New Mexico Museum of Art Unveils ‘Ways of Seeing’ Exhibit, Encompa…

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New Mexico Museum of Art Unveils ‘Ways of Seeing’ Exhibit, Encompa…
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From vivid road trip memories to tranquil portraits, the New Mexico Museum of Art’s latest exhibition, ‘Ways of Seeing: Four Photography Collections’, spans a rich timeline from 1903 to 2013, featuring works by Gertrude Käsebier and Anthony O’Brien among others. This exhibit, running until June 16, offers a unique insight into the varying tastes and preferences of its collectors, providing a broad spectrum of photography styles for enthusiasts and scholars alike.

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Historical to Contemporary: A Photographic Journey

The exhibition showcases an eclectic mix of photography, starting with a 1903 photogravure by Gertrude Käsebier, moving through the color-soaked lenses of mid-century adventures, and culminating with a 2013 pigment print by local talent Anthony O’Brien. This journey through time not only highlights the evolution of photographic techniques but also reflects the changing landscapes and societal norms captured through the eyes of the photographers.

Collector’s Vision: The Personal Touch

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What sets ‘Ways of Seeing’ apart is its focus on the personal tastes and preferences of the collectors who have promised these works to the museum. This approach provides visitors with a unique perspective on art collection and the stories that individual pieces can tell. The exhibition thus becomes a narrative not just of the artists and their works, but also of the individuals who felt compelled to preserve and share these visual stories.

Implications and Future Directions

The ‘Ways of Seeing’ exhibit is more than a retrospective; it’s a dialogue between the past and the present, inviting viewers to reflect on the role of photography in shaping our understanding of the world. As the exhibit runs its course, it’s poised to inspire both seasoned photographers and newcomers to the art form, potentially influencing future trends in both creation and collection. The New Mexico Museum of Art, through this exhibition, reinforces its commitment to celebrating photographic art and its impact on society.

MIA exhibit explores work of Gordon Parks, who started his photography career in Twin Cities

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MIA exhibit explores work of Gordon Parks, who started his photography career in Twin Cities

MIA exhibit explores iconic photo series


MIA exhibit explores iconic photo series

02:58

MINNEAPOLIS — A new exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art features work from a photographer that started his career in the Twin Cities back in the 1930s. 

It’s called American Gothic: Gordon Parks and Ella Watson. Many will recognize the title photo, a portrait of Watson standing in front of an American flag with a broom and mop. 

“Washington, D.C. Government charwoman (American Gothic)” by Gordon Parks (1942). Gelatin silver print. 

National Gallery of Art; Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection); © The Gordon Parks Foundation


“I want them to understand, too, the very special alchemy that happens when a Black photographer enters into Black homes and Black lives and tells the story from a place of deep experience and empathy and knowing,” MIA Curator of Photography and New Media Casey Riley said.

Riley was the curator behind the series. She also is the Chair of Global Contemporary Art at MIA. She wants those walking through vibrantly painted walls to see and feel everything. 

In a series of nearly 60 photos, Parks captures Watson in different landscapes of her life: her job as a government custodial worker, a mother and a deaconess at her church. 

“What I hope people take away from this is that everybody’s work, everybody’s contributions matters and that from the kind of organization and labor that we do every day we can build something profound and change society for the better,” Riley said. 

MIA visitors Malik Mitchell and Azania Tripp were touched by Watson’s humanity captured on film. 

“I feel like that’s really important, especially for workers that tend to be very invisible and made invisible, but that their labor is very important to how we function in society and make us be able to work very efficiently,” Mitchell said.

As a social worker, and artist herself, Tripp sees how her story plays into present day society. 

“I think just the importance of giving people space to share their experience, and that it’s valid and that what is happening to you is real,” she said. “Because it feels very minimizing when you’re navigating racism.” 

American Gothic: Gordon Parks and Ella Watson runs at the MIA until June 23. 

