Photography Quarterly #83

This publicationis made possible with public funds from the New York State Councilon the Arts, Center members, advertisers,and individuals.

STAFF

Executive Director, Colleen Kenyon

Associate Director, Kathleen Kenyon

Assistant Director, Lawrence P.Lewis

Program Director, Kate Menconeri

Associate Program Director.Ariel Shanberg On-Site WPW Manager, Fawn Potash

BOARDOF DIRECTORS

Marianne Courville, Edward Garbarino, Frances Gray, Sarah Hasted, David Karp, Arie Kopelman, Ellen K. Levy, David Maloney, Kitty McCullough, Yossi Milo, Sarah Morthland, Dion Ogust, Kathleen Ruiz.Alan Siegel, Bob Wagner

ADVISORYBOARD

Philip Cavanaugh, Susan Edwards, Susan Ferris, Julie Galant, Howard GreenbergFounder,Sue Hartshorn, W.M. Hunt, Greg Kandel, Marcia Lippman, Peter MacGill, Marcia Reid Marsted, Elliott Meisel, Jeffrey Milstein,Ann Morse, Gloria Nimetz, Sandra Phillips, Jose Picayo, Lilo Raymond, Ernestine Ruben, Charles Stainback, Neil Trager, Rick Wester

PHOTOGRAPHYQuarterly#83, Vol. 20 No. 3, ISSN 0890 4639. Copyright © 2002 Center for Photography at Woodstock, 59 Tinker Street, Woodstock, New York 12498. Catalog essays © 2002 Susan E. Evans, Gary Hesse, John Mannion, Robert Mann. All photographs and texts reproduced in chis Quarterly are copyrighted by the artists. All rights reserved. No pare of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the Center for Photography at Woodstock. The opinions and ideas expressed in this publication do not represent official positions of the Center. Printing by Kenner Printing LLC, NYC. Editor, Kathleen Kenyon; Associate Editor, Kate Menconeri; Assistant Editor, Ariel Shanberg. Composition by Digital Design Studio, Kingston, NY. The PHOTOGRAPHY Quarterly is distributed by Ubiquity Distributors, Brooklyn, NY I 1217.

S U BS C R I BE: to receive the PHOTOGRAPHY Quarterly four times a year: U.S.A. $2S / Canada & Mexico $40 / International $4S. Make checks payable CPW, MC/ Visa accepted.

Us Build a City and Make for Ourselves a Name by GaryHesse

Cover© Christine Back,MaryJane Orr, Cape May,

VIE ARE NAMED

-SusanE.Evans

"Consider what God has done:Who can straighten what he has made crooked?" -Ecclesiastes 7: 13

IInstallation view, Tomoko Negishi, Reminder,2000

The topic of cultural identity has always been a politically charged issue. Emigrating from a country that seemed to no longer want them, European settlers arrived on American soil determined to propagate their own culture-though displacing the peoples indigenous to this "new world". This paradigm repeats itself throughout world history, reinforcing a standard of one specific race dominant over another. Ironically, marginalized cultures become invisible to us as a result of the historical castration and homogenization process of multi-cultural assimilation. Physical and cultural displacement or dislocation characterizes the daily lives of many peoples of the world. Ideological cliches and stereotypes surrounding one's sense of self or concept of culture resulting from this process create our understanding of others and both enter into and inform our actions.

While some look upon the current wave of multi-culturalism and globalization as empowering, others see it as a perpetuation of a long-standing tradition of objectifying cultural differences for the sole purpose of entertaining the dominant white culture. The ramifications of such generalizations affect our sense of truth and reality even though this "knowledge" is not gained through direct experience. The idea of culture (signifier) becomes more than the sum of any one culture (signified). Perceived cultural differences are extracted and re-contextualized through the eyes of the prevailing white culture. In this way individuals from other cultures, their media representations, and consumer products perpetually disrupt the hegemony of a singular cultural identity.

Growing up a member of middle America, my parents had informed me in the beginning that I was adopted and we had no available information as to who my birth parents were much less where they were from.All of my connections to the world had been bureaucratically erased, displacing me from a culture and history that I would, from this point on, never understand. I was thus primed for my new culture to be superimposed over genetic coding. The 'adoption thing' really didn't mean much until the second grade. The year started with 'Culture Days' intended to educate and enlighten each student about the various cultural groups represented in our class.We were expected to write a report on our family origin, wear an example of cultural clothing and bring a sample of traditional food to class. All I knew was that I was born in South Dakota and thus concluded that I must be American-so I wore my best purple dress, armed with my obsessive research paper and four boxes of Little Debbie Brownies. I became acutely aware of the imposed and defining importance to be from 'somewhere' and the emotional connection to history. I was told that I could not be an American, as I was clearly not an American Indian. My teacher, Mrs. Schneider informed me I was White, an immigrant from another country. This made absolutely no sense. I had not come from somewhere else. My skin was not Casper the Ghost definitive White, and in fact it was a yellow pinkish color that sometimes looks more red or orange. How could I immigrate from White?

There was no such place as White-especially in South Dakota. Germans are from Germany.Africans are from Africa, and Japanese are from Japan.When I plainly explained to Mrs. Schneider that I was not from White and that I had been chosen here in America she grabbed me by the collar of my dress and hauled me off to the principal's office to explain my vulgar behavior in the presence my parents. I was thus defined as White. Fascinated with the necessity of heritage, origins, physical resemblance and hereditary habits, afflictions and tendencies, I longed to understand the genealogical connection to something larger than myself. I resorted to creating elaborate 'histories' for myself in an effort to assimilate. One year I was from Peru, the next year India; I was the lost Princess of Norway's Crown, a secret government experiment, an extraterrestrial, and several times the illegitimate love child of Bette Davis. Though rather amusing, these fantasies only seemed to feed my curiosity about the truth. After filling out all the forms and talking to all the right people, I finally broke down and opened my adoption file.

