Photographic Work of Ralph M. Aiello @ Karpeles Museum

Downing Park 1966?

The public is invited to an opening reception at the Karpeles Museum on Sunday, April 15, from 1-4 p.m.

One of the most prominent photographers of the Hudson Valley, long-time Newburgh resident Ralph Aiello (1913-2005) celebrates the visual splendor of the region for more than three-quarters of century. His artfully composed images include rural scenery, nature closeups, houses of worship, portraits, and still lifes.

Aiello began working seriously in photography with the purchase of an Argus camera in 1935, and and two years later he progressed to a state-of-the-art Leica, the first precision 35 mm camera. With it he obtained a job as a reporter-photographer with the Middletown Times-Herald, forerunner of the present-day Times Herald-Record. He moved on to the Newburgh News in 1939 and remained there in various editorial capacities until his retirement in 1978. During his entire career in journalism he explored the artistic resources of the lens, moonlighting as a commercial and wedding photographer, and he wrote a weekly “Camera Corner” column for about 15 years.

A member of the Newburgh Camera Club, which he served repeatedly as president over the course of more than 50 years, he also worked with the Hudson Valley Color Slide Club and helped organize photography clubs in Walden, Monroe, and Middletown, and at Stewart Field. In 1970 he was made a member of the prestigious Photographic Society of America, in which he received the honorary rank of Associate in 1975 and Fellow in 1985, and he chaired the organization’s Photojournalism Division during the 1970s. He received hundreds of national and international awards for his color slides and black-and-white prints and won the International Understanding Through Photography Award, a distinction he shares with such luminaries as Margaret Bourtke-White, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Ansel Adams, and Walt Disney. The Karpeles Museum is honored to present a selection of the artistry of this distinguished photographer.

This exhibit is available for viewing Thursday, April 12 – Sunday, June 3, 2012.

The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is located at 94 Broadway. Museum Hours: Thu.-Sat., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 12 to 4 p.m.
Admission is always free.
Visit online: WWW.KARPELES.COM