Beret Leone


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Beret Leone is a native Minnesotan who joined the WCCO team as a reporter in September 2022 – and she’s thrilled be back home in the Twin Cities! Beret grew up in Chaska and graduated from Bethel University.

Click away: Vienna Photography Show submissions sought

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Click away: Vienna Photography Show submissions sought

The Vienna Parks and Recreation Department’s annual Vienna Photo Show will be held at the Vienna Community Center March 16-17, and submissions will be accepted beginning Thursday, March 14.

Ribbons will be awarded in seven categories, including animal, nature, digital art, scenic, architecture, photojournalism and portraiture.

One “Best in Show” ribbon will be awarded to the adult division, and one will be awarded to the student division. A “People’s Choice” ribbon will be awarded to the photo that receives the most votes during show hours on Saturday, March 16. Separate categories are available for middle- and high- school students grades 7-12.

Individuals can enter up to three photos (with a maximum of two in any category). The entry fee is $10 per person.

For more information, see the Website at www.viennava.gov/photo or call (703) 255-6395.

Protesters paint ‘c***’ onto Queen Victoria sculpture at Glasgow museum

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Protesters paint ‘c***’ onto Queen Victoria sculpture at Glasgow museum
Protesters spray-painted the word “c***” and poured porridge and jam on a bust of Queen Victoria at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on Sunday, 3 February. This Is Rigged, a group that aims to draw attention to the cost of living crisis, said they staged the action to protest “skyrocketing food insecurity.” Sorcha Ní Mháirtín, 30, and Hannah Taylor, 23, then glued themselves to the plinth. “We refuse to be dragged back to the Victorian era. Diseases of starvation including scurvy and rickets are on the rise. Freedom begins with breakfast and if you can’t understand that, we’ll shove it in your face,” Ní Mháirtín said.

New Episode of Sniper Alley: Interview with Photographer Peter Kullmann who captured the Siege of Sarajevo

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New Episode of Sniper Alley: Interview with Photographer Peter Kullmann who captured the Siege of Sarajevo

In the new episode of the project “The Story Behind the Photo,” Sniper Alley presents an interview with Peter Kullmann, the photographer who captured the siege of Sarajevo.

“I arrived on a French military flight from Ancona and had no idea what I was getting into. I was thrown off the ramp of this Transall plane standing in front of the airport building. It was a very dark day. There was a storm. It was late and getting dark. Everyone had left, and I was still sitting there, not knowing what was happening, and no one was there to take care of things in any way. Several hours later, Kurt Schork arrived, the famous Reuters reporter. He came in a car that basically had three wheels. He said he got stuck. He had been shot at. So he said, ‘You have to leave everything here. I have a trunk full of wheels. We need those wheels to get back, and they are like spare tires, wheels, and all. Leave your stuff here. We’re going to the city.’ On the way back, there were fights between Dobrinja and Ilidza,” Peter said.

He added that they were shot at again, and they had to change the front tire in all of that.

“This is war. I had no idea what it actually is and how dangerous it is, especially for journalists. So that was my entry into Sarajevo,” he continued.

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He stayed in Sarajevo several times for several months from 1992 to 1995. That evening, when he had just arrived, a shell hit a courtyard in the old part of the city, killing one or two children.

“Kurt Schork and Corinne Dufka went there, and I went along, to see how it works and what is expected of me. We interviewed, that is, they talked to the parents of the family. I was surprised and shocked by the way they asked questions and how the photographs were taken, but I was also shocked by how the family, especially the father of the family, actually pushed himself and his family into the foreground of the photograph. I wasn’t shocked in the sense of: ‘How could you do that?’ but I was impressed and shocked by how they would overcome their suffering to tell this story. That was the first time I connected with the issue of people dying in war and journalists photographing it, filming it, talking about it while the father smelled the clothes of his killed children,” he said.

Peter worked with John Burns and they would drive all the way to Grbavica. They had to go all the way around, behind the airport, and to the panoramic road and then descend. It was a long drive.

