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• Issue #236
• Article

By Alex Novak

Aftermath exhibit at the Harn Museum of Art (Photo Courtesy of the Harn)

Every once in a while I have the pleasure of noting the accomplishment of a friend. In next Sunday's New York Times (Oct. 28,2017), Carol McCusker, who is Curator of Photography for the Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, received some great and well-deserved coverage for her work and her recent show, "Aftermath: The Fallout of War — America and the Middle East" (now traveling to other venues).

As she said in the NYT story, “We are not antiwar. But there is a generation of people who look to war to solve problems. We want to show what war does. I have always been interested in history, and I believe in using photography to address contemporary issues. More and more of our exhibits are of the moment."

To see the entire story, either pick up a Sunday New York Times, or go here to the online version, which might not hurt your back as much and will save a few trees: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/22/arts/museums-middle-east-war-photographs.html.

The show is currently at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota until January 21, 2018.

I should note that Carol worked with me for a while as my associate, and, while having nothing to do with her success as a curator, I am rather proud of the work she does now.

Novak has over 49 years experience in the photography-collecting arena. He is a long-time member and formerly board member of the Daguerreian Society, and, when it was still functioning, he was a member of the American Photographic Historical Society (APHS). He organized the 2016 19th-century Photography Show and Conference for the Daguerreian Society in NYC. He is also a long-time member of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers, or AIPAD. Novak has been a member of the board of the nonprofit Photo Review, which publishes both the Photo Review and the Photograph Collector, and is currently on the Photo Review's advisory board. He was a founding member of the Getty Museum Photography Council. He is author of French 19th-Century Master Photographers: Life into Art.

Novak has published numerous photography articles and columns in several newspapers, including the Photograph Collector, Focus magazine and the Daguerreian Society Newsletter. He has been interviewed extensively on the photography art market by the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Classic magazine, Maine Antique Digest, the Art Newspaper, Art News, Art Business News, Focus magazine, PDN, Black & White magazine, Photographie Internationale, Antiques & the Arts Online, Art Critical and the Photograph Collector newsletter, as well as by many other publications, television programs and websites, both in the USA and in France. He was quoted extensively in the book, "Collectingphotography" by Gerry Badger. He has spoken at numerous photography events and programs.

He writes and publishes the E-Photo Newsletter, the largest circulation newsletter in the field. Novak is also president and owner of Contemporary Works/Vintage Works, a private photography dealer, which sells by appointment and has sold at exhibit shows, such as AIPAD New York and Miami, Art Chicago, Classic Photography LA, Photo LA, Paris Photo, The 19th-century Photography Show, Art Miami, the Daguerreian Society, etc.