Ann Rosen Photograph Collection
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
This collection consists of photographs from artist Ann Rosen's series In the Presence of Family: Brooklyn Portraits and Revisiting In the Presence of Family: Brooklyn Portraits. Photographs are both print and digital.
Biographical note
Biography from Ann Rosen's website, 2021
Ann Rosen graduated from SUNY at Buffalo with a BFA and the Visual Studies Workshop with an MFA. She has received residencies to Artpark, NY and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, VA, as well as a residency at the Henry Street Settlement, NYC. In 2004, Rosen received a grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council to develop her project, In the Presence of Family and, in 2010, received an additional one to continue this project, creating a historic document of the families. She has published several books in connection with this project, In the Presence of Family: Brooklyn Portraits, 2009, and Revisiting in the Presence of Family: Brooklyn Portraits, 2018. In 2016, she received a grant from the Puffin Foundation to expand her work teaching digital photography to women in living in shelter.
Exhibitions include Brooklyn Museum of Art, Appropriation and Syntax: The Use of Photography in Contemporary Art; Museum of the City of New York, New York Gets Married; Henry Street Settlement, In-Sites VI: Making Our City Livable; Five Myles Gallery, In the Presence of Women: Living in Shelter; CIIS, San Francisco, What Keeps You Up at Night?. Solo exhibitions include Franklin Furnace, NYC, Unlike in Characters; Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza, In the Presence of Family: Brooklyn Portraits; Webster University, In the Presence of Family: Brooklyn Portraits; LIU, Resnick Gallery, In the Presence of Family: Brooklyn Portraits, and Farleigh Dickenson University, Portraits: Artists and their Families; Burchfield-Penney Art Center, 50 in 50.
Her work has been written about in the Village Voice, New York Times, Newark Sunday Star Ledger, Brooklyn Courier, Brooklyn Eagle and the Pfizer Journal. Her portraits were featured in the 11th Annual Brooklyn Pride Magazine.
Both her photographs and books are represented in numerous permanent collections including Brooklyn Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art Library, Albright-Knox Gallery and Library and Burchfield-Penney Art Center.
Arrangement
Original order has been maintainted. Items are grouped by size.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of photographs from artist Ann Rosen's series In the Presence of Family: Brooklyn Portraits and Revisiting In the Presence of Family: Brooklyn Portraits. Photographs are both print and digital, with 68 print photographs and 68 digital photographs (38 of which are unique). The portraits were taken at the Brooklyn Pride street fair, Fabulous Fifth Avenue street fair and at the artist's studio between 2003-2007. Later portraits were made at the Five Myles Gallery in 2010. Prints in boxes 1 and 2 include painted matboards with a handwritten "family story" on them. These prints were included in a 2004 exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library. An exhibit catalog from Rosen's 2020 show Being Seen is also included. A portion of this collection is available through the Library's Digital Collections portal.
Artist statement from Ann Rosen's website, 2021
In my project, In the Presence of Family: Brooklyn Portraits, I document the concept of family as it is defined by the subjects in my photographs — through not only their familiarity, closeness and commitment, but also their heterogeneity, openness and diversity.
Photographing people in familial relations began in 1999 and spanned the next decade. This project unveils interactions and relationships between individuals in family situations from neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn. It explores issues of race, gender, class and family diversity, highlighting the connections that transcend the categories our society commonly uses to define the family. These images raise our awareness of those around us, of their differences, struggles and achievements. This generates understanding and ultimately leads toward a higher degree of empathy and tolerance. We learn to appreciate the connections — whether by blood or not — which enrich all of our lives.
As Charlotta Kotik, Curator Emerita, Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum, states in her essay about this project, "The nuclear family — father, mother, children — is no longer a prevailing model. The structure is dramatically changing. Newly created families with children from previous marriages, gay and lesbian partners, children within same sex families, multi-racial adoption, and of course, one parent families are all part of our world and all are documented in the work."
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
The collection may only be used in the library and is not available through interlibrary loan. Requests to view the collection must be made at least 48 hours in advance of visit.
Conditions Governing Use
While many items in the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item/descriptive title, date (if known), Ann Rosen photograph collection, BCMS.0074, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Ann Rosen, 2019.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
The majority of the materials in this collection are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org at least two weeks prior to research visit.
The collection's digital surrogates should be used in place of the originals whenever possible.
Existence and Location of Copies
The digitized portions of this collection are available on our digital collections under the call number prefix ROSE.
