Brimstone And Blood: Q&A With Shane Rocheleau

Written by Kenn Sava. Photographed by Kenn Sava & Shane Rocheleau.

Five Photographs, in the recent Aint-Bad Curator’s Choice, Issue No. 12, and the accompanying interview with Stephen Frailey who chose him to be included, were enough for me to put Shane Rocheleau on my “watch list.” It turned out I didn’t have to wait long to see more.

This Photo is called Broken Stake in the book. I’ve also seen it referred to as Bleeding Stake. As he reminded me when we spoke, a stake has a number of purposes…and meanings. This one also serves to create a riveting image. Photo by Shane Rocheleau from You are Masters of the Fish and Birds and All the Animals. Click any Photo for full size.

Coming upon the Gnomic Book publisher’s table at the recent LES Fotobookfair, Mr. Rocheleau was on hand to sign his new Gnomic release, and first PhotoBook, You are Masters of the Fish and Birds and All the Animals (or YAMOTFABAATA, as it reads on its spine and so, is referred to). There he was discussing what he considers to be a good job of gluing the endpapers as I approached. When he paused, I asked him if I could see the copy he was holding.

You are Masters of the Fish and Birds and All the Animals, by Shane Rocheleau, his first book, just published by Gnomic Book

The YAMOTFABAATA experience begins with the cover, which I swear has hypnotic qualities. The book is so beautiful to hold you don’t want to put it down. Opening it and looking inside, my initial conception of his work was quickly obliterated as I moved through the beautiful volume he handed me. I immediately realized that this was no mere collection of fine Photographs. Each Photo is exquisitely considered- both in its execution and in its placement. Here is a powerful book of visual poetry that casts a far ranging net capturing slices of the essence of the American condition in 2018, in macro and micro terms, with an epic impact that borders on the biblical.

Or, YAMOTFABAATA the first book by Shane Rocheleau, just published by Gnomic Book. It’s a beautiful publication, clad in a stunning iradescent grape fabric called Bamberger Kaliko Duo. Its gleaming gold edging, carrying over the gold of the font. The whole thing has the feel of a Bible, echoing to the quote from Genesis in the title.

I had gone to the LES FBF to see two new books- Kris Graves’ A Bleak Reality, and Jason Koxvold’s Knives, that rarest of PhotoBooks that has its own tote bag (sold separately). While I came away very impressed with both, YAMOTFABAATA turned out to be my biggest discovery at the fair. As I looked through it, and Knives, I was struck by the similarity and the differences of the two books, both published by Jason’s publishing company, Gnomic Book.

Shane Rocheleau, left, with his good friend, multi-talented Artist/Photographer and Gnomic Book publisher, Jason Koxvold, at the MoMA/PS1 Book Fair, September 22, 2018. The spiffy Knives tote bag is seen over Jason’s shoulder.

Some background- Shane Rocheleau received his MFA in Photography and Film from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 2007. He has taught photography as an Assistant Professor of Art at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, as an Adjunct Professor at numberous institutions, and presently serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at VCU. IMDb lists him as the Writer, Director & Producer of the a 2008 short, TideYAMOTFABAATA is indeed a book that has a cinematic feel to it. As I wrote in my Third Anniversary Post in July, of my intention to ramp up the coverage of Artists who are not “big names” yet, but who are doing great and/or important work that I feel deserves to be better known. Shane Rocheleau is one such Photographer.

Researching Mr. Rocheleau, I was struck by his down to earth eloquence in the interviews I came across. Given the abstract nature of the images in his book, and the lack of any words from him in it, beyond some titles, I decided his voice should be the one featured in this piece, feeling that this would be the best way to compliment his exceptional book. For additional background on YAMOTFABAATA and Gnomic Book, which in two short years has gotten off to an auspicious start, I also reached out to Jason Koxvold with some questions, and his answers I weave into the following discussion with Mr. Rocheleau.

The first image in the book reminded me of the planets aligning in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, until I discovered its title. Musket Balls. A fitting opening salvo, given the subject matter. Photo by Shane Rocheleau from YAMOTFABAATA

Kenn Sava (KS)- Let’s start near the beginning, Shane…When did you first become interested in Photography?

Shane Rocheleau (SR)- First day of classes a couple weeks ago, I asked my students a similar question: “I didn’t discover photography until my freshman year of High School”; “In fifth grade”; “When I was three”. That artists are discovering photography so young is wonderful news for the medium. Photography found me when I was 22.  Two friends of mine and I went cross-country in a 1990-something blue Ford Escort Hatchback. I had no illusions that I’d write the great American road-trip novel, but I figured I’d try anyhow. First night, we camped on the shore of Lake Eerie.  We awoke next morning seeing sparks and feeling the gasoline running through us, intent on getting elsewhere. My buddy handed me his little Kodak Andvantix camera: “Take a pic of me at the water’s edge.” “Yup, got it.” When I released the shutter (and I’m very sorry for the pun, but) something clicked. I really never gave him that camera back. Every town we hit I went straight to the drugstore to find film. Photographically, I’m still on that trip. (Suffice to say, the novel didn’t get written.) 

KS- What, or who, were your influences?

SR- It was somewhere in Wyoming in July, 1999 that I said to myself, “I think I want to be a photographer.” At that moment, I knew of exactly one photographer: Ansel Adams.  Through him, I discovered Edward Weston, Minor White, and Wynn Bullock. The latter two became my heroes. And for several years, I knew very few others, maybe only Richard Avedon. I’ve always tended toward the hermitage, and my hermitage kept me fairly naïve in those pre-Google days.  

In the last decade, though, I’ve been endlessly influenced!  To name a few:  Ron Jude, Heikki Kaski, Dana LIxenberg, Alec Soth, Katrin Koenning, Bill Henson, Brian Ulrich, Cig Harvey, Greg Halpern, Robert Bergman, and on and on.

Narcissus. Photo by Shane Rocheleau from YAMOTFABAATA. To read Mr. Rocheleau’s comment on Ovid’s Narcissus, click this footnote1.

KS- I’ve seen some of the images in YAMOTFABAATA previously in A Glorious Victory online- What’s the genesis of YAMOTFABAATA?

SR- My collaborative project (with Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa and Brian Ulrich, primarily), A Glorious Victory, is about Petersburg, Virginia, and one I worked on immediately following Oyster Park, (a series of pictures I made 2011-2013, when I spent days and night hanging out with a local group of homeless men). While it’s impossible to pinpoint the moment YAMOTFABAATA began, it may have been when one morning a prospective portrait subject walked me around to the front of the motel where I’d been spending time. The police, medics, and press had gone, but the murder scene remained, seemingly untouched (“Site of the Death of Edward Jones”).  The rich red vestiges of a man’s life left me drained and scared and liminal.  I didn’t make a picture for another month. My guess is that when I picked the camera up again, it began turning away from Petersburg and toward myself. Slowly out of this inflection point rose YAMOTFABAATA.

George’s Camp in Snow, from Oyster Park. About as clear of a definition of “homeless” as I’ve seen, and one of the most poignant. Photo by Shane Rocheleau.

KS- You’ve taken numerous Photos of homeless people, including those in Oyster Park, which is about them, as you say, and again in YAMOTFABAATA, where they are one element of the larger picture. When did you begin to take Photos of the homeless? Was it hard to gain the confidence of these folks?

SR- I moved to the Southside of Richmond in 2012. After work each day, I would take my exit home and pass a group of men who shared the corner at the bottom of the ramp. I lived just three blocks from where these men spent their days. On closer inspection, I realized there were tents everywhere, hidden if one doesn’t think to look. These men were my neighbors. Over a few months, I just couldn’t shake that “homeless” men may be the most objectified demographic in our country. One day I stopped my car and walked up to Deano, Lee, Juan, Bob, and George. 

