Online History Lecture: Brenton Hamilton
The Photo League, The Blacklist & Sid Grossman in
1940’s New York
Thursday, March 30, 4:00-5:15pm
$25

Purchase your spot below before 6:00pm March 29. Space is limited. We will meet through Zoom and a URL will be sent to those who register the evening before.

Sid Grossman was one of the leaders in what is often referred to as The Emergent New York School of Photography in the 1940’s. Grossman was a founding member of the Photo League project along with others.

This photography was made in the ferverment of change and politics – where society, photography and the government collided. The Photo League, the left leaning philosophies of some of its members, and the climate in America at the time make a kind of certain influence upon the work and sensibilities.

Join historian Brenton Hamilton as he delves into the dynamic photographs and the atmosphere of 40’s New York: its protest, revolution, and interest in the social scene. Grossman’s photography is intimate and urban simultaneously, and looks at people and a time in a certain way. His inventive lens and personal ideas make a signature aesthetic.

Bio
Brenton Hamilton is a working artist using photography, especially devoted to the use of 19th century photography methods in experimental ways. He has devoted his career to the history and practice of cyanotype, gum bichromate and platinum as base materials for his stories and images within his personal work, which is frequently embellished with gold and silver and paint.

In addition to his practice, Hamilton was an educator at the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine and taught these materials and methodologies for nearly 30 years to thousands of students. He has an MFA in photography, exhibits regularly, and is a full time instructor working with students in darkroom techniques, the history and development of photography as a cultural force, and many disciplines within photography’s scope. He is currently a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

A 25 year retrospective monograph highlighting Hamilton’s work has just been released in 2020. The essay was written by the critic, Lyle Rexer. To order A Blue Idyll, Hamilton’s beautiful book, visit his website. >