Monalog Collective® Show at the Stirner Modern Gallery, Easton PA, September 3rd – September 26th

Monalog Collective® will be having its first group show called Expression Through Tradition: The Monalog Collective® at The Stirner Modern Gallery in Easton, PA from September 3rd – September 26th.

Please join us on September 3rd at from 6:00 – 8:00pm for the show’s Opening.  Also, on September 17th at 7:00pm there will be a talk by Monalog™ member and photo historian Chris Karfakis, and there will be a gallery walk through on Sunday from 12:00 – 5:00pm.  The gallery will also be open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12:00 -6:00pm; Fridays from 12:00 – 8:00pm; Saturdays from 10:00am – 2:00pm and 5:00pm –  8:00pm and Sundays from 12:00 – 5:00pm.

The show is also co-sponsored by The Halide Project as part of the month long September Philadelphia 20/20 Photo Festival.

To learn more about our show and the Stirner Modern Gallery go to www.stirnermodern.com. To find out about Philadelphia 20/20 Photo Festival go to www.2020photofestival.org, and to see information on our show go to https://www.2020photofestival.org/satellite-shows.  Finally, to learn more about The Halide Project go to www.thehalideproject.org.  And if you have any questions please feel free to contact us at info@monalogcollective.com.

In the meantime take a look at the exhibit announcement below; we look forward to seeing you at the show!

Stirner Modern Gallery

Presents

EXPRESSION THROUGH TRADITION

An Exhibition of Photographs

By

THE MONALOG COLLECTIVE®

The Monalog Collective® is a group of like-minded photographers that formed to promote Black and White photography and the industry that supports it. This exhibition of photographs, made by twelve Monalog Collective® Members, includes modern and historic applications of traditional emulsion-based processes. All images are original and hand-made by the artist. Each photographer has selected a specific process that best captures and expresses their vision of and feelings for a desired subject that is then revealed and shared via a tintype, ambrotype or print.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theater of the Everyday In New York

Manhattan often seems like a stage where performers and exhibitionists of all varieties put on a non-stop show.  I started documenting these “performers” in 2008, as the country slid into a recession.  I needed something to distract myself from the increasingly grim economic news, so I began to seek out small-venue circus acts, magicians and clowns to photograph.  After a few months of photographing organized performances, I started to see theater everywhere: in the streets, in public spaces, in the subway, at festivals where people showed off costumes, in Times Square, at political demonstrations…the spectacle was endless.  I worked with my quiet, discreet Leica camera, photographing in a fluid, fast-moving style that suited the mercurial nature of my subjects.

As an observer who tries to be as inconspicuous as possible, I’m drawn to those brave individuals who display themselves and are able to escape from the constraints of the mundane world, at least for a little while. There was something very old-fashioned about street performers, acts on seedy stages, or wildly costumed individuals in the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade that called out for a photographic medium from the pre-electronic age.

All of the photographs were made on black and white film that I processed and printed myself, both for the timeless, classic appearance of that medium and its permanence as a historical record.  Each image is a unique, hand-made object that can never be duplicated exactly, which is a large part of the beauty of traditional black and white photography.

Paul Margolis

A Conversation with Monalog™ Member David Haas

On Friday I had the opportunity to have a wide ranging conversation with David Haas. We discuss his living a true photographic life as a college professor, professional fine art silver printer and photographer, who’s images reside in individual, corporate and museum collections. Check it out!

A War Without Blood and Gore: World War II Reenactor Photographs

The title of this project, A War Without Blood and Gore, comes from a line in a Vietnam War-era protest song by the American singer-songwriter Phil Ochs entitled “Draft Dodger Rag.” It goes: “If they ever give a war without blood and gore, I’ll be the first to go.”

I photographed World War II re-enactors at events organized for the public in 2014 and 2015, as well as aboard a restored1944 Liberty Ship wartime freighter – a time frame that roughly paralleled the 70th anniversary of the last year of the war. They used as many authentic period artifacts as possible – weapons, vehicles, uniforms, etc. – to recreate the lives of the soldiers, sailors and aviators who fought in the Second World War.

Most of the re-enactors were men in their 20s and 30s, although there were some women and children dressed in “home front” period clothes or in the uniforms of various women’s military branches; many of them told me of hearing the stories of grandparents who’d been in the war. I got a sense of their longing for those “good” years, for a simpler time, when there was a sharp delineation between good and evil. World War II was perceived as the last war that the U.S. decisively won, when the entire country pulled together in a common existential struggle.

The re-enactors were very knowledgeable about the World War II period and happy to answer questions. They gave various reasons for re-enacting: some wanted to pay homage to the war’s veterans and their sacrifices; others were living history buffs who wanted to bring a past era to life for modern audiences. I also suspected that a number of them liked the camaraderie, the chance to camp out and to fire off guns with blank ammunition in a harmless and more or less socially-acceptable way. It was unsettling to see German uniforms, some of them with SS collar tabs. However, these German-uniformed re-enactors assured me that they didn’t share the philosophy or have any admiration for the Nazis; they felt that somebody had to be the enemy.

I photographed the re-enactors with cameras that would have been used during World War II – 35mm and medium-format rangefinders — and black and white film that I processed and printed myself. I believe that, in many ways, this project documenting re-enactors reflects the present United States, with all of its ambivalences and uncertainties, as much as it recreates the vanished world of the 1940s.

Paul Margolis

Jim Fitzgerald Talks About His Current Show and the Making of His Accompanying Fine Press Edition Book

Monalog™ member Jim Fitzgerald takes us for a tour of his current show at LightBox Photographic Gallery in Astoria, Oregon and shows us his incredible accompanying handmade fine press edition book. In Part 1 Jim provides a tour of the show. In Part 2 Jim discussed the making of his book. In Part 3 Jim shows how he developed cabon transfer text for book. In Part 4 Jim continues his discussion on the developing text pages for the book. Enjoy!

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Monalog Collective Virtual Sharing and Learning Experience – Your Covid-19 Photographic Life

Covid has caused all of us to be creative in ways we have not been before. Because it is not currently possible for Monalog™ to schedule in-person photographic events, the Collective will be hosting a series of exciting virtual events until we and our fellow black and white analog photographers can get together. Your Covid-19 Photographic Life is the first of Monalog’s™ virtual events. This event features an intimate discussion with Monalog Collective members Michael Marks, Paul Margolis and David Haas concerning the photographic challenges they have faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Conversation With Monalog™ Member Marty Frank

On the first day of spring I had the opportunity to have a wonderful conversation with Marty Frank. Marty is a sensitive photographer, as well as a practicing physician who strikes an important balance between work and artistic passion.  We discuss the parallels in his professional and photographic lives as well as and the challenges he has faced during the pandemic. Check out our conversation!