Deano and Kitty Kate. One of the Photos that appears in both Oyster Park and YAMOTFABAATA. Photo by Shane Rocheleau.

I told them who I am, that I’m a photographer, and asked could I sit down and talk? And they welcomed me. Some were more wary than others, but each of them, over many months, opened up to me; as did others who later arrived into this little community. I can’t remember the catalyst, but several weeks later, I made my first pictures. I hung out day and night, learned about their lives and they about mine; and, I made pictures. After 18 months, the shape of the area drastically changed, their tents and belongings were discarded by developers, and though I was able to keep in touch with some of the men initially, I haven’t seen any of the men in many years. The men of Oyster Park taught me more about life and humanity than anyone or anything before or since. I’m so grateful for my time with them.

KS- YAMOTFABAATA‘s Photographs seem to be taken in various places. How long did the project take to shoot, and then to put into its final form?

SR- The pictures in YAMOT were made mostly in Virginia. There are several from Tennessee, as well, and one each from California and Alabama.

Behind the scenes. Even a torn achilles injury, devastating for us mere mortals, didn’t keep Mr. Rocheleau from creating Photos for YAMOT. Here he (at least his booted foot) is seen using his Toyo 45cf 4×5 field camera at the scene of what is now the Photo ——– (redacted. My read is Fallen Tree) in the book. Photo from Shane Rocheleau’s Instagram feed, June 24, 2016.

I made pictures exclusively for this project for about two years, but its first pictures were made several years earlier. The final form of the book took shape over a year and a half, and then, near the end of that process, I made several new pictures in a flurry of excitement and desperation. Though the book had been essentially finished, I now can’t imagine it without at least two of those new pictures: God and War (Inheritance), and, Untitled, which is a picture of my daughter. They feel necessary.  

KS- Among those places, you’ve Photographed Virginia for a number of years, where you live and teach (I believe), what is it that particularly appeals to you about it as a subject?

SR- I live and teach in Richmond, VA. The narrative of American History criss-crosses Virginia through parts of five or six centuries. It feels like it’s all here: our earliest settlers and their struggles, John Smith, early treaties with and betrayals of Native Americans, the birth of our governing philosophies, Slavery, the Civil War and Confederacy’s Capital, John Wilkes Booth, Jim Crow, Free Black settlements, World War II and the military, the rise and fall of manufacturing, Civil Rights, 9/11, and so on.  

But, truly, I photograph here because I live here. I’m just lucky that Virginia is so narratively and historically rich.

Photographer & Publisher Jason Koxvold, facing with his arm on the table, and Photographer Shane Rocheleau, right, discuss the finer points of their terrific new books at the Gnomic Book table at the LES Fotobookfair, July 21st, 2018, the day I discovered YAMOTFABAATA.

KS- How did you come to meet and work with Jason Koxvold and Gnomic Book?

SR- Our mutual friend, Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, used to host photographer gatherings at Jason’s Brooklyn studio. On occasion, I’d drive up from Richmond to partake. Stanley and I would arrive early, and Jason and I invariably hung-out before the raucous arrived. We became easy friends. The very last one of these gatherings, Stanley snuck my book dummy. Jason was the first to look at it that night. Soon after, he started Gnomic. I received an email one morning about a year later; he asked if I might consider that YAMOT be its second project.

Spend any time around these two Artists and it’s immediately apparent what good friends they are. There’s an important lesson here that obviously translates directly to the quality of their end product.

I was close to publishing elsewhere, so I felt immediately reticent. Jason is driven and smart and talented. And he’s my friend. I wanted to work with a friend, with someone I knew I could trust. In the end, it felt obvious and simple.  

KS- The book is an exceptionally beautiful object. You’ve spoken about the trip to Germany to print it, could you talk a bit about the planning that went into it? What role did Jason & Gnomic play in its realization?

SR- Jason and I Skyped or met almost weekly between December, 2017 and early March, 2018, when we departed for Germany. Each time we had a general agenda and discussed those items: design, sequence, materials such as paper type and fabrics, distribution, the Kickstarter campaign, where to print, whether to take a boat or a plane to Europe, font, the sources of my anxieties as best as we could identify, size of letters or pictures or drawings or run, whether this thing or that thing should be centered or just look centered, and so on. We beat to pulp any detail bigger than a quark. 

Though we each gave the other lots of feedback: ultimately, our roles were fairly distinct. I sequenced the pictures, chose the text, and prepared the files for printing.  Jason designed everything. He chose the font and the fabric, designed the layout, created and kicked-off the Kickstarter, and planned our European caper. I’m so thankful to have found such an energetic, talented, and supportive partner in the realization of YAMOTFABAATA.

At this point, I’m bringing Gnomic Book founder/publisher Jason Koxvold in.

The multi-talented Jason Koxvold, who’s Gnomic Book is quickly becoming one of the most important newer PhotoBook publishers in the world. Here, he gives me a peak at a secret- Shane has made a few signed prints from YAMOTFABAATA in two sizes that are indeed for sale! Two portraits, in the smaller size, may be seen behind him on the right in this Photo are 100.00 each. The beautiful, larger size, that Jason is showing me are 200.00 per. You heard it here, first.

KS- Jason, how did YAMOTFABAATA come about from your end?

Jason Koxvold (JK)- In 2016 I was fortunate enough to see a maquette that Shane had made of his book, and it immediately resonated with me. As we became closer friends, we started to talk about publishing the book. Shane is one of the most intelligent people I know, deeply intuitive and yet rigorously thoughtful, so the process of editing the book and rationalizing design decisions was a pleasure.

KS- At the LES Fotobookfair, I was enthralled listening to stories told by publishers and artists about the finer points of bookmaking. Given this is your first book, and since so many Photographers are interested in making PhotoBooks, how did you learn so much about what to look for that you used in making YAMOTFABAATA such an exceptionally beautifully produced book your first time out?

Shane Rocheleau- Firstly, I have many wonderful, giving, and engaged friends; many looked very closely at the many manifestations of this project. Their feedback was invaluable and inspiring. Without those whom I thank at the end of the book, there is no book.

I look at Photobooks weekly. Even if unconsciously, I’ve learned a rich Photobook language through this practice. I’ve thought enough about my new lexicon that some of my decisions felt rather natural and intuitive, like speaking. But honestly, that production value is on Gnomic. Jason is uncompromising on quality. I think it’s beautifully done, too; I didn’t imagine it would be this beautiful.    

KS- What was the most difficult part?

SR- Printing day front flanked me; I marched with the work toward it. I’d never needed to commit so fully to artistic action. Nothing was more difficult than finally yelling charge and letting the work go, committed and flawed and unfinished, off to the printer, off my desktop, dispossessed. I felt beleaguered, like a lonely, impotent General slumped in a three-legged chair. (Except no violence or gore or threats to life and such.  How privileged am I that that’s one of the more difficult things I’ve done in years?)

Excerpt of the Title List

KS- The Title List is sure to fascinate readers. 20 out of the 50 images have their titles fully crossed out, another 10 are partially crossed out. If a reader is really determined, they could most likely still make out many of the crossed out titles. Without giving away the mystery, could you speak about why you decided to do it this way, and why you decided to use the black marker instead of naming them “Untitled?”

SR- I don’t mind “Untitled” as a title. I do mind 40% of pictures titled this way. I don’t like that sort of redundancy. But I also don’t like when titles give too much away. With that said, some titles – and the information carried therein – were absolutely necessary for the book’s narrative (think Patrick Henry’s words, or that the building near the end is a Federal Reserve Building). My quandary then:  how do I balance that I want to withhold information and avoid repetitively titling pictures “Untitled” and provide the information I deem integral to understanding this book?

I’ve used redaction in past projects, so I already had the language at my disposal. Given that redaction is an indispensable element of propaganda and indoctrination, the solution seemed almost obvious once it suggested itself to me. Plus, it’s interesting to look at. The unintended benefit of this solution is that the title page is part of the art rather than a perfunctory addendum.

