Alvin Baltrop, “Three Navy Sailors,” 1969–72. Gelatin silver print, 8½ × 12¾ inches. Collection Morteza Barharloo, Houston.

Perspectives 179
Alvin Baltrop: Dreams Into GlassRead more on the Read more on the 

July 20–October 21, 2012
Contemporary Art Museum Houston


I just recently learned about Baltrop’s work in my “Photoconceptualism” history class this past year of my MFA at ICP-Bard College. This exhibit seems long overdue but among other urban works, it promises to be a comprehensive survey of the work of this Black photographer’s exclusive look at the homosexual community both in the U.S. Navy where he served as well as in New York City’s infamous West Side piers.


The following is an excerpt from the museum:


The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is pleased to present Perspectives 179–Alvin Baltrop: Dreams Into Glass, the first major solo museum survey of work by this African-American photographer. Born in the Bronx, New York, in 1948, Baltrop died from cancer in 2004 at the age of fifty-five. This exhibition serves to introduce audiences to Baltrop’s visionary talent as a photographer, one who captured the beauty and decay of some of this country’s most iconic urban landscapes as well as the pivotal moments of a society in transition. The survey features both vintage photographs and recent prints created by the artist over a thirty-five year period, including work from the mid-1960s to the early 2000s, a slide presentation of images shot by the artist that were not printed, and a sound collage taken from the artist’s many phone conversations and interviews, as well as rare archival and ephemeral material lent by the artist’s Trust.


Read more and see select images from the Alvin Baltrop show at the Contemporary Art Museum Houston.


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