Dick Blau
Encyclopedia
Dick Blau is an artist and a major figure producing and theorizing photography of the family.
(1965) and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University
(1973). He is a Professor of Film at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
and performance art
.
. His longterm partner is Jane Gallop, a Distinguished Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
. Together they have two children, Max and Ruby.
, 2002), and Polka Happiness (Temple University Press
Visual Studies Series, 1992), which he co-authored with Charles and Angeliki Keil. The book explores the dance music of generations of Polish Americans and emphasizes the shared sense of belonging embodied in "polka
sociability." In 2003, Blau published a book of photographs of his family: Living With His Camera, Text by Jane Gallop
/Photographs by Dick Blau (Duke University Press
).
in San Francisco, California.
Education
Blau holds a BA in English from Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(1965) and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
(1973). He is a Professor of Film at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee is Wisconsin's premier public urban university. It is a coed public research university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States. It is also the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wisconsin System...
Career
Blau’s photographs and films have been exhibited internationally and are included in a number of museum collections. His interests include psychological portraiture, experimental narrative, ethnographyEthnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
and performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
.
Personal Life
Dick Blau was born in 1943. His mother is actress Beatrice Manley, and his father is theater director Herbert BlauHerbert Blau
A director and theoretician of performance, Herbert Blau is Byron W. and Alice L. Lockwood Professor in the Humanities at the University of Washington...
. His longterm partner is Jane Gallop, a Distinguished Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee is Wisconsin's premier public urban university. It is a coed public research university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States. It is also the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wisconsin System...
. Together they have two children, Max and Ruby.
Books
His books include Bright Balkan Morning: Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia, Photographs by Dick Blau, Text by Charles and Angeliki Keil, Soundscape by Steven Feld (Wesleyan University PressWesleyan University Press
Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The Press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist...
, 2002), and Polka Happiness (Temple University Press
Temple University Press
Temple University Press is a university press publishing house that is part of Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The press was founded in 1969....
Visual Studies Series, 1992), which he co-authored with Charles and Angeliki Keil. The book explores the dance music of generations of Polish Americans and emphasizes the shared sense of belonging embodied in "polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
sociability." In 2003, Blau published a book of photographs of his family: Living With His Camera, Text by Jane Gallop
Jane Gallop
Jane Anne Gallop is an American professor who since 1992 has served as Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where she has taught since 1990.- Education :Gallp earned a B.A...
/Photographs by Dick Blau (Duke University Press
Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher of books and journals, and a unit of Duke University. It publishes approximately 120 books annually and more than 40 journals, as well as offering five electronic collections...
).
Films
Some of Blau's films include Up the Block One Sunday (1982), Tintinnabula (1986), and Jidyll (1990), all of which were distributed by Canyon CinemaCanyon Cinema
Canyon Cinema is a San Francisco based filmmakers' cooperative specializing in the distribution of avant-garde and experimental film. The organization was instigated in about 1960 by Bruce Baillie as an exhibition outlet for independent film, and was formally established as a non-profit...
in San Francisco, California.