Neal Rantoul | Aerial Photographs

We are pleased to announce that 23 prints from Neal Rantoul's series Martha's Vineyard Aerial Photographs that were created in May 2012 has been chosen for the permanent collection of the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, AZ.

Neal's website has just gone through a major overhaul.  To see a breadth of who Neal is, visit:

www.nealrantoul.com

Proofing and Goofing with Harold Feinstein

The Panopticon Gallery team is nearing the completion of Harold Feinstein: A Retrospective. Yesterday we met with the frisky 81-year-old Harold Feinstein, his wife, and assistant to review the 80 proofs that were scanned from 35mm negatives and will appear in his upcoming monograph.

“When I found a good spot, I'd sit there and let the scene develop,” says Harold in awe at how everything falls into place.

The book includes images taken on the action-packed Coney Island boardwalk, the bustling streets of New York, and during soldiers’ down time in the Korean War.

As he flipped through the pages, Harold reminisced about his experience when each image was taken. His presence distracted a little boy from his mathematical artwork. Harold, with his warm, jolly personality, chuckled as he pointed out the chalk-written numbers swirling around the child, “27,28,29,30,13,”in Boy with Chalk Numbers (1955).

 

The jokester even teased about how his selling of salami and cheese submarine sandwiches for 35 cents at the barracks got him kicked out of the army and sent to Korea.

The self-proclaimed “dirty old man,” who greeted me with an excited hug and wet kiss on the cheek, recalled roaming through the cities being dazzled by damsels. He is a connoisseur of women and his expertise can be seen in photographs like Beauty Parlor Window, Philadelphia (1964) of a hairdresser with a golden bouffant.

“He was always a sucker for reflections and beautiful women,” says Jason Landry, Panopticon Gallery owner.

Examining each image was as tedious as Goldilocks’ predicament with the bears’ porridge. Should the images be darker, a little lighter or are they just right? The artist also chose a cover color from among the five nearly identical, linen, navy swatches.

The next step for A Retrospective, expected to be available September 1^st , is the addition of text and design work.

-Marianne Salza, Panopticon Gallery Intern

Queens of the Lime Light | Keiko Hiromi

The last thing Keiko Hiromi remembers before dozing off back stage on that busy night at Jacques was listening to the show’s introduction. She awoke encircled by tall, smiling performers.

The New England School of Photography graduate began photographing drag queens in Boston’s Jacques Cabaret in 2007. Keiko marveled at the dramatic stage presence of these 'ladies' during a weekend outing with a friend. It was the start of her five year project taking portraits of fabulous women.

Keiko’s photographs are “lovingly non-sensationalistic. Most people go in there and try to show a bizarre, slightly jaded part of it,” says photography collector, Jim Fitts, “but she does this with love and admiration for the performers.” 

These photographs provide an intimate look into the trappings of becoming a drag queen. Keiko’s work includes vivid close-ups – powder that perfects the complexion, and full, attention-grabbing lash extensions.

Panopticon Gallery owner, Jason Landry, believes that Portrait of Katya in Color (2012) is one of Keiko’s best photographs.  The blond -- poised at her vanity that is scattered with cosmetics -- prepares herself for her close-up. A strobe is positioned on camera right, illuminating her face while creating a background shadow that diffuses across her nose and cheek.

Keiko Hiromi, Portrait of Katya in Color, 2012

“Little things about this photograph capture my attention – from the simple handwritten note in the upper left hand corner of the image, to the yellow spray paint markings on the neglected dressing room wall,” says Landry. “Details like that help to attract the viewer’s eye and walk them through the photograph like a performance.”

Keiko’s 'ladies' doll themselves up with popping pink eye shadow and lipstick in mirrors lined with round bulbs. Entertainers wear fish net panty hose, strut in leopard-patterned stilettos, and shine in jewel-dazzled belts. They are theatrical stars that command the stage in flamboyant, elaborate costumes. 

Originally documenting somewhat inconspicuously, soft spoken Keiko decided that she wanted to be more engaging with the queens. She got to know them as “working performers” in a supportive, trusting and loving community. “I have garnered that each [of these ladies] has a story and history,” says Keiko.

