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black and white

Illuminating the Archive of Arthur Griffin: Photographs 1935-1955, Part I

Posted on February 16, 2021

“The Griffin is the embodiment of founder Arthur Griffin’s passion — to promote an appreciation of photographic art and a broader understanding of its visual, emotional, and social impact. Arthur’s goal was to share with visitors his enthusiasm for a medium that is diverse, imaginative, and informative.” -The Griffin Museum of Photography

Winter Traditions

By Madison Marone

AG Archive - winter barn
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Stowe, Vermont
AG Archive - winter fence
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Lincoln, Massachusetts

Introduction

As an Exhibitions Assistant at the Griffin Museum of Photography, I became curious about the stories and situations surrounding Arthur Griffin’s work. After looking through the archives, I noted that his photography has both artistic and historical value. This inspired me to curate the following exhibit reflecting on winter traditions in New England. Engaging with Griffin’s work helps frame our understanding of the past and deepen our appreciation of the present. The intention of this exhibition is to highlight and provide context for his photography so viewers may experience it in new and exciting ways.

Arthur Griffin’s legacy lives on through the Griffin Museum of Photography. He is remembered as a successful photographer for the Boston Globe and a New England photojournalist for Life and Time magazines. Griffin was a pioneer in the use of color film, providing the first color photos to appear in the Saturday Evening Post. His work captures the essence and vibrancy of mid-20th century New England.

Illuminating the Archive of Arthur Griffin: Photographs 1935-1955, views the region’s cultural heritage, traditions, and aesthetic through the lens of Griffin’s lesser-known work. This six-part exhibition explores how photography enhances our relationship with and understanding of the past. Each exhibit features historical, sociological, and creative interpretations of photographs from the museum’s collection.

AG Archive - sugar sap buckets
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Collecting maple sap: Wilmington, Vermont

This installment focuses on the history of winter traditions in New England. The following photographs depict specific situations where people came together to work and celebrate the season. In the first section, farmers and their families gather to create maple syrup. The second section explores the trend of “sugaring-off parties,” while the third details the annual Dartmouth Winter Carnival. Griffin’s work captures the spirit of these communities as they persevere through the coldest months and find joy in their traditions. Griffin’s photos do more than document moments gone by, they invite us to see ourselves in them.

Maple Sugaring

Collecting sap and turning it into maple products remains one of the oldest traditions in New England’s history. Indigenous North Americans discovered the process long before Europeans arrived in the region. It has continued to evolve and grow into the industry we know today.

Maple sugaring became a way for farmers to supplement their income over the winter months. They could sell syrup, candies, and sugary treats both locally and nationwide. The whole family would partake in the maple sugaring process. It involved tapping maple trees, hanging buckets, gathering sap, and retrieving it with animal-drawn sleds. The sap was boiled down into syrup, filtered, and bottled for storage or sale.

Griffin often visited Vermont and New Hampshire to document these farmers. His work provides a sense of connection with these communities as they labor to create income from this culinary treat. Photographs of children accentuate the fact that this duty is often inherited and passed down through generations. The last portrait of this section humanizes and honors an individual farmer in a style reminiscent of Dorthea Lange.

AG Archive - tree sap
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Tapping trees: New London, New Hampshire
AG Archive - buckets of sap
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Gathering maple sap: Marlboro, Vermont
AG Archive - cow pulling syrup
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Gathering maple sap: Wilmington, Vermont
AG Archive - pouring sap
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Gathering maple sap: New Hampshire
AG Archive - sap to syrup
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Boiling sap into syrup: Vermont
AG Archive - drinking syrup
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Testing the syrup: West Brattleboro, Vermont

Sugaring-Off Party: 1941

Sap harvesting season in New England ranges from February to April, coinciding with the coming of spring. One of the ways to celebrate this seasonal change is a “sugaring-off” party. These parties often include music, dancing, and of course, eating syrup-based sweets. Variations of sugaring-off parties have been held since maple sugaring began. Certain indigenous tribes developed sacred rituals and maple dances to honor the first full moon of spring, known as the Sugar Moon. The tradition of hosting sugaring-off parties is still alive today.

