Photographer Albert J. Winn:

"Summer Joins the Past"

Sunday September 18, 2011 at 1:00pm

Summer camp was once an important part of the cultural landscape of the Jewish adolescent experience in the United States. Started in the early years of the twentieth century as a refuge from congested slums, summer camps became vehicles for Jewish assimilation into the American mainstream, combining Native-American and American folklore, sports, and arts and crafts activities in a Jewish cultural setting.

Renowned photographer Albert J. Winn returned to the sites of his childhood and discovered that the scenes of vacant and deserted spaces were more evocative and haunting than he imagined. Winn, who is based in Los Angeles and is a long-term survivor of AIDS,  will present a lecture and slideshow that provides a rare opportunity to experience this history through the eyes of a critically-acclaimed and internationally-recognized artist. 

Following Winn's presentation, local activist and curator Abby Lublin will host "Hello Mother, Hello Father", a public storytelling session for participants to share their own experiences of summer camp. Lublin, who is the founder of the Front Parlor Storytelling Series in Troy, NY, invites you to come share your stories around the proverbial campfire (minus the bats and kosher s'mores)!