Joel-Peter Witkin: The Early Works

Peter Fetterman Gallery is proud to present "The World of Sebastião Salgado," a large-scale exhibition of prints by the master photographer Sebastião Salgado (Brazil, b. 1944). Opening on Saturday, March 15, 2025, and running through June 21st, this exhibition will offer an extraordinary retrospective of Salgado’s unparalleled career. A special opening reception will be held on March 15 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. Utilizing the entire gallery space, this extensive exhibition will feature photographs, spanning over four decades of Salgado’s dedicated photographic work. Iconic images from his major bodies of work will be presented as hand crafted gelatin silver prints alongside his special, highly coveted platinum palladium prints. Curated to present Salgado’s powerful visual storytelling within a retrospective context, "The World of Sebastião Salgado" will provide a compelling insight into the depth and breadth of his documentary and artistic practice. Sebastião Salgado is widely recognized as one of the most influential photographers of our time. His humanistic approach to documentary photography has illuminated pressing global issues, from labor and migration to environmental conservation. The exhibition will highlight key works from his most renowned series, including the Serra Pelada Gold Mines, his documentation of conflict and displacement in Africa, his haunting portrayals of environmental destruction in the Oil Fields of Kuwait during the Gulf War, and his latest body of work from Brazil titled, Amazonia. Additionally, the exhibition will showcase works from his environmental magnum opus, "GENESIS," a project that explores untouched landscapes, wildlife, and indigenous cultures. The relationship between Peter Fetterman Gallery and Sebastião Salgado is rooted in a deep mutual respect and a shared commitment to photography as a force for storytelling and change. Introduced to Salgado through master photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) and Martine Franck (1938-2012), Peter Fetterman has been a key figure in bringing Salgado's work to a fine art audience for over 30 years. Born in Aimorés, Brazil, in 1944, Sebastião Salgado initially trained as an economist before turning to photography, a path that has since shaped the field of visual storytelling. Salgado resides in Paris with his wife, Lélia Wanick Salgado, who has played an integral role in curating and publishing his works. "The World of Sebastião Salgado" at Peter Fetterman Gallery will be an unmissable opportunity to see the photographs of one of the greatest documentary photographers of our time.

Running concurrently with The World of Louis Stettner at Les Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, Across Two Worldsat The Hulett Collection offers an intimate look at Louis Stettner’s lifelong exploration of life on both sides of the Atlantic. Drawing from his time in New York and Paris, this special exhibition brings together photographs that capture the quiet poetry of everyday life — moments of human connection, resilience, and grace, seen through Stettner’s empathetic and unwavering eye. Whether documenting the bustling streets of Manhattan or the contemplative cafés of Paris, Stettner’s work transcends geography to reveal a universal, deeply human experience. Across Two Worlds reflects Stettner’s rare ability to merge the candid energy of American street photography with the lyrical sensitivity of the French humanist tradition. These works, spanning decades and geographies, celebrate photography’s power to find beauty and meaning in the ordinary. The exhibition coincides with the release of a new Photo Poche and Photo File monographs dedicated to Stettner’s work, as well as the major retrospective now on view in Arles — together offering a season of renewed appreciation for one of photography’s most soulful and enduring voices.

