Join Wendy Ewald on zoom September 29th at 12 noon.
Wendy Ewald and Michael Chovan-Dalton will talk about two of Wendy’s books, The Devil is leaving his Cave and Portraits and Dreams (reissue) both published by MACK. We will also talk about Ewald’s film, Portraits and Dreams which aired on PBS and which will be running at the gallery.
Wendy Ewald will be remote but Michael will be in the gallery with some work from Ewald on the wall.
About Wendy Ewald:
For over forty years I have collaborated on photography projects with children, families, women, workers and teachers. I’ve worked in the United States, Labrador, Colombia, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Holland, Mexico and Tanzania. My projects start as documentary investigations and move on to probe questions of identity and cultural differences.
In my work with children and women I encourage them to use cameras to look at their own lives, their families and their communities, and to make images of their fantasies and dreams. While making my own photographs in the communities, I ask my collaborators to alter my images by drawing or writing on them, challenging the concept of who actually makes the image – who is the photographer, who is the subject, who is the observer and who is the observed. My work questions the conventional definition of individual authorship and casts into doubt an artist’s intentions, power and identity.
I have also created many projects with students from elementary school through college. The projects are designed as interventions as well as artistic projects. Among them are American Alphabets, a series of photo installations made with Arabic, Spanish and English speakers; On Reading, a video installation with learning disabled students, and Who Am I in This Picture, a public art installation with faculty, staff and students at Amherst College.
With each situation, I use different processes and materials to shift my point of view and engage with my subjects. My work may be understood as a kind of conceptual art focused on expanding the role of esthetic discourse in pedagogy and creating a new concept of imagery that challenges the viewer to see beneath the surface of relationships.
Wonderful how the sincerity and significance of Ewald’s work are being recognized once again.