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Book signing for Ansel Adams exhibition announcement.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.Obscura Gallery presents a book signing with Rebecca A. Senf, Chief Curator at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona, for her recent book Making a Photographer, The Early Work of Ansel Adams (Yale University Press). In conjunction with the book signing, there will be an exhibition of select works by Ansel Adams in our viewing room, to which Rebecca will refer to during her discussion of the book.

 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. Ansel Adams, Mirror Lake, Yosemite, 1935, 7 3/4 x 9 7/8â€, gelatin silver print.

 

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

VIEW THE WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION HERE.

 

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Nevada Wier exhibition announcement and images.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Obscura Gallery is thrilled to announce our first exhibition of 2022, “Invisible World,†by Obscura Gallery artist Nevada Wier. Using her own unique palette created from infrared photography, Nevada presents photographs from her global travels through the lens of her camera converted to only render infrared light. While based in Santa Fe, Nevada typically spends nearly 99% of the year traveling the world on assignment and leading workshops, specializing in documenting the various cultures of the world. She is recognized for her creative and intimate approach to photographing people. Grounded due to the global spread of COVID-19, Wier has remained at home during the pandemic probably more than ever in her working life.  But she has used the occasion to dive into her years-long archive of inspiring infrared photographs, which form this exhibition. We are excited to present a selection of over twenty images at Obscura, making the invisible visible through Nevada’s use of infrared photography.

Our visual familiarity is limited to the colors of visible light. Beyond what our eyes can see is the iridescent world of the infrared (IR) spectrum. Twenty-four years ago, I began exploring the challenge of making the invisible visible: photographing remote places using the unusual, haunting light of infrared. These images explore my favorite subjects of different cultures and less frequented lands. The subjects may be recognizable, but they are transformed by infrared light – more than meets the eye.    – Nevada Wier

Watch the recording of our Zoom webinar interview with Nevada below!

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

VIEW THE WORK IN THE EXHIBITION HERE.

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Exhibition of Paul Caponigro's vintage Polaroids.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

 

Obscura Gallery is honored to debut an exclusive gallery exhibition of vintage, one-of-a-kind Polaroid prints made during Paul’s tenure with the Polaroid Corporation in the 1960’s. In 1959, Ansel Adams introduced the Polaroid Corporation to Paul’s work and that following year Paul became a consultant to the company, testing out their Type 55 negative/positive film, and their Type 53 positive film on his 4 x 5 view camera using a Polaroid back. The 44 images in the exhibition were created in New  England  as well as Ireland and a majority of the prints in the exhibition were created on Polaroid Type 53, which does not produce a negative and creates a one-of-a-kind positive print. The project came to a close in 1969 with a selection of images created in Ireland, when that same year Paul began his Guggenheim fellowship photographing in that country. Other than exhibiting the work at the Polaroid Corporation and a couple of universities or non-profits this is the first extensive gallery exhibition of this unique work and Obscura Gallery feels privileged to be able to work directly with Paul in selling this collection, and all his photographs.

 

ZOOM WEBINAR WITH PAUL CAPONIGRO

Hear Paul Caponigro in discussion with Jennifer Schlesinger, the Owner of Obscura Gallery, about his tenure with the Polaroid Corporation in the 1960’s. Event took place Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 10am MST.

 

We have produced an exhibition catalogue which may be purchased here.

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL THE WORK IN THE EXHIBITION.

 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE.

 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

 

 

 

 

 

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Young woman stands by weathered, open window.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Obscura Gallery presents a photographic exhibition by Lebanese-born American artist Rania Matar entitled SHE which focuses on young women in the US and the Middle East who are leaving the cocoon of home and entering adulthood,  highlighting how female subjectivity develops in parallel forms across cultural lines. Artist and mother Rania Matar’s cross-cultural experiences inform her art. She has dedicated her art work to exploring issues of personal and collective identity through photographs of female adolescence and womanhood—both in the United States where she lives, and in the Middle East where she is from.

The Obscura Gallery exhibition is in conjunction with the Radius Books release of the same name and celebrates an opening reception with the artist on Wednesday, August 25 at Obscura Gallery from 5-7pm. The exhibition is on view August 25 – October 31, 2021.

 

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

VIEW THE ‘SHE’ SERIES HERE.

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Exhibition poster featuring historic and modern imagery.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Future Intercept transverses through time, rejecting western exotic, white gaze, stereotypes of Native people in America as a way to re-imagine the future of Indigenous and Native communities. Through the exploration of Futurism, we are presented with a narrative that looks back on a distraught past to reconstruct and foretell an impending future. By bending and folding the past and future as it collides, Apache artist Douglas Miles’ photo exhibition speaks on lineage and legacy within a community whose roots are deeply embedded across the Americas.
By appropriating online early images of Native Americans and juxtaposing them with his own contemporary photographs of his community, Douglas brings us from the past to the present day in a two dimensional image but creating a three dimensional reality. The contrast of his sharp contemporary imagery made with his hand-held smart phone, alongside often pixelated images found online of early Native American portraits, the viewer is transported through time both viscerally and literally.

