The Heckscher Museum of Art SPECIAL EXHIBITION RESOURCE GUIDE FOR TEACHERS Coming of Age in America The Photography of WHAT S INSIDE About the Exhibition... 1 About...1 Exhibition-Related Websites...2 Exhibition-Related Books...2 Exhibition-Related Vocabulary...3, Rolling Stones Salute, 1978. Courtesy of the Artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC. Pre- and Post-Visit Activities...4 Select Images from the Exhibition...5 Also on View...13 Explore the Collection...14 Everything You Need @ www.heckscher.org...15 2 Prime Avenue Huntington, NY 11743 631.351.3250 www.heckscher.org Education Department 631.351.3214
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION Coming of Age in America: The Photography of Coming of Age in America: The Photography of is the first museum retrospective of this Long Island photographer whose work presents a dual portrait of adolescence on Long Island and summers on the Island s iconic Jones Beach. Szabo poignantly portrays teens on the cusp of adulthood, documenting his subjects in moments of uncertainty, reflection, longing, bravado, and exuberance. The restless teens and unselfconscious bathers seen in Szabo s black-and-white photographs evoke timeless memories of our own, similar teenage years and summers at the beach. This exhibition consists of 54 black-and-white photographs (silver gelatin prints) taken by between 1969 and 2007. ABOUT THE ARTIST: JOSEPH SZABO is a teacher, photographer, and author who began his photographic studies at Pratt Institute where he received an MFA degree in 1968. He taught photography at Malverne High School on Long Island from 1972-1999 and at the International Center of Photography in New York since 1978. has been photographing his teen-age students for the past forty years, and has perfectly captured the ambivalence of that time of life. As a high school teacher, he takes seriously their pretentions, passions, and confusions, and he knows intimately how students put on, act up, behave, and misbehave. As Cornell Capa wrote in the foreword of Almost Grown, Szabo s camera is sharp, incisive, and young, matching his subjects. One can use many adjectives: revealing, tender, raucous, sexy, showy... in Szabo s hands, the camera is magically there, the light is always available, the moment is perceived, seen, and caught. In 1978, Szabo s book on adolescence, Almost Grown, was published by Harmony Books and acclaimed by the American Library Association and placed on its Best Books of the Year listing. In 1984, Szabo received a photography fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the International Center of Photography, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Brooklyn Museum, among others. His work has been collected by many institutions including the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, France; The George Eastman House in Rochester, New York; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Source: http://www.photosofteenagers.com 1
EXHIBITION-RELATED WEBSITES Coming of Age in America: The Photography of The Photography of, Inc. The official website of, this site includes a biography, information on Szabo s numerous books, as well as links to other websites featuring images of his work. http://www.photosofteenagers.com/ Gitterman Gallery A collection of images of s photographs http://www.gittermangallery.com/html/artistresults.asp?artist=1598 The Project A documentary film by David Khachatorian and George P. Pozderec http://www.thejosephszaboproject.com/ TIME LightBox, from the photo editors of TIME Magazine The June 2011 article : Amercan Photography s Best Kept Secret discusses and presents images of Hometown, a recently unearthed series of suburban landscapes taken between 1973 and 1979 that remained hidden until 2010. http://lightbox.time.com/2011/06/27/joseph-szabo-american-photographys-best-keptsecret/#1 EXHIBITION-RELATED BOOKS Coming of Age in America: The Photography of Almost Grown. 1978. (Author) Jones Beach. 2010. (Author) : Rolling Stones Fans. 2007. (Author) : Teenage. 2003. (Photographer) and Cameron Crowe (Contributor) 2
EXHIBITION-RELATED VOCABULARY Coming of Age in America: The Photography of photograph: An image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film. documentary photography: A form of photography used to chronicle significant and historical events. It is typically used in photojournalism, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit. The photographer attempts to produce truthful, objective, and usually candid photography of a particular subject, most often pictures of people. silver gelatin print: A traditional black-and-white photographic print in which the final imaging material is metallic silver suspended in a gelatin binder. c-print or chromogenic print: Color print made from a color transparency or negative. The print material has at least three emulsion layers of silver salts. Each layer is sensitized to one of the three primary colors in the spectrum. During the first stage of development a silver image is formed on each layer. Dye couplers are then added which bond with the silver and form dyes of the appropriate colors in the emulsion layers. pigment print: A print made from a process by which an image is digitally rendered on an inkjet printer using archival pigment inks that have been laboratory tested to be fade resistant for 150 years. point of view or viewpoint: The position from which the subject of a work of art is observed. (Examples: bird s eye, worm s eye) portrait: A painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. rock n roll: A genre of popular music originating in the 1950s. A blend of black rhythm-and-blues with white country-and-western. Rock is a generic term for the range of styles that evolved out of rock n roll. 3
