On the occasion of the immense David Chim Seymour and Roman Vishniac exhibition at the International Center for Photography (see our previous coverage here and here), the Howard Greenberg Gallery is presenting a selection of their work. The show features Chim’s famous images of children affected by war,; the task will theirs to rebuild their country one day. The omnipresence of children is more a statement of politics than of empathy or humanism. The children play, but they also suffer. They illustrate the range of emotions unexpressed by the adults. The politics of these photographs are subtle, far from the head-on approach Chim employed during the Spanish Civil War. Perhaps their power lies in their ability to depict two different times within a single image: the cruel present, and the uncertain future. A single haunting photo embodies this complexity: a small girl, chalk in hand, stands before a drawing of her house. But it’s hardly visible; she’s crossed it out with an explosion of lines.
Laurence Cornet
David “Chim” Seymour & Roman Vishniac: Affirmation
Februray 1st – 23rd, 2013
Howard Greenberg – Gallery Two
41 East 57th Street – Suite 1406
NY 10022 – New York
USA
