Half King Photography Series - Van Lenten & Price

Curated by Van Lenten & Price

“Politics in Play: Photography in the 2012 Presidential Race”


At The Half King: October 30, 2012 – December 16, 2012
Artist’s reception: Tuesday, October 30, 7:30 p.m.

Hell, I never vote for anybody, I always vote against.
- W.C. Fields

New York, NY—On October 30th at The Half King, photographers Damon Winter, Lauren Fleishman, & Ricardo Cases, will exhibit images from the 2012 primaries and presidential race.

Opening night will feature their assigning editors—Paul Moakley, deputy photo editor at Time, and Cornelius Schmid, picture editor at The New York Times—leading a discussion about these images and how magazines decide to shape their campaign coverage.

“This is a delicious chance to view campaign photography shot in three extremely different styles,” says curator Anna Van Lenten. “With Paul and Cornelius on hand to take us through Damon’s, Lauren’s, & Ricardo’s photos, we’ll also get a sense of the story-making picture editors do to get readers’ attention and to characterize candidates and supporters.”

The Half King Photography Series is dedicated to showing exceptional documentary photography. In tandem with its reading series, it fosters a dialog between photographers and writers that underscores the importance of their relationship. Co-curating its photography series are James Price, photo editor at Newsweek, and Anna Van Lenten, writer and editor.

Damon Winter is a staff photographer for The New York Times. Lauren Fleishman is a freelance photographer. She followed the 2012 Romney campaign for Time magazine. Ricardo Cases is a freelance photographer who covered the Republican primary in Florida for Time.

Posted by
AVL

© Jehad Nga, The Green Book Project.

More than a year ago, Jehad Nga’s In Memory of the Future show opened at The Half King. So we’re overdue to post about him again, because he’s been busy and productive since, especially in his work about Libya, where his father is from and which he looks at with a particularly loving and critical eye.

TGBP re-draws Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s infamous Green Book manifesto. Surface-wise, the results look a bit like an Andy Warhol multi-colored silkscreen. But Jehad’s how and why is more penetrating than Warhol—he subjects Gaddafi’s sinister, insincere ‘bible’ to a conceptual and vividly playful treatment.

Read more about it here.

Posted by
AVL

© Jan Banning, from his series “Comfort Women,” a project he made with writer Hilde Janssen. Jan exhibited at The Half King in 2010 with his many-storied, breathtaking project “Bureaucratics.” Despite their severity, Jan’s comfort women portraits are so in keeping with his Bureaucratics portraits: they both occur straight on, with no equivocating, no apology. Here, this woman seems the face both of an unapologetic truth sayer, but also of the specific horror she was subjected to. And the housefly on her knitted cap gives a weird bit of levity to her intense anger and hurt. Comfort women were Indonesian, Korean, or Chinese girls taken from their homes and forced into prostitution by the Japanese military during WWII. Jan’s photos are of 18 such Indonesian women. In speaking with Jan and Hilde, these women broke the persistent taboo against publicizing rape, and are part of a growing awareness of this secret history. Two items of interest related to Jan’s project: 1) This past spring, NYC’s Queens Council member Peter Koo announced plans for a memorial in Queens that would honor comfort women. Japanese deniers are writing to protest. (Deniers assert that these women were willing prostitutes.) There is already one such memorial in Palisades Park, NJ. In May, a group of Japanese elected officials met with Palisades borough leaders to ask them to remove the memorial. The answer was no. Read more here. 2) In Tokyo, a photographer Ahn Sehong is exhibiting his “Comfort Women” photography—now, as I write—to bitter outrage. In response, Nikon, the show’s host, at first cancelled the exhibit, then re-instated it after a court order. They did however, succeed in prohibiting the media from covering the show. More here.

© Jan Banning, from his series “Comfort Women,” a project he made with writer Hilde Janssen. Jan exhibited at The Half King in 2010 with his many-storied, breathtaking project “Bureaucratics.” Despite their severity, Jan’s comfort women portraits are so in keeping with his Bureaucratics portraits: they both occur straight on, with no equivocating, no apology. Here, this woman seems the face both of an unapologetic truth sayer, but also of the specific horror she was subjected to. And the housefly on her knitted cap gives a weird bit of levity to her intense anger and hurt.

Comfort women were Indonesian, Korean, or Chinese girls taken from their homes and forced into prostitution by the Japanese military during WWII. Jan’s photos are of 18 such Indonesian women. In speaking with Jan and Hilde, these women broke the persistent taboo against publicizing rape, and are part of a growing awareness of this secret history.

