“untitled at the moment”

I recently booked two great lecturers at the PRC.  Mark your calendars!

For more information, please visit:  www.prcboston.org

Alec Soth will be coming to MassArt this fall for a lecture on Monday, October 26th.  MassArt will also be exhibiting his project Dog Days Bogata from September 9 - November 28th, 2009 in the Stephen D. Paine Gallery.

Here are just a few upcoming photo events and lectures you shouldn’t miss:

Judith Joy Ross - Lecture at MassArt on Mon, Feb 23rd at 2pm

David Levinthal  - Lecture at the PRC on Thur, Feb 26th at 7pm

Henry Horenstein - Opening Reception at Robert Klein Gallery on Fri, Feb. 27th from 6-8pm

Mitch Epstein - Lecture at MassArt on Mon, Mar 2nd at 2pm

Eugene Richards - Lecture & book signing at the PRC on Thur, Mar 5th at 7pm

Bus Trip to AIPAD sponsored by the PRC - Sat, Mar 28th - Book your tickets soon!!!!

Vik Muniz - lecture at the MFA in April (it is selling out fast!)

Alessandra Sanguinetti - lecture at the PRC on Thur, Mar 16th at 7pm

Please come to the PRC tonight,  Thursday, December 11th at 7pm for an interactive lecture with the prominent fine art and editorial photographer Larry Fink.

For over 30 years, photographer Larry Fink has been actively capturing the visual vernacular of the people and events that surrounds us.  From his earliest work in his books Social Graces, Boxing and Runway, to his most recent project The Democrats, Fink brings these social interactions out of the crowd and into our homes.

Lecture with Larry Fink
Thursday, December 11th at 7pm
Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences
5th Floor, Auditorium 522
725 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA

So if you were one of the lucky ones who purchased a ticket in advance, you already know that Sally Mann will be lecturing at the MFA on Thursday evening.  See you there.

P.L. diCorcia was the guest lecturer at MassArt this afternoon. The crowd of about 200 students looked at work stemming from his grad school days at Yale, to his Hustler images from Santa Monica Boulevard to the flash portraits of Times Square.

Capturing the dark side of Hollywood, diCorcia spent about two years photographing the male hustlers around Santa Monica Boulevard in L.A.  These extremely controlled images were presented at MoMA way before ever having gallery representation.  They were not a hit at first – MoMA even called the series, ‘Strangers’ because they were too afraid to disclose what they really were.  diCorcia paid these hustlers (with money received from a NEA grant) the lowest common denominator of what they charged for sex at that time.  He said most people agreed to being photographed, but all they were interested in was getting paid.

diCorcia joked about having people refer to the series of images he shot about strippers as ‘sculptural’.  “Why can’t they say it’s just some strippers on a pole?  If people want to justify what it is I do, that’s fine as long as it helps them to purchase the work.”  Another classic quote was, “There is a narrative, but you have to fill in the blanks yourself….I’m not a public service.”  For the most part people know his work is autobiographical, and he says they get mad when he doesn’t disclose it.

Although he skipped around a lot and his images were not in sequence, his lecture was entertaining and insightful.  I’m almost wishing his retrospective was still up at the ICA.  I may have wanted to take a second look.

Tuesday night my friends and I had the opportunity to go see Emmet Gowin lecture to a capacity crowd at RISD.  I had seen him lecture once before at Northeastern University and it was from this lecture that I became enamored with his work and his love for photography.  This particular lecture was special because he told a lot of stories about Harry Callahan.

Prior to the lecture, I attended an opening for Harry Callahan: Eleanor, a beautiful set of images that I personally cherish.  Eleanor made an appearance at the opening and the lecture, and it was an honor to see her in person.

There was a time in America, similar to now, when the country was divided.  In 1968, Paul Fusco was a staff photographer for Look Magazine and captured a nation in mourning as he road on the RFK funeral train as it went from New York to Arlington, Virginia. People gathered along the tracks, watching in disbelief  and saying goodbye to a candidate whose life was cut short.

Paul Fusco will be lecturing at the Photographic Resource Center on Thursday, November 13th at 7pm.  This will be a great opportunity to hear first hand his experiences, both on the subject of his new book, Paul Fusco: RFK, but also about another touching documentary he worked on about the effects of the Chernobyl disaster.

Thursday, November 13th, 2008  7pm
Boston University – College of Fine Arts, Concert Hall
855 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA

(MBTA – Green “B” line – BU West stop)

Theatrical lighting, big budget sets….all for a photograph.  Yes you guessed it, it must be Gregory Crewdson.  He will be at the Massachusetts College of Art + Design this Wednesday at 6pm to lecture (and I am certain that it will be heavily attended). I was never influenced by Crewdson, but I have always admired the cinematic feel that each image evokes.  They remind me of Edward Hopper paintings.

William Christenberry’s lecture at MassArt this week was a treat.  If you get a chance, come by the PRC on Thursday for a Polaroid Spotlight Lecture with Barbara Crane.  Her work hints at abstraction, “fusing of forms” and is always in search of “what is new to her”. Check out her website if you get a chance.