Griffin Museum of Photography

John Wyatt, Under my Skin

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Since 1976 John Wyatt has been photographing people in their own environments who are heavily tattooed. In his own words Wyatt says, “I selected people who were dedicated to tattoo art and compiling a collection of art on their body as an art collector accumulates art for their homes. My subjects were not getting tattooed because tattooing had suddenly become popular, or fashionable. For them, it was a way of life; a culture of tattooing.” Along with each black and white photograph, Wyatt has recorded audio of his subjects that has been transcribed into exhibition text.

A series of his images, “Under My Skin,” is featured at the Griffin Museum at Digital Silver Imaging, 9 Brighton St., Belmont, MA, on July 24 through October 3, 2014. A reception and informal talk and book signing with the artist will take place October 2, 2014 from 6-8 p.m.

In February 2003 Schiffer Publishing LTD published Wyatt’s completed work in a book, which is titled “Under My Skin.”

John Wyatt was born in Brooklyn and now resides in New Jersey. John studied sociology and worked as a social worker for 33 years and as an administrator in the public sector. He has always had an interest in people and behavior. He has blended his interests in photography and culture in his project “Under My Skin.” Photographs from this project have been published in magazines and books and exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States. His work is in the collection of the Jersey City Museum.
The exhibit is open to the public Mondays through Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

HER in Founder’s Gallery

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Marjorie Salvaterra is a fine art photographer who according to Aline Smithson of Lenscratch “examines the journey of a woman as wife, mother, and person of the world.” Her images reveal “a fine line between sanity and insanity,” according to Virginia Heckart, Associate Curator of Photography at The Getty Center.

Salvaterra’s series, Her, is featured in the Griffin Gallery at the Griffin Museum July 10 through August 31, 2014. An opening reception with the artist is July 10, 7-8:30 p.m.

Ms. Salvaterra says that she takes inspiration from her own life in her photographs. “I try hard to do the best I can in all the roles of my life,” she says. “Sometimes on a certain day or a certain time of day, I am less than successful. My greatest achievement is as wife and mother of two.” She makes her home in Los Angeles, California.

“Marjorie remains for me a compelling new photographer,” says Kathleen Clark of the Eyeist. “She is capable of both poignancy and a buoyant sense of the absurd.”

A gallery talk by Aline Smithson will take place at 5:30 p.m. on July 10, 2014, prior to the opening reception for all exhibits. Members are free. Nonmembers $7. The reception is free to all.

A Singular Vision, Arthur Griffin

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Before he became known as “New England’s photographer laureate,” Arthur Griffin was an accomplished photojournalist. In the 1930’s and 40’s, Griffin served as the New England photojournalist for Life and Time magazines and was the exclusive photographer for the Boston Globe Rotogravure Magazine. Arthur Griffin: A Singular Vision, is an exhibition that focus solely on Griffin’s work as a photojournalist, will be on display in the Lafayette City Center Hallway that links Macy’s with the Hyatt Regency Hotel from July 16 through October 6, 2014.

“In conjunction with the renovation of the Lafayette City Center into a modern mixed-use office and retail center, we are excited to be promoting culture and arts in the district,” said David Epstein, president of the Abbey Group and owner of Lafayette City Center. “The vibrant nature of Downtown Boston continues to flourish with these types of unique and exciting happenings occurring on a regular basis making it one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in the city for both office workers and residents.”

The 1930’s – 1950’s were the golden age of photojournalism, and Griffin worked side by side with legends like Alfred Eisenstadt, Gordon Parks and Carl Mydans. The job of these photojournalists was to eyewitness great events and to do whatever they had to do to be on the scene. Their photographs needed to tell the story, not merely illustrate or adorn it.

“What makes the photographers of this era stand out from most of the photojournalists of today is that they could do everything – fashion, war, street scenes, celebrities – and they could do it all amazingly well,” explained Robert Sullivan, executive editor of LIFE and editor of the book The Great LIFE Photographers (Bulfinch). “Arthur Griffin was of this mode. He was capable of shooting anything and doing it very well. His photographs have an aesthetic quality that give them meaning and depth and a history that provides you with all you need to know about the people and places in the photograph.”

