A Pandemic Picture Show
FIU Alumni and More
When everything shut down in March of 2020 my photography class at FIU went to Zoom Remote. The critiques of new work took place on Thursday afternoons for two hours, and I invited some friends, including FIU alumni, to join my students in the crit. This took on a surprising life of its own as people invited others who invited others. Amy Galpin, Chief Curator at the FIU Frost Museum was especially vigorous in suggesting participants.
We have continued for more than a year to have two-hour Zoom meetings on Saturday afternoons, often with more than twenty participants, and over eighty people have attended at one time or another. They range from beginning FIU photography students to photographers, scholars, and curators of significant reputation. For example, Maria Martinez-Cañas, recipient of the prestigious Oolite Arts award, took us on a grand tour of her long career.
In the sessions people show what they like, sometimes ten or twenty and sometimes sixty or so. Some of the photographs are very new and others have shown work that goes back decades. Some is very traditional still photography, and some is not; some digital, some chemical, and some hybrid.
We look at photographs, enjoy them, try to see how they work, and do some editing that can often be contentious.
Some months ago, Hugo Fernandez contacted Bryan Cooper who, among other duties at the FIU Libraries, manages The Glenn Gallery at FIU Biscayne Bay Campus. Bryan mentioned a new gallery service for virtual exhibits, and offered to work with Hugo to present works by people in the Saturday Zoom sessions. This is the result. Each person is showing five photographs in this exhibition. We hope you enjoy this very diverse selection and future additions to the exhibition.
Sincerely,
Bill Maguire
FIU Alumni whose work is in this exhibit include: Rolando Dal Pezzo, Peggy Levison Nolan, Krono Lescano, Alex Del Canto, Karina Mcinnis, Lucia Plaza, Victor Golden, Dennis Cuadrado, Patti Reiff, Gloria O’Connell, Ivan Santiago, Tony Chirinos, Teresa Smith, Sofia Valiente, Hugo Fernandez, Phillip Karp, Janet Corral, Sonia Paulino, Deborah Alley, Itzel Basualdo, Vanessa Monokian, Marlon Henao, Paola Rodriguez, J.M. Valdivia, Ashley Garner, Kevin Arrow, Velma McDermott, Hai Zhang, Cecelia Arboleda, Rylan Steele, Danielle Piantini, and Renée Cooley. Current FIU students include Danica Green, Omar Lopez, Sara Oren, Laura Fernandez, and others.
Sacred Heart School, Homestead, Florida (1982 - 1984) | Bill Maguire, Professor, FIU Department of Art and Art History
Hugo Fernandez- FIU, BFA 1989. Yale, MFA 1993. Professor of Fine Arts and Commercial Photography, the City University of New York/LaGuardia Community College, Long Island City, New York. | h ugof@aol.com | https://www.hugofernandezphotographer.com
Peter Wechsler, Attorney, Pinecrest, FL - Father of two FIU graduates 305.213-1222 | PeterLWechsler@Gmail.com
- Central Park Snow
- Paris Kids
- Paris Opera
- Florence Police
- Nun
The Untitled | Velma McDermott - FIU BFA 2018
- Utility Line - 2019
- Arizona - 2020
- Car Park - 2020
- Hollywood Sign -2019
- Rock - 2019
The Art is Us - 2019 | Wayne D. Thornbrough - Harvard AB 1966, Harvard MBA 1968. wthornbr@yahoo.com
Artist Statement: I worked in the investment management business until I retired in 2004. My photographic career really commenced with my retirement and I continue to be active today mostly focusing on the genre of street photography. I have received numerous awards, most recently a First Prize in the Americana category at the International Color Awards this year.
Tony Chirinos
Janet Corral, Marketing Director at MPA, Birmingham, MI / Miami, FL | corraljanet@gmail.com | FIU Alumni - Bachelor of Fine Arts, Minor in Art History 1993
Bio: Janet Corral has always seen life through a different lens. Growing up in the diversity and cultural melting pot that is Miami, the Cuban refugee was drawn from an early age to graphic arts and photography as a way of communicating.
