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Girl talk
Who Magna Brava
Where/When Stephen Bulger Gallery (1026 Queen West) to May 7. 416-504-0575.
What Prestigious but typically male-dominated Brit-based photojournalist collective Magnum celebrates contributions from six talented female members over the past 50 years.
Why To be in Magnum, you’ve got to be a shit-hot photographer. To be a woman in Magnum, you’ve probably got to be better than most of the old boys who run it.
Buzz See Eve Arnold ‘s exclusive shots of an introspective Marilyn Monroe, circa 1960, from the set of The Misfits, and Susan Meiselas ‘s documentation of young strippers from the small-town carnivals of 1970s America. It’s strange to imagine touring stripper carnies in the midst of women’s lib, but there it was.
Upcoming If, like many, you think of Magnum as the cat’s meow of photojournalism, the purring will continue for free at Harbourfront ‘s Brigantine Room May 12 at 7 pm, when images by more of the agency’s top photogs will be projected.
KEVIN TEMPLE
Canuck content
Who Don Newlands, photojournalist, writer, concert pianist and bon vivant.
WHERE/WHEN Upstairs at Club Lucky (117 John, 416-977-1900), May 1 to July 1.
WHAT Canada: A Nostalgic Glimpse. Masterful photo essays on Inuit, New Brunswick, Halifax and Hutterite communities in the 60s, and intimate portraits of Canadian politicos, celebrities and anybody else of note you can think of.
WHY Curator Dolores Gubasta says, “No one tells a story with a camera like Newlands. This is a rare chance to see a historical portrait of Canada in the 60s captured by one of the innovators of photojournalism.”
BUZZ Once hid in a closet to snap a young Queen Elizabeth dining, took the world’s fastest car for a spin with Peter Ustinov, hung out with Ronnie Hawkins and immortalized his buddy Pierre Trudeau in a turban rowing to Cuba.
DAVID JAGER
Young blood
Who The Inner City Visions Program, where approximately 50 inner-city youths created Re-capture .
When To May 19
Where Assembly Hall, 1 Colonel Samuel Smith, 416-338-7255.
What After learning to use cameras and a darkroom, the kidsX produced this collection of prints reflecting different takes on the word “re-capture.”
Why Says Danielle Bleackley, “Youth need an outlet to express themselves, and photography is a way to say what they feel without speaking or writing. A lot of them brings issues to the table that they see as relevant.”
Buzz While many viewers enjoy the fresh and honest statements in these unedited viewpoints, the youths also built their own confidence.
CATHERINE FARQUHARSON
Subway stop
Who AES+F Group and James Mollison
When/Where Osgoode Subway Station (Queen and University), May 1-31
What Great art in a venue that needs it. The Russian AES+F Group presents Suspect, 14 shots of normal-looking teenage girls, seven of whom are convicted murderers. See if you can guess who’s who. Mollison, with his 15 photographs of poacher-orphaned gorillas titled James And Other Apes, reaffirms our faith in humanity, curiously, by showing the human side of the great apes.
Why AES+F challenges us to distinguish the good people from the bad by the way they look. Try to guess, but be warned: if you’re the first to successfully pick who’s good and who’s evil, you win a print of one of these portraits. As for Mollison, his interrogation of the perceived differences between humans and animals fascinates and helps protect the gorillas from extinction.
Buzz Looking at murderous teenage girls gets extra-creepy in the context of the recent re-conviction of Kelly Ellard in the murder of Reena Virk in Victoria, while Mollison’s animal activism offers a refreshing change from PETA’s annoying extremist fervour.
Upcoming AES+F will continue to poke around the divide between East and West, and Mollison will likely return to his work shooting people for Colors, WHO and UNHCR.
KEVIN TEMPLE
