An interactive art intervention in Andover, Mass. was a success over the weekend, drawing over fifty people.
Eighty-three 11×14 B&W images taken during the mid-70s were shown. In accordance with their “analog” processing (no digital interference or manipulation whatsoever), commenting was encouraged via post-its – an analog version of social media commenting, with little risk of viral attacks or doxxing.
They show Phillips Academy at a time of transition from an all-boys school to co-education, just after the merger of PA and Abbott. They also evidence a progression from the innocence of sophomore to a more decadent senior year.
The images – captured full-frame by a Nikon FM given to the photographer at age 15 – were taken from ages 15 to 17. The negatives from 100 rolls of Tri-X were only discovered a handful of years ago. After contact sheets were made, images with potential were enlarged to 3x4s; of those, a subset were blown up to 11x14s in a traditional darkroom in Brazil.
[please hover over images for captions]
Take the video tour:
Ben, thank you for putting this together! Really fun to see it even though I missed it in person. So nice to “see” some of my old buddies.. (Hi Martha! And others…:-))
Leslie, you are very welcome, delighted you enjoyed the show virtually!
Congratulations.
Enjoyed the narrative.
Many thanks, Lucy, I’m delighted you took a look and enjoyed the narrative. Truly, a blast from the past.
Where can I find a place with all the photos to review—I was ‘77 and am incredibly interested in seeing such a vivid reminder of my era at PA-thanks so much for putting this together! Charlie Elson ‘77
Where can I find a place with all of the photos to review—I was ‘77 and am incredibly interested in seeing such a vivid reminder of my era at PA-thanks so much for putting this together! Charlie Elson ‘77
Hi Charles, I’m so sorry for my delay. Spam comments have been sneaking onto my site (400+), so I missed seeing your comment. Thanks so much for your interest. I don’t yet have a central location online; I’m in the process of putting up one image per week at the Andover Class of 1978ish on Facebook. If you’re still on FB, kindly send request to join/follow, my old roomie Mike Cannell manages. I’m looking for IDs and comments on the images with the goal of publishing a photo book prior to my class 50th Reunion in ’28. The Academy has expressed an interest in putting up a show at the Library then. Prior to that they will likely digitize all the images and, potentially, creat a folder somewhere to view. Best bet would be to join the FB page, where news will be shared on plans for the ‘28 bask (the Academy’s 250th). All best, Ben