Through his day job as a TV cameraman for “docu-reality” channels like Discovery, Michael Ruggirello is able to pursue his deeper passion for depicting vignettes of larger stories in series of small still color photographs shot wherever his work takes him. While in Palestine for a war documentary, Ruggirello plunged into the heart of the “weekly riot” against the Israelis in the town of Ni-Lien, where he captured in four frames a masked resistance fighter launching a boulder from a state-of-the-art slingshot that any rude boy would die for. Ruggirello can also step back from the action to get a bigger picture, as when he shows us a pristine strand of trees, its brutal clearing by heavy machinery, and the devastation left in the wake. Ruggirello says that he wants his vest-pocket visual dramas to convey their meanings without textual embellishment; he achieves his aim admirably and, in the process, combines the meditative virtues of the still image with the impulsion of narrative. (Michael Weinstein)
Through September 15 at The Coop, 845 W. Fulton #201
For Us: A Review of "Something from Something" at Engage Projects Kushala Vora and Adia Sykes’ collaboration "Something from Something" tells us as viewers that knowledge, art, creation, inspiration, love—really anything you can think of—has a place of origin.
Women Behind the Lens: A Review of "From Her to Eternity" Courtney Love curates on the street. Just west of Wabash on the corner of Eighth Street, there is a wall of stellar rock star images that includes a special collection made by women photographers over the years.
Looking Down: A Review of Bob Tanner at Perspective After the loss of his wife, Bob Tanner made two photography series, “At Ocean’s Edge” and “At Winter’s Edge,” that are shown in this meditative show filled with graceful visual poetry.
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