This N' That: 3/8/21
Photo Credit: Bieniecki Piotr
Photography Historian, Naomi Rosenblum, dies at 96.
Dr. Rosenblum, the author of numerous seminal works that helped expand academic interest in and recognition of photography as a creative art form, passed away from congestive heart failure in her home in Queens on Feb. 19.
In addition to her work as a professor of art history at Brooklyn College, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and Parsons School of Design, she hosted lectures worldwide on artists who revolutionized the field of photography, such as Alfred Stieglitz, whose work challenged conventional modes of composition and subject. She curated several major exhibitions, one on 20th-century modernist Paul Strand, and another on women’s photography as fine art at the New York Public Library women’s photography as fine art, the first large-scale exhibition on the subject.
Dr. Rosenblum’s work “A World History of Photography,” published in 1984 and translated into multiple languages, serves as a standard text in the field. Her other most seminal work was “A History of Women Photographers,” published in 1994, highlighting the achievements of female photographers from the mid-1800s through the late 20th century.
Aperture appoints seven new trustees to the board
Starting next month, the Aperture Foundation will welcome seven new trustees to its board, namely Julie Bédard, Kwame Samori Brathwaite, Lyle Ashton Harris, Lindsay McCrum, Colette Veasey-Cullors, Casey Taylor Weyand, and Deborah Willis.
Speaking on behalf of the board, Chairperson Cathy M. Kaplan remarked “We are honored to have such an amazing group of individuals join the board of trustees of Aperture. They bring a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, including deep knowledge of the history and practice of photography, and of education, to our already terrific board. At this juncture, when we have just announced our new executive director, Sarah Meister (succeeding Chris Boot, after ten years of tenure), our new trustees will add to Aperture’s momentum, and ensure it remains front and center in dialogues about photography.”
Experimental Photographer and Musician, Barbara Ess, dies at 72
Barbara Ess, a photographer and musician from Brooklyn, New York, considered by many to be a pioneer of experimental photography and film, has died at age 72. The artist’s gallery, Magenta Plains, released the statement, “Ess was a radical force and approached her life and work with enormous spirit, fearlessness, humor, and intellect.”
By primarily using the homemade pinhole camera she constructed in 1983, Ess applied an otherworldly effect to her photographs, which often featured ephemeral figures and imagined landscapes. Her work has been exhibited in Franklin Furnace, Cable Gallery, the Kitchen, A.I.R. Gallery, Printed Matter, White Columns, and Artists Space. In addition, she has had retrospectives of her work featured at the Whitney in New York and Centre Pompidou in Paris. In her later years, Ess served as a professor of photography at Bard College in upstate New York. Of her artistic impact, her gallery announcement stated that it “is greatly felt and she leaves behind a formidable legacy through her work and her students. The profound loss of Ess creates a huge void, however, there is much to learn from her vulnerability and directness, her dedication and her vision.”
Photo By: Brocken Inaglory
“Floating Ship” photographed off the U.K. coast
While walking along the Cornwall coastline, 52 year old David Morris caught sight of what he believed to be a flying ship, hovering just above the horizon. He managed to capture a few snapshots of the bizarre vision with his smartphone befor the ship moved out of sight.
The optical illusion is a phenomenon referred to as fata morgana, which a spokesperson for the UK’s Met Office describes as “A rare and complex form of mirage in which horizontal and vertical distortion, inversion and elevation of objects occur in changing patterns. This is also referred to as a “superior mirage” which, according to BBC meteorologist David Braine, “occur because of the weather condition known as a temperature inversion, where cold air lies close to the sea with warmer air above it. Since cold air is denser than warm air, it bends light towards the eyes of someone standing on the ground or on the coast, changing how a distant object appears.”
Speaking on his experience, Morris simply remarked, “I was just in awe of the image in such a lovely part of the country,”
