Nancy Rexroth

Nancy Rexroth (born 1946) is an American photographer noted for her pioneer work utilizing the Diana camera.[1] In 1977, she published IOWA – the first printed monograph of work completed with a plastic camera.[1] Her work is currently in collection at the Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[2]

Early life and education

Rexroth was born in Washington D.C.[1] While completing her BFA in English at American University, she developed an interest in photojournalism.[1] She then went on to receive her MFA in Photography at Ohio University (1969-1971).[3] In 1969, during her graduate studies, Ohio University professor, Arnold Gassan, introduced Rexroth to the Diana camera.[4] The Diana first appeared in the early 1960s and was originally produced by The Great Wall Plastics Company, Hong Kong.[4] This toy camera used 120mm film and became known for the soft focus and impressionistic, ‘dreamlike’ images it produced as a result of its plastic lens.[5]

While at Ohio University, Rexroth was influenced by the work of Emmet Gowin, Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.[3] Although she did not become aware of Diane Arbus until after graduate school, Rexroth stated that she sees a parallel between her photographs and Diane Arbus’s thematically dark images of marginalized people.[6]

After completing her MFA, Rexroth moved back to the Washington, D.C. area. While there she participated in a summer internship at the Smithsonian Institution researching the platinotype process.[7] As a result of this internship came Rexroth's second publication, "The Platinotype 1977," a pamphlet on modern platinum printing.[8] In 1973, she moved back to Ohio to teach and work on a photographic series that became the book IOWA,[9] funded by a National Endowment Grant.[10]

Notable work

A Woman's Bed Logan, OH 1970
Boys Flying Amesville, OH 1976
My Mother Pennsville, OH 1970

Rexroth's most notable work, IOWA, was the first published monograph of work done with a plastic camera.[1] She describes the book as "conceived of as a kind of psychic journey from one emotional mood to the next-- a maturation process. It all happens in a place which is very exotic."[9] In the introduction to the book, Mark Power describes this work as "Sunny Iowa was transformed by memory into a dark Iowa with 'a real feeling of melancholy.' It became Iowa of 'atmospheres' and the Diana became a key-- with it, Rexroth unlocks Iowa from wherever she happens to be."[9] IOWA will be republished by the University of Texas Press in 2017 with the original introduction written by Mark Power as well as new introductions written by Alec Soth and Anne Wilkes Tucker.[11]

Solo exhibitions

Collections

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Bates, Michelle (2011). Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity. Burlington, MA: Focal Press. pp. 16–18. ISBN 978-0240814216.
  2. ↑ Hammons, Leslie. "Nancy Rexroth". Weinstein Gallery.
  3. 1 2 Joslin, Russell (September 1999). "From the Gut". Shots: On the True Art of Photography.
  4. 1 2 Andrews, Blake (February 17, 2011). "Q&A with Nancy Rexroth". Rumblings from the Photographic Hinterlands. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ Moyer, Gary C. (May 20, 2011). "A History of Toy Cameras". Light Sensitive. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  6. ↑ Garwood, Deborah (November 2004). "My Own Private Iowa". Off Off Off. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Rexroth, Nancy (1982). Contemporary Photographers. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. pp. 625–6. ISBN 978-1558621909.
  8. 1 2 Rexroth, Nancy (1977). The Platinotype. Formulary Press.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Rexroth, Nancy (1977). Iowa. Boston, MA: Violet Press.
  10. ↑ Belief, Halla (1985). Camera Culture. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0631139898.
  11. ↑ "Forthcoming". Photography Catalog. University of Texas Press. 2015.
  12. ↑ Mann, Robert (December 31, 2004). "Art in Review: Nancy Rexroth". New York Times.
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