Rochester, N.Y., November 2, 2016—The George Eastman Museum will host contemporary artists this fall and winter to speak about their work. Los Angeles–based photographer Elena Dorfman and Armenian-American photographer Diàna Markosian will speak as part of the museum’s Wish You Were Here lecture series, and Chicago-based artist Jason Lazarus will discuss his Too Hard to Keep (T.H.T.K.) project, an installation of which is on view in A Matter of Memory: Photography as Object in the Digital Age.
Elena Dorfman will present her talk “The Reconstructed Landscape” on November 10 at 6 p.m. In recent years, Dorfman has shifted her lens from portraits of subcultures to contemplative American landscapes. Her labor-intensive composite photographs of rock quarries and the LA River have been likened to the aesthetics of the Hudson River School. The lecture will be held in the Dryden Theatre, and admission is free for museum members and students (with valid ID), and $6 for nonmembers. Generously sponsored by museum member Thomas N. Tischer.
Working with photography as an expanded field, Jason Lazarus will trace multiple projects that rely on found images and text, including his installation T.H.T.K. (Rochester), on view in A Matter of Memory: Photography as Object in the Digital Age through January 29, 2017. Since 2010, Lazarus has been collecting photographs and related objects from the public that are deemed too hard to keep and too painful to destroy. Objects that appear in the T.H.T.K. archive include undeveloped rolls of film, photo albums, slides, photos printed on objects, and more. Visitors are encouraged to donate any photographic ephemera they wish to the collection, which may appear in future installations. Visit jasonlazarus.com for more informatuion on how to submit. The lecture will be held on November 17 at 6 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre. Admission is free for museum members, $10 for nonmembers, and $5 for students (with valid ID). The museum’s galleries will be open before and after the lecture, until 8 p.m.
Photographer Diàna Markosian explores the relationship between memory and place through her images, which she will discuss in her talk “Documenting the Personal” on December 1 at 6 p.m. Her work has taken her to some of the most remote corners of the world, and her images can be found in publications like National Geographic, The New Yorker, and the New York Times. In 2016, Markosian was announced as a Magnum Nominee. The lecture will be held in the Dryden Theatre, and admission is free for museum members and students (with valid ID), and $6 for nonmembers. Generously sponsored by museum member Thomas N. Tischer.