Center Forward 2023

Life’s finest moments often emerge in the spaces between obligations—where joy, relaxation, and beauty naturally unfold. Whether through quiet reflection, playful escape, or shared celebration, these experiences remind us to savor the present. The Good Life: Experiencing Leisure, Joy & Luxury captures the essence of these fleeting, meaningful moments. The exhibition features the works of Slim Aarons, Rodney Smith, and William Helburn, three photographers whose images embody levity, pleasure, and elegance. Through their distinct visions, The Good Life offers an invitation to embrace life’s finest experiences. These works celebrate joy, luxury, and lightness—not as extravagances, but as moments that enrich our everyday existence. The photographs on display go beyond simple documentation; they breathe life into the present, inviting us into a world of unencumbered joy and indulgence. Whether capturing refined leisure or whimsical elegance, these images transcend time to evoke emotions that resonate today. Each frame holds a fragment of freedom, exuberance, or nostalgia—reminding us that even the simplest pleasures can carry a timeless allure. Slim Aarons (1916–2006) dedicated his career to capturing the lives of the rich and glamorous. Known for striking images of high society at leisure—whether by the pool in Palm Springs or on the slopes of Gstaad—Aarons embodied his philosophy of “photographing attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places.” His photographs immortalize leisurely pursuits against stunning backdrops of luxurious estates and sun-drenched beaches, revealing a visual archive of mid-20th-century elegance and opulence. Beginning his career as a combat photographer during World War II, Aarons transitioned to society photography post-war, establishing a signature style marked by vibrant colors and natural light. His influential body of work has graced major publications like *Life* and *Harper’s Bazaar* and continues to inspire artists and designers, reflecting the complex narratives of identity and privilege that define his legacy. Rodney Smith (1947–2016) was a prominent fashion and portrait photographer whose whimsical black-and-white imagery evokes the surrealism of René Magritte. Known for his un-retouched, dreamlike compositions, Smith masterfully balanced elegance and humor, creating enchanted worlds filled with playful surprises. His photographs reflect a keen understanding of light and composition, inviting viewers into a realm where joy and optimism reign. With a career spanning over 45 years, Smith’s work continues to inspire and captivate, celebrating the beauty of life through his unique artistic vision. William Helburn (1924-2020) was a pioneering figure in fashion and advertising photography, whose work epitomizes the creative revolution of the 1950s and 1960s. His innovative approach to visual storytelling transformed how fashion was portrayed, blending elegance with an unexpected sense of humor and whimsy. Helburn’s photographs not only captured the era’s most iconic models, such as Dovima and Sharon Tate, but also illustrated the vibrant spirit of postwar America. By pushing the boundaries of traditional studio settings and utilizing urban environments as backdrops, he created dynamic compositions that resonated with the youthful optimism of the time. His distinctive aesthetic—marked by bold colors and striking contrasts—mirrors the exhibition’s theme of redefining identity and exploring the interplay between fashion, culture, and societal norms. Helburn’s legacy as a master of both technique and vision continues to influence contemporary photography, making his work a vital part of this narrative. Together, the works of Aarons, Smith, and Helburn invite us to experience The Good Life—a celebration of life’s finer moments, where joy, beauty, and elegance intertwine. This exhibition reminds us that sometimes, the simplest pleasures are the most meaningful and luxurious of all. Image: Palm Beach Idyll © Slim Aarons

Only eight miles away from Long Island’s south shore, but a world apart from Long Island’s suburbia. This barrier island seashore offers residents and visitors the freedom to express themselves, both personally and artistically. It has offered a warm-weather respite to Long Islanders and New Yorkers for more than a century, with ferry service beginning in the mid-19th century, soon after the first hotels were built. The Hamlets of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines have provided LGBTQ+ New Yorkers the freedom to express themselves since the mid-20th century, and these communities have been celebrated worldwide as a place of acceptance, drawing artists seeking inspiration. Featuring works by Paul Cadmus, Meryl Meisler, John Laub, Joanne Mulberg, TM Davy, Doron Langberg, Louis Fratino, and more.