Two items of interest related to Jan’s project:

1) This past spring, NYC’s Queens Council member Peter Koo announced plans for a memorial in Queens that would honor comfort women. Japanese deniers are writing to protest. (Deniers assert that these women were willing prostitutes.)

There is already one such memorial in Palisades Park, NJ. In May, a group of Japanese elected officials met with Palisades borough leaders to ask them to remove the memorial. The answer was no. Read more here.

2) In Tokyo, a photographer Ahn Sehong is exhibiting his “Comfort Women” photography—now, as I write—to bitter outrage. In response, Nikon, the show’s host, at first cancelled the exhibit, then re-instated it after a court order. They did however, succeed in prohibiting the media from covering the show. More here.

Posted by
AVL

© Antonio Bolfo. This spring—2012—has been deemed the hottest in U.S. history. If only we had some lovely, cold snow, with NYPD rookies to keep it tamped down. Alas, we’ll have to settle for a glimpse of Antonio’s upcoming exhibit of work about the NYPD’s program Operation IMPACT, which opens at The Half King 7.24.12. And congratulations are in order—he just won a Marty Forscher Fellowship Prize, based on his Haiti Dump pictures.

© Antonio Bolfo. This spring—2012—has been deemed the hottest in U.S. history. If only we had some lovely, cold snow, with NYPD rookies to keep it tamped down. Alas, we’ll have to settle for a glimpse of Antonio’s upcoming exhibit of work about the NYPD’s program Operation IMPACT, which opens at The Half King 7.24.12. And congratulations are in order—he just won a Marty Forscher Fellowship Prize, based on his Haiti Dump pictures.

Posted by
AVL

© Diana Markosian. Chechen dancers backstage at a concert hall in the Chechen capital, Grozny. A suicide bomb attack at the concert hall in 2009 killed five people. Diana’s story, which ran on Foto8, the London gallery web site, looks at women and girls growing up in a Chechnya that imposes an ever-stricter Islamic culture on its people. This is the body of work we’re exhibiting at The Half King come September—and we’re delighted that Diana will be with us opening night for a discussion.

© Diana Markosian. Chechen dancers backstage at a concert hall in the Chechen capital, Grozny. A suicide bomb attack at the concert hall in 2009 killed five people.

Diana’s story, which ran on Foto8, the London gallery web site, looks at women and girls growing up in a Chechnya that imposes an ever-stricter Islamic culture on its people. This is the body of work we’re exhibiting at The Half King come September—and we’re delighted that Diana will be with us opening night for a discussion.

Posted by
AVL

Tamas Dezso, Half King photography exhibitor and winner of Daylight’s 2011 Photo Awards Project Prize Recipient, interviewed in Daylight here. Love his take: “For example, I met István, the lieutenant colonel [in the photo above], at the unveiling of a military monument. He was doing the military honours at the ceremonial event. To me his character symbolises the anachronistic power or rather infirmity of Hungarian military presence with his uniform projecting a theatrical appearance, giving the impression of a prop.”

Tamas Dezso, Half King photography exhibitor and winner of Daylight’s 2011 Photo Awards Project Prize Recipient, interviewed in Daylight here.

Love his take: “For example, I met István, the lieutenant colonel [in the photo above], at the unveiling of a military monument. He was doing the military honours at the ceremonial event. To me his character symbolises the anachronistic power or rather infirmity of Hungarian military presence with his uniform projecting a theatrical appearance, giving the impression of a prop.”

