For Immediate Release
January 9, 2008
Contact:
Corey Cronin 781/259-3628, ccronin@decordova.org
Presumed Innocence: Photographic Perspectives of Children
Joyce and Edward Linde Gallery, James and Audrey Foster Galleries, Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport Media Space, Fourth Floor Hallway Gallery
February 2 – April 27, 2008
Exhibition Opening: Saturday, February 9 from 3 -5 pm
LINCOLN , MA — Presumed Innocence: Photographic Perspectives of Children is drawn from the collection of Anthony and Beth Terrana and includes photographs dating from the early twentieth century to the present day by an international roster of artists. The collection represents the Terranas’ response to the dramatic impact and timeless quality of the photographs, and their interest in making comparisons among different artists’ work. The exhibition features many well-known artists such as Diane Arbus, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Dorothea Lange, and Sally Mann.
For both amateur and professional photographers, the subject of children has been an enduring one since the invention of the medium in the early nineteenth century. As Curator Rachel Rosenfield Lafo writes in the catalogue, “ From the outset, children were depicted in memorial photographs, formal studio portraits, and staged images, where they were posed as mythological figures or idealized types. On the personal level, there is the natural desire to document moments in time before they disappear. Parents want to capture the image of their children as they grow and change, and to record special lifetime events such as births, religious ceremonies, birthdays, graduations, and family gatherings…Children have also been an alluring subject because they are seen as a blank slate, vulnerable and malleable, on whom adult hopes, wishes, and expectations can be projected.”
Presumed Innocence features 114 photographs of children from the Terranas’ collection. Falling loosely into thematic and often overlapping categories the child alone, family relationships, children and animals, the child observed, the child at play, the child at risk, rites of passage, and constructed narratives these photographs evoke an emotional response from the viewer while questioning the relationship between children and adults. The collection is rich in documentary and socially concerned photography from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries featuring work by Lewis Hine, Bruce David son, Mary Ellen Mark, Pieter Hugo, and Roman Vishniac among others. A number of the early- and mid-twentieth century photographers represented in the exhibition worked at one time on assignment for newspapers and magazines. For example, photographers Doris Ulmann and Ansel Adams used photography in the 1930s and 1940s as a means of documenting families living in difficult situations. The exhibition also includes images created with newer digital technologies, enabling the photographer to make partially or wholly fictitious images. A number of artists in the exhibition, such as Loretta Lux, Julie Blackmon, Simen Johan, use these methods to create surreal, thought-provoking pictures that offer new visions of childhood.
The Terranas have also recently expanded their collection to include video. Presumed Innocence features in fear , 2007 by Leslee Broersma. Broersma began her career shooting in the streets of San Francisco influenced by a diverse group of photographers including Garry Winogrand, Nan Goldin, and Martha Rosler. According to Brosersma in fear“ is a response to our current political landscape and the prolific production of fear-based media. The piece weaves historical film clips with contemporary footage—of my own children—to highlight issues of stereotypes, political power, and the unchallenged acceptance of information. In this work, I am interested in the way in which media influences our attitude toward children—specifically, the expectations placed upon boys in this culture as they get managed into acceptable roles of masculinity.”
The primary force behind Presumed Innocence is collector Dr. Anthony Terrana. When asked why he collects photographs of youth, Dr. Terrana admits to being drawn to the emotional quality he finds in photographs of children claiming “…you get a pure sense of what they were seeing and feeling. Visual impact is very important to me; the composition, richness, tones, or color quite often add to the success and translation of emotion in a photograph.”
The visual impact of the photographs often is a result of the stories spun by both the photographer and the viewer, stories which question the relationship between photographer and subject. The exhibition encourages viewers to examine issues such as: does the photographer capture a found moment, or are the children very deliberately posed, or entirely staged, even in terms of what they wear and hold? Has the photographer altered the image through cropping or other manipulations to emphasize a particular reading of the photograph, or digitally constructed the scene out of disparate elements to create a totally fictive picture? How much do our personal, religious, and political beliefs affect our reading of the photograph?
The children in these photographs are sweet and tough, innocent and wise, cherished and victimized, joyous and sorrowful, carefree and desperate. Although most of these pictures have been taken in a particular place at a specific time, they are timeless because they speak to conditions that children have experienced from time immemorial. Even totally invented images add to the dialogue about changing conceptions of childhood. In the end, it is the stories that we invent about the children in these photographs that hold our interest.
Presumed Innocence: Photographic Perspectives of Children is organized by Director of Curatorial Affairs Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, along with Koch Curatorial Fellows Lisa Sutcliffe and Kate Dempsey.
Presumed Innocence is accompanied by a 160-page, full color publication. The catalogue includes two essays, one by Director of Curatorial Affairs Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, Curator of the exhibition, discussing the range of photographic work in the Terrana collection and how it relates to the history of photography, and the second by Anne Higonnet, Professor of Art History at Barnard College , about the changing concept of childhood in visual imagery. The catalogue includes full page reproductions of each photograph, brief biographies of the artists, and a checklist for the exhibition. Designed by Wilcox Design and published by DeCordova Museum , the catalogue is 12 x 9 inches in an edition of 2500.
Photographs of Children from the DeCordova Permanent Collection will also be on view from February 2 – April 27, 2008 and includes photographs from DeCordova’s Permanent Collection that relate thematically to Presumed Innocence: Photographic Perspectives of Children. Among the artists included are Jules Aarons, Hansi Durlach, Harold Edgerton, Larry Fink, Charles “Teenie” Harris, Mary Lang, Hakim Raquib, Eugene Richards, Sheron Rupp, and Dana Salvo.
For images, please contact Corey Cronin or 781/259-3628.
General Information: DeCordova is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm and on selected Monday holidays. General admission during Museum hours is $9 for adults, $6 for senior citizens, students, and youth ages 6–12. Children age 5 and under, Lincoln residents, and Active Duty Military Personnel and their dependents are admitted free. The Sculpture Park is open year round during daylight hours. The Store @ DeCordova and the School Gallery are open Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am to 7:30 pm , Friday through Saturday, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm , and Sunday 10:30 am to 5:30 pm . The Café @ DeCordova is open Tuesday from noon to 3 pm, and Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm. Guided public tours of the Museum’s main galleries take place every Thursday at 1 and Sunday at 2 pm. Tours of the Sculpture Park are given on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm from May to Oct. All guided public tours are free with Campus admission. Visit www.decordova.org or call 781/259-8355 for further information.
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