Archive for November, 2009
Randal Levenson: “Rural Americana”
Snow-Kones- $1.00
ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY
Randal Levenson studied photography at the Rhode Island School of Design. His work has been exhibited in many galleries and museums in the United States and Canada. A book of his work, In Search of the Monkey Girl, was published by Aperture in 1982, with a text by Spaulding Gray.
A master printer, he has worked with artists such as Richard Avedon, Josef Karsh, and Robert Frank.
Randal has taught photography at the University of Ottawa in Canada and has lectured widely, most recently at his alma mater Brown University.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Photographing sub-cultures has always compelled me. My early work, shooting carnivals and sideshows with large format cameras, was compiled after ten years of travelling and making images all over the United States and Canada. My recent work has focused two subjects, working environments and communities and individuals living “outside the grid.” In the last few years, I have travelled up and down the east coast and throughout the South taking photographs. A consequence of making these images, and perhaps even the intention of it, is an opportunity to explore the lives of strangers and satisfy a curiosity about realities different from mine.
Randal Levenson
All of Randal Levenson’s photographs come with hand-made ash frames (created by the artist), and all pieces are priced at $1400 each.
New and Used Tires South Dixie Highway
Miami, Florida
2009
This is where I get my flat tires fixed. I like the colors….yellow and morning grey day.
Bicycle Repair Shop
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York
2009
I stopped at the corner bodega to get a soda and when I walked out, there were these two guys enjoying the day in front of their garage.
George is living off the grid on the Tennessee River. The evening I took this picture, he had just finished doing his laundry. The fire is where he boiled the water and the empty baskets are still out. We started talking about books and George said his favorite author was Patrick F. McManus, the outdoor humorist. Then he pointedly asked if I knew of McManus’ character, Rancid Crabtree.