On April 5th, 1941, Griffin visited Franconia, New Hampshire. Bette Davis was in town for the world premiere of her movie “The Great Lie” and to celebrate her birthday. The day began with a sugaring-off party hosted by Wilfred “Sugar Bill” Dexter and his wife Polly. Celebrities and writers gathered to take part in the festivities.

Griffin documented the setting of the party as well as those in attendance. Establishing shots show sugar being prepared in big kettles while crowds gather around. Medium shots of buffet lines feature people tasting treats and conversing. Through these images, this vintage scene comes alive. They enable viewers to sense the joyous energy of a sugaring-off party.

AG Archive - snow syrup candy
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Drizzling hot syrup on packed snow to make “sugar snow”: Franconia, New Hampshire
AG Archive snow syrup
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Wilfred “Sugar Bill” Dexter (right): Franconia, New Hampshire
AG Archive - sap pouring
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Fresh maple sugar heated in kettles: Franconia, New Hampshire
AG Archive - Sap tasting
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Treats included doughnuts, sugar snow, pickles, maple taffy, and coffee: Franconia, New Hampshire
AG Archive - maple candy
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Sugaring-off party: Franconia, New Hampshire

Dartmouth Winter Carnival: 1939

Meanwhile, another form of winter festivities was taking place in New Hampshire: the annual Dartmouth Winter Carnival. The carnival was created in 1910 and is still going strong. What began as a weekend to promote winter sports on campus quickly turned into what National Geographic Magazine called the “Mardi Gras of the North.” Over the years, specific activities included ice sculpture contests, beauty pageants, slalom races, dances, polar plunges, and ice skating shows. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 2021’s “Level Up: Carnival Rebooted” takes place online in the form of videos and virtual gaming. The carnival continues to be a celebratory part of Dartmouth’s identity. 

Griffin attended the carnival of 1939, the same year F. Scott Fitzgerald visited with Budd Schulberg to work on a screenplay for the movie “Winter Carnival.” Dartmouth was still an all-male college at that time. In an effort to attract female attendees, the school held a “Queen of Snows” beauty pageant from 1923 to 1973. Students were encouraged to bring dates from their hometown and neighboring colleges. On Friday afternoon, Hanover station would be bustling with reuniting couples, aspiring movie stars, and performers. The weekend was full of outdoor activities during the day and parties at night.

The following photographs capture the exciting atmosphere of the Winter Carnival. Griffin’s work depicts a sense of vitality, movement, and youthful enthusiasm. These images show a community coming together in celebration of friendship and the winter season.

AG Archive - couple travel
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Friday at Hanover Station: Hanover, New Hampshire
AG Archive - couples hanging out
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Friday night fraternity party: Hanover, New Hampshire
AG Archive - slope skiing
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Saturday morning slalom Race: Hanover, New Hampshire
AG Archive - winter dancing
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Dance at the Delta Tau Delta house: Hanover, New Hampshire
AG Archive - snow queen
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
The 1939 “Queen of Snows” Dorothy Gardner: Hanover, New Hampshire
AG Archive - snow queen and court
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
The “Queen of Snows” and her court: Hanover, New Hampshire
AG Archive - snow sculpture
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
Prize-Winning Snow Sculpture: Hanover, New Hampshire
AG Archive - kiss
Photo by Arthur Griffin, © Griffin Museum of Photography, All rights reserved
A goodbye kiss: Hanover, New Hampshire

Final Thoughts

In the year 2021, we may feel extra nostalgic for big gatherings and celebrations. We have had to alter and revise our own traditions and make sacrifices for the greater good. But, we will persevere. Through this experience, we will find even deeper meaning in the connections we have with one another. Engaging with Griffin’s work can help us celebrate our communities, remember our history, and keep traditions alive in our hearts.

Special thanks to the Boston Public Library for digitizing a large portion of the Arthur Griffin Archive so it may be accessible to the public. If you would like to view more photos and library material, visit the Boston Public Library for the Digital Commonwealth and the Digital Public Library of America.


Madison Marone is an Exhibition Assistant at the Griffin Museum of Photography and a graduate student pursuing her MSc in museum studies at the University of Glasgow. She holds a BA in film studies and sociology from the University of Vermont. Her interests include early to mid-20th-century art history, film theory, and exhibit design.


