George Eastman House Blog

Eli Reed is a prize-winning documentary photographer, and a member of Magnum. He also works in the motion picture industry as a special photographer.

His exhibition Black in America is on display at George Eastman House through June 29, 2008.

“Eli Reed has been documenting the black experience in America from the time he began taking pictures. This volume, “Black in America”, is his provocative and often poignant portrait of black life in America.

As a photographer, Reed is known for his unflinching coverage of events both large and small. Here we see tender moments between parents and children contrasted with the Los Angeles riots. The joy of a wedding follows the sorrow and anger at the funeral of Yusef Hawkins (whose death sparked the Crown Heights riots in Brooklyn in 1991). The deceptive innocence of rural life balances the tension of the urban drug scene. A 104-year-old woman contemplates her life a few pages away from the Million Man March in Washington, D.C.

There is the truth in Reed’s work, as well as anger, and compassion. These images communicate to us - sometimes as gentle as a kiss, sometimes as hard as a bullet. They are all part of Eli Reed’s America, and ours.”

George Eastman House has commissioned Reed to create a contemporary and localized supplement to his series, photographing Rochester’s African-American community. I was fortunate enough to lead the organization and producing for his Rochester work. It always amazes me how much you can accomplish with a few phone calls. I took Eli to see the Campbell Brothers, at the House of God in Rush NY. He was blown away by the music and the hospitality that The Campbell Brothers and their church community extended to us.

Here is Eli with The Campbell Brothers

He also made a contact with Mr. Charles Price, Rochester’s first African American Police Officer. Eli and I went to his house where he took a portrait of Mr. Price and his wife.

I also had the pleasure of taking Eli Reed over to The Community Darkroom here in Rochester. The Darkroom runs a Urban Youth Program and has so for many many years.

We really only had 30-45 min for Eli to talk and be with the kids, as I needed to get him back to the museum to get ready for his lecture. We ended up staying for an hour and a half. The kids were glued to Eli’s every word. The students put one of their 8×10 photographs on the wall and Eli took the time to talk to each kid about their photo. Eli said he had a wonderful time and would like to visit them again when he comes back to photograph Rochester.

Thanks to Sharon at the Darkroom for contacting GEH to see if Eli would want to visit and thanks to Eli for taking the time to spend with each student.

Spring is near, and new things are popping up all over the museum. Eastman House’s spring exhibition Larry Towell: The World from My Front Porch is currently on view through June 15. Below are some shots of this multi-media exhibition that presents a retrospective of work by the photographer Larry Towell, featuring photographs, writings, and audio recordings of original spoken words and music performances.

 
The view from Eastman House’s front porch is changing as well. Most noticeably is the I Know It Happened And It Happened Like This installation by artist Heather Layton. In conjunction with Eastman House’s Loss/Hope exhibition series, this monument is founded on the idea that we, as citizens, are equally responsible for the welfare of an entire community, not just the issues that directly affect us as individuals. All of the items have been donated by members of the Rochester community. Visitors continue to add to the pile throughout the installation. Below are a few views of the monument.

 
Winter aconite are also appearing on Eastman House’s front lawn under the great beech tree – an early sign of spring.