous clients including Associated Press, Bild am Sonntag, The Chicago Tribune, Der Spiegel, Getty Images, The Globe and Mail, Handelsblatt, Klimahaus Museum, Le Monde, Los Angeles Times, Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSNBC.com, New York Times, Pacific Institute for Women’s Health, The Smithsonian Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Stern Magazine, UCLA Health System and UNICEF.

Public Collection

The Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA.

Book Publication

Johansson, A. (2015). CAUSE + CELEB: 90 Portraits + 40 Causes = 1 Mission . San Rafael, CA: Channel Photographics.

Exhibitions

2019
13th  Julia Margaret Cameron Award Exhibition, FotoNostrum, Barcelona, Spain.
2017
Annual Juried Membership Exhibition, Houston Center for Photography, TX, USA.
2015
Solo Exhibition. CAUSE+CELEB, The Braid, Santa Monica, CA, USA.
2009
Annenberg Space for Photography, Picture of the Year International Slide Show.

Publications

Author: Morelli, Jenny. USA: CSR en ny trend . Fotografisk Tidskrift 6.  2012.
Author: Smith, Rosalind, The Path of Ann Johansson; A Life Dedicated to Recording Humanity, Shutterbug . 2005.

On-line Publications

The Guardian . Climate Visuals photography award 2019: winners and shortlisted . 2019.
Author: Smithson, Aline. Privileged . Lenscratch , Fine Art Photography Daily . 2018.

Dab Art’s Quarterly Arts Publication GENESIS.2018.

Awards & Recognition

2019

Climate Visuals Photography Award 2019. Winner

14th  Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Honorable Mention, Landscapes & Seascapes, Series, Flooded,
14th  Julia Margaret Cameron Award

Prix de la Photographie Paris, Honorable Mention, Portrait Series, Illuminated

Prix de la Photographie Paris, Honorable Mention, Street Photography, Coal Transporters

International Photography Awards, 2nd  Place, Portrait Series, Illuminated

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Portrait Single, Illuminated

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Deeper Perspective, The Face of Coal

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Feature story, The Face of Coal

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Environmental Single, Coal Burned

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Environmental Single, Coal Coked

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Environmental Single, Coal Extracted

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Environmental Single, Coal Transported

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, People, Children, Coal Transported

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Environmental Single, Flooded

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Environmental Single

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, People, Street Photography, Coal Transported

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Environmental Single, Oil Extracted

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Environmental Series, Flooded

International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Environmental Single, Innundated

13th  Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Winner, Portrait Series.

13th  Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Honorable Mention, Documentary & Reportage Series.

13th  Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Honorable Mention, Landscapes & Seascapes Series.

2018

Dab Art’s Quarterly Arts Publication GENESIS.

12th  Pollux Award. Winner, Landscapes & Seascapes Series.

12th  Pollux Award. Honorable Mention, Segregation & Human Rights Series.

12th  Julia Margaret Cameron Award. Honorable Mention, Landscapes & Seascapes Series.

12th  Julia Margaret Cameron Award. Honorable Mention, Segregation & Human Rights.

2008

Press Photographers of Greater Los Angeles. First Place, Photo Essay.

Press Photographers of Greater Los Angeles. First Place, Feature Coverage.

Press Photographers of Greater Los Angeles. Third Place, Portrait Personality.

2004

National Press Photographers Association. First Place, The Arts.

Speaking Engagements / Workshops / Judging

2018 Open Show – Pasadena East LA.

2017 Guest Speaker, Emerson College Los Angeles Center, CA.

2015 Portrait photography workshop, FOTOFUSION, FL.

2015 Documentary photography workshop, FOTOFUSION, FL.

2014 Judging RICOH Theta 360 Degree Camera Competition.

Professional Affiliations

American Society of Media Photographers.
National Press Photographers Association.
Press Photographers of Greater Los Angeles.
Svenska Fotografers Förbund (Sweden).
Society of Environmental Journalists.
SoCal Science Writing

Sora Woo: Life Companion

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Statement
This series has been made over three years, while I was visiting home, South Korea, for summer and winter break. My grandmother was attending to the care of my grandfather who suffered from dementia. They were married for sixty years, each other’s lifetime companions, and then my grandmother became the caregiver whose work was unrelenting. These photographs reflect their bond, but also my grandmother’s struggle and fatigue. Their world was centered at home because my grandfather often gets out of control when he is outside of the house. My work continued after my grandfather’s death observing my grandmother’s new experience being alone. Photographing in such a limited environment has made me pay close attention to subtleties of gesture and the meaning for spatial relationships between them. – Sora Woo

Bio
Sora Woo (b.1991) is a visual artist and photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her works concentrate on observing the spatial relationship between humans and place. Woo is interested in discovering the threads of human interaction and what occurs after the absence of a person. Woo’s photographs capture a moment in the slow process of the passage of time. She not only depicts the passing of time, but also points out the physical and spiritual aspects of the “Irreversible”. Sora received her MFA from Pratt Institute, New York in 2018 and BFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York in 2015.