Traces of the Manifest encompasses photographs, ephemera and video made by Victoria Sambunaris between 2015 and 2023. The exhibition uncovers new meanings and alternative perceptions beyond Sambunaris’ well-known or customary large-scale murals of American landscape which examine the external imprint from deep time to human time. By showing artifacts, found objects and photographs this exhibition reveals the working method, perceptions, intimacies and even unconscious views that are part of the essential and incidental elements of Sambunaris’ work as a photographer and explorer. Photographs from the Texas Gulf Coast to the desert regions of southern California reveal three dimensions of the animating forces behind Sambunaris’ larger concerns: the impact of industrial sites, geological forces and human traces found in landscape today. The intimate scale of this exhibition has given Sambunaris the opportunity to include journals, road logs, gifts, mineral collections, books, and snapshot documentation to reveal a personal story of her time on the road.

Revisions: Celebrating Fifty Years of the UMBC Photography Collections features highlights and lesser-known gems from UMBC’s considerable photography holdings. Looking back at a half-century of collecting, the exhibition offers thematic groupings and visual juxtapositions of photographs from the nineteenth century to the present. The display asks viewers to approach the history of photography with fresh eyes. Among the artists featured are Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Kerry Coppin, Cary Beth Cryor, Judy Dater, Robert Frank, Roland Freeman, Ralph Gibson, Lewis Hine, and Alfred Stieglitz. Image: Elba, 1983 © Ralph Gibson

Jackson Fine Art is delighted to announce our Fall 2024 exhibitions with Michael Stipe, Angela West, and John Chiara opening on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. with a reception celebrating the artists. Even the birds gave pause features work of artist and former R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe and presents a sampling of the breadth of Stipe’s creativity - photographs of family and friends, an installation of folded portraits printed on delicate rice paper, brightly painted bronze fox sculptures, and book art portraits of his muses. In Conversation is an inspired pairing of John Chiara’s dreamy, richly colored camera obscura photographs with Angela West’s painterly mixed media works. Both West and Chiara play with reflection, light and abstraction to create deeply evocative landscapes that are less about depiction of place but rather the memory of it. Stipe, West, and Chiara each embody a contemporary sensibility that addresses memory, identity, and the evolving relationship between people and nature. Stipe’s exhibition, Even the birds gave pause, takes imagery from his most recent book published by Damiani of the same name as the foundation and expands from there. The artist’s continual exploration of portraiture is the show’s central theme. Stipe’s portraits reflect a variety of different approaches - candid, conceptual, and classical – but always with a poignant sensitivity to the vulnerability of his subjects. The curation of images and objects presents a view into how the artist sees and interprets the world around him. This is Stipe’s first exhibition with the gallery. Image: Megan & Lucy (Homage to Lee Friedlander), 2020 © Michael Stipe

West’s work reimagines her earlier series of photographs of Dahlonega, GA (the artist’s hometown) through a reorientation of format and painting layers of impressionistic brushstrokes. The interplay of the glossy photograph and texture of paint creates a wholly new experience of subject and ground, and results in fantastical compositions that blur distinction between photography and painting. Utilizing inventive cameras he designed and built himself, Chiara shoots directly onto positive color photographic paper, leaving behind visible traces of his process. The artist was invited by the San Francisco Arts Commission in 2022 to document the redevelopment taking shape on nearby Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands, and the exhibition focuses on works from this new series. His images draw our attention to shifting elements of the landscape and tell a thoughtful, complex story about the changing urban terrain. Image: Facing another way, where I am, 2024 © Angela West