Demonstrating Griffin’s unique talent and storytelling ability, A Singular Vision brings together some of Griffin’s finest street photographs, sports photographs and portraits taken while on assignment. Griffin’s assignments had him covering the visits of luminaries like Herbert Hoover and Bette Davis, documenting tragedies such as the hurricane of 1938, and chronicling every day life and events like the Brockton Fair and swimmers at Revere Beach. Griffin’s photographs combined his impeccable sense for composition with a playful, kinetic quality that was a reflection of his personality and gave the photographs depth and meaning.

“After 1951, Arthur Griffin chose to move into more commercial work,” said Paula Tognarelli, Executive Director of the Griffin Museum. “Many people aren’t aware of his journalistic work, or of his pioneering work with color film. Arthur Griffin’s contribution to the world of photography comes from his complete body of work. In the glory days of photojournalism, he was one of the great chroniclers of New England. We are very proud to be able to share his work, and his legacy, through this exhibition.”

Arthur Griffin: A Singular Vision, is an exhibition that focus solely on Griffin’s work as a photojournalist, will be on display in the Lafayette City Center Hallway that links Macy’s with the Hyatt Regency Hotel from July 16 through October 6, 2014.

Brian Sargent, Anatomy of a Corner

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Over the past 10 years I been documenting real estate projects in and around Manhattan as part of a larger body of streetwork that I’ve produced since moving to the city in the mid-nineties. I was initially drawn to the novelty of observing how, once shrouded in plywood, readily identifiable locals would be transformed into anonymous corners, as if Christo and Avedon co-conspired to emphasize the cities populace. One thing I found loathsome was the encroachment of the supersize vinyl advertisements which announced the impending arrival of the corporate brand that was to displace what may or may not have been a cherished only-in-NY institution. I was
only just recently made aware of my fellow New Yorker and photographer Natan Dvir, when he gained acclaim for his series “Coming Soon”, pictures of ostensibly the same subject matter. I find it interesting to compare our approaches particularly since we were photographing many of the same corners, each unaware of the other’s project. The images from Anatomy of a Corner are from a single intersection on 5th Avenue that I photographed over the course of 6 or 7 weeks during my lunch break. They are comprised of up to 4 or 5 vertical images whichI’ve stitched together in Photoshop, which allows for the grander sense of scale and slightly wider field of view I feel landscape work requires.

Brian Sargent Bio

Rafael Soldi, Sentiment

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Rafael Soldi is a Peruvian-born, Seattle-based photographer. His work is often quietly intimate and delivered from personal experience. In Sentiment Soldi re-counts the loss of the man he loved and his journey to redefine his life without him.

Soldi’s series, Sentiment, is featured in the Atelier Gallery at the Griffin Museum July 10 through August 31, 2014. An opening reception with the artist is July 10, 7-8:30 p.m.

Soldi says that the images in exhibition are “an emotional exorcism of sorts.” He says, “They represent my struggle to reconstruct a life without the very thing that I thought defined it. [A] breakup brought dramatic change to my work and I tapped into feelings that I never knew existed within me: panic, regret, fear and loss.”

A gallery talk by Aline Smithson will take place at 5:30 p.m. on July 10, 2014, prior to the opening reception for all exhibits. Members are free. Nonmembers $7. The reception is free to all.

Soldi graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art. His work has been exhibited internationally, and published in PDNedu, Identities Now: Contemporary Portrait Photography, Gutter Magazine, Flak Photo and Humble Arts Foundation. He is a 2012 Magenta Foundation Flash For ward Award US winner. His work is in the permanent collection of the Tacoma Art Museum and numerous private collections. Soldi works as the Marketing Director at Photo Center NW and as an independent curator and art project manager in Seattle, WA.

Rafael Soldi Sentiment is courtesy of ClampArt Gallery, New York.

