Dresses 1, by Elizabeth Ribuffo
Of all the student photography shows in New York, SVA's annual Mentors exhibition — which opens tonight in New York — ranks among the most interesting in concept. Curated by Stephen Frailey, HHS! panelist and head of the school's BFA photo program, the show features work by over 80 students inspired by mentorships with some of NYC's best known art figures. "Our mentors are from every corner of the photography community - they help to inspire our students to take their work to a new level and to grow as professional photographers," writes Frailey.
This year's diverse group of mentors included several of our esteemed Hey, Hot Shot! panelists: Jen Bekman, Darius Himes, and Lesley A. Martin; photographers Taryn Simon, Gregory Crewdson, Ryan McGinley, and Brian Ulrich; gallerists Yossi Milo, Julie Saul, and Yancey Richardson; and photographer/blogger Joerg Colberg. The list goes on and on, and it's star-studded enough to make any photo-buff jealous.
Pictured in this post is work being exhibited by Jen's mentee Elizabeth Ribuffo, who stopped by JBP HQ on Friday to catch up with Jen and talk about the exhibition. The images are from her series Production Stills, taken while Elizabeth works on film sets.
"I was really struck by Liz's resourcefulness," says Jen, "I love that she's showing work that she made while on film sets, because it's the sort of thing I've seen evolve with other photographers who are trying to figure out how to make a living." The work of 20x200 edition maker — and HHS! honorable mention — Lacey Terrell comes to mind, for obvious reasons!.
Jen continues:
I'm impressed that Liz had the maturity to figure out how to work on parallel paths in an interesting way. It reminds me that great work is often made while working on other stuff. William Carlos Williams was a freaking DOCTOR and one of the greatest American poets ever. Once you enter the real world it's a huge struggle to not give up, I see it all the time. So I am really heartened by Liz's approach. I really love that wedding dress photo because it's kind of a perfect metaphor on a lot of levels."
"I think working on other things can make work more interesting. Not always, but often," says Jen. For the young photographers who were given the opportunity to work alongside these established mentors, the years of experience and second opinions are sure to have made the work more interesting. Mentors is only up through April 3rd, so make sure to get over to SVA and catch the show before it closes.
Mentors
March 19 - April 3, 2010
Reception: Tuesday, March 23, 6-8pm
School of Visual Arts Gallery
601 West 26 Street, 15th floor
New York, NY 10001
Installation shot of work by Elizabeth Ribuffo