References:

 Pickert, Kate. “A Brief History of Maple Syrup.” Time, Time, 16 Apr. 2009, time.com/3958051/history-of-maple-syrup/.

 “Maple Sugaring History.” New England Maple Museum, 14 Mar. 2020, www.maplemuseum.com/maple-syrup-history/.

 Ely, Christina. “Maple Sugaring During a Full Sap Moon.” The Farmers’ Museum, 2011, thefarmersmuseum.blogspot.com/2011/02/maple-sugaring-during-full-sap-moon.html.

 Kelly, George. “Bette Davis Eyes Sugar Hill.” New Hampshire Magazine, 1 Mar. 2012, www.nhmagazine.com/bette-davis-eyes-sugar-hill-2/.

 Bald, Barbra. The North Star: Bette Davis, 4 Nov. 2008, newhampshireadventures.blogspot.com/2008/11/north-star-bette-davis.html.

 Rhodes, Jennie. “‘The Broken Country and Long Winter’: The History of the Winter Carnival.” The Dartmouth, 8 Feb. 2019, www.thedartmouth.com/article/2019/02/rhodes-carnival-history.

 Desai, Nicholas. “Fitzgerald Visits Hanover.” The Dartmouth Review, dartreview.com/fitzgerald-visits-hanover/.

All images on this webpage © copyright 2021 by the Griffin Museum of Photography. All rights reserved.  No part of this webpage may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the museum except in the case of brief quotations from the written material with citation.

Filed Under: Arthur Griffin Tagged With: Photography, black and white, documentary photography, Landscape, vintage photographs, Photography Education, Portraits, winter, Arthur Griffin Archive, New England

Michael Darough | Finalist, Arnold Newman Prize

Posted on October 15, 2020

As one of Maine Media’s finalists for the 2020 Arnold Newman Award for New Directions in Portraiture, Michael Darough‘s powerful series, The Talk, is on the walls of the Griffin until October 23rd. We wanted to know more about Michael and the work, so we asked him a few questions.

md- talk

Installation view of Michael Darough‘s The Talk on the walls of the Grffin.

Tell us about what inspired the body of work? What was the first image in the series?

The Talk was inspired by the lives of different men and women that I would see on TV.  These ideas for my photographs came from conversations I have had with family and friends when I was younger and within the last few years.  The issue of systemic racial inequality, especially in regard to the criminal justice system, is not new.  It felt like an appropriate time for me to begin to visually articulate those discussions and personal thoughts.

md talk 1

© Michael Darough – Remembering Gordon, from series The Talk

I believe one of the first images in my series was Remembering Gordon.  This image was based on the photograph of Gordon or Whipped Peter, as he is commonly known, an enslaved African American man who escaped captivity in 1863.  The image depicts lash marks across Gordon’s back; his head is turned profile while his hand is positioned on his hip.  Although my photograph does not completely mirror the original material, I considered the composition and his body language when arranging my image.

Thinking about how this has been an ongoing problem in our country, I started looking at the root of this issue and how I might use historical imagery as a reference point to begin this work.  I then transitioned to contemporary figures in the news to help guide how I was photographing myself.

Did your ideas about the work change over the course of creating the images? What did you learn from creating the series?

md - talk 4

© Michael Darough, It was a Cell Phone, from series The Talk

This project went through a couple variations before arriving at the current group of images.  Conceptually, ,the idea did not change.  I knew I wanted to create work about people who were victims of excessive force.  Visually it was different at the start of the project in comparison to the photographs that are on exhibit at the Griffin Museum of Photography.   When I started taking photos, all of them were in color and focused more on objects and less on the person.  After constant re-shoots I arrived at a version that felt comfortable for the subject matter.  I think what I learned most was how to work with lighting, explore storytelling and figuring out a way to direct my viewer through subtle changes.

While all of these situations pictured in the talk are of others, the images are self-portraits. How did your sense of self change when shooting the work? 