Born Jauna Ramos, I learned my father was Spanish or Mexican and my mother was American from 'Northern European' stock. Running to a mirror hoping to find some sort of tangible evidence of heritage I realized that I do not look like a Ramos. I look White -well yellow pinkish.

WE ARE NAMED started out as a dialogue and evolved into explorations into the political pressures of conformity, the social debasement society has taught non-white people to accept as a condition of their visual "otherness" as well as the hyper-real experience of self and culture.Artists Janet Olivia Henry, Dinh Q. Le, Saiman Li, Tomoko Negishi, and Michael Rauner -create work that challenges the viewer and fosters critical thinking about both the spiritual and ideological problems of identity and culture in contemporary society. Correspondingly, the videos in Passengercurated by John Wesley Mannion, look to both the family and gender issues as identifiers of who we are and how we view our own identities.

Edgar Endress, Arturo Carlos Marifiho and Ivan Marino, John Orentlicher and Margaret Stratton examine the perception of identity, or self and the idea that the understanding of who we are forces us to define the relationships we have and our reactions to our environment.

Inspired by the storytelling traditions of the Caribbean island of Antigua where she grew up, and by the power and social control engendered to women of many societies through gossip (like the Masai),JANET OLIVIA HENRY fuses imagery and narrative into an ironic social commentary. Starting with an aggregation of photographs, enlarged color copies, toys, dolls, tchotchkes, stories, and everyday things, Henry sews them into clear vinyl juju bags.These bags are then woven, braided, and bonded together into what Henry calls a lariat to create a composite of subjectivity and personal truth-casting a spell, critiquing a culture. With these archetypal characters created through an assemblage of their possessions, Henry reminds us of the intricacies of content beyond the face value of language and categorization. "Black Goddesses are rarely black, they are mocha, caramel, bronze, cafe au lait, beige or just plain yella." With sharp wit and flair for telling visual detail in a rich narrative, Henry's lariats tell an American story that is not being told anywhere else.

© Siaman Li, from My Different Color Days, 1998, c-print

installation view, Michael Rauner, ReliquaryDNA, 1999-2002

While the images in DINH Q. LE'S intricately woven photographic panels summon normal themes of family, culture, religion, and prejudice, they do so in a dialogical fashion. Le's images are successful because they engage the viewer in a process of critical thinking setting in motion a dialogue around the problems of intolerance, fear of otherness, institutionalized stereotypes, and the anxieties surrounding individuality. Each woven piece alludes to a collective ancestry and the memorialization of those passed away.We sense the physical affinities of these spiritual forbearers but their particular fate and the mysteries that brought them post-humanly together foster anxiety.The portraits are not simply ancestors; collectively they embody a community that has already been forgotten. For Le, transforming the past is a communal act in which revered symbols and their mystical and spiritual qualities are reborn into photographic representation. The image making becomes the recovery and reclamation of Vietnamese culture and icons, which elucidate the dense history of the Angkor Wat temple and the victims of the Khmer Rouge. In the same way that the original portraits were untitled and only identified by the numbers pinned to the victims, these works remain untitled and bespeak their suffering by using beauty as a communicative tool.

Born in China, SAIMAN LI moved to America and became a US citizen. Though now in a society touting globalization, now a legal citizen, Saiman is judged and challenged daily by the long reach of racism and uneducated fear. Saiman, culturally displaced since his teens and socially vulnerable to the predominant white culture, finds that "home" is neither here nor is it back in China. In My Different Color Days, Saiman camouflages his physical appearance by adopting a post-human identity in an effort to achieve harmony within a society preoccupied with racial categorizations and class structure. Saiman covers his skin in monochromatic colors: red, blue, yellow, or green pigment and clothes himself in matching garments. This new identity is unencumbered by pre-existing cultural stereotypes, prejudices, or boundaries and has yet to be socially categorized. In this new character, Saiman is free to move freely between social groups and classes, often sparking interest and support from those he comes into contact with.The work is part performance, part photography as ethnographic document, and part installation. Saiman's work examines questions of cultural identity. Is it a costume? What does it mean to be an American citizen-just what does one look like? Within a culture where there is an ongoing critique of physical appearances and cultural differences, Li explores his own feelings of displacement, loss, and longing while examining the essence of the cultural self and the need for a societal "home".

As a little girl growing up in a suburb ofTokyo,Japan, TOMOKO NEGISHI felt powerless against the influence and pressure of Western culture and language.As with much of her other work, Reminder,a photography based installation, revolves around communities of individuals and the resulting tension between an encroaching western attitude and the eastern fascination leading to a desperate cultural abandonment and "other" idolization. Static images of legs wearing different shoes

are suspended; they hover above constructed pavement tiles and pebbles. Implying the loss of cultural individuality and spirit these crime scene-like images punctuate a desire of acceptance and assimilation, to move away from assigned Asian stereotypes-from being "yellow". Despite the camouflage of sneakers, thongs, or Mary Janes, Negishi's Japanese shadow follows her. Yet in Reminder her images hover above ground-like ghosts; they are dreams, wishes, fantasies-suspended moments-she does not cast a shadow-she is not invisible and looks like every one else. "I forget where I am coming from. Sometimes a lightning bolt hits me and it wakes me up. Then I remember I am from Japan." Negishi cannot be anything else, she is an eastern person, she is Japanese.

MICHAEL RAUNER is not only examining the scientific method and the ethics of the newly discovered cloning process, he is also exploring individual/community memory and the rituals involved in the memorialization of personal relics. Human life, memory, the votive candle, as well as the D cell batteries that Michael Rauner uses in his installation, all have limited life spans due to the constraints of their components; flesh, cognitive functioning, wax. Rauner distinguishes between two types of the Reliquary DNA images, the "mortals" which exist with the terminal D cell energy source and the "immortals" which are refreshed each day due to the indefinite rechargability of their solar cells.The DNA samples used in the installation are identified by the Social Security number of the person it represents. They are not ancestors nor do they necessarily contain saintly qualities, as was the Roman Catholic tradition to collect such fragments during the Crusades. By mere selection, association, and installation, the samples have become a community of non-

present individuals. The artist has created a scientific testament to the existence of these individuals, and in doing so has created a humble yet glorious illuminated vigil in celebration/in honor of each miraculous life force.

