Please share this press release with people who might be interested.
Thank you
Bob Bogdan
For Immediate Release
8/15/03
For More Information Contact:
Susan Feightner
Public Relations Director
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St.
Syracuse, NY 13202
315-474-6064
[log in to unmask]
Adirondack Vernacular: The Photography of Henry M. Beach
Opens at Everson
September 19 - February 22, 2003
Memorial Gallery
Opening Lecture & Reception September 19, 2003
Syracuse, NY - The Director and Trustees of the Everson Museum of Art
are proud to present Adirondack Vernacular: The Photography of Henry M.
Beach to open September 19, 2003-February 22, 2004. An opening lecture
and reception will be held at the museum Friday, September 19, beginning
with the lecture at 5:30 pm, followed by the reception from 6 pm - 8 pm.
Henry M. Beach (1863-1943) was one of the most prolific, but least known
photographers of his time. He devoted his entire career to postcard
photography, documenting Adirondack life and culture during a time of
unprecedented change. Armed with a camera, Beach witnessed the rise of
the automobile and the fall of the horse-and-buggy, the prosperity of
the Great Camps and the struggle of family hotels, and an explosion in
tourism that brought modern challenges to a previously untamed
wilderness.
Beach was a self-taught photographer well known in the Adirondack
community
(MORE)
2 of 4
for his postcards, which were quite popular among tourists as well as
locals throughout the 1910s and 1920s. As an "insider" to the people and
places he photographed, Beach skillfully portrayed his subjects in a
vernacular style: an outsider could not appreciate them without
understanding the culture and context in which they were taken. He
specialized in Adirondack scenic views, photomontage advertisements, and
"freak cards" composed of exaggerated images combined for humorous
effect: a favorite was the local fisherman struggling with a catch three
times his size.
In this exhibition, some of Beach's best photographs, which in many
cases, no longer exist in original postcard format, have been reproduced
from his original glass-plate negatives. The modern reprints emphasize
the aesthetic qualities of Beach's photography-a secondary consideration
to quantity in postcard production-and clarify visual details that
provide added insight into Beach's subjects, his surroundings, and his
humor. In addition to more than five thousand postcard images, Henry
Beach produced an interesting array of oversized panoramic images
depicting grand landscapes, Great Camps, community gatherings, and the
ever-popular group portraits.
Adirondack Vernacular: The Photography of Henry M. Beach, based on a
book written by sociologist Dr. Robert Bogdan, presents the work of this
important and relatively unknown photographer for the first time. By
exhibiting the photographs in a museum environment, viewers are
encouraged to consider postcard images beyond their ephemeral nature and
question their significance on multiple levels: as a passing trend in
American popular culture as well as a valid art form with social,
historical, and aesthetic merit.
Bogdan, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Cultural
Foundations of Education, Syracuse University, will discuss his original
research for his book and share his expertise on Henry Beach, at 5:30 pm
in Hosmer Auditorium. Book signing to follow.
A Cirkut No. 10 panoramic camera demonstration will be presented at 7 pm
by Todd Gustavson, curator of technology at the George Eastman House
International
(MORE)
3 of 4
Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, NY. The Cirkut No. 10
camera was used by Henry M. Beach to shoot his panoramic photos.
Presentation of Adirondack Vernacular: The Photography of Henry M. Beach
was made possible with funds from a New York State Legislative Grant
under the auspices of Senator John DeFrancisco, M&T Bank, and New York
Council for
the Humanities.
The opening reception for the exhibition will immediately follow the
lecture from 6 pm - 8 pm. Museum members are admitted free of charge to
the reception. Cost for non-members is $10. Cash bar and hors d'oeuvres
will be available, catered by Carnegie Catering. Adirondack musician
Scott Adams will provide the musical accompaniment. For more
information, call 474-6064.
RELATED PROGRAMS
Barnes & Noble Postcard Party!
Saturday, September 13
1:00 - 2:00 PM
Barnes & Noble, DeWitt
Fall Teacher Workshop
Wednesday, October 1, 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Gallery walks, education packets, curator lecture. Registration
required.
Postmarked New York: The Postcard in American Life
Wednesday, October 1, 6:30 PM, Hosmer Auditorium
Lecture by Cynthia Elyce Rubin, PhD, author and Visual Culture
Specialist. Free.
Henry Beach Family Day!
Saturday, October 18, 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Adirondack music by Christopher Shaw, art making, camera
demonstration, postcards from the Central New York Postcard Club and
more! Free.
Winslow Homer in the Adirondacks
Wednesday, November 12, 6:30 PM, Hosmer Auditorium
Lecture by David Tatham, Professor Emeritus, American
Art, Syracuse University. Free.
(END)
|
