Carmel Vitullo
at
the Block Island Historical Society
Opening the June 25th, Carmel Vitullo’s Block Island photographs
will be on view at the Block Island Historical Society. View the people
and places as seen through the lens of this contemporary photographer
who visited the island in the 50s and 60s. The exhibit runs through
September 12th. The Block Island Historical Society is located at 1872
Old Town
Road, open daily, 10am to 4pm, or by appointment, 466-2481.
Vitullo, a native of Rhode Island, attended the Rhode Island
School of Design and the New York Institute of Photography
in the late 1940’s.In 1955, Edward
Stiechen selected two of Carmel Vitullo’s photos for the exhibit, Family
of Man, at the Museum of Modern Art. This significant career event encouraged
the young artist who had left the RISD painting department to seek out a career
in photography. After several years in New York, Carmel returned to Rhode Island
in the late 1950’s to photograph her native state and its people with skill
and sensitivity.
Vitullo also retreated to those favorite Rhode Island retreats
of Little Compton, Tiverton and Block Island to capture the
state’s rural enclaves. Curious
to develop new subject matter, Vitullo attended the Newport Jazz Festival and
photographed young jazz entertainers such as Louis Armstrong on the trumpet,
Joe Jones on the drums and others. Today these works are important historical
documentation of people and events in Rhode Island. Carmel found solace among
other artists in Providence in her South Water Street studio in the 1960’s.
While documenting daily life, she remained emotionally distant, letting the subjects
and events take center stage. Carmel is in the collection of the Rhode Island
School of Design Museum and Museum of Modern Art.