The Book
Annie and Sandy, 1968 (Self Portrait). Photograph by Cherie Hiser. Collection of Alex Sweetman/CoE Archive.
I am happy to let you know that my book, “Outside Influence: Photography in Colorado 1945-95,” is set for publication by the University Press of Colorado during Fall 2025. Eric Paddock, the Denver Art Museum curator of photography, has generously agreed to write the book’s foreword.
To give you an idea of its scope, the manuscript comprises 80,000+ words and 120+ illustrations divided into ten chapters. Although the title’s chronological scope is 1945-95, the book actually delves back into the 1920s and - in the case of artists whose practice began during the late-20th century and continues to the present day - encompasses 21st century image making as well.
As production progresses I’ll post details about availability and price, and book signing events.
The Shows
In advance of the book, two exhibitions have been scheduled. Each one offers and interpretation of the book’s contents and time-scale. “Outside Influence: Photography in Colorado Since 1945” will open Thursday, March 13, 2025 at the Vicki Myhren Gallery, University of Denver, during the state-wide Month of Photography events (reception begins at 5pm). The show includes over 130 pieces by 60 artists; media includes video, installation, and ephemera. I will post more details as soon as the final roster and gallery talks has been confirmed,
Laura Gilpin at the “Golden Aspen Days” conference on photography, Aspen 1951. (Eliot Porter at right.) Photograph by Bill Belknap. Northern Arizona University, Cline Library NAU.PH.96.4.324.3
The second, smaller show will open in June at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, CO. It will concentrate on artists whose work relates to Aspen, a town with deep links to photography dating back to the 1951 Conference on Photography and continuing with Cherie Hiser’s Center of the Eye photo workshop (CoE, 1968-73). Along the way, photographer David Hiser documented Hunter S. Thompson’s run for Sheriff of Pitkin County. They and other photographers with close connections to CoE and Aspen town will be featured in the show.
Other News
Above: Images 1, 2: photographs by Walter Chappell, ca. 1950s; images 3, 4: Photographs by James O. Milmoe, ca. 1950s; images 5-8: photographs by Winter Prather, ca. 1950-60s. All from James O. Milmoe Collection, University of Denver Special Collections.
One of the most interesting aspects of my research has been finding unexpected archives and various gems of photographic art. Since Jim Milmoe passed away in late 2023, his family have been tremendously supportive of my project. They opened up his collection to me and we were able to identify numerous valuable pieces that he had collected and/or been gifted over the decades. Jim had a very discerning eye, and portfolios by Winter Prather and Walter Chappell speak to his deep connections with Colorado’s early photographic practice. Much of his archive has been accepted into the University of Denver Special Collections and a selection will be included in the Myhren Gallery show in March.
Above: Photographs from the “Western Man” series by Sandy Hume. 1975-1980.
Much of my time in 2024 was taken up with tracking down survivors, rights holders, and trustees, and another unexpected surprise came after I contacted Sandy Hume’s daughter, Marcie, to obtain permission to publish an image from his “Western Man’ portfolio (see last year’s post for my interview with Sandy). I was thrilled to meet Marcie at Sandy’s house in Boulder in November. Her father’s archive revealed a large collection of superb gelatin silver prints he had made in his basement darkroom , printed from slides and negatives taken at the Western Stock Show in the 1970s and 80s. We also discovered portfolios of original prints by Gary Metz and William Jenkins, many outstanding images that were left out of his “Western Man” book, and mountains of informal snapshots taken at conferences and parties.
Sandy and Jim Milmoe’s collections, and prints by many other photographers I’ve been in contact with over the past seven years, have rekindled my love of fine art gelatin silver printing. I am excited to be able to include many examples in my book and, perhaps best of all, to exhibit many of them in Denver and Aspen this spring.
Jimmy Carter and Ansel Adams
President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter at the White House on Nov. 6, 1979. (Ansel Adams/National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Earl Carter Jr.)
Finally, a brief word of appreciation for former President Jimmy Carter via an article published in the Washington Post soon after his death in late December, 2024. In it, the director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Kim Sajet, describes Ansel Adams being chosen to create Carter’s official presidential portrait. Choosing a photograph rather than a painting was unusual, as was the inclusion of First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Though there has been a tradition of picturing first families, Sajet writes that “this is the only example the museum has of a first couple posing together in an official capacity during their term in office.”
Thanks for reading this post. Please leave a comment if you feel like it, and mark March 13 down in your calendar if you live in the Denver area. I’d love to see you at the “Outside Influence” reception!