VoxPhotographs Weblog

For months I’ve been working with Anne Zill, Director at Univ. of New England Gallery in Portland, and Curator Steve Halpert to create an amazing exhibit: Going Forward, Looking Back: Practicing Historic Processes in the 21st Century. 24 New England photographers are featured, exhibiting over 150 photographs from ziatypes to salt prints to palladium prints and many, many other processes from the 19th century. The exhibit runs through January 31, 2010 and then travels to three other locations, two in MA and finally winding up at Maine Media Workshops in October, 2010.

Rooftop View, Queens, New York © 2008 Keliy Anderson-Staley

It opens Nov. 17, but the Opening Reception is not to be missed on Nov. 21, from 3-6. Here, from 3-4 France Scully Osterman will be lecturing  – a real treat to have this illustrious artist and teacher come to us to talk about her work and others’ work. Her lecture will be “Serendipity and the Exquisite Manipulation”. Miss this and you will be missing a real gift to photographers in Maine.

Your Braid © Dan Estabroook

AND – on Dec. 5 (3-5) and Jan. 30 (3-6) many of the artists will be at the Gallery just to talk one-on-one with you and show you the materials and cameras they use. On January 30 from 3-4, famed photographer and history of photographer lecturer Brenton Hamilton will lecture “19th Century Photographers and Their Processes.”

Circa 1480 Redrawn © Brenton Hamilton

Both lectures (Nov. 21 and Jan. 30) are open to the public and are $10 at the door.

The whole shebang is an opportunity not to be missed. Go early and often. If you really care about photography, you’ll need several visits to soak up this amazing opportunity.

I’ve run into Freddie Gould twice now at the Portland Museum of Art, and each time I see him, I fall further in love. He’s the son of a local fisherman and that suits me just fine. (Sorry, Linden, but…). I intend to see him there again. In fact, several times before September 7.

Cupid, 1866 (Freddie Gould) • Julia Margaret Cameron • Private collection

Because September 7th is the last day anyone can view the marvelous exhibit “For My Best Beloved Sister Mia” – An Album of Photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron. You wouldn’t be reading a photography blog if you thought Cameron’s 1860’s photographs are just dated, dusty portraits that suffer from scratches due to poor handling, so I’ll spare you the history of this iconic artist.

We are lucky in Maine to have this opportunity to study Cameron’s work. The congenial security guards at the PMA are watching, but allow me to put my face pretty darn close to the glass of these photographs, and I can stare for as long as I like. I saw two of her originals at AIPAD this past March and they were one of the highlights of my day there. The photographs in this PMA exhibit were all bound into an huge album Cameron had sent to her sister Mia, who was in London and ailing. The album, when initially sent, contained only other photographers’ work in the back half of the book. Cameron made the promise to Mia that she would fill up the front half of it with her own work. She was a person who kept her promises.

Learning from Curator Susan Danly that Cameron grew up surrounded by sisters, aunts and female cousins is one of the most important pieces of information to know as you view the work.  Cameron’s deep connection to her subjects and the palpable intimacy that glows from the photographs confirms an empathy and understanding that cannot be faked.

It’s hard to choose favorites in this show of glowing stars, but I have them. Starting with the boy Freddie Gould obviously! There are 6 or so photographs that include Freddie and he is an angel incarnate in them. No one can deny that Cameron has produced a miracle with this model – you can practically have a conversation with him, she has been so successful working with him.

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My Ewen’s Bride of the 18th of November 1869, 1869 • Julia Margaret Cameron • Private collection

Her images of Julia Jackson and Annie Chinery are so moving it’s difficult to find words to describe them. Whether it’s Julia in a gorgeous big hat with her huge eyes looking directly at you, or Annie in her bridal photograph, you won’t find finer portraits anywhere.

What did Mia think as all of these photographs arrived on her doorstep  over the years, I wonder? Could she have possibly known how inspired her sister’s work was? Many of Cameron’s photographs are blurry, smudged and scratched.  She saw her photographs as serious works of art and all of these effects are very deliberate. There were few precedents anyway: photography first saw the light of day in 1839.

