Ken Collins

Gitterman Gallery is proud to present an exhibition of contemporary black and white photographs by Ken Collins. The exhibition will open on Thursday, September 22, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

River Meditation is a series of images of the surface of water, light, and movement.  Influenced by concepts ranging from Abstract Expressionism to Minimalism, Ken Collins uses photography in much the same way that a painter uses brush strokes to create gesture. These exquisitely printed photographs of rich and subtle tonal range are not mere representations of the river.  They are abstractions of the river that emphasize emotional and spiritual content rather than descriptive detail. They are visual manifestations of Ken Collins’ imagination. 

The exhibition also includes selections from Collins’ prior series, Fort Greene Suite and Sacred Geometry which provide earlier examples of his interest in the meditative potential of photography. Fort Greene Suite depicts, through images of tree leaves in Brooklyn, the time of day in an urban environment when natural light is fading and the artificial light is beginning to take over.  Sacred Geometry explores the infinite subtleties of chiaroscuro and composition through still life using the simple elements of a three dimensional sphere within a two dimensional square.

Ken Collins received his BFA from the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA in 1981. He is currently teaching at the International Center for Photography, NY. Ken has enjoyed a long career as a New York based editorial photographer shooting for New York Magazine, New York Times and Artnews, as well as photographing for the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum and The Museum of Natural History, NY.  He was honored recently by the Parrish Museum for “Best in Show”.  His photographs are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

Ken Collins’ forthcoming book In Their Company, Portraits of American Playwrights is due in the spring of 2006 to be published by Umbrage Editions.