Who better to take to a photography gallery talk than a photographer?
When I picked him up off the street (don't ask), he had his newest camera with him, although he was still trying to figure out where he could find film for it.
Admittedly, that's a bit tougher than it was for the photographers of the '30s and '40s.
VMFA's Jeffrey Allison was leading a gallery talk called "A Singular Gesture: Dorothea Lange" about the practitioners of social documentary photograph currently on view at UR.
More specifically the incredible stable of photographers in the employ of the Farm.Security Administration.
You know, back in the day when our government helped support struggling artists during hard economic times.
Allison began by explaining the difference between photojournalism and photo documentation.
"Photo documentarians end up living the life they were shooting," he explained.
Speaking of photographer Lewis Hine's work, which always pushed for social change through imagery of the modern workplace and technology, Allison reminded us that this was during a time when viewers didn't question the veracity of a photo.
Also known as pre-Photoshop.
He spent some time on Mike Disfarmer who'd changed his last name from Meyers to Disfarmer the better to disassociate himself from his agrarian roots.
Unlike Hines, his work wasn't about social causes; he was just a workaday guy shooting heartland folks.
What I found most interesting was that there's currently a "Disfarmer Project" going on in the same area of the country with two photographers seeking to document descendants of Disfarmer's original subjects.
We saw some of uber-photographer Walker Evans' work, all tightly controlled and brilliantly composed "like a visual tone poem," according to Allison.
His pictures were works of art first and social documents second.
I was surprised to learn that Evans had worked in Fredericksburg, making him the only one with a Virginia connection in the show.
Looking at a photo of a sign advertising the movie "Grapes of Wrath," Allison asked of the largely student crowd, "How many of you have seen "Grapes of Wrath?"
More hands than you'd expect went up.
"The rest of you should watch it. You can see it on Netflix, for goodness' sake!" Allison instructed.
I'd love to know if any of them follow his advice.
When we moved to the gallery with Lange's photos, Allison asked of us, "Anyone come for the lecture at the opening of this exhibit?"
I raised my hand but didn't see any others raised.
Looking right at me, he instructed self-deprecatingly, "Don't pay attention to anything I say."
It was pretty funny, but I did anyway.
In fact, a lot of Allison's talk was approachable funny, not to mention wildly enthusiastic about photography in general.
I noticed that my photography friend seemed to be enjoying himself.
He may have left his camera in the car, but I've no doubt he was inspired to find some film for it real soon.
Today's lesson: It's never too soon to start documenting.
He may even end up with a work of art.
Showing posts with label jeffrey allison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jeffrey allison. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
You Just Had to Be There
It was like a meeting of the Elvis fan club.
The group of people who gathered at the VMFA for the "Conversations: Elvis at 21" talk today included multiple people still plenty passionate about the King.
The speakers were photographer Jeffrey Allison and musician Terri Allard and they weren't so much lecturing as nurturing a conversation with the audience.
"Some of you are all about Elvis," Allison noted right off the bat. "I saw some blue suede shoes." And it was true.
Allison, also the Mellon Collection Educator, talked about what gave the photographs in the exhibit their definitive look.
Wertheimer was using a Leica SLR, the images were framed as he shot (so there was no cropping in the final prints) and he used only available light.
The quiet of the camera and the absence of flash meant that the photographer could be almost invisible to his subject, making for more naturalistic photos.
But it was during the audience's participation that the true fans showed themselves.
One spoke of her vivid memories of having seen Elvis at the Mosque.
"I tried to go onstage and tear his shirt off," admitted the middle-aged woman in the blue suede shoes.
"We were complete maniacs about him," another said without apology.
Yet another remembered her family being recently stationed in Japan and hearing Elvis on Armed Forces Radio and the effect it had on her.
One said that she recalled Elvis coming to her high school in a small town in Arkansas to play when he was barnstorming around the South developing his following.
In every one of their voices, you heard the passion of a true fan who had lost none of her enthusiasm for the long-dead singer.
Elvis has been recognized for having been an unusually focused man at 21, but his long-time followers are certainly no less so today and I guess I hadn't realized that.
Allison asked what other singer had achieved as lasting an effect and a response of "Michael Jackson" was all but shouted down.
To the devoted, Elvis is apparently the real thing and no one can be acknowledged in the same breath as the man.