Straight out of high school, she worked at the Graphic Arts department at Columbia Pictures Publications and founded her own sign company while she pursued her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and Minor in Art History at Florida International University. Before she graduated, she also received a Meritorious Award for her color photography series of Coconut Grove houses taken in the early 1990s.
Almost three decades later, these photographs are a window to another era as gentrification changes the character of this historic Miami neighborhood and pushes out longtime residents who have lived there for generations. Many old, shotgun-style homes built by the original Bahamian settlers have been torn down and replaced with white boxes that, in some cases, occupy the entire lot.
“I lived in the Grove in the 90s and coming back to visit after 18 years brings tears to my eyes,” said Corral, who today provides all the graphic content to a Detroit architectural firm for their website, social platforms and proposals.
“But I have these memories documented through my images of what the Grove was like when I walked the neighborhood. And it was groovy.”
- Cat Home | Coconut Grove, FL - 1992
- Corner Shotgun Home | Coconut Grove, FL - 1992
- 113 Shotgun Home | Coconut Grove, FL - 1992
- Pair of Shotgun Homes on Washington | Coconut Grove, FL - 1992
- 3544 Shotgun Home | Coconut Grove, FL - 1992
Enterye Rezoud - Inner Resolve | Victor Rafael Golden - BFA 2013 Florida International University, MFA 2017 Florida International University | Professor - Teaching Fine Arts at Broward College - Dept of Humanities, Fine Arts and Communications | www.goldenindigo.com | 786-417-1168
“Enterye Rezoud”- Inner Resolve, is a portrait of a people in this small island nation in the Western Hemisphere, which has been assailed by natural disasters and of recent by the insensitive and misguided remarks by the leader of the most powerful country in the free world.
Yet despite the geo-political landscape, and concerns of intersectionality - the people of Haiti are resolute to rise like the phoenix to be ever victorious.
For the past twenty five years COHEF (Children Of Haiti Empowerment Fund continues to work in Haiti bringing volunteers from throughout the world. It has unraveled for global citizens, the myths about Haiti and creating through its programs, awareness and the true understanding of the Haitians countenance and place alongside others in the 21st century.
Despite the fact that the Diaspora continues to be inflicted with the chains and shackles of gentrification, oppression, discrimination, racism, political and economic discourse, COHEF continues to assert that we are many in body but one in mind.
The common thread of the African people and of Haiti continues to be up-lifted and awakened to their rich heritage.
The roots of Haitians are deeply embedded in love and peace .... His or her hearts pulsate with the energy of giving, which no one person can ever destroy; Enterye Rezoud is their mantra.
Nonón (Spark of my Life) | Paola Katherine Rodriguez - Photographer, Yoga Instructor, Lab Technician at Palm Film Lab | paolakatherine.com | brokenfreeproject@gmail.com
Paola Katherine Rodriguez (b. 1989, Miami, Florida) examines the ideas of identity, healing, advocacy, mindfulness, connection, empowerment, and transformation through her artistic practice.
She is best known for her series Broken Free, an ongoing photo-based project that promotes awareness of victimization, while encouraging survivors to break the silence in order to end the violence.
Paola has exhibited work at Newspace Center for Photography, RedLine Contemporary Art Center, Girls’ Club Collection, FIU Miami Beach Urban Studios, FIU Graham Center Art Gallery, and has been a part of group shows such as 9 Topics TRIAD at Arthill Gallery in London, UK and The Fifth Annual Exposure Award at Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. Her project, Broken Free, was a finalist for FEAST Miami. She was a featured artist at the Take Back the Night program at FIU for two consecutive years.
Paola has been interviewed and featured on Artistíco RD, VoyageMIA, WokeWednesdays, She Shoots Film magazine and FIU CARTA News.
Paola received a BA and a BFA from Florida International University in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Artist Statement: This series (2010-2021) is a photo memoir of my late life partner: music producer and writer Juan Alexander Caraballo, also known as Jonnie Sparko, whom I called Nonón. The selected five photographs were taken January 2020 and April 2021.