“It took us a few hours to get there, going through all the checkpoints to end up about 800 meters across from the Holiday Inn, where we stayed. When we got there, it was very strange. Of course, you don’t show any bias in any way when you meet these people. I wouldn’t say you try to be friends, but you try to be friendly and not come with a hostile approach and it turned out that after the second or third day, it would be a very strange situation because these people greeted you as if we were friends. Since I’m German, some of them spoke German with me, so they would say, ‘We work in Stuttgart, we work for a big car company. We have to meet when this is over,’ and similar things, which was very strange,” he noted.

He added that it is impossible to show all the horrors that happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) through photography.

“It is quite easy to go through these situations when the adrenaline is very high when you are shocked yourself. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect you. Very often you don’t know what’s going on, which is good, and you literally hear the bullet only when it has passed you. When you hear it, there’s no problem. I couldn’t go through these situations if I didn’t have a camera if I wasn’t occupied with what I’m doing,” he believes.

It should be noted that in previous episodes of the “The Story Behind the Photo” project, you could meet photographers Christopher Morris, Thomas Haley, Enrico Dagnina, and Enrico Marty, Klix.ba writes.

Photo: Linkedin

I Photographed This Couple Mid-Proposal. Can You Help Me Find Them Using These Clues?

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I Photographed This Couple Mid-Proposal. Can You Help Me Find Them Using These Clues?

An photo the author took of the mystery couple's proposal in San Juan, Puerto Rico (January 2024).

An photo the author took of the mystery couple’s proposal in San Juan, Puerto Rico (January 2024).
Courtesy of Kathryn Sheldon

If there’s one thing a cold, gray, post-holiday January in New York City demands, it’s an escape to a warmer climate (should you be lucky enough to be able to afford it and make it work).

After close to 20 years in the city, I’d never been to Puerto Rico — even though it’s just a few hours away by plane — and neither had my boyfriend, Alex, so we decided on San Juan for our first vacation together.

On January 8, we took a walk along the Paseo del Morro. It’s a scenic and historic path along the walls of Old San Juan, offering incredible views of the seaside and encounters with the many cats that hide from the sun among the rocks along the water. The path eventually leads up to the Castillo San Felipe del Morro, a large fortress constructed between 1539 and 1790. Desperate to find some relief from the near 90-degree heat, we stopped at the top of a grassy hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean to let the breeze cool us off.

I’m a photographer by trade, and when I travel, I like to use film, so on this particular trip I had only brought my grandmother’s old Pentax K1000. Using film instead of digital is a way for me to slow down, pay attention to what I’m seeing and take the pressure off the need to shoot a high volume of images.

I had just brought my camera up to my face to shoot a large ship that was passing by when Alex noticed two people standing at the end of the pier far below us.

“Are those people getting engaged? They’re getting engaged!” he said, pointing.

I snapped maybe six or eight images in a row as he recorded the moment on his phone. We looked around to see if anyone else was witnessing this serendipitous occasion, but we were the only ones.

We let the couple take their time, not wanting to impose on such an intimate moment. When the proposal appeared to be done, we made our way over to them, introduced ourselves, and I told them I had captured their engagement with my camera. They were delighted, so I asked for one of their emails and told them I would send the photos after they’d been developed. I wasn’t entirely sure if the images would even come out, as we had been a fair distance away and my light meter had stopped working, but I assured them if I had gotten anything good, I’d be in touch. We chatted a bit longer and then we congratulated the couple again and parted ways.

The author and her boyfriend, Alex, In San Juan, Puerto Rico (January 2024)

The author and her boyfriend, Alex, In San Juan, Puerto Rico (January 2024)
Courtesy of Kathryn Sheldon

As Alex and I continued walking, we remarked how thrilling it was to have just witnessed this random couple’s proposal. It made me wonder exactly what it was about seeing two strangers get engaged that felt so exciting. We didn’t have any investment in their lives — knew hardly anything about them, and likely never would. Regardless, it was an incredibly significant moment for them, and to see something that rare and meaningful and unexpected happen right in front of us felt a bit like seeing a shooting star.

