Curated by Marilyn Stevenson, at the Salmagundi Club
47 Fifth Ave, New York, NY.
From December 11 through December 23, 2023.
East End Photographers Group is a long-standing organization of Fine Art Photographers. This is the group’s first exhibit in New York City. The photographic artists in the exhibit are Joseph Barretto, Ron Buchter, Anne Brandeis, Jody Cukier, Cynthia DiGiacomo, Gerry Giliberti, Dave Johns, Richard Law, Joel Lefkowitz, Keith Manning, Joanna McCarthy, Joan Santos, Jim Slezak, Kerry Sharkey-Miller, Marilyn Stevenson, Mark Testa, Alan Weinschel, Mia Wisnoski, all members of the group.
The artists have captured this true spirit of New York. The old and the new, the crowds and the solitude, the skyscrapers and the subway, the city and the countryside, the speed and calm, the fruits of the sea and the farms, the hip and the classic. It is a delicious tour of New York that reminds you of the best that the state has to offer. G&S
A selections of artists that will be exhibited during “New York State of Mind”
Joseph Barretto (With Purpose)
My street photography seeks to capture moments of wonder and humanity within urban settings, in this instance, New York City. I love the process that leads to that moment—a process requiring the contrasting demands of quick reflexes and enormous patience. Yet more than the eye and shutter finger, my photography relies most heavily on the heart. Whether I end up talking to my subjects—as is often—or not, I feel a connection with my subjects through my photography.
My photography is grounded in the tradition of black and white street photography: my heroes Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, and Elliott Erwitt. I have had the privilege of learning directly through workshops with Peter Turnley, Bruce Gilden, Rui Palha, Phil Penman, and Richard Renaldi.
Ron Buchter (Don’t Answer the Phone)
Ron Buchter’s photography is all about capturing mood and atmosphere. His works include both urban and nature scenes, featuring graphic plays of geometry, which give form to the haunting beauty of the urban world. Ron’s atmospheric photos are both calming and thought-provoking. His unique compositions will draw viewers in and leave them feeling contemplative and inspired. New York is Ron’s home base and his connection to Manhattan and its local views has been instrumental to his visual language. His works have a strong connection to place and the feelings that the city can evoke.
Jody Cukier (Mussels On Tray)
Perched on the edge of Shinnecock Bay, I work with seashells and marine-life fragments to create small sculptures and abstract assemblies that I photograph. I like to say I’m looking for beauty in that which is broken in the pieces I gather at the water’s edge. There are so many lessons to be learned from the natural world – one of which is how design endures, despite a tumultuous journey. This began as a personal exercise for me 10 years ago, when my daughter was killed crossing the street for a school bus, but has since evolved into a multi-faceted art form. (When there are no words, there are seashells.) I try to capture not only the visually rich, physical properties of the specimens I collect, but the calm of the texture, rhythm and repeats they contain, much of which was first presented in my first solo exhibition, “Come Shell or High Water.”
Cynthia DiGiacomo (Amphitrite II)
My work is a tapestry of sorts – with photographic imagery as its binding thread, revealing untold stories. The sea and its surroundings, with its profound beauty and truth, are central to my artistic expressions. My practice has grown organically through sense of place, considerably in the East End Long Island, Northern California, and the Cyclades.
I intend to convey the enduring interconnectedness and oneness between our natural world and human life while inviting a participant to reflect on one’s own personal experience and connection to nature– and to one another. Through photographic collage, I share many fragments across time, place, and sentiment, expressing who I am and all that brings me here now, woven into a single composition. The interplay of layering with images on silk, printed monotype, paint, and crayon manifests in metaphoric abstraction. Dreamlike, each piece shifts from abstract to figurative to symbolic, offering the viewer a mirror to explore one’s own unique liminal spaces.
Gerry Giliberti (Mulfurd House)
My intent is to create a photographic metaphor that explores the spiritual and the abstract. The artistic aim is to render reality somewhat unreal. The use of multiple media allows me the flexibility to capture the subtilties and mysteries of light that help redefine the academic assumptions of what photographic art really is.
Dave Johns (Dancer)
My work celebrates the natural world. A main theme is “contrasting natural creations with man- made objects” by juxtaposing images from both worlds. I hope that these contrasting/multiple images will help people appreciate nature in a new light. I also highlight natural elements and processes that often are overlooked and under-appreciated. Seasonal changes and effects are of special interest to me.
I often use reflections to create mystery that will engage viewers. My reflected images are not manipulated through editing but rather scenes as I found them, created by natural light to prod one’s imagination. But I also construct multiple images for conceptual purposes.
Richard Law (Man In Phone Booth)
My primary focus is as a street photographer. Early in my international travels I began to see people as more alike than different. I experienced their alikeness and watched people enjoy common human experiences … pets, music, food, friends and family … simple human things, that transcend country, culture, and religion. Since then, I’ve worked to present these simple gifts photographically in the hope of bringing people closer together.
Currently I am also presenting abstracts that I began creating years ago by processing photographic film unconventionally to produce unexpected colors and patterns from the silver halide crystals and emulsions present in the film. Additionally, I am finding inspiration in patterns of nature, distressed textures and found objects. I enhance these items digitally to show the unexpected beauty within. In this capacity I channel the work more than create it.
JOEL LEFKOWITZ – South Street Seaport (Pete Seeger), 1966.
