Howl! Palm Beach Photographic Centre to feature images of leading Beat Generation writers

Newly discovered photographs of leading figures from one of the United States’ most distinctive cultural movements, the Beat Generation, will kick off the Palm Beach Photographic Centre’s 35th anniversary season.

“Beatitude: The Beat Attitude” opens at the West Palm Beach center Oct. 20 and runs through Jan. 6. The photographs were taken in the 1960s and 1970s by Joey Tranchina, a poet and activist in addition to being a photographer.

Tranchina, 79, a San Franciscan who currently lives and works in France, had stored the photographs for nearly 50 years before they were rediscovered by his son in 2018. The images were then shared with Anthony Bannon, emeritus director of the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York.

“Tranchina’s work must be the most extensive pictorial assembly of Beat-related artists and thinkers depicted by a single photographer,” said Bannon, who will be joined by art consultant Dolores Lusitana on Oct. 21 for a discussion of the exhibition at the Palm Beach County Main Library.

The photos include images of such well-known Beat figures as poets Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, Kenneth Rexroth, Diane di Prima and Michael McClure. Also captured in Tranchina’s photos were Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz, Russian writers Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Andrei Voznesensky, and novelist Margaret Atwood, who contributed to Beat publications in her native Canada.

The exhibition contains more than 70 images and enlargements. They will be part of a new book of Tranchina’s photos to be issued soon by Steidl, the German photobook publisher. Bannon has contributed an essay to the book, and there also is an introduction by the American poet Ed Sanders.

Photo Centre director Fatima NeJame said the exhibition will be accompanied by a series of lectures, conversation and special guests. She added that the Beat philosophy is something that the Photo Centre shares.

“Ours has definitely been a Beat attitude, always ready for change, proceeding with a vision to participate in a spirit of excellence and achievement,” she said in a prepared statement. “The show is a perfect way to begin our 35th anniversary celebration.”

A free opening reception for the show will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Photo Centre, 415 Clematis St. For more information, call 561-253-2600 or visit www.workshop.org.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Photos of leading Beats will be featured in Photo Centre exhibition