Extraordinary moments like these that feel like a gift, especially in a world where so much is currently going wrong. Seeing two people making a commitment to each other — whatever that looks like for them and however they choose to honor it going forward — is a beautiful thing. It felt like I had been given a little reminder from the universe that despite how bad things can seem, love is real and we should do whatever we can to encourage and respect and celebrate it.

Alex and I returned back to New York City and last week, almost two months after our trip, I finally got my film back. Not only did the images of the engagement turn out, but I had one of every part of the proposal: getting down on one knee, their embrace after, all of it. Although the couple was far from where I was shooting, their beautiful experience was perfectly documented in my photos.

I couldn’t wait to share what I’d shot with the couple. I opened up my Notes app on my phone to retrieve the email they had given me but it wasn’t there. Somehow their contact info had gotten deleted. I was devastated.

“What do we do now?” I asked Alex.

We weren’t sure. How could we find two strangers with only a scant amount of information? We didn’t know, but we wanted to try.

So… this is us trying. Maybe someone reading this essay might know this couple and can help me get in touch with them so I can share my photos of their special day.

One of the photos the author took of the mystery couple during their proposal in San Juan, Puerto Rico (January 2024)

One of the photos the author took of the mystery couple during their proposal in San Juan, Puerto Rico (January 2024)
Courtesy of Kathryn Sheldon

Here’s what we know:

The couple (we believe they were two women but we didn’t ask about their gender identities, so we can’t be sure) got engaged on the afternoon of January 8, 2024 at the Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. I think they were from Baltimore, or, if not, somewhere else in the Maryland or D.C. area. One of them was named Melissa.

I feel lucky to have been in the right place at the right time to witness this couple’s proposal and I’m hoping a little more luck — and a bit of help from one of you — might finally get my photos to them.

If you know these individuals (or you’re the couple featured in the photos), email Noah.Michelson@HuffPost.com and we’ll get you in touch with Kathryn.

Kathryn Sheldon is a freelance still photographer and director of photography based in Brooklyn with a specialty in the culinary and hospitality realm. She previously worked at MTV and NBC Networks in New York. Follow her film photography on Instagram @sometimesitgrains.

Do you have a compelling personal story you’d like to see published on HuffPost? Find out what we’re looking for here and send us a pitch at pitch@huffpost.com.

What’s the key to dog photography? “The main thing is to pay the dog – a dog needs to be paid for any behavior”

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What’s the key to dog photography? “The main thing is to pay the dog – a dog needs to be paid for any behavior”

Recently crowned the overall winner of the 2024 Societies of Photographers 20 x 16 Print Competition, and having won a hatful of previous awards, Jess McGovern is a leading practitioner of dog photography. 

Her beautifully composed images reveal the soul of her subjects and capture the deep emotional affinity that humans have with canines. 

Self-taught, McGovern is passionate about giving back and has helped 500,000 photographers develop and grow, both in-person and via her online photographic community. 

She is giving two talks at The Photography & Video Show: ‘Lights, camera, lick!’, on March 16 and ‘Catch! Creating classic dog action shots’ on March 18. 

We caught up with McGovern to find out more about her and her photography. 

• Standard entry tickets to 2024 start from £14.95 and are valid for any one day of the event. Click here to buy your tickets

Django in Allerthorpe Woods, Yorkshire (Image credit: © Jess McGovern)

Why did you become a pets photographer?

Animals were always my safe space when I was a teen, and I was given a camera as a Christmas present so the two sort of fell together. It was an Olympus E-420, an entry-level DSLR, with a kit lens. I like to know how things work and why things work, so enjoyed using it. 

When I needed some help, a couple of people on the internet gave me some feedback: “If you try doing this, you might find it easier.” It was helpful advice, so that’s why I offer free online tutorials now. 

‘Never work with children and animals’, as the old saying goes, but you’re proving otherwise. What’s the secret of your success?