PRE- and POST-VISIT ACTIVITIES Coming of Age in America: The Photography of Your Student Body Documentary This project may be modified for grades 6-12. MOTIVATION Have students look carefully at the photographs from Coming of Age in America: The Photography of. Explain that these photographs are considered documentary photography. What might this mean? What are they documenting? (See definition on page 15.) Next discuss what type of portraits Szabo s photographs paint of these high school students. Brainstorm a list of adjectives that could be used to describe how the students appear in the photographs (For example: rebellious, passionate, vain, etc.). Look carefully again at the photographs and discuss why the viewer gets these impressions. What types of environments are they in? What types of activities or interactions are they engaged in? What facial expressions and body positions/stances do they display? Finally, compare the students in the photographs to students today. What is similar? What is different? If you were to create your own documentary photographs of students in your school in 2012, how might they be similar or different? PROCEDURE Create documentary photographs and/or video of the students in your school. 1. Before beginning to take photographs or film, decide as a class what aspects of being a teenager in 2012 define the student body in your school. What types of things do students do in their free time? What takes priority in their lives? What do they feel strongly about? Who do they identify with and why? 2. Be sure to recognize that no student population is homogenious and that there will most likely be a broad range of answers to the questions in number 1. This diversity should then be represented in the photographs or film created as a class. 3. Identify key acitivities and environments to be included and begin taking photographs and/or filming students. 4. Try not to stage or pose any of the photographs. Encourage students to keep their cameras with them as often as possible and keep their eyes out for the right moment to capture an image. 5. Once all of the photographs/film have been taken, print or edit as necessary. When complete, critique and discuss the success of the project. What photographs do students think best represent the student body? What else might be added to enrich the project further? EXTENSIONS Beyond the Classroom Organize an exhibition or screening of the project for the whole student body and gather student reactions. Did they feel that the imagery really captured their identity? Why or why not? Oral Presentations/Peer Teaching Once the students view the project, share images of s photographs and have the students teach their classmates about his photography and what they learned from it. 4
Coming of Age in America The Photography of The Heckscher Museum of Art Hurt, 1972 Silver gelatin print Courtesy of the Artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC 5
Coming of Age in America The Photography of The Heckscher Museum of Art Irene and Lena, 1975 Silver gelatin print Courtesy of the Artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC 6
Coming of Age in America The Photography of The Heckscher Museum of Art Dawn In Her Room, 1985 Silver gelatin print Courtesy of the Artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC 7
Coming of Age in America The Photography of The Heckscher Museum of Art Beached Bikini, 1989 Silver gelatin print Courtesy of the Artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC 8
Coming of Age in America The Photography of The Heckscher Museum of Art Lifeguard s Dream, 1972 Silver gelatin print Courtesy of the Artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC 9
Coming of Age in America The Photography of The Heckscher Museum of Art Hey Fox, 1970 Silver gelatin print Courtesy of the Artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC 10
Coming of Age in America The Photography of The Heckscher Museum of Art Jones Beach Madonna, 1969 Silver gelatin print Courtesy of the Artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC 11
Coming of Age in America The Photography of The Heckscher Museum of Art Rolling Stone Salute, 1978 Silver gelatin print Courtesy of the Artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC 12
ALSO ON VIEW A Way with Words: Text in Art October 29 - April 15, 2012 Words are not commonly considered an element of the visual arts, yet many artists incorporate words in their work. This exhibition of works from the Permanent Collection presents art that includes words, lettering, numbers, or symbols as subject, design element, or to convey information. In using text to augment the purely visual elements, these works give new meaning to the cliché a picture is worth a thousand words. Featured artists include Berenice Abbott, Mary Bauermeister, Robert Cottingham, Stuart Davis, Don Eddy, Red Grooms, Man Ray, Howardena Pindell, and Michelle Stuart, among others. (Top to bottom) William Richard Crutchfield, Help [detail], 1972, Serigraph on paper, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sol Orlinsky; Neil Scholl, Boardwalk Stores, Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York City, 1968, Photograph, silver gelatin print, Gift of the Artist. Across Time & Place Treasures from the Permanent Collection January 15 - March 25, 2012 This rotating Permanent Collection exhibition includes paintings, drawings, and sculpture from the 1500s through the late 1900s in a wide range of styles, demonstrating the breadth and depth of the Museum s collection. Daniel Ridgway Knight, Waiting for the Ferry, 1885, Oil on canvas, August Heckscher Collection. 13
EXPLORE THE COLLECTION @ www.heckscher.org Your Key to the Museum s Permanent Collection Learn about COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS. George Grosz s Eclipse of the Sun and much more! SEARCH THE COLLECTION of more than 2,200 works by artist, classification, or date. See artwork that is CURRENTLY ON VIEW. Click thumbnails for large images and detailed information. Select works of art have Huey s Kid-Friendly Information. These guided questions are designed for children to learn along with a grown-up. Huey makes it fun for everyone to look and learn together! 14
@ Everything you need www.heckscher.org SPECIAL EXHIBITION RESOURCE GUIDES for TEACHERS Prepare your students before their School Discovery Program! Guides are developed on a rolling basis and are available free of charge at www.heckscher.org. Simply click on Education / Educator Resources. All guides include exhibition-specific information including: Artist biographies Exhibition summaries Full-color artwork images Vocabulary words Pre- and post-visit activities KIDS CORNER The Museum displays artwork by young artists in this online gallery. HOW TO ENTER: Please send a.jpg of student artwork to seekamp@heckscher.org. All entries must include first name, title of the artwork, and artist s age. SHARE LESSONS and STUDENT ARTWORK Have you taught your students a lesson inspired by an exhibition on view in the Museum? Share it with us and fellow art teachers at www.heckscher.org. Please send a description of your lesson along with.jpg files of student work to seekamp@heckscher.org. All submissions must include teacher s full name, school name, district and grade level. 2 Prime Avenue Huntington, NY 11743 631.351.3250 www.heckscher.org Education Department 631.351.3214 QUESTIONS? Call the Museum s Education Department 631.351.3214 - Monday through Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, or e-mail seekamp@heckscher.org.