KANSAS CITY, MO.- Acclaimed American documentary photographer Susan Meiselas will speak about her work in a lecture sponsored by the Photography Society of
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The talk is scheduled for 1 p.m. Oct. 6 in the Museum’s Atkins Auditorium.
A longtime member of the esteemed Magnum Photo agency, Meiselas has traveled around the world for more than 35 years documenting human rights issues and political conflicts. Her first major project, published as a book in 1976, focused on the lives of women who worked as strippers at small New England carnivals. In the late 1970s, she covered the insurrection in Nicaragua and documented human rights abuses in Latin America. In 1997, Meiselas began a project in Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, that included historical materials as well as her own photographs documenting the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s Anfal campaign against the Kurds in 1988. Meiselas has also worked as an editor and curator, and co-directed two films, Living at Risk: The Story of a Nicaraguan Family (1986) and Pictures from a Revolution (1991) with Richard P. Rogers and Alfred Guzzetti.
Meiselas’s photographs have been exhibited internationally in numerous one-woman exhibitions, and collected by several major American and European institutions. She is the recipient of several distinguished awards, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal for her work in Nicaragua (1979), the Leica Award for Excellence (1982), a MacArthur Fellowship (1992) and most recently the Cornell Capa Infinity Award (2005). Her publications include Carnival Strippers (1976), Nicaragua, June 1978-July 1979 (reprinted 2008), Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History (1997, reprinted 2008), Pandora’s Box (2001), Encounters with the Dani (2003) and Susan Meiselas, In History (2009).
Attendance to the lecture is free, but tickets should be obtained by calling 816.751.1ART (1278) – option 2, or on-line at nelson-atkins.org.
The Photography Society was formed in November 2007 for persons interested in supporting the activities of the museum’s Photography Department. The group is dedicated to the collecting of photographs in the community and to increasing public knowledge of the art and history of the medium through high-level public programming.
Members of the Society must first be members of the Museum at the Friends of Art Associate level with an annual donation of $250 or higher. The Curator’s Circle, with a donation of $2,500, provides support for the full range of activities to fulfill the mission of the Department. The Collector’s Circle, with a donation of $1,250, is intended for persons primarily interested in advice and guidance on developing their own collections. All donations are tax deductible.
Keith F. Davis, senior curator of photography, said, “The Photography Society provides a lively and collegial forum for learning about this medium, while assisting directly with the public mission of the museum to educate and enlighten. It is a wonderful group, and we hope to see it grow in the coming year.”
The Photography Collection at the Nelson-Atkins grew from its initial holding of 1,015 prints to a collection of more than 8,400 works with the acquisition in December 2005 of the famed Hallmark Photographic Collection, perhaps the finest private collection of American photography ever assembled.
“With that acquisition, the Nelson-Atkins instantly vaulted to the top rank of art museums worldwide with major photography holdings. Thanks to continued growth since that wonderful gift, we now have nearly 9,000 important works from the entire span of photography’s history, 1839 to the present,” Davis said.