Sonia Paulino Love, NYC-Based Freelance Photographer - FIU BFA 2000, MFA UC San Diego 2004 | http://www.soniapaulino.com | https://www.instagram.com/cyclestar2000/
- Anthonine; 2017
- Traveon with Sammy, Nick, and Nora; Echo Park; 2009
- Justin and Scout, Echo Park; 2008
- Sarah and Shannon; 2008
- Papá Nonón; 2001
Angelika Rinnhofer teaches photography at Central New Mexico Community College. www.angelikarinnhofer.com | Inspicio | VoyageMIA | prep4artschool.com
- Stacey's bird, 2015
- IS, 2008
- KC, 2008
- Menschenkunde XXX, 2006
- a priori_KP, 2013
Ania Moussawel (b. 1980, Miami, FL) is an artist, photographer, and arts educator. She earned her BFA in Photography at Barry University in 2004 and MFA in Photography, Video, and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts in 2012. Ania’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in venues such as the Masur Museum of Art, Museum of Art Ft. Lauderdale, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Girls’ Club Collection, among others.
Ania’s work explores notions of family, memory, and loss with the use of photography and video. Her family’s cultures, Cuban and Lebanese, are central themes within her work, often using the homes of her maternal and paternal grandmothers as the setting. She uses portraiture to capture the people closest to her, including her children and family as a way of examining relationships and identity.
- Christmas Eve
- Grandmother with Hair Dye
- The Last Supper
- Violet at 5
- The Days are Long
Ashley G. Garner - FIU BFA 2009. Sales at Hartley Botanic, Founder & Creative Director at ÆSTHESIA | ashleyggarnerstudios@gmail.com | www.ashleyggarner.com
- Muse in Repose
- My Brooklyn Bedroom
- Phoenix Rising
- Spring in Quarantine
- The Last Light of Summer
Carlos V Causo - MFA, School of Visual Arts 1992. Adjunct Faculty, FIU. | Porfolio_Causo
Bio: Bachelor in Science degree in Environmental Studies Florida International University. Masters in Fine Arts degree in Photography, Video, and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts In New York. Cintas Foundation Fellowship recipient. Worked as a volunteer at Biscayne National Park on a one-year restoration project that involved rehabilitation of mangrove habitats. Twenty-plus years working commercially in photography, video, and graphic design.
- Bar Harbor, ME. 2018
- Miami, FL. 2017
- Miami, FL. 2018
- Oahu, HI. 2019
- Seattle, WA. 2019
Danika Green - FIU BFA 2021.
- Baby Hair, 2020
- Wondering Eye, 2020
- Santiago's Living Room, 2021
- Sister, 2020
- Clean Sheets, 2021
Deborah Alley
Artist Statement: Through her work, Deborah Alley is exploring the memories of life and the essence of intimacy as it relates to changes. Addressing the changes observed, in the relationships and in the cultural perception of beauty, dictates the choices she makes in the work. The artist examines the conflict of ideas and utilizes the anti-aesthetic attitude of straightforward photography in her portraiture. Her focus is on the exchange between photographer and subject and the relationship between viewer and viewed.
- Cowboy Cindi
- Sean's Strength
- My Vision
- Stately Shower
- Two In The Mirror
Ivan Santiago | www.ivansantiagophoto.com
- Lost Tooth, 2020
- Sunday Comics, 2020
- Paco’s Shield, 2020
- CarWash, 2020
- Ihop Tent, 2019
Bio: Ivan Santiago is a Photographer and Multimedia Producer currently teaching Digital Photography for FAU and graduated with an MFA with a focus on both Photography and Art History from FIU. Inspired by the landscape representations of the New Topographics movement, Ivan began to contextualize it as a means to document the tension between the vanishing landscape within the urban city sprawl around the South Florida he grew up in. Lately, His camera has turned its attention inward to chronicle the fleeting growth of his children.
