Hi, Last weekend Tory Lynford (Photo Legacy Foundation Project Manager) and I went to Photoville! It is a small photo fair with photographs exhibited in shipping containers in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Pier 3. It is a walk from any train station, and was hot, hot, hot. However, you can take a taxi or have a car drop you off right at the entrance on Furman Place reachable from either Old Fulton Street or Atantic Avenue.

Conceptually, it was very unique, and an interesting location right on the East River. I thought the larger format worked better in the spaces, such as the photos on Transgender Teens by Josh Lehrer. APAG member, Julie Grahame will be on a panel on music photography this Saturday 6/30 at 1:30pm. There have been some important curatorial appointments recently, which mean some changes in the photo world. Mark Robbins is the new head of the International Center of Photography,(ICP). Robbins comes from the school of Architecture at Syracuse University. Quentin Bajac is the new chief curator at the Museum of Modern Art, (MOMA). Bajac comes from the Pompidou Center in Paris. Also, Jessica S. Mcdonald is the new chief curator at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas. Mcdonald comes from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

I have been posting APAG member news for now on our facebook page, until our website is revised, which should be completed in September. Plans for our symposium are shaping up, and it will most likely be on a Saturday in late October. We will keep you posted. Have a great summer! Best, Mary Engel

HI, It is already April, and the auctions were earlier this month, with some stronger then others. AIPAD, the annual photo show at the Park Avenue Armory  was last month. Opening night is always fun, as is the rest of the show, since I enjoy seeing many dealers, friends, and curators who are in NY for the big event. I enjoyed going to a seminar at Hunter College that Steven Kasher moderated with Joe Baio and a collector from Toronto. Both collectors were both very interesting and candid, and explained how they got started, and why they collect what they do.

Went to the Brooklyn Museum for two great events recently. One was at First Saturday, which is the first Saturday of every month, and it is free! They had over 20,000 people that evening, which was a record. There was the Keith Haring Exhibit, Jellybean Benitez iconic DJ who had thousands dancing in the main court, and then Christopher Makos (www.makostudio.com)who gave a lecture about his work. He was a lot of fun, and talked about The Factory and Andy Warhol, and Keith Haring, Bianca Jagger, Liza Minelli, and many more who appear in his photographs.

Also, went to the FIRST AWARDS at the museum, which was sponsored by The Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art, and it was an incredible event. 16 women were chosen, and almost all of them were there including Jessye Norman, Connie Chung, Toni Morrison, Dr. Johnnetta Cole, Susan Stroman, Faye Wattleton and others. I just read about the Nordic Light International Festival of Photography which is happening now in the Norwegian coastal town of Kristiansund, (www.nle.no). It sounds great and there are some important photographers in attendence, including Mary Ellen Mark and Martin Bell, Greg Gorman, Bruce Davidson, and our own Abe Frajndlich and I think Julie Grahame. I hope they give us a presentation at the next meeting so we can all learn about it! More soon… Best, Mary Engel

It is already September and the galleries and museums are full of many new photography exhibits! There were some openings last week, including ICP, that has the wonderful Peter Sekaer show, a moving 9/11 show, and a fun Harper’s Baazar exhibit. Other new shows include the New Yorker Photographs at the Howard Greenberg Gallery, George Tice at Danziger Projects and Lisette Model at Bruce Silverstein among others. I try to take a day off from the archive every so often, and go to Chelsea or 57th Street to catch up on all the shows, and hope to do it again soon!

I got back a few weeks ago from Toronto where we had the 60th Anniversary of my mother’s photograph, “American Girl in Italy”. It was taken on August 22, 1951, so we had a celebration on August 22, 2011 in Toronto at a wonderful Italian restaurant called GRANO. It was in Toronto because that is where Ninalee Craig who is the woman in the photo lives. If you want to see any press, you can go to www.orkinphoto.com/news. Also, the opening at the Stephen Bulger Gallery was lots of fun, with so many people excited to meet Ninalee. She barely had a minute to relax and take a break, as she was so busy signing catalogs and taking photos with all her fans!

Back in May, APAG was invited to a photography conference in Warsaw, Poland, titled “The Archive as Project” and I wasn’t able to attend. However, Grayson Dantzic went and had an incredible but short whirlwind trip, and absorbed every minute of it. He gave a presentation about APAG, and also discussed his father’s work, who was Jerry Dantzic. Part of his background is Polish, so he really enjoyed also being able to learn more about his heritage.

I’ve been working hard on The Photo League film with Nina Rosenblum and Daniel Allentuck who are the directors/producers. We are trying to finish to coincide with the important exhibit about The Photo League that will open at The Jewish Museum in November. Many APAG members were also Photo League members, including Arthur Leipzig, Marvin Newman, Erika Stone, Ida Wyman, and the archives of Max Drucker, Sol Lipsohn, Sol Prom, Arthur Rothstein, Aaron Siskind, John Vachon, Weegee and my parents Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin. So, please go see the show to learn more about the Photo league and spread the word.

Best,

Mary Engel