20th Juried Show: The Peter Urban Legacy Exhibition

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Juror, Aline Smithson founder of Lenscratch says, “The photographers I selected for the 20th juried exhibition of the Griffin Museum have this in common: the weight of intention behind the work. In a world when every single living thing has been photographed or has a camera, it’s that deep thinking that moves the work into the next level.”

Smithson goes on to say, “I am continually seeking to understand why work becomes successful and moves to the next level. I have observed that success comes from work that is made over time—time that allows for further contemplation, exploration, and a revisiting of subject matter, because as you grow as a photographer, your work grows too. Success also comes from work that has a technical level of excellence—not over sharpened, not over saturated, smartly captured and executed. And finally, success comes to work that has meaningful articulation and brings something new to the photographic dialogue. That articulation isn’t about what is obvious, but deeper thinking that is connected to something in your core that compels you to make the work.”

Smithson served as juror of the 20th Griffin Museum Juried Exhibition, which is on display in the Main Gallery of the museum July 10 through August 31. An opening reception is July 10, 7-8:30 p.m. with Aline Smithson in attendance. Ms. Smithson will do a lecture at 5:30 PM at the Griffin Museum in Winchester. The event is free to members and $7 to nonmembers. It requires an RSVP. The opening reception is free to all but requires an RSVP.

Smithson also says that “I looked at hundreds of images about water—waves and reflections. I looked at hundreds of images of abandoned spaces—peeling paint and empty rooms; there were photographs of parents’ and grandparents’ homes and collections of items left for the next generation; there were many images of architectural abstractions. I saw a number of terrific narrative projects that had more power as a whole than with single images, and I saw lots of work that was right on the cusp of being remarkable but needed more time to percolate and grow,” she explains.

This year the 20th Juried Show was held in honor of the legacy of Peter Urban a celebrated, Boston-based photographer who passed away in 2009 after a long battle with cancer. Urban was renowned for his success in both the commercial and artistic realm. In the spirit of Peter’s success creating a career with a balance of commercial and artistic work, his family has partnered with the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston and the Griffin Museum of Photography to produce opportunities for other photographers to grow their careers.

Alongside the juried exhibition, the Arts and Business Council is organizing a series of professional development workshops presented by a diverse range of thought leaders. These workshops will share instrumental ideas, methods and tools to help build the business and legal foundation of a thriving artistic practice.

The Peter Urban Legacy Award went to Clare Carter. The Arthur Griffin Legacy Award went to Jennifer McClure and the Griffin Award went to Samuel Walker. Keiko Hiromi, Greg Sand and Susan Worsham received Honorable Mentions.

Smithson also awarded a virtual gallery space to 6o photographers. She awarded Brian Christopher Sargent a solo virtual gallery exhibition.

The complete list of photographers selected for the exhibition with links is available.

HER

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Marjorie Salvaterra is a fine art photographer who according to Aline Smithson of Lenscratch “examines the journey of a woman as wife, mother, and person of the world.” Her images reveal “a fine line between sanity and insanity,” according to Virginia Heckart, Associate Curator of Photography at The Getty Center.

Salvaterra’s series, Her, is featured in the Griffin Gallery at the Griffin Museum July 10 through August 31, 2014. An opening reception with the artist is July 10, 7-8:30 p.m.

Ms. Salvaterra says that she takes inspiration from her own life in her photographs. “I try hard to do the best I can in all the roles of my life,” she says. “Sometimes on a certain day or a certain time of day, I am less than successful. My greatest achievement is as wife and mother of two.” She makes her home in Los Angeles, California.

“Marjorie remains for me a compelling new photographer,” says Kathleen Clark of the Eyeist. “She is capable of both poignancy and a buoyant sense of the absurd.”

A gallery talk by Aline Smithson will take place at 5:30 p.m. on July 10, 2014, prior to the opening reception for all exhibits. Members are free. Nonmembers $7. The reception is free to all.

Paul Adams, Eden Had No Need of Fairy Tales

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Paul Adams is an educator and photographer living in Utah. The subject matter of his photographs in exhibition is fashioned from fairy tales led adrift to form alternative narratives.

