Griffin Museum of Photography

R. Lee Post Anima Mundi at Aberjona

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R. Lee Post has been finding appearances of Anima Mundi when photographing in the natural world. Anima Mundi is described by Jungian psychologist as “that soul-spark, that seminal image, which offers itself through each thing in its visible form.”

A series of Post’s photographs, Anima Mundi, is featured at the Griffin Museum at Aberjona River Gallery in Winchester, MA, March 25 through May 27, 2014. An opening reception with the artist will take place on April 29, 2014 from 6 – 7:30 PM.

“In unexpected places I discover and photograph fantastic faces, lyrical dancers, cartoon characters, archetypal figures and sometimes surreal or demonic subjects, “ says Post. “These appearances are often like Rorchach imagery with multiple interpretations.” She adds, “By photographing my interpretations of Anima Mundi, I hope to encourage others to see more soulfully and become more aware that spirit permeates everything.”

R. Lee Post is a Cambridge-based photographer and a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design receiving her MFA in photography studying with Harry Callahan and other photography greats.

Photography Atelier 19

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Photography Atelier 19 will present an exhibit of student artwork from March 6th through March 30, 2014 at the Griffin Museum of Photography, 67 Shore Road, Winchester, Massachusetts 01890. Photography Atelier is a course for intermediate and advanced photographers offered by the Griffin Museum of Photography and taught by Karen Davis and course assistant, Meg Birnbaum.

On Thursday, March 6th, the public is invited to view the artwork and meet the artists at a reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Photography Atelier 19 members include:
Bob Avakian, Lora Brody, John Bunzick, Nan Campbell Collins, Vicki Diez-Canseco, Mary Eaton, Miren Etcheverry , David Feigenbaum, Cassandra Goldwater, Trelawney Goodell, Tira Khan, Kathleen Krueger, Vicki McKenna, Jane Paradise, Astrid Reischwitz, Amy Rindskopf , Linda Rogers, Andrea Rosenthal, Gail Samuelson , Dianne Schaefer, Karen Shulman, Christy Stadelmaier, Ellen Slotnick, and Julie Williams-Krishnan

About the class:
Photography Atelier, in its eighteenth year, is a unique portfolio-making course for emerging to advanced photographers. In addition to guidance and support in the creation of a body of work, the class prepares artists to market, exhibit and present their work to industry professionals.

Each participant in the Atelier presents a final project in the form of a print portfolio, a photographic book or album, a slide show, or a mixed media presentation. In every Atelier students hang a gallery exhibition and produce work for their own pages on the Atelier website. To see the photography of present and past Atelier students and teachers, please visit: www.photographyatelier.org. Instructor Karen Davis, will be happy to discuss the Photography Atelier at the reception on March 6th with anyone interested in joining the class.

The Globe Years, Arthur Griffin

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As an accomplished photojournalist, Arthur Griffin was a storyteller and captured universal experiences and emotions in his photographs.

The Globe Years, an exhibit of photographs from the Arthur Griffin archives highlights the growing career of Arthur Griffin and his time at The Boston Globe. Rotogravures and original prints will be displayed at the Cambridge Homes, located at Mt Auburn St in Cambridge, MA. The exhibition will be on view from January 23 – March 20, 2014.

Arthur Griffin worked at The Boston Globe from 1929-1946, when there was no more exciting place to be in the city of Boston, day or night. This was also a time of significant transition for the newspaper business, when photography and journalism merged and photojournalism was launched. Photography was playing an ever-increasing role in the production of newspapers and rotogravure was becoming more popular. The rotogravure process made for better reproduction of photographs than the photoengraving process used for the reproduction of photographs.

In 1935, with a mass circulation of more than 100,000 and the accessibly of the high speed, high definition press, the Globe was ready for its first rotogravure…and so was Griffin. Jimmie Krigman, a fastidious co-worker senior to Arthur in the art department, was put in charge and asked Arthur to join him. Griffin was to design the layouts of the roto’s pages, displaying the various photographs selected by Krigman.

Griffin decided not only to design layouts but to try his hand at photographs as well. From the relative isolation of artistic creation, of interminable draughtsmanship, Griffin was suddenly thrown into the rough-and-tumble competition of journalism. The Globe’s Rotogravure section was in competition with the best that the Hearst organization could offer. Taking the new position was risky and demanding. The pictures required photographic skill and the "big picture story," to which Arthur aspired, demanded inventiveness, foresight and imagination.

Over a three-year period, Griffin made his mark as one of New England’s first cameramen and photojournalists. He was the first to work exclusively with the new 35 millimeter camera, a German Contax he could ill afford to buy. All the news photographers of the day used a large box camera with a bellows, called a Speed Graphic. Compared with the 35mm, it was cumbersome to hold, heavy to carry and slow, as it required a change of plate for every two pictures. News cameramen preferred the Graphic for speed and production. With a deadline hanging over him, a photographer had only to develop the one film. With the 35mm, the photographer had to develop the roll, select the negatives and then print, all requiring more time. The rotogravure, however, was published only once a week. Speed of production was not the prime consideration, quality of image was. The 35mm camera permitted Griffin to make multiple exposures quickly, preserve the best and discard the worst.

