Penny Wolin
Encyclopedia
Penny Wolin also known as Penny Diane Wolin and Penny Wolin-Semple, is an American portrait photographer and a visual anthropologist. She has exhibited solo at the Smithsonian Institution
and is the recipient of two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities
and one grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
. Her work is held in institutions such as The New York Public Library and the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History
, administered by the Smithsonian Institution
. Known for her documentary and conceptual photographs, she has completed commissions for major corporations, national magazines and private collectors. For the past 25 years, she has used photographic portraiture
with oral interviews to research Jewish culture in America
.
. Her father, Morris Aaron Wolin (ne Wolinsky) immigrated there as a child, directly from the Russian town of Grodno, later to become a businessman. Her mother, Helen Sobol Wolin, came from Denver, Colorado
, and was an artist. At age 10, Penny began using a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. At age 16, her brother Michael Wolin gave her a high quality rangefinder camera and the necessary darkroom equipment to begin a career.
Wolin attended the University of Wyoming
and then was graduated from Art Center College of Design
in Pasadena, California
, majoring in photography and film. She also attended a Masters' program in the department of cultural anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles
, under the mentorship of Cultural Anthropologist Johannes Wilbert. She was then awarded a directing fellowship to the American Film Institute
, Center for Advanced Film and Television Studies.
images of their ancestors and selecting an influential image that is of their own creation, Wolin is able to visually and verbally document Jewish life throughout the history of photography
. The work is being prepared as a traveling exhibition and book. To date, Penny has interviewed over 60 seminal photographers, including Jo Ann Callis, Lauren Greenfield
, Elinor Carucci
, Judy Dater
, Bruce Davidson
, Annie Leibovitz
, Herman Leonard
, Jay Maisel
, Helen Levitt
, Joel Meyerowitz
, Arnold Newman
, Robert Frank
and Joel-Peter Witkin
.
grants, as administered through the Wyoming Council for the Humanities, Wolin completed a visual and verbal study of 140 years and five generations of Jewish culture in Wyoming. The Jews of Wyoming: Fringe of The Diaspora was sponsored by what is now known as the Skirball Cultural Center
in Los Angeles, California
, and exhibited solo at the Smithsonian Institution
, National Museum of American History
, National Museum of American Jewish History
, Judah L. Magnes Museum
and Ucross Foundation
. A book of the same title is published by Crazy Woman Creek Press, Cheyenne, Wyoming © 2000.
major survey grant to complete Jackalopes, Cowboys and Coalmines: A Photographic Survey of Wyoming. Because of Wyoming's mineral and oil-rich natural resources, the state's history had been one of a boom or bust economy and culture. A national energy crisis made for a huge energy boom in Wolin's native state. This energy boom brought a final "Americanization
" to the rural towns that sparsely dotted the least populated state in the union. Shopping malls and fast food outlets arrived; local downtown businesses closed, and the existing ranch economy was in turmoil. A worker's wage to tend cattle was no match for the higher wages being paid to work in an open pit coal mine or a drilling rig
. Traveling during each season throughout Wyoming, Wolin photographed and interviewed the native and newly arriving residents, ranging from cowboys to oilfield roughnecks
to elected officials. The resulting work became a traveling exhibition that toured Wyoming as sponsored by then Governor Ed Herschler. The photographs and text are now held in the permanent collection of the Wyoming State Museum
and the Smithsonian Institution
, American Art Museum.
, Wolin created Guest Register, an important body of work consisting of 32 photographs with excerpted interviews that documented the residents of each room in the St. Francis Hotel in Hollywood, California. The hotel was located on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard
and Western Avenue and sheltered a range of people that stayed there anywhere from one night to thirty years. Their connection to one another was simply that they had come to Hollywood to pursue a dream. This opus piece set up a working style of text and image and brought her to the attention of a number of graphic designers, museums and collectors. At that time, Bob Cato
at A&M Records
commissioned Wolin to photograph the rock group The Band
; Lloyd Ziff, Art Director of New West magazine in Los Angeles, commissioned her to photograph Ansel Adams
and George Burns
; Los Angeles County Museum of Art
invited her to participate in a group exhibition; and Marvin Israel
, a highly regarded graphic designer working in New York, began designing Guest Register for publication by Aperture Books. Aperture subsequently withdrew from the publication and the work remains unpublished.