Daniel Cooney Fine Art is incredibly honored to present the work of the iconic Boston based photographer Jason Byron Gavann. The exhibition consists of 25 black and white and color images created between 1980 and 2006 in Boston, Provincetown and Paris. For over five decades Gavann has documented queer life in Boston and around the world. As a student at UMass Boston in the 1970’s a professor suggested that he “photograph what is most familiar." Gavann says, “A light went off in my head and I thought, I’ll photograph my friends.” The artist’s journey of finding inspiration in his friendships continues to this day. Growing up just outside of Boston, Gavann found sanctuary as a teen in the city’s Park Square. The area was a hub for young runaways, drag queens and sex workers. The formative environment influenced his photography as he developed a compassionate eye and yearned for a genuine connection. He learned to seek out compelling people radiating resilience that would create portraits that celebrate life. As a contemporary of the “Boston School” artists, Gavann created intimate portraits of Jack Pierson, Mark Morrisroe, Pat Hearn, Sharon Niesp and Tabboo! among others. The portraits will be included in the exhibition as Gavann’s influence on the group is significant, if not well documented. Pierson says of Gavann, “Jason’s spirit is a gift to us all. I don’t know anyone who makes working at your art and living a beautiful life look better.” Gavann’s portraits were recently included in Madonna’s “Celebration Tour” to honor artists lost to AIDS. He has exhibited his work domestically and internationally in both group and solo presentations. This year he was featured in Interview Magazine by curator Jackson Davidow.

Pace is pleased to present Irving Penn: Kinship, an exhibition of work by the famed photographer Irving Penn, curated by artist Hank Willis Thomas, at its 508 West 25th Street gallery in New York. On view from November 15 to December 21, this show will spotlight works produced by Penn throughout his 70-year career, including selections from his Worlds in a Small Room series, his iconic portraits of artists, actors, and writers, and other genres of his images. These photographs will be exhibited within an installation designed by Thomas to replicate a structure that Penn used to photograph many of his high-profile subjects. Working for Vogue for nearly 70 years, Penn left an indelible mark on the history of photography. His inventive fashion photographs, which transformed American image-making in the postwar era, continued to appear in the magazine up until his death in 2009. The artist was also highly accomplished and experimental in the darkroom, having engineered, among other innovations, a complex technique for making platinum-palladium prints. A trained photographer, Thomas, widely known for his galvanizing public works around the US, is deeply interested in both the making and consumption of images. His investigations into subjectivity and perception inform his work in photography and other mediums, including sculpture, screenprinting, video, and installation. Penn’s Worlds in a Small Room works—for which he journeyed to Cuzco, Crete, Extremadura, Dahomey, Cameroon, San Francisco, Nepal, New Guinea, and Morocco to capture people’s portraits within a tent he used as a portable studio—have been particularly influential for Thomas, who was part of the artistic team behind the traveling, participatory installation In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth), which debuted in 2011 and has since been presented around the world.

CLAMP is pleased to present “Orange Blossom Trail,” an exhibition of photographs by Joshua Lutz, drawn from his recently published book of the same name, a collaboration with esteemed writer George Saunders. Lutz’s “Orange Blossom Trail” delves into the complex realities of life in Central Florida, a region often romanticized for its sunshine and theme parks, yet grappling with economic hardship, social inequality, and environmental fragility. Lutz’s lens captures this dichotomy, revealing a landscape imbued with both beauty and struggle. The exhibition features a selection of Lutz’s evocative photographs, offering glimpses into the lives of individuals navigating this challenging terrain. Images of lush landscapes interspersed with portraits of residents hint at the underlying tensions between the idyllic façade and the lived experiences of those who call it home. Lutz’s photographs capture moments of both quiet desperation and unexpected beauty. We see evidence of the region’s struggles in images of dilapidated buildings, neglected neighborhoods, and individuals grappling with poverty and isolation. Yet, amidst these challenges, Lutz also finds moments of resilience, hope, and human connection. Lutz’s work prompts viewers to consider the complexities of place and identity, and the human capacity for perseverance in the face of adversity. “Orange Blossom Trail” offers a nuanced and compassionate portrayal of a region often overlooked and misunderstood.