In the Spring and Summers of the ‘60s NYC was alive outdoors to an extent almost unimaginable today. The South St. Seaport was just becoming an attraction; the Seaport Museum was about to become a reality, and the world-famous folk singer, Pete Seeger, had created the Clearwater Sloop to publicize getting the Hudson River cleaned up. He appeared one day without notice to serenade those who happened to be at the Seaport.
Keith Manning (Swing’n With the Bass-Central Park)
My preferred photographic medium is black and white. My portraits are motivated by my love of dance, jazz and classical music and my deep respect and admiration for the performers. The techniques of my portraiture are inspired by the musicians’ intimacy with their music and instrument and the dancers’ ability to fuse their hearts, minds and movements to convey their message. I emphasize the details of their faces and bodies to transmit the emotional intensity during a performance. Sometimes I utilize motion blur to achieve the same result. My journalistic portraits are motivated by my support to specific social causes.
My landscapes are motivated by the creativity and beauty of nature. Natural lighting, clouds and water moving at different speeds, contrasted with static scenery, create dramatic landscape images. By manipulating a scene with longer exposures, I seek to enhance tonal variations and complex textures, transforming an interesting image into an unusually unique and unworldly piece of art.My intent is for the viewer to travel into the photographic scene and absorb the emotions, energy and serenity the landscape or the person emits.
Joanna McCarthy (American Barn)
In my photographs I make statements about the abstract properties of pattern and form. I was born and raised on Long Island where I began photographing my first images of the small towns, nature and above all other things, the magnificent light. I visually interpret the mystery of nature by emphasizing the light and by using color as a further means of abstraction.
Photography for me is about looking and seeing the world around you and becoming emotionally involved with your subjects. It is my way of expressing how I feel about the natural world I see and bringing it to the viewer’s eye.
Joan Santos (Springs Gas Pump)
The vintage gas pumps at the Springs General Store are in the Springs Historic District on Old Stone Highway. They sit between the Springs School, Ashawagh Hall and the Community Church, and are iconic to the Springs/East Hampton community. The Pollock-Krasner House is also just up the road. I photographed it and played around with color in this version of the gas pumps.
I have always been involved with photography and with painting, and after formal studies, I began a teaching career that lasted for many years. IMy style of painting is realistic with an emphasis on pattern and color, and my travels have opened up my photography to include informal portraits landscapes and image transfers. I make my second home in East Hampton and can often be seen walking my black lab Molly, in the Springs Park.
Jim Slezak (From the Ashes)
When I began my exploration of photography in 2010 I was living on the North Fork and was surrounded by farms, vineyards and scenes of rural life. Not surprisingly, most of my photography dealt with landscape. We moved to Hampton Bays and the maritime environment engaged me and this is reflected in my photos. Subsequently, however, I have been drawn to the space between representation and abstraction and am more willing to take risks with my images. I feel very fortunate to have found this activity that so engages me in so many ways.
Marilyn Stevenson (5th Avenue Snow Storm)
Marilyn Stevenson grew up as a third generation Greenwich Village Resident. As a child in Greenwich Village, her knowledge of the world was limited to the small Italian neighborhood in which she lived.
In a universe of technology and rapid change I find calm and serenity discovering pockets of the world that appear to be from a time gone by. My fascination with the weathering of the world around me is illustrated in my choice of subjects. The ability to capture the passing of time and preserve the moment is a key component of my artistic philosophy.
I reach back into my life experiences to create the vision of the world that I see through the lens of my camera. I keep building upon these experiences with deep affection for the ever-changing environment that surrounds me.
Through exhibiting my photographs, I take the viewer’s mind on a journey with me to the places and things that have touched my soul.
Mark Testa (New York City Fog #1)
I use photography as a way to isolate and capture time. I strive to seize a unique moment and setting with the hope of generating a feeling or response. Growing up on eastern Long Island, and living in NYC, I continue to be fascinated by the power and beauty of the ocean and the sky and how we interact with it.
Alan Weinschel (In and Out Time Warner)
I am a native New Yorker and have been photographing for more than 60 years. I look for interesting contrasts and juxtapositions. New York is a city of innumerable similarities, contradictions – and ambiguities. The two images here both present a look at those from my viewpoint.
The Statue of Liberty is juxtaposed with the freedom tower that was erected after the World Trade Center towers were destroyed on 9/11. Old and new, water and land, with the common thread of liberty.
The inside of the Time Warner Center is contrasted with the outside, and the window structure can be seen as symbolic prison bars. The ambiguity in the image is whether the bars are keeping people in or keeping them out. That is for the observer to decide.
Mia Wisnoski (Before the Storm)
My inspiration evolves naturally from my surroundings. The beauty and discord found in the simplicity of everyday life, people, and events create a palette from which I create my images. A single moment captured, frozen in time, stirs my creative process.”
I am a contemporary fine art photographer. Abstract photography has become the focus of my recent work. My transformative work is both interpretive and thought provoking. It’s interesting to compare the original image with the abstract. Most of my traditional images are from digital and 35mm film giving them new life. My work for this show are from 35mm original film prints.
Contact:
info@eastendphotogroup.org and info@salmagundi.org
Opening reception Thursday December 14, 2023 from 6 to 8pm.
The gallery requires a guest list at the door so please RSVP above
The exhibition starts on 12/11 and runs through 12/23.
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