Milton Rogovin: In Buffalo

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Where	Main Museum
When	August 11, 2022 – March 19, 2023

Where

When

August 11, 2022 – March 19, 2023

Where	Main Museum
When	August 11, 2022 – March 19, 2023

Where

When

August 11, 2022 – March 19, 2023

In light of the racially motivated massacre at Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York on Saturday, May 14, 2022, we present this exhibition, which honors the rich history of the people of Buffalo as seen through the eyes Milton Rogovin, who understood photography as a potent way to bring attention to social injustice and inequity.

The exhibition features photographs by the late-20^th century social documentary photographer Milton Rogovin who depicted the lives of everyday people in Buffalo, New York. Taken between 1973 and 1992, these powerful images record Rogovin’s neighbors—many from his Lower West Side series near his home in Buffalo. He approached his subjects with humbleness and profound respect, capturing their strength, resilience, and joy.

Rogovin was trained as an optometrist, but his political activism spurred an interest in photography, believing that social reform came from empowerment, visibility, and awareness. Encouraged by his activist wife Ann, and inspired by photographer Minor White, civil rights leader W.E.B. DuBois, and others, Rogovin learned both the art of photography and the art of social connection, essential tools in his creative work.

This exhibition was organized from the permanent collection by former Palm Springs Art Museum Associate Curator, Mara Gladstone.

This season’s exhibitions are sponsored by the Herman & Faye Sarkowsky Charitable Foundation and Yvonne & Steve (in memoriam) Maloney.

Photo credit: Milton Rogovin, American, 1909-2011, Lower West Side Revisited, 176-7, 1985, gelatin silver print, Gift of Dr. J. Patrick and Patricia A. Kennedy, 353-2007