Barbara Ehlers
Photography
About Me
Although a native of Germany, I have lived in New York City for many years. When I first picked up a camera here in the States, I found myself often photographing settings and objects that I saw as quintessentially American---small town drugstores, boardwalks, and motels and their kidney-shaped pools.
Over time my interest shifted to landscapes as well as houses and other sometimes hard to identify structures and how they appear within their surroundings. I am drawn to what strikes me as slightly mysterious, surprising or incongruous---houses or shacks overgrown by plant life, a tiny picket fence in the middle of a forest, a tall bush carefully groomed to conceal an electrical meter. What I Saw 1 and What I Saw 2.
More recently I began to photograph close-up in my local park in Manhattan and create Composites using my prints.
I have studied at the International Center of Photography, Pratt Institute, the School of Visual Arts, and with Christopher Giglio. I hold a B.A. in Art History from Columbia University.
Selected List of Exhibitions and Awards
2022
Foley Gallery, New York, NY. A selection from my series of Composites was included in the gallery’s group exhibition.
2021
The Photo Review, Langhorne, PA. Juried Group Show; 2021 Competition. Winners Gallery (website now defunct).
2020
The Photo Review, Langhorne, PA. Juried Group Show; 2020 Competition.
Winners Gallery (website now defunct).
2019
Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO. Juried Group Show "Center Forward 2019."
New York Center for Photographic Art, New York, NY. Juried Group Show “Dusk to Dawn”; Honorable Mention.
New York Center for Photographic Art, New York, NY. Juried Group Show “Momentum”; First Place Prize and Juror’s Selection.
PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT. Juried Group Show “Trees: Life in the Slow Lane.”
Indian Mountain School, Lakeville, CT. Juried Group Show “Sanctuary”; Second Prize.
Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT. Juried Group Show. Annual Exhibit. Invitation to speak about my work.
Upstream Gallery, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. Annual Juried Small Works Show.
2018
The Photo Review, Langhorne, PA. Juried Group Show; 2018 Competition. Winners Gallery.
Salmagundi Club, New York, NY. Juried Group Show “Glimpses of our World.”
Darkroom Gallery, Essex Junction, VT. Juried Group Show. Open Competition 2018.
2017
Darkroom Gallery, Essex Junction, VT. Juried Group Show “Pathways and Passages.” Honorable Mention.
Jadite Gallery, New York, NY. Juried Group Show "The Power of Tones."
Darkroom Gallery, Essex Junction, VT. Juried Group Show “Streetwise.”
Salmagundi Club, New York, NY. Juried Group Show.
Darkroom Gallery, Essex Junction, VT. Juried Group Show “Le Paysage.”
2016
Darkroom Gallery, Essex Junction, VT. Juried Group Show “Haunted.”
National Arts Club, New York, NY. Juried Group Show "Structure in the City."
About Me
I am a NYC-based photographer who was born in a Northern German town. In my current work I draw on the concept that the past is always with us, whether we realize it or not. I work with material left behind by my family as well as with publicly available archival images. Previously, I focused on photographing settings and objects that struck me as quintessentially American.
I have studied at the International Center of Photography, Pratt Institute, the School of Visual Arts, and with Christopher Giglio. I hold a B.A. in Art History from Columbia University.