KS- Another element is the fairly frequent use of blank pages. I counted over 50 including 5 sets of double blank (facing) pages. In many cases, they serve to set off an image on the opposite side, which is common in PhotoBooks, though their appearance, particularly in the use of facing blank pages, feels unpredictable. Are they purely there as a means of pacing the images, or…?

SR- In music, there are breaks.  Those breaks signal a shift and are necessary for establishing rhythm. I love thinking of Photobooks as musical. I tried to sequence and break YAMOT musically, if you will. But with that said, I know no more about music than what I’ve gleaned while listening. My best instrument is my voice, and it’s not good.

Also, while a book requires that individual pictures be sounds in a larger symphony, I also wish for each picture to be a self-contained piece. As you note, much of the book has one picture per spread, alone in space; of course, each still generally follows and is followed by another. This solves my need to eat my cake and have it, too.

KS- There’s so much that YAMOTFABAATA has in common with Knives, your publisher, Jason’s, terrific new book. Both deal with the failure of promises and institutions, the realities brought on by a changing world bringing shrinking opportunity in the USA for many, and the state of the country the white majority has created  Your’s is more abstract, while Jason’s is more documentary. Jason’s looks at life in the Hudson Valley, after the loss of its 150 year old cutlery industry, and your’s looks at a wider realm. Still, they’re two sides of the same coin in so many ways. Is that coincidental?

SR- On the one hand, it’s absolutely coincidental. Jason and I each began our respective projects independent of the other. On the other hand, Jason and I are friends.  We have conversations, many of the same concerns, and, as fairly well-off white dudes, similar experiences in the world. He thinks deeply about his position, and I try to, as well. It is not a coincidence that as persons participating in the same on-going conversation – on whiteness and race, poverty and opportunity, privilege and responsibility – we would independently make work addressing those very things. Indeed, many of my photographer friends are making work that at least obliquely confronts these same cultural difficulties, ills, and realities. 

Knives by Jason Koxvold.

KS- I then asked Jason if he hesitated to publish YAMOTFABAATA because of its similarities to Knives, or if he saw it as “complimentary.”

Jason Koxvold- Shane and I were both coming at the same themes from very different angles; in that regard the two can be seen as complementary to some extent. I like that in viewing both, readers might build some kind of mental Venn diagram in terms of where our ideas overlap and where they don’t.

KS- On the Gnomic site, it says that the focus is on exploring the notion of the book as object, which is easy to see with Knives, its sister book, You were right all along, (or YWRAA) and YAMOTFABAATA. As far as YAMOTFABAATA goes, what were the particular challenges in making such a beautiful book?

JK- Each book we produce is an attempt to make something greater than the sum of its parts. With YAMOTFABAATA we wanted to echo the quality of religious texts in the form of our book, using an iridescent purple cloth, gilded edges on the book block. Each of these decisions incurs some level of cost and technical challenge; our printer had to outsource the gilding to a company that specializes in bibles. Fortunately, working with experienced craftsmen in ‘Old Europe’ gave me a great deal of confidence in the process.

KS- Given your diverse and successful background, why did you decide to start Gnomic Book?

JK- I wanted to leverage and combine skills which I had acquired over the course of my career to make objects that have some kind of permanence, collaborating with different artists to do so. It’s truly a mutually beneficial process.

Harrison, or White Whales. Photo by Shane Rocheleau from YAMOTFABAATA

KS- Before I actually saw it, I heard the book is ostensibly about white masculinity. That turns out to be true, as it shows what those in power and their institutions have made of the world. However, none of the white men depicted seem to be enjoying themselves or their “status” in the world. Then, there are other themes that run through the book- religion, decay, death, national institutions, and hovering over all of it, the power of nature to superimpose its supreme will on man at any given point. That’s a lot to take on in one book. Did it feel that way when you were making it?

Shane Rocheleau- There is a contradiction driving white male rage in this country: at the top, white men still reign. Women and minorities represent less than 20% of congress, for instance. But uniformity at the top is belied by a slow progression toward equality in the body politic.  White men in this country are raised by parents and the American Dream alike to believe power and supremacy are their personal destinies. Except it’s not, not for most white men. Many white men, like so many other demographics, are struggling.  (And for those who aren’t struggling so much? Loss is loss, even to one who still has more than everyone else.) Increasingly, white men must settle for less than supremacy. While you and I know this to be right and necessary, I imagine many white men have not resigned to relinquishing any of the historical spoils of being born white and male, especially when in both cultural messaging and the demographics of power, the opposite is suggested. It’s important to me that I seek to empathize. The men in my book, largely, represent this contradiction. I wish I knew how to demonstrate that equality is not a zero-sum game. The lesser the inequality, the happier and more decent everyone becomes, bottom to top.  

To your question about taking on so much in this book: I’m always some version of overwhelmed and confused, so inasmuch as I always feel a bit like I’m taking on too much, it absolutely felt that way when I was making this work. With that said, I wanted to address each of those themes you highlight. It was a fun problem to solve: how do I weave so much into so little? My answer is my book. 

Jaime. Photo by Shane Rocheleau from YAMOTFABAATA

KS- The 4 women in YAMOTFABAATA each seem lost in thought. In Jason’s “Knives,” one of the final Photos is of a mother who stares out at the camera while holding a young child. In your book, your daughter is seen in the final image. In it, we see her through what appears to be a rain streaked window, where we can barely make out that it’s a young woman, but, as in many of the other portraits in the book- of male and females, we can’t see her eyes. I see dread and melancholy in this image. How is the young woman going to deal with all of this metaphorical “rain” in the world? The window is made of glass, and so provides limited protection from the world while allowing a chance to see it outside. Perhaps, she’s sleeping through the storm. Perhaps she’s lost in a dream, or lost in thought, or worry about it.

SR- I appreciate that reading. And to continue it, maybe, after the storm’s climax: the rain should let up, as rain does. The young woman steps outside. The gentle day drips and refracts little miracles, smelling of nectar and the dusty after-rain. And then the flowers grow, the bugs buzz songs under a symphony of chirping, and the world in her eyes can be new and open. For my daughter, and everyone else, I hope this is the case and that after the storm it’s better than before:  kinder, calmer, with less disparity and more community. As I write this, though, I’m scared I hope for too much, and I don’t know if I’ll be there for it anyway, if it does ever manifest. Maybe it will, and maybe that’ll be my daughter’s book.

My Dad, Photo by Shane Rocheleau from YAMOTFABAATA

KS- Elsewhere, your father is included, and there’s a “Self-portrait,” interestingly showing only your right arm and hand, which you probably use to take your Photos with. These, and the Photo of your daughter add to the autobiographical nature of the book. How did they feel about being included?

SR- My daughter refuses to be photographed. I got lucky with this picture: I was making a picture of my girlfriend’s mother, Holly, seated right there where my daughter is seated.  My daughter wanted to help. Because I needed to direct Holly and she is seated inside a closed car, I called her cell phone. She placed it on speaker then on the passenger seat. I gave my daughter instructions for Holly, and she relayed those instructions through my cell phone. After we were finished, I think my daughter was taken enough by the whole experience (and hopefully by all the wonderful seeing!) that, for the first time ever, she asked if I could photograph her. Absolutely!  

But while myriad subsequent gestures suggest she’s really happy to be a part of the book, she hasn’t explicitly said so (she’s not just in a picture and the subject of the dedication:  she also hand-wrote the title for the title page and drew a little drawing that’s hiding toward the end). As for my dad: same. I think he’s happy to be part of it, but he’s thus far kept it to himself. Everyone has those things they haven’t the tools to express.

Site of the Death of Edward Jones. Unforgettable. Photo by Shane Rocheleau from YAMOTFABAATA. It also appears in his series, A Glorious Victory.

