Ken Shung ... Who is Ken Shung? He was once my teacher at the School of Visual Arts, but there is more to this teacher than you can imagine. Many teachers, teach because they can't do, or haven't done, but this teacher has and continues to be in the throes of the competitive field of photography ... and as you will see in his new exhibit, Pretty as a Picture, he will display some of his personal works at the Tompkins Square Branch Library Downstairs Art Gallery.
According to "theworks", Ken Shung began his career spotting prints in the studio of Irving Penn and freelancing in the studios of editorial photographers Annie Liebovitz, Bill King, Bob Richardson, and assorted magazine photographers. Trained in the workings of studio lighting and editorial magazine photography, Mr. Shung set out to find his own style without the limits of the formal studio to produce work with the intention and idea that “The World is my Studio.”
Mr. Shung has worked for countless magazines shooting portrait assignments, alongside commercial lingerie campaigns starting with magazines like “7 days ” to New York Magazine, New York Times Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, Vanity Fair, and a host of Time Inc. and Hearst Publications. Some of his past and present advertisting clients include Wacoal Lingerie, Donna Karan, Unilever and Chanel. In addition, Ken is internationally published and the co-author of a book on adoption (Be my Baby) as well as having his photography displayed in many galleries in the USA.
His new exhibition, "Pretty as a Picture" is a collection of images made during assignments and personal travels, showing a new direction and change from his formal portrait work, instead incorporating decisive moments and storytelling in the landscape /portraits genre.
Ken Shung sets out to make monumental images that embody the idea of the Pretty Picture. He captures disjunction, viewing our social spaces with wonder and tenderness and a magical decisive moment. In a typical Shung image, something ominous, apocalyptic, paradoxical, pictorial, and timeless has happened.
Ken Shung states, “It is said that a photographer/ artist is always searching to find his or her own vision and voice, otherwise they just ends up making a bunch of Pretty Pictures. With this collection of recent images I explore the nature of ‘When is a photograph just a Pretty Picture?’”
Mr. Shung considers his landscapes and portraits graphic, simple, psychological, introverted, and uncomfortably romantic, as well as very challenging conception-wise and academically well-conceived. Unsolved emotions and bold slices of life are part of the pleasures and smiles that are felt when you look at the “Pretty Pictures.”
According to "theworks", Ken Shung began his career spotting prints in the studio of Irving Penn and freelancing in the studios of editorial photographers Annie Liebovitz, Bill King, Bob Richardson, and assorted magazine photographers. Trained in the workings of studio lighting and editorial magazine photography, Mr. Shung set out to find his own style without the limits of the formal studio to produce work with the intention and idea that “The World is my Studio.”
Mr. Shung has worked for countless magazines shooting portrait assignments, alongside commercial lingerie campaigns starting with magazines like “7 days ” to New York Magazine, New York Times Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, Vanity Fair, and a host of Time Inc. and Hearst Publications. Some of his past and present advertisting clients include Wacoal Lingerie, Donna Karan, Unilever and Chanel. In addition, Ken is internationally published and the co-author of a book on adoption (Be my Baby) as well as having his photography displayed in many galleries in the USA.
His new exhibition, "Pretty as a Picture" is a collection of images made during assignments and personal travels, showing a new direction and change from his formal portrait work, instead incorporating decisive moments and storytelling in the landscape /portraits genre.
Ken Shung sets out to make monumental images that embody the idea of the Pretty Picture. He captures disjunction, viewing our social spaces with wonder and tenderness and a magical decisive moment. In a typical Shung image, something ominous, apocalyptic, paradoxical, pictorial, and timeless has happened.
Ken Shung states, “It is said that a photographer/ artist is always searching to find his or her own vision and voice, otherwise they just ends up making a bunch of Pretty Pictures. With this collection of recent images I explore the nature of ‘When is a photograph just a Pretty Picture?’”
Mr. Shung considers his landscapes and portraits graphic, simple, psychological, introverted, and uncomfortably romantic, as well as very challenging conception-wise and academically well-conceived. Unsolved emotions and bold slices of life are part of the pleasures and smiles that are felt when you look at the “Pretty Pictures.”
EXHIBITION DETAILS
The exhibition will feature a collection of large and medium scale prints of his recent Portrait / Landscapes work in his first New York debut showing.
The new work will be shown at the Tompkins Square New York Public Library Gallery beginning March 9 through March 31, 2011.
Downstairs Art Gallery
Tompkins Square Branch Library
331 East 10th street NY NY 10009
212-228-4747
* The shows opens Wednesday, March 9 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. *
The Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon until 5 p.m with appointments after hours made by email to jeremy.hu@theworks-gallery.com or telephone 646-251-0179.
To view and purchase more of Ken’s work: http://www.theworks-gallery.com/works/artist/ken_shung
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