A Tribute To Art Shay: October 6 - November 19 at Monroe Gallery
September 22, 2017 | Source: Monroe Gallery of Photography
Image © Richard Shay
Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is pleased to present a major exhibition of photographs from one of America's most accomplished photographers, Art Shay. The exhibit of 50 photographsopens Friday, October 6 with a public reception from 5 - 7 PM, and continues through November 19.
For over 70 years, Art Shay has documented life, combining his gifts of storytelling, humor and empathy. The Lucie Awards is the premiere annual event honoring the greatest achievements in photography. Art Shay will be honored with the Lucie statue for Lifetime Achievement during the Lucie Awards gala ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York October 29, 2017. Below is the announcement from the Lucie Foundation.
ART SHAY
2017 Honoree, Lifetime Achievement
"Art Shay's photography shakes you up, sets you down gently, pats you on the head and then kicks you in the ass." Roger Ebert
Art Shay was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1922. During World War II, he was lead navigator on 30 missions in the Eighth Air Force. His service, which also include 23 combat supplies missions, earned him five Air Medals, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the French Croix de Guerre. He is credited with shooting down one Focke Wulf 190, a German fighter plane.
Shay has pursued photography since his teens, and he took his first Leica to war with him. His first published photographs—documenting a mid air collision over his English Air Base—were printed in a September 1944 issue of Look magazine. Upon returning to civilian life, Shay wrote Sunday features for the Washington Post before becoming a staff reporter for Life magazine. In San Francisco at age 26, he became Life's youngest bureau chief. His specialty was story ideas and he wrote text and captions for photographers such as Alfred Eisenstaedt, Peter Stackpole, Wallace Kirkland and Francis Miller.
Shay moved to Chicago in late 1948. A longtime fan of literature, he befriended novelist Nelson Algren, the winner of the first National Book Award for Fiction. Throughout the 1950s, they wandered Chicago documenting Algren's "rusty heart" neighborhoods. In 1951, Shay left his staff position at Life magazine and became a freelance photographer. He found success shooting for major magazines including Life, Time, Fortune, Ebony, Sports Illustrated, The Saturday Evening Post and The New York Times Magazine. Shay earned a reputation for getting the shots editors wanted. As former editor of Lifeand Fortune Roy Rowan put it, "Art Shay's extraordinary talent lies in capturing the human spirit of all those who come before his lens."
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