My hobbies are all to do with animals and animal sports so I spend all my time doing those. I’ve always enjoyed canine and equine behavior, understanding how they work, and I train dogs as well. I have four dogs at home, and all of them do a job in some way, shape or form.

For me, training a dog is fun – even just learning about dog behavior – and knowing how to communicate with your dog is very satisfying. It’s incredibly easy to photograph dogs; any dog can be trained and you can use the same techniques on children. 

Arrow in Maine, US (Image credit: © Jess McGovern)

Which training techniques will always work?

The main thing is to pay the dog – a dog needs to be paid for any behavior. The biggest mistake that a lot of photographers make, and also when photographing their own dog, is that they expect the dog to hold a position for a long period of time. 

But if you pay the dog really quickly for the first few seconds of behavior and then do it again, adding a couple more seconds, you’ll have at least 20 seconds to play with them the next time. So pay the dog quickly and you will get way more from them.

And what should you use to pay them?

Toys or treats, although the treats need to be high-value ones. We’re training our new puppy with cooked chicken instead of the kibble [dry food] that you would normally give them. If you reward a dog with something that’s high in value, then a dog will do anything.

Abandoned – the Open and Overall winner, 2024 Societies of Photographers 20 x 16 Print Competition (Image credit: © Jess McGovern)

How do you approach working with a dog you’ve never met before?

The dog always comes to me – I’ve worked with thousands of rescue dogs and never approach any animal that I work with. I’ll often make eye contact and if that’s good then we can say hello. When we get into the shoot, I’m on the floor making weird noises. Everybody’s happy – the snacks are flying around, the dog will often run up and we can have a bit of a ‘hi’. 

I heavily manage my shoots, mainly so that the dog stays happy all the way through. I let the dog sniff a little bit while I sort things out and I ask the owner to bring the dog to where I need its feet to go. Some people say that my work is posed. Every dog is in a particular position but the dog finds it for themselves – there’s never any manhandling them into a position. 

I like my photos to look clean and safe so in the pre-session consultation with the owner, I will ask if there’s anything the dog is really scared of because if they’re scared of something I need to know what it is to make sure I don’t make that thing worse. 

I also need to know one thing about the dog that the owner really likes and what the dog’s personality is like, because I’ll try to capture that. Then I’ll focus on the kind of artwork the owner wants for their home – for example, is it something that’s going to hang above a fireplace? But to start with I need to know the dog’s size, breed and age, its personality, its likes and dislikes and why the owner loves it. 

That leads me to the location – I pick the location every time. I didn’t used to do that, but now I do. That way, I can make sure the owner gets what they expected from the shoot and that’s the important part. 

Photographer Jess McGovern (Image credit: © Johanna Charlton Wildair Portraits)

Which camera setup do you use, and why?

I switched between Sony and Nikon in the past but I’m using Sony now. I used to have a Sony A99 and because the noise handling wasn’t enough for what I needed, I started using a Nikon DSLR instead. But as soon as I could, I went back to Sony and I have been shooting on Sony cameras ever since. 

I currently use a Sony A1, which I treated myself to at The Photography Show in 2022. Before that, I had a Sony A9 II, and before that, two Sony A7R IIIs. The A9 II had a better autofocus system than the A7R III, so it was much faster for action with dogs but had a lower sensor resolution. I missed the large file sizes for producing massive pieces of wall art, so I knew the A1 was the best choice for me personally.

Which lenses and other kit can you not do without?

Definitely a Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II: it’s a versatile lens and is never really off my camera. The Sony FE 135mm f/1.8 GM is fabulous for action shots with dogs. For lighting, the Pixapro Citi600 Pro wireless strobe is my go-to light, mainly because of the super-short flash duration, the fact that there are no cables and the battery life is enough for what I need. 

Pippi in the Forest of Dean (Image credit: © Jess McGovern)

What has the technology of mirrorless cameras given you, over and above that of DSLRs?

