Apr

A Virtual Journey via Landscape Photography

by Meredith Mullins on April 18, 2016

Aurora borealis in Norway, landscape photography that allows a virtual journey and a celebration of Earth Day. (Image © Bjorn Billing.)

The stunning beauty of our planet (Aurora Borealis in Norway)
© Björn Billing

Celebrating Earth Day and the Beauty of the Planet

Whether we explore the world on foot, wheels, or wings, with all our senses tuned to high gear, or whether we spend time on a virtual journey shared through someone else’s eyes—we are fortunate to be touched often by the beauty of our planet.

Sunrise at Botany Bay, United States, a virtual journey through landscape photography celebrating Earth Day. (Image © Rocco Mega.)

Sunrise at Botany Bay, U.S.
© Rocco Mega

Now, we can be reminded of this resplendence at any time with the magnificent landscape photography of Terra Quantum.

Meredith Mullins 2 Comments

The World's Photography

Jan

American Cultural Heritage: Public Libraries

by Meredith Mullins on January 25, 2016

One-room green library in Allensworth, CA, one of the public libraries showing America's cultural heritage. (Image © Robert Dawson.)

Library built by ex-slaves, Allensworth, California
© Robert Dawson

The Art of Getting on the Same Page

Shhh. No talking. Let the books and walls and shelves speak for themselves. If you’re quiet, you can hear the sound of knowledge. The call to adventure. The whisper of imagination.

It all happens at public libraries—a part of American cultural heritage that has opened so many doors, providing free access to information and the freedom to learn.

“It is a space ship that will take you to the farthest reaches of the universe, a time machine that will take you to the far past and the far future, a teacher that knows more than any human being, a friend that will amuse you and console you … and most of all, a gateway to a better and happier and more useful life.” —Isaac Asimov

An intergalactic tribute to books; The Main Library, Duluth, Minnesota. (Image © Robert Dawson.)

An intergalactic tribute to books at The Main Library, Duluth, Minnesota
© Robert Dawson

Open Doors

We all have memories of public libraries. Being read to during story hour as our littlest self. Checking out our first book as a child, proudly using our official library card, which seemed to give us instant status and new swagger to our step.

Seeking a cool spot on a hot summer afternoon or warmth during a winter snowstorm. Listening for the seductive sound of the approaching bookmobile. Wondering if we could ever, in our life, read all that the library had to offer.

A trailer library in Death Valley National Park, California, one of the public libraries of America's cultural heritage. (Image © Robert Dawson.)

A remote, shaded library in Death Valley National Park, California—the hottest place on earth
© Robert Dawson

Boundless Opportunity

Libraries are not just a democratic haven for reading. They are also community centers, temporary shelter for the homeless, cathedral-ceiling reading rooms and research hubs, tables full of accessible computers, literacy centers, and a place for people to learn and neighbors to meet.

Reading Room at the Main Library, Philadelphia, PA, one of the public libraries that shows America's cultural heritage. (Image © Robert Dawson.)

The Reading Room at the Main Library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
© Robert Dawson

They exist in cities of millions and in a town of one person (Rudy’s library in Monowi, Nebraska.). They are one-room shacks in the middle of nowhere, brightly colored storefronts in shopping malls, and multiple layers of steel and glass in modern urban centers.

They are transformed from banks, hospitals, jails, churches, railroad stations, fish markets, gas stations, and nightclubs

The Ralph W. Yarborough branch library, Austin, TX, in an old theater, one of the public libraries that shows America's cultural heritage. (Image © Robert Dawson.)

Yarborough Branch Library in Austin, Texas is housed in an old theater.
© Robert Dawson

Inspiration for Imagination

They tell stories—from a history of George Washington’s overdue books checked out from The New York Society Library (returned 221 years later . . . not by George) to the vision of Kentucky librarians on horseback carrying books in saddlebags to rural areas.

They provide fuel for imagination and innovation, as a cast of dedicated founders, patrons, and librarians parade through history and as the libraries of today expand their collections to music, films, seeds, and tools.

First Carnegie Library, Braddock, PA, one of the public libraries that shows America's cultural heritage. (Image © Robert Dawson.)

The first Carnegie Library in Braddock, Pennsylvania
© Robert Dawson

A Creative Vision of Our Heritage

Where did I learn so much about America’s public libraries?