Fade to West is a photographic exhibition that brings together the visionary work of Paul Jasmin and Todd Weaver—two artists who have made tangible the fleetingness of Los Angeles’s beauty and sunsets. Though neither artist was born in California, both were drawn to a city as radiant and restless as them. Now deeply rooted in its culture, they embody its essence—capturing not only its landscapes and people, but its elusive atmosphere. The exhibition pairs Jasmin’s evocative portraits and cinematic vignettes with Weaver’s ethereal scenes of nature, offering a dual portrait of a place defined by light, youth, and transience. Jasmin helped define the visual language of Los Angeles, staging moments of youth and intimacy against the soft glow of the city’s ambient warmth. His photographs are imbued with compassion and quiet curiosity, revealing a version of the city that feels personal, suspended, and tenderly observed. Weaver, meanwhile, explores the edges of California—its windswept dunes, sunlit surf, and shifting horizons. Through analog processes and in-camera experimentation, his work transforms familiar vistas into one-of-a-kind impressions—each frame a meditation on movement, time, and atmosphere. Together, Jasmin and Weaver render California not as an ideal or illusion, but as a living, breathing place—one that glows brightest in moments that never last. Fade to West was developed in collaboration with Paul Jasmin prior to his death, and we are honored to present it as intended—celebrating his artistry and his enduring love for the city of Los Angeles. Paul Jasmin (1935–2025) was an American photographer, illustrator, and educator whose work distilled a precise and evocative vision of beauty. Born in Helena, Montana, Jasmin began his career as a painter and actor before turning to photography in the 1970s, encouraged by his friend Bruce Weber. Drawn to themes of youth, innocence, and sexuality, Jasmin created dreamlike tableaux that transport viewers into a world of seductive beauty and languid allure. Set largely in and around Los Angeles, his images explored the tension between aspiration and reality, reflecting a lifelong fascination with glamour, the American dream, and fleeting moments of becoming. His editorial and commercial work appeared in Vogue, GQ, W, Interview, V Man, Teen Vogue, Vogue Hommes, and in campaigns for APC, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, Nordstrom, and others. He published three monographs: Hollywood Cowboy (2002), Lost Angeles (2004), and California Dreaming (2010, Steidl/7L). Jasmin was also a dedicated teacher at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, where he mentored generations of emerging artists with a quiet rigor and an unshakable belief in the power of imagination. Known affectionately as “Jazz” by his friends and students, he brought the same sensitivity and elegance to his teaching as he did to his images. Jasmin passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles on May 24, 2025, at the age of 90. Todd Weaver (b. 1970) is an American photographer recognized for his expressive use of color and intimate portraits of artists and musicians. His work is distinguished by a bold and exploratory approach to color, which brings emotional depth and vibrancy to his images. Weaver began his career under the mentorship of established photographers including William Claxton, Ellen von Unwerth, Herb Ritts, Steven Klein, and Randee St. Nicholas. Developing his own distinctive style, he has created portraits of figures such as André 3000, Lita Albuquerque, Paz Lenchantin, Devendra Banhart, and Father John Misty, and collaborated with brands including Nike, Veuve Clicquot, and Cadillac. His first monograph, 36 (2018), features portraits taken with a vintage half-frame camera, emphasizing spontaneity and intimate moments. More recently, Weaver has focused on Southern California’s surf culture, creating atmospheric, analog portraits that explore the relationship between surfer and wave. Combining experimental film techniques with a strong compositional sensibility, Weaver has participated in several group exhibitions and has been selected multiple times for the American Photography Annual. His work will be included in an upcoming publication by Taschen. Image: Summer Evening Crowd, 2020 © Todd Weaver, courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles

The Unending Stream is a two-part exhibition that showcases the thriving community of photographers in New Orleans. The title of the exhibition pays homage to a Clarence John Laughlin photograph of the same title, which is a part of the permanent collection at Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Laughlin’s seminal work, created between the 1930s and 1950s, is an important chapter in the long-storied relationship between New Orleans and photography. Following in his visionary footsteps, this exhibition focuses on emerging and underrepresented photographers who continue to focus on the South through poetic imagery. These photographers are visually defining the Crescent City in the twenty-first century. The Unending Stream celebrates the city of New Orleans’ continuing role as one of America’s most important cultural capitals while also highlighting the role that the arts have played in revitalizing the region for the past twenty years since Hurricane Katrina. The Unending Stream features works by photographers who explore themes similar to Laughlin’s of memory, decay and the supernatural, capturing mysterious beauty and forgotten places. Themes of place, time, family and identity are also woven within the exhibition. Each photographer brings a contemporary twist to the exhibition, creating work that provokes thought and conjures emotion. The first chapter of The Unending Stream exhibition features six photographers (Trenity Thomas, Kevin Kline, Jacob Mitchell, Brittany Markert, Thom Bennett and Tiffany Smith) who work in both analogue and digital photography. Trenity Thomas fuses art and fashion in his colorful portraits made against an urban background; Kevin Kline documents the gritty streets of his Bywater neighborhood in the midst of gentrification; Jacob Mitchell uses the computer to sublimely manipulate his hyper-colored architectural studies; Brittany Markert constructs sensual and psychological portraits that blend beauty and horror; Thom Bennett captures with a panorama camera the flatlands between New Orleans and Acadiana; and Tiffany Smith uses self-portraiture to explore the Caribbean diaspora. New Orleans has been both muse and home to some of the most important and celebrated photographers of the ninetieth and twentieth century. The Unending Stream exhibition sheds light on the current trajectory of photography being created in New Orleans today. Image: Kevin Kline, Two Sisters, Burgundy St., 2008, Gelatin silver print, 15 x 15 inches, Collection of the artist

