Signs of the Times

Guest curated by Wendy Ewald, Susan Meiselas, and Laura Wexler, along with Kristin Taylor, MoCP Curator of Academic Programs and Collections This exhibition will feature works in the MoCP permanent collection that are included in the recent and groundbreaking publication titled Collaboration: A Potential History of Photography. The book was created by a group of artists, art historians, activists, and scholars—Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Wendy Ewald, Susan Meiselas, Leigh Raiford, and Laura Wexler—and published by Thames and Hudson in 2024. It is an extension of a project that these five authors have collaborated on for over ten years, in which they reassess a range of photographs and projects that portray stories of humanity and social movements to decenter the photographer as the only author of the image, and to emphasize the act of photographing as an inherently collaborative process in which many parties are involved. By sharing both artists’ statements and excerpts from interviews with people depicted in photographs, they question whether memories align: Did both sides remember the moment in the same way? How did the photographed feel about the photograph’s life after it circulated through art markets, print media, and online? And what role might the photograph have played in perpetuating harmful or liberatory narratives about specific histories, places, or individuals? The works—both historical and contemporary—are presented in clusters focused on topics, to highlight and propose questions about photographed moments of coercion, friendship, exploitation, community, and violence. The exhibition will also feature a reflection space for the audience engagement, as part of the project’s ongoing effort to consider the history of photography as a living and evolving entity that is unfixed and expanding as we learn more about the people, communities, and histories that images depict. MoCP is supported by Columbia College Chicago, MoCP Advisory Board, Museum Council, individuals, private and corporate foundations, and government grants. The 2024–2025 exhibition season is sponsored in part by the Efroymson Family Fund, Henry Nias Foundation, The Rowan Foundation, Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Comer Family Foundation, and Venable Foundation. This project is partially supported by a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. MoCP acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council. Image: Wendy Ewald, Self-portrait reaching for the Red Star sky –Denise Dixon, from the “Portraits and Dreams” series, 1975-1982

In 1962, Joel Meyerowitz (b. 1938, The Bronx, New York; lives and works in London, England) made a life-changing decision to become a photographer. His unwavering commitment was perfectly suited to the camera, an instrument that captures fleeting moments of time and space with precision, freezing them into a permanent frame. This exhibition celebrates the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale’s dedication to photography, spotlighting its recent acquisition of over 1,800 works from Meyerowitz’s archive. The artist is renowned for his early adoption of color photography in 1962, a move that helped pave the way for the medium’s acceptance in the art world. Meyerowitz’s expertise is evident in both the vibrant, immersive qualities of his color photographs and the subtle yet powerful nuances in his black-and-white prints. His true significance, however, lies in his exceptional ability to capture the perfect moment when shifting patterns, expressions, and light converge to form a complete image. His first major recognition came in 1964, when MoMA’s Director of Photography, John Szarkowski, included Meyerowitz in the influential exhibition *The Photographer’s Eye*, which also featured pioneers like Eugène Atget, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Robert Frank. Meyerowitz was placed in the section titled “Time Exposure,” a nod to his masterful handling of time within his work. Now, nearly six decades later, Meyerowitz’s work continues to resonate through its exploration of what Cartier-Bresson referred to as “the decisive moment.” This exhibition offers a chronological and thematic exploration of Meyerowitz’s oeuvre, allowing viewers to experience how his visual language has evolved over time, reflecting the fluidity of the present moment. This evolution builds on Szarkowski’s insight that a photograph captures only the time in which it was taken, referencing the past and future through its presence in the present. Additionally, the exhibition includes a selection of 'work prints' that highlight the temporal nature of photographic prints themselves. These prints reveal the impermanence of the medium, showcasing how some colors fade over time while others endure. The inclusion of prints bearing Meyerowitz’s personal annotations, along with multiple iterations of the same image, provides an intimate glimpse into the artist’s studio process, allowing viewers to trace his journey toward perfecting each image. Image: Joel Meyerowitz, Florida, 1978, 1978, Vintage RC print, 11 x 14 inches (27.9 x 35.5 cm), NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale; Gift of an anonymous donor.