From 1935 to 1946, Griffin’s photographs, "firsts" and feature stores appeared almost weekly on the Globe’s Sunday Rotogravure covers and double spreads. He authored stores on "unknowns" such as architect Royal Barry Wills, scientist Dr. Edwin H. Land, and other New Englanders who would become forces in their own field. He documented the "first" and the "last" events, the "new" and the "old" and the "eternal." In black and white and in color, Griffin captured the essence of Boston and New England, her people and heroes, streets and landmarks, culture and commerce, natural disasters and war years, her work and leisure, and of course her weather. During his Globe years, his antics, experiences and stories became as legendary as his photographs.

Arthur Griffin, who founded the Griffin Museum in 1992, had a more than 60-year career in photojournalism. Originally trained as an illustrator, he picked up his first camera – a second-hand Brownie – in 1929, igniting a lifetime passion for photography. Griffin, who went on to be known as New England’s photographer laureate, died in 2001 at age 97.

The public is welcome to view the exhibit Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please check in with the receptionist.

Classic Style at Aberjona

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Sean Sullivan has been photographing “old school hot rods, muscle cars, custom and classic cars” for well over a decade. The bold colors and clean lines of the classic car scene drew him to local car cruise nights during his summers and to various auto shows.

A series of Sullivan’s photographs, Classic Style, is featured at the Griffin Museum at Aberjona River Gallery in Winchester, MA, January 28 through March 18, 2014. An opening reception with the artist will take place on February 11, 2014 from 6 – 7:30 PM.
Simultaneously, Panopticon Gallery in Boston is featuring six of Sullivan’s images in its emerging artist gallery.

The Griffin Museum of Photography has produced a catalog to accompany Sullivan’s exhibition. After the exhibition at the Aberjona Gallery, Sullivan’s photographs will move to the Griffin’s Gallery at the Cambridge Homes in Cambridge, MA from March 25 – May 20, 2014.

“I am drawn to a car’s intricate details,” says Sullivan. “I truly believe the details set the cars apart from each other.” He adds, “By using the frame to compose images that possess a strong graphic quality, I am enabling the viewer to focus in on these incredible details that otherwise go unnoticed.”

Sean is a Boston-based photographer and a graduate of Northeastern University. His work has been featured in the Improper Bostonian Magazine and Northeastern University Magazine. He specializes in location photography for events, editorial and fine art clients.

Michelle Rogers Pritzl, Lethe

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According to Michelle Rogers Pritzl, Lethe is one of the five rivers of Hades. In order to be reborn, according to Greek legend, newly dead souls must drink of the Lethe to forget all memories of a past life.

Lethe, a series of collodion chemigrams, is featured in the Griffin Gallery Under Glass at the Griffin Museum January 9 through March 2, 2014. An opening reception with the artist is January 23, 7-8:30 p.m.

Pritzl created each of these chemigrams in ether, unfixed that will slowly tarnish and change like memories that disappear.

“The changing landscape in my installation references my family history and the loss of identity through time’s passage and memory loss,” says Pritzl. “Ultimately the oxidation process that changes each tile is like the oxidation process found in the brains and bodies of Alzheimer’s patients as the amaloid beta amino acid oxidizes and changes brain chemistry.”

Pritzl has been making photographs since 1993. She studied at the Corcoran Collage of Art and Design where she received her BFA. She holds a Masters of Art Education from California State University and is a MFA candidate at the Art Institute of Boston. Pritzl is a resident of Massachusetts.

A gallery talk for museum members by Denyse Murphy will take place at 6:15 p.m. January 23, 2014, prior to the opening reception for all exhibits.

S. Gayle Stevens, Disappearance

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S. Gayle Stevens has been concerned for sometime about CCD colony collapse disorder affecting hives.

Disappearance, a series of wet plate tintypes, is featured in the Atelier Gallery Under Glass at the Griffin Museum January 9 through March 2, 2014. An opening reception with the artist is January 23, 7-8:30 p.m.

Stevens’ installation will consist of a series of 200 2” x 2” square wet plate tintypes of dead bees accompanied by an actual array of 200 flower heads, each located within a 2” x 2” space.

“My intention is that in Disappearance the flowers heads will wither and die over the exhibition time period,” says Stevens. “As we lose our bee population we will lose pollination of plants and our food supply. The plates themselves are shadows of what once was; death masks of the bees. The vitrine case is like a coffin encasing what has passed.”

Ms. Stevens has worked in antiquarian photographic processes for over 15 years. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1999 and is an educator, juror, curator and active member of the photographic community. Stevens is represented by Tilt Gallery in Phoenix and is a resident of Downers Grove, Illinois.