View Sora Woo’s website at www.sorawoo.com.

Lifetime Companion: Photographs by Sora Woo
by Allen Frame

The intimate domestic space shown in Sora Woo’s photographs of her grandparents at home in South Korea is both a physical and psychological space.  Physically, the place is the grandparents’ apartment, which provides context for their relationship. The space they occupy sitting or sleeping frames their activity, but more revealing is the particular space in between them. They sit in close proximity but are often at different angles, as if in different worlds or states of mind, and in fact, they are indeed separated by the grandfather’s condition of dementia. Woo’s grandmother is his caregiver, and her devotion and sense of duty are indicated by her constant, close presence.  In the photograph of them posed together, facing front, she is gazing directly at the photographer, while his eyes are turned away.  His focus is elsewhere. The important space of this work is the internalized space of this difference in mental acuity and all that it implies; the grandfather is in his own reality, while the grandmother is attuned to his condition, responsible for his welfare, and living with her own response, which includes a loyal sadness and her own fatigue.

The photographer, who was reared by these grandparents, has disappeared into the role of observer; no longer the child being taken care of, she is now the photographer with empathy for the situation, and perhaps, curiosity to see her grandfather in the role she once played herself, the innocent to be looked after. The pictures are about three kinds of memory, the one the photographer, who has left to study in the U.S. and has now come back to make photographs, brings with her in reacting to a new set of circumstances; the memory that the grandmother has for the 60 years in which her life was joined with her husband’s; and the grandfather’s memory, now fixed in an experience of the present.

The gravity of these sensibilities overlapping in a confined space is evoked by quiet, subtle shifts in the positions and gestures of the two companions in their daily routines.  Their actions are now circumscribed by the grandfather’s condition, but their dignity and individuality are still apparent. The profound meaning of this dedication between two people, and of the careful and precise scrutiny by the photographer, builds through the series, each image adding depth and insight into a moving, clear vision of the final stages of a lifetime.

 

여기 60년의 세월을 함께 한 노부부가 있다.
할아버지는 치매에 걸려 집 밖으로 나갈 수 없고
그런 할아버지 곁엔 항상 할머니가 있다.할 일이라곤 달력 보기, 화투, 담배밖에 남지 않은 할아버지는
하루에도 수십 번 했던 행동을 반복하고 질문하는데,
할머니는 기꺼이 그 외로운 싸움을 함께 한다.
이제 그들에게 세상은 집이 되었고
그 작은 공간에서 펼쳐지는 24시간은 잔잔하지만 치열하다.2011년 징후들로 시작된 이 소리 없는 전투가 이제는 일상이 된 부부는
각자의 일과에 충실하며 하루를 살아낸다.
여전히 달력만 보고 화투만 치고 담배만 태우는 할아버지
그리고 그런 할아버지 곁에서 곤히 낮잠을 청하는 할머니,
그 풍경 속엔 두 개의 서로 다른 궤적이 얽혀가며
펼쳐지는 모습이 보이는 것 같다.무엇으로도 설명하기 어려운 그 풍경을 응시하며
손녀가 할 수 있었을 것이라곤
그저 그 모습을 기록하는 것밖엔 없었는지도 모른다.
꾹꾹 하고 누른 셔터 소리 너머로 다양한 이름의 감정선들이
잠시 한지점에 이미지가 되어 모였다.
많은 것들이 묻어 나오는 사진 속엔 묘한 떨림마저 들어있다.2013년부터 시작되어
2016년 할아버지의 장례식을 다녀온 할머니의 모습으로 끝나는
Life Companion (인생의 동반자) 시리즈는,
실제 작가가 본인의 외할머니, 외할아버지의
일상을 체험하며 기록한 일종의 투병기로써,
오랜 세월 속 축적된 유대감으로 묵묵히 서로를 지키며 이별을 동행하는
노부부의 애틋한 풍경을 우리에게 담담히 보여주고 있다.

City Streets at SoWa

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Statement
Street photography has a cinematic character that has always attracted me, combining elements of photojournalism, documentary and pure surprise to catch unguarded moments of everyday life.

Spontaneity, immediacy, serendipity and empathy all come into play. But to me what makes for impactful street photos is visual tension, the interplay between subjects themselves or between them and their surroundings. Visual tension gives a photo intimacy and depth, inviting the viewer to pause and decipher possible meanings; it offers a glimpse of the photographer’s intention while providing opportunity for imagination.

So I look for the “click point” in a simple situation — the visceral second that suggests a story and evokes the humor, sadness, beauty, irony, mystery or absurdity of human nature in action. People’s eyes, dress, body language, and relationships to objects and each other are some of the things I seek out that might resonate with a viewer. Whether shot indoors or out, my work is candid and intuitive, neither staged nor manipulated.

