Curator and galleryowner Debra Brehmer began the project in January with the help of Manitowoc’s nationallyknown photographic team, John Shimon and Julie Lindemann. Portrait Society putout a call that anyone who desired to have their portrait included in theproject could drive to the photographers’ historic home studio and have theirpicture taken in vintage 1900s style. No one wears a smile in these prints,though the photographers encouraged individuals to wear clothing or holdobjects that would reveal their unique personalities.
The palladiumpostcard portraits will be displayed in the Portrait Society’s Gallery A. Allof the photographs will be housed in cherry wood cases funded by Lawrence University, where Shimon and Lindemannteach. To complement the new photographs, the exhibit pairs actualearly-20th-century photographs with 2010 counterparts.
This exhibit willmake viewers “think about what it means to be who you are, in front of thecamera, in that intimate moment of time,” Brehmer says. “The photographscollaborate with art, community and two centuries.”
To magnify theprocess, Shimon and Lindemann will also print color portraits on life-sizecanvases for an adjacent smaller gallery.
In an effort toincorporate an international element to the exhibition, Gallery B will featurethe work of award-winning Londonphotographer Vanessa Winship in “Dancers and Fighters.”
Winship’sblack-and-white portraits use modern photography to depict Turkish children,boxers, dancers and wrestlers in a style similar to that of Shimon andLindemann’s exhibit. Brehmer says that every photograph relates to “the littlethings that happen between the space and the photographer’s camera, giving usan idea of who we are today.”
The completecollection of postcard portraits will be mounted for the first time at Friday’s6-10 p.m. opening reception (catalogs will also be made available to thepublic).
Brehmer says sheplans these adventurous exhibitions to showcase the portrait genre. “Theexhibition is the perfect example of what the gallery can do, a more activeprocess, personal, thoughtful and thought-provoking,” she notes.
(For a sneak peek of “J. Shimon and J. Lindemann: TheReal Photo Postcard Survey Project,” visitrealphotopostcardsurveyproject.blogspot.com.)