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A Rembrandt (Sir Henry Taylor), 1864 • Julia Margaret Cameron • Private collection

Her photographs of Alfred Lord Tennyson (“The Dirty Monk”, 1865) her husband, Charles Hay Cameron, and an absolute masterpiece of Sir Henry Taylor (“A Rembrandt”, 1865) are worth several trips to the exhibition themselves.

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The Kiss of Peace, 1869 • Julia Margaret Cameron

Two of Cameron’s most important images are in the exhibit: “Yes or No”, 1865, and “Kiss of Peace”, 1869. I don’t have to explain why because you’ll be seeing them for yourself and you will know why when you do.

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Summer Days, April 1866 • Julia Margaret Cameron

There are three group portraits in this exhibition that brought tears to my eyes (okay – I’m a nut when it comes to photography). Cameron’s “Summer Days”, 1865, featuring three young women and Freddie Gould sum up Cameron’s power in a single image.

The other two group shots are by Oscar Gustave Rejlander. One, of four of Cameron’s five sons, “My Cameron Clan”, 1863, is worthy of many minutes of study. All four young men have taken stances that exude their personalities in detail and the photograph is just a beauty.

Lionel, Emily, Alfred and Hallam Tennyson, circa 1862 • Oscar Gustave Rejlander • Private collection

Rejlander’s “Tennyson Family”, 1862, of Alfred Lord Tennyson, his wife and two children walking through their garden towards the photographer is so breathtaking that I actually considered if it would fit in my purse. (No.) Can you imagine being able to look at it every day for the rest of your life (if you are allowed invaluable photographs on cell walls)?

And Rejlander’s exquisite photograph of young “William Bayley”, 1860 should be the standard for all portrait photographers. How the heck did he do it?

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Born in 1815, Julia Margaret Cameron was given a camera in 1863. She was considered an exacting director when it came to setting up her subjects for their photographs. Many of her images reflected her devotion to the Christian faith, and the popular custom of the time – setting up “tableaus” that reflected allegorical subject matter.

Her work is so singular and so vital to understanding contemporary photography that I suggest you avail yourself of the book available at the Museum shop: “Julia Margaret Cameron – A  Critical Biography” if you don’t already have it. And of course, owning it means you can appreciate Freddie Gould any day of the week.

I’m glad I went to hear Joyce Tenneson speak last Saturday (July 11) at the Portland Museum of Art (Her exhibit there, tied to one of Julia Margaret Cameron’s work, is on view through October 4. I’ll review both exhibits next week). If you missed this lecture, I think you missed a somewhat seminal event.

It seemed to be a very important moment for Ms. Tenneson – almost a turning point – and several times during the event I think the packed auditorium was holding its collective breath as she talked from her heart to us.

Tenneson enjoys an highly successful professional life, no one would dispute it. We were privileged to see footage she discovered in her NYC storage room as she was moving to Rockport, together with other images – it was all put together in a video by John_____?, a former student of hers – and the resulting short film started with pics of her as a child, moved through her student and early marriage years, up to excerpts from an interview on the Today Show after her book “Wise Women” was published in 2002.

Part of her program showed behind the scenes footage/shots of her 20 years in the NYC Polaroid studio using the massive camera there to record scores of vital and now iconic images. It was very, very powerful.

Self Portrait with Old Man, 1986 © Joyce Tenneson

Tenneson was speaking about her deep connection to Julia Margaret Cameron’s work and became emotional as she opened her heart to share with us her thoughts about what they had in common. Tenneson concluded that through all the fame, from where she stands now, it’s the relationships and connections with others in her life, particularly her son Alex, that are, in fact, the most valued experiences of her life.

I can’t imagine anyone left that auditorium untouched by the power of her words and willingness to share with us some of the results of her long hours of solitary contemplation the previous night. Yet another gift from a master photographer, as if her work weren’t gift enough.

Two Point Gallery is new on the scene and now exhibiting its second show which features the work of 20 members of the Bakery Photographic Collective based in Westbrook now. The show is open until July 12.