My usual kit is minimal: Contax G2 with 28mm and 45mm Zeiss lenses, Contax T3 with a 35mm Zeiss lens, or Nikon N70 with a 24mm lens. I shoot film (Tri-X 400 and T-Max 3200) because I like its distinctive look and the fact that it forces me to pay close attention, and I prefer black and white because it reduces visual complexity and focuses the eye. – JL

Bio
Lustenader has been published in Black & White magazine, and had solo exhibitions at Umbrella Arts Gallery in New York, In An Instant Gallery in Florida, and Dartmouth College. He also been in over forty  juried exhibitions, including the Salmagundi Art Club of New York; Your Daily Photograph; Center for Fine Art Photography; New York Center for Photographic Art; Black Box Gallery; Greg Moon Art Gallery; WPGA Pollux (“Photographer of the Year”), Charles Dodgson and Jacob Riis Awards; Cape Cod Art Association; Texas National Art Competition; Camera USA National Photography Award; Minneapolis Photo Center; Colorado Photographic Arts Center; and the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Three of his photos are in the permanent collection of the Municipal Museum in Malaga, Spain.

Jim Lustenader is a New Hampshire resident.

All photographs are available as Silver Gelatin prints.

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Published Work
2020
Black & White Magazine: “Single Image Contest”

2019
Black & White Magazine: “Single Image Contest” (2 photos)

2018
Black & White Magazine: “Looking Back–Looking Forward”and “Single Image Contest”

2017
Black & White Magazine: “Looking Back–Looking Forward”

Gallery Representation
Soho Photo Gallery, New York City

Truth and Beauty Gallery, Vancouver, Canada: limited edition prints

Solo Exhibitions
2020: Griffin Museum of Photography — SOWA Gallery, Boston, MA: “City Streets;” curator: Paula Tognarelli, Executive Director

2019: Converse Free Library, Lyme, NH: “Serendipity”

2017: Umbrella Arts Gallery, New York City: “Street Walking;” curator: Harvey Stein, photographer

2016: Dartmouth College: “Paris In A Second”

2012: In One Instant Gallery, Florida: “Street Walking”

Juried Exhibitions
2020
Worldwide Photography Gala Awards, Barcelona: Honorable Mention, 14th Pollux Award: “Street,” “Black & White,” “People Series”

Black Box Gallery: “Black and White;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

2019
Your Daily Photograph.com: “Editions of Five”

All About Photo Awards: Finalist, “Street”

Miami Photo Center Visual Excellence Awards/Art Basel: Finalist, “Street” series

14th B&W Spider Awards: Nominee, “People;” Honorable Mention, “People,” “Silhouette”

Black Box Gallery: “Photo Shoot;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

Analog Film Photography Association: 2019 Exhibition (2 photos)

Black Box Gallery: “Cars and Dogs;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

Black Box Gallery: “Black and White;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

Worldwide Photography Gala Awards, Barcelona: Honorable Mention, 13th Pollux Award

Soho Photo Gallery National Competition; juror: Julie Grahame, photo curator and consultant

YourDailyPhotograph.com: “Vintage”

Greg Moon Art: “After Dark 8” (2 photos); jurors: Isabel Samaras, Janet Webb, Greg Moon

Black Box Gallery: “Taking Pictures;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

Black Box Gallery: “Black & White;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

Salmagundi Art Club of New York — Non-Members Show: Certificate of Merit (2 photos)

2018
Monochrome Awards: Honorable Mention (2 photos)

New York Center for Photographic Art: “Urban Suburban Rural” (2 photos); juror: Kay Kenny

YourDailyPhotograph.com: “My Private Paris;” juror: Agathe Gaillard, Paris gallery owner

13th B&White Spider Awards: Nominee, “People,” “Photojournalism,” “Fashion”

Black Box Gallery: “Gray Scale;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

Black Box Gallery: “Focus: Shadow and Light;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

Black Box Gallery: “Taking Pictures;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

2017
12th B&W Spider Awards: Honorable Mention, “People”

Specto Art Space: “Black & White” inaugural exhibition

Worldwide Photography Gala Awards: Honorable Mention, 10th Pollux Award

LensCulture Network Gallery: curated show of top photographers

Worldwide Photography Gala Awards: Finalist, Charles Dodgson Black & White Award

Worldwide Photography Gala Awards, London: Finalist, 9th Pollux Award

New York Center for Photographic Art: “Black & White;” juror: Mark Sink, curator

Black Box Gallery: “Black & White;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

Morean Arts Center: “The Journey;” juror: Sam Abell, photographer

2016
Black Box Gallery: “Framed: Shadow & Light;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

11th B&W Spider Awards: Honorary Fellow and Nominee, “People”

Worldwide Photography Gala Awards: Finalist, 8th Pollux Award

Black Box Gallery: “Photo Shoot;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

