Past Exhibitions

Spectra: New Abstract Photography

September 7 - November 13, 2010

Spectra presented recent work by five contemporary artists - Christopher Bucklow, Ellen Carey, Mariah Robertson, Jonathan Lewis and Jason Salavon - each of whom explore the richness of photographic color materials and abstraction from a variety of formal and conceptual perspectives.  The guest curator of this exhibition was Lisa Kurzner, an independent curator and photo historian based in Cleveland, Ohio.

These Strange Adventures: The Art of Maggie Taylor
May 14 – August 21, 2010

Maggie Taylor first exhibited her work at Silver Eye in 1995. Today, she is internationally recognized as one of the most inventive and accomplished artists working with cutting-edge digital imaging processes. This exhibition featured 40 of Taylor's photo montages created from 2003 to 2009. The centerpiece was a selection of work from Almost Alice: New Illustrations of Wonderland, a three-year project published to great acclaim by Modernbook Editions in 2008.

Silver Eye 6th Annual Benefit Auction Exhibition
March 30 – April 21, 2010

The 2010 Benefit Auction, Silver Eye’s largest fundraiser, presented 100 vintage and contemporary prints by internationally renowned artists, Pittsburgh’s finest
photographers and new, emerging talent from across the U.S.

Fellowship 2009 Exhibition
Si Dios Quiere (If God Wants): Photographs by Katrina M. d’Autremont
January 12, 2010 – March 20, 2010

The Fellowship competition has been an integral part of Silver Eye’s mission to support, promote and provide professional development opportunities for gifted and committed photographers from the region and across the United States. The 2009 winner was Philadelphia photographer Katrina M. d’Autremont, who was selected by juror Andy Adams, the highly influential online curator and editor. D’Autremont received a $3,500 cash award and a solo exhibition of Si Dios Quiere (If God Wants), which explores her relationship to her South American family and the search to find a place amidst different cultures and generations.

The World at Our Door: Melissa Farlow and Randy Olson

September 23, 2009 – January 2, 2010

Pittsburgh’s Melissa Farlow and Randy Olson are award-winning documentary photographers (as well as husband and wife) and long-time contributors to National Geographic magazine.  This was the couple’s first joint exhibition and featured 50 large-scale color images from assignments published in National Geographic between 2003 and 2009.

Self Portrait: Silver Eye at 30
July 8 – September 12, 2009
In honor of Silver Eye’s 30th anniversary, we brought together a fascinating array of self portraits submitted by 105 of our members from 18 states and three foreign countries. Collectively, the photographs in this exhibition demonstrated the extraordinary vitality and endurance of the self portrait genre and underscore the fact that contemporary photographic practice is ever-expanding and embraces a range of aesthetics, technologies, characteristics and concerns that are as varied and complex as the individuals pictured in the exhibition.

The Analytical Eye: Photographs by Aaronel deRoy Gruber

March 18 – June 27, 2009

Silver Eye paid tribute to Aaronel deRoy Gruber, one of Pittsburgh's most prolific artists, with this retrospective exhibition featuring over 50 photographs. Gruber, who recently turned 91, has been actively creating fine art photography for the past three decades. Her tireless effort and inspiring images that range from picturesque panoramas of landscapes to industrial views of steel mills can be found in museum and corporate art collections throughout the country. The Analytical Eye: Photographs by Aaronel deRoy Gruber was an exhibition of photographs selected from the artist’s collection, Photo Forum Gallery and The Carnegie Museum of Art. The exhibition co-curators were Linda Benedict-Jones, Curator of Photography at The Carnegie Museum of Art, and Graham Shearing, Arts Writer and Critic.

A Map of Latin American Dreams (Fellowship 2008)

December 10, 2008 – March 7, 2009

This exhibition featured 19 black-and-white portraits by Fellowship 2008 award recipient Martín Weber. Weber’s social documentary photographs record the hopes and dreams of Latin Americans. By using their own words and handwriting on blackboards, the individuals portrayed are the anchors to their own narrative. Martín Weber is Argentinean and resides in Brooklyn, New York. Ten Honorable Mention photographers exhibited one picture each. The juror was Ariel Shanberg, Executive Director of The Center for Photography at Woodstock.