Jason Graves
Through the Window | Jay Weiser
Jay Weiser (Zoom Photo Thing Participant, 2020-2021) has photographed architecture and streetscapes across 37 states, 23 countries, and four continents for over four decades. He had a solo exhibition, Urban Photogrids, at Spring Street Natural (affiliated with the LaGuardia Community College photography program) and participated in two Small Works group shows at Baruch College’s Mishkin Gallery, both in New York City. His photographs have appeared in The American Interest, Inland Architect, and Newsday. | https://jayweiser.myportfolio.com
- Worth Avenue, Palm Beach, FL - March 2019
- Grandview Heights Historic District, West Palm Beach, FL - March 2019
- St. George Street, St. Augustine, FL - March 2019
- Aviles Street, St. Augustine, FL - March 2019
- Worth Avenue, Palm Beach, FL - March 2019
South From Here | J.M. Valdivia - BFA FIU 2009 | www.jmvaldivia.com | jmvaldiviaphotography@gmail.com
Artist Statement: This body of work documents an array of sociological and economic struggles with unfiltered honesty. It encompasses my travels to Cuba since 2015 to become familiar with my father’s side of the family. My father died when I was 10 years old which had a great impact on me. Quickly realizing how ephemeral life is the importance of having a tangible photograph became crucial. I set out to document the town he grew up in to understand his upbringing, a town he would eventually leave during the Mariel Boatlift in the 1980s at the age of 24. Cuba has been under the communist party for several decades, which has made the living conditions of its people difficult. The agricultural resources and employment are limited or virtually nonexistent rendering the population stagnant and without the means to venture outside of their small villages. The individuals live with minimal resources; the conditions, environments, and circumstances the people are subjected to can be seen in the body of work.
Kevin Arrow
- Keaton Fox at O.M.M. - Circa 2018
- German Caseres at O.M.M. - Circa 2018
- Light Table at O.M.M. - Circa 2018
- My Mother's Pills - Circa 2018
- Grass Downtowm, Miami - Circa 2018
3 To get In | Krono Lescano - BS, FIU 2015 | kronolescano.com
- Breakroom - January 2020
- Fit - January 2020
- Gold - November 2019
- Pick - January 2020
- Wheel Barrow - January 2020
Daydreaming In Toytown | Lidiya Kan | www.lidiyakan.com
Lidiya Kan is a photographer, filmmaker, and educator based in New York. She is the fourth generation of ethnic Koreans born and raised in the post-Soviet territories. Her projects are influenced by the multicultural and multinational upbringing and aim to revisit overlooked and forgotten histories. Records she creates are evidence of existence, her unique cultural contribution to a larger societal archive.
Lucia Plaza - FIU BA 2020. Graduate student at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.
www. producedbyplaza.com | lucia.plaza@feirstein.film
LIVE from Woodside | Luisa Madrid - FIU 2007 | www.LuisaMadrid.photoraphy
Luisa Madrid is a first-generation, Latin-American, award-winning photographer who specializes in portrait, documentary, and editorial photography. Originally from Miami, she now resides in New York City, capturing the many faces, cultures, and social challenges that exist in our modern time. Luisa is currently attending Brooklyn College's Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, embarking on a Master of Fine Arts degree in Cinematography. In her spare time, she enjoys going on road trips, binge-watching TV shows, and unsuccessfully mastering the ukulele.
NE 2nd AVE | Mateo Serna Zapata - BFA, UF 2018. Freelance Photographer at MSZ FOTO LLC | mateo@mszfoto.com | mateosernazapata.com
Merrie Robin Monroe
Patricia Reiff - FIU, BFA 1985. Yale University, MFA 1993. Adjunct Lecturer of Photography, FIU, 1993 – 2001 and Broward College, 2001 – 2003. Assistant to John Szarkowski, Spring semester, FIU, 1994. Selected awards include a Merit award in 1984, awarded by Garry Winogrand; and, in 1995, winner of a $15,000 Visual and Media Artists Fellowship awarded by the South Florida Cultural Consortium. | pareiff@gmail.com
These 5 photographs (all untitled, c. 2010 – 2015), are part of an ongoing project photographing the countryside and small town cityscapes of central Indiana
Ms. Reiff currently resides in Kokomo, Indiana where she spends her time looking at photographs, working on her photography, watching (mostly) classic films and, keeping her little dog company.
From series Blueprint for a Good Life. Silver gelatin prints, 1986-2001.
This is an ode to the couches in my life, never just for sitting on, crackling with emotional energy and seductive body language, filled with none of my business.
Peter Bellamy
- Hard Scrabble Pass, Northern Boundary of Jasper National Park 2002
- The Great Wall, Kootenay National Park, 2003
- The Bright Angel Trail, The Colorado River, The Grand Canyon, 1997
- Wolverine Pass, Kootenay National Park, 2003
- The Kluane Range, The Yukon, 1999
Renee Cooley - BFA FIU 1978; MFA Yale 1984; Principal Designer at Cooley Monato Studio (semi-retired) | http://cooleymonato.com
In 2015, a solo show of Renee’s photographs and lighting design work was exhibited at FIU's Miami Beach Urban Studios’ Gallery.
- Old Man at YS Falls. Jamaica 2014
- Masked Paraders. Xico, Mexico 2007
- Bruno the Driver. Innsbruck, Austria 2007
- Susan in her Studio. Brooklyn, NY 2012
- Music Lounge Façade. Bucksnort, Tenn 2018
Relatos en Silencio | Rainy Silvestre
El 2020 será recordado como el año de la pandemia. Esa que arrasó con mucho, destruyó hogares, separó familias, apagó amores. Desde principios del mes de marzo, la ciudad donde vivo entró en cuarentena. De pronto me vi lleno de planes truncados, alejado de mis hijos, distante. Caí en cuenta que la vida es muy frágil, se puede romper tan fácil como se rompe un vaso que se nos cae de las manos, que se va sin avisar, de pronto no estamos. La idea de no estar, de no abrazar golpeó mi rostro y casi me paraliza. La nostalgia del amor me recorrió el cuerpo como ese frío de las horas tempranas en que sales desabrigado. Se nos ha olvidado también convivir, disfrutarnos los unos a los otros, lo hemos cambiado todo por redes sociales, entregando nuestra libertad a cambio de los "me gusta" proporcionados por algoritmos computarizados. Vendida nuestra alma al diablo de la tecnología. ¿Qué dejamos atrás? ¿Qué será de ellos? ¿Di acaso todo lo que tenía que dar? Todo eso me pregunto, mientras camino sin rumbo planificado a las 6:30 de la mañana. Pasaron 30 días sin que pudiera abrazar. Viví la ansiedad de entrar en contacto con un enfermo del virus, forzado a hacerme la prueba. Esperar 10 largos días por los resultados. También perdí un amor. Estas fotografías empezaron como un ejercicio a la deriva durante recorridos matutinos, como un antídoto contra la ansiedad y la separación forzosa de mis seres queridos.
Relatos del Silencio nace de la necesidad de encontrar paz. En estas caminatas decidí tomar una pequeña cámara automática conmigo y empezar a fotografiar todo lo que me rodeaba en la zona donde vivo. Este andar en las primeras horas de la mañana me brindó la posibilidad de encontrarme prácticamente a solas con la naturaleza que me rodea. Esa que tanto escasea hoy en día. En esta época en que la inmediatez, la prisa, el desasosiego es factor predominante, descubrí momentos de paz y calma total. Poco a poco nacieron estas fotografías que a pesar de hacer referencia en cierta medida las pinturas "prerrafaelistas" que reflejaban la periferia de las ciudades mostrando su belleza de forma poética, son vigentes, y ponen al descubierto el descuido de la sociedad para preservar nuestro mundo. Es presente en la serie una huella del “pictorialismo” fotográfico que predominó hasta principios del siglo 20 que también refleja ese ideal de belleza, tonalidad y composición sin poner en riesgo mi mirada personal, más contemporánea. Todas las imágenes son realizadas en formato tradicional analógico, aprovechando las características particulares que confiere la película a color.