Cape Cod Art Association: “Children Being Children;” juror: Kelly Bennett, photographer

Center for Fine Art Photography: “Black & White;” juror: Rod Smith

Center for Fine Art Photography: “Night” — Curator’s Honorable Mention; jurors: Sean Corcoran, Hamidah Glasgow

2015
Black Box Gallery: “Photo Shoot;” juror: Todd Johnson, director

Worldwide Photography Gala Awards: Finalist, 7th Pollux, Charles Dodgson and Jacob Riis Awards; juror: Frank Meo, director at Foundartists.com

Cape Cod Art Assoc.: “Fluent in Photography”

39th Annual Elden Murray Photo Exhibition: Outstanding work by a first-time entrant

CORE New Art Space: “Losing Love;” juror: Niza Knoll

2014
Worldwide Photography Gala Awards, 6th Pollux Award: Photographer of the Year, 3rd International Biennial of Fine Art and Documentary Photography in Malaga, Spain

Verum Ultimum Gallery: “Streetwise;” juror: Jennifer Cutshall, director

Texas National Art Competition: Annual exhibition at Stephen F. Austin State University; juror: Jerome Witkin, artist

Starcatcher Gallery: Juried into permanent collection

Flow Art Space: “Encroaching City;” juror: Melissa Metzler, director

eXel Photo Magazine: Finalist, first print edition; juror: David Hirsch, publisher

2013
Flow Art Space: “Perceptions;” juror: Melissa Metzler, director

Worldwide Photography Gala Awards — “Love:” Honorable Mention; juror: Tom Atwood

Camera USA: National Photography Award; jurors: Harry Benson and Christopher Rauschenberg, photographers; Ron Bishop, gallery director

Minneapolis Photo Center: “What We Photograph;” juror: Cig Harvey, photographer

Colorado Photographic Arts Center: “Street View;” juror: Anne Kelly, Photo-eye Gallery

2012
Minneapolis Photo Center: “The Human Condition: A Survey of Humanity;” juror: Annie Griffiths-Belt, National Geographic

Flow Art Space: “Retro;” juror: Melissa Metzler, director

Boca Raton Museum of Art: 61st Annual All-Florida Competition and Exhibition

2011
Projekt30: Finalist and Exhibitor, “Melancholy: At the Bottom of Everything, Forever”

Minneapolis Photo Center: “Where in the World”

JPG Magazine: Best of Photo Challenge, “Working for a Living”

Still Point Art Gallery: “Destinations”

Creative Arts Workshop: “Seeing Seeing: Capturing a Moment”

Art League of Bonita Springs Annual Show: Honorable Mention

Permanent Collections
Three photos in the Municipal Museum of Malaga, Spain

Lectures
Eastman Photo Guild: “Paris In A Second–The Art of Street Photography”

Alliance Francaise: “Paris In A Second–The Art of Street Photography”

ArtNaples Contemporary Art Fair: “The Art of Seeing: Contemporary Photography and Developing Trends in Collecting”

Self-Published Books
Paris In A Second, editions one and two; Street Walking

Jon Horvath: This is Bliss

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Artist Statement
This Is Bliss is a transmedia narrative project investigating the vanishing roadside geography and culture of a rural Idaho town named Bliss. The project is philosophically rooted in a broad consideration of how entrenched mythologies of place and traditional mythologies of happiness collide, and are frequently confounded, in a location that bears a complex narrative of booms and busts and reflects the complicated history of American Idealism and Manifest Destiny.

The richly complex historical significance of Bliss is evidenced by its positioning on the Oregon Trail, its emergence as a town during the construction of the first railroads in the continental US, its positioning on the Snake River Valley, which was investigated photographically by the likes of Timothy O’ Sullivan and Ansel Adams and hosts the site of daredevil Evel Knievel’s failed attempt to jump a gorge with his motorcycle in 1974, as well as being the home town of Holden Bowler, the inspirational namesake for J.D. Salinger’s quintessential malcontent Holden Caulfield in “The Catcher in the Rye”. Bliss’ apex, however, came in the mid-20th century during the height of road trip America and only began to diminish when Interstate-84 was constructed, redirecting vehicular traffic away from a once thriving community. As a result, Bliss has been in slow economic decline ever since, a familiar story plaguing small towns in America for decades. All that remains in Bliss is two gas stations, a small school, a church, a diner, and two saloons to service its 300 current residents. Through a varied response to its contemporary landscape and inhabitants, This Is Bliss contrasts romantic visions of the American West with its contemporary reality and considers how the heights of idealism are obtained on both a personal and cultural level.

Bio
Jon Horvath is an interdisciplinary artist routinely employing systems-based strategies within transmedia narrative projects. He received his MFA in Photography from UW-Milwaukee in 2008, and a BAS in both English Literature and the History of Philosophy from Marquette University in 2001.