Midwestern Nights is a collaborative exhibition by three photographers from Illinois: Robin Bailey, Jim Hill and Dave Jordano. This work explores the after-dark world of Midwest cities and towns. Each artist brings their unique vision to the project from Jordano’s look at surviving structures in transitional neighborhoods of Detroit, to Hill’s capturing the essence of small rural towns in Illinois and Iowa, and Bailey’s collection of vernacular scenes of the heartland. The night creates a distinctive atmosphere in these images, one that isolates the scene and allows for an uninhibited and contemplative view. There are stories in these images— stories of perseverance, fortitude and survival; and, though devoid of people, these images overflow with a human presence that is palpable. Image: Jim Hill

The Christopher Hyland Photography Collection at the Newport Art Museum invites viewers into the visionary worlds of some of the 20th century’s most influential photographers. Assembled through the discerning eye of textile designer and art collector Christopher Hyland, the exhibition features works by Edward Steichen, Edward Weston, Paul Strand, Shelby Lee Adams, Sally Mann, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Mapplethorpe, André Kertész, and others, each offering a distinct vision of life’s fleeting moments. United by their gift for revealing the profound within the everyday, these artists elevate ordinary scenes into timeless narratives. Whether it’s Cartier-Bresson’s decisive moments, Mann’s haunting portraits, or Weston’s sensual still lifes, each photograph commands light, form, and emotion. Together, they explore photography’s paradox—the ability to freeze a moment while evoking a universe of feeling and meaning. As Ben Lifson observed, Hyland’s collection embodies this duality: these images offer both resolution and ambiguity, transforming moments into enduring narratives. They transcend documentation, becoming vessels for storytelling and introspection.

Anti-Blackness seems inescapably mixed into whatever context I place it into; literature, science, government, health, art… look into any “field” and see for yourself. My people have had to cry, scream, and fight for respect for centuries, and we still have not gained what we deserve. To move past the damage this has done to our society, we can’t simply deny our history—we must recognize it. We must acknowledge the many ways in which this country has perpetuated a racial hierarchy since these lands were first colonized and stripped from indigenous peoples, and Black people were stolen from their native land and brought to America. In BLACK SNAFU (Situation Niggas: All Fucked Up), I appropriate various depictions of Black people that I find throughout the history of cartooning and juxtapose them with photographs that celebrate and line up more authentically with my Black experience. The photographs I create vary in subject matter; I seek to include celebratory portraits, didactic still lives, and representational documentations of places rich in their relation to Black community, allowing me to fight back against the history of the racist caricature that I reclaim in my work. By combining these ambivalent visual languages, I intend to expose to viewers America’s deplorable connection to anti-Black tropes through pop culture while simultaneously celebrating the reality of what it means to be Black. About André – Raised in the Southern states of Tennessee and Texas, André Ramos-Woodard (he/ they) is a photo-based artist who uses their work to emphasize the experiences of marginalized communities while accenting the repercussions of contemporary and historical discrimination. His art conveys ideas of communal and personal identity, influenced by their direct experience with life as a queer African American. Focusing on Black liberation, queer justice, and the reality of mental health, he aspires for his art to help bring power to the people. Selected for Foam Museum’s Foam TALENT Award in 2024 and a two-time top-50 Finalist for Photolucida’s Critical Mass (in 2020 and 2023), Ramos-Woodard has shown their work at various institutions across the United States a beyond, including the Foam Museum–The Netherlands, Amsterdam, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston–Houston, Texas, Leon Gallery–Denver, Colorado, and FILTER Photo–Chicago, Illinois. He received his BFA from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and his MFA at The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We are grateful to the Cummings Foundation for their support of the arts and the Griffin Museum. The Cummings Residency program highlights artists of diverse backgrounds and using their specific skill set, work to create a photographically based exhibition as a result of their connection to the Griffin Museum, Winchester and surrounding areas, while engaging in critical dialogues about art and culture with both the youth and adult community they inhabit. Using photography as a bridge to building relationships, the Cummings Fellow creates a series of images opening up the pathways to multicultural understanding and acceptance. The museum and its partners are creating a literacy program centered around imagery, using photography as the tool, working with professional artists to talk about their communities, cultures and new and shared origin stories.