Posted by
AVL

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE MACCALLUM ON EXHIBIT AT THE HALF KING MARCH 20, 2012 - MAY 14, 2012I was a student at the University of Miami, doing work study at the school paper to get by. I heard about Woodstock and told my editor, ‘I’ll cover it for the paper.’ I had a limited budget and limited rolls of film, so I concentrated on Jimi and others I hadn’t shot before. ~ Bruce MacCallum Caption above: November, 1969. Mick Jagger, West Palm Beach Music & Art Festival. Mick as the Devil, prancing everywhere. ~ August, 1970. Jim Morrison, Dade County Courthouse, Miami, FL Jim was on trial for indecent exposure at a 1969 concert. I shot this in the hallway next to the men’s room where we were taking a break, having a smoke. Jim’s interest in freedom of expression seemed more on his mind than what was swirling around the courtroom. I hung out with him and the Doors for a few days. I do not remember talking about the trial—just about music. ~ 1969, Sly & The Family Stone at the University of Miami. This was an outdoor setting-smaller and more intimate than most other venues. Sly was truly alive—standing, screaming, going at it, working the crowd, at his peak. ~ July, 1969. Janis Joplin, Atlanta Pop Festival. Having met and shot Janis before, this was the first time I saw her so relaxed and happy. She was sitting on the steps of her camper with Al Kooper. We all began talking and I asked if I could shoot them together. That led to a few single shots of Janis. She was excited about the groups that were going to be performing. We hung out ‘till she had to go to a rehearsal or a sound check. ~ August, 1969. CSN&Y, Woodstock. Neil Young had just joined the group and this was their second time playing together in public (the first was the night before in Chicago with Joni Mitchell as their opening act). Very good nervous energy—total hush from the crowd as they began. “This is only the second time we’ve performed in front of people. We’re scared shitless,” is what they said. ~ August, 1969. Joan Baez, Woodstock. Peace and tranquility…just so beautiful. ~ August, 1969. Joe Cocker, Woodstock. In his prime and so focused. ~ August, 1969. Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock. Early morning and he closed it all down-the reason I was there. ~ November, 1969. Keith Richards & Charlie Watts, West Palm Beach Music & Art Festival. This was when Mick Taylor was lead guitar with Keith, plus Bill Wyman-the Rolling Stones at their best, so tight together. The group was not the same after Mick Taylor left (my opinion). ~ January, 1974. Bob Dylan & The Band Tour. The Hollywood Sportatorium was an outdoor concert venue; this was a stage in the middle somewhere. Just standing in the dirt getting as close as we could. The crowd was reflected in Dylan’s glasses. General admission: $9.50! ~ August, 1969. Grace Slick at Atlantic City Pop Festival.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE MACCALLUM ON EXHIBIT AT THE HALF KING MARCH 20, 2012 - MAY 14, 2012

I was a student at the University of Miami, doing work study at the school paper to get by. I heard about Woodstock and told my editor, ‘I’ll cover it for the paper.’ I had a limited budget and limited rolls of film, so I concentrated on Jimi and others I hadn’t shot before.
~ Bruce MacCallum

Caption above: November, 1969. Mick Jagger, West Palm Beach Music & Art Festival. Mick as the Devil, prancing everywhere.

~ August, 1970. Jim Morrison, Dade County Courthouse, Miami, FL Jim was on trial for indecent exposure at a 1969 concert. I shot this in the hallway next to the men’s room where we were taking a break, having a smoke. Jim’s interest in freedom of expression seemed more on his mind than what was swirling around the courtroom. I hung out with him and the Doors for a few days. I do not remember talking about the trial—just about music.

~ 1969, Sly & The Family Stone at the University of Miami. This was an outdoor setting-smaller and more intimate than most other venues. Sly was truly alive—standing, screaming, going at it, working the crowd, at his peak.

~ July, 1969. Janis Joplin, Atlanta Pop Festival. Having met and shot Janis before, this was the first time I saw her so relaxed and happy. She was sitting on the steps of her camper with Al Kooper. We all began talking and I asked if I could shoot them together. That led to a few single shots of Janis. She was excited about the groups that were going to be performing. We hung out ‘till she had to go to a rehearsal or a sound check.

~ August, 1969. CSN&Y, Woodstock. Neil Young had just joined the group and this was their second time playing together in public (the first was the night before in Chicago with Joni Mitchell as their opening act). Very good nervous energy—total hush from the crowd as they began. “This is only the second time we’ve performed in front of people. We’re scared shitless,” is what they said.

~ August, 1969. Joan Baez, Woodstock. Peace and tranquility…just so beautiful.

~ August, 1969. Joe Cocker, Woodstock. In his prime and so focused.

~ August, 1969. Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock. Early morning and he closed it all down-the reason I was there.

~ November, 1969. Keith Richards & Charlie Watts, West Palm Beach Music & Art Festival. This was when Mick Taylor was lead guitar with Keith, plus Bill Wyman-the Rolling Stones at their best, so tight together. The group was not the same after Mick Taylor left (my opinion).

~ January, 1974. Bob Dylan & The Band Tour. The Hollywood Sportatorium was an outdoor concert venue; this was a stage in the middle somewhere. Just standing in the dirt getting as close as we could. The crowd was reflected in Dylan’s glasses. General admission: $9.50!

~ August, 1969. Grace Slick at Atlantic City Pop Festival.

