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Nicholas Whitman

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Nicholas Whitman
Born
United States
NationalityAmerican
EducationRIT
Known forPhotography
Notable workLandscape photography, nature studies, and historic photography, especially involving themes of decay.[1]
Websitenwphoto.com

Nicholas Whitman is an American photographer. He is best known for his work chronicling the decay and transformations of buildings, as well as his nature studies.[2] His most recent work’s basis is the physical world, but more as an "evocative interpretation rather than a literal one."[3] "Subject intersects with intangibles like mood. Symbols speak across cultures and through time."[4] These themes are manifest in the painting of Albert Pinkham Ryder, a recent focus of Whitman's. Whitman’s show “After Ryder” at the New Bedford Whaling Museum from 2018-2019 was an homage to the spirit of the painter, and in 2020 another show will exhibit Whitman's work alongside Ryder's.[5]

Whitman began photographing North Adams’ abandoned Sprague Electric Company factory in 1988 “because it would surely be razed.” Documenting the then-deteriorating 19th-century mill buildings, Whitman captured scenes ranging from vast postindustrial landscapes to minute traces of the plant’s former workers. Whitman’s meticulously composed photographs—windows onto the historic nature of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art’s celebrated[6] renovated factory campus—are currently on display in the museum and accompanied by an expanded catalog, A PLACE REMOVED.[7][8] Whitman has had a long association with the museum; his earlier MASS MoCA: From Mill to Museum (2001) documented its initial creation from the husk of the sprawling[9] electronics plant.[10][11]

Similarly, Whitman's 2008 book, The Colonial Theatre: A Pittsfield Resurrection, showcases the transformation of the Miller Supply Company of Pittsfield, Massachusetts into an architectural jewel.[12][13]

A graduate of RIT's photography program, Whitman was Curator of Photography at the New Bedford Whaling Museum from 1978 to 1986.[14] In addition to his independent work, he was an instructor at Williams College's winter studies program between 2003-2018.[15][16]

Selected publications

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  • 2019. After Ryder: Photographs.[17]
  • 2019. A PLACE REMOVED: After Sprague Electric/Before MASS MoCA.[18]
  • 2016. Circus Posters: Historic Posters Come to Light.[19]
  • 2013. The Stutz Stash of A. K. Miller.[20]
  • 2013. Sea, Shore, Sky & Ice.[21]
  • 2013. Squares from Nature.[22]
  • 2008. The Colonial Theatre: A Pittsfield Resurrection.[23]
  • 2001. MASS MoCA: From Mill to Museum.[24]
  • 1997. A Window Back: Photography in a Whaling Port.[25]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "About," artist's website
  2. ^ Shore Views by Nicholas Whitman | Blurb Books. blurb.com. May 9, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  3. ^ Whitman, Nicholas. "After Ryder: Photographs". Mag Cloud.
  4. ^ Whitman, Nicholas. "After Ryder: Photographs". Mag Cloud.
  5. ^ "A Wild Note of Longing: Albert Pinkham Ryder and a Century of American Art". New Bedford Whaling Museum.
  6. ^ "Nicholas Whitman". MASS MoCA. October 10, 2018.
  7. ^ "Nicholas Whitman". MASS MoCA. October 10, 2018.
  8. ^ Whitman, Nicholas. "A PLACE REMOVED: After Sprague Electric/Before MASS MoCA". Mag Cloud.
  9. ^ "The 'Before' Pictures" Archived January 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, MASS MoCA website
  10. ^ "History", MASS MoCA website
  11. ^ "Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art | Press Releases". Archived from the original on February 16, 2001. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  12. ^ "Event Page", Discover Pittsfield
  13. ^ "History of the Colonial Theatre". Archived from the original on July 6, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  14. ^ "Artist Resume", Ferring Gallery
  15. ^ "Artist Resume", Ferring Gallery
  16. ^ "Exposure | Williams College". williams.edu. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  17. ^ Whitman, Nicholas. "After Ryder: Photographs". Mag Cloud.
  18. ^ Whitman, Nicholas. "A PLACE REMOVED: After Sprague Electric/Before MASS MoCA". Mag Cloud.
  19. ^ Whitman, Nicholas (September 21, 2016). Circus Posters: Historic Posters Come to Light. Blurb Books.
  20. ^ Whitman, Nicholas (August 29, 2013). The Stutz Stash of A.K. Miller. Blurb Books.
  21. ^ Whitman, Nicholas (March 2013). Sea, Shore, Sky & Ice by Nicholas Whitman | Blurb Books. blurb.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  22. ^ Whitman, Nicholas (June 12, 2013). Squares from Nature by Nicholas Whitman | Blurb Books. blurb.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  23. ^ The Colonial Theatre: A Pittsfield Resurrection. 2008. ISBN 978-0615202877.
  24. ^ Thompson, Joseph (2000). MASS MoCA: From Mill to Museum. ISBN 0970073801.
  25. ^ Whitman, Nicholas (1994). A Window Back: Photography in a Whaling Port: Nicholas Whitman: 9780932027184: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN 0932027180.
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