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and is the recipient of two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
and one grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
. Her work is held in institutions such as The New York Public Library and the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Among the items on display are the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker's...
, administered by the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. Known for her documentary and conceptual photographs, she has completed commissions for major corporations, national magazines and private collectors. For the past 25 years, she has used photographic portraiture
Portrait photography
Portrait photography or portraiture is the capture by means of photography of the likeness of a person or a small group of people , in which the face and expression is predominant. The objective is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the subject...
with oral interviews to research Jewish culture in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Youth and education
Wolin is the youngest of five children born into a Conservadox Jewish family in Cheyenne, WyomingCheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
. Her father, Morris Aaron Wolin (ne Wolinsky) immigrated there as a child, directly from the Russian town of Grodno, later to become a businessman. Her mother, Helen Sobol Wolin, came from Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, and was an artist. At age 10, Penny began using a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. At age 16, her brother Michael Wolin gave her a high quality rangefinder camera and the necessary darkroom equipment to begin a career.
Wolin attended the University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
and then was graduated from Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, majoring in photography and film. She also attended a Masters' program in the department of cultural anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, under the mentorship of Cultural Anthropologist Johannes Wilbert. She was then awarded a directing fellowship to the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
, Center for Advanced Film and Television Studies.
American Photographers of Jewish Ancestry
In 2005, Wolin began her current project of researching American Photographers of Jewish Ancestry. Since the 1930s, these photographers have contributed significantly to the fields of journalistic, fashion, portrait, advertising and fine art photography. By interviewing and photographing each photographer, re-photographing heirloomHeirloom
In popular usage, an heirloom is something, perhaps an antique or some kind of jewelry, that has been passed down for generations through family members....
images of their ancestors and selecting an influential image that is of their own creation, Wolin is able to visually and verbally document Jewish life throughout the history of photography
History of photography
The first permanent photograph was an image produced in 1826 by the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.- Etymology :The word photography derives from the Greek words phōs light, and gráphein, to write...
. The work is being prepared as a traveling exhibition and book. To date, Penny has interviewed over 60 seminal photographers, including Jo Ann Callis, Lauren Greenfield
Lauren Greenfield
Lauren Greenfield is an American artist, documentary photographer, and documentary filmmaker. She has published three monographs of her photographic work, directed four documentary films, exhibited her photographic prints in museums throughout the world, and had her work published in a variety of...
, Elinor Carucci
Elinor Carucci
Elinor Carucci is an Israeli-American photographer.-Early life:She was born in Jerusalem where she served in the Israeli Army for two years from 1989–1991, and received her BFA from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in 1995. She lives and works in New York City and is a member of the Faculty...
, Judy Dater
Judy Dater
Judy Dater is an American photographer and feminist. She is perhaps best known for her 1974 photograph, Imogen and Twinka, featuring an elderly Imogen Cunningham, one of America's first women photographers, encountering a nymph in the woods of Yosemite. The nymph is the model Twinka Thiebaud.Dater...
, Bruce Davidson
Bruce Davidson
Bruce Davidson is the name of:* Bruce Davidson , American equestrian* Bruce Davidson , American photographer* Bruce Davidson , Australian politician* Bruce Davidson -See also:* Bruce Davison, actor...
, Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz
Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer.-Early life and education:Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Leibovitz is the third of six children. She is a third-generation American whose great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants, from Central and Eastern Europe. Her father's...
