Last October, upon the launch of The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious (Aperture 2011), author/collector W.M. Hunt—known for his wit and (truly) larger-than-life personality—debuted A Life in Photographs and Other Digressions… A live monologue accompanied by images from his collection and video from his past, this event was a wry, uproarious rumination on Hunt’s many years of collecting, on his life in photographs.

Not necessarily by popular demand, but at his own insistence, Hunt will recreate this unique performance piece at Aperture Gallery on Tuesday, March 27. This evening with Hunt promises to be one of information and digression, bringing to light many of the names and stories left out of the book.

The book, The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious (Aperture 2011), presents a wonderfully idiosyncratic and compelling collection of photographs assembled around a particular theme: magical, heart-stopping images of people in which the eyes are obscured, veiled, or otherwise hidden. The pictures are characterized by what, at first glance, the subjects conceal, not by what the camera reveals. Tuesday night however, Hunt’s revelations are at the core of the program.

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The Unseen Eye: A Life in Photographs and Other Digressions…
A Multimedia Performance Piece with W. M. Hunt
Tuesday, March 27, 7:00 pm
FREE

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

The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious (Aperture 2011) by W.M. Hunt will be available for purchase at the Aperture Bookstore the night of the event ($52.50, available for online purchase here).

Armory Week is almost here. Join us on Saturday, March 10 for our annual all-day Armory Collectors Brunch to mix and mingle with friends and colleagues in the heart of Chelsea’s art district. The event will include a special walk through of the current exhibition Shared Vision, with Marcelle Polednik, Director MOCA Jacksonville and collectors Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla at 11:00 am, followed by book signings with Aperture artists including Bruce Davidson, Richard Mosse, Brian Ulrich, Penelope Umbrico, collector Bill Hunt.

Saturday, March 10, 10:00 am–1:00 pm
FREE

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

During Armory Arts Week, you can also visit Aperture at the eleventh annual SCOPE New York Art Fair. You can see some of our newest limited-edition prints from artists Hank Willis Thomas’ “After Identity, What?, 2011,” Lars Tunbjork’s “42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, from the Times Square portfolio published May 18, 1997” and Richard Mosse’s “Débris, North Kivu, Eastern Congo, 2011.”

This year, SCOPE’s VIP first view will take place on Wednesday, March 7 at an exciting, high profile location across from The Armory Show. The 35,000 square foot pavilion and its dramatic glass box entrance on 57th Street and 12th Ave will host 50 international galleries and museum-quality programming highlighting groundbreaking, emerging work in contemporary art and beyond.

First View:
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
3:00 pm–9:00 pm

Fair Continues:
Thursday, March 8, 2012-Sunday, March 11, 2012

Admission required.

SCOPE Pavilion
57th St & 12th Avenue
New York, NY 10019
212-268-1522

Poster photographed and designed by Gerald Slota for W.M. Hunt and Aperture, © Gerald Slota

In conjunction with his new book The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious, W.M. – Bill – Hunt has created a special performance piece suggested by his text for the book.

This monologue with projections and video will consist of ruminations on his many years of collecting and a life in photographs. Mr. Hunt has been a collector since his early years as an actor. He has been a fundraiser (Photographers + Friends United Against AIDS, The Center for Photography at Woodstock and the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund), a dealer (Ricco/Maresca Gallery and his own Hasted Hunt) as well as a writer and teacher.

Hunt is known for his wit and sometimes larger than life personality. This evening is one of information and digression. He hopes to bring into the light many of the names and stories left out of book.

The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious presents an idiosyncratic and compelling collection of photographs assembled around a particular theme: magical, heart stopping images of people in which the eyes are obscured, veiled, or otherwise hidden. The gaze of the subject is averted. The pictures present a catalog of anti-portraiture, characterized at first glance by what its subjects conceal, not by what the camera reveals.

Amassed over the course of almost forty years by Hunt, the collection includes works by masters such as Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, Imogen Cunningham, William Klein, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Robert Frank as well as lesser known artists and vernacular images. Hunt’s instinctive pursuit of striking images has resulted in a collection that manages to evoke a picture of humanity from birth to death, with all the associated nuances of memory, wit, eroticism, fear, grief, and horror.

