Game Changers

By Elin Spring

At long last, we begin to emerge from one of the most earthshaking years in living memory. What better time to consider other game changers and cultural inflection points in our American story? Four absorbing and distinctive photographic perspectives do just that at Gallery Kayafas in Boston’s SoWa Arts District: Harold “Doc” Edgerton’s In A Flash!, Bill Chapman’s A Fool Such As Us, Kevin Bennett Moore’s Safe In My Garden, and held over in the Alcove, Nicole Buchanan’s Strange Fruit. All exhibits will be on view through April 24^th, 2021.

“Milkdrop Coronet” 1957/1985 by Harold Edgerton (1903-1990), courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Harold “Doc” Edgerton (1903-1990) famously invented the strobe flash, changing photography and the way we perceive motion. Using a short duration, single flash, he froze the action of a bullet piercing an apple (Feature Image) or a droplet of splashing milk. By using multiple flashes in a single exposure (most often executed in total darkness), he revealed the components and fluidity of movement during an athletic feat or a bird taking flight. I still see posters of Edgerton’s iconic images in dorm rooms today, fifty to eighty years after they were created. What explains this staying power? The stunning precision and awe-inspiring beauty of “Doc” Edgerton’s photographs are a brilliant fusion of physics, art and his relentless curiosity that still ignite intrigue even as they expose unseen mysteries.

“Backdive Multiflash” 1954/1984 by Harold Edgerton (1903-1990), courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Bobby Jones, Golf Multiflash” 1938/1984 by Harold Edgerton (1903-1990), courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

The exhibit features images made from 1938 through 1973 and includes ten richly saturated dye transfer prints and seven stunning gelatin silver prints. Since gallery owner and director Arlette Kayafas and her husband Gus were close friends of “Doc” Edgerton and his family, amazing and amusing backstories about the photographs on view will reward your welcome inquiries. This is a stellar selection, reminiscent of a museum collection, and I encourage photography lovers not to miss this opportunity to see it in person.

“Pigeon Release” 1965/1985 by Harold Edgerton (1903-1990), courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“40th Anniversary of Elvis’ Death, Graceland, 2017” by Bill Chapman, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Wooden Heart, Memphis, TN, 2014” by Bill Chapman, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Anyone stuck in a checkout line stocked with tabloids can attest to the enduring legacy of Elvis Presley. In A Fool Such As Us, veteran documentary photographer Bill Chapman has taken a deep dive into the ethos of Elvis that swelled into a cultural fetish that persists decades beyond his death in 1977. With images from the star’s Graceland estate – a tourism magnet that generates millions of dollars a year – and surrounding Memphis, Tennessee, to culturally and geographically distant Massachusetts, Chapman identifies uniquely American displays of Elvis worship. From elaborate Graceland tributes and impersonators at T stops to buildings and buses bearing Elvis’ image, Chapman’s vibrant and skillfully composed photographs capture America’s robust Elvis obsession with insightful humor.

“Kenny La Monte, Boston, MA, 2017” by Bill Chapman, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Blue Suede Bus, TN, 2016” by bill Chapman, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Return to Sender, Cambridge, MA, 2017” by Bill Chapman, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Satellite of Love, October, 2020” by Kevin Bennett Moore, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Chemtrails, November, 2020” by Kevin Bennett Moore, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

In his first gallery exhibition, Safe In My Garden, Kevin Bennett Moore explores contemporary LGBTQ life in America by contrasting it with a mid-century modern aesthetic. This disparity accentuates an enigmatic tension in his images while indulging Moore’s delightfully sophisticated cinematic flair. Creating sets reminiscent of the 1950’s and 60’s, an idealistic period that veiled a rigid moral code, Moore stages autobiographical scenarios that highlight the discomfort of outliers in society. Surreal, Hitchcock-like color shifts of glorious, cloudless blues and otherworldly yellows, as well as voyeuristic camera angles, spike the dramatic unease. In scenes as guileless as mowing the lawn or birdwatching, we never really know what is going on and the effect is engrossing. Moore’s large color photographs are mesmerizing, as is the eccentric installation, ensnaring viewers with their magnetic beauty and edgy ambiguity.

“Bird Watcher #2, August, 2020” by Kevin Bennett Moore, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Line-dry, July 2020” by Kevin Bennett Moore, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Don’t Know Yet What Car I Drive, September, 2020” by Kevin Bennett Moore, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Strange Fruit, Untitled #5, June 14, 2020” by Nicole Buchanan, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Strange Fruit, Untitled #29, June 2, 2020” by Nicole Buchanan, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

In the Alcove, photographer Nicole Buchanan presents work from her series Strange Fruit, an aptly symbolic title referring to the jazz classic that is an unnerving euphemism for Southern lynchings, memorably performed by Billie Holliday. Buchanan documents Black Lives Matter protests following the ruthless murder of George Floyd last May. To her credit, she focuses on human symbols and signals, rather than on the ubiquitous lettered signs at these rallies. Buchanan’s portraits are lyrical, visually uniting a rainbow of flesh to suggest that skin tone is merely a variation on the theme of our collective humanity. Her compelling images of impassioned individual and collective cries for justice underscore a galvanized empathy that may finally herald a true inflection point in American history.

“Strange Fruit, Untitled #1, June 12, 2020” by Nicole Buchanan, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

For information about these exhibits and accompanying gallery events, go to: https://www.gallerykayafas.com/

Feature Image: “Bullet Piercing the Apple” 1964/1985 by Harold Edgerton (1903-1990), courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston.