Ken Schles Explained

Ken Schles (born 1960) is an American photographer based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York.[1] [2] He has published five monographs over 25 years.[3] Schles' work is held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Museo D'Arte Contemporanea, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and others.[3]

Career

Schles earned his BFA from Cooper Union in 1982. After continuing his studies at the New School for Social Research, he worked as a printer for a number of Magnum Photos photographers.[4] Schles is a New York Foundation for the Arts fellow.[3]

Schles began producing Invisible City (1988) in 1983, when he lived in a run-down apartment in the east village of New York City. City officials made the landlord turn off the boiler in the building because it was leaking carbon monoxide, the building had become a "shooting gallery" for heroin addicts. The neighborhood was in shambles and junkies were a constant threat. So, Schles' landlord boarded the windows to prevent break-ins, this worked to Schles' advantage, the boarded-up space provided Schles the perfect environment to create a dark room. From his created darkroom he developed the photos of his surroundings and the general life of 1980s New York City.[5] In 2014, both The New York Times and Time named Invisible City among the notable photobooks of that year.[6] [7]

In The Geometry of Innocence (2001) Schles' focus is on the shifting of social structures and spaces that mark the urban landscape. The works in The Geometry of Innocence address the immediacy and relativity of meaning in the photographic image and how they shape societies' perception of the world around them. Schles's images include images from, Death Row, hospital rooms, playgrounds, militarized zones, city streets, and bars and clubs.[8]

Schles uses his book A New History Of Photography: The World Outside And The Pictures In Our Heads (2008) to examine the influence and our relationship to the history of photography and of photo book making itself.[9]

Schles' monograph Oculus (2011) is an investigative textual photo book about the relationship between images, light, and their natural relationship to the mind's interpretation.[10]

Night Walk (2014) is a companion volume to Invisible City, with images from the same period. In it Schles explores different versions of focus to tell a photographic-narrative of 1980's life in the Lower East Side of New York City.[11]

Publications

Collections

Schles' work is held in the following permanent public collections:

Notes and References

  1. News: Rosenberg . David . This New York City Neighborhood Was "Invisible" in the '80s . February 19, 2019 . Slate . March 1, 2015.
  2. News: John. Leland. John Leland (journalist). 2021-05-30. The East Village, in the 1980s and Looking Back. The New York Times. 26 December 2014. 0362-4331.
  3. http://www.howardgreenberg.com/rss.php?p=exhibitions/current
  4. Web site: Ken Schles . LensCulture . April 14, 2015.
  5. Web site: 'Invisible City / Night Walk, 1983–1989': Ken Schles documents NYC's Lower East Side in the 80's . Yahoo! News . January 27, 2015 . October 28, 2016.
  6. TIME Picks the Best Photobooks of 2014 . Time . November 28, 2014 . April 14, 2015.
  7. News: The East Village in the 1980s and Looking Back. The New York Times. October 28, 2016.
  8. Web site: The Geometry of Innocence - ISTB . April 13, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141019212456/http://ishottheband.nl/geometry-innocence/ . October 19, 2014 .
  9. Web site: Ken Schles – Library Committee Event Nov.30, 2010 | International Center of Photography Library . Icplibrary.wordpress.com . December 3, 2010 . October 28, 2016.
  10. Web site: Published Pioneers | The Cooper Union . Cooper.edu . November 21, 2011 . October 28, 2016.
  11. Web site: Dafoe . Taylor . Invisible City and Night Walk by Ken Schles . The Brooklyn Rail . April 2, 2015 . October 28, 2016.
  12. Web site: Jörg. Colberg. 2021-05-30. Ken Schles: Invisible City/Night Walk. Conscientious Photography Magazine.
  13. Web site: Art Lending Service and Art Advisory Service Records1948-1996in The Museum of Modern Art Archives ArtLending . Moma.org . October 28, 2016.
  14. Web site: Search | The Metropolitan Museum of Art . Metmuseum.org . October 28, 2016.
  15. http://www.nypl.org/divisions/wallach-division
  16. Web site: Search | LACMA . www.lacma.org . 2 February 2022 . https://archive.today/20150315034505/http://www.lacma.org/search/site/ken%20schles . 15 March 2015 . dead.
  17. Web site: Search | The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston . Mfah.org . October 28, 2016.
  18. Web site: Brookmuse | Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives . Library.brooklynmuseum.org . November 6, 1992 . October 28, 2016 . March 4, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081723/http://library.brooklynmuseum.org/record=b888351~S4 . dead .
  19. News: Search Collection Results | The Art Institute of Chicago . The Art Institute of Chicago . October 28, 2016.
  20. http://www.clevelandart.org/art/collections/K.Schles
  21. Web site: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) | Exhibitions + Events | Past Exhibitions + Events . April 13, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150418232120/http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/past . April 18, 2015 .
  22. Web site: MFAH | Collections | the Manfred Heiting Collection . April 13, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150413230222/http://www.mfah.org/art/collections/manfred-heiting-collection/ . April 13, 2015 .

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