Previously, I had explored self-portraiture in my work but those images were illustrating stories and memories from my life; these photos are addressing the lives of others.  Considering the Information surrounding my portraits, it’s frustrating.  I spend my time looking at the details surrounding the deaths of these men at the hands of law enforcement. By the time I would finish shooting and editing there would be another incident.  Sometimes during this process, I would find another individual that I overlooked.  Although I felt compelled to take on these roles and photograph myself, the cycle of violence feels frustrating.

md - talk cycle

© Michael Darough – The Cycle, N. 1 from series The Talk

What would you like us as viewers to take away from seeing The Talk? 

This systemic issue within our criminal justice system has been affecting the black community for years.  The talk is not something new, it is just a discussion that is currently being had in mainstream culture.  I want individuals to look at the work and recognize this problem and feel compelled to have the necessary and uncomfortable conversations needed to fix it.

Can you talk a bit about what being a finalist in the Newman Awards means to you?

This was a great exhibition that I am happy to be a part of.  The jurors selected a diverse group of work from talented photographers, addressing their respective content in creative ways.  I think that each of us strived to explore new ways to work with portraiture.  The imagery, while different, that emerged from our individual bodies of work came together nicely.  I’m happy that I was selected as one of the finalists for the Arnold Newman Prize.

md talk 3

© Michael Darough – Hands on Your Head, Lock Your Fingers, from series The Talk

What is next for you creatively?

I’m going to explore this idea a little further.  While I don’t see this project going on for several years, I do have a few more stories and perspectives to share.  I am hopeful that through people marching in the streets, artists addressing this issue and individuals pushing for legislation to help protect individuals, there won’t be a reason for me to make this work.  I’m not sure about all the details surrounding my next series but I do have plans to continue to pursue portraiture; probably photographing other’s, not myself.

To see more of Michael Darough‘s powerful work, log onto his website. You can follow him on Instagram @michaeldarough

Filed Under: Exhibitions, Arthur Newman Awards Tagged With: black and white, Photographers on Photography, Griffin Exhibitions, Arnold Newman Prize, current events

Bill Franson | Mason Dixon Line

Posted on May 13, 2020

The Griffin Museum continues to bring creativity to the photo community through our Artist Conversations. May 17th is the next installment, presenting photographer Bill Franson. The conversation will focus on his series of photographs along the Mason Dixon line. Hoping to get a preview of this what promises to be an engaging conversation, we asked Bill a series of questions. For more information and tickets, see our events page for more information.

 

What drew you to the Mason Dixon line to create this series. Why did you not take a more traditional tack and follow the line? What was it that led you to its periphery?
My older son was in college in N. Carolina and every year I’d travel down to drop him off or pick him up and during the solo portion of the trip I would slowly wander, taking a few days photographing along the backroads of the South. Crossing the Maryland/Pennsylvania border I’d usually see a Mason Dixon sign and I got curious and discovered the Line predated the Civil War by one hundred years, predated the Revolutionary War by about ten.

bf - marydell

Marydel, MD © Bill Franson

How could that be, when most of what we hear about the Mason Dixon Line is related to the Civil War? It was fascinating to discover that the intention of the line was to end a violent land dispute between two families, the Penns and the Calverts, whose land grants were ill defined. The astronomer Charles Mason and surveyor Jeremiah Dixon were sent from England to “draw” the line, utilizing the stars to establish their position. By the early 1800s the Mason Dixon Line was already considered a demarcation between free states and slave states, now a dispute over human property. Land as property and slaves as property and never mind the indigenous tribes!

Granite mile stones were placed every mile, larger crown stone every five. My original intent was to discover as many of these stones as I could, an attempt to touch history, and simply look around and see. I discovered two things. One is that over time property overlaid property, and many of the stones were not publicly accessible. The second is very few roads follow the Mason Dixon Line, which leads me finally to answer why I photographed the periphery. Because it is what I could do. It was very exciting to come across a mile or crown stone but much more exciting to park my car in a border town, wander, and photograph what caught my eye. As I followed the line west or south, I was literally spinning circles over the line, stopping, wandering, moving on.

 

The Mason Dixon Line lives in a historical context like a story in a book, for most Americans. Your work is not to document the line so much as to explore the edges. How do you seek to visualize the line in context of that historic demarcation?

bf waynesboro

Waynesboro, PA © Bill Franson

The Mason Dixon Line is as mythic as it is historic, and the line is blurry between the mythic and the historic. If I am working within a documentary tradition I am, with all humility, following Walker Evans, and Robert Frank. Photographs can describe accurately, and suggest poetically. I’m all for the later, within the former. I never want to hit someone over the head with one interpretation.