Eloquent Eggs & Disintegrating Dice: Photographs by Rosamond Purcell
September 25 – November 29, 2008
Internationally acclaimed artist Rosamond Purcell has photographed behind the scenes in the collections of major museums for more than twenty-five years. This Silver Eye exhibition featured over 40 vibrant color prints of eggs, nests, birds and dice. These new images revealed the patterns of eggshells, the strategy of nest building, and the texture of plumage from the collections of The Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology in Camarillo, California. Also on view were photographs of decomposing celluloid dice from magician and actor Ricky Jay’s collection. Purcell’s work seamlessly bridges the worlds of science and art.

250 Years of Plants: Botanical Works by Regional Photographers
June 25 – September 13, 2008

As a visual gift to the city of Pittsburgh on its 250th anniversary, Silver Eye presented new botanical images from sixteen Western Pennsylvania area photographers as well as a few glimpses into historically significant gardens from Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Exhibiting photographers included: Sue Abramson, Gayle Bair, Ruthanne F. Bauerle, Mary Jane Bent, Tim Fabian, John A. Fobes, Claudia Giannini, Gerald Hare, Stephen Y. Lai, Amy Kathleen Lamb, JoAnne Lightner, Anne Medsger, Dan Mohan, Duane Rieder, Donald M. Robinson, and Fiona Wilson.

Alternative Focus: Photographs by Jesseca Ferguson and Tom Persinger
May 23 – June 14, 2008
This exhibition featured pinhole photographs by Jesseca Ferguson of Boston, Massachusetts and Tom Persinger of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ferguson and Persinger offered unique representations of both interior and exterior worlds. Ferguson assembles her pinhole images with materials such as sheet music and book boards into photo-objects, while Persinger captures the outdoors with lengthy exposures that present a continuity of moments.

Benefit Auction 2008
April 25 – May 9, 2008, Live Auction: May 10
This exhibition and major fundraising event included 134 Lots of original prints donated by photographers and galleries from around the world. Works of celebrated photographers — Esther Bubley, Edward S. Curtis, Charles “Teenie” Harris, Lewis Hine, Mary Ellen Mark, Laura McPhee, Duane Michals, Rosamond Purcell, W. Eugene Smith, and Ben Shahn among many others were included in this Benefit Auction.

In Search of America: Photographs by David Graham
February 13 – April 12, 2008
Tirelessly traveling the United States, David Graham captures the colorful, sometimes surreal, and often bizarre, in the thoroughly American landscape. Graham seeks out subjects which celebrate our singular freedom of expression in colorful roadside attractions and general oddities. Chronicling the American scene with his unique sensibility and acknowledging popular forms of American photography — the snapshot, the family portrait and vacation pictures — Graham brings relevance to the creativity and dreams of the common man.

Proof: Photographs by Caleb Charland (Fellowship 2007)
December 5, 2007 – February 2, 2008
This exhibition featured 17 black-and-white photographs by Fellowship 2007 award recipient Caleb Charland of Brewer, Maine. Charland transforms everyday household objects into unexpected demonstrations of art and science. By using fire, water, magnets and power tools, he finds a balance between stunning pyrotechnics and quiet compositions. Ten Honorable Mention photographers exhibited one picture each. The juror was Katherine Ware, Curator of Photographs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

What's for Dinner: Photographs by Diana Shearwood
September 26 – November 24, 2007
Canadian photographer, Diana Shearwood, documents trucks and the huge advertising photographs that embellish them as they travel cross-country to deliver food miles away from where it has been grown. This exhibition featured seductive, colorful inkjet prints. Once the viewer realizes that the images of delicious, mouth-watering food are wrapped around 18-wheeler trucks, it sets in motion a thought process about the food we eat, how it is delivered to us, and more.

The Looking Glass
June 6 – September 15, 2007
The Looking Glass group member exhibition presented 109 photographs submitted by artists from around the country. This show recognized Pittsburgh Celebrates Glass! 2007, a yearlong celebration created to honor the significant role that glass and glass art play in the vibrancy of the Pittsburgh region.