KS- I will preface it by saying I’ve learned the hard way not to ask about specific works less the answer takes away some of its mystery. I’m hoping that won’t be the case if I ask you about Edward Jones, as in “”Site of the Death of.” I haven’t been able to find out who this might be.

SR- Edward Jones is the man who bled out above that spot. He was shot in the head in a drug deal or burglary gone wrong. I arrived at the motel where he was staying to make pictures of another resident, unaware what had transpired just hours earlier. Though the police had left, the blood that had dripped from the second floor onto the parking lot below remained. It was the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen and felt. And that’s the short story. As for where? Petersburg, VA. I felt like I needed to name him. It felt like the right thing to do, rather than entitle the picture “Site of Anonymous Man’s Death” or something of the sort.

KS- In the midst of so much darkness we move through in YAMOTFABAATA, and the white-male led world today …so many failed promises, including “the American dream,” so many broken institutions, including religious ones, there’s also the ever-present possibly of disaster…man-made or natural, all of which is poetically rendered in your book. The images speak to a world that’s cracking, not seemingly working for anyone depicted, particularly the deceased Edward Jones. YAMOTFABAATA leaves me feeling that it’s hard to have hope in 2018. You appear in the book as an older version of your father’s child, with your own child appearing at the end. And so, you’re in the middle. As much as the book looks forward to your daughter’s generation, it’s also a looking back on your father’s and our generations. It’s obvious that things didn’t get this way in one day, and the weight of history is, at this point, daunting. Given all of this, why did you decide to dedicate it to your daughter?

SR- In the ways I know how, I am working to make my world a better place than it was before me. I think both my parents really did try to do the same thing. They raised me well, lovingly, to be a kinder, more open human being than was recommended to them.  I’m empowered by this demonstration in my life of how to actively make things better than they were. I want my daughter to be empowered by the same demonstration. I hope I raise her to be a decent and active participant in whatever community she finds herself. Like her picture, the dedication is an act of faith in the face today’s discord; I can’t tell the future, so I won’t suggest to her that discord is inevitable. She has power.  I hope she uses it for good, and better than I’ve used mine.

——- Cellar Door The first three words are redacted, hidden under a black marker strike through. My reading is From Under The Cellar Door. Photo by Shane Rocheleau from YAMOTFABAATA.

KS- Since NHNYC was originally primarily a Painting site, until it was hijacked in the dead of night by Photography in late 2016, I have to ask you what, if any, role Painting has played in your Artistic life and development.? (If any, which Artists or works?)

SR- I grew up loving Picasso. I think he taught me that strange can be good and about balance inside a frame.  When I studied a bit of art in college, I found myself compelled by the Hudson River painters, Caravaggio, J.M.W. Turner, and Rembrandt Peale, amongst others. More recently, I’ve loved Lucien Freud and John Currin. I’m guessing you can tell by this list, though, that I’m not exactly keeping up with the trajectory of painting. I can say this, though: I work my photographic files very much like I imagine a painter might. I add and subtract color and tone in strokes, attempting to create a canvas that can instruct and contain the viewer’s eye. I fear, though, that even in saying that, I sound a bit naïve!

KS- You thank Gregory Halpern. Being very taken with his work, myself, as I’ve written many times, what was his involvement in this…if he was?

SR- I don’t know Greg that well, but I respect him immensely. He’s as good a person as he is an artist. Greg was not involved, per se. But at that same photographer gathering I spoke about earlier, he was the last person that night who looked at my book dummy.  The next day, he, Stanley, and I were walking in Manhattan and Greg pulled me aside. He apologized for not commenting on the dummy the night before. Still reeling that anyone saw it – nevermind one of my heroes – I froze. He told me he loved it and asked if he could recommend it for a fairly major prize. That moment drew me as close to vertigo as I’ve probably ever found myself. He told me that my “pictures are meant to be seen”. Because of Greg’s gesture to me that day, I have a blessing to allow for just that.

KS- You’ve spoken about thinking of music while you were editing and sequencing YAMOTFABAATA. Do you listen to music while you Photograph?

SR- I don’t. I photograph with only the sounds of my environment, and when I’m under the dark cloth, I don’t even hear them. But when I’m editing? I blast music! You’re likely to hear Radiohead, Tom Waits, Mazzy Star, Pearl Jam, Tragically Hip, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Pink Floyd, and 80s hits, amongst others!

KS- The book has gotten quite a bit of critical notice already. Does that surprise you?

SR- Yes, I’m totally surprised. I believe the work I’m making is relevant and worth seeing, but I also understand that there are significant challenges getting work in front of an audience beyond my small community of friends and artists. I’m so happy YAMOTFABAATA is getting noticed.  I never expect exposure. This is a wonderful surprise.  

KS- Finally, with your busy life, have you had any time to think about your next project?

SR- I’m deep into my next project. Though it’s still shape-shifting too fast to capture, I’m really excited about it.  It’s about the smallness of a human being, paranoia and his ascetic’s loneliness, oblivion and artifacts, spiders and webs and life-cycles…if any of that makes any sense at all. I guess we already covered that I’m generally overwhelmed and confused; I’m also generally excited by my work, in spite of all the persistent liminal turmoil!


BookMarks

Good friends make very good books…and a bag.

YAMOTFABAATA, which contains 56 color plates, is currently available in a first edition/first printing of 500 gorgeous copies, which are not going to last long. It may be purchased here, or here.

Jason Koxvold’s Knives (and its tote bag), may be ordered here, or here, 

Aint-Bad Curator’s Choice, Issue No. 12, may still be available here. If it says “sold out,” email them directly and ask. They told me recently there are a few copies left. It contains 15 curators each getting a section, who choose 31 Photographers between them, representing what they feel are “the best of contemporary Photography.”

*-Soundtrack for this Post is Karma Police, by Radiohead from 1997’s O.K. Computer. Lyrics are here, video, right here-

My thanks to Shane Rocheleau, Jason Koxvold and Kris Graves.

My previous Posts on Photography are here

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  1. Shane Rocheleau- “I’ve been meditating on empathy for over a decade, now, on its receipt and provision and on its absence. But when I read Ovid’s Metamorphoses, empathy became immediately central to my practice. Upon a closer reading of the Narcissus myth, I realized it isn’t about Narcissism at all; rather, it’s about the power and necessity of empathy. Narcissus is not a Donald Trump; he is a beautiful boy living in a Greek culture wherein beautiful boys are lusted after and objectified (this culture does the same to young, magazine-thin women, for instance). When Narcissus kneels to the pond, he sees his reflection and remarks:
    I reach, your arms almost embrace me, and as
    I smile, you smile again at me; weeping
    I’ve seen great tears flow down your face (…)
    Narcissus had only ever seen lust and admiration in the eyes of others; never had he seen his complex, human emotions returned to him. That new experience felt so necessary that he stays with its giver, forsakes sustenance, and ultimately dies.The combination of my giving this ancient character overdue empathy and coming to understand that empathy is this powerful and necessary was a profound and important personal experience. I am a better artist and person because of it.”

A Conversation With Photographer Harry Gruyaert

Written by Kenn Sava. Photographs by Harry Gruyaert.

Harry Gruyaert is a mystery to me.

I wonder…HOW does he get such miraculous, beautifully atmospheric Photographs, over and over, again? It doesn’t matter what time of day,

Los Angeles, California, USA, 1981. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos. I came across a print of this work in June and realized that I hadn’t done a deep dive into Harry Gruyaert’s work. Well? It’s summer. Into the pool!  Three months later, I’m still immersed in the sheer joy of looking. Click any Photo for full size.

or night it is.

Launderette. Town of Antwerp, Flanders Region, Belgium 1988. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

What the weather is,

Ostende, Belgium, 1988. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

or even what’s going on.

Commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo, 1981, Village in the Province of Brabant, Belgium. Photo By Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

And, he’s been doing it for going on 50 years now.

His Photographs will make you stop and wonder- What’s going on here?

Rue Royale, 1981. Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

Or, marvel at the almost magical combination of elements coming together in a split second of time,

Parade, 1988.Flanders region, Province of Brabant, Belgium. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

any time,

Galway, Ireland, 1988. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

any where.

National Communist party congress, Trivandrum, India, 1989. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

But, the biggest mystery of all, for me, is WHY is he still so relatively little known in the USA?

His name is heard nowhere nearly as often as his fellow contemporary Masters of color Photography- William Eggleston, Saul Leiter, Stephen Shore, and the rest. As I write this, there are only TWO books of his work in print here (see BookMarks at the end). Yet, I find, his work has a richness and subtlety, those gorgeous colors he’s legendary for, all in the service of a mystery, like an untitled still from a movie (sorry, Cindy), that brings me back to have another look, again and again. His work can stand right alongside that of his peers, and it will hold its own alongside any of them. Even beyond contemporary Photography, Harry Gruyaert’s work, also, speaks to the lover of Painting in me. His is that rarest of work that touches some of the same nerves that Edward Hopper is, perhaps, most renowned for- the insular loneliness that defines modern life.

Covered market, Bairritz, France, 2000. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

Born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1941, he joined Magnum Photos in 1981, as admittedly, and somewhat controversially, the first and only, non-PhotoJournalist in the legendary group. 37 years later, he’s still a member, and is it only a coincidence that the current roster may be the most diverse in its 71 year history? Still going strong, 2018 is turning out to be a big year for Harry. First, the Harry Gruyaert – Retrospective at FOMU Foto Museum in Antwerp, Belgium, from March 9th to June 9th, 2018, while the feature length documentary, Harry Gruyaert Photographer, premiered this summer. Meanwhile, this past Saturday, September 8th, saw the opening of his new show at Antwerp’s renowned Gallery Fifty One. The show is titled Roots, and features work Mr. Gruyaert created in his native Belgium, where his “roots” are.

I’m thrilled to say I had the privilege of speaking with Mr. Gruyaert in France after he just returned home from attending the opening of Roots, and in a far ranging interview, I was fortunate to ask him every question I could think of that I have yet to see asked of him thus far. What follows is not a blow by blow biography. It’s meant to fill in the gaps in what’s been written about Harry Gruyaert thus far. And so, it’s meant to intrigue, to inspire you to delve further into his long and rich career. I quickly discovered that he is not one to mince words. Hold on to your seats, and prepare to meet a living legend, who’s bursting with passion in his mid-70s. Ladies and gentlemen, my conversation with Harry Gruyaert on September 11th, 2018…

Before I could get a word out, he said…

Harry Gruyaert- I liked what you did on Saul Leiter, so…

Kenn Sava- Oh, you did? Thank you very much. It’s interesting…I notice there’s a couple of things you seem to have in common with Saul. Early on, his father, also, was adamantly against his becoming a Photographer, and eventually disinherited him. He was also really loved Pierre Bonnard, as I mentioned. I note that you are as well. Saul who was known for his color work, did most of his intimate work in black & white, as you have.

Pierre Bonnard, View of the Old Port, Saint-Tropez, 1911, oil on canvas, seen at The Met.

Pierre Bonnard is not somebody who comes up all that often, I’ve had him come up twice with such great Photographers recently. What is it about Bonnard that particularly speaks to you?

Pierre Bonnard, The House of Misia Sert, 1906, Oil on canvas.

HG- It’s extremely sensual, you know. It’s amazing. His cropping is really amazing. I really like so much the feeling he has towards his life, and his wife. It’s quite amazing.

Town of Jaisalmer, State of Rajasthan, India, 1976. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos. I couldn’t resist pairing this with Bonnard’s House above, without any input from Mr. Gruyaert. The more I look at them, the more I find coincidentally in common. Down to the animals just inside each door.

A funny thing about Saul Leiter. When I arrived in Paris in April, 1962, I went to Elle Magazine, which is a fashion magazine, and I showed my work to the art director, Peter Knapp, and he said, “Oh, you are the little Saul Leiter. “ I had no idea who Saul Leiter was. It took me 40 years to realize who was Saul Leiter, and strangely enough in the last Paris Photo, my work was hanging next to his in the booth of Gallery Fifty One, run by Roger Szmulewicz, and  believe it or not, who walks by as I was standing in the booth ? Peter Knapp ! It’s amazing. So I asked him, “Why did you tell me that all those years ago?” He said, “It’s because of the way you work with color, obviously.” I really find it exciting  when things like that happen. 

KS- So, his work had no influence on you. You weren’t aware of it.

HG- No. No. I found out much later when his first Steidl book came out and when I saw his show at the Foundation Cartier-Bresson in Paris, which was only a couple of years ago.

KS- This has been a big year for you with the FOMU Retrospective, the Documentary Harry Gruyaert Photographer, and now the Gallery Fifty One show, Roots, I wanted to congratulate you on all of that.

Harry Gruyaert, in the red slacks facing the camera, at the opening for his new show, Harry Gruyaert: Roots, September 8th. Photo by Gallery Fifty One..

HG- Thank you. 

KS- I came across your work in the Magnum Square Print sale and realized I hadn’t done a deep dive into your career. Part of the reason is there aren’t a lot of books of your work in print here. The Retrospective, with the red cover, and East/West being two. It seems that you’re slowly reissuing your books, right?

HG- Sure. You know I accumulated so much work. And the good thing about making books now, is that you have much more control than before. The quality of printing is much better and my new books look better than the ones I published before.

Moscow, Russia, USSR, 1989. From East in the 2 volume set, East/West. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

KS- East/West is a fascinating book in that regard. I’m interested in why you chose to group the two books together. I know you’ve said many times you’re not a journalist, but looking at this work now from so many years later, it almost has a journalistic feel to it- A commentary about the materialism in America and the fall of the USSR at the time you were taking the pictures. Was that any part of the intention in issuing them together now in a slipcase? 

Freemont Street. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 1982. From West in East/West. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

HG- Yes, that was part of the idea of publishing these two series of pictures together. Don’t forget, I’m a documentary Photographer, and in that sense I feel quite close to somebody like Cartier Bresson whose work is always about a particular place at a particular time. We have both travelled a lot and taken pictures in many different countries and share that same openness to different world and different cultures. Though I am a great admirer of american photographers, I sometimes feel that the work they have done in the states is more interesting than their work in other countries. I don’t know why that is. 

KS- You were involved with Henri Cartier-Bresson and I read the story of him asking you to color his prints. For everyone who wasn’t able to know him, what would you like them to know about him? Is there any one thing that particularly stands out?

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Hyeres, France, 1932

HG- (Laughs)…Oh boy. I was very lucky to have known him. He was very provocative. He was full of energy. Very provocative, and at the same time, he wanted to be a zen buddhist. (Laughs) Very interesting person. Complex. It’s such a lesson that he gave up Photography and went back to his old passion, Painting and Drawing, when he felt he had nothing more to say through photography. It was not on the level of what he did before, but it’s such a lesson. Then, he’d come and ask you, “What do you think of my Painting or Drawing?” He started all over again, questionning himself instead of relying on his reputation.

Shaded streets of the medina (old district), Near “Jemma el Fna” square, Marrakech, Morocco, 1986. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

KS- That’s quite a compliment to you that he’d ask you to Paint his prints. 

HG- It all started when he came to see my first show about Morocco at the Delpire Galerie in Paris. My C. prints were far from perfect and he started making comments. He took bits of paper or little objects and put them on my prints to explain to me what he meant.Amazing. Then he sent me his book about Andre Lhote, who was his teacher in Painting and  called me up two weeks later, and said «  I have a suggestion to make.I will send a couple of my prints and I will send you a big box of pastels and you can try and color them.” I said, “Henri, it’s nice to think about it, but I’m not a Painter. I can’t even make a drawing.”