From photographer Robert Dawson, who brings public libraries to life in his book The Public Library: A Photographic Essay. He found their past and their present in his 18-year journey across America, learning their secrets and capturing their essence.

Interior, Evansville, IN, one of the public libraries that shows America's cultural heritage. (Image © Robert Dawson.)

The interior of the library in Evansville, Indiana
© Robert Dawson

He photographed hundreds of the 17,000 libraries in the U.S., traveling to 48 states. His odyssey confirmed his belief that libraries were symbols of democracy, and also were “great equalizers, tools of social justice to lift the poor and to provide equal opportunity.”

He clarifies his focus as “not just a study of architecture. It’s a look at the uses of libraries and their places in society—portraits of communities through the lens of the library. The public library in each of the places we visited spoke volumes about who we are as a people.”

Small library in Roscoe, SD, one of the public libraries that shows America's cultural heritage. (Image © Robert Dawson.)

The library in Roscoe, South Dakota, was built in 1932 by a group of civic-minded women.
It was one of the smallest public libraries in the nation.
© Robert Dawson

Through Robert’s photographs and thoughtful text, as well as the essays that are included in the book (including words from Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Lamott, Isaac Asimov, Amy Tan, Ann Patchett, and Bill Moyers), I came away with a renewed appreciation for this enriching part of our cultural heritage.

Yellow Queens Library Bookmobile, one of the public libraries that shows America's cultural heritage. (Image © Robert Dawson.)

After Hurricane Sandy, the Queens Library Bookmobile was on the move (Rockaway, New York).
© Robert Dawson

I would especially like to see a sequel featuring the dedicated librarians. Anne Lamott describes these central characters as trail guides, capable of teasing out enough information about what someone is after to lead him or her on the path of connections.

Looking to the Future

I also came away with a commitment to making sure libraries don’t disappear. Robert saw much of this danger in his travels.

“I have always thought of public libraries as beacons of hope, and it saddened me each time I came upon a library that had been destroyed, either through natural disaster, neglect, or local economic collapse.”

Smallest library, now closed, Hartland Four Corners, VT, one of the public libraries that shows America's cultural heritage. (Image © Robert Dawson.)

The smallest library in the U.S. (in Hartland Four Corners, Vermont) is now closed.
© Robert Dawson

The reality is sad. Libraries are suffering from budget cuts every day, and many are closing. As librarian Dorothy Lazard says in her essay in the book, “libraries are the last outpost of community space.”

Although the lessons (and memories) were many for me in exploring the vastness of the public library system, the importance of public libraries in today’s society remains clear. My true Oh, I see moment was best summarized by T.S Eliot.

“The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.”

We should not let this valuable part of our cultural heritage die.

Here is more information about The Public Library: A Photographic Essay and Robert Dawson’s other photographic projects. To learn more about the authors who contributed to this book, see websites for Isaac Asimov, Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Lamotte, Bill Moyers, and Amy Tan

The Library of Congress has acquired all of Dawson’s public library photographs as a historic record.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/The World's Photography/USA

Jul

Opening Eyes to the Cultural History of Africa

by Meredith Mullins on July 20, 2015

Portrait photography of Ikhlas Khan by Omar Victor Diop showing a cultural history of Africa. (Image © Omar Victor Diop. Courtesy of Galerie MAGNIN-A.)

Ikhlas Khan, from the Diaspora series, 2015
© Omar Victor Diop. Courtesy Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris

Omar Victor Diop’s Transformative Portrait Photography

The room is alive with cultural history. The photographs exhibited in the Grande Halle of the Rencontres d’Arles are rich in texture and color. The historic African figures are presented formally, elegantly, powerfully. Their pride shines through.

As the photographer Omar Victor Diop explains, “They seem to say, ‘Look at me. I was here. I did this.’”

The portrait photography in Diop’s exhibit “Diaspora,” which recently opened at the Arles festival of photography, transports us to another time. The images are not just a sensory journey into the cultural history of Africa, but are also a making of history of the artistic kind. The 34-year-old artist has something compelling to say.

Omar Victor Diop at the Rencontres d'Arles exhibit, showing his portrait photography based on the cultural history of Africa. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Omar Victor Diop at the opening of Diaspora at the Rencontres d’Arles in France
© Meredith Mullins

Diaspora—Exile, Dispersion, Exclusion

What do the subjects of Diaspora—Jean-Baptiste Belley, Ikhlas Khan, Frederick Douglass, Dom Nicolau, and August Sabac El Cher—have in common?

