fine art photography

TREASURED: Honoring Precious and Vanishing Worlds

July 21, 2012 by trixrosen

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TREASURED: HONORING PRECIOUS AND VANISHING WORLDS is an exhibition at the Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center in Solomons, MD, that features three prints from my fine art portfolios: Bet Hayyim (House of the Living) and Endangered Historic Houses.
The art exhibit opens on June 15 and continues to August 26, 2012.

Title: Hands of the Kohan. Medzhybizh, Ukraine, 2008, Edition: 3/10
12 x 18 inches, Fine Art Paper with Archival Pigmented Inks

old jews cemeteries photography by trix rosen

Title: Kohans, Levites and the Star of David. Chernivtsi, Ukraine, 2008, Edition:3/10
12 x 18 inches, Fine Art Paper with Archival Pigmented Inks

In 2008, I crisscrossed the heartland of the Ukraine to photograph historic Jewish cemeteries and hand-carved tombstones in cities, towns and shtetls. Every site had a story to tell and each stone was an artistic treasure filled with iconographic beauty and mystery. The headstones of the Kohanim, descendants of the Biblical priests, had hands joined in a gesture of blessing. The pitcher pouring water represented the tribe of Levites, the assistants to the priests. Some epitaphs were intricately carved, the stones decorated in an elaborate Jewish script covering the entire surface; others held only the most minimal outline of the Star of David. Other friezes depicted symbols of lineage and gender. These gravestones, some dating from the 1400s, depict a visual history of the once vast community of Eastern European Jews and serve as reminders of the people who lived in this place and died.

Title: Shattered Spaces. 2012
Edition: 3/10
12 x 18 inches, Fine Art Paper with Archival Pigmented Inks

Less than two years ago the Shoemaker-Houck Farm was in excellent condition, one of the premier structures located within the New Jersey Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area that is owned by the National Park Service. The front portion of the house was built in 1822, while the rear portion was built in the eighteenth century. This National Register Site has no protection and has now become vandalized. The back door is wide open, and the window glass is missing, sadly revealing the ruins of neglect. These scarred elements are key to understanding the rural development of northwestern New Jersey and the significant role that area played in American history.

I am drawn to the timeless nature of historic architecture because it is a repository of collective memories – a record of our heritage, the builders and the people who once inhabited these spaces. There is an urgency about what I photograph because each derelict site is a reminder of our inadequacy as cultural stewards. I look to the architectural details, to the deeply etched memories in the stones, the walls and the structures as a window to remembering our past.

Brown Memorial Baptist Church

May 17, 2012 by trixrosen

I was invited to attend the New York Landmarks Conservancy “Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards” on April 25^th, 2012 by my colleagues at Li-Saltzman Architects, PC who were receiving a “Lucy” for their restoration work of the Gothic Revival sanctuary, the Brown Memorial Baptist Church. The Awards, nicknamed the “Preservation Oscars,” are the Conservancy’s highest honors for outstanding preservation of historic structures. I was proud to have taken the photographs that documented their project and to know that those images helped Li-Saltzman receive the recognition they deserved.

brown memorial baptist church interior photography by trix rosen — Brown Memorial Baptist church interior photography by Trix Rosen

It was Roz Li and Judith Saltzman who had encouraged me twenty years ago to shoot historic preservation assignments. Roz had praised my commitment to the documentary series I had produced about the Philippines and hoped I would bring a similar passion to historic work. One of my first architectural assignments for her company was documenting the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York City. I photographed the “before and after” restoration, floor by floor, over several years, until the project was completed.

The Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards ceremony served as a joyful reminder of why the company of historic preservationists is such an honor, and why I view the profession as the “human rights” work of the architectural world. “The time and care that went into completing these projects demonstrate New Yorkers’ commitment to preserving the entire range of the City’s historic architecture,” said Peg Breen, president of the Conservancy, to the audience. When John Belle, FAIA, a founding partner of Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, LLP, received the Preservation Leadership Award for his four decades of acclaimed work (including the South Street Seaport, Grand Central Terminal and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum), he humbly described how working in preservation is a “team effort.” Roz Li told me that historic preservation work is “a labor of love” because projects like the Brown Memorial Baptist Church can take a decade to complete due to the complexity of financing. When Rev. Clinton M. Miller and Mrs. Aquilla Middleton from the Church received their “Lucy” award, the Reverend spoke about the importance of the restoration of the Church to the community it served.

brown memorial baptist church interior design and lighting photography by trix rosen — brown memorial baptist church interior design and lighting photography by Trix Rosen

Indeed, while photographing this assignment, I was inspired by the work of my colleagues and by the spirit of the congregation. I sought to creatively balance the light from the sconces, chandeliers, and LED bulbs so that their combined glow could reveal the divine beauty of this historic sanctuary as well as find the perfect composition to record the architectural details.

Congratulations to Roz Li and Zach Rice of Li-Saltzman Architects and all the other “Lucy” Award Preservation winners, including my friend, Lew Gleason of Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, for his restoration work on the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage.

Endangered Historic Houses – Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, New Jersey

March 23, 2012 by trixrosen

My friend, Robert Williams, the Verona, NJ town historian, took me on a tour of these National Park Service houses, located within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Built between the 18^th and 19^th centuries, many of these sites are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and were in live-in condition a couple of years ago when the Park took ownership. We saw doors wide open or missing, window glass smashed, and some of these historically important houses sadly vandalized and trashed.

“The Shoemaker-Houck Farm was one of the premier structures in the Park,” Bob told me. “The front portion of the house was built in 1822 while the rear portion was built in the eighteenth century. Look what has happened to this house in only one year!” We saw that the back door was wide open. “This is a National Register Building that was in excellent condition. How could this have happened?” Bob asked sadly.

Bob explains the history of each house we visit and recounts how the Smith-Lennington House had been in the same family since it was built. “The Smiths built the initial house in 1820 and then remodeled and added to it in 1902. When the Park Service took title of this a few years ago, it was completely intact and in live-in condition. Shortly after their stewardship began, someone took the columns off the porch, and it was down-hill from there.” [Read more…] about Endangered Historic Houses – Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, New Jersey

‘MOMENTUM: Contemporary Women’s Art’

March 1, 2012 by trixrosen

I just received my beautifully illustrated catalogue accompanying the exhibition, ‘MOMENTUM: Contemporary Women’s Art,’ on view at the Los Angeles Art Association, February 17- March 2 2012. Three of my photographs are in MOMENTUM, curated by Rita Gonzalez, Associate Curator at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.

“Multiple generations of women’s art are represented and within the selection are myriad formations of feminist thought and aesthetics,” writes Rita Gonzalez in her introduction to the catalogue. “Many of the artists engage with legacies of activism that go back to civil rights movements of the 20^th century while clearly engaging with the present day.”

“Momentum is defined as the impetus or driving force gained by a course of events,” explains Janice Nesser Chu, WCA President, in the catalogue. “The exhibition not only investigates the diverse voices of women artists and looks at the depth and breadth of work being created but also is a testament to the drive that got them to this point, to the things that propelled them and their work forward… their experiences, their history.” I included artwork that was created between 1985 – 2010 and the descriptions are quoted on pages 113,114,115 and accompanied by the following images:

fausts homepage hero trixrosen photoraphy — Gender Ambiguity, transgender, non-binary gender; hybrid gender; gender non-conformist; Fred Koenig, travesti,

“Enter into Faust’s Study, a trompe l’oeil painted room, and be confronted by a fearless man who is empowered and transformed by the duality of his sexuality. His starkly lit, painted face and figure emerging from the shadows are a provocative contrast to the painted Adam and Eve on the rear wall. Faust’s Study directs the viewer’s attention to the relationship between the interior details and the narrative, as the gender performance artist, Frédéric Koenig, unselfconsciously dares the viewer to cross over boundaries of imagination and desire.”

Faust’s Study, 1997, Edition of 9, Archival Pigment Print. 13.3 inches x 16 inches.
Framed 24.5 x 26.5 inches – $1300.00

“This image is part of an ongoing series of portraits that document my fifteen-year collaboration with Frédéric Koenig, who can so naturally appear both handsome and beautiful, both masculine and feminine. Wearing nothing more than spike heels, he provocatively poses in an abandoned brewery, a gritty, industrial environment that reinforces a traditional male landscape. While his upper body exudes a masculine power, his raw and curvaceous physicality and his archetypal pin-up girl shoes challenge the viewer to explore how we perceive masculinity, sexuality and gender identity.”

Beyond XY: Inside the Abandoned Falstaff Brewery. No.2, 2010, Edition of 15, Archival Pigment Print. 11.5 inches x 17.5 inches, Framed 19 inches x 25 inches – $1300.00

“I’ve explored feminist, LGBTQ and social justice issues over four decades by producing images that depict gender ambiguity and transformation. In the seventies, my studio in downtown New York City was a haven for my female friends to pose dressed up and naked, in leather outfits and swathed in boas, with hand-painted mustaches and masks, amidst barbed wire and tulle. I’ve photographed women’s erotic pleasure, role-playing and butch/femme identity. Objects of Special Devotion depicts a muscular, androgynous bodybuilder who defies conventional female beauty and challenges the sexual, cultural, and erotic representation of women.”

Objects of Special Devotion,1985, Edition of 9, Archival Pigment Print. 13.3 inches x 16 inches. Framed 24.5 x 26.5 inches -$1300.00

The Built Environment

December 26, 2011 by trixrosen

Opening Dec 27th 2011 – January 21 2011
Reception – Jan 8th 2012
Dark Room Gallery
12 Main Street, Essex Junction, VT 05452
Included in the ‘The Built Environment’ Exhibition is my print from the
Essex County Penitentiary series:

Title: Essex County Penitentiary, New Wing Corridor. North Caldwell, New Jersey.
Medium: Fine Art Digital Inkjet Paper with Archival Pigmented Inks
Size: 10 inches x 15 inches
Framed: $700.00 – 16 inches x 20 inches

As both a historic preservation and fine-art photographer, I am drawn to the timeless nature of a historic site; it is a repository of collective memories like those etched and concealed within the interior walls of this rusting prison ruin.

It was a cold December day in 2007 when I first walked through the Essex County Penitentiary. My assignment was to photograph the 32-acre jail complex as part of a required HABS (Historic American Buildings Survey) documentation before the institutional structures and outbuildings, built between 1872 and 1929, could be demolished to make way for luxury condominiums. Photographing the “New Wing Corridor” was not part of the job, but the gritty prison hallway pulled me into an evocative still life of decaying iron bars and unhinged doors that allowed the silent voices of those once incarcerated to escape.

‘Becoming Who We Are’ Artist Talk

December 1, 2011 by trixrosen

‘BECOMING WHO WE ARE’
TRIX ROSEN, Project Director and INSIGHT OUT! PRIDE Workshop Participants
ARTIST TALK, Friday December 2, 2011
6 pm – 9 PM, Gallery 32

With a Special Performance by LADY JOI-ELLE
Hudson Pride Connections Center
32 Jones St., Jersey City, NJ 07306

gay couple insightout pride photography by trix rosen

Please join me and the participants in the INSIGHT OUT! PRIDE Digital Storytelling Workshop for an Artist Talk and Panel Discussion about our photographs currently on view in “BECOMING WHO WE ARE,” a photo/video group exhibition curated by Ricardo Francis at Gallery 32 in Jersey City, NJ.

The show features the work of Jasmin Brown, V. Michael Lazar, Natasha Phoenix Russell, Joi-Elle White, and Esteets Wright, students of the INSIGHT OUT! PRIDE Workshop along with guest international artists, Nadine Hutton (South Africa) and Fréd Koenig (France).

I will also present a short, historic retrospective of images that represent my GLBTQ social advocacy photography work from the ’70s and images depicting gender ambiguity and transformation. This visual memoir includes studio portraits of my female friends exploring erotic pleasure, role-playing and butch/femme identity.

Included will be pictures from recent photography exhibitions documenting my artistic collaboration with gender performance artist and videographer, Frederic Koenig.

