• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Griffin Museum of Photography

  • Contact
  • Search
  • Search
  • Contact
  • Exhibitions
  • Events
    • Programs
    • Online Programs
    • Receptions
    • Focus Awards
  • Education
    • Programs
    • Photography Atelier
    • Education Policies
    • New England Portfolio Review – Online this Spring
    • Member Portfolio Reviews
    • Arthur Griffin Photo Archive
    • Griffin State of Mind
  • Join & Give
    • Become a Member
    • Griffin Futures Fund
    • Donate
    • Leave a Legacy
    • John Chervinsky Emerging Photographer Scholarship
  • Shop
    • Online Store
    • Admission
    • Membership
  • About
    • Staff
    • Griffin Museum Board of Directors
    • About the Griffin
    • Members in Focus
    • Get in Touch
  • Visit
    • Hours
    • Admission
    • Directions
    • Handicap Accessability
    • Rent the Griffin Museum
    • FAQs
  • Member Login

portrait

Tavon Taylor | The Last Rose of Summer Artist Talk

Posted on January 26, 2021

The 2020 award for the John Chervinsky Emerging Scholarship went to photographer Tavon Taylor.

View Tavon Taylor’s  website.

Join us online in the Griffin Zoom Room on March 10th at 7pm for an evening with Tavon showcasing his creative path, and beautiful series Last Rose of Summer. The exhibition of this work is on the walls of the Griffin Museum from February 20th thru May 23rd, 2021.

The judges said, “Tavon Taylor shows an already robust practice as a recent MFA recipient with a collection of rich, cinematic imagery. He presents a powerful voice that communicates the complexities and intimacies of the artists experience as a queer Black artist. A look at the larger bodies of work solidified the world that he has built where tenderness and vulnerability reign supreme. Kinship, intimacy, and community runs through this work and Taylor both stitches together and unties these concepts with each shared interaction between photographer and subject.”

Tavon Taylor submitted The Last Rose of Summer for consideration for the scholarship. Taylor says of the body of work:

“The Last Rose of Summer was Inspired much by the injustice shown within the media in 2020. Over the last few months, I’ve focused on creating images of the people closest to me. I’ve started with single portraits of my loved ones, then I grew curious about photographs before my time. I came across a photo album stored deep within my childhood home. Full of ceremonies, the city, all the people I didn’t know, and all the stories untold, the richness spilled through each image. This compelled me to dive more into my own family’s history. Through stories from my elders and found images, I’m navigating ways to dissect my own family dynamics.”

Tavon Taylor’s Statement of Purpose:

“Within the last few months, I’ve started my photo and video-based project, The Last Rose of Summer. In this body of work, I am discovering my family’s history within the DC and Maryland areas. So far, I’ve done interviews, filed archived images, make images of my loved ones, photographed our surroundings, and more. There’s so much that I’m thinking about and planning for the blossoming of this project. I’m excited to get to know more about my ancestry. I would love to be able to properly document the richness and depth that branches back far before myself. Through discovering and sharing my own lineage, I hope to create inspiring imagery celebrating the lives and legacy of those who’ve once walked this earth. In this process of discovering moments that have come before me, I am discovering myself. The last rose of summer gives me the chance to proudly and boldly take control of my own narrative as a queer black man navigating in today’s social climate. In this process, I am celebrating the people in my family that I love and those that we’ve lost. In sharing these stories, with a larger audience, I hope to inspire people to value those closest to them.”

Tagged With: Chervinsky Award Winner, John Chervinsky Scholarship, Photographers on Photography, portrait

Katalina Simon | Online Artist Talk – Land Beyond the Forest

Posted on July 20, 2020

Katalina Simon is a British/Hungarian photographer whose work centers on the passage of time and cultural memory. Her interest in photography began when, as a child, she was told that taking pictures was not allowed in many public spaces in communist Hungary and she observed how precious photographs were to her family separated by the Iron Curtain.

We are thrilled to present an online conversation with Katalina about her exhibition, Land Beyond the Forest,  hanging at our Griffin @ WinCam satellite gallery.

woman at the door of the kitchen

© Katalina Simon, “Ana’s Kitchen“

Join us online in the Griffin Zoom Room on  August 20th, 2020 at 7pm Eastern Time for a overview of her work, her creativity and what is next for her photographically.

Simon’s photography emphasizes her strong connection with history and the mood of the environments she photographs. Her image making is only part of a larger goal of experiencing a place, learning about a new culture or community.

Katalina holds a BA in Russian from the University of Bristol in England and is a graduate of the Professional Photography Program at the New York Institute of Photography. She is an exhibited member of the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA, PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont and Fountain Street Gallery in Boston, MA.

About Land Beyond the Forest – 

The Land Beyond the Forest is an ongoing series depicting a fading way of life in rural Transylvania. This mountainous and remote region of Eastern Europe is steeped in history and lore. The rugged Carpathian Mountains kept invaders at bay and kept the remote villages isolated from the passage of time.

child with fowl

© Katalina Simon, “Time with Bunica“

I am drawn time and again to this region and these people because it reminds me of a way of life that I experienced at my grandparent’s village in Hungary every summer. As a child, I was oblivious to the hardships that people faced and experienced only kindness and warmth. With my camera I work to recapture this feeling of storybook wonder and show domestic tableaux and rural people as I remember them.

