Aperture’s 2020 Virtual Gala Honors Trailblazing Women in Photography
Ming Smith, Acid Rain (“Mercy Mercy Me,” Marvin Gaye), ca. 1977
Courtesy the artist and Aperture
For sixty-eight years, Aperture has chronicled, reflected, and encouraged innovation in photography. Women have played a central role since Aperture began in 1952—with Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, Nancy Newhall, and Dody Weston Thompson critical to the creation of Aperture magazine—and throughout its history as a prominent thought-leader in our field. On October 20, Aperture’s first free virtual gala honors Dr. Naomi Rosenblum and Ming Smith, two legends who have played important and undersung roles in the evolution of photography.
The gala, streamed on YouTube Live, will feature entertainment and surprises by April Hunt, Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean, and Cecily, alongside tributes and special guest appearances by Derrick Adams, Chris Boot, Sherry Bronfman, Darius Himes, Cathy Kaplan, Antwaun Sargent, and Deborah Willis.
Coinciding with the gala, Aperture is partnering with Christie’s for an online auction, with live bidding October 19–28 of over sixty pieces by artists such as Sharon Core, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Lyle Ashton Harris, Robert Mapplethorpe, David Benjamin Sherry, Stephen Tayo and more.
Read below to learn about this year’s Aperture Gala honorees, Dr. Naomi Rosenblum and Ming Smith, and register online for free to watch the October 20, 2020 Aperture Virtual Gala: Agents of Change on YouTube.
The eminent photography historian, curator, and author Dr. Naomi Rosenblum is being honored for her groundbreaking writings and teachings. These include the books A World History of Photography (1984 first edition, 2019 fifth edition), a canonical and invaluable reference for art historians; and A History of Women Photographers (1994 first edition, 2010 third edition), a definitive, eye-opening chronicle of women’s accomplishments in photography—which went on to inspire one of the first comprehensive traveling exhibitions of women’s achievements in the medium.
Courtesy the artist and Aperture
Aperture honors Ming Smith for her poetic images of twentieth-century African American life on the occasion of her first monograph, Ming Smith: An Aperture Monograph (Aperture/Documentary Arts, 2020). Smith moved to New York in the 1970s, joining the Kamoinge Workshop and publishing her work in the Black Photographers Annual. Known for her lyrical, often experimental meditations on jazz, African American communities, and cultural icons—from Sun Ra and Alvin Ailey, to Gordon Parks and Grace Jones—Smith has established herself as one of the greatest artist-photographers working today.
The 2020 Aperture Virtual Gala: Agents of Change will take place on Tuesday, October 20 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Click here for full program details and to register to watch the virtual event for free.
