It is already September and the galleries and museums are full of many new photography exhibits! There were some openings last week, including ICP, that has the wonderful Peter Sekaer show, a moving 9/11 show, and a fun Harper's Baazar exhibit. Other new shows include the New Yorker Photographs at the Howard Greenberg Gallery, George Tice at Danziger Projects and Lisette Model at Bruce Silverstein among others. I try to take a day off from the archive every so often, and go to Chelsea or 57th Street to catch up on all the shows, and hope to do it again soon!

I got back a few weeks ago from Toronto where we had the 60th Anniversary of my mother's photograph, "American Girl in Italy". It was taken on August 22, 1951, so we had a celebration on August 22, 2011 in Toronto at a wonderful Italian restaurant called GRANO. It was in Toronto because that is where Ninalee Craig who is the woman in the photo lives. If you want to see any press, you can go to www.orkinphoto.com/news. Also, the opening at the Stephen Bulger Gallery was lots of fun, with so many people excited to meet Ninalee. She barely had a minute to relax and take a break, as she was so busy signing catalogs and taking photos with all her fans!

Back in May, APAG was invited to a photography conference in Warsaw, Poland, titled "The Archive as Project" and I wasn't able to attend. However, Grayson Dantzic went and had an incredible but short whirlwind trip, and absorbed every minute of it. He gave a presentation about APAG, and also discussed his father's work, who was Jerry Dantzic. Part of his background is Polish, so he really enjoyed also being able to learn more about his heritage.

I've been working hard on The Photo League film with Nina Rosenblum and Daniel Allentuck who are the directors/producers. We are trying to finish to coincide with the important exhibit about The Photo League that will open at The Jewish Museum in November. Many APAG members were also Photo League members, including Arthur Leipzig, Marvin Newman, Erika Stone, Ida Wyman, and the archives of Max Drucker, Sol Lipsohn, Sol Prom, Arthur Rothstein, Aaron Siskind, John Vachon, Weegee and my parents Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin. So, please go see the show to learn more about the Photo league and spread the word.

Best,

Mary Engel