, Herman Leonard
Herman Leonard
Herman Leonard was an American photographer known for his unique images of jazz icons.-Life:...
, Jay Maisel
Jay Maisel
Jay Maisel is an American color photographer. His awards include the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Society of Media Photographers, and the Infinity Award of the International Center of Photography...
, Helen Levitt
Helen Levitt
Helen Levitt was an American photographer. She was particularly noted for "street photography" around New York City, and has been called "the most celebrated and least known photographer of her time."- Biography :...
, Joel Meyerowitz
Joel Meyerowitz
Joel Meyerowitz is a street photographer who began photographing in color in 1962 and was an early advocate of the use of color during a time when there was significant resistance to the idea of color photography as serious art...
, Arnold Newman
Arnold Newman
Arnold Abner Newman was an American photographer, noted for his "environmental portraits" of artists and politicians...
, Robert Frank
Robert Frank
Robert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American...
and Joel-Peter Witkin
Joel-Peter Witkin
Joel-Peter Witkin is an American photographer who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work often deals with such themes as death, corpses , and various outsiders such as dwarfs, transsexuals, hermaphrodites, and physically deformed people...
.
The Jews of Wyoming: Fringe of the Diaspora
In 1982 Wolin met the late Shirley Carter Burden, the major donor to the photography department of The Museum of Modern Art. With his encouragement and financial assistance as well as that of two National Endowment for the HumanitiesNational Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
grants, as administered through the Wyoming Council for the Humanities, Wolin completed a visual and verbal study of 140 years and five generations of Jewish culture in Wyoming. The Jews of Wyoming: Fringe of The Diaspora was sponsored by what is now known as the Skirball Cultural Center
Skirball Cultural Center
The Skirball Cultural Center is an educational institution in Los Angeles, California devoted to sustaining Jewish heritage and American democratic ideals. Open to the public since 1996, the Skirball Cultural Center is dedicated to exploring the connections between 4,000 years of Jewish heritage...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, and exhibited solo at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Among the items on display are the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker's...
, National Museum of American Jewish History
National Museum of American Jewish History
The National Museum of American Jewish History is a Smithsonian- affiliated museum in Center City Philadelphia, located on Independence Mall within the Independence National Historical Park.-Building:...
, Judah L. Magnes Museum
Judah L. Magnes Museum
The Judah L. Magnes Museum is a museum of Jewish history, art, and culture in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1962 by Seymour and Rebecca Fromer and named for Jewish activist Rabbi Judah L. Magnes, a native of Oakland...
and Ucross Foundation
Ucross Foundation
The Ucross Foundation, located in Ucross, Wyoming, is a nonprofit organization that operates an internationally known retreat for visual artists, writers, composers and choreographers working in all creative disciplines.-History:...
. A book of the same title is published by Crazy Woman Creek Press, Cheyenne, Wyoming © 2000.
Jackalopes, Cowboys and Coalmines: A Photographic Survey of Wyoming
In 1978, Wolin was awarded a National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
major survey grant to complete Jackalopes, Cowboys and Coalmines: A Photographic Survey of Wyoming. Because of Wyoming's mineral and oil-rich natural resources, the state's history had been one of a boom or bust economy and culture. A national energy crisis made for a huge energy boom in Wolin's native state. This energy boom brought a final "Americanization
Americanization
Americanization is the influence of the United States on the popular culture, technology, business practices, or political techniques of other countries. The term has been used since at least 1907. Inside the U.S...
" to the rural towns that sparsely dotted the least populated state in the union. Shopping malls and fast food outlets arrived; local downtown businesses closed, and the existing ranch economy was in turmoil. A worker's wage to tend cattle was no match for the higher wages being paid to work in an open pit coal mine or a drilling rig
Drilling rig
A drilling rig is a machine which creates holes or shafts in the ground. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person...
