January | February 2006 - Boston Photography Focus

DOCUMENT | 13
Christopher Churchill (Amesbury, MA), Dr. Bill Henderson,
from the series “Patrick O’Hearn Elementary School,
Dorchester, MA,” 2005, gelatin silver print, Courtesy of
and copyright Christopher Churchill
LISA KESSLER (Boston, MA)
From 2002 to 2004, Lisa Kessler photographed
the sexual abuse crisis in Boston’s
Roman Catholic Church as a project titled
“Heart in the Wound.” In Boston alone over
800 people reported abuse to the church
(it is estimated that 100,000 were abused
nationally). Kessler took great care to show
the whole gamut of the crisis from the protests
at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the
South End (just down the street from where
Kessler lives) to Cardinal Bernard Law’s resignation
in December 2002 and Bishop Sean
O’Malley’s installation, to the settlements,
support groups, and eventual legislation.
Through the project, Kessler aimed not only
to document and shed light on this pivotal
period and issue in her sensitive black and
white images, extensive interviews, and short
film on DVD, but most importantly to use
it as a platform from which to discuss child
sexual abuse in general.
Originally from New York, Kessler is a freelance
documentary and editorial photographer
and educator with almost 20 years of experience.
Currently teaching at Northeastern
University and the Maine Photographic
Workshops, she holds a BA in history from
Brown University and a MS in journalism
and photojournalism from Boston University.
Kessler was a finalist in the 2005 Artist Grant
Program for Massachusetts Cultural Council,
and in 2004 received an Honorable Mention
for the Honickman Foundation First
Book Prize in photography from the Center
for Documentary Studies at Duke University
(Durham, NC) for this project. An early version
of “Heart in the Wound” received the
2002 Award of Excellence from the Pictures
of the Year International competition in the
Magazine News Story category. Kessler’s work
is in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia
Museum of Art. She has exhibited at
the Danforth Museum of Art (Framingham,
MA), Scollay Square Gallery (Boston, MA),
Boston Arts Academy, and the Birmingham
Civil Rights Institute (Birmingham, AL).
SURENDRA LAWOTI
(Somerville, MA)
Surendra Lawoti’s project, “Fire,” presents
firefighters from the five fire stations in his
adopted hometown of Somerville, MA.
Lawoti approaches his work by spending
countless hours listening to the stories of the
firefighters. He is interested in their experiences
in confronting the wrath and unpredictability
of the fires, as well as the uncertainties,
close calls, and losses. From the piercing stare
of District Chief Peter St. Clair (Appointed
October 31, 1977) to the casual integrity of
Firefighter William James Powers (Appointed
October 12, 1969), Lawoti approaches each
person with a close-up, straightforward effect
and style. Currently, he is expanding this project
by photographing the firefighters of the
neighboring city of Cambridge, MA.
A native of Nepal, Lawoti came to the US
in 1994. He received his BA in photography
from Columbia College Chicago and his
MFA in photography from Massachusetts
College of Art this past spring. Featured in a
number of solo and group exhibitions, Lawoti
has received grants from Artadia (2002) and
Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs
(2001 and 2002). His work is included in the
LaSalle Bank Collection, Ruttenberg Collection,
and the Citibank Corporate Collection.
Lawoti has taught for the Marwen Foundation,
which offers after-school programs to
underprivileged Chicago-area high school
students. In addition, he has taught at Massachusetts
College of Art’s high school summer
program as well as the Cambridge School
of Weston’s summer art program. Currently,
he is an adjunct professor of Photography at
Montserrat College of Art (Beverly, MA) and
also works for Color Services, Inc (Needham,
MA). He was recently accepted into the Boston
Drawing Project at the Bernard Toale Gallery
(Boston, MA). Lawoti’s website is www.
surendralawoti.com.
Lisa Kessler (Boston, MA), Prostrate, Boston, MA, May 2002, From
the series “Heart in the Wound,” 2002, gelatin silver print, 16 x 20
inches, Courtesy of and copyright Lisa Kessler
MICHAEL MANNING
(Cambridge, MA)
Michael Manning’s featured project began
in the winter of 2002/2003 with his desire
to discover for himself how the economy and
cuts in social programs were affecting people
living on Boston’s streets. On his first day out,
he met Lee, the leader of a group of homeless
persons, self-titled “La Familia,” generally
living near Chinatown. After a bit of testing,
Lee allowed him into their world. The next
day Manning returned to find out that one of
the group, Ramiro, or Papa as Lee called him,
had suffered a serious head injury and was
taken to the hospital. Ramiro spent almost 2
months at Spaulding Rehabilitation Center,
during which time his family often undertook
the long trek to visit him. Only minutes after
his release back to the street, Ramiro started
drinking again. “La Familia” continues to look
after each other, a true family in every sense
of the word. (As an apt coda, Lee will get her
first apartment this December.) Manning’s
project is an insightful, human look into a
world we often see in Boston, but sadly is
often overlooked.
A Cambridge-based photographer with over
15 years of experience, Manning has been
awarded four 1st place awards from the New
England Press Association. Originally from
New York, Manning attended Nova Scotia
College of Art and Design and graduated
from the Art Institute of Boston. He has