Main Exhibitions

Object Lesson

Curated by Vince Aletti
81 Front Street

Photograph by Sharon Core

Photograph by Sharon Core



The history of photography is that of the still life, a staple of artwork throughout the modern era that has been reinvented with the introduction of photography. From the beginning, virtually every important photographer has contributed to the genre, and their names evoke an immense range of images and approaches: Henry Fox-Talbot, Paul Strand, Edward Steichen, Josef Sudek, László Moholy-Nagy, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Edward Weston, Tina Modotti, Man Ray, Walker Evans, Robert Mapplethorpe and Wolgfang Tillmans, among others.

With this long tradition in mind, Vince Aletti has taken the occasion of the New York Photo Festival to reexamine the still life today. Object Lesson, according to Aletti, “pays homage to one of its masters, Irving Penn, whose work sets a standard few can match.”

Participating Artists:

Use Me, Abuse Me

Curated by Erik Kessels
Smack Mellon Gallery

Photograph by Chantal Rens

Photograph by Chantal Rens



Use Me, Abuse Me begins with Kessels’ a posteriori observation that easy access to photography tools and software results in quicker, more facile modes of image production, consumption and disposal. Perhaps a condition of this state, a plethora of photographers and image-makers are experimenting with pre-existing images and using them within their own work on an unprecedented scale. Photographs are variously collected, reinterpreted, cut, copied, pasted and generally abused.

Erik Kessels’ show is about how images and image-making technology influence artists and photographers. Use Me, Abuse Me explores several questions, including: Where will image-making take us? Will all existing photography be endlessly recycled? Will we soon see more photographers taking fewer photographs? How far can we stretch the medium of photography?

Participating Artists:

Bodies in Question

Curated by Fred Ritchin
St. Ann’s Warehouse (North)

Photo by Marc Garanger

Photograph by Marc Garanger



Ritchin’s pavilion considers the ways bodies are newly placed into question as humans become virtual and are under constantly increasing surveillance. The show looks at a crucial crossroads in human consciousness and survival, a moment when new forms of media are powerfully emerging as much of the planet struggles to advance. The artists and image-makers comprising Bodies in Question—residing in Canada, China, Denmark, England, France, Korea and the United States—comment on these transformations in media and society, and on the identities and struggles of people who may be left behind.

A major element of Bodies in Question is the first U.S. exhibition of Marc Garanger’s controversial 1960 portraits of Algerian women, taken under French Army orders for French identity cards given to Algerians during their mid-20th Century War of Independence Femme algérienne portraits, which he took as a French combat photographer forced to photograph Algerian women in 1960 without their veils to create identity cards for the army. Garanger forced the women to show their faces in public, often for the first time, turning an act of cultural imperialism into a raw depiction of beauty and sublime dignity. Garanger returned to Algeria four decades later to foster a discussion within the same communities around these photographs.

Participating Artists:

Hidden Books, Hidden Stories

Curated by Lou Reed
(St. Ann’s Warehouse (South)

Photography by Paul Kooiker

Photograph by Paul Kooiker



Hidden Books, Hidden Stories consists of two components. The first  Photographs will be selected and sequenced by Mr. Reed and will be accompanied by an original musical score.

Hidden Books, Hidden Stories is an exceptionally personal exploration of myriad imaginative and compelling visual narratives. Some are in books, some presented in larger-than-life scales of projection and display that impress and delight. Part one is is a grand audiovisual presentation that will premiere during the festival’s opening night Vernissage. After the show’s premiere, the projection will be screened during regular intervals during the festival on the presentation stage at St. Ann’s Warehouse.

Part two of Hidden Books, Hidden Stories is a collection of participating artists’ books in a custom-built display that will give the visiting public an opportunity to experience each individual artist’s narrative in its entirety.

Part three of Hidden Books, Hidden Stories is a new installation of photographs and videos by Doug and Mike Starn of their monumental architectural performance, Big Bambú, which they are constructing as a site-specific work for The Metropolitan Museum of Art Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. (The Met exhibition will be open April 27—October 31, 2010). To build Big Bambú—an ever-changing sculpture made from thousands of fresh-cut bamboo poles—the Starns are working as high as 50 feet from the ground, directing a team of rock climbers.

Participating Artists:




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