Horvath’s work has been exhibited internationally in solo and group shows at venues including: The Print Center (Philadelphia), FIESP Cultural Centre (Sao Paolo, Brazil), Gyeonggi Art Center (Suwon, South Korea), OFF Piotrkowska (Lodz, Poland), Newspace Center for Photography (Portland), the Haggerty Museum of Art (Milwaukee), INOVA (Milwaukee), Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Manifest Gallery (Cincinnati), Johalla Projects (Chicago), and The Alice Wilds (Milwaukee). His work is currently held in the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Haggerty Museum of Art, and is included in the Midwest Photographers Project at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Horvath currently teaches in the New Studio Practice program at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design

Review What Will You Remember

Amani Willett: The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer

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Artist Statement
Searching for a place to be at peace in the wilderness, my dad bought seven acres of undeveloped land in central New Hampshire in the late 1970s. It wasn’t until 2010 that I became curious about the story of a man named Joseph Plummer, who we were told lived in the same woods during the late 1700s and 1800s. It was said this local legend left his town of a mere 100 people to be in seclusion. Researching and finding very little concrete information about Joseph has paradoxically heightened his presence in my mind and inspired me to seek out what drove him from his life. I uncovered some of his personal belongings and spent summers tracking down the places where he spent his days. Interviews with local residents told of his hostility to “loafers and spendthrifts” and his “mortal opposition to progress, generally.” But the scant information about Joseph only inspires more questions and feeds his local mythology.

I believe the story of Joseph Plummer parallels my dad’s and now my desire to disappear into the landscape of central New Hampshire. Joseph’s world is an unabashedly romantic view of nature and its sublime power, yet his life and the landscape he inhabited exude the mystery of the unknowable. My dad and I often take long walks in the New Hampshire woods, usually ending up searching for where the hermit lived. While we’ve been to the site of his long-gone home many times, we somehow always get lost along the way – and getting lost seems to be the point. In our modern world when it can be difficult to disconnect, following Joseph’s path into the woods offers a welcome respite. – AW

Bio
Amani Willett is a Brooklyn and Boston-based photographer whose practice is driven by conceptual ideas surrounding family, history, memory, and the social environment. Working primarily with the book form, his two monographs have been published to widespread critical acclaim. Both books, Disquiet (Damiani, 2013) and The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer (Overlapse, 2017), were selected by Photo-Eye as “best books” of the year and have been highlighted in over 50 publications including ​Photograph Magazine, PDN,​ ​Hyperallergic, Lensculture, New York Magazine and 1000 Words​ and recommended by ​Todd Hido,​ ​Elisabeth Biondi (former Visuals Editor of The New Yorker), Vince Aletti and Joerg Colberg (Conscientious), among others.

Amani’s photographs are also featured in the books​ Bystander: A History of Street Photography (2017 edition, Laurence King Publishing), ​Street Photography Now​ (Thames and Hudson), ​New York: In Color​ (Abrams), and have been published widely in places including A​merican Photography,​ Newsweek,​ Harper’s,​ ​The Huffington Post, The New York Times and The New York Review of Books​.​ His work resides in the collections of the Tate Modern, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Oxford University, and Harvard University, among others.

Amani completed an MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts, NY in 2012 and a BA from Wesleyan University in 1997. In addition to his artistic practice, Amani currently teaches photography at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston​.

CV
EDUCATION

M.F.A. Photography, Video and Related Media, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, 2012
B.A. American Studies, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 1997

SELECTED SOLO AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019
Mutable/Multiple: Format Photo Festival, Derby, England
The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, The Griffin Museum of Photography
The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, Fordham University
Showing: Working Families: University of Colorado
Winter Pictures, Humble Arts Foundation

2018
Recent Photo Books, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA
Photography Book Show, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
Showing: Working Families: University Art Gallery, California State University

2015
Underground Railroad: Hiding in Place, Adelphi University
Photography Book Show, Athens Photography Festival
In-Public at “Foto Mexico,” Mexico City

2014
Tough Turf: New Directions in Street Photography, Humble Arts Foundation
Camera Club of New York Benefit Auction, New York, NY
Disquiet (solo show), Citibank Cultural Center, Asuncion, Paraguay

2013
Book, Film, Painting – Stuart Pilkington Projects (online)
Family, Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography, Detroit, MI
In Public – In Stockholm, Center for Urban Photography, Stockholm, Sweden
Ideas City Festival, The New Museum, New York, NY
In-Public: On the Street, Bangkok, Thailand

2012
Conscious Things, Picture Space, Bushwick, Brooklyn
The 2nd International Photography Festival, Tel Aviv-Jaffa Port, Israel
School of School of Visual Arts Thesis Exhibition, SVA Gallery, New York, NY
Emerging Artists Auction, Daniel Cooney Fine Art, New York, NY
New York: In Color, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

