Into The Light is an exhibition of photographs of women by women. The show includes historical images and contemporary work by emerging artists and more experienced working artists. Into The Light offers a gamut of representations of women throughout history as portrayed by women, including self-portraiture.
Within the grouping of images are a range of ideas, genres and concerns including various perceptions of femininity, desire, self-expression, economic and social status, gender, race, companionship and love. At the nucleus of the exhibition is Ruth Orkin’s iconic American Girl in Italy, 1951 that was published in Cosmopolitan to illustrate an article titled Don't Be Afraid to Travel Alone. In addition to Orkin’s photograph are more images that are playful and life affirming while equally complex and nuanced.
Annie Tritt’s photographs of transgender youth are powerful and intimate as she portrays her subjects with the utmost respect and care for their young lives. Emilie Regnier’s Hair portraits of women of the Ivory Coast examine the diverse identity of African women as expressed through current hairstyles. Pixy Liao’s photographs examine gender and power dynamics mixed with western perception of Chinese culture.
Many images in the show look at intimacy in its various forms. Joanne Leonard’s photograph of a daughter fixing her mother’s hair in a family bedroom intersect with Joyce Culver and Sophia Wallace’s portrayal of companionship and romantic love between women. Kia Labeija portrays herself boldly, sitting on a doctor’s examination table, spotlight on her in a radiant red gown, white rose in hand while having blood drawn by her life long doctor.
While all the women in this exhibition can be described as trail blazers we want to especially note the inclusion of the early practicioners. Julia Margaret Cameron is regarded as one of the most important artists of the 19th century. Jessie Tarbox Beals was the first female photojournalist and in the 1920’s she photographed bohemian Greenwich Village. Imogen Cunningham made intimate portraits in addition to botanical studies and still lifes. She was regarded as a modernist pioneer and an independent spirit. Ilse Bing was German born and spent much of her creative life of the 1930’s in Paris where many of her artistic contemporaries were men. Barbara Morgan is best known for her iconic gestural photographs of modern dancers and her abstract montages. She was also a co founder of Aperture Magazine.
Exhibiting Artists:
Laure Albin-Guillot
Jesse Tarbox Beals
Ilse Bing
Nydia Blas
Julia Margaret Cameron
Vivian Cherry
Phyllis Christopher
Joyce Culver
Imogen Cunningham
Joy Episalla
Lola Flash
Arlene Gottfried
Elizabeth Heyert
Kia Labeija
Joanne Leonard
Pixy Liao
Hailun Ma
Barbara Morgan
Ruth Orkin
Emilie Regnier
Marcia Resnick
Erika Stone
Gail Thacker
Annie Tritt
Stacy Lynn Waddell
Sophia Wallace