New York Times' photograph exhibit relives history

By: PATRICIA MORRIS BUCKLEY - For the North County Times | Wednesday, July 20, 2005 5:39 PM PDT ∞

Can an art exhibit appeal to everyone, despite differences in age, economics or other social factors? According to Mary Catherine Ferguson, director of the California Center for the Arts, Escondido Museum, "Live With History" fits that bill.

The show includes 100 black-and-white photographs taken since the mid-1800s by the staff of The New York Times. These images include the Wright Brothers' first flight, the explosion of the Hindenburg, Abraham Lincoln outside the tents at Antietam, Jackie Robinson stealing home plate at Ebbets Field, the construction of the Eiffel Tower, President John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office, the World Trade Center and the vestiges of a disappearing American Indian culture.

"Whatever a visitor's age, we can all identify with these photographs," Ferguson said. "These days, it's important to remember our past. It reminds us that no matter how difficult times can be, we can persevere. That's uplifting. There are values inherent in the stories that these photos tell."

The exhibition features the work of some of America's most famous photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward S. Curtis, Berenice Abbott and Andreas Feininger. Other significant archives are represented as well, including the George Eastman House, Edward S. Curtis Archives, Hulton Getty, Bettmann/Corbis, the New York Historical Society and the Museum of the City of New York.

"There's a power in remembrance that is captured in these images," Ferguson said. "The New York Times is a very popular source of news. All the visual images in the show are provocative and memorable."

The difference with these photographs is that they record important moments in history in a spontaneous manner.

"It's because they're not staged," she said. "There's no pretense. The photo is in the moment, and that can't be replicated. There's an element of surprise in photojournalism that can't be replicated, and that's what makes it so emotional."

Visitors to the Escondido exhibit, which opens Friday, will have the opportunity to see three other shows also on display in the museum.

"Piece Me Together With a Needle and Thread: Quilts by Patrice Longmire" celebrates the art quilt. "10 North: An Artists Group" features the work of North County artists Carol Black, Pamela Brasel, Susan Avery Clark, Diane Detwiler, Pat Dispenziere, Helen Shafer Garcia, Phyllis Kelley, Jane LaFazio, Rhonda Miles and Jeannie Moore. And "Alcania de Coco en Mexico" is a collection of coconut shells intricately carved by the inmates of the San Juan de Ulua jail in Mexico.

"One of the focuses of the museum has been to break up the space," Ferguson said of the multiple exhibits. "We see our function as more of a museum than a gallery."

"Live With History" is definitely a museum type of show.

"It's such a wide variety of photographs," she said. "But the greatest power of this exhibit is that it attracts people of all ages and backgrounds. It helps us see that the past shapes who we are today and we can learn from that."

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