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