For this exhibition I am focusing on the last generation of women who live this traditional rural life. My hope is to show the magic and poetry of the women who inhabit the “The Land Beyond the Forest.”

Tagged With: color, documentary photography, Landscape, portrait, Satellite Gallery, WinCam, Winchester

Corona | Liz Calvi

Posted on June 9, 2020

One of our featured artists in our Corona online exhibition, Liz Calvi’s work illuminates inner beauty and light. Her series, Lost Boys was featured at the Griffin in 2014. Her Corona highlighted image, Christian, comes from that series. We wanted to know more about the work, and how she finds the beauty and strength within her subjects.

How does light play in your work?

The relationship I have to light varies for each series I make, but I would say a common thread would be that light is a defining factor when I create my work.

Booker, a boy laying in bed.

David, © Liz Calvi

 

For Lost Boys in particular, I wanted to use natural light to express a quiet beauty and a feeling of reverie. When I made this series, the narrative depicted my generation highlighted the success of women in the workplace and the decline of a 1950s mentality of men as masculine financial providers. We left high school in 2008 and entered either the job market or college during a financial crisis. The narrative excluded the hardship that many of us were feeling and, coincidentally, how these new circumstances were chastising men for not living up to an outdated view of masculinity. The young men I photographed were all living at home (as was I) and I wanted to use light to show a softer side to masculinity while concurrently evoking empathy towards our generation.

 

We highlighted your image from the series Lost Boys, featured at the Griffin back in 2015. The connection you have with your subject is truly captured in this intimate moment. How did it come about?

A boy laying across his bed.

Christian, © Liz Calvi

Christian and I are from the same town, our childhood homes are right around the corner from each other. We became friends in high school so we already had an established relationship prior to making this photograph. As with most of the young men I photographed for Lost Boys I didn’t go in with a preplanned idea. I went to Christian’s home one afternoon and we chatted while walking around the different rooms in his house. I surveyed the light while listening to his stories as he told me various memories he had from different places in his home. We took a few photographs that day, but I settled on this one in his room because of the balance between the distortion and grace in his gesture, complemented by the dappling light.

 

In this time of Corona, how do you find light in your day?

A boy seated on a flowered couch.

Booker, © Liz Calvi

I’ve tried to see this time in insolation as a way to reexamine my relationship to light and nature which we tend to overlook in our typical fast-paced consumer society. I’ve been using my digital devices less frequently and taking my camera outdoors or simply just enjoying nature hands free. Light has been providing happiness and relaxation for me, it has been a solace in our time of Corona. I’ve also been making time to reflect in the spring light and hope it provides others with a similar time for personal reflection but also a time to consider how our society is structured and what it prioritizes.

 

lc installation

Installation View Ms. World, © Liz Calvi

What is next for you creatively? What are you working on?

Recently I’ve been focusing on the representation of women in digital spaces and how this impacts identity from an autobiographical and collective cultural memory lens. This direction has led me to make videos and writing to go with my photographs in larger installations. I finished grad school this past year and am in the beginning phase of research, writing, and storyboarding for new video work.

 

About Liz Calvi – 

lc self portrait

© Liz Calvi

Liz Calvi (b. 1990 Hartford, USA) lives and works between London and NYC. Her practice encompasses photography, video, writing and installation works with critical concerns regarding performance, sexuality, autobiography, identity and digital media.

Calvi received her MFA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths 2019 and her BFA from the University of Hartford in 2012 after studying at Pratt Institute. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including Der Greif, Juxtapoz, Aint-Bad and Fader. Her photography has been exhibited internationally and is in several public & private collections. She has a limited- edition book in the permanent collection at Antenna in New Orleans as part of The Blue Library Vol 2

To see more work from Liz Calvi log onto her website. Find her here on Instagram.

Filed Under: Blog, Online Exhibitions Tagged With: color, Corona Exhibition, male gaze, online exhibition, portrait

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Cummings Foundation
Mass Cultural Council
Winchester Cultural District
Winchester Cultural Council
The Harry & Fay Burka Foundation
En Ka Society
Winchester Rotary
JGS – Joy of Giving Something Foundation
Griffin Museum of Photography 67 Shore Road, Winchester, Ma 01890
781-729-1158   email us   Map   Purchase Museum Admission   Hours: Tues-Sun Noon-4pm
     
Please read our TERMS and CONDITIONS and PRIVACY POLICY
All Content Copyright © 2023 The Griffin Museum of Photography · Powered by WordPress · Site: Meg Birnbaum & smallfish-design
MENU
  • Exhibitions
  • Events
    • Programs
    • Online Programs
    • Receptions
    • Focus Awards
  • Education
    • Programs
    • Photography Atelier
    • Education Policies
    • New England Portfolio Review – Online this Spring
    • Member Portfolio Reviews
    • Arthur Griffin Photo Archive
    • Griffin State of Mind
  • Join & Give
    • Become a Member
    • Griffin Futures Fund
    • Donate
    • Leave a Legacy
    • John Chervinsky Emerging Photographer Scholarship
  • Shop
    • Online Store
    • Admission
    • Membership
  • About
    • Staff
    • Griffin Museum Board of Directors
    • About the Griffin
    • Members in Focus
    • Get in Touch
  • Visit
    • Hours
    • Admission
    • Directions
    • Handicap Accessability
    • Rent the Griffin Museum
    • FAQs
  • Member Login

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
  • Guest NameGuest AddressGuest City State Zip 
    Please Provide names and addresses of guests