Exhibition Review: Photoville
Exhibition: Bronx Life Artist: David Gonzalez Presented By: Photoville in partnership with Peanut Press
By DieuLinh
The Photoville Festival returned last month for its 10th anniversary, and its outdoor exhibitions across parks and public spaces will remain open throughout New York city until December 1st, 2021.
Founded in 2011 in Brooklyn, NY, Photoville is a New York-based non-profit organization with an aim to increase access and heighten understanding of the arts and photography for anyone within the community. With equity and inclusion being key pillars, Photoville’s creative partnerships with other nonprofits, city agencies, and festivals allows for artists and photographers of all gender, class, and race to carve their own way into the art world.
In that same spirit of representation, Photoville taps into public spaces to amplify the stories of these visual storytellers. In addition to the innovative public exhibitions, virtual online storytelling events, educational programs, artist talks, demonstrations, and community workshops accentuate the focus on accessibility by nurturing younger artists within the community through a new lens of representation.
Exhibition: On Turning Ten: An i3 Family AlbumArtist: Cecilia Paredes1 Presented By: The School of Visual Arts
Notable Exhibitions in each borough:
- Brooklyn: Diaspora On The Frontlines
As the pandemic rages on for a second year, the doctors and nurses driving the nation forward often remain faceless and unseen in ongoing coverage regarding COVID-19. Particularly, 31.5% of COVID-19 nursing deaths in the United States are of Filipino nurses. This project documents the stories of Filipino nursing families during this time of difficulty, all whilst weaving in elements of their pre-pandemic society to fully illustrate the narratives of these migrants.
Rosem Morton was born and raised in the Philippines, and is currently a documentary photographer and nurse based in Baltimore, Maryland. Her body of work explores the intersection between visual reporting, healthcare, racial adversity, and resilience. Morton is an International Women’s Media Foundation Fellow, a We, Women Photo Artist, and a National Geographic Explorer. This collection of hers was completed with the support of the National Geographic Society, and she was also a finalist for the 2020 Pictures of the Year International for COVID-19 expression.
Queens: Queens is Family
Family has a wide range of definitions. Some argue that you don’t choose your family, while others say that family is what you define it as. Whether related by blood or simply connected by coincidence, the six-lettered word looks different to everyone. But if there is one certainty, it is that no matter how hard the challenges and how difficult the loss: family is always there. For the most diverse boroughs in the country, these relationships are at the core to the community values in Queens.
With works from a variety of photographers, the collection answers the key questions to the word ‘family’: What does family look like to you? How do we express and explore the deepest and most dependable relationships in our lives? How important are they to our own identity, and how do they define us?
Exhibition: Queens Is Family Artist: Kris Graves Presented By: Culture Lab LIC
Staten Island: Simple Moments Of An Emerging Presence
The collection showcases daily life within the local Mexican-American and Mexican-immigrant communities throughout New York city, specifically on Staten Island. With a focal point on how immigrant communities bring rich traditions and cultural significance to this country, along with the ways in which they adapt and establish themselves and their presence by enriching the neighborhood they now call home, the black and white images leave it up to the viewer to determine the ways in which immigrant communities add color to our lives.
Irma Bohórquez-Geisler is a New York City-based Mexican-American photographer, biologist, professor, and cultural leader for Mexican-Americans on Staten Island. She immigrated from Mexico City to New York in 1991; in shifting between cultures during her upbringing, she has become more aware of her Mexican heritage. She is the founder, artistic and program director of the annual Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival. She has received many grants and awards for her photography, and for presenting Mexican traditions in the community, museums, and schools. Her work from this collection is part of an ongoing documentary series named Simple moments of an Emerging Presence, and dates back to 2001.
Exhibition: Simple Moments of an Emerging Presence Artist: Irma Borhorquez-Giesler Presented By: Alice Austen House
The Bronx: On My Block
Through portraits and cityscapes that seek to give viewers fresh perspectives of a place many call home, On My Block is a love letter from a native New Yorker to New York City. Capturing life in The Bronx, from graffiti-filled trains, familiar faces in the community, the influence of music, to religious life, the collection serves as puzzle pieces that when put together, celebrate the diversity of cultures throughout the borough. Not to mention, the spirit of community and pride in calling this place home exudes through the collection.
David ‘Dee’ Delgado is a Puerto Rican documentary photographer and photojournalist based in New York. He has contributed to The New York Times, Getty, Reuters, and many other publications. As the recipient of the 2017 Nikon Bill Eppridge Memorial Award for Excellence and Truth in Photographic Journalism, his work has been featured in many galleries, exhibitions, and documentary centers in The Bronx, such as Bronx X Bronx, the Bronx Artist Documentary Project, Jerome Avenue Workers Project, among others.
Manhattan: Been Seen
Produced over six decades, the collection showcases selected works from a body of over 100,000 portraits of African American families, political leaders, entertainers, and community members. Been Seen not only puts Black and Brown families and their lived experiences into the limelight, but also centers the gaze of Black photographers in the name of exploring their own identity and celebrating their culture.
The exhibition features the work of Harlem-based studio photographer Austin Hansen (1910-1996) with six contemporary photographers: Dario Calmese, Cheriss May, Flo Ngala, Ricky Day, Gerald Peart, and Mark Clennon.
Dario Calmese is an artist, urbanist, director and brand consultant based in Harlem, New York. In 2020, he made history as the first Black photographer to shoot a cover for Vanity Fair in its 106-year history.
Cheriss May is a photojournalist with a focus on politics. In documenting the ceremonial vote count at the U.S. Capitol, Cheriss was inside during the insurrection; although traumatic, Cheriss continued to work while barricaded in Congressman Jim Clyburn’s office with his staff.
Flo Ngala is a New-York based photojournalist. She has gone on to work with companies such as Apple, Billboard, and Nike with a mission to bring authentic narratives to the American public through her visual storytelling.
Ricky Day is a California-raised visual artist, photographer, filmmaker and musician currently based in Harlem, New York. His work revolves around themes of identity and he seeks to capture the evolution of popular culture through his subjects.
Gerald Peart is a self-taught photographer. Chosen by CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) as a Delegation Photographer, he traveled to Nigeria in 1996 during the country’s electoral process to document the shift from military rule to democracy.
Mark Clennon is a New York-based photographer focused on capturing the range of human emotion as an integral part of life within his subjects. In his own words, his goal is to capture the dreams, realities and fantasies of Black communities: the totality of the black experience.
Exhibition: Been Seen Artist: Austin Hansen Presented By: The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