Modern physics and post-modern theory suggest that perceptions of reality are in a constant state of flux and therefore so are principles of truth, culture, and self. We are, however, in a world intolerant of ambiguousness and uncertainty; we want to know, to be able to categorize or label an absolute. From the perspective of those marginalized in or by the dominant culture, current stereotypes serve to control those cultures by exaggerating cultural differences. Progressive meanings can only come out of a society with progressive values-until we reach that time we will continue to look without really seeing or fully understanding. - Susan Evans, 200 I

We Are Named was presented as an exhibition at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, November 3 - December 23, 200 I.

Susan E. Evans, a curator, teacher, and artist studied Photography at Goddard College in Vermont and received her MFA in Photography from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Evans has worked at the Southeast Museum of Photography in Daytona Beach, Florida, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, CO and the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY. Both the Ricco/Maresca Gallery in Chelsea, NY and Rule Modern & Contemporary Gallery in Denver represent Evans' artwork. Susan was an artist-in-residence at the Center for Photography at Woodstock in September 1999 and showed her images in the 2000 CPW exhibition Grace and the 200 I CPW exhibition, Made In Woodstock.

Installation view, Janet Olivia Henry, 1994, Photo credit: Barbar Prysock (Mrs. WPM) (detail), mixed media

Let UsBuilda CityandMakefor Ourselves a Name -

In the weeks following the tragic events of September I I the non-profit group Ad Council released a televised public service announcement which was intended to celebrate this nation's diversity, and to provide Americans with a greater sense of unity during these adverse times. The thirty second commercial featured a number of individuals representing an array of ethnic backgrounds and ages each speaking the line "I am an American" concluding with the message E Pluribus UnumOut of Many, One, followed by the image of a young girl waving an American flag. While diversity and freedom are considered the very cornerstones of this nation, recent events have placed a heightened awareness on one's associations, allegiances, and ethnicity. The / am an American PSA hoped to intercept any racially motivated violence following the events of September I I th , but it also conceded to the fact that the very differences which define us as a nation also have the power to divide us.

Probing history for some sense of perspective, one of the more insightful analogies drawn was the comparison of September I I to the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. Without question both events shocked and horrified the nation, and each were followed by a swelling of patriotism, acts of bravery and sacrifice, as well as a virtually uncontested fervor to rush headlong into war. However, other parallels such as a heightened state of alert bordering on paranoia, a reexamination of our basic freedoms and civil liberties, racial profiling, and a suspicion of other cultures cannot be ignored. The aftermath of Pearl Harbor sent a cascading wave of racism across the nation directed against Japanese and Japanese Americans resulting in acts of bigotry, violence, and ultimately, in the creation of internment camps that held American citizens captive throughout the duration of the war. Now sixty years after Pearl Harbor we bear witness to a recurrence of similar responses with the majority of this nation driven toward a desire for retribution, and observed in threats and acts of violence directed toward Muslims and individuals of Middle Eastern descent. Let us hope that those who rally behind their recently purchased flags and declare themselves Americans will show greater wisdom before repeating the mistakes of the past.

In 1971 science fiction novelist, Ursula K. LeGuin, wrote The Lathe ofHeaven; the story centered around George Orr, a young man who possessed the ability of making his dreams come true, literally. Whatever Orr could imagine in his dreams would become reality when he awoke.This ability, referred to in the story as effective dreaming, was discovered and eventually manipulated for personal gain by a psychologist researching this phenomenon. In one of the doctor's more benevolent requests he gives Orr the objective of unifying the people of Earth. Without specific parameters to solve this conundrum, the result was the creation of an alien race that served to unite the Earth in collective hatred of a common enemy. Later in the story Orr eventually solves this problem by dreaming of a world in which cultural difference simply did not exist, and the following day he awoke into a world where the human race shared the same gray skin color. Only in pages of a science fiction novel can one get away with such a fanciful premise; however, LeGuin does manages to pose the question that -as a heterogeneous society -must we denigrate one group in order to look beyond our own cultural differences/

As individuals we grapple with our placement within an infinitely diverse society. We define ourselves by our associations with others, our ethnicity, religious beliefs, education, appearance, geographic location, ad infinitum. For many artists the relationship to, or the exclusion from, a specific culture or community serves as the impetus for their work. The myriad approaches and strategies visual artists employ in the investigation of cultural identity are as diverse as the array of cultures they represent. As the audience of this work we have a vital role in its dissemination.The significance of such work could be quantified not by its © Tomoko Negishi. WestNeverMeetsEast,2000. detail.

specificity to one particular cultural viewpoint, but in its similarities and parallels to another. By granting the audience multiple points of entry in which to interpret the work through the viewer's own cultural perspective, the artist broadens the discourse rather than narrows it. The museum and gallery curator further guides this process through their selection of an artist's work, and in the relationships created by grouping particular artists together. In the exhibition We Are Named curated by Susan Evans for the Center for Photography at Woodstock, New York, the artists Janet Henry, Dinh Q. Le, Saiman Li, Tomoko Negishi, and Michael Rauner each focus on a particular definition of identity. As the title, We Are Named, suggests, each artist is this exhibition explores specific aspects of how identity is categorized, constructed, and imposed upon us.