There will be a reception with the artist on Friday, August 20, 2021 at Obscura Gallery from 5-7pm. The exhibition is on view August 6 – August 21, 2021.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL FUTURE INTERCEPT SERIES.

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Art exhibition featuring Susan Burnstine's photography.


 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Obscura Gallery is thrilled to present our 2021 Summer exhibition, Where Shadows Cease: Resonance of America’s Dream, with gallery artist Susan Burnstine. The prints in the exhibition include recent additions to Burnstine’s ongoing color series captured on self-made cameras, which explore the connections between the personal and collective unconscious during an unparalleled period in America. By infusing common dream themes and symbols found within the familiar, Susan Burnstine has observed commonly shared memories and universal representations found at places connected to the ethos of the “American Dream,†which reflect the collective hopes, fears and aspirations found in the social topography of America. Through revisiting iconic locations and landscapes across the United States she has explored corridors of this land through visual metaphor and symbolism as a means to uncover the hidden uniformities that reside within the nations’ collective unconscious in the present era.

The exhibition coincides with Susan’s workshop at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and the artist reception will take place at Obscura Gallery on Thursday, July 29, from 5-7pm.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

VIEW THE IMAGES FROM THE SERIES HERE.

 

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Exhibition poster for Ernest Knee's photographs.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

We are thrilled to share an exhibition of vintage photographs by Ernest Knee, a well-known photographer and cultural figure who lived in Santa Fe in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Knee is best known for his images of northern New Mexico and other southwestern cultural landscapes, Native American dances, and many other profound Southwest locations which reveal a remarkable visual record of the Southwest between 1930-40, comprised into two books: Santa Fe, N.M. (1942, Hastings House) and Ernest Knee in New Mexico (2005, Museum of New Mexico Press). Also included in the exhibition will be a selection of photographs from Mexico of which were published in his book, Mexico – Laredo to Guadalajara (1951, Hastings House).

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PRINTS IN THE EXHIBITION

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE

 

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Black and white dunes photograph by Kurt Markus.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Obscura Gallery launches our 2021 season with a solo exhibition of Kurt Markus’s dune forms photographed in Namibia, Africa, home to the largest sand dunes in the world. These images celebrate the meditative beauty found in these sensual shapes and forms created by the winds and natural forces ever-changing this unique landscape set within the coastal desert of Namibia. This is Kurt’s second solo show at Obscura Gallery focusing on his personal work in the landscape, the first being an exhibition of Monument Valley landscapes in 2018. Markus approaches this landscape with the same respect and admiration, demonstrating his attunement with the natural world as one would be when impacted on a spiritual level. Many of the images included in the exhibition were taken at Sossusvlei, in the southern part of the Namib Desert, which is a salt and clay ‘pan’ surrounded by sand dunes uniquely red in color and which are 5 million years old.

VIEW THE ENTIRE EXHIBITION HERE.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

 

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Exhibition flyer for Hugo Brehmes photography.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. HUGO BREHME, Cuernavaca, Mexico, c. 1920, 13.25 x 10.5″, gelatin silver print.

Obscura Gallery is excited to debut a solo exhibition by Hugo Brehme, one of the earliest Modern photographers working in Mexico in the early 20th Century. This photographic exhibition will include photographs and postcards focused on iconic Mexican subjects from that time period including scenic landscapes, colonial architecture, and the everyday life of indigenous peoples. Complementing the work of Hugo Brehme, we will also have a small selection of work by Manuel Alvarez Bravo, a prominent Modern Mexican photographer heavily influenced by Brehme, as well as Mexican photographer Manuel Carrillo who resonated his predecessor in the beauty and authenticity of photographing his culture in the mid to later part of the 20th Century.

 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. HUGO BREHME, Amecameca, Mexico, c. 1920’s, 13 x 10.25″, gelatin silver print.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.


VIEW THE ENTIRE EXHIBITION ON OUR ARTSY PAGE HERE.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE

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Holiday-Edition-scaled-1.jpg


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Holiday Edition 2020 offers a seasonally curated selection of work for sale, showcasing what our artists have been making during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, a sneak peak to upcoming shows in 2021, as well as sharing some fantastic vintage and contemporary photographs we’ve added to our inventory. Click here to read the announcement that includes an in-depth description of the Holiday Edition 2020.

 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
ALINE SMITHSON, Still Life Altered, from Fugue States, 2020, Archival pigment ink print, 16 x 16″, edition of 8.

 

We are offering a fifteen percent discount and free shipping on any purchases made from this special Holiday 2020 Edition through December 31, 2020. Just use the code HOLIDAY2020 at the checkout on our website. For the works that have a price on request, please inquire with us at here for more information.

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW IN DEPTH DETAILS ABOUT OUR HOLIDAY EDITION.

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL THE WORKS IN OUR HOLIDAY EDITION 2020.

