“Women’s Work” Opens July 1 at Viewpoint

Viewpoint Photographic Art Center presents Women’s Work, a collection of photographs by women, from July 1 to August 13, with a Second Saturday reception on July 9 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The exhibit will include selections from the work of Ruth Bernhard, Imogen Cunningham, Berenice Abbott, Judy Dater, Margo Davis, Lynn Stern, Mona Kuhn, Linda Connor, Susannah Hays, Machiko Kurita, and Lawrie Brown. It is being presented in cooperation with the Scott Nichols Gallery of San Francisco, which graciously provided the prints.

The genesis of Women’s Work began in November of 2004 when Scott Nichols visited Viewpoint to view the Marion Wolcott exhibit. Nichols wound up being impressed not just by the Wolcott prints but also by Viewpoint, and offered Viewpoint the opportunity to assemble an exhibit from his gallerys collection. From several intriguing exhibit possibilities, the Viewpoint Board of Directors chose to mount an exhibit of photographs by women. The exhibit was curated jointly by Scott Nichols and by Viewpoint members Mark Howell, Gilbert Todd, Chris Fenrich, and Dana Bruce.

The curatorial intent was simply to present excellent photographs by excellent photographers. What resulted is a collection of photographs by grand masters, well-known artists in mid-career, and artists who are just now making their names. The photographs range from portraits to still lifes to landscapes and cityscapes to abstracts; the techniques range from traditional black-and-white and color prints to digital prints, platinum prints, and photograms.

Presented together in the open gallery space at Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, the photographs testify to the rich and varied work of women photographers over the last century. Whether the exhibit conveys something about how women’s work might be different from men’s work in photography is left to the viewer. That issue aside, these are splendid photographs that should both please and challenge those who care about the art of photography.