The impact of Western society on Asia has been significant since trade routes were first established. Christian missionaries and schools forced languages, beliefs, and values on these cultures, and in the years leading up to and following World War II military bases and Western corporations established temporary and permanent residence.Artist Dinh Q. Le was born in Vietnam in 1968 during the height of the war and immigrated to the United States in 1979. The images that he creates by cutting his photographs into small strips and then weaving them together serve as metaphors for the convergence of contradictory beliefs and perceptions. In one early series of photo weavings Le merged religious imagery of Christ and Buddha, which symbolized the intersection of Eastern and Western beliefs, and pointed also to the artist's own sense of cultural displacement. In his series titled Splendor and Darkness, Le wove together images of Khmer Rouge victims with images of the temples at Angkor Wat. In this series the artist positions the viewer between images of sublime beauty and profound horror, but also shows the lack of knowledge that most outsiders have about Cambodia by combining the only two facets of this culture with which most are familiar. Japanese artist Tomoko Negishi addresses particular stereotypes imposed on Asians by a predominately white culture in her photographic series Banana Yellow Monkey. In the installation West Never Meets East Negishi uses language as metaphor to represent Western dominance of Eastern culture. Within the installation Japanese newspapers and Kanji letter forms are scattered across the floor while a series of large-scale images of a Japanese girl learning to speak English are projected over a wall filled with English letter forms. In their work both Negishi and Le consider the interaction between Eastern and Western cultures, and acknowledge the perceptions and misconceptions that one culture can impose on another.

Artist Saiman Li discards his Chinese origins in the series My Different Color Days by dressing and painting himself from head to toe in one of four primary colors and then documenting the results of his interactions in various public settings. With the assistance of friends, strangers, and the camera self-timer, Li documents his travels with still and video cameras in this work, which is part photography, part installation, and part performance. In describing this project Li writes, "I am interested in the idea of the post-human who attempts to get along and achieve harmony in the society." Li's efforts to fit in serve as a sardonic critique of society's acceptance of physical difference and tests the waters of our open-mindedness with his monochromatic persona. Even though an individual's cultural and physical identity cannot simply be removed with a jar of cold cream, Li asks us to consider what beyond physical characteristics separate us, and is cultural identity only a costume we wear? Li's monochromatic post-human, unencumbered by any attachment to a specific race or culture, is in a sense free of the prejudices attached to geographic boundaries and the cultural baggage that is passed on from one generation to the next.

Where Saiman Li explores how we are perceived when stripped of those attributes that link us to another culture; artist Janet Henry examines them in the greatest detail. In her ongoing series American Anatomy she singles out the very attributes that we use to identify ourselves-clothes, accessories, trinkets, and talismans -that are unique to each individual. Outfitting and accessorizing small dolls, she creates unique characters complete with name, identity, fictionalized history, appropriate wardrobe, and accoutrements -if she can't locate it in miniature, she fabricates it. Henry then photographs these figures in elaborate tableaus.Another component of this series consists of lariats created by the artist that portray other characters that the artist has invented, or with which she has come into contact. Stuffed and sewn into clear vinyl bags are assorted odds and ends that epitomize a particular individual; the packets are then strung together to form a lariat. Displayed in a gallery the lariats almost resemble a DNA double helix, but rather than containing the genetic material that makes us who we are, these cells are filled with the detritus of our daily life.

While Henry examines the external details that define who we are, Michael Rauner looks at the internal in his DNA Reliquary series. In the series each of Rauner's subjects are represented by actual remnants of their physical body-a strand of hair, nail clipping, piece of dried skin, etc. These fragments containing the subject's genetic identity are sealed into a glass slide mount and then suspended in front of a small flashlight bulb for illumination. The end result is an installation of objects resembling votive candles that signify each individual. Each votive is marked only with the subject's social security number, which draws attention to another method by which we as a society are named and archived.

Is our identity and distinctiveness an inescapable part of our genetic makeup? Is it imposed on us by the culture in which we are raised? Is it simply a costume that can be altered at our own discretion? Is it an affectation of our language and our need to create labels and designations to describe otherness? The internal and external factors that separate us are considerably more than the printed lines on a map, the color of our skin, the symbols we worship, the anthems we sing, and the flags and banners behind which we rally. In the book of Genesis there is a reference to a moment in human his-

Siaman Li, video stills from My Different Color Days

tory where all the peoples of the Earth shared the same language and seemed quite content staying in the same place and working collectively toward the realization of a common goal:

Now the whole earth used the same languageand the same words.It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinarand settled there.They said to one another,"Come,let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly."And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.They said,"Come,let us build for ourselvesa city,and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselvesa name, otherwise we willbe scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."- Genesis 11:1-4 [New American Standard Bible]

However, this was not part of the plan that God had for the people of the Earth:

The LORDsaid,"Behold,they are one people, and they all have the same language.And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they propose to do will be impossiblefor them. "Come,let Us go down and there confuse their language,so that they willnot understandone another'sspeech."So the LORDscattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth;and they stopped buildingthe city.Thereforeits name was calledBabel, becausethere the LORDconfusedthe languageof the wholeearth;and from there the LORDscatteredthem abroad over the face of the whole earth. - Genesis 11:6-9 [New American Standard Bible]

Diversity could be considered our greatest strength, although at times it appears to be our greatest weakness.Artists who create work centered around issues of identity and diversity have the means to move beyond the words, labels, and designations that separate us. Through their work we can celebrate one culture without slighting another. Still, our language and understanding of other cultures remains confused as we try to rebuild Babel stone by stone, and attempt to reach a point where our language can accomplish more than to simply name, index, segment, and marginalize others.

-200 I, Gary Hesse

© Michael Rauner.ReliquaryDNA, decail,Dundah/,G.237-17-2772, 1999

GARY HESSE is the Associate Director of Light Work, an artist-run non-profit organization located in Syracuse, New York, which supports artists working in photography through its exhibitions, publications, and Artist-in-Residence programs.

PASSENGER

Arturo Carlos Marinho & Ivan Marino/ Los Animales, 1999, 30 minutes

- JOHN MANNION

Edgar Endress / La Memoria de Los Caracoles (The Memory of the Snails), 200 I, 7 minutes

John Orentlicher / 3 X Named, 200 I, 12 minutes 30 seconds.