He had a problem with color photography. He felt it was only used for commercial reasons and was not really interested. And I think he really didn’t like the fact that many Magnum Photographers moved to color because that’s what magazines were asking for when they were better doing black & white. But some became very good magazine photographers and were very successful. 

In 2017, 174 Harry Gruyaert Photographs were on view in 11 stations of the Paris Metro at the invitation of RATP, the Paris public transport operator. Seen here are two images from his beach series, “Rivages,” (shores, or “Edges” as it’s called here), images that speak of the insignificance of man in the scope of nature, the Artist has said, while at the same time, showing a sense of humor, particularly on the left. Seen here in a still from the Harry Gruyaert Photographer Documentary.

KS- Was there a single moment or an event that got you first interested in Photography?

HG-Different things…I wanted to travel. I went to an exhibition in ’58 at the World’s Fair in Brussels. I saw the different pavilions : America, Russia, Japan, India… I was looking at the globe which I had at home. And I thought, I want to go to all these places. And I was also interested in fashion. I loved  Fashion magazines which were much better at the time, like Harper’s Bazar and Vogue, and photographers like Avedon and Irving Penn. And there were all these beautiful girls…

KS- So, it came out of your desire to travel.

Still from Harry Gruyaert Photographer.

HG- To travel, to discover things…I was always interested in Paintings. I always went to Museums. 

I never even thought about doing anything else. I was Director of Photography for a couple of television Film. I had a big admiration for the directors of photography who worked with  Italians film directors like Antonioni, I through they were really fantastic. I could have made a profession out of that, but I wanted to do my own stuff, my own Films and it meant working with a large crew of people and you needed a lot of money. The good thing about photography is that you can work on your own. If the digital small cameras of the quality we have now had existed at the time, things might have been different.

KS- When I look at your work I see elements of both- they seem like stills from a movie but then when it comes to printing, it’s some of the same techniques that come to bear that Painters would use, so you’ve almost married the two. Do you see it that way at all?

HG- Yeah, sure. The funny thing is that the directors I know in Paris, I’m friendly with some of them, have told me they’ve been inspired by some of my photographs…So it’s wonderful that it works both ways. 

Edward Hopper, New York Movie, 1939, Oil on canvas.

KS- I’ve read a couple of your interviews over time talking about Edward Hopper. I think in one interview you said you didn’t really look at his work early on, but you can kind of see what people say when they talk about the similarities in the loneliness and isolation in your work. Since it didn’t come from Hopper, that sense that is in some of your work, where do you think that came from? Those isolated figures, that sense of loneliness and isolation that occurs in your work? 

Trans-Europe-Express, 1981. Belgium. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

HG- I don’t really know. It’s not the person that interests me most. It’s the person in its environment. To me, all the elements are important. I don’t have any particular intention. It’s just what I see.

Bay of the Somme River in the town of Fort Mahon, Picardie, France, 1991. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

I think humans have such a great idea about ourselves but nature is so much more powerful.

The Flemish House, by George Simenon. Cover Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

Talking about loneliness in the city…A funny thing that came up. Do you know (Georges) Simenon, the Belgian Writer of detective stories ? Inspector Maigret is the name of the detective. They translated them into english and they had trouble finding covers for them. Peter Galassi said to them, “Look at Harry’s work. I think you can find something there.” So, the guy from the publishing company sent me some lay-outs and I didn’t think it could work because the cover is vertical and 90% of my work is horizontal. But, the way he cropped it, it was really quite interesting and I asked him to print the full frame image on the back cover. 

The full frame source Photo for the cover. Bar, Antwerp, Belgium. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

Then, Penguin Books in London picked it up. Believe it or not, we’ve done 65 covers.

KS- You’ve done 65 covers for them?

HG- Yes. Just from my archive. My archives are not only Magnum, only a small percentage is Magnum. So, she comes to Paris and looks through mainly my old work. When I did my show at FOMU at Antwerp, there was a big wall with all the covers of the books and small pictures of the full frame.

The strange thing is Simenon is Belgian. He’s from Liege. I’m from Antwerp. I met his son and he showed me some Photographs that Simenon did himself, and you find this kind of thing of a small figure in an urban landscape. With a certain lonelieness. Which you find often in my work. It’s really quite funny.

KS- You’ve spoken about a number of the places you’ve worked- Moscow, Belgium, California & the American West. How do you feel about New York?

It’s a small world. New York City. USA, 1996. The 23rd Street Subway station, across from the Met Life Building. It’s immediately recognizable to me because it’s in my neighborhood. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

HG- Extremely exciting. I’ve done lots of work in New York. The first time I came to New York was in ’68. I was friends with people like Gordon Matta-Clark. All those Artists were important to me, in terms of the energy, in terms of what they were doing. 

National Road 1,near Mechelen, Antwerp Province, Belgium, 1988

Pop Art taught me to look at a certain banality with interest, a visual interest and a certain sense of humor.That changed the nature of the work I was doing in Belgium at the time.  In the beginning it was only in black & white. For two years, I didn’t see any color there. But Pop Art taught me to look at things in a different way and then I started to work in color.

So for two years there I only shot black & white.

Near Bruges, Belgium, 1975. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

KS- I don’t really consider Robert Rauschenberg a Pop Artist but he was obviously very important at that time, and since. Has he had any influence on you at all?

Robert Rauschenberg, Black Market, 1961, seen at MoMA’s Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends show, 2017.

HG- Oh, I love his work. I mean the personality… the openness, trying other things. There’s more sensuality in Rauschenberg. It’s more fun as well. 

KS- In looking at someone like Robert Rauschenberg, and there’s others, too, who were Painters, but also were Photographers, it seems to me that their Photography doesn’t get any attention at all. Have you seen Rauschenberg’s Photography, and if so, what do you think of it?

Robert Rauschenberg, Anchor, from Studies for Chinese Summerhall, China, 1983. Photo by Graphicstudio, USF.

HG- Oh, sure. It’s interesting. Sometimes it takes time to discover things. So many Photographers are being discovered…look at Saul Leiter.

Excerpts from T.V. Shots, Photos taken between 1969 and the early 1970s. From the publisher- “Gruyaert’s break from television wasn’t all peaceful, though: his first serious body of work contained photographs of distorted TV images. By following events such as the 1972 Munich Olympics from home, he created a distressed parody of the current-affairs photo-story. The work caused controversy, both for its disrespectful assault on the culture of television and for its radical challenge (both formally and in terms of content) to the conventions of press photography. Gruyaert views it as the closest thing to journalistic photography he has ever made.” Photos by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos, as seen in the 2007 Steidl book of the same name.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, someone said. This is NOT by Harry Gruyaert. NYC Subway ad for Maniac, September, 2018

KS- Speaking of that…another Photographer who is also a Painter, is William Eggleston. You were able to see the legendary 1976 show at MoMA, Photographs by William Eggleston, and you spoke about being impressed with his dye-transfer prints. I’m wondering- What did you think of his work when you first saw it?

HG- It was amazing to see that, especially the quality of the printing. The first book is one of his best and one of my favorites. 

KS- So you think William Eggleston’s Guide would be among his best work?

HG- Sure. Yes. Definitely. There are other good things too. But the problem now is that publishers want to publish too many books. Some are good, some are not so good. Banality can be interesting, but sometimes, it’s just banal!

KS- In the Gallery Fifty One show you have 41 works in black & white and 19 works in color, though they are large. I notice there seems to be more surrealism in the black & white works, where it’s more subtle in the color work. Does that seem to be the case for you?

