The FENCE Returns!

By Elin Spring

The 4th of July weekend is fast approaching and summer is upon us. Wouldn’t you love to get out and celebrate? We recently visited The Photoville FENCE in Winchester, MA and enjoyed a trifecta of enticements: engaging, juried public art, a walking path through lovely, landscaped green spaces and the amenities of a charming community, including a Town Common sprinkled with picnic tables and benches, bustling restaurants offering outdoor & indoor seating & plentiful frozen treats. Even our dog loved it.

The Photoville FENCE installation on the Town Common in Winchester, MA (Photo by Elin Spring).

The Photoville FENCE is an annual, juried public photography exhibition that calls for entries in seven categories and displays over 85 selected projects in partnership with local cultural and civic organizations in the parks and downtown areas of eleven (and growing) locations throughout North America. This is the ninth edition of The FENCE and the second year that it has been presented in Winchester, MA by Photoville, in conjunction with the Griffin Museum of Photography and the Winchester Cultural District, along with the support of many local organizations.

“Cat Women” by Brooke Hummer is a selection in the CREATURES category. Her clever riffs on classic historical portraits of women subvert the “cat lady” stereotype in a celebration of feminine strength and independence. (Photo by Elin Spring).

The most notable feature of this year’s exhibition is storytelling. Whether in the category of Creatures, Food, Home, Nature, People, Play or Streets, each selection presents glimpses of unusual and absorbing narratives from all over the world, including right here in New England. Some are more story than fine art but many are both. Not surprisingly, most selections address highly topical issues, ranging from racial and gender inequities to the effects of global warming, gentrification and social media.

“Ghosts of Segregation” by recent Guggenheim Fellow Richard Frishman is a selection in the STREETS category. His images explore the vestiges of slavery and Jim Crow era segregation in the built environment (Photo by Elin Spring).

“Belonging in Modern Times” by Karen Navarro is a selection in the PLAY category. Her whimsical images address the way people reconstruct their identities on social media platforms. Individual strips are embossed with popular hashtags. (Photo by Elin Spring).

At the end of our loop, I felt as if I had ingested a tasting menu of teasers for magazine editorial stories. Sure enough, the producers of The FENCE anticipated this and on each vinyl, there are URL codes that you can read into your cell phone to learn more about any story or photographer. I didn’t try this, but I understand that at some of the displays, musical accompaniment can be activated.

“We Are Here” with photographs by Robin Twomey and interviews by Monica L. Williams is a selection in the HOME category. They explore the socioeconomic consequences of gentrification in the vibrant Brooklyn community of Bedford-Stuyvesant (Photo by Elin Spring).

“The Good Dishes” by JP Terlizzi is a selection in the FOOD category. His deliciously designed images of heirloom fine china in graphic interplay with selected foods celebrates the memory and intimacy of family meals together (Photo by Elin Spring).

“Summer Fairies” by Kazuaki Koseki is a selection in the NATURE category. His magical nighttime images of an annual 10-day illumination by Japanese fireflies is a plea to protect the forest and its threatened species (Photo by Elin Spring).

The Photoville FENCE also includes a selection devoted to showcasing regional photographers. This year, the NEW ENGLAND SHOWCASE features Elizabeth Ellenwood’s Among the Tides: Sand and Plastic Collection, Michael Joseph’s Wild West of the East, Katalina Simon’s The Land Beyond the Forest, the Hadrian’s Wall Working Group’s Like A Whisper: Time on the Land, Kevin Bennett Moore’s George, James Collins’ Patio Life, Melinda Reyes’ The Quiet World of Aging, and WWYR Associate Editor Suzanne Révy’s A Murmur in the Trees.

“The Land Beyond the Forest” by Katalina Simon is a NEW ENGLAND SHOWCASE selection. Her images of rural life in a remote, mountainous region of Transylvania in Eastern Europe seek to recapture enchanted childhood memories (Photo by Elin Spring).

“Like A Whisper: Time on the Land” by Hadrian’s Wall Working Group is a NEW ENGLAND SHOWCASE selection. The collaboration by Deborah Dancy, Ray DiCapua, Janet Pritchard and Judith Thorpe is an expressive call and response to the fragmented history of ancient structures, excavations, and ruins of the Roman Emperor Hadrian’s Wall in Northern England (Photo by Elin Spring).

“Wild West of the East” by Michael Joseph is a NEW ENGLAND SHOWCASE selection. His intimate Polaroid street portraits chronicle the inimitable amalgam of characters that comprise Provincetown, MA (Photo by Elin Spring).

“A Murmur in the Trees” by Suzanne Révy is a NEW ENGLAND SHOWCASE selection. Her tranquil, multi-paneled New England landscapes embrace both a human and geologic passage of time (Photo by Elin Spring).

The Photoville FENCE will be on public display in downtown Winchester, MA through September 6th, 2021. Handy, free maps of the exhibition, with the walking loop and information on the location and category of each photographic selection are available at the Griffin Museum of Photography, a good starting point. For more information about the exhibit, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/9th-edition-of-the-fence-2021-winchester/

For more information about the individual photographers and their projects, go to: https://fence.photoville.com/artists/

Walking guides are displayed throughout downtown Winchester, MA. The Photoville FENCE will be on view through September 6th, 2021 (Photo by Elin Spring).