Seeing Portland – 1970 to 1984
Waiting For the Bus, 1978 © Joe Muir
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Well, that was fun! We stayed in Portland this Saturday for the opening of Seeing Portland – 1970 to 1984 at Zero Station on Anderson St. in Portland… got there just after 5 and had a few minutes to look at the work before it became a mob scene.
Five Girls © Andy Graham
There are nine artists included in this show and all the photographs were taken by them in the 70′s and early 80′s. (One of the artists included, Mark Rockwood, is represented by VoxPhotographs.) The images range from straight documentary to ones like Andy Graham’s big square color print above, which have a more in-your-face feel to them. The exhibit was Andy’s idea and he and two others curated it.
Some of the images were so poignant it made me shiver in not-altogether-positive recognition. Hard to believe I started college in 1971 and when I did the math, I had to do it twice before believing how many years ago that was. Others felt the same and told me so. For those at the opening who actually grew up in Portland during those years, they could hardly contain their delight at the childhood memories these photographs provoked. Several people told me they KNEW the people in some of the photographs.
But I felt better when I saw the wonderful inclusion of blurbs and photographs of the photographers themselves in the 70′s. Honestly, you’ve got to see these to believe them.
Rose Marasco, head of the Photography Dept. at USM had a great collection of photo collage images – very cleverly done. Here’s my favorite:
Carroll and Clark St., Photomontage Series © Rose Marasco
Mark Rockwood has had an interesting journey photographically and we’re celebrating his “history” next June (2011) with a retrospective that will include some of the Seeing Portland images. Here’s my favorite in the Seeing Portland show:
Alley Laundry © Mark Rockwood.
Seeing Portland: 1970 to 1984 is open at Zero Station until May 1. You can see it on Tues – Friday 10-5 and Saturdays 10-2 (www.zerostation.com) Online at the Portland Press Herald you can read more and see many more images than were able to be installed at the exhibit by clicking on this article by Bob Keyes. http://www.pressherald.com/life/audience/that-70s-show_2010-04-04.html
