Focusing on the Hidden History
Perched somewhere above a “We Buy Gold” joint and a Latin restaurant on Kingsbridge Road in the Bronx, a darkroom turned storage closet was once a repository for an almost overlooked visual history. It was an unlikely spot for an equally unlikely – and unrivaled – collection that now comprises 700 photographs by Latino, African-American and Asian photographers and other artists of color.
Such were the origins of the permanent collection of En Foco , which started as a Latino photographers’ group in 1974, when notions of community, art and ethnic pride fueled a movement that stood in defiance to the slights of the mainstream art world. Many of those groups have gone, victims of the vagaries of financing or the fickleness of curators, who might think the country is in a post-racial era.
Yet among its supporters, En Foco – where I worked after graduating from college in 1979 – continues to exist, though it long ago moved itself and its archives to offices at the Bronx Council on the Arts . It retains its mission to foster cultural diversity, encouraging up-and-coming photographers and challenging those who curate shows and publish books.
“It has a sense of history that is really great,” said Deborah Willis , chairwoman of the department of photography and imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. “It’s not a post-racial world. I’m amazed when I attend exhibits, and I wonder: ‘Where are the points of view of others? Where are the other voices?’ This organization is important for curators, so many of whom don’t have the time to seek out and look for new names.”
An exhibition spanning several decades of work published in the group’s Nueva Luz magazine opens Tuesday at Sarah Lawrence College . Next month, a selection of Jaime Permuth’s work on the repair shops and scrapyards of Willets Point, in Queens, opens at the Pregones Theater in the Bronx. And in May, Ajira in Newark will host a show culled from the permanent collection.
How To Make An Artists Enlarger - News
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Cheap Electronics Review: Artograph Tracer Projector And Enlarger
Product Description
ARTOGRAPH-This lightweight and portable projector easily makes enlargements up to 10 times the size of the original artwork. No set-up or assembly required. Projects in colors or black and white. Simply place your artwork under the Tracer Projector and immediately see a larger version projected against a screen or wall. Great for signs and murals. Copy Size: 5-inch by 5-inch. Projection range: 2-inch by 14-inch. Common 10 watt bulb included. UL listed. 120 volts.
The way it is constructed, the bottom is a square hollow tube, with a light bulb only a few inches away from the opening. You place the tracer on top of whatever opaque photograph or paper you intend to trace. Then, after only a few minutes, the Tracer (because of the light bulb trapped inside its plastic body) heats up to extraordinary temperatures. Within five to ten minutes, it will curl a photograph and turn a printed out picture into a strangely wrinkled landscape because of the extreme heat. DO NOT use originals for tracing that you want to preserve!!!! Make a photocopy!! Also you can only enlarge a sketch that is about 4" by 4", because that is the size of the square opening on the bottom. Being that this is my very first experience using a tracer/enlarger projector, I found it very simple and really fun to use! As I read the first comment, I was puzzled as to why the customer was angered and blamed the projector for curling up a photograph, when the manual (which I believe everyone should take a moment to actually read) specifically tells you not to use original photographs. I'm sorry, but it's really common sense. One customer (an artist) stated that she couldn't achieve sharp focus using even a simple black and white line drawing. I found it was pretty simple to focus. Once I got everything set up I quickly sketched a simple b/w line drawing on a white piece of paper and adjusted the focus, and I was excited to see the results! I don't know. I had fun using it.