Icons In Hand: Masterworks from a local collection at Vermont Center for Photography

This show just opened at VCP, a collection of famous images from a bunch of famous photographers.
Well worth the drive if you’re in New England.

This exhibition brings museum-caliber black-and-white photographs by many of photography’s greats right to Brattleboro. Drawn from a remarkable local collection, these prints invite you to get close—see the paper, the grain, the edge of the negative—and slow down with images that carry time and story across generations. It’s a chance to experience iconic photographs as objects, not just pictures on a screen: how they’re printed, toned, and cared for, and why those choices matter to what we see and feel.

The exhibition brings together 36 works by 31 artists, spanning nearly a century of photographic history, with dates ranging from 1916 to 2004. The selection highlights both silver gelatin and platinum prints, offering a rich material and historical range that underscores the enduring power and evolution of the photographic print

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The exhibition includes works by Ansel Adams, Dianne Arbus, Ruth Bernhard, Édouard Boubat, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Horace Bristol, Harry Callahan, Paul Caponigro, Judy Dater, Walker Evans, Leonard Freed, Lee Friedlander, Ralph Gibson, Emmet Gowin, André Kertész, Dorothea Lange, Nathan Lyons, Sally Mann, Robert Mapplethorpe, Mary Ellen Mark, Duane Michals, Arnold Newman, Ruth Orkin, Man Ray, Sebastião Salgado, Edward Steichen, George Tice, Jerry Uelsmann, John Vachon, Edward Weston, & Garry Winogrand.

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VCP’s website is vcphoto.org for details, hours, etc.

I visited VCP for the first time last year, what a great little spot.

Wow that’s great. I will definitely drive over. Thank you very much for sharing.

Thank you for posting this. Wish I lived a bit closer!

I see a few names I was fortunate to have known and exhibited with during the mid-century years. That was a wonderful period to be engaged in the art of photography. Almost all have passed on, however Judy Dater is living and photographing here in the Bay Area.

Long live the art of making gelatin silver prints!

I visited VCP last September. Fantastic place and very friendly people.

I was over at the VCP yesterday and second @bdial's
recommendation.

It was quite amazing to see many original prints of images that I had only seen in books previously.

Well worth the trip.

Merg Ross said:

Thank you for posting this. Wish I lived a bit closer!

I see a few names I was fortunate to have known and exhibited with during the mid-century years. That was a wonderful period to be engaged in the art of photography. Almost all have passed on, however Judy Dater is living and photographing here in the Bay Area.

Long live the art of making gelatin silver prints!

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The show would be great to see.
But what would really be exceptional would be seeing the show along with you Merg, and hearing any commentary you might have.
The curators should arrange for you to see it!

MattKing said:

The show would be great to see.
But what would really be exceptional would be seeing the show along with you Merg, and hearing any commentary you might have.
The curators should arrange for you to see it!

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Thanks Matt,

Nostalgia spurred my response. Just look at those names, Adams to Winogrand, and all of the brilliant talent sandwiched between. Some were established when I began photographing in the early 1950's, and others were my contemporaries. From the established group I was young and fortunate enough to get critiques from Weston and Steichen.

When I consider the works in this collection the word "eclectic" comes to mind. Diverse in technique and message, but with a shared energy and dedication to their art. Many were master printers, Paul Caponigro with silver and George Tice with platinum.

Paul wrote me when he was 85 and closed his letter, "I am still in the traditional darkroom with silver and chemistry and being kept company by a handful of private students who also wish to learn about the silver print fashioned with chemical transmutations." Lucky students!

This exhibition is a reminder of a bygone era worthy of close study. Thank you to all of those who made it possible.

Merg

Reminder, the exhibition closes in two weeks, March 1, 2026.