. Traveling during each season throughout Wyoming, Wolin photographed and interviewed the native and newly arriving residents, ranging from cowboys to oilfield roughnecks
Roughnecks
Roughnecks can refer to:*Roughnecks , a 1990s BBC One programme about oil rig workers*Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, a CGI animation television series*Calgary Roughnecks, a Canadian lacrosse team...
to elected officials. The resulting work became a traveling exhibition that toured Wyoming as sponsored by then Governor Ed Herschler. The photographs and text are now held in the permanent collection of the Wyoming State Museum
Wyoming State Museum
The Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is operated by the State of Wyoming as a repository for material concerning Wyoming history, art, natural history and fossils, industry, Native Americans, pioneers and its cultural heritage....
and the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, American Art Museum.
Guest Register
In 1975, while still at Art Center College of DesignArt Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
, Wolin created Guest Register, an important body of work consisting of 32 photographs with excerpted interviews that documented the residents of each room in the St. Francis Hotel in Hollywood, California. The hotel was located on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
and Western Avenue and sheltered a range of people that stayed there anywhere from one night to thirty years. Their connection to one another was simply that they had come to Hollywood to pursue a dream. This opus piece set up a working style of text and image and brought her to the attention of a number of graphic designers, museums and collectors. At that time, Bob Cato
Bob Cato
Bob Cato was a graphic designer whose work in record album cover design contributed to the development of music and popular culture for five decades. He was vice president of creative services at Columbia Records, and later at United Artists.-Biography:Bob Cato was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...
at A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
commissioned Wolin to photograph the rock group The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
; Lloyd Ziff, Art Director of New West magazine in Los Angeles, commissioned her to photograph Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
and George Burns
George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
; Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
invited her to participate in a group exhibition; and Marvin Israel
Marvin Israel
Marvin Israel , was born in Syracuse, New York, the son of Bessie and Harry Israel. He was an American artist, photographer, painter, teacher and art director from New York known for modern/surreal interiors, abstract imagery. Created sinister shadowy and exuberant interiors with implications of...
, a highly regarded graphic designer working in New York, began designing Guest Register for publication by Aperture Books. Aperture subsequently withdrew from the publication and the work remains unpublished.
Selected reviews
- Huffington Post, A Picture of Persistence, How a Photography Collection Was Born In honor of NYPL's new exhibition, Recollection: Thirty Years of Photography at the New York Public Library, Wolin's work is included, as part of a collection of photography gifted to the library by the estate of Shirley Carter Burden.( Julia Van Haaften, October 1, 2010)
- The Jewish WeekThe Jewish WeekThe Jewish Week is an independent weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. The Jewish Week covers news relating to the Jewish community in NYC and has world-wide distribution.-Editorial staff:...
, The Camera and the Jewish I: A Photographer's Search for the Mysteries of American Photography by Penny Wolin: "Photographer Penny Wolin raises a key question as to why so many Jews are drawn to the field of photography; her piece previews her work-in-progress of crossing the country, interviewing photographers. We caught up with her as she was traveling in her van through the Southwest." (Sandee Brawarsky, June 26, 2009)
- Through the Lens of the City: NEA Photography Surveys of the 1970s "Wyoming was not inundated with the mass American culture. There wasn’t a McDonalds in every town nor a Holiday InnHoliday InnHoliday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
. I could see that was changing and felt compelled to document people and their sense of the changes. Although Wolin didn’t particularly like the influx of corporate services chains, her 1978 survey was not an indictment of the changes in Wyoming. It was, instead, a project that sought to document “America’s last frontier…small town societies, and the western spirit.” A press release from the Wyoming Council on the Arts noted that Wolin’s central concern was “the final and inevitable assimilation of the Old West into the American culture.” (emphasis added.) Wolin’s survey was less an overtly political act than a nod to a passing way of life." (Mark Rice, January 2005, University of Mississippi Press, Page 52)