2011
From Distant Streets, Galerie Hertz. Louisville, KY
Street Photography Now, Fundacja. DOC. Warsaw, Poland
Street Photography Now, London Street Photography Festival
In-Public, Derby Museum, Format International Photography Festival, Derby, England
Street Photography Now, Uno Art Space, Stuttgart
Street Photography Now, Contributed, Berlin

2010
Street Photography Now, Third Floor Gallery, London
In-Public, Photofusion, London, May 28 – July 9, 2010
13th Annual Friends of Friends Photography Show and Auction

2008
Picturing Cuba (solo exhibition), Cuban Art Space, Brooklyn

2006
Crosswalks: Contemporary Street Photography, Oklahoma City Museum
Here Is New York, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

2003
Life In The City, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

2002
Towards a New Era: Photographs from South Africa, Open Society Institute, Washington DC

2001
Here Is New York, New York, NY
August Art, Raw Space, New York, NY
South Africa, Madiba, Brooklyn, NY
Fort Greene Photo Association, Brooklyn, NY

2000
Fragments, Taranto Gallery, New York, NY

1998
New Photographs, The Park Gallery, New York, NY

MONOGRAPHS

“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” fall 2017, Overlapse, London.
“Disquiet,” spring 2013. Damiani, Italy. Text by Marvin Heiferman.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2019
Fisheye Magazine Photobook Vol. 3

2018
All the Pretty Pictures: Review Presents Review Santa Fe, Pasatiempo

2017
Bystander : A history of Street Photography, 3rd Edition, Phaidon (forthcoming) 

2015
Exchange Edit, Fototazo, March 2015
“Selfie,” Ain’t Bad Magazine, December 2015

2014
Exhibition Essay, Tough Turf, Humble Arts Foundation, February 2014
Ten Minutes with Amani Willett, This is the What, April 2014
Find Your Beach, The New York Review of Books, October 2014
When the Levee Breaks, The Mockingbird, Fall 2014
Gateway to Freedom, Harper’s Magazine, December 2014

2013
Lenscratch, April, 2013
The LPV Show – Episode 10, Spring 2013
How to Start a Project, Fototazo, Spring 2013

2012
LPV Magazine, Issue 5. November, 2012

2011
New York: In Color, Abrams, Fall 2011
Fototazo, The Image, Summer 2011
Fototazo, Portfolio and Interview, Winter, 2011

2010
Street Photography Now, Thames and Hudson, Fall 2010
American Photography 26, November 2010
10ʼ 10 Years of In-Public, Nick Turpin Publishing, Spring 2010

2006
American Photography 23, 2006

2003
Regeneration: Telling Stories From Our Twenties, Tarcher, Spring 2003

2000
Popular Photography, April 2000
The Millennium Photo Project, Smashing Books! 2000

Additional Publication Credits: Adbusters, American Photography, Art in America, BOMB, Popular Photography, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Whitney Museum

SELECTED PRESS

2018
“Yogurt Magazine,” Feature, May
“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” Book Review, Phroom, April
“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” Book Review, Musee Magazine, March
“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” Book Review, Clavoardieno Magazine, March
“Project Spotlight: The Disappearance of Joseph Plumer,” Photo Emphasis, February
“Book Review,” Foto Cult Magazine, January
“Getting Lost in the Woods,” Huck Magazine, January
“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” Book Review, Black and White Magazine, January
“The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer,” Book Review, Conscientious Photo Magazine, January
“Disquiet” feature, This is Paper Magazine, february

2017
“Best Books of 2017,” Photo Eye Books, December
“Best Books of 2017,” Humble Arts Foundation, December
“Best Books of 2017” Elin Spring (Photographic Resource), December
“Moors Magazine,” “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer” review, December
“Phroom Magazine,” “Disquiet” feature, December
“Don’t Take Pictures,” December
“PH Museum,” Review, December
“Photo Eye – Book of the Day,” December
“Josef Chladek’s Bookshelf,” December
“II Post,” “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer” Review, December
“II Sole 24 Ore,” The Disapperance of Jospeh Plummer” Review, December
“Photo N Magazine,” December
“PDN Holiday Gift Guide Recommendations” November
“Lenscratch” feature, November
“Phases Magazine” November
“Lifo Magazine” feature, November
“Hyperallergic Interview” November
“Internazionale Magazine” November
“This Isn’t Happiness” November
“Photo Eye” Interview with Adam Bell, October
“Loeil de la Photographie” – Feature, October
“Photo Book Store” Review of “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, October
“Le Monde de la Photo” Review of “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, October
“The Photo Show” Podcast interview, October
“Creative Boom” Bewitching books for Halloween, October
“Responses Photo” Review of “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, October
“Huffington Post” – Interview and portfolio feature, February

2016
“American Photography “ magazine, June 2016
“New Books in Photography” New Books Network, December 2016

