Ken Tannenbaum: “Photographs to Chat About”

Hudson, NY – 510 Warren Street Gallery is happy to present the photographic works of Catskill artist Ken Tannenbaum in a show titled “Photographs to Chat About” beginning Friday, December 6^th and continuing until Sunday, December 29^th. Please join us for a reception with the artist on Saturday, December 7^th from 3 to 6 pm.

Here is Ken’s artist’s statement which, in his own voice, provides a more vivid invitation than a third person translation.

“I came up a professional in NYC. Surrounded by galleries, museums, endless storied photography greats-gone-by…Ray, Penn, Horst, Leiter, Cartier-Bresson, Salgado, Winogrand, Horst, Lange, Frank, Kertesz, etc. and advertising legends galore, amazing artisans, too many to mention. There was no shortage of influences. To this day, I lean on them, including my artist/photographer friends whose work endlessly inspires me.

Over the decades I was paid to solve diverse client problems. I loved the challenge, I think back to projects, not finding a one that scared me off. I was always well prepared. I enjoyed a long run. What changed? To an extent, happenstance in 2001 when my family and studio were in the heart of Tribeca, close to the World Trade Center; our son attending grade school in view of it, three blocks away. What I adored for decades, began to see differently. It’s a bit hard to explain but I had turned the proverbial corner.

Images I make now are from my heart and mind.

The most exciting thing for me is my diversity; my interests stray. My narratives are inventions, made up as I go along, sometimes using myself as subject…many are serendipitous, a joy when it happens my having no idea what the subject was thinking. Pictures of objects and places with no one at all are close to my heart, there is meaning within. It’s the beauty of a chat about art and life for that matter. My work is fundamental in technique. What I ask of myself is to bring the best I can of beauty and truth in what I see.”

Ken Tannenbaum, November 2024