Electronic viewfinders and Animal Eye AF – although it wasn’t actually that amazing when it first came out. For a long time with the A7R III, I was shooting with a small flexible spot and moving it around so I still didn’t let the camera have full control. With the A1, I can trust it almost all the time but sometimes I need to step in. 

Learning on a camera that doesn’t have Animal Eye AF is the best education, because you’ll never know the pain of not having Eye AF until you need to work out how to do without it. Having that fast movement with your thumb to change a focus point as quickly as you can is a really good skill and is worth anybody learning. 

For me and what I do, I would be just as happy using a DSLR and moving a focus point manually, as I am using Animal Eye AF. The biggest difference is that Animal Eye AF actually gets the eye and doesn’t get the nose accidentally, so I’m able to focus a little more on composition – but before Animal Eye AF I was always making sure everything was as good as it could be when composing in-camera.

Peggy in London – winner of Pet Photographer of the Year 2023 (Image credit: © Jess McGovern)

How do you approach photographing dogs that have particularly light or dark coats?

If it’s super-dark and I’m already at ISO10,000 then I’ll shoot to the right [of the histogram] to make sure I’m slightly over the middle, so I don’t have to lift the shadows. Every other time, I will slightly underexpose my highlights, which means that everything is slightly under – half a stop – just to protect a dog’s white coat.

Some people say that you should just focus on your histogram and make sure that you’re not shooting in harsh light then everything else will take care of itself. And that’s one thing Sony EVFs [electronic viewfinders] do really well. In the display, the histogram is small and in the corner so it’s big enough to see without obstructing the composition. I find that particularly helpful and will view the histogram all the time when shooting but, sometimes, I will also check the image quickly on the rear screen to make sure that the exposure is sitting where I want it to be.

I don’t take much notice of any blinking highlight warnings, though – it’s more a case of whether I’m touching the right edge of the histogram. 

Other than your two talks, on March 16 and 18, will you be doing anything else during the show?

I’ll probably bring three dogs with me to help with live demonstrations on my stand [That Photography Spot, J603], which are always crowd-pleasers. I’ll be demonstrating how to shoot an image of a licking dog, which is really fun to do. And we’ll be doing a different demonstration on the Pixapro stand [K404]. People can have a meet and greet with us – and the dogs! 

Portrait photograph of Jessica McGovern, photographer and one of the speakers at The Photography & Video Show 2024
Jess McGovern

Jess McGovern hails from the north-east of England and started a dog photography business when she was 16. She gained worldwide recognition for her work, having won 200 awards in international competitions. After starting a marketing agency, she then founded the online photographic community That Dog Spot. In 2021, McGovern relaunched it as That Photography Spot, to better reflect the genres she covers.

See Jess McGovern at The Photography Show

• ‘Lights, camera, lick!’ with Jess McGovern takes place at The Photography & Video Show on March 16 at 16:00. 

• ‘Catch! Creating classic dog action shots’ with Jess McGovern takes place at The Photography & Video Show on March 18 at 10:15. 

Standard entry tickets to The Photography & Video Show 2024 start from £14.95 and are valid for any one day of the event. Click here to buy your tickets.

Subscribe today! 

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If you love animals, take a look at the best cameras for wildlife photography along with the best lenses for bird and wildlife photography.

Erin Lackey’s Leap: From Hobbyist to Pro Photographer Amid Tragedy…

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Erin Lackey’s Leap: From Hobbyist to Pro Photographer Amid Tragedy…
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OROVILLE — Erin Lackey’s journey from a passionate hobbyist to a professional photographer took a significant turn following her sister’s tragic death, leading to the opening of a new studio. At age 9, Lackey discovered her love for photography, a passion that stayed with her into adulthood. Despite working as an x-ray technician, her dream of being a professional photographer persisted. The loss of her sister Shanin in 2017 became a pivotal moment, driving Lackey to pursue photography full-time and use her art to bring love, light, and hope into the world. By 2021, her business was thriving, leading her to open a 1,400-square-foot studio on Huntoon Street, showcasing her commitment to capturing cherished moments.

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