 

Do you have a single image you go back to again and again as a personal favorite? What is it about the image? Composition, timing or was it in the capture, the moment of shutter release?

bf quantico

Quantico, MD © Bill Franson

I often tell students as they are working on a project that there are “sticky” photographs and there are “stand alone” photographs, both have their functions. Mason-Dixon: American Fictions contain both, the sticky ones are supportive, the stand alone’s are iconic. Even though the project is five years old the difference is still pretty fluid. When you ask what it is about certain favorite photographs, the composition, timing, moment of shutter release, my hope is I can suck my audience in to that moment, to feel me there, the now when all of that collides. When I look at photographs, that is what I imagine, and it’s an electric thrill.

 

You work in black and white. What is it about the absence of color that illuminates your narrative?

bf - mini golf

Abandoned Mini Golf Course, Gettysburg, PA © Bill Franson

Why black and white? There are several reasons for this, (a)  that I consider black and white to be one step of abstraction away from experience, and more poetic, for me. There are photographers working in color who make amazingly poetic images. (b) I prefer the darkroom to the computer screen as a working environment, (c) maybe most important, I think working within limitations is critically important for creative endeavors. The encouragement that one can do anything with a digital image gives me hives, a sandbox has edges.

 

bf - Fayette city, PA

Fayette City, PA © Bill Franson

You shoot many images interspersing churches, religion or expressions of faith combined with the local surroundings. I see you also have a series on HolyLand. How does faith play into this work?

On the presence of religious symbols, churches, expressions of faith in my photographs: A simple answer is that churches, crosses, faith expressions are as abundant as the flag. The Christian religion and American pride feel like the warp and weft of the culture within this section of the United States. I’m actually very conscious of how many images containing flags, crosses, gun culture I make. Do I need more, am I saying something new? I grew up in a Sunday Christian family if you know what I mean. Belief didn’t necessarily extend beyond Sunday.

Like many teenagers I ran away from church soon after my confirmation, only to run back to it in Art School when I started reading the bible backward. A fertile imagination and a sense of a world gone wrong took the apocalyptic vision of the book of Revelation and ran with it. I actually took a break from Art school, eventually transferring to study philosophy looking for answers, diving deeply into the problem of evil, time and eternity, the mind/body problem, language and knowledge. Along the way the qualities of an angry, judgmental, there’s only “one way” God were replaced by compassion, grace. If faith enters into this project I would have to say it is not dogma and judgement but the desire to accept, attempts to be compassionate and open, that have cooled suspicious minds, opened doors, properties, and photographic possibilities.

 

In building a portrait of this region, what would you like us as viewers to walk away from this series with?

Regarding what I want my viewers to come away from, I’m not sure that has ever been one of my motivations. As a philosophy student “The un-examined life is not worth living”, as a photographer ”The un-photographed life is not worth living.”

 

About Bill Franson  – 

“If your everyday life appears to be unworthy subject matter, do not complain to life. Complain to yourself. Lament that you are not poet enough to call up its wealth. For the creative artist there is no poverty — nothing is insignificant or unimportant.”
Rainer Maria Rilke

Observe, and get on with it.

This is the short form:
Co-opted the family cameras in my youth. Who doesn’t?
Studied Photography at the Art Institute of Boston and earned a BA in Philosophy at Calvin College in Michigan.

I worked as a staff photographer at several production houses in the Boston area until going out on my 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, The Governors Academy…..

I’ve 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. My work resides in various institutional and private collections. In 2014 I curated 21st Century Monochrome, an exhibition at the Barrington Center for the Arts at Gordon College, an exhibit created to highlight select contemporary Boston area photographers and their chosen materials and processes.

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

I am currently professor of photography at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. and am represented by Gallery Kayafas in Boston.

You can see more of Bill Franson‘s work on his website.

