Mariposas Nocturnas: Emmet Gowin and Joel Smith

October 31, 2017

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Renowned photographer Emmet Gowin and curator Joel Smith discuss Gowin's new book, Mariposas Nocturnas, a dazzling document of his longtime project photographing nocturnal moths in Central and South America.

Emmet Gowin is best known for his portraits of his wife, Edith, and their family, as well as for his images documenting the impact of human activity upon landscapes around the world. But for the past fifteen years, he has been engaged in an equally profound project on a different scale, capturing the exquisite beauty of more than one thousand species of nocturnal moths in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, and Panama.

Mariposas Nocturnas © Emmet Gowin

His stunning color portraits feature creatures which may never have been photographed as living specimens before, and some of which may not be seen again. The moths are photographed alive, in natural positions and postures, and set against a variety of backgrounds taken from the natural world and images from art history.

Gowin will speak with Joel Smith, the Morgan Library Curator of Photography, who curated an exhibition of Gowin's work in 2015.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing at the end of the event. 

FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED
For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released 15 minutes before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A stand by line will form one hour before the program.