Roy De Carava (1919-2009)

One of the world’s greatest photographers passed on Tuesday, October 27, 2009: Roy De Carava. His contributions to the world of photography are insurmountable. He was a skilled practitioner of the medium, teacher and mentor, activist, and role model for countless photographers, particularly black photographers living and working in the United States and abroad.

If you are not familiar with Mr. De Carava’s work I encourage you to read The Sweet Flypaper of Life (1955), co-produced with Langston Hughes and work your way forward to the catalog representing his retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1996).

Several media outlets have written on Mr. De Carava’s passing:

The New York Times

Lens.Blog.NYTimes

The Los Angeles Times

Mr. De Carava was the first African-American photographer to receive a Guggenheim fellowship (1952).  See his interview on Charlie Rose in 1996, the year he received the National Medal of Arts.

Graduation, 1949

Photography Auction Calendar — round one

I hope everyone had an enjoyable summer break.

Here are a first round of photography auction dates to keep in mind for late summer and fall 2009.

Dinka cattle camp of Amak at the end 0f the day...Southern Sudan, 2005 (Sebastiao Salgado). For sale at Philips de Pury, October 15, 2009 (London).

Cowan’s Auctions

August 28

American History — see daguerreotype photographs of African Americans

Christie’s

October 7

The American Landscape: Color Photographs from the Collection of Bruce and Nancy Berman (2pm)

Photographs by Sally Mann (5pm)

October 8

Photographs

The Miller-Plummer Collection of Photographs

December 7

Photographs

NOTE: All the above are New York, Rockefeller Center location

May 26, 2010

Photographs (London)

Sotheby’s

October 9

Photographs (New York)

November 20

Photographs (Paris)

Philips De Pury & Company

October 15

Photographs (London)

Photography Among African-American Art Collection of Peggy Cooper Cafritz

Basketball and Chain by Hank Willis Thomas

No doubt you have heard of the fire that destroyed the home of noted art collector, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, in Washington, D.C. on July 29th. Among the 19th century paintings, works on paper, and sculpture are photographs by Hank Willis Thomas and Carrie Mae Weems. In a July 31st Washington Post article, Thomas credits Cooper Cafritz’s support of his own work and that of the school she helped found, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where Thomas attended in 1991.  Cooper Cafritz’s collection is featured in O, The Oprah Magazine.

Bonfire of the Humanities

Fire Destroys NW D.C. Mansion

In Collection’s Ashes, a Heritage’s Seeds

Art Collection Burns, and Officials Offer Reasons

July 1 Christie’s Photographs Auction (London)

The July 1st sale of photographs at Christie’s London yielded one image of the African diaspora: Andy Warhol’s Diana Ross, 1981.

The unique color Polaroid print measures 3 3/4 x 2 7/8 inches with the Andy Warhol (1928-1987) estate stamps on verso.

The price realized, 8,355 USD (including buyer’s premium), matched the high estimate.

Diana Ross, 1981 by Andy Warhol (1928-1987)

Cowan’s American History Auction — Results for African-American Photography

A small collection of photographs depicting African-American history and culture were auctioned at Cowan’s American History Auction on Wednesday, June 24th. Of the selection that experienced sales include African-American Nanny and her White Charge, a sixth plate daguerreotype sold for $ 2,350, a bit below its low estimate of $ 2,500.

Female Slave and Child, another sixth plate daguerreotype, sold for $ 2,350, several hundred dollars above its high estimate. Wilson CDV of Savannah , GA, African-American Chimney Sweeps, sold for $470, below its low estimate of $ 600.  Results include the buyer’s premium.

AFRICAN AMERICAN NANNY AND HER WHITE CHARGE, QUARTER PLATE AMBROTYPE

WILSON CDV OF SAVANNAH, GA, AFRICAN AMERICAN CHIMNEY SWEEPS

Collecting Photographs at an Accessible Price

I like the premise behind this site: 52 Editions – Fine Art Photography. For photographer’s who feel disenfranchised in this field, this may be a smart approach to adapt. I say: “Flip the script.”

Gordon Parks Photography Collection to be housed at State University of New York at Purchase

The collection of photographic prints and negatives produced by photographer and filmmaker, Gordon Parks, will be housed at the library of the State University of New York at Purchase. Currently held at The Gordon Parks Foundation, a division of the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation, the collection contains 4,000 prints and 20,000 negatives, as reported by The New York Times. The State University of New York at Purchase will make the collection accessible to the general public and scholars.

The Parks collection is accompanied by 100,000 images of the Civil War produced by Matthew Brady, Timothy O’Sullivan, and Alexander Gardner, as well as a collection of photographs by fellow Life magazine photographer, Ed Clark, all overseen by the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation.

Gordon Parks, "American Gothic" 1942 © Gordon Parks

Look 3, Race, Culture, and photography

Continuing with the theme of cultural diversity in the field of photography, I came across this reflective blog posting by John Edwin Mason that is of interest to those tackling this important issue.

En Foco — supporting cultural diversity in photography

Photo District News highlights the achievements of En Foco, a non-profit organization committed to exhibiting and publishing the work of photographers from diverse cultures. En Foco is celebrating it’s thirty-fifth year of support for diversity in the field.

Bloomsbury Photographs Auction – Rome – May 28, 2009

A nude photograph of model, Naomi Campbell, was sold at Bloomsbury Auctions’ Women Body: A Century of Nudes photographs sale in Rome, on Thursday, May 28th. “Naomi Campbell: Bon Appetite” 1999 was photographed by David La Chapelle (1968-). The color vintage print was estimated at €1,000 – €1,500 (approx. $ 1,400 – 2, 118) and sold for nearly four times its high estimate at €5,580 (approx. $ 7,880).

Naomi Campbell: Bon Appetite, 1999 by David La Chapelle