2015
“Hiding in Place” on Lenscratch, February 2015
Bleek Magazine, August 2015
We Heart Magazine, November 2015
“Underground Railroad,” Selektor Magazine, October 2015
“Hiding in Place” on Lenscratch, February 2015

2014
Harper’s Magazine,  December , 2014
 Possession Box, We Heart It, August 2014
Street, The Tree Mag, August 2014
Disquiet, Books are Nice!, July 2014
Disquiet, The Angry Bat, June, 2014
Disquiet, Joseph Chladek, May 2014
Disquiet Book Review, MutantSpace, February 2014
Disquiet feature, Broken Spine, February 2014
Disquiet, The New Frame, February 2014
Disquiet, Broken Spine, February 2014
Best Books of 2013, Photo-Eye, January 2014
Best Books of 2013, Mark Power, January 2014

2013
Favorite Books of 2013, Conscientious Photo Magazine, December 2013
Best books of 2013, PDN, December 2013
PDN “Exposures,” October, 2013
Photograph Magazine, Vince Aletti review, September 2013
Paper Journal, Disquiet review, August 2013
LensCulture, August 2013
Fan the Fire Magazine, August 2013
Beauty in Photography, August 2013
Disquiet Book Review, Photo Eye, June 2013
Disquiet Review, Conscientious Photo Magazine, June 2013
Disquiet, Le Journal de la Photographie, June 2013
Book of the Day, PhotoEye, May 2nd, 2013
The Real New York, Complex, Spring 2013
Booooooom, Spring 2013
Disquiet, PhotoHab, Spring 2013
Dark Side of the Moon, Spring 2013
Disquiet, Athena Magazine, Spring 2013
Disquiet, Design You Trust, Spring 2013
Hustle and Bustle, It’s Nice That, Spring 2013
Street Masters, DeviantArt, Spring 2013

2012
Photographs on the Brain, December, 2012
Photographs on the Brain, October, 2012
Verve Photo, March, 2012
Design You Trust, February, 2012
Le Journal de La Photographie, “New York: In Color” Review, February, 2012
The Gaurdian, “New York In Color “Review, February 2012

2011
LEO Weekly, “From Distant Streets Review,” November 2011
The Red List, Winter, 2011

2007
The F Blog, December, 2007

TALKS/PANELS

Hampshire College, Amherest, MA 2017
Adelphi University, New York, 2015
Citibank Cultural Center, Asuncion, Paraguay, October 2014
Camera Club of New York, November 2013
Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, September 2013
School of Visual Arts, August 2013
International Center of Photography, November 2012
School of Visual Arts Commencement Speech, May 2012
Making Photographs in Color, Howard Greenberg Gallery, February 2012


AWARDS

Review Santa Fe, 2016
Alice Beck Odette Scholarship Recipient, 2012
American Photography 23 and 26
Eddie Adams Workshop, 2000


PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

The Tate Modern
The Elton John Photography Collection
The British Library (UK)
Duke University Perkins Library (Durham, NC)
Getty Research Institute Library (Los Angeles, CA)
Harvard University Fine Arts Library (Cambridge, MA)
Lesley University College of Art and Design (Cambridge, MA)
Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, MA)
University of Oxford (UK)

 

Review What Will You Remember

Barbara Diener: Phantom Power

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Artist Statement
In my previous body of work, Sehnsucht, I photographed in small, rural towns that triggered childhood memories. During that process I met and became fascinated with a woman named Kathy. She owns the diner in her town and lives on her husband’s family farm, which is haunted by his ancestors. Her belief in the spectral sparked my own interest in the unexplained and ties back to my ongoing curiosity about religion, spirituality and the human desire to believe that something else happens after we die and that a part of us-the spirit or soul-continues on.

The camera is a crucial tool for most paranormal investigators, so it was a natural step for me to become an amateur ghost hunter myself. Photography has been linked to the spirit world since the 1860s with the popularity of spirit photography and post-mortem portraits. Since its invention photography has lent a sense of immortality to its subjects. In recent years the paranormal has received amplified media attention through numerous ‘reality’ television programs that sensationalize any phenomena for the camera. On the contrary my approach is self-reflective and curious. To make the resulting images I have adopted both traditional and contemporary methods of capturing the invisible, as well as employed my own interpretation of the magical and mystical.

Bio
Born in 1982 in Germany Barbara Diener received her Bachelor of Fine Art in photography from the California College of the Arts and Masters in Fine Art in Photography from Columbia College Chicago.

Her work has been exhibited at Alibi Fine Art, Chicago, IL, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, Hyde Park Art Center, Hyde Park, IL, David Weinberg Gallery, Chicago, IL, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA, Invisible Dog Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Lilllstreet Art Center, Chicago, IL, Riverside Art Center, Chicago, IL. Pingyao Photo Festival, China, The Arcade, Chicago, IL, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA, Darkroom Gallery, Essex Junction, VT and Project Basho, Philadelphia, PA among others. Diener’s photographs are part of several private and institutional collections including the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Photography.