Filed Under: Blog, Events Tagged With: documentary photography, Artist Talk, mason dixon line, boundary cities, black and white, street photography, Griffin Museum Online

Rick Wright | Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age

Posted on April 7, 2020

In light of our quarantined exhibitions, we want to make sure you don’t miss out on the great works on the walls of the Griffin, and our satellite exhibitions across the Greater Boston area. Our satellite space at WinCam, The Winchester Community Access & Media Channel features the clever work of Rick Wright. His series Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age is a wry, humorous look at how we view and interpret objects as well as questioning the idea of permanence and what we leave behind.

#4 Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age #17 Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age #19 - Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age

From Left to Right – #4, #17, #19

Rick Wright practices photography as a malleable and sculptural medium. This Philadelphia photographer inhabits the persona of a c. 4300 CE archaeologist: a scientist stumbling onto a cache of preserved vessels crafted out of an unknown synthetic material. This Dada series of catalogued “artifacts” explores how a future society might interpret contemporary plastic containers. The project is driven by Wright’s creative lens work; the objects taking on new form, expression, and meaning.

#174 Vessels of the Petroleum Age

#174

Wright states, “Over the course of a full year, I ventured out into my Philadelphia neighborhood on recycling night. The purpose of my stroll was to dig through the blue bins piled high with plastic containers. The street lamps provided the perfect overhead lighting – akin to that original laundry room bulb – by which to preview the “personality” of each vessel. Wright goes on to say, “Photography suffers the unfortunate condition of looking like reality and it is the first thing to transcend as a photographer.”

We had a few questions.

The images are unnamed, using only catalog numbers. Why the numbering system, and not something like archeological field notes?

Numbering (only) was my way to stay-out-of-the-way and let the viewer overlay their own typology, reactions, mapping, whatnot. I felt there was enough in the images without getting too careful or cute with the titles; the danger in making the project purely funny, or too joke-like. It’s not. It’s both: serious/dark, yet amusing.

I avoided Field Notes and over-describing the objects, hence the plain catalog numbers. I’m trying to leave a viewer plenty of room-to-roam about in the weight/reality of our ubiquitous and unseen over-use of plastic. (Though, really, not so “unseen” anymore.)

#77 - vessels

#77

Without text to accompany each image, like field notes, what do you want the viewer to understand about the permanent culture we live in?

The whole project, effectively, is about taking a look back from the far future. (well, far human future). We’re in the 41st Century and our archaeologist/scientist is struggling to sort these plastic vessels out (these Vessels holding: elixirs, potions, balms, aphrodisiacs, immortality). What caused the end of the Petroleum Age, effectively?

What do you hope the viewer walks away with in terms of understanding the project?

I’d like them to laugh, then perhaps cry. Certainly to reflect, without me (or the work) being heavy-handed or chastising.

 

What is the one vessel your anthropologist treasures most, but has yet to find. In Indiana Jones terms, his own Holy Grail.

While any or all of these “visages” might be good candidates for The Shaman, The Medicine Man, The Seer, I think I remain on the lookout for that super particular type. I’d know him/her when I saw them.

The Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age was featured on the cover of LensWork #144 magazine (Sept.-Oct. 2019); along with a 16-page spread. The work has also appeared online in Float Magazine and garnered a Fleisher Faculty Fellowship Award. Wright is currently collaborating with a writer on a book of this series.

 

vessel catalogThe Griffin Museum crafted a catalogue to accompany the exhibition and it is now available for purchase. For more information see our website for details.

Included in the book are the astute observations of art historian, scholar and independent curator in the field of photography, Alison Nordström, who gets to the heart of the series and its place in photography.

“Positioned, framed, composed, lit, and presented like art objects, Wright’s images elevate, isolate, and transform the ordinary as photography is uniquely equipped to do. There is plenty to consider in this aspect of the work alone, but, taken as a whole, the series goes beyond visual description by encouraging interpretations on so many levels that it underscores a wide range of the many things photography can do. Simultaneously legerdemain, joke, science, typology, aesthetic study, symbol, sign, social commentary, and artifact, these photographs contain multitudes; the series is slippery, challenging, and memorable.”

 

Our own Paula Tognarelli interviewed Rick during an episode of Optics interview at WinCam in Winchester, Massachusetts. Take a look and a listen.