Paris on the Seine: Photographs by Bruno Réquillart
February 21 – May 26, 2007
This photography exhibition featured contemporary, panoramic black-and-white silver gelatin prints by Parisian photographer Bruno Réquillart. Taken in unconventional places along the riverbanks of La Seine, these exquisite images revealed buildings, barges and more trees than we ever expected to find from the most visited city in the world.

Multiple Entry Visa: To Vietnam and Back (Fellowship 2006)
November 15, 2006 – February 10, 2007
The recipient of Silver Eye’s annual Fellowship competition in 2006 was Howard Henry Chen of Chicago, Illinois. Multiple Entry Visa: To Vietnam and Back featured prints that reflect the effect of globalism and the tourism boom in a country that had been a battlefield for a hundred years. The juror was Rod Slemmons, Director of The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP), Columbia College Chicago.

It’s a Dog’s Life: Photographs by William Wegman from the Polaroid Collection
September 6 – November 4, 2006
Silver Eye was pleased to display 28 Polaroid prints by internationally known photographer, William Wegman. His delightful, large-format color prints entertain audiences that range from Sesame Street to the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Pictorialism in Pittsburgh
June 1 – August 19, 2006
Pittsburgh is home to the country’s oldest continuously operating Pictorialist group, The Photographic Section of The Academy of Science and Art, which traces its roots to 1885.  Pictorialism in Pittsburgh showcased images by thirty-two historically acclaimed photographers, including Charles K. Archer, Selden I. Davis, Oscar C. Reiter, Orlando E. Romig, Hew Charles Torrance, as well as fourteen current day practitioners from throughout the Pittsburgh area.

Benefit Auction 2006
April 21 – May 20, 2006
The benefit auction of 2006 served as a month-long exhibition and as the primary fundraiser for Silver Eye Center for Photography. Click here for Benefit Auction information.

there is no eye: Photographs by John Cohen
February 15 – April 8, 2006
This exhibition featured a collection of more than 100 black and white evocative documentary images that reflect photographer, filmmaker and musician, John Cohen’s passion for art and music. Images included portraits of Bob Dylan, Robert Frank, Allen Ginsberg, Woody Guthrie, and Jack Kerouac, among many other visionaries of the 1950s and 1960s.

Emigrant Lake: Photographs by Jeff Krolick (Fellowship 2005)
December 17, 2005 – February 4, 2006
The recipient of Silver Eye’s annual Fellowship competition in 2005 was Jeff Krolick of Ashland, Oregon. Emigrant Lake: Photographs by Jeff Krolick featured 22 chromogenic prints that document the landscape of Emigrant Lake, Oregon by focusing on the textures of the grasses, berries and brambles that fill each color image completely. The juror was Lesley A. Martin, Executive Editor, Books, Aperture.

Daguerreian Niche: Works by Contemporary Artists
September 15 – October 15, 2005      
Daguerreian Niche: Works by Contemporary Artists was co-presented by Silver Eye Center for Photography and The Daguerreian Society. This exhibition and all programs took place at The Daguerreian Society in Dormont, PA while Silver Eye was undergoing extensive renovations. The daguerreotype, the first photographic art form, popular in the 1840s and 50s, is a one-of-a kind image produced on a plate of mirror-polished silver. This exhibition featured seventeen contemporary daguerreotypists from around the world including:

Jason Greenberg Motamedi, New York
John Hurlock, Illinois
Marc Kereun, France
Christopher Lovenguth, New York
Irving Pobboravsky, New York
Gregory Popovitch, Michigan
Levon Register, Georgia
Eric Rickart, Utah
Michael Robinson, Canada
Alyssa Salomon, Virginia
Charlie Schreiner, Michigan
Robert Shlaer, New Mexico
Jerry Spagnoli, New York
Hilary Treadwell, Rhode Island
Tom Young, Colorado

Pittsburgh NOW
April 13 – August 20, 2005
This exhibition paid tribute to Pittsburgh’s rich photographic legacy, as well as the lively photographic community that currently thrives here. Nine working photojournalists, or independent photographers documented Pittsburgh for this exhibition, which was co-curated by Linda Benedict-Jones and Henry Simonds. Participating photographers:

Steven Adams, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Lake Fong, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Rob Long, Free-lance photographer
Heather Mull, Pittsburgh City Paper
Ken Neely, The New Pittsburgh Courier
Annie O’Neill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Carrie Schneider, Free-lance photographer
Dylan Vitone, Free-lance photographer
William D. Wade, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Seeing the Unseen: Photographs by Dr. Harold Edgerton
February 9 – April 2, 2005
Seeing the Unseen was an exhibition of photographs by Harold “Doc” Edgerton. Edgerton was a celebrated researcher and educator in the field of electronic engineering at Cambridge’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The flashes Edgerton developed allowed for the “freezing” of motion that was previously unobservable, allowing the documentation of events such as a bullet in flight and a milk drop that looks like a crown. Palm Press, Inc. in Massachusetts organized this exhibition.

Unspoken Ground: Two Views of Japan
November 3, 2004 – January 29, 2005
Curated by Silver Eye’s Exhibition Coordinator, Kaoru Tohara, this exhibition featured images by contemporary Japanese photographers Shinichiro Kobayashi and Fumimasa Hosokawa who record the quiet evidence of human beings upon the Earth. Both Kobayashi and Hosokawa reveal the impact of humans upon their environment. Some people leave scars in nature, such as unfinished bridges and tunnels. Sometimes it is people who have been left behind.

Keith Carter: Poet of the Ordinary
September 8 – October 23, 2004
Keith Carter’s photographs allow us to see everyday moments of life in ways we never imagined. This exhibition was organized and circulated by The International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Rochester, New York.  

Fellowship 2004: Photographs by Dylan Vitone
June 2 – August 21, 2004
The recipient of Silver Eye’s annual Fellowship competition in 2004 was Dylan Vitone of Boston, Massachusetts. Vitone’s insightful and detailed panoramic images display everyday scenes from the neighborhoods of South Boston. The juror was Tom Hinson, Curator of Photography, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio.

Benefit Auction 2004
April 28 – May 11, 2004
The benefit auction of 2004 served as a month-long exhibition and as the primary fundraiser for Silver Eye Center for Photography. Click here for Benefit Auction information.

East/West Encounter
February 11 – April 17, 2004
East/West Encounter combined the work of two mid-career artists based in Syracuse, New York. American photographer, Doug DuBois, investigated cultural differences between Bangkok and New York streets while Korean installation artist, Soon-Mi Yoo, explored myths and desires between American men and Asian women.

Esther Bubley: American Photo-Journalist
November 5, 2003 – January 31, 2004
Esther Bubley (1921-1998) was a leading photojournalist from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, considered the golden age of American picture magazines. This exhibition featured black and white images and some early color images from Bubley’s extensive body of work.

A is for Aperture: Photographs by Regional Educators
September 3 – October 25, 2003
The photographers in this exhibition balance the arts of mentoring and creating. Guest Curator Sue Abramson included the following image-makers in this exhibition:

Karen Antonelli, Art Institute of Pittsburgh

Charlee Brodsky, Carnegie Mellon University
Angeliki Georgiou, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild
Richard Hurst, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Karen Kaighin, The Ellis School
Jen Saffron, University of Pittsburgh
Richard Stoner, Saint Vincent College
Kaoru Tohara, Pittsburgh Filmmakers

Fellowship 2003: Photographs by Sue Stepusin
June 11 – August 16, 2003
The recipient of Silver Eye’s annual Fellowship competition in 2003 was Sue Stepusin of Venetia, Pennsylvania. Stepusin’s black and white images documented the animals of her world including horses, cats, dogs and ducks. The juror was Laura Hoptman, Curator of Contemporary Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA.

Silent Spring: Silver Eye Honors Rachel Carson
February 5 – May 31, 2003
This group exhibition paid tribute to author Rachel Carson, known for celebrating the natural world. Rachel Carson grew up in Springdale, northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, along the Allegheny River. With encouragement from her mother she took a deep interest the bountiful natural surroundings of Western Pennsylvania. 

Another Africa
November 6, 2002 – January 18, 2003
Another Africa: Photographs by Robert Lyon was presented through a unique collaboration between the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and Silver Eye Center for Photography. The exhibition included more than 50 large-scale color photographs of the African landscape and people, taken over the last decade.

