Henri Cartier-Bresson, the great French photographer, was famous for coining the term “decisive moment” in photography. This fleeting moment captured daily experience in the photographic image. There are decisive moments in one’s life as well. In 1932, a photograph by Martin Munkácsi inspired Cartier-Bresson to become a photographer. He stated in later years, “I must say that it is that very photograph which was for me the spark that set fire to fireworks. I couldn’t believe such a thing could be caught with the camera. I said, ‘Damn it,’ took my camera and went out into the street.”

The photograph, Boys Running into the Surf at Lanke Tangayika is part of the MIA’s photography collection.  Leave a comment to let me know if you want to see it in the galleries soon.

Saturday, December 10, Noon – 5 p.m. and Sunday, December 11, Noon – 4 p.m.

The Third Place Gallery
3730 Chicago Avenue S, Studio B
Minneapolis, MN 55407

Internationally recognized photographer Wing Young Huie is celebrating the first 6 months of the Third Place (his new gallery in South Minneapolis) with a Holiday Open House. Prints from Wing’s projects are available for sale, including images from the highly acclaimed Frogtown, Lake Street, USA, Looking for Asian America, and last year’s University Avenue Project, which was produced by Public Art Saint Paul. Prices start at $30 for 8×10 images, reflecting an effort to make the photographs accessible to a wide audience. Huie will be available to sign books and prints.

Like all of Huie’s endeavors, this is a community event. Neighbors and fans are encouraged to stop by to see the new space and enjoy hot cider. This corner is becoming a dynamic hub with the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, Blue Ox Coffee (organic, brewed by the cup), Covet Consign and Design (now offering custom and salvaged framing), and the Fox Egg Gallery.

Check out this nice article by Mary Abbe on Christian Peterson. We will miss Christian, but know that he will be a frequent visitor to the MIA’s Photography Study Room. He will also be on red alert when we can’t find prints. He created and maintained the collection for over thirty years, and knows where everything is. Don’t miss Christian’s last exhibition at the MIA, Wide-Eyed: Panoramic Photographs, which opens on September 15th.

The reviews keep coming in as “The Embarrassment of Riches: Picturing Global Wealth, 2000-2010” continues its run at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. Check out the latest review by Alice Thorson, a reporter for the Kansas City Star.

“Embarrassment of Riches” opened at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art last Friday night, February 25th.  This is an expanded version of the exhibition with twenty-six new works added, included new works by Andy Freeberg, Lee Friedlander, and Yvonne Venegas.

David E. Little’s lecture, which was scheduled for Feb. 20th, has been rescheduled to Sunday, March 27th. Click here for more information on the talk.

David E. Little, curator and head of photography and new media at the MIA, will be presenting a lecture at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, MN on Sunday, March 27th at 3 PM. This talk, titled “the Same Old, Same Old: Photography’s Short History,” will begin with photography’s short history within museums, and explore the categories that often shape the history of photography, such as landscape, portraiture, pictorial, straight, and street, among others. Using a wide range of examples, from Walker Evans to Cindy Sherman, the talk will touch on how photography’s history is changing and remains the same.

Opening last week, the Spectacular of Vernacular at the Walker Art Center explores the permeation of the vernacular through works of art since 1970. Approximately 40 works by two dozen artists are on display – including photographs by William Eggleston and Shannon Ebner. The show runs through May 8th, 2011. For more information on the Walker Art Center, click here.

Left: Edward Weston, Pepper No. 30, 1930, gelatin silver print, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Kate and Hall J. Peterson Fund  72.22

Right: Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage, 1907, photogravure, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The William Hood Dunwoody Fund  64.34.36.9

For many, January first is a day to nurse a hangover and watch too much college football. But that date was significant for the families of two famous American photographers.

On January 1, 1864, the parents of Alfred Stieglitz celebrated his birth in New Jersey. And on January 1, 1958, the sons of Edward Weston mourned his death in California.

Did, by chance, these two towering figures in twentieth-century photography ever meet? Just once, according to Weston, who kept diaries (he termed “daybooks”) much of his adult life. One entry recounted his November pilgrimage to New York, where the 36-year-old Weston showed the 58-year-old Stieglitz some of his photographs.

Weston claimed that others he shared his portfolio with in New York “showered him with praise,” while Stieglitz “laid it open to attack.” Don’t we wish we could have been there too, in order to take sides? Stieglitz versus Weston is a difficult choice.

If you are in the Chicago-land area, make a note to check out the Chicago Cultural Center’s current exhibition, Finding Vivian Maier: Chicago Street Photography.

Born in France, Vivian Maier immigrated to the United States post World War II. She moved to Chicago, where she worked as a nanny from the 1950′s through the 1990′s.  Today her photographs are being rediscovered thanks to the work of John Maloof and Jeffery Goldblum. John Maloof has been piecing together Maier’s life and work on the site Vivian Maier – Her Work Discovered. Look for an upcoming book on Maier’s work from PowerHouse in the fall of 2011.

The exhibition at the Chicago Culture Center runs through April 3rd. The exhibition is free.

Take a break from the holiday shopping and see Embarrassment of Riches: Picturing Global Wealth before it ends January 2nd!