#33 Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age #48 Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age #51 Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age

From Left to Right – #33, #48, #51

About Rick Wright

Rick Wright practices photography as a malleable and sculptural medium. He states, “photography suffers the unfortunate condition of looking like reality and it is the first thing to transcend as a photographer.” His primary training as a painter at Princeton and Columbia Universities (BA and MFA) later morphed into photographic studies at ICP in NY with John Loengard, Susan Meiselas, Nan Goldin, and Dorit Cypis. 

Rick shows his work locally and nationally. Along with his ongoing history as an artist-using-photography, he also photographs architecture professionally. His works resides in several permanent collections; most recently added to the Houston Museum of Fine Art and Philadelphia Museum of Art. Wright keeps a studio in Philadelphia (past 12 years) and teaches photography at: Philadelphia Photo Arts, Fleisher Art Memorial, Peter’s Valley School of Art & Craft, The Halide Project.

#99 Vessels of the Late Petroleum Age

#99

Several of his photographs reside in permanent collections: Houston Museum of Fine Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Creon Collection, Johnson & Johnson Collection, and The University of Pennsylvania. Wright keeps his studio in Philadelphia (past 13 years) and teaches photography at Fleisher Art Memorial, Peter’s Valley School of Art & Craft, and The Halide Project.

“Photography is 93% of my life,” says Wright. “The other 7% is occupied by typewriter repair, short story writing, and life model sketching. I chose photography over painting for its speed, joy, and unexpected bends of reality.”

See more of Rick Wright‘s creativity on his website.

Filed Under: WinCam Tagged With: Exhibition, Portfolio, Rick Wright, Photography, black and white

Jim Lustenader | City Streets

Posted on April 6, 2020

At the Races

At The Races

The streets of Boston are empty, with COVID-19 Stay at Home orders, but the interwebs remain a space for creativity and connection between us all. In an effort to showcase the exhibitions that we all cannot visit in person, we are bringing them to you online. Today’s view is the city streets as viewed through the lens of Jim Lustenader. Jim’s black and white photographs have the ability to bring us all together to celebrate humanity in its diversity, humor and uniqueness. On view (through windows) at the Griffin @ SOWA, Jim’s work reflects the view of the street he seeks to capture.

We asked Jim about his process and his images for his series, City Streets.

Sniffers

Sniffers

Street Photography takes patience, yet also a sense of immediacy of capturing the moment. How do you balance the waiting with the spontaneity? How do you find your subject or do you believe your subject finds you? 

In most cases, my subjects find me. While I sometimes haunt a location because the setting is interesting (e.g., large poster or wall art) or it relates to a series I’m working on (e.g., people in museums), I really prefer to react instinctively and intuitively to what’s happening around me. Sometimes the results really surprise me, as with the photo “Sniffers.” On a trip to London, I noticed this elderly couple walking behind St. James’s Palace; they were dressed up and out for the evening, figures from another age. I turned away to look for another shot and when I turned back they had stopped to admire the Queen’s roses, seemingly kept behind bars in their window boxes. They leaned in to take a sniff and I managed to grab one frame. Because I use film I didn’t see the result for about three weeks, so I was delighted to find out I had caught a moment that told a story.

Lap Dance - Jim Lustenader

Lap Dance

What are your favorite places to photograph? Is it a mood, or a certain consistency in the creativity that draws you there? 

I most enjoy working in cities like New York, Boston, London and Paris but I have had good luck in much smaller environments. It’s really the mood of a place that draws me: the heat and bustle of New York, the poetry and romanticism of Paris. Being consciously open to that particular mood gets me into the rhythm of a location and its people. Another photographer told me years ago that having a tune in mind when shooting helps keep him in the moment; now that has become something of a ritual for me: Piaf for Paris, Gershwin and Porter for New York! 

As an observer of the quirks in the everyday, how has this measure of capture changed your routine and how you look at life?