Posted by
AVL

timelightbox: On March 20th, Bruce MacCallum’s photo exhibit of pop icons in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s will open at The Half King.The show is part of The Half King Photography Series, curated by Anna Van Lenten. Spanning 1969-1974, Sixties Pop Icons, Unseen reflects the pursuit by a young photographer, of, among others, Jimi, Joan, Janis, Grace, Mick, Keith, Jim, CSN&Y, Joe, and Sly. MacCallum recalls photographing Jim Morrison in August of 1970: Jim Morrison in the Dade County Courthouse, Miami, Florida. Jim was on trial for indecent exposure at a 1969 concert in Miami. There was no proof to back up the charges. I shot this in the hallway next to the men’s room where we were taking a break, having a smoke. Jim’s interest in rights and freedom of expression seemed more on his mind than what was swirling around the courtroom. I hung out with him and the Doors for a few days. I do not remember talking about the trial—just about music.  Don’t miss out — On opening night, Bruce and Sacha Lecca, senior photo editor at Rolling Stone, will moderate a slideshow and discussion of Bruce’s work.

timelightbox:

On March 20th, Bruce MacCallum’s photo exhibit of pop icons in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s will open at The Half King.The show is part of The Half King Photography Series, curated by Anna Van Lenten. Spanning 1969-1974, Sixties Pop Icons, Unseen reflects the pursuit by a young photographer, of, among others, Jimi, Joan, Janis, Grace, Mick, Keith, Jim, CSN&Y, Joe, and Sly.

MacCallum recalls photographing Jim Morrison in August of 1970:

Jim Morrison in the Dade County Courthouse, Miami, Florida. Jim was on trial for indecent exposure at a 1969 concert in Miami. There was no proof to back up the charges. I shot this in the hallway next to the men’s room where we were taking a break, having a smoke. Jim’s interest in rights and freedom of expression seemed more on his mind than what was swirling around the courtroom. I hung out with him and the Doors for a few days. I do not remember talking about the trial—just about music. 

Don’t miss out — On opening night, Bruce and Sacha Lecca, senior photo editor at Rolling Stone, will moderate a slideshow and discussion of Bruce’s work.

Posted by
AVL

Reblogged from LightBox

SEE POTENTIAL: How Photography Can Envision Change. An evening at The Half King with photographer Emily Schiffer and Whitney Johnson, The New Yorker Director of Photography New York, NY—On January 17th at 7:30 p.m., The Half King Photography Series and Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund will co-host an evening of conversation at The Half King occasioned by Schiffer’s SEE POTENTIAL Kickstarter campaign. Schiffer and Johnson will discuss topics centering on two themes: how projects like SEE POTENTIAL illuminate complicated issues that are close to home; and, how photographers can use their images as part of a fresh response to such issues—for instance, reaching out to community groups and unifying partnerships among different stakeholders. SEE POTENTIAL aims to transform blighted buildings and empty lots in Chicago’s South Side into community centers and urban gardens. The project involves collaborations among photographers, artists, and local organizations to harness the impact of photographs, and use innovative technology to engage local community voices. The Magnum Foundation is helping Emily gain support via crowd-funding. Emily Schiffer is based in Brooklyn. Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund (EF) supports in-depth coverage of critical global issues, while helping to sustain a viable and robust community of independent, critical, visual thinkers. The Half King Photography Series is dedicated to showing exceptional documentary photography. In tandem with its reading series, it fosters a dialog between photographers and writers that underscores the importance of their relationship. Co-curating its photography series are James Price, photo editor at Newsweek, and Anna Van Lenten, writer and editor.

SEE POTENTIAL: How Photography Can Envision Change.
An evening at The Half King with photographer Emily Schiffer and Whitney Johnson, The New Yorker Director of Photography

New York, NY—On January 17th at 7:30 p.m., The Half King Photography Series and Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund will co-host an evening of conversation at The Half King occasioned by Schiffer’s SEE POTENTIAL Kickstarter campaign.

Schiffer and Johnson will discuss topics centering on two themes: how projects like SEE POTENTIAL illuminate complicated issues that are close to home; and, how photographers can use their images as part of a fresh response to such issues—for instance, reaching out to community groups and unifying partnerships among different stakeholders.

SEE POTENTIAL aims to transform blighted buildings and empty lots in Chicago’s South Side into community centers and urban gardens. The project involves collaborations among photographers, artists, and local organizations to harness the impact of photographs, and use innovative technology to engage local community voices. The Magnum Foundation is helping Emily gain support via crowd-funding. Emily Schiffer is based in Brooklyn.

Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund (EF) supports in-depth coverage of critical global issues, while helping to sustain a viable and robust community of independent, critical, visual thinkers.

The Half King Photography Series is dedicated to showing exceptional documentary photography. In tandem with its reading series, it fosters a dialog between photographers and writers that underscores the importance of their relationship. Co-curating its photography series are James Price, photo editor at Newsweek, and Anna Van Lenten, writer and editor.

Posted by
AVL