Dr. Maurice Berger 1956 - 2020

As I have written before in posts, when I was at the Legacies of LIGHT symposium at the Center for Creative Photography back in January I realized I was participating in something very special. Not only was the event documenting an important period in the history of the medium of Photography but I felt the symposium itself would one day be looked back upon as an historic event. One thing I noted was that the symposium would most likely be the last time all these incredibly influential people, those who helped shape where our medium is today, would be in the same room together. I had no idea how soon this would happen but on Monday March 23rd the Photography / Art / History worlds lost an important professor and curator who was at the symposium.

Maurice Berger was a writer, cultural historian, and curator whose work focused on the intersection of race and visual culture.  In 2018 he won the “Infinity Award” in Critical Writing and Research for his NY Times Lens Section columns “Race Stories”. He was also the Research Professor and Chief Curator at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. His spouse of 27 years was Marvin Heiferman who was a former LIGHT gallery employee and presenter at the symposium. Maurice passed away in New York from complications related to the COVID-19 virus.

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I did not know Maurice personally but I photographed him several different times at the symposium, including the moment he was photographing Marvin with their long time friend a fellow LIGHT gallery alum Laurence Miller, some of my best images from the symposium.

Earlier this month I sent prints to many of the people I photographed at the symposium . Larry Miller got his prints before Maurice and Marvin, Larry showed his prints to Marvin who immediately reached out to me asking for a copies, not knowing I had already made him prints. I am in shock right now with the realization that two weeks ago I was trading emails with Marvin about these images and two days ago Maurice died from the COVID-19 virus. After hearing the news last night I looked on Maurice’s Instagram page and saw a week ago he had posted an image of Marvin photographing in Hyde Park, NY and made a comment in another post about being in a crowded upstate New York market listening to people discuss the virus. Maurice’s decline and passing must have been incredibly fast which is scary. I was in Boston with my son, Brent, when concerns about COVID-19 started to really take hold in this country. We had planned a long road trip back when Brent’s hockey season ended but changed plans for a fast direct route when we realized how serious the situation was becoming. We have been back in California for almost a week now after witnessing the country shut down more and more as we traveled West. Hopefully we will continue to stay healthy as this pandemic passes through our society. Maurice’s passing brings mortality in to focus for me one more time this year (just a brutal year of loss), hopefully others in society will recognize the seriousness of the situation and be even more vigilant in their habits. My thoughts and prayers go out to Marvin, Maurice, and all their family and friends.

Obituaries for Maurice:

Baltimore Sun

The Jewish Museum

ArtNet.com

Interactive component of the Qualities of LIGHT exhibition at the CCP

An important component of the Qualities of LIGHT exhibition is the interactive element. I focused on it some in my initial post about the opening. Since there was more activity during the symposium I documented it and felt it worked best to highlight it again in a separate post.

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So again there were basically three interactive elements people could do. First was someone could have their photograph taken at a replica of Harold Jone’s LIGHT gallery desk by CCP’s David Ragland. Next you could sketch your hand to create a drawing to be bound in a book at the conclusion of the exhibition. LIGHT gallery did this at one point and the CCP was recreating that. CCP’s Camilla Stevenson was in charge of getting people to participate with this at the symposium and added a component by taking instant photographs of people to be included in the book with their hand sketches. I pushed the envelope with my sketch using my left had to sketch my right hand (most hand sketches were of left hands), then I had Camilla sign the instant print she took of me so she could lay claim to having a print in the exhibition then . The final station was where you could draw your own personal line map connecting yourself back to LIGHT gallery. I had completed my line map in December and after the symposium I could have added a lot more connections. I brought home a blank sheet so I will probably eventually update a copy for myself. All completed maps were pinned to the back wall of the interactive space to be shared. All three elements were fun and I especially loved the process of the line map.

Marvin Heiferman & Laurence Miller - The Qualities of LIGHT

I thought this moment was worth a separate blog post so it didn’t get lost in the larger body of post on the symposium.

On Sunday when there was a break before the final event I wandered around the gallery, which was mostly empty, and was rewarded for it. I already wrote a specific post on meeting Fern Schad which was fantastic. I was also able to photograph Alec Soth talking to Rick Wester about prints in the exhibition. Then I noticed Laurence Miller and Marvin Heiferman preparing to recreate the photo of them when they both were at LIGHT. Emily Una Weirich from CCP was getting a stool for Marvin to sit on and Dr. Maurice Berger was preparing to use his iPhone to photograph it. I saw the opportunity to photograph again so I took it.

For me I am very interested in the use of the cell phone in today’s world. I often look for phone use in my street photography and probably already have a solid body of work documenting phone use. I look for folks photographing with cellphones then see what I can compose. So not only did I capture the image above but I also photographed the photographer. One side note that I found interesting at the symposium was I one of the few people using a camera to document the event. Granted it was a small Sony RX100 vi , it still has a one inch sensor and is a camera. Everyone else seemed to just be using their cellphones to take an occasional photograph. This I found really odd because the lobby of CCP had large proof sheets of images from the parties and openings at LIGHT and it was obvious they used to document and photograph each other all the time. I am thankful they didn’t mind me intruding on their moment to document it.

Dr. Maurice Berger photographing Marvin Heiferman and Laurence Miller

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Fern Schad - Legacies of LIGHT at the CCP

I must admit something, before the inclusion of my print in the Qualities of LIGHT exhibition I didn’t know who Fern Schad was.  I graduated from ASU in 1986 just before LIGHT closed so they were still an active gallery and most my history of photography lessons had been about photographers not galleries or institutions.

At the Legacies of LIGHT symposium at the Center for Creative Photography, I quickly learned who Fern was and what an important role she played in helping to establish Photography as an accepted medium of art.  I detailed the experiences of the symposium in a separate blog post, but I wanted to do a separate post on Fern to highlight some things.

First, I truly enjoyed listening to her describe LIGHT, the time period in New York City, and her experiences.  She is a great presenter.

On Sunday after the last panel session concluded there was a break before the concluding celebration of Harold Jones and his work.  Most people were interacting in the lobby but luckily I went back in to the gallery to look around again. 

I found Fern walking through the main gallery alone looking at the photographs of the LIGHT artists.  I watched her as she spent time with each image and tried to imagine all she was recounting, not only about the images but of that period of her life.  I stayed back and took several photographs hesitating for her to between walls before interrupting her.

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I introduced myself, and explained I had studied under Bill Jay at ASU because she had spoken about working for Bill Jay.  I asked her about what it felt like being in this space and she spoke briefly about her memories.  I then thanked her for LIGHT and explained how the ripple effect of LIGHT was still continuing because I had a print in the Emerging Artists flat file component of the exhibition.  She was very gracious and asked to see my print.  It was a very powerful moment for me to watch Fern holding my print, studying it, and then talking with me about it.  Receiving validation from someone with her expertise and experience meant a lot to me considering how many important prints she has handled in her lifetime.  I am thankful that I thought to photograph her holding the print because the moment is important to me.  Having this print in the exhibition and later having it added to the permanent collection of the CCP is important for my career.  I only spent a few minutes with Fern but the experience will be one of the more memorable ones in my photography career.

Fern Schad viewing William Karl Valentine’s print which is included in “The Qualities of LIGHT: exhibition flat file drawers” at the Center for Creative Photography - University of Arizona.

When I returned home from Tucson I wanted to learn more about Fern.  I found she remarried Alfred H. Moses after Tennyson passed and that their Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund has sponsored numerous major photography exhibitions, some of which I have seen.   More photographers should know about Fern and her contributions to the medium, I am so lucky I was able to get to meet her and learn of her impact.