November 11, 2022

Now Playing: GME Licenses Footage for Jonas Mekas Doc FRAGMENTS OF PARADISE and Hugh Bell’s Album Cover Photograph for Abortion Drama DEAR JANE

November 11, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

FRAGMENTS OF PARADISE is a story about finding beauty amidst profound loss, a story of a man who was also the most significant force behind the evolution and promotion of the American Avant-Garde film movement, and who tried to make sense of it all…with a camera. GME licensed numerous clips of Mekas filming with his camera from Gideon Bachmann's UNDERGROUND NEW YORK (1968), a rare behind-the-scenes view of the exploding New York “underground” in the late sixties, a turbulent time and place that was to change American culture forever.

October 26, 2022

LEADER OF THE PACK ALBUM COVER PHOTO BY HUGH BELL LICENSED FOR ABORTION DRAMA FEATURE CALL JANE, CURRENTLY IN THEATRICAL RELEASE

October 26, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

Now in theaters, director Phyllis Nagy’s CALL JANE, stars Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, and Kate Mara, in a drama about a 1960s housewife (Banks) who joins the Jane Collective to fight for women's rights as she struggles to cope with her need for an abortion during a time of limited social or political support.

September 08, 2022

Hugh Bell Photos Chosen for A Picture Gallery of the Soul Exhibition at The Katherine E. Nash Gallery

September 08, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

The University of Minnesota gallery will present two photos by Hugh Bell in their upcoming fall exhibition, a group exhibition of over 100 Black American artists whose work incorporates the photographic medium.

July 04, 2022

LEADER OF THE PACK ALBUM COVER PHOTO BY HUGH BELL LICENSED FOR PHYLLIS NAGY ABORTION DRAMA FEATURE

July 04, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

This photo for the cover of The Shangri-Las debut album from 1965 is one of many commercial photos by Hugh Bell, whose photographs appeared on dozens of album covers throughout the period. They primarily featured jazz artists, including Sarah Vaughn, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Cannonball Adderly, Houston Person, Bill Hardman, Larry Coryell, and the Nat Dixon Quartet. Director Nagy included this cover in her upcoming Roadside Attractions release CALL JANE, starring Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, and Kate Mara, about a 1960s housewife (Banks) who joins the Jane Collective to fight for women's rights as she struggles to cope with her need for an abortion during a time of limited social or political support.

June 19, 2022

In Recognition of Juneteenth GME Presents Hugh Bell's Photographs of Jean Genet’s Play THE BLACKS at the St. Mark’s Playhouse in 1961

June 19, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

Jean Genet ’s 1959 play, THE BLACKS, uses the framework of a play within a play, to expose racial prejudice and stereotypes while exploring black identity. It was the longest-running Off-Broadway non-musical of the 60s and was photographed by Hugh Bell.

May 12, 2022

NAACP Award Winning Film THROUGH A LENS DARKLY Featuring Photographer Hugh Bell Recently Returned to PBS

May 12, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

THROUGH A LENS DARKLY: BLACK PHOTOGRAPHERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF A PEOPLE, probes the recesses of American history through images that have been suppressed, forgotten, and lost. Directed by Thomas Allen Harris. The film features the late photographer Hugh Bell.

February 03, 2022

Video Librarian List Billie Holiday Documentary One of Best Documentaries of 2021

February 03, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

BILLIE, directed by James Erskine, is a portrait of legendary singer Billie Holiday based on more than 200 audio interviews conducted by journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl in the 1970s. A compelling look at the jazz legend who should never be forgotten. The film includes rare photos of Billie Holiday taken by Hugh Bell, licensed to the production by Gartenberg Media, the exclusive representative of the Estate of Hugh Bell.

June 18, 2021

BuzzFeed News Celebrates LGBTQ History During Pride Month with Photos by Hugh Bell

June 18, 2021/ Jon Gartenberg

Hugh Bell, born and raised in Harlem, was an American photographer of Caribbean descent. He became most well-known in the 1950s for his photographs of jazz musicians. Bell also influenced a generation of photographers, most notably of the Kamoinge Workshop. In the 1980s and 1990s, Bell photographed Gay Culture, creating stylish portraits of individuals and couples in both candid and posed moments of self-expression. Particularly noteworthy was his singular effort to depict African-Americans who participated in these celebrations, which include Gay Pride, Wigstock, and the Greenwich Village Halloween parades.

April 15, 2021

Hugh Bell Seen as Key Influential Figure of 20th Century Black Photography

April 15, 2021/ Jon Gartenberg

Working Together: The Photographers of the Kamoinge Workshop, a groundbreaking exhibition of overlooked Black photographers, organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, establishes the importance of Hugh Bell's photography. While not a member of the Kamoinge Workshop, Bell is recognized by the curators of the exhibition as follows: “The Workshop’s artists have variously cited the influence of fellow photographers such as Roy de Carava, E. Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, Hugh Bell, and Dorothea Lange, all of whom combined observation with their own personal impressions.”

February 26, 2021

Hugh Bell’s Photo Featured in BuzzFeed News Black History Month Tribute

February 26, 2021/ Jon Gartenberg

BuzzFeed News features one of Hugh Bell's classic images from his series of Afro-Caribbean photos in their glowing tribute, "The Black Photographers Who Paved The Way For The World We Live In Now," appearing in the online magazine's Black History Month section.