Exhibition: ‘a turbulent lens: the photographic art of virna haffer’ at tacoma art museum

It is such a joy constructing this blog. I get to educate myself on these wonderful, half-forgotten photographers and then bring their photographs to you. What a life Haffer must have had: she found success as a photographer, printmaker, painter, musician, sculptor, and published writer. Independent-minded and self-sufficient, as most artists are, this is an artist I would have liked to have met!

Many thankx to the Tacoma Art Museum for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

Virna Haffer
Eleventh Street Bridge
circa 1930s
Woodblock print
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Carolyn Schneider

Virna Haffer
Abstract #2
circa 1960s
Photogram
Collection of the Washington State Historical Society, gift of the estate of Virna Haffer

Virna Haffer
Aftermath
circa 1962
Photogram
Collection of the Washington State Historical Society, gift of the estate of Virna Haffer

“One of the most inventive Northwest artists of her time, Virna Haffer was an internationally recognized and respected Tacoma photographer who has slipped from both regional and national art history books. This summer, Tacoma Art Museum uncovers her innovative artwork.

In a career spanning more than six decades, Haffer found success as a photographer, printmaker, painter, musician, sculptor, and published writer, though she is known first and foremost as a photographer. Self-taught, she began her ambitious career in the early 1920s, both running a successful portrait studio (where she photographed the likes of the Weyerhaeuser and Chihuly families) and also exhibiting her unique artistic images around the world.

The curatorial team of Margaret Bullock, Christina Henderson, and David Martin searched through more than 30,000 of Virna Haffer’s photographic negatives, prints, and woodblocks at the Washington State Historical Society and Tacoma Public Library’s Special Collections to create this exhibition and its accompanying catalogue.

“It is an amazing opportunity to be able to bring the life and work of Virna Haffer to light once again,” said Margaret Bullock, Tacoma Art Museum’s Curator of Collections and Special Exhibitions, and a co-curator of the Haffer exhibition. “Her artistic curiosity is palpable in her work, which in itself is staggering in its volume, diversity, and range. Her role in and impact on the Northwest photographic community is just beginning to be uncovered and understood as we explore her unrivaled photographic legacy.”

Raised in the utopian community of Home Colony in South Puget Sound in the early 1900s, Haffer’s love of photography was sparked when she was just ten years old. Raised to be independent-minded and self-sufficient, she left school at the age of 15 to become a professional photographer. In 1914 she apprenticed herself to Tacoma photographer Harriette H. Ihrig where she absorbed the necessary technical skills along with the business know-how to run a commercial studio. She started exhibiting her fine art photographs in 1924.

Haffer tirelessly experimented with techniques and evolved her own rules, pushing beyond the boundaries of her medium to methodically master a variety of photographic styles and techniques. Her body of work includes images that can be classified as pictoralist, surrealist, documentary, and modernist. She experimented with a wide range of imagery, such as multiple overlapping exposures, eccentric viewpoints, composite images, and a non-mechanical photographic process called the photogram.

“Virna Haffer has been an all too well kept Tacoma secret,” said Stephanie A. Stebich, Director of Tacoma Art Museum. “Her work has been quietly appreciated for decades awaiting reconsideration. Given her Tacoma roots, pivotal role in Tacoma’s art community throughout her career, and diverse and stunning body of work, Virna Haffer is a perfect subject for the museum’s Northwest Perspective Series, which celebrates the work of regional artists.”

Haffer’s passion for photography not only brought her success in business with her own portrait photography studio, but also international recognition. Her commercial portrait work can be found in homes all over Tacoma, while her fine art photographs can be found in the permanent collections of institutions as prestigious as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.”

Text from the Tacoma Museum of Art website

Virna Haffer
Mina Quevli
circa 1930
Gelatin silver print
Collection of the Washington State Historical Society, gift of the estate of Virna Haffer

Virna Haffer
Franz Brasz, The Artist
circa 1937
Gelatin silver print
Collection of the Washington State Historical Society, gift of the estate of Virna Haffer

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Virna Haffer
Old Tacoma Hotel Fire
circa 1935
Gelatin silver print
Collection of the Washington State Historical Society, gift of the estate of Virna Haffer

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Virna Haffer
Self Portrait
1929
Gelatin silver print with added pigmentation
Private collection

Tacoma Art Museum
1701 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98402

Opening hours:
Wednesday – Sunday 10 am – 5 pm

Tacoma Art Museum website

Via: http://artblart.wordpress.com 

 

 

“Brian Ulrich” at the Cleveland Museum of Art

This week’s Friday exhibition feature is “Brian Ulrich: Copia — Retail, Thrift, and Dark Stores, 2000-11″ on view now at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The show features 50 works through which Ulrich examines American retail spaces. It was curated by Tom Hinson, the CMA’s curator emeritus. The exhibition is accompanied by a 144-page, Aperture-published book titled, “Is This Great or What?” Brian Ulrich’s website is here.

Brian Ulrich, Pep Boys 3, 2009.

Brian Ulrich, Granger, IN, 2003.

Brian Ulrich, Kenosha, WI, 2003.

Brian Ulrich, Black River Falls, WI, 2006.

Brian Ulrich, Cleveland, OH, 2003.