Charles Clayton ("Todd") Webb III was born in 1905 in Detroit, Michigan. After achieving success as a stockbroker during the 1920s, he lost everything in the financial collapse of 1929. In the aftermath, during the Great Depression, Webb took on various jobs, including gold prospecting, working as a forest ranger, and writing unpublished short stories. It was during this time, in the 1930s, that he developed an interest in photography, which soon overshadowed his writing. Photography allowed him to combine his passions for travel, meeting new people, and capturing their lives through his lens. In 1938, Webb became a member of the Chrysler Camera Club in Detroit, where he met fellow photographer Harry Callahan. His participation in a workshop led by Ansel Adams solidified Webb's dedication to "straight photography," known for its crisp focus and sharp details. After serving in World War II, he relocated to New York City, where he befriended Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe. This connection introduced him to Beaumont Newhall, who later curated Webb's first major exhibition at the Museum of The City of New York. Around this time, Webb also worked with Roy Stryker and the Standard Oil Company, further establishing himself in the photographic world. In 1949, Webb moved to Paris, where he met his wife, Lucille. The couple lived in France for the next four years. Webb was awarded two Guggenheim fellowships in 1955 and 1956, allowing him to document the pioneer trails that early settlers took to Oregon and California. Unlike his contemporary, Robert Frank, who drove across the country, Webb journeyed on foot, photographing as he went from the East Coast to the West. Webb continued to photograph well into the 1980s, creating a distinctive body of work that has earned a significant place in American photographic history. Often called "a historian with a camera," Webb's images offer rich documentation of life across the globe. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in numerous major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Art Institute, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Todd Webb passed away in May 2000 at the age of 94 in Central Maine. His life, much like his photographs, may have seemed simple at first glance but revealed increasing complexity and depth upon closer inspection.

Pace is pleased to present an exhibition of work by the celebrated photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank at its 540 West 25th Street gallery in New York, on view from November 15 to December 21. This presentation, titled Robert Frank: Hope Makes Visions, marks the centenary of Frank’s birth and coincides with several other major exhibitions of his work around the world. Pace’s upcoming Frank exhibition—organized in collaboration with The June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation—will be accompanied by a new book from Pace Publishing, featuring an essay by Ocean Vuong. Robert Frank: Hope Makes Visions will focus on Frank’s later work from the 1970s onward: the decades he spent experimenting with various cameras, printing methods, and media. Curated by Shahrzad Kamel, Director of The June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation, the exhibition takes its title from a sketch Frank made of his work Fire Below—to the East America, Mabou (1979), which was included in a bequest the artist made of his photographs and papers to The June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation upon his death in 2019, and one of many discoveries that inspired this presentation of previously unseen works from his oeuvre. Pace’s show will feature groupings of multimedia works based on various motifs that Frank revisited throughout his career, offering a new way of seeing his work that will deepen viewers’ understanding of his artistic processes and motivations. The photographs on view, some of which feature multiple frames in a single image, hand drawn etchings, and inscribed phrases, will showcase his long-standing interest in re-presenting older photographs from his past as new compositions, or ‘variants.’ Frank’s 2004 autobiographical short film True Story will also be presented in its entirety at the gallery. The atemporality of his photography and filmmaking—for which he pieced together fragments of not only images but also his own memories, dreams, and ideas—will be on full view in the exhibition.

Photo-Secession: Painterly Masterworks of Turn-of-the-Century Photography celebrates an intrepid group of photographers, led by preeminent photographer Alfred Stieglitz, who fought to establish photography as fine art, coequal with painting and sculpture at the turn of the 20th century. The Photo-Secession movement took cues from European modernists–who seceded from centuries-old academic traditions–to demonstrate photographic pictures' aesthetic, creative, and skillful value as art. An homage to Stieglitz, Photo-Secession includes some of the very images that established the appreciation of photography's artistic merits. The UMFA will present this exhibition concurrently with Blue Grass, Green Skies: American Impressionism and Realism from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to draw attention to the cyclical dialogue between painting and photography in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this period, photographers manipulated their images at various stages of production to imitate painterly effects, while painters worked and reworked their oils to imitate the immediacy of photography, demonstrating a remarkable reciprocity between these two art forms.