April 11 – May 13, 2022
Reception and Talk, Saturday April 23rd 1:00-3:00pm
The JKC Gallery is thrilled to host Being and There, a traveling photography exhibit by New York-based Photographer Joseph Lawton, April 11th – May 13th. Opening Reception: Saturday April 23rd from 1 pm to 3 pm.
Being and There features early black and white photography from Lawton’s extensive travels from about 1983 to 1994.
Joseph Lawton is a wanderer. He hitchhiked his way from New York to Colorado to attend college and soon after he hitchhiked his way through Central America after he discovered photography. His desire to photograph as much of the world as he can possibly fit and afford into one life has never ceased. Somehow during all of this wanderlust he managed to create a life with his family and celebrate 40 years of work at Fordham University in the Visual Arts Department. His photographs are a reflection of the absolute joy that Joe experiences when he is out in the world with his camera, or in the classroom with his students, or on a road trip with his life-long partner Mary Jane, or just saying hello to you on the street. The work in this show is an expression of someone wanting to be part of the greater community, someone who is always moving so he can stop and be there.
– Michael Chovan-Dalton, JKC Gallery Director
Joe’s pictures address something more personal than their foreign settings. His images of distant locations blend easily with pictures from the streets of New York, or his beloved New York State Fair. The heart of the work is that no matter how far afield Joe travels, he always brings back little pieces of himself. The pictures reveal much more about Joe and his travels than the stamps in his passport, or the stories he may tell later over drinks.
– Text by Carl Gunhouse from Joe Lawton’s book Plain Sight.
Joseph Lawton has taught photography at Fordham University for over thirty-five years, and served as the Director of the Visual Arts Department at Fordham. He has also taught at Hunter College, Pratt Institute, and the School of Visual Arts. The recipient of the Light Works and the Southeast Center for Photography grants, his work has been published in the New York Times, and in Life and Time magazines, and is included in public and private collections, including Bibliothèque Nationale. Exhibitions include PS1, Canton Museum, and OK Harris Gallery. A catalogue of his photographs from the New York State Fair is available through Light Works, Syracuse University, and his recent book, Plain Sight, was published by waal-boght press.