Margret Stratton I Kiss the Boys, 1994, 30 minutes

The videos in PASSENGER look to the identification of family and gender as markers of who we are and how we view our own personal identity. The inner perception of self is a result of our personal states and thoughts during our lifetime. Plainly said, when we define ourselves we must decide who we are and where we belong. In many ways, we are defined by our histories; the content of our past haunts the decisions we make now.

The ghosts of ourselves make us wonder what might have occurred had history taken a different course.What if the answers weren't the same/ The understanding of who we are forces us to define the relationships we have made to our immediate environment. We are carried along by our own inertia; the self has already been defined. We are who we say we are. This sets up an interesting binary. We are defining our self while our self is defined by where we are and have been. We become passengers of our own self-identification.

Los Animates a video made by Argentinean artists Ivan Marino and Arturo Marihno looks at a place called Chino located in Buenos Aires. It is an area famous for tango and nightlife. My interest in the piece is the ways that the main characters-two men sitting in the street-are partially defining this part of town as it defines them. These men are who they are by choice and tell us of their life through the drinks they have on the street.

The men speak of women that both define them and drive them to live. "I was born from a woman, I live for woman, and I will die for a woman." An inevitable tragedy it seems.A man who appears to run a local establishment sings about a woman who loves him but whom he does not love. "I am sorry that I do not love you anymore." This prophecy of endless conflict between man and woman is a large part of their dialogue. It is part of the sexual tension that is so much a part of the tango, so much a part of this space.

La Memoria de Los Caracoles (The Memory of the Snails) made by Chilean artist Edgar Endress is an autobiographical video diptych that looks at two seemingly innocent events that come to have a larger distinction upon the narrator in the tape. The work remarks on the subtle and sometimes unnoticed way that an oppressive government-in this case that of General Pinnochet-can touch your life without you even knowing.

In both of these stories Endress is unintentionally participating in the wrong doings of this totalitarian dictator. In the first tape Endress gives us a simple story, essentially that he participated in waving to and venerating Pinnochet's motorcade traveling with full military parade, while his father was the only one present to protest. In the second tape another simple text places Edgar on the wrong side of good unwittingly. He gives guards the oranges that will be used to beat and torture people who are wrongfully imprisoned. Even though he did not have an idea of what the symbolism of his acts where at the time, there is regret found within the tone of the tape.

The ghost of these events charges the tape with frenetic energy. La Memoria de Los Caracoles points us back to the circumstance, but the mood that Endress relays tell us of his opinion. Even though situations were out of Endress' control they turn into ghosts-they seem to motivate the piece. In both of these pieces, the father is present and is-to some extent-a hero. The father figure is indeed choosing the right decision and makes an ideal self that the child in the tape, a young Edgar, can look to. This makes the absence of father seem so much more important in the next two videos.

John Orentlicher's video 3X Named, evolves out of a personal investigation of Orentlicher's biological parents.The piece is quite amazing to me because I see clearly how-as viewer-I am implicitly participating with the protagonist. The text in this piece begins to define his parents. I see and feel my understanding of John's identity through his investigation-one that builds for me nearly as it must of for himself-or as I imagine it would.A pair of images appears in the piece together; in one, there is a figure cut out, maybe his father/ The awareness of his absence is heightened.

Little is mentioned of Orentlicher's father-only that he was a Jewish intelligent from a large family. John's self-investigation seems to assign his identity as that of an outsider even though he does not intend this from the investigation. Orentlicher simply asks who his parents are. But all he really creates are more questions.

The tape, Kiss the Boys, by Margaret Stratton takes a normative view of homosexuality and entwines it with the mem-

Still from Edgar Endress' La Memaria de Los Caraco/es(memory of d,e snails),200 I

Still from John Orentlicher's 3X Named, 200 I

Stills from Margaret Stratton 's Kiss The Boys, 1994

ory of the artists' lost parent. Her father becomes a ghost of herself-someone who judged and watched Margaret.As in Endress' and Orentlicher's videos, the acts of the parents significantly affect their children. Absence becomes part of Stratton's self-identity. She-even when recognizing her own desires-must appease the structure in which her father exists, haunted by that which defines her.

In life and in our attempts at definition, we establish ourselves by what we know:Where have we been? What are we told? Wondering what might have been raises the content in these works. These are questions that we ask ourselves all the time.The way that society dictates or parents dictate, is our first lesson in defining who we are.These videos-when brought together-begin to show the way we can be affected by larger forces, be they social, political, or something other.

-200 I, John W Mannion

The videos in Passenger were shown at the Center for Photography at Woodstock November 3 -December 23, 200 I in conjunction with We Are Named. This was made possible, in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts Electronic Media & Film, a state agency.

Still from Arturo Carlos Marinno and Ivan Marino, LosAnimates,1999

John W. Mannion is an artist and educator who currently teaches at Light Work in Syracuse, New York. He has taught photography, digital imaging, art history, and media studies at Syracuse University and served as co-director of Sparks Gallery, also in Syracuse.

IA PHOTOGRAPHYNOW to

selections by Robert Mann z

What's new? what's now? what a remarkable time! In the past decade the boundaries in creative photography have vanished. Art, illustration, documentary, fashion, and commerce collide. Cultures, ethnic groups, and cities exchange a visual dialogue and photographers are reaching across borders, charting new territory, juxtaposing the old and the new, exploring the past, the future, and the present. There are no boundaries, there are no rules anything is possible! With many technical avenues to explore, photography now can take any shape, size, or form-from the latest digital technology to antique and handmade processes-platinum, Iris, Polaroid, gelatin silver, tintype, c-print, albumen, Giclee, mixed media, and more. We put out a call to international photographers to show us everything that is NOW-from A to Z-and all that lies between.