Belgium, Hofstade, Carnival (Superimposition), 1975, is included in the Gallery Fifty One show. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum

HG- Black and white and color are two different approaches. I took pictures of my daughters in black & white because I felt I got closer to them. Shooting in black and white I feel less preoccupied by the way people dress, the background or things that could distract me. I concentrate on the human quality of the person. Color is more complex. With color, the color really has to be the main thing…the most important thing…

A normally very busy street deserted by citizens for the first meal of the day. During the Ramadan. Cairo. Egypt, 1987. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

KS- It’s said that Roots was, at one point, basically a “farewell” to Beligum, after your difficulties with your father…

HG- That was not so much the problem as the lack of a cultural environment.

“Midi” train station district, Brussels, Belgium, 1981, is included in the Gallery Fifty One show. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

KS- But, it seems that you’ve made peace with Belgium. Have you done work in Belgium since Roots? 

HG- I do all the time. At the show I gave Roger (Gallery Fifty One’s Director) about 15 prints I did very recently, to show whoever’s interested that things change. Nothing stays the same. The colors are different now. The mentality’s different. Belgium is more like the rest of Europe, I guess…the same clothing…the same advertisements. It’s actually much more colorful, but in a more capitalistic driven way. It’s more fashionable somehow, and It’s more alike. Before, in Holland and Belgium, which are very near to each other, things were very different in the color aspect and all that. And now, things have become much more the same, like in the States.

KS- So you were saying that some of the American Photographers influenced you more than the Europeans. Who were those American Photographers who influenced you?

HG- (Lee) Friedlander, definitely. (Irving) Penn, (Richard) Avedon. Helen Levitt is wonderful, sure, Bruce Davidson and others…

Stephen Shore, Merced River, Yosemite Park, CA, 1974, Seen at the Stephen Shore Retrospective at MoMA, 2018

When I look at Stephen Shore’s work, I have the feeling that I am traveling with him. It’s really important in Photography to get to the person and have the feeling of being with him. That’s really important. Stephen Shore, but other Photographers as well. It’s physical. It’s the experience they have that appeals to me. It’s a physical thing. That’s why I don’t care much for conceptual work. It comes from the brain. For me, it has to come more from the stomach. It’s physical. It’s experience, which someone has at a given time, and through the experience I get contact with the person who did it.

A visitor spends quality time with Rembrandt(s). At The Met, February, 2015.

To me, Art is…When I look at Rembrandt, I’m with Rembrandt. When I look at Bonnard, I’m with Bonnard. When I look at conceptual work, I’m with the brain of somebody. If they have to write a lot of stuff before we’re able to understand what it’s all about, I’m not interested in the exhibition. I have to first look at the work and it should mean something. It has to appeal to me visually. 

KS- Have there been any Directors or Painters that have spoken to you more recently?  Anyone that’s come along since Antonioni, Magritte? Anything that’s more contemporary? Anything that you’ve really been impressed with?

HG- Recently? I’m a movie fan. I go to movies all the time. In the past I went to the cinema every day. I learned more from movies than anywhere else…movies and paintings…

About Antonioni. What’s really interesting…In 2009, 10 Magnum Photographers had a show at the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris, exploring  the relationship between still Photography and Film. My part was to show how much I was inspired by Film, and mainly, by Antonioni. So, I did a projection, which lasts about 25 minutes, with extracts of his movies – l’Avventura, The Eclipse and the Red Desert –  and some of my Photographs next to them.

Province de Brabant, Belgium, 1981. One of my personal favorite Harry Gruyaert Photos reminds me of the scene in Antonioni’s La Notte when Jeanne Moreau sits in the car in the rain. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

There are three Antonioni Films I was limited to1. So, I was able to use certain things. …. But, when they saw the thing produced, the review were very happy about it.

KS- I would love to see that. You have a new book, Rivages about to come out, (to be released in the USA as Edges later this year). I’ve read that you’ve been enjoying using today’s technology to make better prints. Are you also involved with the selecting of the images for the books and the way they are sequenced, or does somebody else do that?

HG- Completely. It’s team work. I’m the first person, obviously. I’ve been working with the same people the past 4 or 5 books. It’s like teamwork. 

The English edition of Rivages (Edges) is coming out at the end of September. The French edition is earlier. I’m very happy with them. The printing and everything. 

KS- So, you’re selecting the images for the books. 

HG- Sure. There’s some discussions, obviously…yeah, teamwork.

KS- Are you working on another version of Morocco?

HG- No plans for the moment, but everything is sold out. 

I want to do a book about street photography in the different cities I’ve been to. You know like New York, Brussels, or whatever And also a book on India and Egypt, a book about my industrial work, about airport, about my daughters… So many things… I also want to redo It’s not about cars, which was first published with  Roger Smulewicz of Gallery 512, but in a larger and more complete version. 

KS- Was Luigi Ghirri an influence?

HG- I discovered him later. I like some of his work…I think lots of his …He’s more of an intellectual. He has a real concept, I think. And I’m kind of… I think more in terms of color and I don’t think that’s his main interest. We have a very different approach

KS- There’s a couple of images that kind of remind me of yours. The shot of Versailles from the distance…

HG- Those are the ones I prefer. 

Still from the Harry Gruyaert Photographer Documentary showing the Artist on the corner of West 42nd Street and 7th Avenue.

KS- What did you think of the final documentary, Harry Gruyert Photographer? Did you have a chance to see it?

HG- Sure.

KS- What was your reaction? Were you pleased with it?

HG- I’m pleased with it. It’s not my Film. Well, it’s the Film of the director. It became very personal. You know, the thing is my father had about 25 hours of family films. The director knew that and he used a lot of that in the Film, comparing what my father did and what I did, and talking about my upbringing, so it became a very family kind of Film, which is fine, I think it’s a bit over done…it’s his Film.

Harry Gruyaert in action in Times Square, NYC. He has spoken about how taking Photos is like a “dance” for him, which is obvious, here, in this shot from the Harry Gruyaert Photographer Documentary website. While other Photographers bring full Hollywood movie making gear to bear in making their Photos look “cinematic.” Mr. Gruyaert does it the old fashioned way, as you can see.

KS- Are there any plans to release it in America? Are we going to get to see it over here?

HG- Who knows. It’s just the beginning. 

Gallery Fifty One, Antwerp, Belgium.

KS- You just returned form Gallery Fifty One and the opening of your show in Antwerp. How did you feel about the show? How did the installation look to you?

HG- We tried something I had never done before. We set two screens, one on top of the other, very close. On one we showed black and white photographs and on the other color photographs.

Installation view of Roots at Gallery Fifty One showing dual video monitors. Photo by Gallery Fifty One.

Sometimes the relationship between them worked, sometimes it did not. But it was an an interesting experience. There’s much more black and white stuff (included in the show) than I have ever showed. The color photographs are the ones published in the new edition of Roots.

The Gruyaert family at dinner in a peaceful moment. Harry’s father, left, worked for the AGFA Film Company. His feelings about his son becoming a Photographer have been written about elsewhere. Still from Harry Gruyaert Photographer.

KS- Did your father ever come to accept you being a Photographer? Did he come to appreciate your work at all?

HG- Oh yes. He became very proud. (laughs) Once I was vice-president of Magnum, that was it for him. I think it was more about my position at Magnum than about my work.. 

KS- No one’s ever mentioned that anywhere. They always talk about how adamant he was against your becoming a Photographer. They never mention that he did finally come to accept it. Unlike Saul Leiter, who’s father disinherited him. So, at least, that’s good to hear.

HG- No, no no. My father was very proud at the end. He was. Whenever he would tell others how great his son was, it was special for him.

Our conversation ended there. A few days later in an email, Harry added this-

“I am just a photographer. If people look at my work and think it’s art, I am happy about it. But it is not for me to decide.”

Count me in that group of “people.”

