Howard Bingham
dal 20/10/2005 al 30/11/2005
Segnalato da
20/10/2005
Howard Bingham
MB Fine Art, West Hollywood
'Witness' presents some of the finest and most compelling photographs of Bingham's career, capturing the anger, attitude, peace and contemplation of his chosen subjects: young and old, pacifists and violent revolutionaries, famous and unknown. He embraces them all at once, altering our ideas of what 'documentary' photography can be.
Witness
MB Fine Art Los Angeles presents Witness, the first exhibition of Howard
Bingham's photography from the Civil Rights era. Outside of the iconic
photographs of Muhammad Ali for which Bingham is so famous, lies a body of
work created during one of the most tumultuous periods in America's history.
In this first-ever showing of these photographs, the exhibit examines the
work of a photographer who stepped out on his own to create an independent
body of work that reveals some of the most intimate and agonizing moments of
an era that changed the very fiber of our nation.
A BURNING NATION
From 1954 to 1968, the United States underwent massive social change. The
Supreme Court¹s decision in Brown v. Board of Education heralded an era of
passionate outcry. African Americans and other minorities joined together to
demand the constitutional and human rights that were promised, but had long
been denied them. The struggle for equal rights involved numerous acts of
personal bravery by men and women who were willing to risk their own lives
for the cause of a greater good. It was a struggle that engaged black and
white, rich and poor, leaders and followers. While many cameras shifted
their focus to immortalize the movement, Bingham¹s evocative images capture
these dramatic moments in American history through the eyes and lens of one
who not only witnessed the struggle from the outside, but also experienced
it from within.
A REVOLUTIONARY EYE
WITNESS presents some of the finest and most compelling photographs of
Bingham¹s career, capturing the anger, attitude, peace and contemplation of
his chosen subjects: young and old, pacifists and violent revolutionaries,
famous and unknown. He embraces them all at once, altering our ideas of what
³documentary² photography can be. During the emotional meeting of Senator
Robert Kennedy and Cesar Chavez at the conclusion of Chavez¹s hunger strike,
Bingham reveals the National Farm Workers¹ leader¹s undying devotion to his
people within a single frame. Images of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. convey
the solemn determination of the Reverend in the midst of his peace marches
throughout the South, during the week prior to his assassination and
finally, the touching reflections and tears of the thousands of supporters,
friends and family who attended his funeral. The power of Bingham¹s
photography is found not only in the emotions evoked by his subject matter,
but also in how he chose to expose them.
A LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENT
Howard Bingham flunked his first photography class at Compton Junior
College. He never took another one there, but would eventually become one of
the most important and celebrated photographers of the 20th century.
Beginning his career as a newspaper photographer, his work subsequently
appeared in Life, Look, Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, People, Ebony
and numerous international publications, documenting many of the most
important events and personalities over the last fifty years. Most recently,
his photographs were featured in Taschen¹s GOAT, a dazzling, limited-edition
publication that documents the life of Muhammad Ali. Bingham's work and
contribution to the field of photography has not gone unnoticed: a
Kodak-sponsored scholarship in his name goes to a deserving minority
photography student at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Watts
Labor Community Action Committee is planning a media center in his name for
the purpose of teaching photography to young people living in South Los
Angeles. In 2004, he was appointed Honorary Curator of Photography at the
Muhammad Ali Center, soon to open in Louisville, Kentucky. Howard Bingham
currently resides in Los Angeles and continues to photograph subjects that
interest him.
About MB Fine Art Los Angeles
MB Fine Art specializes in 20th century American art and contemporary
photography. The gallery opened its Los Angeles location in Summer 2004 and
is committed to exhibiting original works by modern masters as well as
established and emerging photographers.
Image: Howard L. Bingham, Black Panther Rally (Kathleen Cleaver & Bobby Seale),
Oakland, CA, 1967, silver gelatin print, 20 x 24 inches.
Artist's Reception: Friday, October 21, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
WeHo Artwalk: Saturday, October 22, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Mb Fine Art
612 North Almont Dr. - West Hollywood
Gallery Hours: Tuesday  Saturday, 10am-5pm and by appointment