As a participating gallery of the 5th Annual Olympus InVision Photo Festival in Bethlehem, PA,  Santa Bannon / Fine Art Gallery presents a comprehensive exhibit, “Philadelphia Photographers: 1975 to 1985.” This historic contemporary collection includes 80 mostly vintage works and close to 100 monographs created by 49 greater Philadelphia-area photographers. The reception opens at 5:30p on Friday November 7th and a presentation by those key to the movement and with institutional memory begins at 7:30p. The exhibit is now on view until November 23rd, 2014.

This curated exhibit examines work by veteran artists: Robert Adler, Robert Asman, Laurence Bach, Michael Becotte, Will Brown, Howard Brunner, Randl Bye,

Donald E. Camp, Thomas Carabasi, John Carlano, Jack Carnell, Paul Cava, Trudy Cohen, Tom Davies, Candace diCarlo, Ed Eckstein, Larry Fink, Alida Fish, David Freese,

Emmet Gowin, David Graham, Nancy Hellebrand, Walter Holt, Catherine Jansen, Bruce Katsiff, George Krause, Tom Levy, Martha Madigan, D.W. Mellor, Ray K. Metzker, Rebecca Michaels, Thomas W. Moore, Jay Pastelak, Jeannie Pearce, Stephan Perloff, Brian H. Peterson, Tom Porett, Paul Runyon, Laurence Salzmann, Leif Skoogfors,

Thomas John Shillea, Michael A. Smith, George Tice, Sarah Van Keuren, Tony Ward, John Weiss, Stephen Guion Williams, William Earle Williams and Becky Young.

All of these artists have examples of their work represented in the permanent collections of some of the most prestigious museums worldwide; a majority of the participants are repeat recipients of Guggenheim, National Endowment of the Arts, Pew, and Fulbright Fellowships; and many have had the privilege of studying with venerated icons of photography such as Ansel Adams, Bill Brandt, Harry Callahan, Lisette Model, Irving Penn, Aaron Siskind, Minor White, and many others.

The exhibit sets its viewfinder on a dynamic pre-digital period that represented a collaborative network rich with ideas and bounding with creativity — a democratic inclusivity and accessibility between emerging photographers and those who were well known. A unique and influential community of galleries, organizations, and institutions supported and nurtured photographers of the time and successfully brought awareness to the importance of collecting and further elevated the status of photography as fine art.

These artists further contributed to the history of the medium by developing fine art and photography programs and becoming professors at colleges and universities regionally and throughout the country. Others became museum directors, curators, art dealers, major collectors, and patrons.

According to Santa Bannon, “Philadelphia has always been historically important when it comes to this medium.” “The city played a significant role in photographic history when Joseph Saxton made the first Daguerreotype in Philadelphia in 1839, the oldest extant Daguerreotype in America,” explains Brian H. Peterson, exhibiting photographer and retired chief curator of the James A. Michener Art Museum. Exhibiting photographer and art historian Thomas Shillea adds, “Philadelphia hosted the very first national juried exhibit of photography, the ‘Philadelphia Salon,’ held by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1898 and organized by Alfred Stieglitz.”

This is a strong show that includes many standouts: Sara by John Weiss, a protégé of Minor White, is one; portrait of a Logger in the Pacific Northwest by Larry Fink with its unusual split wood frame crafted especially for the picture; Emmet Gowin’s portrait Edith, Danville, Virginia; and the late Ray Metzker’s abstract from his Pictus Interruptus series.

“The day I installed Ray Metzker’s photograph, I received an email that evening from Laurence Miller, Ray’s longtime dealer, that Ray had passed away. It was sadly ironic. He was one of the photographers whose work I most admired; I’m humbled to exhibit his work in my gallery and in particular this show, and regrettably I never had the opportunity to meet him,” reveals Bannon.

Bannon plans an expanded version, of her “Philadelphia Photographers: 1975–1985” exhibit for travel and add an accompanying publication that not only will include the images in the expanded exhibition but vernacular photos, anecdotal information, oral histories, and reproductions of ephemera.

Morning Call article  http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/arts/mc-philadelphia-photographers-santa-bannon-20141106-story.html#page=1 

NPR affiliate, WDIY 5 minute radio excerpt http://wdiy.org/post/philadelphia-photographers-1975-1985 

A QTVR tour (Quicktime Virtual Reality) is coming. Photos from the reception are available on our Facebook page.

Not all images have been digitized for web-we are working on that.

All images copyrighted by their respective artists. Ideas and concepts of this exhibition are intellectual property of SB/FA.