A gallery talk for museum members by Denyse Murphy will take place at 6:15 p.m. January 23, 2014, prior to the opening reception for all exhibits.

Purchase an individual tintype from Disappearance.

David Emitt Adams, Conversations with History

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Yuma resident, David Emitt Adams has been collecting discarded cans from the Arizona desert floor. Some cans are over forty years old. They are rusty and worn and speak to the passage of time.

Adams uses the reddish-brown tin can surface as a vehicle for his wet-plate collodion photographs. The deserts of the American West were once documented by Civil War photographer, Timothy O’Sullivan and the photographic process itself has its roots in the 19th century. Adams says that the objects he creates are like relics. They have a history and the images themselves are tied to the location.

“I use the [rusty cans] to speak of human involvement with the landscape,” says Adams. “The notion of land untouched by the hand of man is so foreign it might as well be make-believe. As long as people have been in the American West, we have found its barren desert landscape to be an environment perfect for dumping and forgetting.”

A series of Adams’ work, Conversations with History, is featured in the Griffin Gallery of the Griffin Museum January 9 through March 2, 2014. An opening reception is January 23, 7-8:30 p.m.

Ellen Feldman, The Dancer as the Invisible Girl

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Ellen Feldman has been photographing a modern dancer, Nicole Pierce for many years. In this exhibition Feldman places Pierce into frames of a Marvel Fantastic Four (FF) comic book as her alter ego Invisible Girl.

A series of Feldman’s photographs, the Dancer as the Invisible Girl, is featured in the Griffin Museum at the Stoneham Theatre in Stoneham, MA, January 16 through March 16, 2014. It runs parallel to the theater’s productions Seminar and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

Feldman holds a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies from New York University. She is the Photography Editor of the Women’s Review of Books, a bi-monthly journal published by Wellesley College.

"Through the comic form I explore how movement is limited and fragmented by the frame,” says Feldman. “The primacy of the frame links comics to photography. Comic artists and photographers love cramming things into a frame, cutting the body off
mid-limb, or keeping lots of space around the figure."

"It’s a paradox that invisibility, generally a mark of powerlessness, is the super-human quality for the only female of the Fantastic Four," says Feldman. "As a street photographer, I well understand the paradox of power that derives from invisibility."

Feldman will informally talk about her work at the gallery opening on January 16, 2014 and her comic book will be available for sale.

Nancy Grace Horton, Ms. Behavior

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Nancy Grace Horton intends her work to confront the viewer with their hidden preconceptions, in regard to women’s roles constructed within society.

A series of her images, Ms. Behavior, is featured at the Griffin Museum at Digital Silver Imaging, 9 Brighton St., Belmont, MA, January 9 through March 14, 2014. A reception and informal talk with the artist is January 9th from 6-8 p.m.

“My photographs are investigations of female gender roles as influenced by American culture and mass media,” says Horton. “This body of work is a 21st century extension of feminist concerns regarding the media’s portrayal of women. More specifically, I am interested in the explicit and implicit power relations that are constructed and maintained by mediatized systems of representation.”

“Horton visualizes the outcome of each of her photographs but the end result is not always as planned,” says Paula Tognarelli, executive director of the Griffin Museum of Photography. “Horton unleashes her creative spirit to fashion very visual narratives that give the viewer much to think about and imagine,” says Tognarelli.

Kathy Ryan, Director of Photography for the “New York Times Magazine” says of Horton’s most recent series, Ms Behavior, “Horton has fun with domestic conventions by dressing up her feminist fictional scenes.”

Nancy Grace Horton holds an MFA in Visual Arts from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, and has been working as a freelance photographer and educator for over 20 years.

She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, most recently an Artists Entrepreneurial Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, where she is also an “Arts in Education” artist.

Her work has been exhibited at The Danforth Museum, Worcester Art Museum, The Griffin Museum and the Marshall Store Gallery.

Denyse Murphy, Confluence

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Denyse Murphy utilizes light sensitized paper, plastic sheeting, cloth, string and her and her family’s bodies to produce her photographs. The interaction of all these elements yield life–sized Cyanotypes that explore the self as both a tangible and intangible presence.

This series, Confluence, is featured in the Atelier Gallery at the Griffin Museum January 9 through March 2, 2014. An opening reception with the artist is January 23, 7-8:30 p.m.

Murphy’s creative spirit and handling of the medium help her create the idea for each image. She is never really sure where the creative process will take her. The image evolves with the meeting of medium and subject.

"The bodies themselves become a ground for a kind of energetic manifestation which is echoed by the string," says Murphy. "Conversely, the work also seems to evoke feelings of loss and absence."

Murphy received her BFA in painting from Florida Atlantic University. She received her MFA from Maine College of Art. She completed the Artist’s Professional Toolbox at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA and is a resident of West Newbury, MA.

A gallery talk for museum members by Denyse Murphy will take place at 6:15 p.m. January 23, 2014, prior to the opening reception for all exhibits.

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