Many of the people in the audience were following up the talk with seeing the show, but since I'd already seen it, I headed west for lunch.
I was meeting a friend in the restaurant business who's always eager to eat places he hasn't (and surprisingly, he hasn't eaten at a lot of places).
That's how I'd introduced him to Ettamae's and Stella's. Today it was Black Sheep, although I'd originally suggested Amuse.
It would have been terribly convenient for me, but he shot that down because he was coming in work clothes and wanted someplace he considered more casual.
Like everyone else, he was charmed by the place, ordering the Falldorf Salad, a creative take on a Waldorf salad with clementines in addition to the usual suspects, and a Diet Cheerwine.
Then there was me, the feminine one, whose delicate appetite demanded that I go to the opposite extreme with the Green Eggs and Lamb.
The eggs were baked with Derby Sage cheese and spinach and the two large links of lamb sausage gave me all the salty I could hope for to accompany the sweetness of my Abita Root Beer.
That would be sweet, as in sugary. Unlike several of my male friends, I disdain diet sodas.
Everyone decides which real things are important to them. Imagine hanging on to that devotion for fifty years.
I might not be in the Elvis fan club, but I'm hugely impressed by anyone who inspires long-lasting passion.
Just to be clear, though, I have no intention of wearing blue suede shoes to prove it.
The group of people who gathered at the VMFA for the "Conversations: Elvis at 21" talk today included multiple people still plenty passionate about the King.
The speakers were photographer Jeffrey Allison and musician Terri Allard and they weren't so much lecturing as nurturing a conversation with the audience.
"Some of you are all about Elvis," Allison noted right off the bat. "I saw some blue suede shoes." And it was true.
Allison, also the Mellon Collection Educator, talked about what gave the photographs in the exhibit their definitive look.
Wertheimer was using a Leica SLR, the images were framed as he shot (so there was no cropping in the final prints) and he used only available light.
The quiet of the camera and the absence of flash meant that the photographer could be almost invisible to his subject, making for more naturalistic photos.
But it was during the audience's participation that the true fans showed themselves.
One spoke of her vivid memories of having seen Elvis at the Mosque.
"I tried to go onstage and tear his shirt off," admitted the middle-aged woman in the blue suede shoes.
"We were complete maniacs about him," another said without apology.
Yet another remembered her family being recently stationed in Japan and hearing Elvis on Armed Forces Radio and the effect it had on her.
One said that she recalled Elvis coming to her high school in a small town in Arkansas to play when he was barnstorming around the South developing his following.
In every one of their voices, you heard the passion of a true fan who had lost none of her enthusiasm for the long-dead singer.
Elvis has been recognized for having been an unusually focused man at 21, but his long-time followers are certainly no less so today and I guess I hadn't realized that.
Allison asked what other singer had achieved as lasting an effect and a response of "Michael Jackson" was all but shouted down.
To the devoted, Elvis is apparently the real thing and no one can be acknowledged in the same breath as the man.
Many of the people in the audience were following up the talk with seeing the show, but since I'd already seen it, I headed west for lunch.
I was meeting a friend in the restaurant business who's always eager to eat places he hasn't (and surprisingly, he hasn't eaten at a lot of places).
That's how I'd introduced him to Ettamae's and Stella's. Today it was Black Sheep, although I'd originally suggested Amuse.
It would have been terribly convenient for me, but he shot that down because he was coming in work clothes and wanted someplace he considered more casual.
Like everyone else, he was charmed by the place, ordering the Falldorf Salad, a creative take on a Waldorf salad with clementines in addition to the usual suspects, and a Diet Cheerwine.
Then there was me, the feminine one, whose delicate appetite demanded that I go to the opposite extreme with the Green Eggs and Lamb.
The eggs were baked with Derby Sage cheese and spinach and the two large links of lamb sausage gave me all the salty I could hope for to accompany the sweetness of my Abita Root Beer.
That would be sweet, as in sugary. Unlike several of my male friends, I disdain diet sodas.
Everyone decides which real things are important to them. Imagine hanging on to that devotion for fifty years.
I might not be in the Elvis fan club, but I'm hugely impressed by anyone who inspires long-lasting passion.
Just to be clear, though, I have no intention of wearing blue suede shoes to prove it.
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