Juror, Robert Mann selected six talented image-makers from hundreds of entrants: Christine Back's groups and individualsare intriguingin compositionand Matthew Bialer's portraits are compellingin context and lighting. Reenie Barrow's quiet still fifes are thoughtful,with good use of ambient light.Errol Daniel's treatments of both young and old generations are sincere and playful.Alan Sock/off's abstract textural landscapes are strong with precisionistqualities.David Simonton's nocturnallandscapesare mysteriousand intelligent.Great year everyonekeep up the good work! - RM

Robert Mann is the owner of the Robert Mann Gallery in NYC. Mann shows photography by 20th century masters and contemporary artists equally.Some of the photographers and collections he represents include Ansel Adams, Aaron Siskind, Diane Arbus, Richard Misrach, Michael Kenna, Luis Gonzalez Palma, and Lois Guarino. Prior to opening his own gallery in NYC in the mid 1980s, Mann worked in Washington DC with Harry Lunn, a pioneer in the fine art photography industry.

Christine Back Nyack, New York

I say I take pictures of whoever will let me. My friends disagree."You wouldn't shoot that guy, if he paid you", they challenge.Especiallynot if he paid me I think. So what is it that makes me ask "Can I make a picture of you?"When I see something that says what I've been longingto say so well that I forget I'm just not someone who would ask such a thing,then I do.

© 1995, Christine Back, Men's Room,Cape May, New Jersey,gelatin silver print

© 1996, Christine Back, One-Way, Cape May, New Jersey,gelatin silver print

Reenie Barrow

Bristol, Rhode Island

I aim to evoke the feeling of a human presence, although a specific person is not included. A person has just le~ ot will soon be arriving a stage is set for action.

© 1991, Reenie Barrow, Fronce,gelatiin silver print

© 1995, Reenie Barrow. Sweden,gelatin silver print

Matthew Bialer

Brooklyn, New York

I was originally a poet. And then I saw the work of Andre Kertesz and little did I know it would completely change my life. In retrospect, there is not much of a leap between poetry and the work of Kertesz. Poetry taught me that there are many components to any work of art. William Carlos Williams once said that a poem is a "machine made of words." Similarly, a compelling photograph is a machine made of lights and darks.

© 200 I, Matthew Bialer, Fabricof Being,gelatin silver print

© 200 I, Matthew Bialer, Chicago,gelatin silver print

Errol Daniels

Williamsville, New York

Many Americans mourn the loss of "family values"in the USA,which are very much alive in Cuba today. Extended families live together or close by, neighborsare truly "neighborly"and folks watch out for each other.There is no denying,family values are at the core of Cuban culture.Watch them as they love.their children, care for their elderly.In spite of deteriorating buildings,observe the cleanlinessof their homes and personal hygiene.Listen as they laugh and play music.Along with serious shortages of food and medicine,there is an enviable,pervasive sense of contentment. What are we doing? We trade massivelywith China.We have supported dictators all over the world that have pillagedtheir countries and murdered their people. How can we morallyignore the plight of the Cubans,just 90 miles away from the Floridacoastline?

© 200 I, Errol Daniels, FutureMen & Dogs, black-and-white chromagenic print

© 200 I, Errol Daniels, Enthusiasmin Waves,black-and-white chromagenic print

David Simonton

Raleigh, North Carolina

Photographers photograph, and at the end of the day it's sometimes hard to stop. So I stopped stopping With light that's limited and unchanging, taking one's time becomes possible (a luxury not always affordable when light is reeting). The night's quiet too is amenable to the medium of photography. From innumerable daytime choices to a choice few at night, one's pick of subject mater is practically predetermined. The world's a stage, set and lit for the taking.

© 1999, David Simonton, Construction,Raleigh,North CarolinaMay 1999, gelatin silver print

© 1999, David Simonton, Johnston County, North CarolinaJanuary 1998,gelatin silver print

Alan Sockloff

Langhorne, Pennsylvania

My studio is the outdoors where I record images of the randomness of our world.Of particularinterest are the results of random processes:lines and curves,textur~, shading, and the forms that are created.These quasimagical forms fascinate me most when they take on particularlyrecognizable,although not always obvious,shapes.

© 2000,Alan Sockloff, Crushed Bale #86. Uncle David's (& Bruce's) Scrap Yard,gelatin silver print

© I999,Alan Sockloff, Crushed Bale #59, Uncle David's (& B;;e's) Scrap Yard 1998, gelatin silver print

NOTED BOOKS

American Ruins/Ghosts on the Landscape, Maxwell MacKenzie, foreword by Henry Allen, The Afton Historical Society Press,Afton, MN; 200 I, soft cover, black-&-white photographs.

Ancient Microworlds, Giraud Foster and Norman Barker, foreword by Francis M. Hueber, Custom and Limited Editions, San Francisco,CA; 2000, hard cover, color photographs.

Andre Kertesz: New York State of Mind, essay by Robert Gurbo, Stephen Daiter Gallley, Chicago; 200 I, soft cover, black-&-white photographs.

Aquatics, photographs by Henry Horenstein, introduction by Richard Ellis, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, NY; 200 I, hard cover, black-&-white photographs.

Aqueducte 2000 vi Biennal Internacional De Fotografia, Catalunya, Spain, 2000, hard cover, color and black-&-white photographs.

Atget, John Szarkowski, The Museum of Modern Art/Callaway, NY; 2000, hard cover, black-&-white photographs. Donated by David Karp.

Baseball: The Perfect Game, photographs by Danielle Weil, introduction by David Halberstam, text by Peter Richmond, Rizzoli, NYC, NY; 1992, hard cover, black-&-white photographs. Donated by Quentin Victor.

Bob Dylan: A Portrait of the Artist's Early Years, photographs by Daniel Kramer, Plexus Publishing Limited, London; 1967, soft cover, black-&-white photographs. Donated by the artist.

Business and Legal Forms for Photographers, Tad Crawford, Allworth Press, NY; 2002, soft cover.

Chiostro: Photographs of Italy, Ron Rosenstock, Silver Strand Press, MA, 2001,hard cover, black-&-white photographs.