There are some standouts and we all know their names: Scott Peterman, Justin Van Soest and Tonee Harbert. And oddly enough, the other four artists I made notes on, because I was impressed with their work, are all women.

Tara 3 © Rachel Schwartz

Strong images from Rachel Schwartz are included: Tara I, II and III. How does anyone sell framed fine art photographs for $125? But here they are. These approx. 7″x10″ black and white beauties are clever and confident and I almost felt there was something going on here I couldn’t see. The artist’s explanation made no sense to me with respect to the pictures, but I’m not big on artists’ statements, so I shouldn’t have read it to begin with!

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Self-Portrait © Brittany Marcoux

Brittany Marcoux, a student at MECA, has some cool, fresh 10″x10″ portraits, but her self-portrait is the best – less self-conscious than the other three posers! It’s a good picture.

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Peter, under the streetlight with a headache © Natalie Conn

Speaking of portraits, Natalie Conn has four 3″x5″ pictures in the show and her two portraits are funky and successful. Here are the titles – and these alone should get you in to see the show: “Molly, at the restaurant that no one goes to.” and “Peter, under the streetlight with a headache.”

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Betty’s Mother and the Pink Pillow, 2008 © Elizabeth Atterbury

I’m wracking my brain to think of who Elizabeth Atterbury’s work reminds me of (Eggleston?). Her two 10″x10″ portraits in the show are terrific. Clean and engaging work, to say the least. The the portrait of a portrait (painted and framed, hanging over the bed) in “Betty’s Mother and the Pink Pillow, 2008″, together with the subject’s bed, adds a rewarding complexity to the whole idea of a portrait. The subject is missing, but – is she really? These may be “portraits” but they go much further if you take the time to “read” them.

Looks like portraits are a strong part of this show.

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Washington County © Tonee Harbert

Well, on to the big guys. Tonee Harbert has three large soft focus inkjet prints in this show that demand your time and attention. I love them all, but especially the “Washington County, Maine” image. It  reminds me of the “Pie” image I saw last year at the plastic camera show curated by Bruce Brown in Rockland. It was my favorite image in the show.

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Bridge Study 2 © 2009 Justin Van Soest

Justin Van Soest is a seasoned photographer and, as usual, it shows. I’d seen the “Bridge Study 2″ somewhere recently, but enjoyed it thoroughly again. Look at “Bridge Study 1″ and “Bridge Study 3″ on his website home page. What a set of images! There are two more of Justin’s images in the window of the gallery – I totally missed them! One of them is another of the “Bridge Study” series.

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Loved Keith Lane’s small “Red Jam” underneath Justin’s photograph. I’ll let you go and see what that’s all about!

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Bonneville 7 © Scott Peterman

A couple of photographers had already told me about Scott Peterman’s smaller images in this show – they said they were amazing. They weren’t wrong. In keeping with his often minimalist approach, “California” and “Bonneville 7″ are so abstract when you’re 10 feet away, but give you more and more for each step closer you get to the images. You just have to wonder how he gets those exquisite tones. Go and study them for a while. Have you ever seen a boring or bad Peterman image? I haven’t, truly.  The man knows how to cull – something many photographers need to learn how to do. Just because you took it, doesn’t mean the picture is any good.

And to Chris Shaw and Melissa Smith – the two owners of the brand new Two Point Gallery?  Good luck to you both – although we all know luck doesn’t have much to do with success.

By the way, Susan Maasch Fine Art has moved her gallery from Forest Avenue directly across from Two Point Gallery and shows some stunning fine art photographers based in Maine. Check it out. And Ed Pollack is moving his print gallery, A Fine Thing, two doors down on Forest Avenue to Susan’s former gallery space. And… Maine violin maker Jonathan Cooper’s new shop and gallery Acoustic Artisans at 1 Forest Ave. close to the corner of Forest and Congress and shared with two other instrument makers, opened this spring. Cool area to spend an afternoon soaking up the arts, including, of course, a visit to the Portland Museum of Art a few feet away.  Soooo many galleries gathering on and around Congress Street! What a city…