benzuckerphoto.com's photostream

Benjamin L Zucker

In Between Before and After are fragments of everyday life, splintered situations involving strangers and anonymous urban locations. Each frame is an ambiguous, minimal short story whose beginning and ending are not told.
The images that compose In Between Before and After are restricted and de-contextualized because of the camera’s close position to the subjects. Images register on a color field of gray, (as in concrete and asphalt), punctured by the bright splashes of color from a red bucket or a yellow shopping bag. Point of view is in the details.

The closely cropped frame, eliminating certain details of the figure and the context, creates ambiguity, allowing the viewer to make various readings of the situation, but the repetition of motifs and consistent situations clarifies content.
The images bring us close to the people in the pictures; we draw tentative conclusions, perhaps make judgments, and we feel their anxieties even when we don’t understand them. There is a general mood of unease and sense of alienation. A certain impersonal detachment clashes with the intimacy of proximity and identification.


www.benzuckerphoto.com



EDUCATION
2010
MFA. Pratt Institute. Brooklyn, New York
2006
BFA Photography. San Francisco Art Institute. San Francisco, California


SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010
In Between Before and After #1. Steuben Gallery. Brooklyn, NY
2007
Western New England College. Springfield, MA
2006
Stillights Gallery. San Francisco, California
2006
Chameleon Café. San Francisco, California
2005
Chameleon Café. San Francisco, California


GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2010
Durations. Daniel Cooney Fine Art. New York, NY
The LABA Gallery. 14thSt. Y. New York, NY
2008
Aswoon Gallery. DUMBO. Brooklyn, NY
Phoenix Grounds Gallery. San Francisco, California
2007
Phoenix Grounds Gallery. San Francisco, California
2006
Stillights Gallery. San Francisco, California
2005
Stillights Gallery. San Francisco, California
2003
Drury Gallery. Marlboro, Vermont

PUBLICATIONS
2008
The International Library of Photography – “Endless Journeys”
2008
Schmap. San Francisco, California.
Online Contribution of Digital Photography to leading publisher of digital travel guides.
2007
Now Public. Crowd Powered Media.
Online Contribution of Digital Photography for San Francisco story, “Chinatown, My Chinatown.”
www.nowpublic.com/culture/chinatown-my-chinatown
2006
Urban Narratives. Ben Zucker.
Edition of 5 soft cover books, 29 pages, full color.

COLLECTIONS

Western New England College. Springfield, Massachusetts
Exhibitors work in president’s office

Phoenix Grounds Gallery. San Francisco, California
Visiting Artist in Residence


EVENTS

2010
Brooklyn, NY
In Between Before and After. Exhibition of 24x36" photographic prints. Framing, Install and Deinstall, Lighting and Sign making.

2008
Hampshire College. Amherst, MA
Breaking Barriers. History of African American Tennis and the ATA

Assisted in gallery installation and de-installation of several large 60’X16’ mural prints. Acting director of photography and video for the opening reception.

2007
Western New England College. Springfield, MA

Visiting lecturer for an “Intro to Art” class accompanied a month long solo show at the college. Thirty-minute talk consisted of background of “Urban Narratives” project, contextual history of Chinatown and photographic techniques I utilized during the 7-month shoot.

2007
Hopkins Academy Gym. Hadley, MA
Restorative Athletic Demonstration and Training.

Acting director of Photography. My duties consisted of photographing demonstrations and later managing images for promotion and construction of Tennis Professionals’ website.


2006
University of Massachusetts Nursing Reunion Lecture & Lunch. Amherst, Massachusetts.

Acting director of Photography. My duties consisted of photographing alumni, guests, visiting lectures. Other duties included: Photoshop image correction and presentation to UMASS Alumni publication.



INTERNSHIPS
2007
Nona Hatay. Artist/Photographer. Holyoke, MA

Duties consisted primarily of studio work: material packaging of work, scanning photography, scanning negatives and slides for archiving. Other tasks included organization of art for distribution and sale by indexing 25 years of accumulated Rock and Roll photography. I’ve spent 25 hours researching on the World Wide Web for appropriate venues to have this work sold. I have also contacted these galleries regarding exhibition/purchasing of work.



LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English and German