Metro Bride - Jim Lustenader

Metro Bride

When I started shooting street, I tended to stay back from my subjects, using a zoom lens that allowed me to capture (some would say spy on) them while being uninvolved. In many cases, this resulted in shots that were often cramped, narrow and one-dimensional. To freshen my perspective, I took a street class with photojournalist Peter Turnley, who insisted I get into the midst of the action and use nothing longer than a 50mm lens, preferably a 24mm. I was petrified: now I would have to get close to people if I wanted to get the shot. However, I quickly found that the normal or wide format created greater context for my subjects, adding interest and dimension by showing them in relationship to their surroundings. A whole new approach opened up, one that seeks out visual tension among elements in a broader scene and tells a more multi-faceted story about what makes us human—and, for me, that’s where the fun of street is. I view life as bits of theatrical business and am aware of potential shots even when I don’t have my camera. 

What do you want us as viewers to walk away with after seeing your photographs?

Hands up - jim lustenader

Hands Up

I think my most successful photos are those that are somewhat open ended, inviting viewers to pause and decipher possible meanings, to exercise their own imaginations. I also hope that viewers would share the same sense of amusement that I get from catching human nature at work, the serendipity of coincidence, the irony and absurdity of daily life. 

What has it meant to work with the Griffin and to show your work through the museum? 

Showing at the Griffin has meant a great deal since it has been a goal of mine for a long time. I became familiar with the museum about thirteen years ago when I visited to see an exhibition of Arthur Griffin’s photos. This great facility dedicated to photography totally impressed me and I wanted to create work that was good enough to be shown there. Later at Houston’s FotoFest, I had the first of what would become several photo reviews with Paula Tognarelli, whose constructive critiques guided me in refining my vision and producing a more cohesive portfolio. I consider being on the Griffin’s walls a true career highlight. 

What is next for you creatively? Since travel is restricted, for the time being, how will you fill your creative needs? 

Lust - Jim lustender

Lust

A number of galleries (including Soho Photo Gallery in New York, where I’m a member) are running virtual exhibitions on the theme of isolation so I’ve been able to submit work from my archives that reflect a sense “alone-ness” akin to what we all feel right now. Living in a small town in New Hampshire where things are pretty quiet anyway, I certainly miss being able to get to the big cities. That said, I drive around looking for ways to capture the pandemic experience from a rural perspective, which is definitely challenging and requires using those longer lenses that I put away years ago because I can’t get close. 

 

Filed Under: Griffin @ SOWA Tagged With: street photography, Boston, Paris, New York, London, Exhibition, black and white

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Floor Plan

Amy Rindskopf's Terra Novus

At the market, I pick each one up, pulled in by the shapes as they sit together, waiting. I feel its heft in my hand, enjoy the textures of the skin or peel, and begin to look closer and closer. The patterns on each individual surface marks them as distinct. I push further still, discovering territory unseen by the casual observer, a new land. I am like a satellite orbiting a distant planet, taking the first-ever images of this newly envisioned place.

This project started as an homage to Edward Weston’s Pepper No. 30 (I am, ironically, allergic to peppers). As I looked for my subject matter at the market, I found that I wasn’t drawn to just one single fruit or vegetable. There were so many choices, appealing to both hand and eye. I decided to print in black and white to help make the images visually more about the shapes, and not about guessing which fruit is smoothest, which vegetable is greenest.

Artistic Purpose/Intent

Artistic Purpose/Intent

Tricia Gahagan

 

Photography has been paramount in my personal path of healing from disease and

connecting with consciousness. The intention of my work is to overcome the limits of the

mind and engage the spirit. Like a Zen koan, my images are paradoxes hidden in plain

sight. They are intended to be sat with meditatively, eventually revealing greater truths

about the world and about one’s self.

 

John Chervinsky’s photography is a testament to pensive work without simple answers;

it connects by encouraging discovery and altering perspectives. I see this scholarship

as a potential to continue his legacy and evolve the boundaries of how photography can

explore the human condition.

 

Growing my artistic skill and voice as an emerging photographer is critical, I see this as

a rare opportunity to strengthen my foundation and transition towards an established

and influential future. I am thirsty to engage viewers and provide a transformative

experience through my work. I have been honing my current project and building a plan

for its complete execution. The incredible Griffin community of mentors and the

generous funds would be instrumental for its development. I deeply recognize the

hallmark moment this could be for the introduction of the work. Thank you for providing

this incredible opportunity for budding visions and artists that know they have something

greater to share with the world.

Fran Forman RSVP