We are thrilled to announce the artists of the 31st Annual Juried Members Exhibition. After selecting 68 images from almost 1500, from over 300 artists submitted, we are pleased to announce the members who will be featured on the walls of the Griffin Museum this summer. Stephen Albair, Julia Arstorp, Robert David Atkinson, Robin Bailey, Diana Bloomfield, Sally Chapman, Diana Cheren Nygren, Julia Cluett, Donna Cooper, Donna Dangott, Sandi Daniel, Adrienne Defendi, Becky Field, Preston Gannaway, Steve Goldband & Ellen Konar, Donna Gordon, Joe Greene, Jackie Heitchue, Judi Iranyi, Susan Isaacson, Marky Kauffmann, Susan Keiser, Lali Khalid, Karen Klinedinst, Brian Kosoff, Alison Lake, Celia Lara, Jeff Larason, Phil Lewenthal, Susan Lirakis, Landry Major, Fruma Markowitz, Cheryl Medow, Carolyn Monastra, Judith Montminy, C.E. Morse, Jim Nickelson, Charlotte Niel, David Oxton, Allison Plass, Robin Radin, Mary Reeve, Astrid Reischwitz, Nancy Roberts, Lee Rogers, Gail Samuelson, Gordon Saperia, Jeff Sass, Mari Saxon, Jeff Schewe, Li Shen, Anastasia Sierra, Frank Siteman, Stephanie Slate, Cynthia Smith, Janet Smith, Vanessa R. Thompson, Vaune Trachtman, Leanne S. Trivett, Leslie Twitchell, Terri Unger, Alan Wagner, Anne Walker, Suzanne Theodora White, Thomas Winter, Torrance York, Michael Young and Yelena Zhavoronkova Announcements about award winners will be made in July. Join is for the opening reception on July 11th from 6 to 8pm. Our juror will be in attendance. Thank you to Ann Jastrab from Center for Photographic Art, Carmel for a beautiful exhibition.

The Griffin is pleased to present the work of Alina Saranti as part of our celebration of our member artists. Ms. Saranti was included in our 30th Annual Juried Members exhibition, winning the Directors Prize. In my project “Far From” I want to make visible what landscape photography can look like for a female photographer with child rearing responsibilities. I combine landscape photographs of the American West with embroidery to challenge the masculinity of traditional landscape photography and the myth of the West. Landscape photography was traditionally dominated by male photographers as it was deemed unsafe and impractical for women who were constrained to the domestic sphere, close to their housekeeping and child rearing duties. The myths of the American West, its rugged, open, wild landscape have also been closely associated with macho masculinity, the idea of the independent, tough man, ready to draw on his weapon, to conquer and defend the land. Landscape photography also contributed to the history of conquest of the West with its role in surveying and controlling.Embroidery, on the other hand, has been traditionally labelled as women’s work. It has been seen as something that women can do within the safety of the home, producing artifacts to decorate its interior, keeping them out of harm’s way and out of trouble, compatible with their domestic duties and especially child rearing as it can be put aside and resumed at will. Landscape photography was deemed too far, too dangerous, too incompatible with being a woman. Things have changed and landscape photography is open to female photographers now. Or is it? I made the black and white landscape photographs used in this project at the fringes of family trips. I embroidered them in the safety of my home, between school drops offs and pickups, kids’ illnesses, and school holidays, often with children in the same room, the work repeatedly interrupted and resumed. I am drawing on the history of embroidery as both a symbol of female submission and a weapon of resistance for women, and overlaying that to the masculinity of landscape photography and the American West. Stitching usually has to do with mending or embellishing; my marks are the feminine overlaying the masculine, they are imposing on it, cracking it open, splitting it apart, growing into it. About Alina Saranti – Alina Saranti is a Greek photographic artist currently living in Los Angeles, having also lived in the UK and Turkey. Her work begins autobiographically and explores the synergies and tensions between text and image, the physical alteration of the photographic print, as well as themes of motherhood, place, our inner and outer landscapes, the personal and political. After a ten-year career in journalism in Athens and London, writing mainly about international politics, she has shifted her focus to telling stories through photographic projects. Saranti received a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, an MSc in International Relations from London School of Economics, and an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from London College of Communication, University of the Arts London (Distinction). Saranti has won Director’s Prize at the Griffin Museum’s Annual Juried Members Exhibition, Honorable Mention at the Julia Margaret Cameron Award and at the Los Angeles Center of Photography’s Annual Members Exhibition. She has exhibited in galleries and museums in Athens, Barcelona, Boston, Calgary and New York. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including The Boston Globe, Opt West, Aesthetica Magazine, Source, Black River Magazine, Global Zoo Zine, and the Imagined Landscape Journal.

Photographic Center Northwest (PCNW) is pleased to present our 2025 Thesis Exhibition, celebrating this year’s graduates of the Certificate Program: Martin Dorn, Keylor Eng, Victoria Hunter, and Holly Pendragon. This exhibition marks not only the culmination of the 53-credit program and presentation of a year-long project for these individuals but introduces a new generation of Northwest artists. The PCNW Certificate Program offers a technically and creatively demanding curriculum delving into the history, theory, and practice of creating photographic work. During their studies students develop their own style of photography, engage in critical discussion, establish their work within a historical and contemporary photographic/fine art context, and build the foundation to sustain their creative practice.

