Latest news with #portraits
New York Times
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Rosalind Fox Solomon, Whose Photos Captured Emotional Nuance, Dies at 95
Rosalind Fox Solomon, a photographer whose penetrating black-and-white portraits shot in the American South, Israel and diverse spots around the globe earned her the admiration of critics and a place in the world's most prestigious museums, died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 95. Her death, in a hospital, was announced by the MUUS Collection, a photography archive that houses her work. Ms. Fox Solomon was sometimes compared to Diane Arbus, and like Arbus, she studied with the great Austrian émigré photographer Lisette Model. But unlike her more famous peer, Ms. Fox Solomon captured sometimes off-putting subjects with a warm intensity that infused them with humanity, even if they appeared strange or unappealing at first glance. The white woman in 'Poke Bonnet, First Mondays, Scottsboro, Alabama' (1976), in Ms. Fox Solomon's 2018 book, 'Liberty Theater,' appears pleased with herself and overconfident, potentially queasy attributes given the time and place. Like the subjects of Ms. Fox Solomon's other portraits, she dominates the frame. But she is not an Arbus freak, nor is she grotesque. She is a familiar sort of woman in early middle age, not a caricature of a white Southerner. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
When van Gogh Fled South, This Family Gave Him Purpose
February 1888, and it's freezing in the South of France. Vincent van Gogh had left Paris after two years of art-world hustle, deepening depressions and a worn welcome from his brother Theo, who had housed the difficult painter. He packed for the small river town of Arles, hoping, he wrote, for 'even more color and even more sun.' Instead he found a snowstorm. He painted orchards and landscapes in the cold, well into spring, staking his easel to the ground to beat the wind. But by July, 'I haven't made a centimeter's progress into people's hearts,' he complained to Theo. To get models an artist needs either money or social grace. Vincent lacked both. 'His disappointments often embittered him,' his sister Willemien wrote, 'and made him not a normal person.' That changed when at the bar he met Joseph Roulin, a postman 'with a head like that of Socrates,' he marveled in July, 'a more interesting man than many people' and a 'raging republican' who had 'almost no nose, a high forehead, bald pate, small gray eyes, high-colored full cheeks, a big beard, pepper and salt, big ears.' Roulin became a confidant, diplomat and crucial sitter. Over the next half year, van Gogh painted 26 portraits of Roulin, his wife, Augustine, and their three children. (Theo he painted only once.) You feel that outpouring at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which has reunited 14 of these likenesses in the impressive and record-correcting exhibition 'Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits.' Augmented with 30 other works by van Gogh and his influences, plus archival material, the show examines the sitter relationship that most reliably allowed van Gogh to test the spiritual qualities of color and paint handling. It is the largest exhibition (outdoing a 2001 show on Joseph in New York) on an iconic but little-known family in art history. It is also a powerful redraft to the myth of van Gogh's constant solitude. He was in fact a social creature. More than any show I have seen, this one revives the centrifugal pull of people you detect in his letters. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CBC
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
See a Winnipeg artist make detailed portraits with duct tape
Duct tape is often used to make quick repairs, but one Winnipegger has gotten stuck on another use. Levi Sobering creates intricate portraits with layers of coloured duct tape.
CTV News
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘It's from the soul': Veterans share stories through photography project
It's a project that's been near and dear to Maurice Henri's heart for a long time. The renowned Moncton photographer has started a new project called Veterans in Focus that puts a spotlight on local veterans through portraits and stories. 'A lot of these people, especially the men, never really talk about it. So, it was my way of trying to get them to open up. To talk to them and hang out with them and honour them. The project is about honour,' said Henri. Arice LeBlanc Arice LeBlanc, a subject for the Veterans in Focus project. (Source: Maurice Henri) Henri and photography students from McKenzie College visit with veterans to document their lives, hear their stories and capture their images through black and white portraits. Not only does it honour the sacrifices of veterans, it's educational for the students, many of them are the same age now as when the veterans set off to war. 'There's a connection there age-wise, but a very disconnect in the sense of understanding the different generations,' said Henri. Eight students are involved and six veterans, men and women, have been interviewed. Some of them over 100-years-old. One of those students is Stacy MacKenzie who said she's learning more than just the technical aspect of portrait photography. 'He's teaching me a lot about storytelling and the images are more than just a picture. Being able to capture those moments and being able to find the humanity and the vision in the person as well,' said MacKenzie. Meeting the veterans was an overwhelming experience for MacKenzie who was deeply moved by the emotion in their stories. 'I was thinking that these stories would be sad. I'm overwhelmed by how happy these people are,' said MacKenzie. Hubert Smith Hubert Smith, a subject for the Veterans in Focus project. (Source: Maurice Henri) Henri is the founder of Cameras for Healing, a not-for-profit organization that helps people experiencing trauma, grief and stress deal with their pain through photography. Dozens of his photos from war zones around the world hang on the walls of his Moncton studio. Many of his photographs are people who have suffered from extreme Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and he recognized it with some of the veterans. 'A lot of these people, even when they were raising their families, were never talking about this. They weren't talking to their kids,' said Henri. 'A lot of them resorted to alcohol. A lot of depression, a lot of PTSD,' said Henri. He recalled one photo shoot with a 102-year-old veteran where the man's son came to watch. 