She's Not There: The Myth of the Muse

SHE’S NOT THERE: The Myth of the Muse

A group show of 21 photographers images of a single model, Marlene Tupy, photographed at curator Douglas Beasley’s photo workshops in the Badlands of South Dakota and at the Trade River Retreat Center in Wisconsin. They are joined by several studio photographers from the Minneapolis Photo Center. This is an intriguing kaleidoscope of different vision, approaches and execution, all using the same subject. Photographers may think they are ‘capturing her essence’ or at best saying something about who Marlene is, but really they are telling us more about themselves.

At age 52 Marlene continues to captivate the attention of photographers, who are often criticized for only portraying youth. It is both a tribute to her and way of showing that art is not what you see but how you choose to see it.

Also included will be Marlene’s own photographic self-portraits, as well as some of her hand made paper sculpture self-portraits, showing that it is also possible to be one’s own muse.

Photos ©
Gabriele Husch (poster image)
Dinah McNew (top)
Dave Pellegrini (second)
Bill Armstrong (third)
Rod Vesper (fourth)
Rebeca Pavlenko (bottom)