“When you are able to establish yourself in a location and become known, it’s easier for you to gain the access you need to create a great image,” says Landry about Keiko’s success.

Every weekend, she visits the venue, “building trust” and familiarity with Jacques staff and performers who have dubbed her as their personal “ninja photographer.”  Landry hopes to see Keiko’s Jacques collection published in a book in the near future.

More images from Keiko Hiromi can be seen on the Panopticon Gallery website (CLICK HERE)

- Marianne Salza, Panopticon Gallery Intern

Tweet

VOTE NOW | Boston's A-List

We would love for you to vote for Panopticon Gallery for 

BEST ART GALLERY in Boston's A-List.

All you have to do is click on this link.

This is Traveling | Keith Johnson

It isn’t Keith Johnson’s affinity for travel that sparked his interest in photographing planes; but rather a fruition of them. Whether his 40 inch tall compositions are from an aerial point of view looking down at a treading surface of water (HVN > PHF, 2011), or a survey of a flight path, the pictures are “moments in time - color, light, texture and travel,” says Johnson.  These images can be seen in Panopticon Gallery’s current exhibition, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. 

Keith Johnson, HVN > PHF, 2011

The grid formation of his work is a clever approach in which Johnson documents his findings. And, despite the large physique of his compositions, the sometimes indiscernible subjects -- that can resemble decorative tiles in a luxury hotel (Planes Flying In, 2010) -- require close examination.

Keith Johnson, Planes Flying In, 2010

These columns and rows provide viewers with comparative chronicles that are similar to a montage of film stills. The creations have progressed into conveyers of ideas and allegories. Their assemblages allow for a stronger impact than individual frames could.

With a background in sociology and anthropology, Johnson’s earlier work comments on “how man claims the landscape” in occasionally outlandish ways. Indian Village records how trees and bushes that a family planted to garnish their simple, white home evolved into an encompassing ball of vegetational ornament.

Simple customs, tendencies, and asserting one’s territory make marks on the world in prevailing, entertaining, and interesting ways.

-Marianne Salza, Panopticon Gallery intern.

Riding the Rails with Candace Gaudiani

One adventure on my bucket list has always been to commute from one coast to the other by rail. I will sit in my own cabin with a cup of coffee in hand as I quietly observe the landscape from my window and munch on roasted cashews.

Between Destinations (2012) by Candace Plummer Gaudiani, and published by Kehrer Verlag in Heidelberg Germany, gave me a glimpse into what riding a train through the United States is like. The book is a compilation of photographs created during her seven years of traveling. It brings the viewer through four selections of Gaudiani’s work: Forty Eight States, Frontier States, Forty Eight States II, and West. 

Candace Gaudiani, 0891 from Forty Eight States II, 2009

 

In Alison Nordström’s introduction, she touches upon how transportation has been "democratized" with the advent of the train. Just as trains have revolutionized "our notions of space and mobility", so too, have cameras "transformed our notions of time and memory." Both "linked the American West with the rest of the country."

The bulk of Nordström’s piece describes the significance of each body of work and their shared theme – a symbolic exploration that is simultaneously omnipresent and familiar.

The photographs of her journeys hint at the emotions of an observer who gazes out a rectilinear pane at mountains and shrubbery from a cushioned seat. The pieces present a variety of landscapes and homes that are blurred by the speed of the train. And in some, faint outlines of the inside are reflected, and the faint remains of past rain showers stain the glass.

The viewer becomes a passenger.

See Gaudiani’s images on display in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles at Panopticon Gallery now through July 9, 2012.

-Marianne Salza, Panopticon Gallery Intern

FLASHED | Opening Reception

Here's a video from the opening reception of FLASHED: part of the Flash Forward Festival in Boston, curated by Eunice Hurd and Jason Landry.

Stephen DiRado | Summer Spent

My friend and local photographer Stephen DiRado has been hard at work on this documentary film titled Summer Spent.  Check out the film trailer on YouTube: