“Wonder Wheel: Harold Feinstein” will be on view at this year’s Les Rencontres d’Arles photo festival.

Harold Feinstein cannot be reduced to a series. Born 1931 in Coney Island, a “land without shadows”, his favorite place to take pictures and the perfect illustration of how he viewed American society, the only thing he ever wanted to be was a photographer. At 17 he joined the Photo League, a group of politically committed artists, and became a member of Sid Grossman’s circle. As the child of working-class Jewish immigrants, he empathized with the “little people” of New York and those left behind by prosperity. Joining the left-leaning Photo League was risky in postwar America, but Feinstein saw no other possibility for his photography than to be as close as possible to the senses and the living. For 60 years, he regularly went back to his roots, seamlessly combining biography and community. But there was more to Feinstein than Coney Island. During the Korean War his photography was revealed in its many teachings and especially in its commitment to all minorities. The exhibition brings together the original prints loaned by the Harold Feinstein Photography Trust.

Retro Photo Archive, in collaboration with DUPLEX, presents “Naked Seduction: Elizabeth Sunflower 1970-1972.” This series of photographs, captured between 1970 and 1972 in the burgeoning North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, centers the role of sex workers in propelling the feminist movement from a counterculture ideal to a national conversation. The photographs are divided into unique story lines that weave together to tell a larger narrative: focusing on avante garde exotic dancers and models that were emerging from the underground and normalizing sex in a time when the socially marginalized were misunderstood and less tolerated.

The exhibition is curated by Ricki Blakesberg.

DUPLEX, 17 Essex Street, New York. Opening Reception: Saturday, April 22nd from 4-8pm. Thursday – Sunday 1-6pm and by appointment.

Elizabeth Sunflower (1943 – 2008) was a prolific photojournalist based in San Francisco, CA. She lived and worked out of the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco documenting alternative pop-culture of the 1960s and 70s. Sunflower primarily focused on photographing news and pop culture beginning in the late 1960s and continued actively into the 1990s.

APAG Member Paula Barr has work included in “Causality”, an upcoming exhibition at M. David & Co., curated by Jason Andrew.

Exhibition runs April 14 – May 14, 2023; Opening Reception: April 14, 2023, 6-9pm. M. David & Co., 56 Bogart St.,# 114, Brooklyn, NY 11206.

Causality: when disparate elements are combined or random materials are stacked, when unlikely shapes are forged or incongruent designs are assembled, whether situationally mounted or unconventionally installed, this mishmashing, this mixed-amalgamation incites a new visual equilibrium. Our contemporary world is made up of this dynamism—an unceasing revel of cause and effect.

Mary Virginia Swanson, with long-time co-author Darius D. Himes will inform and inspire participants by sharing their knowledge and experiences in bringing long-term projects to the book form. Our distinguished faculty members will be joined in our virtual classroom by thirteen Special Guests who are eminent members of the photobook community including editors, designers, book producers and publishers, curators and published / self-published artists and will provide crucial insight into each stage of the publishing journey.

Structured sessions focusing on being published, self-publishing, making and marketing photo books will provide broad awareness of the process of bringing your project to the book form.

Defining the appropriate audience for your book, seeking funding and sponsorship, and gaining clarity on the role in-house production teams and/or independent collaborators play in the making of a book will be discussed throughout this series. Participants will gain insights into book structures and production materials to aid in choosing the optimum combination of paper, printing, text and binding to most impactfully merge form and content.

The course concludes with sharing steps necessary to successfully launch your book, introducing it to those who share an interest in the subject of your work as well as placing it in the growing community of collectors and collections of photobooks today.

APAG Members get an exclusive 10% off. Go to the Members Only area and log in for details. Pre-order the new edition of “Publish Your Photography Book” here.

George Malave’s photos document the many faces of a marginalised community growing up amid urban decay. He got his start documenting New York’s Puerto Rican community during the 1960s and ‘70s, chronicling a people persevering against the odds. Read more in Huck.