Throughout history, artists have been captivated by the moon — not only as a celestial body, but as a powerful and evocative symbol. Its soft, silvery glow has long been associated with romance, mystery, and the passage of time. In countless paintings, drawings, and prints, the moon has served as both muse and metaphor, casting its quiet light over lovers, dreamers, and solitary figures, offering an atmosphere of reflection, longing, and poetic solitude. This installation, drawn from the Museum’s collection of works on paper, explores the many ways in which the moon has been depicted across time and artistic styles. Sometimes it functions as a compositional anchor — a glowing orb balancing the sky or guiding the viewer’s eye across the scene. In other instances, it becomes a potent symbol: of change, of cycles, of melancholy, or even of hope. Artists use the moon not only to illuminate their subjects, but to shape mood and suggest deeper emotional or philosophical themes. The light portrayed in these works is never harsh. Instead, it’s soft, diffuse, and often reflective — bathing surfaces in a gentle radiance that contrasts with the sharp clarity of daylight. But the moon is not merely a source of light; it is also emblematic of night and its inherent darkness. It represents quiet, rest, and introspection, standing in opposition to the activity and energy of the sunlit world. By contrasting moonlight with daylight, these artworks evoke a wide range of emotional and symbolic states — from vitality to vulnerability, clarity to ambiguity, reality to dream. In this dialogue between light and shadow, presence and absence, we are reminded of the enduring power of the moon to stir the imagination and speak to the rhythms of the human experience.

This exhibition is the first US survey of the work of Kunié Sugiura, an artist whose boundary-defying engagement with the photographic medium spans over sixty years. Born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1942, Sugiura came to the United States in 1963 to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she majored in photography. After graduation, she relocated to New York and has lived there ever since. Sugiura’s practice embraces a hybrid approach, blending various mediums and expressing her bicultural identity. The balancing of dualisms —Japanese/American, organic/human-made, and painting/photography — defines her work. Sugiura has stated that her cross-fertilization of photography with painting and sculpture partly stems from her desire that photography be taken seriously as an art form. The exhibition charts the arc of Sugiura’s long career, beginning with undergraduate work from her Cko series that reflects her sense of isolation as a foreign student in Chicago. Prints made after her move to New York in 1967 demonstrate her use of canvas as a support and new process of working on a large scale. Her Photopaintings from the 1970s take on multidimensional, sculptural qualities, pairing painted and photographic panels with wooden elements. Photograms — images made without a camera on light-sensitive material — that she first created in 1980, capture a wide range of subjects, including flowers and portraits of other artists. Sugiura’s compositions made from X-ray negatives in the 1990s and 2000s combine unrelated pieces from various sources that were cut and pasted together to create unique configurations. Throughout her career, Sugiura has willfully made artworks that “break with conventions and traditions of both painting and photography.” Despite this inherent rebelliousness, such gestures do not overwhelm Sugiura’s vision to create dynamic and original hybrid forms in which the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Image: Kunié Sugiura, Azalea, 1970

Selections from the Photography Collection features changing presentations of work from the Museum’s holdings, celebrating the diverse perspectives that artists have brought to this medium. The latest installation of photographs explores imagery of roads, travel, and summer fun. On view March 15 through September 7, these works span seven decades, depicting sightseers and sunbathers as well as highways, eateries, and roadside attractions. Highlights include witty beach scenes by Herb Snitzer, modernist works by Edward Weston and Margaret Bourke White, and Judith Joy Ross’s sensitive portraits.

