| New York Times’ historical
archives come to Durango written by Missy Votel
 |
| Jazz great Louis Armstrong
plays for his wife in front of the pyramids of Giza,
1961. |
Perhaps there is no medium better suited to capturing
history in the making than the common newspaper. And when
it comes to newspapering, few would argue with the clout
of that bastion of tradition and excellence, The New York
Times.
Over the last 100 years, the Times has amassed an impressive
collection of more than 7 million photos from its own
archives as well as those of other institutions including
George Eastman House and Hulton-Getty. And for a few weeks,
Durangoans will have a chance to view a small sampling
of these photos, ranging from Abraham Lincoln on the battlefield
to Louis Armstrong playing his trumpet at the pyramids.
 The
exhibit, “Icons and Everyday People: The Texture
of Our History,” will be on display at Gallery Ultima
from April 5-30. And in addition to being a first for
Durango, the exhibit will be a first for the entire country.
The Durango show will be the traveling exhibition’s
inaugural public stop before hitting the road.
Stan Rabbe, Gallery Ultima owner, said being chosen as
the show’s first stop was an unexpected honor. He
said he first saw the exhibit during ArtExpo, an international
trade show for art galleries and artists, in New York
City in February. He approached the woman who was exhibiting
the photos, and next thing he knew plans were being made
for its maiden voyage to his gallery.
“It’s kind of neat to be the premiere showing,”
he said.
Rabbe said the 50-photo exhibit contains works by such
legendary photojournalists as Alfred Stieglitz, Edward
Curtis and Berenice Abbott. The photos represent a cross-section
of history, running the gamut from transportation and
sports to political figures and personalities. He also
said the collection is not just limited to photos from
this side of the Atlantic.
 |
President Abraham Lincoln,
left,
stands with his troops at Antietam, 1862. These photos
and 48
others from the ‘New York Times’ archives
will be on display starting
Friday at Gallery Ultima. |
“With the 50 they put together they tried to show
the history of the United States but show other things
as well,” he said.
And while the collection contains some of the more powerful
images from modern times, including the mid-flight explosion
of the Hindenburg to the haunting Spanish Civil War scene
of a fallen soldier on a barren hillside, it also features
some lesser known ones.
Rabbe said one of the more memorable photos was an 1862
shot taken of Lincoln with his troops at Antietam that
captures the famous president’s commanding physical
stature.
“He’s about a foot taller than everyone else,”
he said.
The exhibit also showcases the history of flight, from
the first airborne journey at Kitty Hawk to the first
space shuttle launch in 1981. Rabbe said it is the former
endeavor that holds particular significance today. “This
year is the 100-year anniversary of Orville and Wilbur
Wright’s first powered flight,” he said. “The
photo that will be on display here will be the same one
featured in Smithsonian magazine.”
For those looking for a more personal perspective, the
exhibit also contains photos of the people that shaped
the times, from leaders of disappearing American Indian
tribes circa the turn of the 19th century to American
icon Mark Twain and Claude Monet looking over his famous
water lilies.
Rabbe said all the photos on exhibit were hand-processed
on silver-gelatin matte prints, the gold-standard of fine-art
photography. Reprints will be on sale at the gallery.
And whether people leave with a memento of the exhibit
or not, Rabbe said he hopes they at least walk away with
a better understanding and appreciation of the world we
live in.
“I think it’ll be really educational,”
he said. “This is stuff that doesn’t come
around all that often. It’s pretty special.”
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