In “The Tyranny of Convenience,” New York Times contributor Tim Wu wrote recently, “Perhaps our humanity is sometimes expressed in inconvenient actions and time-consuming pursuits. Perhaps this is why, with every advance of convenience, there have always been those who resist it.” Italian photographer Francesco Pergolesi has focused on those who resist the ease of convenience in favor of a commitment to traditional work. He photographed artisans and small shop owners – watchmakers, cobblers, picture-framers – for his series Heroes, and a recent body of work, Tableaux, homes in on the busy work surfaces in those shops. (A detail of Enigma, 2017, from that series, is on our cover.) On view at Catherine Edelman Gallery from May 4 to July 7, his photographs include calculations scrawled on paper, scraps of leather on a work table, a surface strewn with tools, watch faces, or splatters of paint – odes to a dedication to craft, tradition, and work done by hand.
Best of 2016
Formed in 1963 by 11 photographers who recognized the necessity of “a forum to address the underrepresentation of African Americans in their field,” the Kamoinge Workshop gave its members a sense of solidarity and support in a period when black Americans were the frequent subject of mainstream media coverage but rarely its author.
May – June 2008 About The Cover
Just who, exactly, is Tomoko Sawada? The short ans...
Sarah Anne Johnson: Rosy-Fingered Dawn at Julie Saul Gallery
In her latest body of work, on view at Julie Saul ...
Tyler Mitchell
On June 21, Atlanta native Tyler Mitchell’s exhibi...
Wardell Milan
It could be argued that collage and photomontage a...
Zanele Muholi and the Women's Mobile Museum
At this point in her career, the barriers faced by South African photographer Zanele Muholi – barriers preventing her from speaking her truth and taking control of her own image – would seem to have been dispatched, conquered by the force of her powerful photographs and stunning, theatrical self-portraits.
Stutter Shutter: Whitney Hubbs at Casemore Kirkeby
Satin sheets can look sexier in pictures than they...
Erwin Olaf
This is an Erwin Olaf year, with retrospective exh...
Andre Wagner
Wagner’s photographs (those on view here are all pre-pandemic pictures) capture small moments of connection – children in animated conversation; a group of kids playing in the spray of a sprinkler; a woman holding the hand of a little girl, who turns around to flash an inquisitive smile at the photographer.
Unravel: Lauren Davies and Kirsten Stolle at Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco
Unravel paired photo-based work by Lauren Dav...
A Sprawling Personal Project from Jim Goldberg and Two Retrospectives
Goldberg’s Coming and Going is an autobiography in images and ephemera, and two recent books survey the work of Lee Miller and Daido Moriyama.
May – June 2019 About the Cover
Nico Krijno, Composition with painted cutouts (det...