I would like to begin by thanking the many photographers who shared their work with me as part of this process. It was a tremendous pleasure to see such interesting and inspiring work; there was much more great work than I could possibly include. I want to acknowledge the trust and vulnerability that is required for artists to provide their artwork to a juror and allow their personal expressions to be reviewed; I am grateful for the opportunity to be enriched by the dedication and creativity of HCP's members. My approach to this exhibition was first to review all the works submitted and let the photographic themes emerge. After thinking about what had been shared, it seemed that there were two primary impulses. One was about asserting presence, a kind of activism of visibility. In the works I saw protest, strength, joy, and sorrow. The photographs stated, "I am here. We are here. We take up space. Our values matter. Through art we can create a presence to validate our unique perspectives and experiences." The range of issues depicted was expansive. Photographers communicated about Queer visibility; environmental change and the threat of fire; immigrant experiences and national identity; Black joy; non-normative male beauty and masculinity; violence against women; space simulation; and motherhood. Together the photographs create a chorus of voices. The other primary impulse was to explore beauty and wonder through photography and the particular magic of our medium. Here there were experiments with different processes and materials; the embrace of light and the many unexpected and dynamic things that happen when it passes through a lens; the true lusciousness of color and the way photographic materials record them; the beauty of photographic degradation and decay; the invitation of abstraction to engage with what might be happening; the depiction of movement; and the exploration of the limits of the photograph. Many photographs fit into both categories: infused with assertion, validation, and visibility combined with the magic and beauty of photography. I hope you enjoy the exhibition as much as I enjoyed getting to know the work! Dr. Rebecca Senf, Juror, Chief Curator at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ Image: © Oskar Alvarado

Picto New York is pleased to present Symbiosis, a solo exhibition by photographer Ruben Tomas. Known for his intimate and atmospheric imagery, Tomas offers a contemplative visual journey that explores the profound connection between humanity and nature. Through carefully composed frames, rich textures, and a deep sensitivity to light, Symbiosis captures the subtle yet powerful moments where the human form merges with its surroundings — not as a separate entity, but as part of a larger, interconnected whole. Tomas’s work transcends traditional portraiture and landscape photography. Each image in the exhibition feels like a quiet meditation — an invitation to pause and witness the delicate balance that exists between vulnerability and strength, isolation and belonging, movement and stillness. Whether set against the backdrop of open skies, flowing water, or dense foliage, his subjects seem to dissolve into the environment, blurring the lines between the physical and the emotional, the real and the imagined. With Symbiosis, Ruben Tomas encourages us to reconsider our relationship to the world around us — to see not only with our eyes but with a heightened sense of awareness. The exhibition is both a celebration of beauty and a call to mindfulness, reminding us that we are not separate from nature, but deeply embedded within it. The exhibition will be on view at Picto New York, inviting audiences to experience this powerful exploration of connection, presence, and unity.

Filter Photo is pleased to present Shaping the Land, a solo exhibition of work by José Ibarra Rizo. Shaping the Land is part of an ongoing series documenting the Latinx/e migrant experience in the American South. Through intimate portraits and landscapes, this body of work explores how these communities establish familiarity and stability in shifting environments—whether through work, leisure, or acts of cultivation. This exhibition considers the evolving relationship between people and place, revealing migration as not just transition but an ongoing process of making home. Rather than offering a singular narrative, Shaping the Land invites viewers to reflect on the layered realities of migration—where histories, labor, and aspirations intersect in everyday life. About the Artist José Ibarra Rizo (American, born Mexico) is a lens-based artist living and working in Atlanta, GA. His work examines cultural memory, identity, and the migrant experience in the American South. He was awarded the inaugural Emerging Artist Fellowship by the Atlanta Center for Photography, named a finalist for the 2022 Aperture Portfolio Prize, recognized as one of three recipients of the 2022 Atlanta Artadia Awards, and selected as a 2023–2024 Working Artist Project winner by MOCA GA. José's work is part of the permanent collections of the High Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, and the Michael C. Carlos Museum. His clients include Rolling Stone, TIME Magazine, and The New York Times.

