Tim Hetherington at Yossi Milo

Tim Hetherington
Untitled, Liberia, 2003 Digital C-print
(c) Tim Hetherington, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

It is almost exactly a year since Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed in Misrata, Libya. The passage of time is always somewhat of a surprise, even as we are powerless to affect it. The first exhibit of Tim’s work at Yossi Milo has just opened, and it was definitely the place to be last week.

The show is divided into work from Liberia (in the front room) and Afghanistan in the back. The work is large, the prints sharp, and the overwhelming sense is of a photographer just reaching his stride. “When someone dies, they die midsentence,” said his mother, Judith. That is so evident when you look at Tim's work, and I don't mean just his photos, but his films as well. Both Restrepo and Sleeping Soldiers bring war and the men who fight it to us in a way that is so personal, so without pretense, that we are brought closer to the humanity we might have forgotten.

The Liberia work as shown doesn’t have the cohesion that the Afghanistan work has. There are some marvelous images, but it seems more unfocused. This is more due to the image choices, then the work itself. The selection of images are only linked by location, and so as wonderful as they are, their impact is lessened. We don't know why Tim was there, or what he covered. For those who don't know about the country and Tim's experience there it is hard to see a thread running through this part of the exhibit..

Tim Hetherington
Untitled, Liberia, 2005 Digital C-print
(c) Tim Hetherington, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Tim Hetherington
Untitled, Liberia, 2004 Digital C-print
(c) Tim Hetherington, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

But it is obvious that in Afghanistan Tim found himself. His desire to get to the core of the men and the war is so evident, and the photos so alive, you can imagine Tim there taking the photos. There is such a tenderness in those photos, not just because they capture these young men at their most vulnerable, but because you can feel Tim’s heart. That’s how strongly the experience is imprinted.

Tim Hetherington
Untitled, Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan, 2008 Digital C-print (c) Tim Hetherington, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Walking into the back room where the Afghanistan photos are I am stopped by the shocking intimacy of the Restrepo work, especially the sleeping soldiers. As I look at the photo of the men fooling around I can still see Tim—imagine him there. That’s how strongly the experience is imprinted.

Tim Hetherington
Alcantara, Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan, 2008 Digital C-print (c) Tim Hetherington, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Tim Hetherington
Kelso, Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan, 2008 Digital C-print (c) Tim Hetherington, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Hung as though we are looking at men in childhood bunk beds, the impact of the work is heightened. I am once again struck by how young they all seem, and by how close they are to each other. There is a physical intimacy between the soldiers that you don't usually see in photos. But that is part of Tim's gift: his ability to become one with his subjects, and so they let him into their world. Tim held the door opened and allowed us to enter a world we are not a part of. That was one of Tim's gifts.

Like all artists, Tim Hetherington's work outlives him. For that I am grateful, but the loss is even more keen because of the unique way in which he viewed the world, and because of his fierce desire to peel back the obvious to show us the base from which the actions and emotions sprang.

I miss Tim Hetherington for who he was and for the promise of what was still to come.

This is AIPAD 2012

Everyone’s been to AIPAD now, so time for the reviews to come in. I went twice, and felt overwhelmed at some point each time, but did come out with some thoughts I wanted to share.

There was a lot more contemporary work this year, and while I appreciated seeing such wonderful work (and it was mostly wonderful), when I think back, it can’t have the gravitas of the vintage work that I love seeing. I pretty much hated the contemporary work last year. This year there were a number of standouts.

Entering the exhibition, you stare directly at large format C-prints of Tim Hetherington’s “Sleeping Soldiers,” and 2 other prints of his soldier projects. To the right is an exceptional print of a man in a small Liberian boat, drifting past a rusted hunk of large ship. So amazing seeing it as a large print. Hetherington’s images all had an almost Rembrandt color palette that was very strong and emotional.
Yossi Milo represents his estate and will be opening a show on April 12. I’m really looking forward to it.

To the left when you enter is a wall full of Accra Shepp’s “Occupy Wall Street" portraits. There were 36 of them in a grid. And they were perfectly juxtaposed with Ernest Wither’s photo of the Memphis sanitation workers “I AM A Man” march in 1968. Steven Kasher made a very strong statement there.

Playing the “What would I buy if I had the money?” game, here are my choices:

Tim Hetherington—the Liberia image or one of the sleeping soldiers.
Ernest Withers
Anything by Bill Eppridge at the Monroe Gallery, maybe the anguished Medgar Evers family after his murder.
One of Katherine Wolkoff’s bird silhouettes "Found"(I loved everything at Sasha Wolf’s booth)

One of Michael Wolf’s voyeuristic Japan subway photos.

I also loved Emily Roysdon's “David Wojnarowicz Project" at Higher Learning. It was fresh, clever and well executed. The small B&W images really spoke to me.

I was pleasantly surprised to see work by so many photographers I knew, including Nina Berman, Laurie Lambrecht, Sandi Fifield, Martine Fougeron, and Justine Reyes. John Cyr’s developing tray project was there as well, and looked really good on the walls.

Now in the end I don’t know how successful this year’s AIPAD was for the galleries, but I saw many people, and enjoyed myself. It seemed fresher than last year, but I'm a real sucker for the vintage work, and that seemed to take a back seat. I'm on the fence about that. AIPAD is exhausting, and when it’s over, I find I need a break from photography.

If money was no object, what would YOU buy?

Photos by Jason Florio.

It's a New Year, It's a New Week

Now that we've turned the page on 2010, it's time to get back into the swing of photo openings. Tonight brings some wonderful shows, so get up and get out. See you there!


"I get a sickening feeling every time I think of it" TEN FROM TWENTY TEN where W.M. Hunt selects then images from the recent archive of VII Photo to reflect his view of the past year.
From 6:00pm - 8:30pm
28 Jay St.
Brooklyn

Also in Dumbo tonight is the opening of SPLASH II at Klompching Gallery, a group exhibition of contemporary fine art photographs, by artists represented by the gallery.

Featuring the work of Cara Barer(seen above), Cornelia Hediger, Phillip Toledano, Helen Sear, Sarah Lynch, Doug Keyes, and Odette England.

In the back room of the gallery, they are featuring Lisa M. Robinson, with photographs from her highly acclaimed Snowbound series.
6:00pm - 8:00pm
111 Front St. Suite 206
Brooklyn


Back in Manhattan we have Todd Hido's Fragmented Narratives opening tonight. Renowned as a master of sequencing in book format, Hido juxtaposes images from his influential monographs House Hunting, A Road Divided, Outskirts and Between the Two with portraits and new images never before exhibited.
Bruce Silverstein Gallery
535 West 24th Street
6:00pm - 8:00pm


And Yossi Milo presents photos by Ezra Stoller. Based on his background in architecture and industrial design, Stoller used a large-format camera to photograph monumental 20th century buildings, including the Guggenheim Museum, the TWA terminal at Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport), the Seagram Building, the Salk Institute, Yale Art and Architecture Building and Fallingwater.
6:00pm - 8:00pm
525 West 25th Street