In 2013 Diener was selected to participate in several highly ambitious and competitive artist residency programs, the Fields Project in Oregon, IL, ACRE in Steuben, WI, and HATCH Projects through the Chicago Artist Coaltition.

Diener is a winner of Flash Forward 2013, the recipient of a Follett Fellowship at Columbia College Chicago and was awarded the Albert P. Weisman Award in 2012 and 2013. In addition Diener received an Individual Artist Grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Events in 2015 and 2018. She is the Collection Manager in the Department of Photography at the Art Institute of Chicago and teaches photography at the School of the Art Institute.

In June 2018 Daylight Books published Diener’s first book Phantom Power.

Review What Will You Remember

Nearly West

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Artist Statement
Walker Pickering writes about his project: “As a child, I was fortunate to spend time with my father while he lived in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. This instilled in me a great sense of adventure, where travel has been formative to my work, and caused me to seek out the exotic among the ordinary. My long-term project, Nearly West, is a journey through the land of my childhood, re-imagining places my ancestors lived and experienced.”

Statement by Russell Lord on Nearly West
Looking intensely is an important, but strangely underrated, practice in contemporary photography. As Laughlin reminds us, it is through the act of looking intensely that we can begin to understand ourselves and the world around us. When we are very young, we do almost nothing but look. Consequently, we learn at an incredible rate in the early stages of life. As we age, learning and recognition becomes habitual, and looking becomes a cursory process. We look, we think we know, and we move on.

Walker Pickering (born 1980) is still paying very close attention to the things around him, and in his body of work, Nearly West, he draws our attention to various compelling remnants of human history: a children’s slide in a forest, a solar powered American flag light, building signage, motels, and empty parking lots. In some cases, Pickering presents a distant past (the slide is rusting and the flag light faded) in others, however, it appears that we have stumbled upon a recently—and suddenly—vacated space. All of these pictures embody a haunting and surreal sense of place and history, emphasizing the strangeness of the worlds that we create, populate, and then leave behind. Clarence John Laughlin often went out of his way to manipulate, distort, double, and stretch his subjects in order to impart a kind of psychic energy, to stress the surreal. Pickering, whose images are straight—if beautiful—transcripts of actual places, reminds us that the world is often strange enough as it is.

Russell Lord
Freeman Family Curator of Photographs
New Orleans Museum of Art

Bio
Walker Pickering (born 1980, Odessa, Texas, USA) is an American artist and photographer. Pickering was a 2018 finalist for the Prix HSBC pour la Photography, and winner of the 2013 Clarence John Laughlin Award. His work is widely exhibited both in the US and abroad, and included in private and public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Since 2014 he has been an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska, and he lives and works in Lincoln, NE and New York, NY.

 

Review What Will You Remember

Image of Structure

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Artist Statement
The Stata Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a monumental building, saturated with colors, that juts out in every direction. By capturing the structure in monochrome, I deconstructed this architectural work, flattened it, and transformed it into a graphical form. My aim is to pull the viewer into a surreal, disembodied space, without completely breaking from rational observation. This work was born out of a radical shift in my perception and emotion as I conducted my neuroscientific research at the Institute, where I had a direct view of the Stata Center.

As a researcher, I entered the laboratory to create theories about consciousness and to pursue truth through reasoning and scientific evidence. The longer I was at MIT, the more I came to understand the overwhelming, and unattainable, expectation to solve impossible problems and create knowledge that bends the historical arc of science. I witnessed ways that people – friends and colleagues – engaged in self-destructive behavior because of this pressure. As I honed my research skills, I grew disquieted as the secure sense of belief in rational thought and empirical evidence began to unravel. Like many others, I was left dysregulated, fragmented, and without a sense of direction. I intend for these images to represent this dis-ease.

Bio
Joshua Sariñana, PhD, took an interest in photography as his passion in the brain and mind started to develop. As he studied neuroscience at UCLA, MIT and Harvard, Sariñana began to switch his focus to the practice and theoretical study of photography.

He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Panopticon Gallery, Aperture Gallery and has shown at the Month of Photography Los Angeles, and Photoville.
Sariñana is a two-time Critical Mass Top 200 Finalist. His work has been recognized by the Sony World Photography Awards, American Photography, and LensCulture. Sariñana has published his photography in several periodicals, including PDN, Black & White, Silvershotz, and SHOTS Magazines and has been featured on Time, CNN, and an iPhone commercial. He twice received the Council for the Arts Grant at MIT.

He has published several articles on the intersection of photography and neuroscience for PetaPixel, Don’t Take Pictures, and The Smart View. He has also given talks on neuroscience and photography at Trinity College, Dublin, Northeastern University, Flashpoint Boston, and the Griffin Museum of Photography. Sariñana currently resides in Cambridge, MA.

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