Exhibit This: May’s Photography Shows and Book Releases

May 5, 2014

By Libby Peterson

The Stereotypes of Motherhood


“Untitled (2 photographers), 2008.” Photo © Fred Hüning

Artists: Various
Exhibit: “Home Truths: Photography and Motherhood
VenueMuseum of Contemporary Photography
Date: present – July 13, 2014

Home Truths: Photography and Motherhood,” which is currently on view at the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) in Chicago, explores the issues behind gender roles, composition of a family, the body and domesticity in nine photographers’ documentary-style, semi-autobiographical images. This exhibit aims to spark discussion of the representation of the maternal figure with “at times subtle, at times bold” work, says the exhibition’s curator, Susan Bright.


“Untitled (Lake), 2011.” Photo © Fred Hüning

“It displays a sense of seriousness and intense reflection, often with a haunting quality,” Bright says. “It has the ability to move, but also to question and disrupt assumptions without being judgmental. Like photography itself, the expectations and demands of motherhood are in flux; both subject and medium grapple for new meaning in a changing world.” “Home Truths” runs at the MoCP now through July 13, 2014.

“Paparazzo Extraordinaire” Ron Galella Releases New Book

Courtesy of Damiani Editore

Artist: Ron Galella
Book: Ron Galella: New York

Dubbed as the “godfather of U.S. paparazzi culture,” Ron Galella is one of the few paparazzi photographers to receive prominent exposure—he’s been published in countless major newspapers and magazines, released over a dozen photography books and has been exhibited in the art world’s top venues around the globe—yet he still remains one of the most controversial photographers of the late 20th century. Known for his undying perseverance, Galella had an ongoing obsession with Jackie Onassis, who was granted restraining orders against the shooter in a Supreme Court decision, and he was very famously punched in the face by Marlon Brando. Having sustained a broken jaw and lost five teeth from that incident, Galella audaciously wore a football helmet when he returned to photograph Brando. A new book published by Damiani Editore called Ron Galella: New York will be the first to focus on Galella’s celebrity photography in New York. The book will showcase some unpublished photos of stars such as Madonna, Al Pacino and Bianca Jagger in and around nightclubs, theaters and the gritty cityscapes of the 1970s and ‘80s. Ron Galella: New York is scheduled for release at the end of May.

A Garry Winogrand Retrospective


“New York, c. 1962.” Photo © The Estate of Garry Winogrand/Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

Artist: Garry Winogrand
Venue: National Gallery of Art
Date: present – June 8, 2014

With an impressive oeuvre shot from the 1950s to the early 1980s, Garry Winogrand is often touted as the greatest American street photographer of the 20th century. Though he shot more than a whopping 25,000 rolls of film in his lifetime, he often delayed in developing and proofing them. At the time of his death, approximately 2,500 rolls of undeveloped film were found, as well as 6,500 rolls of developed but un-proofed exposures and stacks of unseen contact sheets made from an estimated 3,000 rolls of film.


“Park Avenue, New York, 1959.” Photo © The Estate of Garry Winogrand/Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

Last year, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art put on the first retrospective of the street photographer’s work in over 25 years. The exhibition, which includes much of Winogrand’s unseen work, has relocated to the National Gallery of Art where it will remain through June 8 before moving on to The Metropolitan Museum of Art and then to galleries around Europe.

Fashion Photographer Alexi Lubomirski’s Decade of Work

Courtesy of Damiani Editore

Artist: Alexi Lubomirski
Book: Decade
Price: $50

Over the past ten years shooting for such publications as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and GQ, Alexi Lubomirksi has become a household name in fashion photography. His approach to his portraits leans toward the narrative genre, almost emulating film stills, and he is notably interested in transitioning moments that hint at a world outside the frame. Having sifted through his work shot from 2003 to 2013, Lubomirski has chosen the cream of the crop to entertain the pages of a book called Decade (Damiani Editore). From studio shots to on-location narrative fashion spreads, this recently released book features the likes of Cate Blanchett, Heidi Klum, Charlize Theron, Victoria Beckham and more. Lubomirski, who received his first camera when he was 11 years old, worked as famed lensman Mario Testino’s assistant before he ventured out on his own. This is the New York-based photographer’s first book.