On July 25th, U.S. Photographer Robert Dawson, Professor of Photography at Stanford University, had an enthusiastically received presentation of his Global Library Project: A Photographic Essay at Warsaw’s Main Public Library and the future host the upcoming American Corner Warsaw. The audience consisted of close to 80 Polish librarians, photographers and Warsaw libraries patrons.
PAO Christopher Midura introduced Mr. Dawson and said: “Mr. Dawson’s photographs have been widely exhibited and may be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Museum of American Art in Washington, the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and many others. His work has been featured in several books. His artistry and contributions to teaching about photography have been recognized by such prominent organizations as the Guggenheim Foundation, the Graham Foundation, and the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts.
While Mr. Dawson’s body of work has focused on humans’ relationship with our environment and shared public spaces, it is one particular public space – the public library – that has been his latest subject, and which brings him here today. Over an 18-year period, Mr. Dawson carried out a photographic survey of the essential role played by public libraries throughout America, culminating in publication in 2014 of this book, The Public Library: A Photographic Essay. Apart from Mr. Dawson’s compelling photographs, the work also features essays by 15 prominent American writers, and last year, the U.S. Library of Congress purchased his entire Public Library Project archive for its permanent collection, an amazing achievement by any standard.”