- San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, A Menorah Moose and Other Tales: "She had a wonderful way with black and white portrait work, and a loving approach to her subjects...in my mail arrived a splendid book called The Jews of Wyoming: Fringe of the Diaspora. (Jon Carroll, September 1, 2000)
- Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Lost and Found in America: The Jews of Wyoming by Penny Diane Wolin tells the more complex story of adaptation and evolution. Wolin, a documentary photographer who has made a living for the last two decades photographing celebrities, spent 15 years putting together this triumphant epic of the 150-year history of Jews in the Cowboy State. ...Indeed, the book's wide range of images and personalities is what gives it its dynamism. Wolin has not sought to define what it means to be Jewish in the least populated state of the union. Instead, she seems to revel in the multiplicity of definitions among believers and nonbelievers; those who identify strongly as Jews and those who do not. Her subjects are posed in the settings or with the props that make them unique as individuals. A young member of the Future Farmers of America holds a pig by its hind legs before an open field. 'I don't eat them,' he says. 'But I give someone else a good product.'" (Gregory Rodriguez, November 26, 2000)
- The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Kosher Cowboys: The Jews of Wyoming; At National Museum of American History: "Going through the exhibition takes time as the viewer tries to understand the text and the photographs, both works of art. The words and pictures are so poignant and sometimes so surprising that they are worth the study. Wolin is a fine photographer and a first-class interviewer and her choices of people on whom to focus are inspired." (Sarah Booth Conroy, August 26, 1992)
- Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Alone in the Desert:"An unlikely people in an unlikely place, the Jews of Wyoming did not become "the cowboy mensches " entertainer Mickey KatzMickey KatzMickey Katz , was an American comedian and musician who specialized in Jewish humor. He was the father of actor Joel Grey and grandfather of actress Jennifer Grey.-Family:...
sang about in his Yiddish rendition of I'm an Old Cowhand. Their co-existence alongside such an incongruous culture, however, did make them an unusual microcosm of the Jewish experience in the United States." (Elizabeth Venant, December 13, 1990)
- Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Art Review: "The show's one saving grace is its photography, in particular Penny Wolin's Diane ArbusDiane ArbusDiane Arbus March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for black-and-white square photographs of "deviant and marginal people or of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal." A friend said that Arbus said that she was "afraid.....
-like Guest Register (1975), a poignant yet devastating documentation of the residents of the St. Francis Hotel on Hollywood BoulevardHollywood Boulevard-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
. Combining image and text, Wolin’s examination of life’s lost souls and anonymous citizens who are just passing through manages to be both emotionally distanced without being condescending.” (Colin Gardner, August 11, 1986)
- American Photographer magazine, Getting a Grip on Hollywood: “She is...a methodical, quiet professional who uses large negatives, poses her subjects carefully and concentrates on details... Unlike so many top photographers, Wolin is good at paying attention to other people and at submerging her ego to that of her subject." (David Roberts, October 1985)
Selected commercial projects
- LifeLife (magazine)Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
(magazine): American Dreamer column with Anne FadimanAnne FadimanAnne Fadiman is an American author, editor and teacher.She is the daughter of the renowned literary, radio and television personality Clifton Fadiman and World War II correspondent and author Annalee Jacoby Fadiman...
- WetWet (magazine)Wet was an avant-garde Los Angeles-based magazine that revolved around the idea of "gourmet bathing" and later evolved to "gourmet bathing and beyond." Its publisher and creator was Leonard Koren, an architecture school graduate...
(magazine): cover of Teri GarrTeri Garr-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
http://www.wunderland.com/WTS/Rash/misc/wet/wet2.htm, multiple article illustrations
- PlayboyPlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
(magazine): Twenty Questions; Second City TelevisionSecond City TelevisionSecond City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
, John MatuszakJohn MatuszakJohn Daniel "Tooz" Matuszak was an American football defensive lineman in the National Football League who later became an actor. He was the first draft pick of 1973 and played most of his career with the Oakland Raiders until he retired after winning his second Super Bowl in 1981...
