2024 Aperture Gala Honors Nicole R. Fleetwood, Richard Misrach, and Helen Nitkin

NEW YORK, NY—October 18, 2024—On Thursday, October 17, Aperture celebrated its 2024 Gala at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in New York City. Aperture plays a significant role in shaping the conversation around photography through its nonprofit publishing and public programs, and the annual gala raises vital funds that help further Aperture’s established history of supporting artists and creating landmark publications. This year, the benefit raised over $1 million, and also marked a pivotal moment for Aperture, in anticipation of the organization’s upcoming move to a permanent new home on the Upper West Side. The evening honored three individuals who have partnered with Aperture and have made an indelible impact on culture through their visionary art, scholarship, and advocacy.

Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood, esteemed art historian and educator, has raised awareness and public engagement around social, economic, and political issues through her work, recently by coediting Prison Nation, the Aperture magazine issue and exhibition, which addresses the unique role photography plays in creating a visual record of the crisis of mass incarceration. Fleetwood will contribute to the forthcoming publication Kinship and Community: Highlights from the Texas African American Photography Archive (Aperture, fall 2025). At the gala, Fleetwood was introduced by Dr. Celine Parreñas Shimizu.

Renowned photographer Richard Misrach has declared that he learned the history of the medium of photography studying Aperture magazine and books in the Berkeley, California, public libraries. He has since published eight books with Aperture, and, in spring 2025, Aperture will publish his newest work, Cargo, a beautifully atmospheric meditation on the impact of global trade on the natural environment, that includes an essay by Rebecca Solnit. Misrach was introduced during the gala program by author Geoff Dyer.

Helen Nitkin has been an Aperture trustee since 2016. Nitkin chairs the Real Estate Committee, guiding the transition to Aperture’s home on two floors of the historic, landmarked building at 380 Columbus Avenue and 78th Street, which will augment the organization’s capacity to reach broader audiences who are curious about photography. Cathy M. Kaplan, Aperture’s board chair, introduced Nitkin at the gala event.

The evening featured a musical performance by L’Rain and a silent auction as well as a live auction animated by Sarah Krueger, Head of Photographs at Phillips, with prints by more than twenty artists who have been central to Aperture’s past and present, including Diane Arbus, Arielle Bobb-Willis, Robert Frank, Nan Goldin, Stephen Shore, and Ming Smith. Several of the works offered at the auction specifically reference and explore New York City and will be on view to the public at Aperture’s new home as part of the inaugural installation, imagined by Executive Director Sarah Meister, that highlights the significant connection between Aperture and New York. Aperture’s Upper West Side space will further connect to the city, and beyond, through on-site and virtual programming and activities centered on both new and storied publications. Full details will be announced ahead of the 2025 opening.
Gala cochairs were Kate Cordsen, Agnes Gund, Lyle Ashton Harris, Kristy and Robert Harteveldt, Elizabeth Ann Kahane, Cathy M. Kaplan, Judy and Leonard Lauder, Lisa Rosenblum and Georgina Celebic, Jamie and Robert Soros, Jon Stryker and Slobodan Randjelović, and Deborah Willis.

Joining the festivities were many artists who have collaborated with Aperture on publications and programs in support of their work over the years, including David Alekhuogie, Miranda Barnes, Sam Contis, Kelli Connell, Dawoud Bey, Rahim Fortune, Ethan James Green, Lyle Ashton Harris, David Hartt, Tommy Kha, An-My Lê, Diana Markosian, Susan Meiselas, Tyler Mitchell, Avion Pearce, Kristine Potter, Anastasia Samoylova, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Shikeith, Stephen Shore, Ming Smith, Coreen Simpson, Kunié Sugiura, and Nick Waplington.

For more information, visit aperture.org/gala.

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About Aperture
Aperture is a nonprofit publisher that leads conversations around photography worldwide. From its base in New York, Aperture connects global audiences and supports artists through its acclaimed quarterly magazine, books, exhibitions, digital platforms, public programs, limited-edition prints, and awards. Established in 1952 to advance “creative thinking, significantly expressed in words and photographs,” Aperture champions photography’s vital role in nurturing curiosity and encouraging a more just, tolerant society.

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For images, contact BFA.com or publicity@aperture.org

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Press Contact:
Lauren Van Natten
publicity@aperture.org