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Cowboy saddling a wild horse illustration.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

 

The exhibition features a selection of photographs from Obscura Gallery’s contemporary photographers William Albert Allard and his legendary Vanishing Breed cowboy book; Kurt Markus’s poignant cowboy photographs from his three volumes of cowboy books including the seminal After Barbered Wire; selections from Joan Myers’ recently published Where the Buffalo Roamed – photographs of the ‘new’ West; and Manuello Paganelli’s photographs of African American cowboys in the West. In addition, the exhibition will include photographs by legendary 19th Century ranching photographer Laton Alton (LA) Huffman from Montana, as well as images from one of the first female ranching photographers, Elsa Spear Edwards Byron. In addition, Brant Mackley Gallery will be exhibiting a selection of Navajo saddle blankets and Northern Plains Indian beadwork from the late 19th through early 20th Century as well as other related material.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
View the exhibition in its entirety on our Artsy page by clicking here.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

 

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Woman posing confidently in stylish outfit.


DOUGLAS MILES  – LA VIE EN RES
A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

An online exhibition of photography-based media by Douglas Miles, whose work is rooted in Apache history and deeply engaged with the world of contemporary pop culture.

August 13 – September 7, 2020

We are thrilled to present an online exhibition with the photographic work of San Carlos Apache-Akimel O’odham artist Douglas Miles whose artistic work is rooted in Apache history and deeply engaged with the world of contemporary pop culture. Douglas Miles (b. 1963) is a multi-faceted artist working as a designer, filmmaker, muralist and photographer who blends Native history with political resistance. His work encourages reflection on how art can foster community-building and promote pride and well-being, especially among young Native people. The photographs in this online exhibition include portraits of Miles’ community of family and friends taken in San Carlos, Arizona, as well as the places Miles has traveled with his Apache Skateboards team in Utah, Navajo Nation, Los Angeles, Phoenix, AZ and other locations. The exhibition also includes images from the The Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Phoenix, Arizona in June and July of 2020.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
DOUGLAS MILES, Bonnie Skates, 2020, 13 x 19″, archival pigment ink print, edition of 15.

In coordination with what would have been the busiest month in Santa Fe known worldwide for the celebration of Native American art markets all throughout our city, we had been planning an exhibition of the exciting work of Miles for nearly a year. We had to change our exhibition plan and schedule several times to accommodate the sporadic nature of the Covid pandemic. We hope you will enjoy Douglas’ online exhibition, and when the time is right again, we will be honored to have Miles’ work grace the walls of our gallery.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
DOUGLAS MILES, Bex Paints in the Night, 2019-2020, 13 x 19″, edition of 15.

With themes that cover tradition as well as modernity, a major focus in Douglas Miles’ artistic work is on Apache warriors, dancers and musicians. Through these images, he hopes to instill a sense of pride and empowerment in his subjects. Miles sometimes adds the names of important chiefs and warriors to his work in the style of street art, be it hand-cut stencils, murals or graffiti.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
DOUGLAS MILES, Faceless Kimono 2019-2020, 13 x 19â€, archival pigment ink print, edition of 15

The warrior is an important image in Apache history and their greatness is at times forgotten, even amongst the Apache. I hope to reignite the strength, endurance, leadership and tenacity of the warriors of the past thru art, education and political awareness in all communities. – Douglas Miles


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
DOUGLAS MILES, Breeze Graffiti, 2019-2020, 13 x 19â€, archival pigment ink print, edition of 15

Miles developed and founded Apache Skateboards in 2002, a program designed to support the athleticism of skateboarding that emulates the strength, endurance and tenacity of warriors. Since its original inception, the program has expanded to include the arts, education, political awareness and empowerment by connecting mainstream skateboard culture with contemporary Native life. Many of the skateboard designs depict Apache warriors and the youth of the San Carlos Apache reservation on skateboard decks.

The skate team is comprised of women and men so you’ll see them [in the photos] as well.. I’m not an action sports photographer, mainly portraits. My skate team is probably the most innovative group I’ve ever worked with. They’ve used skateboarding as a way to build community and created excitement in Native Youth across Indian Country. – Douglas Miles

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
DOUGLAS MILES, Off the Reservation 2019-2020, 13 x 19â€, archival pigment ink print, edition of 15.

Of his photography he says,  I’m in love with the people , the faces, the times and the spirit they convey in each face.… I marry social media platforms and graphics with my photos and other borrowed imagery adding and layering the meanings and messages I want. To use social media the way it’s intended you have to see the world around you as a quick communication platform . Maybe I reclaimed some space but really just not sure if that’s what I’m really doing. I don’t feel I’m reclaiming anything at times . I’m really making my own space in my own image in my own time for my own people. It’s needed. Lack or representation plagues Native people. These photos punch up into those systemic barriers that keep us out of a larger cultural conversation. It’s about time.

Miles enjoys collaboration with other artists in almost all forms of his work and has worked with such artists as actor and author Ethan Hawke and artist Greg Ruth on a New York Times bestseller graphic novel, Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars. He’s also collaborated with actress and artist LivÃndrea Knoki on a selection of pieces with text and image in this exhibition including the Yves Saint Le Res and the Your Song pieces.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE

VIEW THE ENTIRE ONLINE EXHIBITION HERE.