David Jacobo
Maureen Drennan - Photographer and educator | https://www.maureendrennan.com | maureenrdrennan@gmail.com
Artist Statement: Over the past year I have been photographing in and around Ellenville, NY. At first, I was struck by the imposing prison close by, Eastern Correctional Facility, because of its stark contrast to the surrounding beauty of the landscape. After spending some time there, however, it became clear that the prison had little effect on the residents. Instead, I found the people I spoke to have a deep sense of hope and affection for their small town. Over the course of the pandemic, I’ve met a prison guard who runs a boxing gym, aspiring young boxers, a beekeeper, a former Department of Transportation worker, a town clerk, and local teenagers. While the pandemic has made it much harder for me to make the connections that I seek, the nature of this moment has revealed the profound strength and resilience of this community.
Hai Zhang - March ’02. Artist | hzhang@oceanmate.com | www.oceanmate.com
- Untitled, Mr. Waylen, Sept 2020 from Somewhere in America
- Untitled, Mr. Hedden, Sept 2020 from Somewhere in America
- Untitled, Mr. Allen, Nov 2020, from Somewhere in America
- Untitled, Mr. Darren, Jan 2021, from Somewhere in America
- Untitled, Ms. Emma, Feb 2021, from Somewhere in America
At the beginning of the pandemic, my family and I left our one-bedroom apartment in New York City – the then epic center – to a little cabin that I had been using as my artist studio in the Catskill Mountains. We assumed the stay was just for a couple of months, nevertheless, we have remained in the mountains for longer than a year and a half. More than a full cycle of four seasons has passed, my son enrolled and graduated from the Pre-K program of the local public school serving the rural school district. I settled my mind and made myself and my camera available to nature and people that I feel fortunate to encounter. The men and women, the boys and girls, the tender yet hush nature are the subjects and motives of these photographs. It examined the individually unique yet universally resonating characteristics of rural America.
Savannah Intriago - FIU Alumna. Instagram: @analogdump
Looking Back | Teresa Rodriguez Smith - BFA, FIU 1985. Recently retired as the Photography Instructor at American Heritage School, Plantation, FL. | trsmith.photo1@gmail.com
- Cayo Costa, Fl 1995
- Freeway 1992St.
- Augustine, Fl 1990
- Miami Beach, Fl 1992
- Villa Luisa, Miami Beach, Fl
After graduating from Florida International University, (FIU), Teresa Rodriguez Smith began a 20-year career in the field of education. She established the photography programs at Norland Middle School Center For the Arts and American Heritage School Broward and later became the Visual Arts Magnet Program Director. Teresa is very grateful that her career in education allowed her to mentor students and other teachers in the field that she loves, photography. She has had her work displayed in solo and group exhibitions in South Florida. Teresa recently retired and is enjoying spending time with family and friends and looking forward to immersing herself in Photography once again. She has also become very active in her community.
Rolando Dalpezzo
Statement: The lure of a fleeting sense of poetry embedded in the details of the environment surrounding us attracted me to the world of photography. The humbling visual discoveries that came obsessively using the camera made me hungry for studying and learning more.
Bio: Rolando Dal Pezzo, born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1955, grows up in Imola, Italy. At 14, he is apprenticing jewelry making in Valenza Po, Italy. The day before mving back to his hometown he wins the 1973 Valenza Po Chess Championship. With his father, Ennio and his brother Roberto opens a jewelry studio in Imola, Italy.
Starts photographing in 1976.
In 1984 the Dal Pezzo’s emigrate to Miami, Florida. Rolando works in the family studio at first, and then at an upscale jewelry store in Lighthouse Point.
In 1985 marries Lorella Nerini and takes the GED in Miami.
In 1987 graduates with Highest Honors at Miami Dade Community College in Miami and in 1989 earns a BFA in Visual Arts at Florida International University in Miami.
In 1992 earns an MFA in Photography at California College of Arts and Crafts and in 1996 an MA in Sociology at Florida International University.
From 1992 he is an adjunct professor in Photography and in Jewelry at Florida International University in Miami.
In 1999 he becomes the proud father of Marco Giorgio Dal Pezzo.
He receives several awards and honors from US Institutions. Among them the Leica Award of Excellence, the Murphy Grant in Photography, and several Nikon International Photo Awards. From his first solo show in Prato, Italy in 1984 he exhibits in solo and collective photography shows in the United States and Italy.
