This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
("God bless America" Woody Guthrie (1912-1967)
For all Berliners and those who will hit our lovely town this weekend or in the following weeks - there will be an interesting exhibition at the Galerie für moderne Fotografie you should make sure not to miss.
Curated by our fashion-editor Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer and our beloved photographer Adrian Crispin, whose works are also exhibited, „This Land Was Made for You and Me“ takes stock of contemporary photography in the USA on the intersection of commercial, editorial and fashion photography and individual artistic positions.
In addition to our recommendation we did a little interview with Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer and Adrian Crispin.
Curated by our fashion-editor Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer and our beloved photographer Adrian Crispin, whose works are also exhibited, „This Land Was Made for You and Me“ takes stock of contemporary photography in the USA on the intersection of commercial, editorial and fashion photography and individual artistic positions.
In addition to our recommendation we did a little interview with Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer and Adrian Crispin.
American singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) who wrote the song “This Land is Your Land“ in the 1940s – a hymn that soon became one of the best-known and most covered of American folksongs – as a critical retort to Irvin Berlin’s “God Bless America”, which Guthrie held for an unrealistic and complacent portrayal of the United States.
In „This Land is Your Land“, Guthrie doesn’t only sing about the country’s beautiful landscape but also of its people and social realities, basing his lyrics on his own westward journey, having left his native Oklahoma, which was devastated by the severe dust storms of the Dirty Thirties.
In „This Land is Your Land“, Guthrie doesn’t only sing about the country’s beautiful landscape but also of its people and social realities, basing his lyrics on his own westward journey, having left his native Oklahoma, which was devastated by the severe dust storms of the Dirty Thirties.
The photographs in the exhibition „This Land Was Made for You and Me“ show snapshots of predominantly young Americans from the perspectives of such photographers as
Aaron McElroy, Anna Moller, Coley Brown, Colin Dodgson, David Schulze, Grant Willing, Kathy Lo, Logan White, Nicky Lesser, RJ Shaughnessy, Sarah Palmer and Skye Parrott.
Exhibition opening: Thursday, April 26th, 7 - 9 PM
Galerie für moderne Fotografie
Gallery hours: Thursday - Saturday 12 - 6 PM
Enlcosed a little chat we had yesterday in our office.
ILY: How did you choose the photographers?
Adrian Crispin: The first criteria was that we responded to the most important questions. "Do we like the picture?" Then we choose pictures that we both liked, often for different reasons.
ILY: Did you know the photographers before, are they your friends ?
Adrian Crispin: We don't know any of them.
Ann-Kathrin Obermayer: It was very important for us to select artists who are not famous yet. Photographers who are not very well-known but doing good work. They are all very talented. Im tired of seeing the same photogaphers over and over again.
Adrian Crispin: Yes. For example, we didn't want to ask Ryan McGinley because we thought that this is no news?
Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer: I don't know maybe it is different in Berlin. Maybe they would love to see a Ryan McGinley show and of course he is a great artist but we wanted to bring in new photographers like the Californian guy RJ Shaughnessy - He is just nineteen, a skater-boy and every picture he takes is just WOW.
ILY: And how did you find him?
Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer: Coincidence. I found a picture of him in a magazine and then googled his name and so on. All in all, the whole preparation took us one year.
ILY: So how did the idea for the exhibition come up?
Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer: It was Kirsten Hermann’s idea. She liked our work very much and then she asked us to do an exhibition about young, American photographers - a group show. This was one year ago. And to be here at the gallery weekend in Berlin is a great time and opportunity to finally realize it.
Enlcosed a little chat we had yesterday in our office.
ILY: How did you choose the photographers?
Adrian Crispin: The first criteria was that we responded to the most important questions. "Do we like the picture?" Then we choose pictures that we both liked, often for different reasons.
ILY: Did you know the photographers before, are they your friends ?
Adrian Crispin: We don't know any of them.
Ann-Kathrin Obermayer: It was very important for us to select artists who are not famous yet. Photographers who are not very well-known but doing good work. They are all very talented. Im tired of seeing the same photogaphers over and over again.
Adrian Crispin: Yes. For example, we didn't want to ask Ryan McGinley because we thought that this is no news?
Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer: I don't know maybe it is different in Berlin. Maybe they would love to see a Ryan McGinley show and of course he is a great artist but we wanted to bring in new photographers like the Californian guy RJ Shaughnessy - He is just nineteen, a skater-boy and every picture he takes is just WOW.
ILY: And how did you find him?
Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer: Coincidence. I found a picture of him in a magazine and then googled his name and so on. All in all, the whole preparation took us one year.
ILY: So how did the idea for the exhibition come up?
Ann-Kathrin Obermeyer: It was Kirsten Hermann’s idea. She liked our work very much and then she asked us to do an exhibition about young, American photographers - a group show. This was one year ago. And to be here at the gallery weekend in Berlin is a great time and opportunity to finally realize it.
