Rebecca Lepkoff: LIMBS
VCP is proud to announce that we will be hosting a solo exhibition of vintage silver prints by local 97 year old photographer Rebecca Lepkoff.
The beauty of limbs—particularly the movement of the body and the swaying of trees—is the focus of Rebecca Lepkoff: LIMBS. This exhibition features 41 photographs taken over a 40 year period –1950s to 1990s— taken in Jamaica, Vermont by Lepkoff, a 97-year-old photographer and former dancer.
ARTISTS TALK: Friday, November 1st at 7pm – Jesse Lepkoff, son of Rebecca Lepkoff, who is featured in many of the exhibition images, will be giving a brief talk about his experience growing up with Rebecca and some history and stories behind many of the images exhibited. This will be a casual event and there will be time for plenty of Q&A and conversation! Hope to see you there.
This exhibition has been made possible with the generous support of: Zephyr Designs, Rebecca Lepkoff, Jesse Lepkoff, Suzanne Flynt, Bill Dixon, Joshua Farr, Joan O’Bierne, Christine Triebert, Lynne Weinstein, and other anonymous donors.
About Rebecca:
Born in 1916, Rebecca Lepkoff grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and started photographing her native city when she bought her first camera in 1938. With a background of modern dance and art history, she photographed with a strong sense of light and abstraction and captured the rhythm of the street. Her exquisite prints are rich in tones and subtleties of lights and darks. Beyond mere documents of a time and place, her images provide greater insight into human existence within the city. Her work captures the energy of the hustle and bustle, the commerce, the elegance and the complexities of modern society and the plight of the individual within it.
Rebecca Lepkoff was an active member of the Photo League from 1947 to 1951. The Photo League, established in 1936 in New York City as an outgrowth of the Film and Photo League, was the only organization of its kind devoted to recording the urban reality of New York City. Lepkoff and other members of the Photo League believed that by documenting the human condition, the photograph was a powerful instrument for social change. However, in 1947 during the McCarthy era, the attorney general listed the Photo League as a communist organization and by 1951 it was dissolved. Other great photographers from the 30’s to 50’s such as Lewis Hine, Sid Grossman, Paul Strand,Walter Rosenblum, Jerome Liebling, Weegee, Arthur Leipzig, Arnold Eagle, Sol Libsohn, W. Eugene Smith and Dan Weiner were also active members of the Photo League. Yet it was Walter Rosenblum, with his passion and devotion to the potential of the medium, who inspired Lepkoff most.
Now an octogenarian, Rebecca Lepkoff continues to lead an active life between New York and her place in Vermont. Her work was recently included in Naomi Rosenblum’s influential publication”A History of Women Photographers” and corresponding traveling exhibition. Rebecca Lepkoff’s work is included in such prestigious collections as the National Museum of Art (Washington D.C.) the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of the City of New York, the Bank of America and the Consolidated Freightways, Inc. Collection.
Selection of images from the exhibition:
To learn more about Rebecca, please take a look at this video on her long career photographing the streets of NYC – originally aired on Channel Thirteen/WNET in 2008. Produced and shot by Jim Epstein; edited by Scott Feinstein; production assistance by Jordan Leland.”