Magnum Blog / Bethlehem on a gallery wall - the photo blog of Magnum Photos

In 2005, the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto exhibited Larry Towell's 'No Man's Land' work, including images from the West Bank. Stephen Bulger participated in a QnA about the exhibition and how to represent a photojournalist in the art world.

Bethlehem, West Bank. 2000. Young Palestinian man loading stone into home made catapult during clash with Israeli Army. Larry Towell/Magnum Photos

What were the factors behind wanting to exhibit photojournalistic work?
I rely on photographs to inform me about the world at large. Given that the work of photojournalists is created to illustrate important events and personalities, I often look at their work for educational purposes.

Why Larry Towell? Were you attracted to his entire body of work, or were you looking for particular content or a specific topic?
I think he is a great photographer. In terms of his viewpoint, I admire the fact that he provides a voice for those who are landless, as I believe this to be a core problem in many areas around the world. I am intrigued by his ability to record the day to day life of people living in a conflict situation in a manner that gets close to his subjects without any seeming interference on his part.

How did you decide which photographs to include?
In terms of his exhibitions, I look at the entire body of work and try to narrow down the selection to what works in my gallery space, while remaining truthful to the spirit of the project at hand.

How was the show received by art critics?
Critics admire his work because to them his photographs go beyond the type of image making usually found in photojournalism.

What were the responses of visitors to the gallery?
Quite a range. In terms of his work from the Middle East, we had everything from praise for showing provocative work from this region which illustrated the resolve of human beings in time of hardship, to outright scorn for perpetuating the lies of terrorists.

Rafah Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip. October 2003. Residents dig through the rubble of their homes after the Israeli army withdrew from Rafah. Larry Towell/Magnum Photos

When representing a photojournalist, who may have had less exposure in the art world than an art photographer, how do you determine the pieces' prices?
For most of his work, Larry does not edition his prints, so that becomes the main deciding factor in its pricing relative to other contemporary works. When you start showing anyone new to the market, the strategy is to look at comparables and price similarly. Once you have success with sales, you gradually increase the prices. In terms of Larry, in 1995 we did not sell anything of his for more than $750. Although most of his work is currently priced at $1,200 - 1,500, we have sold several of his works for $7,500.

Visit the Bulger Gallery's website: www.bulgergallery.com

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We want to bring people together with a personal view on the similarities of people devided by walls.

And we invite photographers to take part in our Challenging Walls Project

CALL FOR ARTISTS - Challenging Walls Jerusalem / Israel July 2007
Challenging Walls invites interested artists/photographers from Cyprus, Northern Ireland, East Germany and Palestine to submit their application to participate in a collaborative work concerning wall divided countries.
Challenging Walls is an art-peace project that shares the vision of bringing together in an active dialogue the diverse communities of people living within the parameters of physical and mental walls in Israel and Palestine along with the experiences and shared wall history in countries like Cyprus, Northern Ireland and Germany, using art as the vehicle of peace and understanding. Initiated by Berlin-based, Walkscreen, this project is deemed to dissolve the concrete wall dividing the nations by transforming it into a silver screen that will reflect photographs of day-to-day life.
Co-organised with INDEX (Cyprus), University of Ulster (Northern Ireland), Academie der Kunste (Germany) and its partners in Israel, Van Leer Institute and Cinemateque, more than 200 international artists and scholars are expected to gather in Jerusalem, Israel on 11-14 July 2007, in conjunction with the Jerusalem International Film Festival. EU Culture 2000 funds this project.
As an integral part of the process, selected photographers are expected to take photos that define the daily lives of people living in Cyprus, Germany, Israel, Northern Ireland and Palestine; collaborate with a photographer/artist coming from the opposite side of his/her country; and finally to link the artistic process with the scientific research on the basis of the wall topics. The photographer will work with a team composed of a researcher, curator and/or cultural manager. The collaborative work in each of the countries should take place between April and May 2007. Edited photographs and photo stories will have to be ready by the first week of June. The collective outcome will be shared through a series of workshops, conference, on-line fora, photo exhibitions and multi-media installations. Walkscreen's Ruthe Zuntz and Michael Reitz will be the participating photographers for Israel and West Germany being the initiators of Challenging Walls.
Selected artists/photographers will receive a production budget and honorarium amounting to 3,000 Euros, return economy airfare from Europe to Israel and 7 nights hotel accommodation and meal for the duration of the set activities in Israel.
If you are interested to apply for this collaborative work, please visit http://www.challengingwalls.eu to download the detailed guidelines and criteria. Deadline for application is on 1 March 2007.

www.walkscreen.de

www.challengingwalls.eu

Comment posted by Michael Reitz on February 11, 2007

ıts bitter :(

Comment posted by Gürkan EROL on February 14, 2007

Bethlehem on a gallery wall

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