“Most of them were born into or sold into slavery,” Diop points out. “They all managed to be very influential—in areas that were not ready for them, with people who did not recognize them even as human beings. These men transformed the negative into something positive that lasted throughout the century.”

These historic figures are not particularly well known. Diop had not even heard of them before he began his research, although some were born not far from his home in Senegal.

He dove into history to find these “exotic others” and then embarked on an art history journey to find the original artworks that immortalized them (created from the 15^th to 19^th centuries).

Dom Nicolau, prince of Kongo, in the portrait photography of Omar Victor Diop, based on the cultural history of Africa. (Image © Omar Victor Diop. Courtesy of Galerie MAGNIN-A.)

The subjects range from Dom Nicolau, Prince of Kongo (known for his public protest of colonialism) to Juan de Pareja, a slave in the household and workshop of the painter Velázquez (painted by Velázquez around the time de Pareja was granted his freedom).

And from Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (author of one of the earliest slave narratives), to Frederick Douglass (a leader of the abolitionist movement in America and the first African American to be nominated for Vice President of the Unites States).

Angelo Soliman in portrait photography of Omar Victor Diop, based on the cultural history of Africa. (Image © Omar Victor Diop. Courtesy Galerie MAGNIN-A.)

A Closer Look: Oh, I See a Common Spirit

When we look closely, we find that the photographs have even more in common. The subjects all have the same face. Diop has transformed himself into these historic figures, while he mirrors the original artwork in costume and style.

As he worked alone in the studio to make these images, he admits to feeling as if he were having a conversation with each subject.

“I felt very emotional at times, as if the historic figure was there with me. Each session felt like a prayer. These stories were beautiful enough that they had to be told and shown.”

A Kindred Soul

Of all his Diaspora subjects, Diop feels closest to Jean-Baptiste Belley. Belley was born on the island of Gorée, only two kilometers away from Diop’s birthplace.

Belley was sent to the French West Indies as a slave, but managed to buy his freedom and moved to France.

Jean-Baptiste Belley is shown in Omar Victor Diop's portrait photography, as part of a series on the cultural history of Africa. (Image © Omar vVictor Diop. Courtesy of Galerie MAGNIN-A.)

Diop adds to the story, “In France, he was a member of the National Convention and a part of the revolution Dream Team who gave birth to the French Republic. Very few people know about Belley. Not in France. Not in Senegal.”

“He wanted a better world and fought for it,” Diop continues, with reverence and respect. “He was enslaved by the same people for whom he later fought. The story deserves to be told . . . as often as possible.”

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo in the portrait photography of Omar Victor Diop, based on a cultural history of Africa. (Image © Omar Victor Diop. Courtesy of Galerie MAGNIN-A.)

The Soccer Connection

When we take one more close look, we see that each photograph also has a subtle connection to soccer (football)—a ball, a shoe, a referee’s whistle, a glove.

Diop uses these elements to provide a common contemporary thread to unify the original artwork, which crossed several centuries.

More important, he sees a similarity between these historic heroes and the African soccer players.

Just as the heroes of the past achieved glory and recognition, so do the soccer players of today. And, just as these historic figures suffered from racism, so too do the players of today.

“With soccer players, there is a very interesting blend of glory, hero-worship and exclusion,” Diop explains. “Every so often, you get racist chants or banana skins thrown on the pitch and the whole illusion of integration is shattered in the most brutal way.”

We are reminded of the past and the present.

El Moro, Moroccan man, in the portrait photography of Omar Victor Diop, based on the cultural history of Africa. (Image © Omar Victor Diop. Courtest of Galerie MAGNIN-A.)

The Future

What is in the future for this thoughtful young artist? What projects come next after his memorable portrait photography exploring the cultural history of Africa?

“My goal is to leave a body of work that has the ability to speak to everyone,” Diop says and adds that he doesn’t mean to sound pretentious. “Of course I’m African. I’m a proud African. But I’m curious about the rest of the world. I want to be influenced by different societies and contexts.”

He sums it up simply and powerfully: “It’s all about celebrating humanity. It’s about what binds us together.”

As an artist (and a humanist), Diop has wisdom way beyond his years.

Omar Victor Diop‘s exhibit at the Rencontres d’Arles is open through September 20. His work can also be seen at the Galerie MAGNIN-A in Paris and at PhotoQuai, sponsored by the Musée Quai Branly (beginning 22 September).