my photography inspiration is a progressive nun
- abegreenwald
- Jan 15
- 2 min read
I've only recently become aware of an iconic Angeleno artist, Corita Kent, who was known for her incredible screenprinting but also left behind a massive archive of 18,000 35mm slide film photographs from the 1960's.
Her screenprinting work reminds me of my grandmother's aesthetic who had these really cool prints lining the top of the wall in her bedroom. I'm not sure who the artist was but they made a big impression on me as a little kid.
Last weekend Lynn and I went to see the wonderful exhibit of Corita's photography work at the Marciano Art Foundation. If you're in LA, the exhibit ends on January 24th and I highly recommend a visit. In the large room on the first floor, they set up a screen that cycles through over a thousand different projected images from her slide film collection.
Corita's photos are bright, colorful, funny, and give you a sense of her daily life in the 1960's at Immaculate Heart college near Griffith Park. There were lots of outdoor festivals and tons of photos of cookies. And the slide projections at the museum were just beautiful to look at.
Corita clearly had a vibrant, lively community around her and getting to see so many of her slide photos projected in that space feels like a time machine back to a very different era of Los Angeles. I know comparison is the thief of joy and all, but Corita's 1960's LA looks better than our contemporary one. Her photography is unpretentious, humanist, and I found it very inspring.
For those who don't know, I decided that in lieu of a fiftieth bday party this year I wanted to mount my own little gallery show. Did you know you can just rent a gallery like an airbnb? My friend Dimitri told me about this app called Peerspace which was very easy to use and I booked the first gallery space that popped up on the site. I then went through my own large archive of about 18,000 photos (aka my iphoto library) and picked some of my favorites to get printed and, like Corita said will hopefully add "perhaps a bit of color to everydayness."
I know I'm not anywhere near the artist or photographer that Corita was, but her work and her mission really speak to me. Lynn suggested I make my gallery prints available for purchase after the show as a fundraiser. I don't know if anyone will be interested enough in them to want to hang them in their home- but if so, proceeds will go to the Corita Art Center which carries on her mission of democratizing art and working towards social justice in our community. Heck, you could also donate to not to take home one of my photos if you want.
Thank you, Corita ❤️
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