Paul Grottkau brought to his work as a studio photographer an aptitude for managing complex, precise technical processes as required in the practice of the building sciences in which he was educated. His day-to-day organizing activities within the labor movement required a deep devotion to social ethics and a sincerely felt empathy for ordinary folks and their interests. This combination of technical knowledge and social conscience must have served him well as he endeavored to put his customers at ease before his lens. […]
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Hard facts about the [1886 Haymarket] bombing [in Chicago] still remain clouded and the guilt of most, if not all, of the eight convicted men is still questioned. The innocence of the four executed anarchists has been largely proven retroactively. It is one of the “Haymarket Martyrs,” Albert R. Parsons, executed on November 11, 1887, who connects Paul Grottkau the political activist to Paul Grottkau the professional photographer, via this singular image of a mixed-race woman. […] John Pfahl’s innovative work in landscape photography focused on the problems of perception and representation. He systematically questioned the medium. His early and probably best-known series, “Altered Landscapes,” is a perfect example of his constant quest. […] It pleases me to announce my immediate and ongoing availability for webinars, remote live lectures and virtual class visits, as well as online project consultancy. These are designed for independent groups, schools, commercial and non-profit galleries and artists’ spaces, museums, and other organizations and institutions that consider my work relevant to their constituencies. […] Collage/assemblage as a medium seems simple, but in practice is quite complex. Mr. Beard has mastered it on many levels, from the tactile and visual to the intellectual and intuitive. Everything in these works becomes integral to them, retaining its own flavor and texture while also blending with the other ingredients, as in a perfectly made stew. […] |
 SPJ Research Award 2014 |