'At the end when we were done and packing up all of our gear and we were walking out, he became quite emotional. He said to me, he pulled me aside and he said, 'I can't believe you pulled out some of these stories. I never heard them before,' he couldn't believe some of the stories his own father was saying for this project,' said Henri. Finding all the veterans has been quite a process for Henri and the students. They've had help from the Moncton Legion, the Veterans Association in Riverview and the public. Frederick Hawthrone Frederick Hawthrone, a subject for the Veterans in Focus project. (Source: Maurice Henri) The 67-year-old photographer can feel the emotion in the veterans when they share their stories. 'You can see the water in their eyes,' said Henri. 'The pride that they have still. Even though they're in wheelchairs and some of them have difficulty walking, but you can still feel and see that pride of what they did for us.' A mature student, MacKenzie spoke about how some of her classmates, many of them 18 or 19-years-old, can learn about this important part of Canadian history. 'So, for them to actually see and visualize for the first time maybe with a veteran is really going to help them see that it's from the soul. It's definitely from the soul,' said MacKenzie. Henri has the lofty goal of meeting and photographing 40 veterans before the exhibit will go on display in November in the lobby of the Hotel Beausejour in downtown Moncton. 'I want to put them on a pedestal,' said Henri. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- The Guardian
Derek and Quentin, twins from Indiana who live in the woods: Robin de Puy's best photograph
My first trip photographing Americans was in 2015, when I drove 8,000 miles across the country on a Harley-Davidson. I'd spent too long caught up in assignments and wanted to take some time off from commercial and editorial work to follow my own creative urges. America offered an opportunity to explore a landscape I didn't know, and was far enough away from my home in the Netherlands to ensure it wouldn't be easy for me to just go back if things got difficult. I think Europeans often don't understand how tough life in America can be. I wanted to show real, underrepresented people who are just trying to survive, while also drawing attention to how rich their lives can be. At a time when people seem increasingly polarised in their views, my images seek to challenge the assumptions that often divide people, and to focus on the common experiences that connect us. This picture is from a more recent series, American, which I undertook with my husband between 2022 and 2024. Again, I took portraits of people we encountered while driving from state to state and we also recorded interviews and documented their stories on film. I spotted Derek and Quentin from our car as we were driving through Elkhart, Indiana. They were wearing hoodies and their faces were hidden. I don't know what it is that attracts me to people, it's just this gut feeling – I see certain people and feel I need to talk to and observe them. So I jumped out of the car and ran towards them. I said something like: 'Hey, are you brothers?' They said: 'Yeah, yeah,' but they were not really looking at me. I told them I was a photographer and film-maker from Amsterdam, and when they heard the word 'Amsterdam' they were suddenly interested. I discovered they were 29-year-old twins who lived nearby in a tent, in woodland behind a friend's trailer home. These boys had never learned how to have a 'normal' life – how to organise everything, show up to a job, all the basic things. Their mom has a severe mental health condition and never stays in the same place for long and their dad died of an overdose a couple of years ago. Their grandma had taken care of them until they left and started living on the streets. But they have each other, and if you asked them, they would say they had a good childhood. This was where they felt at ease and wanted to live. If you didn't know their story, you could look at this picture and think they are maybe runners or cyclists. Then you see the tattoos – Quentin, on the left, has a little star under his eye. Their skin is white where it's been covered by T-shirts but their necks and forearms are tanned, and the colour of their skin and hair is echoed by the orange flowers in the background. They're also unconsciously mirroring one another in the way they're holding their hands. There's so much going on in this picture that it's a little confusing. But because of that, you keep staring, and that, for me, is a way to break something open – people who see this photograph are curious and always want to know more about these boys. I use a medium format camera because I love capturing the texture of people's skin and hair, and the twins were fascinated by that and the other tech we were using – the film camera and sound equipment. They're really into machines and electronics. You can see in their gaze that they're communicating with me, their posture is open. That's how I like to approach these portraits – they're a collaborative process. I love being in that moment where the subject is as completely focused on me as I'm focused on them and we're reacting to one another. Even when my work exhausts me, it's not something I can just park, or detach myself from. I always say that through my photography, I've created my own family. Just like Randy, who I formed a close bond with on that first trip across America and still speak to daily, I've stayed in regular contact with Derek and Quentin. They are very dear to me. Born: 1986, Oostflakkee, the NetherlandsTrained: The Photo Academy, 'Mary Ellen Mark, Egon Schiele, David Lynch, Richard Avedon, Larry Clark and Harmony Korine (I love Kids and Gummo). And many, many moreHigh point: 'The documentary about my work (directed by Simone de Vries, director of photography Maarten van Rossem) being nominated for an International Emmy; meeting and photographing Randy and all the other great human beings; the little road trip along The Loneliest Road of America to check out the billboards with pictures from American – with some of the people who were on the billboards; driving 8,000 miles on my motorbike through storms and sunshine, through cities and mountains to shoot one of my best series'Low point: 'There are low points often. Some worse than others. Most low points are the ones that I create in my own mind'Top tip: 'Don't be afraid to go back and do it again, make it better, try again, again and again' See more at American by Robin De Puy is published by Hannibal Books
