A Photographic Leap Day

 

In celebration of Leap Day—the best of all temporally related quadrennial celebrations—I thought it would be fun to take a photographic look at the “art of the leap.”

But first, let’s take a moment to define what is, and what is, not a leap. For instance….

NOT a leap: George Zimbel – Marilyn Monroe, Looking Left

A sixteenth-hearted effort if I’ve ever seen one.  Let someone else have the spotlight for once, Marilyn!

 

ALMOST a leap: Henry Horenstein – Miss Saturn, Outside Slipper Room, New York, NY 2008

Nice fake-out, Miss Saturn, but no matter how celestial your pose (and name) may be… your stance remains a tad too Earthbound for my taste

 

Leap: Ruth Orkin - Boy Jumping Into Hudson River, 1948

Now THAT’S how it’s done!

 

Culturally, the French appear to be quite adept in their leaptitude, which is unmistakable in this duo of jump-themed pieces.

Yves Klein –Le Saut dans le vide, 1960

 

  Henri Cartier-Bresson – Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, 1932

 

Jacques-Henri Latrigue – Bichonnade Leaping

 

Fear not, patriots, for while the French Leap does appear prominently in the photographic realm, we all know the Freedom Leap is equally entertaining.

Loomis Dean – Man Flying Off a Trampoline at Santa Monica Beach

 

Susan Burnstine – Jump

 

Dance is rife with leap photo-ops, and American modern dance queen, Martha Graham, shows up prominently in photography of the mid-20th century. Let’s combine the two, shall we?

Barbara Morgan – Graham Group, American Document; Sophie Maslow, Frieda Flier and Marforie Mazia (Starburst) 1938

 

Phillipe Halsman – Merce Cunningham, leaping and Martha Graham, sitting

 

Apparently umbrellas play an integral part in the “leap shot,” as is evident in the following rainy day photos.

Richard Avedon – Homage to Munkasci, 1957

 

Elliott Erwitt – Paris, 1989 (Tour Eiffel)

 

Like to see some of these works in person?  Never purchased a work of fine art photography? Take the LEAP (see what I did there?!) and stop on in the John Cleary Gallery.  Happy Leap Day everyone… and don’t forget those umbrellas!

Remembering Eleanor Callahan

 

On Tuesday, February 28, 2012 Eleanor Callahan, wife and muse of photographer Harry Callahan, passed away at the age of 95. The New York Times’ Richard B. Woodward had a fitting tribute to her memory yesterday. (Click here for the full article).

Harry Callahan: Eleanor, New York, 1945

 

“With her raven hair and ripe figure, Eleanor Callahan is one of the most recognizable models in the history of 20th-century photography, an inseparable part of both the life and work of one of its most renowned artists. Clothed and standing among trees in a public park, or nude and turned to the wall while clutching a radiator in an empty room, she served as a formal element within Mr. Callahan’s austere compositions as well as a symbol of womanhood. From 1941 to his death in 1999, she allowed herself to be photographed by him, without complaint, hundreds of times.”

Harry Callahan: Eleanor, Chicago 1950

 

Harry Callahan: Eleanor, Chicago

 

Harry Callahan: Eleanor, c. 1947

 

“ ‘He just liked to take the pictures of me,’ she told an interviewer in 2008. ‘In every pose. Rain or shine. And whatever I was doing. If I was doing the dishes or if I was half asleep. And he knew that I never, never said no. I was always there for him. Because I knew that Harry would only do the right thing.’ ”

Jerry Uelsmann in the Wall Street Journal

 

Today’s Wall Street Journal features an excellent article on the opening of “The Mind’s Eye: 50 Years of Photography by Jerry Uelsmann” at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, the first in a collection of exhibitions highlighting PEM’s 2012 Year of Photography.

Apocalypse II

 

“It really isn't fair: Jerry Uelsmann, who was born in 1934, had to devise ingenious darkroom techniques to create surrealistic images that nowadays anyone competent with Photoshop can produce with ease. But being able to reverse positive and negative versions of a photograph and to merge two or more photographs into a single composition are only the mechanical aspects of Mr. Uelsmann's art. The indispensable element of his work is his ability to envision images that are totally impossible, but absolutely right. It takes more than the most complex computer program to do that.”            

~ William Meyers, Ah, But Can Photoshop Do This? (follow this link to the full article from the WSJ)

 

 

“The Mind’s Eye” retrospective will run through June 30, 2012 at the Peabody Essex Museum. 

Can’t make it to Salem, Mass. but still interested in Jerry’s photographs?  Stop into the gallery any time and we’d love to share his work with you!