Adam’s series, Eden Had No Need of Fairy Tales, is featured in the Griffin Gallery at the Griffin Museum June 12 through June 29, 2014. An opening reception is June 18, 2014 at 7-8:30 p.m.

“For this project I returned to imaginative storytelling,” says Paul Adams. “Re-envisioned in contemporary settings, my protagonists [from fairy tales] grapple with the loss of innocence, search for identity, attempt to shape their destinies, and encounter the unexpected,” he says. “My heroes and heroines must work their way through perplexing conditions, disappointment, and compromise to uncover sublime moments of liberation, autonomy, and redemption.”

“In his photography, Adams creates ironic situations with characters that triumph through ingenuity,” says Paula Tognarelli, executive director of the Griffin Museum of Photography. “The playfulness of each photograph appeals to the child within all of us.”

Paul Adams was awarded a solo exhibition from the Griffin Museum last year from submissions to the 19th Juried Exhibition.

Adams received an MFA in Photography from Utah State University and has taught photography at Utah State University, the Florida Keys, and Brigham Young University. He lived in Europe as a Fulbright scholar and taught photography in Northern England. Mr. Adams has had his work displayed both nationally and internationally and his photographs are included in several permanent collections including the Nora Eccles Museum of Fine Art, Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum, The Chicago Institute of Art, and Brigham Young University Art Museum. Mr. Adams has been a professor of photography at BYU since 2002. Recently his work was chosen for recognition in the 155th Royal Photographic Society’s International Print Exhibition and he received honors from the 2013 International Kontinent Awards, Emerging Focus Photo L.A. International Art Exhibition, and the New York Center For Photographic Arts International Juried Exhibition.

Manuel Cosentino, Behinda a Little House

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Manuel Cosentino is an Italian artist who spent time in London working in the film industry as a visual effects artist. After contributing to several movies, including Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix and Narnia Prince Caspian, Cosentino returned to Italy to focus solely on photography.

Cosentino’s series, Behind a Little House, is featured in the Atelier Gallery at the Griffin Museum June 12 through June 29, 2014. An opening reception is June 18, 7-8:30 p.m.

“Photographed over a two-year period, Behind a Little House is an intimate participatory art project focusing on the notion of our place in the world beneath one sky,” says Cosentino. “Place, both actual and imagined, plays a key role within identity,” he says. “I leave the narrative open so that the viewer can bring his or her own story to bear on the photographs.”

Manuel Cosentino was awarded a solo exhibition from the Griffin Museum last year from submissions to the 19th Juried Exhibition. All of his photographs are exhibited courtesy of Klompching Gallery, NYC.

Cosentino graduated from the Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at Galerie Huit during “Les Rencontres d’Arles” (France), the Museo Diocesano Francesco Gonzaga (Italy), the Museo Civico G. Fattori (Italy), the Royal Photographic Society (London), Klompching Gallery (New York) and has been featured on the Huffington Post, Wired, L’Espresso, Blink Magazine, Lenscratch, the Colossal and Gooood (China). In recognition for his work, he has received several international awards. Recently he was the recipient of the Premio Combat for contemporary photography (Italy). His work resides in several private collections, and the permanent collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Photosynthesis IX

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

In its ninth year, the 5-month program connects approximately 40 students – 20 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.

Students met with Edie Bresler, a photographer, educator and resident of Somerville. Bresler described her artistic path in creating bodies of work and honed her focus on the lottery system. Watertown resident, photographer Stella Johnson talked with students about her photography projects in Mexico, Cameroon and Nicaragua.

Students also met with Sam Sweezy, a professional fine art and commercial photographer and educator who lives in Arlington, MA. He has exhibited at major photography venues including the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY.

Alison Nordstrom, former curator of the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., and Sweezy gathered with students for a group discussion of the work and a final edit of the exhibition.

“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 for providing a very meaningful experience for the students. We also want to thank the Griffin Foundation and the Murphy Foundation, whose continued commitment 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.’’

The results are on exhibit in PhotoSynthesis IX in the Main Gallery of the Griffin Museum June 12 – June 29. An opening reception is Wednesday, June 18, 7-8:30 p.m. It is open to all.

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