Etherton Gallery presents a special summer exhibition featuring early works by acclaimed photographer Kate Breakey, on view May 20–September 20, 2025. This selection of hand-colored photographs offers an intimate look at critical moments in her evolution as an artist. The exhibition traces the emergence of Breakey’s distinctive visual language, and showcases work from series such as Los Sombras, Naturagraphia, Clouds and more recent landscapes, offering insight into the shifts in subject matter and technique that have defined her career. “My own collection of images serves as a record, a kind of a random, disjointed visual diary of the things I’ve seen and loved—a way to possess and preserve what is wild and ineffable, and above all transient... evidence of my life’s journey.” —Kate Breakey This exhibition reflects the emergence of Breakey’s distinctive approach: combining photographic methods with traditional artist’s tools—oil, pastel, and colored pencil—to transform paper, canvas, and other materials into richly layered, tactile objects. Each stroke of her pencil conveys a gesture of reverence for the natural world. Breakey’s awe is evident in her work, as she invites the viewer to share in her experience, fostering an appreciation of the natural world’s fragile beauty. The installation, drawn from Breakey’s archive, will evolve throughout the summer. As work in the exhibition is acquired, new ones will be introduced in the exhibition, maintaining its dynamic nature. About the Artist Kate Breakey is internationally acclaimed for her large-scale, hand-colored photographs—luminous portraits of birds, flowers, and animals that blend photographic process with painterly technique. Her work has been featured in more than 150 exhibitions across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, China, New Zealand, and France. Breakey’s photographs have been published in several monographs, including Small Deaths (2001), Birds/Flowers (2003), Painted Light (2010), Los Sombras (2015), and Slow Light (2016). Her work is held in several public collections among them the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, and the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona. A native of South Australia, Breakey lives in Tucson, Arizona, where the desert landscape continues to inspire her work. Image: Kate Breakey, Coyote, n.d.

New York Proud is a public art project presented in partnership with the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) celebrating the vibrant and diverse stories of immigrants across New York City. This campaign brings to life the personal journeys of immigrant New Yorkers through a striking photo series of 25 portraits, now displayed in subway stations and public spaces throughout New York City during the month of September and into October. With each portrait featuring people in or at their workplaces, the campaign emphasizes the integral roles and contributions of immigrants to the city’s cultural and economic landscape. New York Proud has been featured in pop-up photo exhibitions across NYC, located in Times Square in Manhattan (August 30-September 14, 2024); in Brooklyn, as a co-presentation with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, at The Plaza at 300 Ashland Place (August 29-September 16, 2024); Hunter’s Point South Park, LIC, Queens (September 16-October 15, 2024); and Starlight Park, The Bronx (November 4-December 6, 2024). It is currently on view in Staten Island at the Ferry Terminal! These larger-than-life installations will allow the public to take a deeper look into the lives of the featured individuals. Featured campaign participants include Jesus, a Peruvian drag queen; Marie Rose, a fruit vendor from Côte D’Ivoire; Mayowa, a Nigerian visual artist; and Antonio, a bus driver from Honduras, among many others. This campaign was developed in partnership with F.Y. Eye, The Opportunity Agenda, with portraits taken by Venezuelan documentary photographer Oscar B. Castillo. “New York Proud” is a citywide campaign to uplift and honor the resilience, contributions, and experiences of immigrants who shape the economic, cultural and social fabric of New York City. The portraits offer a curated visual narrative that reveals how immigrants are seamlessly integrated into the fabric of life across the city. We hope this campaign will ignite a citywide conversation about the importance of immigration to the vitality and future of New York City.