Dancers, photographs by Philip Trager, essays by Joan Acocella, David Freedberg, Bill T.Jones,and Mark Morris. A Bullfinch Press Book, Little, Brown, and Company, Boston; 1992, hard cover, black-&-white photographs. Donated by the artist.

Design by Nature, photographs by Richard Woldendorp, essay by Victoria Laurie, Fremantle Arts Centre Press in association with Sandpiper Press, Western Australia; 200 I, hard cover, color photographs.

Echoes:A Visual Reflection, photographs by Richard Buswell, introduction by Dennis Kern, commentary by Margaret Mudd, Archival Press in association with the Museum of Fine Arts of the University of Montana; 1997, soft cover, black-&-white photographs. Donated by the artist.

The Edge of the City/Words and Photographs by Charles Pratt, New York 1954-1969, editors' notes by Julie Pratt Shattuck and John Gossage, published in cooperation with Robert Mann Galley, NYC, and Nazareli Press, Tucson, AZ; 1988, hard cover, black-&-white photographs.

Gables:Architectural Photography, photographs by Michael Thomas, essays by Stanley I Grand and William F. Stern, Sordoni Art Gallery, Wilkes University, PA; 200 I, soft cover, color and black-&-white photographs.

Gloucester Photographs, photographs by Nubar Alexanian, foreword by Joseph E. Garland, Walker Creek Press; 200 I, soft cover, black-&white photographs.

Harmony of Reflected Light, The Photographs of Arthur Wesley Dow, by James Enyeart, Museum of New Mexico Press,Santa Fe, NM; 200 I, hard cover, color and black-&-white photographs.

John Hedgecoe's Advanced Photography, contributors Antony Parks,Adrian Bailey,and Rex Hayman, Simon and Schuster, NY; 1982, hard cover, color and black-&-white photographs.

John Hedgecoe's Nude Photography, Simon and Schuster,NYC, NY; 1984 hard cover, color and black-&-white photographs. Donated by Jeffrey Nutkowitz.

In Human Touch, photographs by Ernestine Ruben, editor James Christen Steward, essays by Lyle Rexner, James Christen Steward, SergeTisseron; Nazareli Press and the University of Michigan Museum of Art, 200 I, hard cover, color and black-&-white photographs. Donated by the artist.

The Light of Ireland, photographs by Ron Rosenstock, introduction by Paul Caponigro, Silver Strand Press,Holden, MA; 2000, hard cover, black-&-white photographs. Donated by the artist.

Living Space of the Growing Thing, photographs by Atifa Kang BongJo, text by Kim Jin-young, Gallery Lux, Seoul; 2002, soft cover, black&-white photographs. Donated by the artist.

Luister Met Je Ogen, photographs by Bert Teunissen,text by Pauline Berkhout. Uitgave jostiband Orkest, Amsterdam; 200 I, hard cover, color and black-&-white photographs. Donated by the artist.

Passaggi di Tempo, photographs by Renzo Bertasi, Mueso d'Arte Moderrna, Italy; 2000, hard cover, black-&-white photographs.

The Photographer's Assistant, john Kieffer,Allworth Press,NY; 200 I, soft cover, black-&-white photographs.

Robert Maxwell Photographs, interview by Genevieve Field.Arena Editions, Santa Fe, NM; 2000, hard cover, black-&-white photographs. Donated by the artist.

Short Season/Portrait of a Minor League Baseball Team, photographs by jack Shear,introduction by Ian Berry, published by Williams College; 1996, soft cover, black-&-white photographs. Donated by the artist

Stones of the Sur, photographs by Morley Baer, poetry by Robinson Jeffers, introduction by James Karmen, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA; 200 I, hard cover, black-&-white photographs.

Solusimages.com, stock photographs, publisher Arie Kopelman, Solusimages.com, NY; 200 I, soft cover, color and black-and-white photographs.

The Tibetans: A Struggle to Survive, photographs by Steve Lehman, introduction by Robert Coles, essay by Robbie Barnett, Umbrage Editions, NY; 1998, hard cover, color and black-&-white photographs. Donated by the artist.

To Kingston, With Love: A Photographic Journey, photographs by PhyllisA. McCabe, introduction by Kingston's Mayor,T.R.Gallo, self-published 2002, soft cover, color photographs. Donated by the artist.

Vernal Equinox: Recent Photograms by Martha Madigan, text by AD. Coleman, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, NY; 200 I, hard cover, color and black-&-white photographs. Donated by artist and Michael Rosenfeld Gallery.

editor, Kathleen Kenyon

My current body of work concentrates on the issue of illegal immigration specifically those known as the boat people who try to enter America by the way of water on small boats.

I construct paper boats out of articles found in the newspapers or other publications about the infiux of illegal immigrants to America. The paper boats are monumentalized in my photographs and installations as metaphors for the rowboats, rafts, and other capricious vessels used by the immigrants.

The paper boats are deliberate in the fabrication. They are crafted so precise fragments articulating the issues of emigrants/immigration are emphasized. I am also interested in questioning the motivation of these immigrants, who risk their lives for a hope of a better future. A future they may or may not secure in a country they may or may not reach.

Priya S. Kambli was born in India. She received her MFA from the University of Houston in Houston. Texas. Her work has been shown at the Southeast Museum of Photography in Daytona, Florida; Artemesia Gallery in Vaxjo, Sweden; University of North Texas in Denton, Texas; Houston Center for Photography; and San Francisco Camerawork. She was a SPE scholarship recipient and currently teaches photography at Truman State University in Missouri.