, Charlton HestonCharlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
, Bubba SmithBubba SmithCharles Aaron "Bubba" Smith was an American professional football player who became an actor after his retirement from the sport. He first came into prominence at Michigan State University, where he twice earned All-American honors as a defensive end on the Spartans football team...
, Leigh SteinbergLeigh SteinbergLeigh William Steinberg is an American sports agent and sports lawyer. His client list has included Steve Bartkowski, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Kordell Stewart, Jeff George, Ben Roethlisberger, Myron Rolle, Matt Leinart, Mark Brunell, Ricky Williams,...
- Conde Nast TravelerCondé Nast TravelerCondé Nast Traveler is a US magazine published by Condé Nast. It has its origins in a mailing sent out by the Diners Club club beginning in 1953, listing locations that would take the card. It began taking advertising in 1955. In order to attract more advertisers, it became a full-fledged magazine,...
: As Others See Us; International Travel to Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Hawaii
- Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
(magazine): James Caan, Melissa ManchesterMelissa ManchesterMelissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Beginning in the 1970s, she has recorded generally in the adult contemporary genre. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage....
, Chaka Kahn, Michael Mann
- EsquireEsquire (magazine)Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
(magazine): Jon JerdeJon JerdeJon Jerde is an American architect based in Venice, California, Founder & Chairman of , a design architecture and urban planning firm that pioneered the concept of placemaking and "experience architecture;" and has created multiple award-winning commercial developments around the globe...
- ForbesForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
(magazine): David GeffenDavid GeffenDavid Geffen is an American record executive, film producer, theatrical producer and philanthropist. Geffen is noted for creating Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, and DGC Records in 1990...
, Joe RothJoe RothJoe Roth is an American film executive, producer and film director. He co-founded Morgan Creek Productions in 1987 and was chairman of 20th Century Fox , Caravan Pictures , and Walt Disney Studios before founding Revolution Studios in 2000.-Life and career:Roth was born in New York, New York,...
, Eric Schmidt
- Graphis Inc. (magazine): cover of the artist Michael Schwab
- Vanity FairVanity Fair (magazine)Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
(magazine), Discover magazine, Vogue magazine, Travel & Leisure magazine
- Sonoma Valley Film FestivalSonoma Valley Film FestivalThe Sonoma Valley Film Festival traditionally takes place in April in Sonoma, California and is hosted by the Sonoma Valley Film Society. The 10th anniversary of the film festival in 2007 honored two-time Academy Award winning director John Lasseter of Pixar and Disney Animation studios.The 11th...
: Art, Passion and Politics. Films by or about Women; Program Director
- Wolfgang PuckWolfgang PuckWolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and occasional actor. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies, with three divisions...
Food Company: restaurant interiors for Barbara Lazaroff, co-owner and designer
- Charles Schulz Museum: photographs of on-site art installations by the artists Michael Hayden and Yoshiteru OtaniYoshiteru Otaniis a Japanese artist best known for his Peanuts-inspired work. Otani is the creator of much of the artwork found in the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center.-External links:* *...
- Peter Michael Winery, Cakebread Cellars, Kendall-JacksonKendall-JacksonKendall-Jackson Vineyard Estates is a vineyard and winery, under the Kendall-Jackson brand, located in Santa Rosa, California in the Sonoma Valley wine country...
Winery, Benovia WineryBenovia WineryBenovia Winery is a family-owned producer of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Zinfandel wines in Santa Rosa, California. Founded in 2005 by Joe Anderson and Mary Dewane, Benovia Winery farms three estate vineyards, including the venerable Cohn Vineyard, which total and are located in the Russian River...
- Cedars-Sinai Medical CenterCedars-Sinai Medical CenterOriginally established as Kaspare Cohn Hospital in 1902, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary 958-bed hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre located in Los Angeles, California, US. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over...
: Discoveries magazine cover and other in-house publications