While working on a series of cloud photographs in 1925, Alfred Stieglitz coined the title ”Equivalents” for his work, with the idea that the photographs could correspond to both the reality in front of the camera’s lens and the internal being of whoever was looking at them. Photographs could be representational and abstract, so even a photograph of a mundane subject could provoke a strong emotional response.

W. M. Hunt, the juror of the 17th Annual Photo Competition at Photo Center NW, chose this idea as the open theme for this year’s contest. So, the winning images are eclectic, but all meet Hunt’s criterion for what makes great photographs: their ability “to evoke a sensation that resonates through my being,” regardless of subject matter or technical process. See if the work resonates through your being too at Photo Center NW’s Seattle gallery, or check them out online. And for more of Hunt’s curatorial vision, check out The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious, 35% off as part of Aperture’s summer sale, which ends this Friday, August 10.

Opening reception:
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
6:00–8:00 pm

Exhibition on view:
Friday, March 2, 2012–Saturday, April 21, 2012

Aperture Foundation
547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555

Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla, two individuals that Art News ranks among the top ten photo collectors in the world, have amassed hundreds of the most iconic images reflecting the diverse nature of the past century of photography. Aperture Foundation pleased to announce the opening of Shared Vision: The Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla Collection of Photography, featuring over two hundred of those photographs that form one of the world’s best private collections. An exhibition organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville, a cultural resource of the University of North Florida, curated by Ben Thompson, MOCA’s curator, and Paul Karabinis, assistant professor of photography at UNF.

Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla’s collaboration hinges on a few underlying principles— mainly, to acquire works of major importance by leading photographers of their generation, and to focus on vintage prints. Although each of the collectors brings a different point of view to the photography—Gonzalez-Falla analyzes color and form, while Gilman responds to images on a more visceral level—these distinct approaches merge into a single, shared vision and emanate from the same goal: to collect photographs that move and inspire them.

Prominet photographers in the collection include Ansel Adams, Eugène Atget, Margaret Bourke-White,Walker Evans, Loretta Lux, Sally Mann, Richard Misrach, Doug and Mike Starn, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Alfred Stieglitz.

The exhibition, organized by MOCA, a cultural resource of the University of North Florida, curated by Ben Thompson, MOCA’s curator, and Paul Karabinis, assistant professor of photography at UNF, is supported by Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla, The Haskell Company, Marilyn and Charles Gilman III, and Joan and Preston Haskell. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog published by MOCA and produced by Aperture Foundation. This catalog features selected photographs from the exhibition, with historical context about each image and the photographer, curatorial remarks from Ben Thompson and Paul Karabinis, and an exclusive interview with the collectors.

Related Items: 

The work of some of the most important photographers of the twentieth century is currently on view in The Christopher Hyland Collection of Photography, By Way of These Eyes: The Sublime, Exotic and Familiar at the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, CT  from June 6 through September 6, 2009. Tonight marks the opening reception to celebrate the show. Over the last decade, the museum has organized a distinguished series of exhibitions of contemporary photography and this show focuses on a collection of work of twentieth-century photographers amassed by the keen eye of Christopher Hyland. Hyland, founder of one of the world’s leading textile manufacturing firms and a collector since his youth, has put together a body of work informed by his exceptional eye and world travels. The well-known tastemaker and private art collector, based in Chelsea, is an avid supporter of his neighbor, Aperture Foundation. Included in the Christopher Hyland Collection, which features works by the  renowned  artists Herb Ritz,  Henri Cartier Bresson, Robert Maplethorpe, Vik Muniz , Sally Mann, Edward Weston, and Edward Steichen, are works purchased from the Aperture Limited-Edition Photographs program: highlights include Christine, 2003 by Richard Renaldi ; Eva Le Porge, Jock Sturges; Michael Wolf’s tc39 and tc88;  The Edge of Vision Portfolio featuring the work of Bill Armstrong, Richard Caldicott, Manuel Geerinck, Mikko Sinervo, and Nicki Stager; portfolios by Paul Strand and single works by Brett Weston, among others. Exciting programming is scheduled as an accompaniment to the exhibition, with lectures centered on many of the artists Aperture has published through the years: Diane Arbus, Edward Weston, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz. and Sally Mann.  Also of note is the August 13 Art Happy Hour, titled the “The F stops here,” feature Ellen Carey and Bill Armstrong, included in the just published The Edge of Vision: The Rise of Abstraction in Photography. The New Britain Museum of American Art is a great destination for the photography enthusiast this summer!

The Christopher Hyland Collection of Photography, By Way of These Eyes: The Sublime, Exotic and Familiar
Saturday, June 6—Sunday, September 6, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday, June 12, 2009 5:00—7:00 pm
New Britain Museum of American Art
56 Lexington Street
New Britain, CT
(860) 229-0257

Clouds, Death Valley, 1938 © Edward Weston

Exhibition on view:
Through April 25
Silverstein Photography
535 West 24th St.
New York, New York
(212) 627-3930

This is your last chance to see Cloud 9, a group exhibition displaying the work of renowned photographers Imogen Cunningham, Alfred Stieglitz, and Edward Weston. The exhibition is a collection of nine original, vintage photographs of the sky, seen through the lenses of these great masters.
The abstract formation and fleeting nature of clouds, which comes into play in these photographs, evokes dreamy emotions and ideas, and creates a sense of mystery.

The Printed Picture

Exhibition on view: October 17, 2008 – June 1, 2009

Lecture: Saturday, October 18, 2008, 11:30 a.m. with Diana Bush

The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, New York

An educational installation portraying the history of picture-making is now on view at the Museum of Modern Art. The show includes sixty enlarged details magnified fifty times to reveal the technical elements involved in printing. The exhibition opens in conjunction with the release of The Printed Picture, a book by master printer Richard Benson, that traces the changing role of technology in producing multiple images. Benson, who has worked as a printer and photographer for over forty years, is known for his incredible ability to produce outstanding photographic prints. In fact, Benson printed several Paul Strand limited-edition prints for Aperture Foundation, including Wire Wheel (pictured), Alfred Stieglitz, Lake George, St. Francis Church, Rancho de Taos, and a platinum print of Wall Street, of which there is only one left. Benson also printed Strand’s Garden Portfolio (Portfolio Four), which consists of 10 gelatin-silver photographs, printed under Strand’s supervision in the artist’s darkroom in Orgeval, France, shortly before Strand’s death.