The INSIGHT OUT! PRIDE Digital Storytelling Workshop recently completed an eight-week pilot program at the Hudson Pride Connections Center. The workshop is tailored to LGBTQ participants, gives a visual voice to participants affected by growing up in environments of uncertainty, discrimination, fear, and violence, and guides them to explore their creative vision. Each artist poignantly depicts images that mirror their personal views about masculinity, femininity, and their LGBTQ identity. As they learn to document their own lives through photography, they grow in confidence and leadership skills, empower themselves, and heal.

The workshops at the Hudson Pride Connections Center were developed and adapted from my experiences as a senior trainer, editor, and advisor to the international InSIGHT Out! Photography and Creative Exchange Project, based in Bangkok, Thailand.

Man As Object: Reversing The Gaze

November 19, 2011 by trixrosen

I just received the beautifully produced catalogue accompanying the exhibition, MAN AS OBJECT: REVERSING THE GAZE at the SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA (opening November 2011). Included in this historic catalogue of 194 artists presented by the National Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA) is an image of Frédéric Koenig, which I photographed on the morning of the opening of my show, Beyond XY: Four Photographers Explore the Masculine Continuum, at the PHD Gallery in St Louis, MO.

“This exhibit marks an important development in feminist art” writes Brenda Oelbaum in the introduction because “… it comments on the prevelance of the male gaze in art and of the continued domination of male artists exhibiting in galleries and museums. My goal is to turn the tables and exhibit works that put the male in the position of subject and spectacle.”

Janice Nesser-Chu, the President of the National Women’s Caucus for Art, also wrote in the catalogue, “… women artists reverse the gaze and look back at man as object or desire and in doing so they assert their own power and control, not only over their subject but also over their own image and identity. The exhibition is not only about the work on the walls but is about empowerment.”

The description of my work is quoted on page 157:
“These images are part of an ongoing series of portraits that document my collaboration with Frédéric Koenig, who can so naturally appear both handsome and beautiful, both masculine and feminine. Wearing nothing more than spike heels, he provocatively poses in a gritty, industrial environment that reinforces a traditional male landscape. While his upper body exudes a masculine power, his raw and curvaceous physicality and his archetypal pin-up girl shoes challenge the viewer to explore how we perceive masculinity, sexuality and gender identity.”

Beyond XY: Inside the Abandoned Falstaff Brewery #2, 2010
20 x 30 inches, Archival Pigment Print. Edition of 5.

“Becoming Who We Are” Exhibition

November 8, 2011 by trixrosen

becoming who we are artistcard-trix rosen photography

“BECOMING WHO WE ARE”
November 17 – December 19 2011
Opening Thursday November 17, 2011
6 PM – 9 PM, Gallery 32
Hudson Pride Connections Center
32 Jones St., Jersey City, NJ 07306
Gallery hours by appointment only

Trix Rosen, Project Director and Insight Out! Pride Workshop Participants
ARTIST TALK, Friday December 2, 2011
6 pm – 9 PM, Gallery 32
Hudson Pride Connections Center
32 Jones St., Jersey City, NJ 07306

You are cordially invited to “BECOMING WHO WE ARE,” a photo/video group exhibition featuring the work of Jasmin Brown, V. Michael Lazar, Nastasha Phoenix Russell, Joi-Elle White and Esteets Wright, participants in the InSIGHT OUT! Pride Digital Storytelling Workshop based at the Hudson Pride Connections Center. Their work is exhibited along with my own photos and those of my colleagues, international guest photography instructors Nadine Hutton (South Africa), and Frédéric Koenig (France).

The InSIGHT OUT! Digital Storytelling Workshops give a visual voice to participants growing up in environments of uncertainty, discrimination, fear and violence, and guide them to explore their creative vision. As they learn to document their own lives through photography, they grow in confidence and leadership skills, empower themselves and heal. This pilot workshop was tailored to LGBTQ participants and also designed to be a visual advocacy project.

The workshops at the Next Generation Center, Bronx, NY and NJ were developed and adapted from my experiences as senior trainer, editor, and advisor to the international InSIGHT Out! Photography and Creative Exchange Project, based in Bangkok, Thailand.