George F. Pearson. FIU BFA 2016 | FIU MA in Asian Studies 2018 | Adjunct Lecturer of Journalism at FIU | darkroomworks.us Photographed in Naniwa, Osaka, Japan, January 9 th , 2017.
Toka Ebisu Festival written by Andrea Lewis-Pearson
- Osaka ancient city of merchants
pays homage
to the god of commerce.
A stone fisherman smiles down
as Shinto priests
perform rituals at the temple.
People wave bamboo branches
for prosperity
branches that
open to streets
flooded with vendors.
Steam from
yaki soba
yaki niku
grilled pork
wafts through the air.
Umbrellas in stands
people in restaurants
in half shadow
drinking sake
beer
eating hotdogs
gaming for goldfish.
Crowds dwindle
at the end of the evening
into the cold
winter rain
pulse of the train ride home
past monolithic office buildings
where one lit window
glows like a solitary planet
from the desk of a salary man
working deep into the night.
H. Allen Benowitz - cultural photographer | https://H-AllenArt.com | Instagram:benowitzh.allen | Facebook: https://facebook.com/hallen.benowitz.5
- First Flight; Jardin Square, San Miguel de Allende, MX 2017
- Attentive Observance; San Miguel de Allende, MX 2017
- Swimming Hole, Carolina Hemlocks; Burnsville, NC 2012
- Barber Shop; San Miguel de Allende, MX 2017
- Bedouin-Berber Tribeswoman; Tan-Tan, Morocco 2006
Bio: H. Allen Benowitz, a self-taught award-winning cultural photographer, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, is a graduate from the Interboro Institute of Business in Manhattan. He migrated to Miami, in the 1960s, where he currently resides. As an evolution of his professional court reporting & legal videography career, the camera became a natural segue to photography. He has been featured in the ARTnews, The International Contemporary Artists art book, SE Florida Style & Design, "The MoMA issue of World of Art Magazine, Marquis Who's Who, Art & Beyond magazines, and has been on display at the Musee du Louvre in Paris, Fr. His photo subjects include Nature, wildlife, people, architecture, and adventure travel.
His fine art photography has been exhibited in Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Georgia, Paris & New York.
Exhibit End - Closing Comments
Glenn Gallery - Into the Future
Covid-19 changed the world. Art galleries and museums were no exception. Virtualized shows and events grew exponentially. What might have taken a decade to evolve was distilled into a rush to provide access to those sheltering at home.
In keeping with this rapid change, the Glenn Gallery created its first perpetual digital exhibit for Art Herstory earlier this year, revealing a physical show that sat idle on its walls for a year. The Pandemic Picture Show also is a permanent exhibit. Moreover, it is fully virtual – not currently in the physical gallery space. It is uncertain if ephemeral exhibits will regularly include enduring digital representations, but the possibility is there. Digital libraries and archives are well situated to assist in this evolution, and to preserve images long-term.
Even prior to the pandemic, the Glenn Hubert Library at FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus saw technological change driving a new vision. The i360 XR, a 360-degree extended reality theater, was built and is now open for use. The Glenn Gallery, known for hosting significant local and regional exhibits, can now build i360 partnerships with technologically capable sound and visual artists. We will soon welcome the first Artist-in-Residence. We also are working with FIU Alumnus and CUNY faculty member Hugo Fernandez to build our first 360-degree interpretive exhibit, that will be part of his donated exhibit of panoramic photography from the Hemingway House – La Finca Vigía – situated on the outskirts of La Habana, Cuba.
The pandemic also expanded use of virtual meeting technology, increasingly bringing people together in a new and systematic way. Per Bill Maguire’s comments, this was a highly collaborative venture – and equally an iterative one. Attendees to the Saturday criticism classes brought passion and vision as to what constitutes good photography, and through future participation this exhibit will continue to grow.
Finally, the FIU Libraries want to thank Glenn Hubert, and his original vision for an art gallery in the Biscayne Bay Campus library. His ideas and contributions have helped bring us to this exciting moment in time.
L. Bryan Cooper
Special Thanks
Glenn Hubert
Glenn A. Hubert, for his vision and support for the birth and growth of the the Glenn Gallery.