While the mystery in Harry Gruyaert’s work will enthrall me for years to come, I hope the mystery surrounding his lack of recognition here will be history in the near future. After all, I’d rather leave the mystery writing to Simenon.


BookMarksMorocco is Harry Gruyaert’s most renowned book, winning the 1975 Kodak Prize. As he said, it’s been out of print since the last French edition, Maroc, published by Textuel in 2013. At the moment, two books are in print in the USA, Harry Gruyaert, with a red cover, a retrospective, published by Thames & Hudson in 2015, is likely to remain the most comprehensive overview of his work for the foreseeable future, particularly because, as he said, it has the Artist’s direct involvement.

It’s gorgeous, in my view, and the place to start exploring Harry Gruyaert’s work and achievement among books currently in print in the USA.

Harry Gruyaert: East/West, a two volume set in a slipcase, contains East, Photos taken in Moscow near the very end of the USSR in 1989, and West, Photos taken in the American West (including Los Angeles and Las Vegas) in 1981, was published in 2017 by Thames & Hudson. It’s a fascinating look at both places decades ago, and intentionally, or not, provides a powerful visual contrast between capitalism and communism.

East/West

Equally compelling is how much Mr. Gruyaert’s color palette changes between the two bodies of work.

Just released by Editions Xavier Barral this past May (2018) is the new edition of Harry Gruyaert – Roots, a book “about” the Artist’s relationship with his native country, Belgium. It adds over 20 additional Photos to the 2012 edition, which quickly went out of print. As the Artist said in the conversation, he finds today’s printing far superior to what he was able to achieve in the past, making this the edition to get.

Coming soon will be Edges (or Rivages in French), another new edition of an out of print beautiful collection. In visual poetry, Mr. Gruyaert explores the relationship of man to nature, the land to the sea, and the earth to the sky in 144 pages. Soon to be published by Thames & Hudson.

While I recommend starting with the red Retrospective, all of these books are excellent and recommended.

Cover image cropped from an original by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

And, for lovers of detective novels, Harry’s images appear as covers on 65 Simenon novels published by, and available in the USA through, Penguin Books.

*- Soundtrack for this Post is “I Should Watch T.V.” by David Byrne & St. Vincent from “Love This Giant.” Lyrics, here. Video, here-

My thanks to Harry Gruyaert and Gallery Fifty One.

My prior Posts on Photography may be found here.

NighthawkNYC.com has been entirely self-funded and ad-free for over 6 years, during which over 250 full length pieces have been published. If you’ve found it worthwhile, you can donate to keep it going & ad-free below. Thank you!

Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited.
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For “short takes” and additional pictures, follow @nighthawk_nyc on Instagram.

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  1. In 2009 the Cinematheque Francaise presented Images to Come, an exhibition exploring Magnum photographer’s take on the relationship between cinema and photograhy. The works are displayed alongside still from L’Avventura, The Eclipse and the Red Desert.
  2. Harry Gruyaert: It’s Not About Cars, published by Gallery Fifty One in 2017.

The Met To Close The Met Breuer In 2020

Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

Outside The Met Breuer. Click any Photo for full size.

This, today, from Met Museum President and CEO, Daniel Weiss-

The Met
Dear Member:

I am writing to bring you up to date on a new series of developments related to The Met Breuer and, more generally, on our long-term goals for modern and contemporary art at The Met.

We are in the process of creating an arrangement between The Met and The Frick Collection through which the Frick will use the Breuer building while its own building undergoes a substantial upgrade and renovation. This collaboration would ensure that the public continues to have access to the Frick’s collections, exhibitions, library resources, and education programs.

Although final details are still under review, as currently envisioned the Frick would begin its programming at the Breuer building in late 2020, after obtaining the necessary public approvals for its renovation project. The Met will continue operations at the Breuer until the summer of 2020.

In the last few years, under the outstanding leadership of Sheena Wagstaff, the Leonard A. Lauder Chairman of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Met Breuer has received critical and public acclaim for its exhibition program, which has been devoted to telling multiple histories of modernism from across the world.

Most of all, we have enjoyed sharing the building with Members like you. Together, we have examined modern and contemporary art through unparalleled exhibitions such as Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300-Now) and Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible, and important displays of artists who were overdue for recognition, such as Nasreen Mohamedi, Marisa Merz, Lygia Pape, Kerry James Marshall, and, now on view, Jack Whitten.

In the coming months, we have several major exhibitions planned for the current Modern and Contemporary galleries at The Met Fifth Avenue, including Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera later this fall, and our special exhibition galleries in the main building, as well as a number of large photography exhibitions. Finally, our programming at Breuer will continue until summer 2020, with a very exciting and diverse exhibition schedule ahead.

Our long-term commitment remains with the main building, and, of course, the Cloisters. We are actively working to reinvigorate and reimagine the role of modern art in the Fifth Avenue building, guided by the leadership of The Met’s new Director, Max Hollein, and in partnership with Sheena and the Modern and Contemporary team.

We are extraordinarily proud of our work at The Met Breuer. Over the last three years, we have accomplished exactly what we set out to do, namely, present modern and contemporary art within the context of our broader mission and encyclopedic collection. Building on that success, we are now able to realize an even more ambitious program at The Met Fifth Avenue.

I am excited about the collaboration with The Frick, and the opportunity to unify and expand modern and contemporary initiatives at The Met Fifth Avenue.

Dan
The Met
Fifth Avenue 1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028
The Met
Cloisters 99 Margaret Corbin Drive
Fort Tryon Park
New York, NY 10040
The Met
Breuer945 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10021
metmuseum.org

According to Mr. Weiss, the new arrangement will save The Met about 45 million dollars over 4 years1. That The Met would try and exit their lease on the Breuer building early is not totally unexpected, but that they were able to execute it so soon (two and a half years after the Met Breuer opened in March, 2016, and a year and seven months after the resignation of Director, Thomas P. Campbell, under who’s regime, the Museum had taken on the Breuer), seems quite fortuitous for their bottom line beginning in a few years, and so will probably be seen as a coup for the Museum. Part of the reason The Met wanted the Breuer was to display Modern & Contemporary Art while those galleries at 1000 Fifth Avenue were being renovated. With that plan shelved in 2017, and the existing galleries continuing to serve, today’s announcement makes me wonder what effect, if any, there is to the April, 2013 gift of Leonard Lauder’s superb collection of 78 Cubist paintings, drawings, and sculptures, among them 33 Picassos, 17 Braques, and 14 Légers valued at more than $1 billion, which was seen as part of The Met leasing the Breuer, and which were to be housed in part of the new Modern & Contemporary Wing. Nothing about it is mentioned in Mr. Weiss’ letter.

Thornton Dial, History Refused to Die, 2004, verso, seen in the excellent show of the same name that just ended at The Met 5th Avenue,, put on by Sheena Wagstaff and her team.

On the Art front, I am pleased to see that Sheena Wagstaff will, apparently, continue as Chairperson of Modern & Contemporary Art. As I’ve said, in my view, she has done a terrific job.

UPDATE- To be clear, The Met will still hold the lease on the Breuer building. They will be “subleasing” it to The Frick Collection for the final 4 years of The Met’s lease on it. This wasn’t made clear at the time of Mr. Weiss’ letter.

*-Soundtrack for this Post is “One Too Many Mornings” by Bob Dylan from The Times They Are A-Changin’. Lyrics, here

NighthawkNYC.com has been entirely self-funded and ad-free for over 6 years, during which over 250 full length pieces have been published. If you’ve found it worthwhile, you can donate to keep it going & ad-free below. Thank you!

Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited.
To send comments, thoughts, feedback or propositions click here.
Click the white box on the upper right for the archives or to search them.
For “short takes” and additional pictures, follow @nighthawk_nyc on Instagram.

Subscribe to be notified of new Posts below. Your information will be used for no other purpose.

 

  1. New York Times, March 5, 2016