Benrubi Gallery is honored to present a memorial exhibition for our beloved Jed Devine. Born on August 31, 1944, Jed grew up in Pleasantville, NY, the middle of three brothers. He attended Pleasantville High School, Deerfield Academy, and Yale, where he captained the baseball team and received his BA in fine arts and MFA in graphic design. After graduate school, Jed focused on photography, notably the black-and-white palladium prints for which he is known, and later for his color digital prints. He exhibited with Daniel Wolf and then with our founder Bonni Benrubi from 1987 on. Jed has been an integral part of our gallery's story and legacy, shaping how we have seen pictures since our very inception as an organization. In 1986, Jed received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his photographs of Central Park’s Bethesda Terrace. Jed’s work is in the permanent collections of numerous museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, the Eastman House, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Addison Gallery, the Aldrich Contemporary Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of art, the San Francisco Museum of art and the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, among other private and public collections. Jed Devine—photographer, teacher, husband, father, and grandfather—passed away on October 29, 2024. He died at home on Martha’s Vineyard, surrounded by his wife Barbara Kassel, his son Jesse Devine, and his daughter Siobhan Devine. We invite you to join us for this celebration of life and throughout the summer as Jed fills our gallery with his eternal sense of humor, love and poetry. Image: Jed Devine, Untitled (Pears, Woodblocks, And Face)

These pictures are part of an ongoing series of group portraits by the collaborative duo, Jon Tonks (UK) and Roman Franc (Czech Republic). Their portraiture documents civic life in their hometowns and in communities further afield. Both artists have participated in past exhibitions in Bloomington where they came to love the city and its special character. Bloomington is to be the first city in America to be featured in the project. The photographs on the wall were made during an intensive seven-week visit and were brought to life with a good dose of friendly local help. And though they capture a variety of the town’s dimensions and its treasures, it’s only a slice of the rich cultural life in this city. In a time where group identity is used to polarize and situate people against one another, group portraits can be a force in the opposite direction, celebrating unity and camaraderie. The photographs offer a unique moment, where the act of coming together is preserved in a timelessly fascinating image.

CLAMP presents “James Bidgood | Dreamlands,” an exhibition of photographs marking the launch of the monograph of the same title from Salzgeber, in addition to recent screenings of the artist’s cult classic film, “Pink Narcissus,” at theaters across the United States and Europe. The book combines iconic motifs from the artist’s oeuvre with many previously unpublished images. The exhibition at CLAMP includes twelve of these new photographs selected from the estate archives, along with a large-scale print of “Pan”—the monograph’s cover image. “Pink Narcissus,” James Bidgood’s film from 1971, described as a “kaleidoscopic fever dream of queer desire,” was recently restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and has been playing at theaters since late 2024, including MoMA (New York), Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), BAM (New York), Metrograph (New York), and other screens in London, Bologna, San Francisco, Seattle, Provincetown, Tucson, St. Louis, etc. James Bidgood passed away in 2022 at the age of 88. A New Yorker for over 70 years, he was adored and admired by generations of artists and cinephiles alike. When Bidgood first came to New York from Wisconsin in the 1950s, he worked as a drag performer and occasional set and costume designer at Club 82 in the East Village. After studying at Parsons School of Design from 1957 to 1960, Bidgood found jobs as a window dresser and costume designer. He then went on to work as a photographer for men’s physique publications and began creating his own personal photographs and films that greatly benefited from his talents in theater design and costume construction. It was during this period in the early 1960s that Bidgood began working on his masterpiece—the 8mm opus “Pink Narcissus.” In his tiny apartment in Hell’s Kitchen, he handcrafted sets using humble materials to create a theatrical dreamland in which artifice became transcendent. With hand-tailored clothing, saturated lighting, and lots of glitter, Bidgood built a cosmos of queer belonging, populated with angelic figures of male beauty—including Cupid, Pan, and other mythological gods, along with harlequins, soldiers, firemen, hustlers, drag queens, altar boys, and more. Bidgood’s confined domestic production speaks to both necessity and liberation—"a queer creative spirit refusing to be constrained by material limitations." In fact, the artist and his models would eat, sleep, and frolic within the sets until it was time to tear them down and begin building the next scene. Within this space, and in front of his lens, the homosexuals that were ostracized by larger society could be beautiful, glamorous, complex, silly, or simply themselves.

This summer, the Alice Austen House proudly presents The Serpent, The Medicine, and The Invisible Devil, a new site-specific installation by visual artist Jasmine Murrell. Renowned for her interdisciplinary, community-rooted practice, Murrell transforms both the museum’s contemporary galleries and the surrounding Alice Austen Park into immersive spaces of ritual, healing, and transformation. Collaborating with artists, farmers, botanists, and performers, Murrell unveils a series of photographs featuring her wearable sculptures and handwoven garments crafted from organic materials and natural dyes. During the run of the exhibition, Murrell will also create a living sculpture in the waterfront park, constructed from earthen plasters, medicinal plants. This evolving piece serves as both sanctuary and sculpture, incorporating plant species meaningful to the local community. Inside the museum, her installation includes photography, sculpture, and film, all centered around the voices of “plant whisperers”—Black and Brown herbalists, healers, and elders who draw on ancestral plant knowledge to sustain and care for their communities.