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Photographer Bonnie Lautenberg: From Lady Gaga to Lady Liberty

Photographer Bonnie Lautenberg:  From Lady Gaga to Lady Liberty

 

 

Introduction to Bonnie Lautenberg.   1:28 min.  Interview:  Raymond Elman.  Post-Production:  Lee Skye.  Music: Carmen Cicero.  Recorded at the Jewish Museum of Florida, FIU.  1/26/2023. Miami Beach.

 

BONNIE ENGLEHARDT LAUTENBERG grew up in Woodmere, Long Island and is an esteemed photographer, writer, artist, philanthropist, and businesswoman.

 

PHOTOGRAPHING HISTORY

In 1993, Lautenberg was at the White House in Washington, D. C., photographing President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin, and Chairman Yassir Arafat at the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Accord.

In September, 2008 Lautenberg photographed Barack Obama speaking to a large audience at a home in New Jersey. One of her photographs was in a group show at the Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York (see our ArtSpeak video conversation with Howard Greenberg),  and was acquired for many private and public collections.  It was purchased by the collector Eli Broad who also purchased 300 smaller photographs that were put in a folio titled “Change Has Come To America.” Mr. Broad gave Lautenberg’s photograph to each guest at an Obama inauguration dinner he hosted in Washington, D. C. in 2009.  The same photograph is included in the collection of the Newark Museum and the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture.

Lautenberg’s major project documenting all 100 U.S. senators and their most important piece of legislation – “How They Changed Our Lives: Senators As Working People” — was exhibited at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, New Jersey and is in the collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C. where it can be viewed on-line.

From politicians to rock stars Lautenberg’s portraits range from Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Frank Lautenberg, and Barack Obama to Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and Justin Bieber. Lautenberg is currently working on a book about her late husband, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg.

 

The videos below  are organized by Success Factor, and run between 30 seconds and 5 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.

 

 

EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES:   1:33 min.

Where did you grow up, and what was your first awareness of art of any discipline?

 

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES:  5:10  min.

Where did you go to school, and what did you learn that still informs you today?

 

EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES:  2:08 min.

Talk about the evolution of your skills and talent as a photographer.

 

CREATIVE FLEXIBILITY:  1:08 min.

How did the change from film to digital photography impact you?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:  4:18 min.

Who are some of your role models and influencers?

 

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND:  1:46 min.

Describe how your work has grown from straight photography to image appropriation and collage.

 

SELF-CONFIDENCE:   5:07 min.

Because your late husband was a longtime U.S. Senator, you had unique access to members of Congress. Did you make portraits of them?

 

CRITICAL THINKING:  0:32 sec.

My dear departed tennis buddy, political scientist Richard Fenno, wrote a book about Dan Quayle after Quayle and Ted Kennedy had partnered on an education bill.

 

PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS:  0:47 sec.

What are your criteria for successful outcomes?

 

SERENDIPITY:  1:06 min.

What is the role of serendipity in your work?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:  1:35 min.

Give us some additional examples of the juxtaposition of images that work best for you.

 

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND:  0:40 sec.

Is the “ARTISTICA!” series your most recent work?

 

UNDERSTANDS THE AUDIENCE’S PERSPECTIVE:  2:00 min.

Tell us more about your “Lady Liberty” series.

 

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES:  2:18 min.

In your “Pop Rocks” series you photographed rock stars while they were performing.

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:  1:23 min.

I hope this doesn’t sound disparaging, but if your husband, Senator Frank Lautenberg, was 86 when he took you to a Lady Gaga concert, he must have been pretty hip.

 

EMPATHY:  0:45 sec.

What’s your favorite movie?

 

PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS:  2:17 min.

What is the backstory of your photograph of Hillary Clinton?