Boston, MA - Oct. 10, 2024- Robert Klein Gallery is pleased to present "Gingkos", a solo
exhibition of new work by renowned photographer Nicholas Nixon, opening on Saturday
October 26, from 3-5pm - 38 Newbury Street, Boston. Known for his deeply intimate and
humanistic work, Nixon turns his lens toward the natural world in this latest body of work,
focusing on the quiet, majestic and almost healing presence of trees. The exhibition invites
viewers to experience the beauty, resilience, and complexity of trees in and around Boston,
captured with Nixon's signature precision and sensitivity over the last five years. This exhibition also marks the first time Nixon has exhibited digitally captured and
printed photographs alongside his signature 8 x 10 in. large format silver gelatin prints.
Best known for his Brown Sisters series (1975-2022) and for his candid portrayals of people and places, Nick Nixon's exploration of trees offers a new perspective on his approach to time, life cycles, and impermanence. These large-format photographs capture the nuanced textures, light, and intricate details of trees in all their forms-solid, delicate, vibrant, and weathered.
"After reading Peter Wohlleben's 'The Hidden Lives of Trees', I was very moved by evidence of trees communicating and healing and protecting one another that I began to have have a mystical feeling about them, that they are ancient observers which possess the ease and grace that we strive for in our lives. Silent witnesses to our failing efforts, to our folly," Nixon says.
Though Nixon is widely celebrated for his portraits, "Ginkgo" highlights his talent in capturing the natural landscape, focusing on trees as both subjects and symbols of time, endurance, and beauty. The exhibition features a series of photographs taken in the Arnold Arboretum, offering a reflection on the local landscape and the significance of trees in urban and suburban spaces. Nixon's use of large-format film brings out remarkable detail, allowing the viewer to engage deeply with the textures and forms of his subjects. In a departure from his established practice of working with large format film cameras and darkroom printing, Nixon employs for the fist time a monochrome digital camera and digital pigment printing to exhibit alongside darkroom prints.
"For the last five years I've photographed mostly trees. I used to think that as a subject they were too easy, sitting ducks. Spending time with some special ones and looking very hard I began to feel their power. I first brought my big camera to the Longwood Mall in Brookline, Massachusetts, a small two block long park with Beech trees up to 200 years old, and began to feel as well as see them. I liked the pictures right away and went to photograph them every day for over a year, except when I was developing the film and printing the negatives. After the Beeches were finished I went to the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, also a neighbor, and began to fill my ground glass with Gingko trees, ancient residents originally from China. There is one hillside where roughly 25 live close together. Their stillness and poise fill my spirit just standing among them. Again I went nearly every day, with no plan other than to be really there among them. On the upper side of the hill is a large group of Apple and Crabapple trees, which started another cycle of witnessing their force, their bounty, their shapes...their kindness." -Nicholas Nixon, 2024
About the Artist
Nicholas Nixon (b. 1947, Detroit, Michigan) is an acclaimed American photographer, best known for his large-format black-and-white photography, which captures intimate portraits, landscapes, and urban life. His work is recognized for its raw, unfiltered honesty and technical precision, often focusing on themes of time, aging, human relationships, and the natural world.
Nixon earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1969 and later pursued a Master of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico, completing his studies in 1974. Nixon has been exploring portraiture and social photography since the 1970s. He began working with an 8x10 view camera early in his career, a technique he has largely maintained, allowing him to capture extraordinary detail and tonal range in his images. He gained international attention in the 1970s with his Brown Sisters series, an ongoing photographic project in which Nixon has photographed his wife, Bebe, and her three sisters annually since 1975. This work, which captures the passage of time and the evolution of family relationships, has become one of the most iconic series in contemporary photography. Nixon's approach to portraiture is marked by its profound sensitivity, often conveying a deep sense of intimacy between photographer and subject.
In addition to The Brown Sisters, Nixon is known for his work in urban landscapes, including series like People With AIDS and School. His photographs are characterized by their empathy and attention to the complexities of life, whether documenting the elderly, children, or strangers on the street. Nixon's body of work extends beyond human subjects, with a keen interest in natural landscapes. His recent focus on trees and the environment, particularly in and around Boston, showcases his ability to capture the quiet majesty of the natural world with the same depth and sensitivity seen in his portraits.
Nixon taught photography for many years, influencing generations of photographers with his commitment to the craft and his thoughtful, methodical approach to image-making. His work has been exhibited widely in major museums and galleries, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Throughout his career, Nixon has received numerous awards, including two Guggenheim Fellowships and three National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. His photographs are held in the permanent collections of prestigious institutions around the world, affirming his status as one of the most important figures in contemporary photography.