© Priya S. Kambli, Untitled, I 998, lambda print

PRINTOFFiRINGSFORPATRONMEMBERS

Become a member at the Patron level and receive one of these lim• ited edition photographs made especially to support the Center and its programs. CPW's Patron Membership offers individuals a unique opportunity to collect contemporary art at a special value and provide essential support of the arts. Please join us1

8-9/ CHRIS RAINIER In Search of the Sacred 15-16/ KEITH CARTER Re/Inventing the World 22-23/ ROBERT FARBER Natural Beauty 29-30/ JIM FOSSETT Digital Imaging

13/ CHARLES HAGEN Seeing Photographs

13-14/ CHRISTOPHER JAMES Alternative Processes 20-21/ STEVE MCCURRY The Human Condition 27-28/ ERNESTINE RUBEN Pathfinding

27-28/ JUDI ESMOND Introduction to Photography

AUGUST

3-4/ GREG GORMAN Faces & Figures 10-11/ JUDI ESMOND Introduction to Photography 17/ KATHLEEN KENYON Getting Known/Being Shown 18/ RICHARD EDELMAN Digital Darkroom 17-18/ CRAIG BARBER Platinum/Palladium Printing

24-25/ ANNIE GRIFFITHS BELT Magazine Photography 31-1/ GEORGE HOLZ Illuminating Form

6/ JOYCE TENNESON NYC Studio Intensive 7-8/ ANDREA MODICA Telling Stories 14-15/ ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM Radiance of Light 21-22/ MARK CITRET The World Around Us

21-22/ TERESA ENGLE MORENO The Fine Print 27/ NYC PORTFOLIO REVIEW PANEL 28-29/ TANYA MARCUSE The Body

fully illustrated catalog by order:

/ www.cpw.org special thanks to the wpw 2002 sponsorskodak professional, polaroid, calumet, & dyna-lite!

• Finest digital giclee prints using the new UltraChrome Seven Color Pigmented Inks; Archival inks /or superb color and neutral b&w papers.

• Imacon virtual drum scans: hgih resolution, high-end; the best technology for negatives & slides. www. woods to cl~ gra p hies studio. com

About My Hair

Living with ChemotherapyPhotographs and Narrative A Journey to Recovery by Marcia Reid Marsted

BERENICE ABBOTT

EUGENE ATGET

IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM

WALKER EVANS

Lours FAURER

MARIO GIACOMELLI

ANDRE KERTESZ

WILLIAM KLEIN

DO ROTH EA LANGE

MARTIN MUNKACSI

ARNOLD NEWMAN

RUTH ORKIN

GORDON PARKS

BEN SHAHN

AARON SISKIND

W. EUGENE SMITH

EDWARD STEICH EN

ALFRED STIEGLITZ

JOSEF SUDEK

JAMES VAN DER ZEE

ROMAN VISHNIAC

EDWARD WESTON AND MORE

To learn more or to buy a copyVisitwww.capellidangelipress.net

ARTISTSREPRESENTED

Shelby Lee Adams • Lynn Bianchi

Christopher Coppola • Paul D'Amato

John Dugdale • Torben Eskerod

David Goldes • Mark Goodman • Simen Johan

Mary Alice Johnston • Mona Kuhn

Jan Van Leeuwen • Elaine Ling • Jason Oddy

Marla Sweeney· Bert Teunissen

Katherine Turczan

552 West 24th Street, New York, NY 10011

212.414.0370 Fax 212.414.0371 www.yossimilogallery.com

Gorgeous archival digital prints up to 44" x 90" on a variety of papers. For editions, exhibitions, and your imagination. Fuji Pictrography

Photorealistic Prints up to 12" x 18"

f\lll([ll([ll([ll([ll(lll([VZ lll([ll([ll([.V{[.V{[ll([ll(lll( [ll([ll([.V{L1'{L1'{[.V{[ll([ll( [ll([.V{L1'{Ll(Ll(L1'{[.V{[ll( [ll([.V{L1'<KKL1'<[.V{[ll( [ll([ll([.V{L1'{L1'{[.V{[ll([ll( lll([ll([ll([.V{[.V{[ll([V([V( f\lll([ll([ll([V([V(lll([VZ

LEE GALLERY

FRANK ARISMAN

ROBERT BECK

HENRY BUHL / BUHL FOUNDATION

PHILIPAND MARCH CAVANAUGH

CHARINA FOUNDATION

CATHERINE CHERMAYEFF

~ICHARD EDELMAN

EPSOMAMERICA, INC.

SUSAN FERRIS

IRIS FODOR

SUSAN FOWLER-GALLAGHER

ED GARBARINO

STEVENAND JANICE FRIEDMAN

MARGERY FRANKLIN

ELISEGLENNE t IRVING KALISH REALTY

IN MEMORY OF IRVING KALISH

FRANCES GRAY

HOWARD GREENBERG

BILL GUENZEL

SUE HARTSHORN

WM.HUNT

DOUGLAS JAMESTRUST

JEFFREYKAY / LENS & REPRO

COLLEEN KENYON

KATHLEEN KENYON SR.

KEVIN KENYON / ARLINGTON CAPITAL MORTGAGE

CORPORATION

ARIE KOPELMAN / SOLUS

MARK JACOBS

GAIL LE BOFF

JOAN LEBOLD COHEN

MACK LEE

GAY LEONHARDT

EL~ENAND DAVID LEVY

ANN LOVETT

ERIC LINDBLOOM

JIM LONERGAN t ATTORNEY AT LAW

PIERRELEVAL

MARCIA REID MARSTED

DAVID MALONEY

ALEXANDRA MARSHALL

YOSSI MILO

ANDY MOSS / DIGITAL DESIGN STUDIO

RICHARD MERCK / PATTISON, KOSKEY & RATH. CPAS

ELLIOTT AND MIMI MEISEL

ANN MORSE

GLORIA NIMETZ

DION OGUST

SANDRA PHILLIPS

ESTATEOF CHARLES PRATT

KATHLEEN RUIZ

ERNESTINE RUBEN

STEVEN SCHOENBERGER

ALAN SIEGEL

MICHAEL STOCK

CATHERINE SEBASTIAN

HARRIET TANNIN

TOWN OF WOODSTOCK

CHARLESTRAUB

CHRISTIAN WITKIN

vvooDSTOCK BUILDING SUPPLYCORPORATION CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY AT WOODSTOCK