Less than a month after art lovers trekked through the snow to New York’s far West Side for the Armory Show, it’s time for another trip to Pier 94 for the AIPAD Photography Show. From emerging artists to 19th-century pioneers of the medium, the Association of International Photography Dealers fair covers the full range of photographic history. Since that can feel a bit overwhelming, here’s a guide to a few of the top contemporary names you might not know—but should. Arnika Dawkins has dedicated her entire booth to the dark, vaguely foreboding images of Jeanine Michna-Bales’ Through Darkness to Light series. Each of the 81 photographs was taken at a stop along the Underground Railroad, a secret network dedicated to aiding escaped slaves in their journey north.
“I grew up in Indiana, and the Underground Railroad was part of local lore because there were sites around us,” the artist told artnet News. “I wondered what it would have looked like to go on this journey.”
The product of a decade of research—the project started in 2004 and was completed in 2016—Michna-Bales followed a 1,400-mile route from Louisiana to Ontario, shooting at night, when runaways would have been on the move. Depicting safe houses, backwater swamps, and dimly lit forests, the photographs (priced at $2,800) fire the imagination and the sense of pursuit becomes almost palpable as one loses oneself in the inky black images.