Via: blogs.artinfo.com

Digital Imaging Seminar – Society of American Archivists/Princeton University

Dear Friends,

This is a reminder that on Monday October 31st, I am presenting a ½-day seminar, Introduction to Basic Imaging, in Princeton, NJ. It will be hosted by Princeton University and the Society of American Archivists in the Computer Sciences Building.

Following the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative (FADGI), this workshop will give you an overview of the main concepts of digital preservation, as well as a methodology for digital imaging. The focus will be on helping small institutions identify and implement inexpensive digital projects.

Upon completing this half-day workshop, you’ll be able to:

• Understand the basics of emerging practices in digitization projects;
• Define a low-cost digitization project;
• Identify objects that are appropriate for a low-cost system;
• Understand the basics of color management, including the creation of profiles;
• Convey basic information on implementing and operating the system to create archival digital scans.

You can see a full course listing and sign up at the SAA website.

Please feel free to forward this anyone whom you think might benefit from this seminar. I hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Ken Allen

Ken Allen Studios

Ken Allen Studios Fine Art Printing Sale

60 Minutes of Printing for $60

I have a lot of overstock fine art paper from 60″ rolls down to 8.5×11″ cut sheets that I want you to use up. There are a variety of papers many of which I ordered just for testing… and a few surprises.

On Thursday August 19th we will have ten (10) one hour appointments to print as much as you can.

Introduction to Digitization

On August 9th, 2010, Ken Allen offers a seminar to the Society of American Archivists’ annual conference about how to do basic imaging and small digitization projects. The tutorial highlights key points of his presentation and gives insight into the process of digitization.

I Remember – #1613 on MPTV Video

Great interview with David Burnett, a photojournalist of quality. – I Remember – #1613 on MPTV Video

Jim Peck interviews David Burnett. His book, “Soul Rebel: An Intimate Portrait of Bob Marley” features over 150 intimate images of the reggae singer. He captured the Iranian Revolution on film in his book, “44 Days: Iran and the Remaking of the World”. Burnett’s work has been featured extensively in American and European magazines, include “Time” and “Life”.

The $5,000 Do-It-Yourself Digitization Project

On April 18, we held our first free seminar in the new studios. It was an interesting mix of staff from historical and fine art museums, both large and small, and freelancers including a curator, conservator, 2 archivists, a graphic artist, and 3 visual artists, working in various media. An overview of the potential and limitations of a digitization project like this was given, along with a list of equipment needed – coming in at just a hair under $5,000. Metadata, object types, different methods of scanning, and setting up goals and processes were reviewed. After lunch in the sun on the roof garden, a demonstration of the digitization process using a daguerreotype and a tintype was set up. The importance of Master Files was discussed and there was a demonstration of image adjustment in Photoshop.

The digitization of collections is of growing importance to arts and historical institutions. It is used to organize collections; for information storage of all kinds on each object, from physical information to provenance to exhibition history; as the first step in organizing an online database for scholars and museum visitors; and for publication of the collection.

This is the first in a series of free seminars geared towards the digital needs of the staff of museums and large collections. If you are interested in seeing a repeat of this seminar or have an interest in learning about other topics in digitization, please let me know.

In the meantime, we are preparing for our next free seminar on the last 3 years of digital printing. It will be geared towards fine art and commercial photographers.

–ken

Seminars

KenAllenStudios is pleased to announce the first in a series of free seminars in their new studios:

THE $5,000 Do It Yourself DIGITIZATION PROJECT

Digitizing a museum’s collection is usually presented as a large and expensive project, entailing the purchasing of expensive equipment and the hiring of appropriate technically-oriented staff. However, much can be accomplished on a smaller scale with a limited budget.

Small digitization projects develop institutional knowledge and provide use cases to promote as well as procure funding for additional projects or expansion of a digital library.

This workshop will demonstrate the capabilities and benefits of the small, low-impact digitization project. Learn about the advantages, limitations, ideal applications, and benefits of the $5,000 digitization project; understand the process of digitization and how to manage your project.

For: Curators, Collections Managers, Rights and Reproduction Staff

What: Photographic collections that contain:

• Daguerreotypes • Collodion Images (e.g., tintypes, ambrotypes) •

• Cartes de Visite • Cabinet Cards • Lantern Slides • Glass Negatives •

• Stereographs • Postcards • Small Prints (8×10 or smaller) •

The seminar will include demonstrations on typical equipment and information on do-it-yourself projects.

The solutions demonstrated in this seminar are NOT ideal for objects larger than 8×10 inches or for preservation quality scans of modern film or large prints, this last will be covered in a future seminar.

FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2008 – 9 AM – 3 PM

8:30 AM Coffee and Tea

Noon Light lunch

RSVP: 917 8530592 or

info@kenallenstudios.com

KenAllenStudios

50 South 1st Street

Brooklyn, NY 11211

Directions at www.kenallenstudios.com

Vic Muniz and Collier Schorr conference with Mellon Photographic Conservation group

Vic and Collier were kind enough to enrich our Mellon conference on conservation of digital prints, by discussing their experiences. The photographic conservation community can do more in sharing information. Certainly, we are all concerned about our limited knowledge and the need for additional research, but we have our preliminary information is useful.

I believe it’s important to describe the light fastness of the new pigment ink processes. There is still too much confusion, because of the fading problems of dye ink prints, like the Iris prints. We also have to confront the photo labs that are pushing the traditional chromogenic dye processes which still have fading problems.