More than three hundred and fifty intensely evocative and frequently surreal images are brilliantly sequenced in this volume—the cumulative effect is unnerving and riveting. Most critically, the images are drawn together by the narrative of the collector himself—a highly personal monologue that weaves throughout the book, in which Hunt offers his own perceptive responses to the images he has gathered over many years. The end result is a series of surprising epiphanies about how and why one collects. This volume is a must for anyone who collects or has considered putting together a collection of his or her own.

W.M. Hunt is a frequent lecturer on collecting, a well known dealer and an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts, New York. An earlier exhibition of his collection launched to critical acclaim at the Rencontres d’Arles de la Photographie in 2005 before traveling to the Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland, and FOAM, Amsterdam. An exhibition of 550 works, The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Collection of W. M. Hunt will be on view at the George Eastman House from Oct.1 2011 to February 19 2012.

Exhibition on view:
George Eastman House, Rochester, New York: October 1, 2011- February 19, 2012

Performance by Bill Hunt:
Aperture Gallery and Bookstore: Friday, October 28, 2011
Doors at 6:30 pm, Performance at 7:00 pm

RSVP@aperture.org

Click here to read an interview of W.M. Hunt in At Length magazine.

Unseen in The Unseen Eye
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
7:00 pm

School of Visual Arts
SVA Theatre
333 West 23 Street
New York, NY
(212) 592-2980

FREE

Join author, curator, and SVA faculty member Susan Bright, as she interviews fellow faculty member, author, and collector Bill Hunt about his new book. Published by Aperture, Hunt’s The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious features images from a multitude of photographers, all capturing subjects averting their eyes from the camera. Susan Bright also edited the Aperture anthologies Art Photography Now and Face of Fashion.

Join us for this fun, intimate, break-down-the-barriers, photo-collecting workshop. Moderated by Bill Hunt, the day will start with brunch and a conversation with other important collectors including Cathy Kaplan and Jan Larsen. Then venture out for a behind-the-scenes tour of various Chelsea galleries with Brian Clamp and artist Monika Merva, Daniel Cooney with artist Shen Wei, Robert Mann, Yancey Richardson, and Julie Saul, among other experts in the field. Each attendee will also receive a complimentary pass to the New York Photo Festival for Sunday, May 15th.

As there is limited space for this event, sign up to SNAP! New Collectors Program now and enjoy a full calendar of member-only activities including meet-the-artist events, and informal educational offerings; receive two complimentary Aperture publications and sneak peek offers on our new limited-edition prints and portfolios; among other benefits.

Saturday, May 14
12:30–4:30 pm

Click here for a full schedule of the event

FREE for current SNAP! members

Join SNAP! now
$250 SNAP! membership for one
Special offer for Do Ask, Do Tell: $400 SNAP! membership for two (regular price $500).
Contact ychehata@aperture.org for details. 

As the event is limited to 35 guests, attendance will be on a first-come, first-served basis with a minimum of 10 participants.

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street
4th Floor
New York, New York
(212) 946-7108

Image courtesy of Shen Wei and Daniel Cooney Fine Art, NY

The ninth edition of Paris Photo, the world’s largest photography fair, opened this Wednesday night and the Aperture booth made its debut in the main salon! Many Aperture photographers from around the world stopped by, including Josef Koudelka, Susan Meiselas, Martin Parr, Michael Wolf and others below.

Celso Gonzalez-Falla, Aperture's Chairman of the Board, and Bill Hunt from Hasted Hunt Kraeutler Gallery

Silvio Wolf and photo critic Gigliola Foschi

Michael Wolf and his son

Lesley Martin, Aperture Publisher, and Martin Parr

Visit the Aperture booth #A36 to see our stunning limited-edition print collection and newly released books. Don’t miss book signings every day with artists Lalla Essaydi, Michael Wolf, Bill Armstrong, Teun Hocks, Hank Willis Thomas, and Silvio Wolf and many more!