Dan Burkholder Workshops at Houston Center for Photography

 

The John Cleary Gallery is pleased to announce a special series of workshops at the Houston Center for Photography with Dan Burkholder concomitant to the opening of his solo exhibition here at the gallery on Saturday, April 28, 2012 from 6-8pm. (Mark your calendars!)

There will be two separate classes offered and, though typically reserved for members only, HCP has been gracious to extend an invitation to the friends of the John Cleary Gallery as well.  See below for more information or visit the respective links for each class to be re-directed to the HCP website. 

*Please note, as of posting there are 47 remaining spots available for the April 29th class and only 5 remaining seats for the April 30th class—act now before someone else takes your place!!*

Flatiron in Spring, New York, 2008

 

iPhone Artistry: One-Day Seminar

Sunday, April 29, 10:00am - 4:00pm
$120 HCP members / $140 non-member

Level: All Experience Levels Welcome

More than just a snapshot device, the iPhone is a powerful creative tool, nestled in the palm of your hand. Imagine—a camera, darkroom, and visual research laboratory, all in your shirt pocket! Liberated from rushing home to your computer, you can capture and process your images in the field.

Watch digital pioneer Dan Burkholder demonstrate his iPhone capture and image stylizing techniques to control color, tonality and detail in his iPhone images.

This is your opportunity to learn the creative power and stunning output that is possible from your iPhone from one of today’s leading experts in “iPhoneography”. Learn capture techniques that are specific to iPhone photography. Find out which software preserves your camera’s resolution, and which trashes your hard-earned pixels. Create an iPhone workflow that takes you from capture to final image, with an emphasis on creating beautifully artistic images.

 

Fonthill Ceiling and Bed

 

Master Class- iPhone Artistry Workshop: A One-Day, Hands-on iPhone Extravaganza

Monday, April 30, 2012, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
$240 HCP Members only! (The class fee includes a boxed lunch.)

Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Class Size: 12 students

This full day of hands-on iPhone Artistry will equip you with a packed arsenal of camera capture and image enhancement techniques that you can use daily with your iPhone.

This is your opportunity to learn the creative power and stunning output that is possible from your iPhone from one of todays leading experts in iPhoneography. Step by step you’ll learn the best, fastest and easiest ways to shoot and process images with your iPhone. We'll leave no stone unturned in this jam-packed day of iPhone Artistry!

- See how true HDR imaging (as opposed to software simulated HDR) is not only possible but easy with your iPhone.
- Create an iPhone workflow that takes you from capture to final image, with an emphasis on creating beautifully artistic images.
- Build your personal app suite that gives you all the capture and processing power you need on your iPhone.
- Practice panorama captures with your iPhone. Learn which software works best, combining up to 70 stitched images.
- Learn which apps are best for color, contrast, sharpening, texturizing and sharing.

What You Should Bring:
- You should bring your iPhone 3G (or newer preferred) to the workshop.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as your prepare:
- Have the latest iPhone system software installed.
- Make sure you have enough free space on your iPhone for images and new apps.
- Have an iTunes account in good working order (current credit card on file with iTunes, etc.) so you can make app purchases during the workshop (you might spend as much as $30 on software during the class).
- Dont forget your USB sync/charge cable and spare battery (you should have one).

Other Things that Can Help:
-Bring a notebook and lots of enthusiasm. And come well rested too!

John Chakeres: Structure

 

Defining himself as more an image builder than traditional photographer, Ohio native John Chakeres revels in expressing the beauty of the world around him through studies in order, texture, form, surface, color and light.

Canvas Wall, Columbus, 2011

 

The works represented in Structure--photographs of brick walls and wooden fences, car park ceilings and factory facades-- resound as the digital photographer's answer to trompe l'oeil. At such astounding visual clarity, one can't help but imagine the softness of the fabric in "Canvas Wall" or the grittiness of dust between the bricks of "Painted Wall" between their fingers.

Factory Wall, Columbus, 2010

 

Concomitant to his studies in photography and printmaking at Ohio University in the 1970's, Chakeres studied under the tutelage of Ansel Adams, a relationship that later led to an assistantship in Adams' studio and the beginning of his decade's long career as a fine art photographer. His work now resides in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Photography and the Tweed Museum of Art, among others, and has been seen nationwide in group and solo exhibitions alike. 

Painted Wall, Columbus, 2009

 

In addition to the publication of three books, Chakeres has also enjoyed a contributing editor post at Photomethods magazine (1986-88), been featured in numerous periodicals, and has taught photography, printmaking, and digital imaging at Ohio University, Columbus College of Art and Design, and Columbus State Community College.

City Center Wall, Columbus, 2010

 

For the full collection of images from the Structure show, please visit our current exhibition page here.