Rebecca Bengal

2 months ago | aperture.org | Rebecca Bengal

First published by Aperture in 1988, Sally Mann’s At Twelve, Portraits of Young Women is an intimate exploration of the complexities of the transition from girlhood to adulthood. Photographing in her native Rockbridge County, Virginia, Mann made portraits that capture the excitement and social possibilities of a tender age—while not shying away from alluding to experiences of abuse, poverty, or young pregnancy—and the girls in her photographs return the camera’s gaze with equanimity.

Dec 10, 2024 | oxfordamerican.org | Rebecca Bengal

Hawkins Bolden at home in Memphis. Photograph by Ted Degener The self-taught sculptor brought Memphis to galleries around the country Standing in an art gallery in downtown New York City, I am trying to recall the scarecrows of my childhood. North Carolina mountains and foothills. My grandparents on my dad’s side were, proudly, small farmers from generations of small farmers; my grandfather on my mom’s side managed to escape the cotton fields of an equally long line for another life.

Nov 21, 2024 | criterion.com | Rebecca Bengal

In a 1982 radio promo spot, Jack Nicholson spoke to the future. “I’m gonna recommend a movie that I’m not in, that I have nothing to do with,” he said. “I’d like to tell the people about a movie called Out of the Blue, directed by Dennis Hopper. It speaks honestly from the heart of a fifteen-year-old girl. Its milieu is the punk scene.

Oct 18, 2024 | aperture.org | Rebecca Bengal

Emmet Gowin came to photography via a teenage revelation in a dentist’s office in Danville, Virginia. It was the late 1950s. Flipping through magazines in the waiting room, the minister’s son landed on an Ansel Adams photograph of a burned tree stump sprouting fresh shoots. Out loud, he exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, this is the Christ.” Now, Gowin says, “Thank God nobody else was there. But to me, it was clear.

Oct 18, 2024 | aperture.org | Rebecca Bengal

Emmet Gowin came to photography via a teenage revelation in a dentist’s office in Danville, Virginia. It was the late 1950s. Flipping through magazines in the waiting room, the minister’s son landed on an Ansel Adams photograph of a burned tree stump sprouting fresh shoots. Out loud, he exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, this is the Christ.” Now, Gowin says, “Thank God nobody else was there. But to me, it was clear.