Along the Ohio: Photographs by Andrew Borowiec
September 4 – October 26, 2002
This exhibition included more than 50 black-and-white photographs that reflected the post-industrial landscape along the banks of this great river where Borowiec discovered “not only depression and decay, but also endurance and hope.”

Fellowship 2002: Photographs by Kerry Stuart Coppin
June 12 – August 17, 2002

The recipient of Silver Eye’s annual Fellowship competition in 2002 was Kerry Stuart Coppin of Bal Harbor, Florida. Coppin’s images were drawn from both Africa and Cuba and presented fresh and lyrical panoramic insights into both the land and the people he encountered during his travels. The juror was William Earle Williams, Professor of Fine Arts and Curator of Photography at Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.

ASSIGNMENT: Six Pittsburgh Photographers
April 17 – June 1, 2002
The artists in this exhibition – Ed Barbour, Lynn Johnson, Richard Kelly, Andrea London, Dennis Marsico and Mark Perrott – photograph for magazines and journals as diverse as National Geographic, Fortune, Parenting, and Traveling & Leisure. This exhibition provided them with the opportunity of responding to a self-imposed assignment.

Benefit Auction 2002
March 6 – April 6, 2002
The benefit auction of 2002 served as a month-long exhibition and as the primary fundraiser for Silver Eye Center for Photography. Click here for Benefit Auction information.

Brazil without Frontiers
December 12, 2001 – February 23, 2002
Five Brazilian photographers searched for different lifestyles along the continental borders of South America’s largest country. 

Pittsburgh Collects Photographs
September 12 – November 24, 2001
This exhibition grew out of a desire to recognize, and indeed celebrate, the many private and public collections in Pittsburgh that cherish photography.

Fellowship 2001: Photographs by Susan Dunkerley
May 16 – July 28, 2001
The recipient of Silver Eye’s annual Fellowship competition in 2001 was Susan Dunkerley, of Waco, Texas. Dunkerley’s images presented poetic and layered visual descriptions of everyday scenes. The juror was Jean Caslin, Executive Director, Houston Center for Photography.

Creatures: Henry Horenstein
February 14 – May 5, 2001
Internationally celebrated photographer Henry Horenstein’s newest body of work captured humorous, yet stunning, segments of animals, many of which created a visual puzzle for the viewers. 

Ansel Adams: Photographs from the Polaroid Collection
November 8, 2000 – January 27, 2001
Ansel Adams, probably the most famous photographer in the world, was a close friend and colleague of Edwin Land who invented Polaroid. This exhibition celebrated the special relationship that existed between these two men, and included stellar enlargements as well as one-of-a-kind small black-and-white landscape images from the days when Adams served as a consultant to Polaroid Corporation.

Digital Frontiers: Photography’s Future at Nash Editions
September 13 – October 28, 2000
This exhibition was organized and circulated by The International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House in Rochester, New York and presented a selection of cutting-edge Iris inkjet prints from the studio of Graham Nash. A comment from this famous musician explains his interest: “As the electric guitar determined a new direction in music and cultural attitudes in the ‘50s, I believe computers and interactive media will shape the visual art in the future.”                                                                                              

Point of View: Photographs of Albanians by Martha Rial and Jim Stone
June 1 – August 5, 2000
Martha Rial was a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff photographer who won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography. Jim Stone was an Assistant Professor of Photography at the University if New Mexico.  This exhibition presented two distinct ways of capturing Albania in the 1990s. 

Benefit Auction 2000
May 16 – May 20, 2000
The benefit auction of 2000 served as a week-long exhibition and as the primary fundraiser for Silver Eye Center for Photography. Click here for Benefit Auction information.

Fellowship 2000: Photographs by Elijah Gowin
March 7 – May 6, 2000
The recipient of Silver Eye’s annual Fellowship competition in 2000 was Elijah Gowin, of Alexandria, Virginia.  Gowin’s images were lyrical and evocative views of the photographer’s surroundings. The juror was Jeffrey Hoone, Director of Light Work, Syracuse, New York.

The Photographs of James VanDerZee
November 2, 1999 – February 26, 2000
James VanDerZee (1886-1983) was the most prominent African-American photographer of the twentieth century and this exhibition revealed why he is so well known for the thousands of photographs he made during the Harlem Renaissance.