The AIPAD Award is given to visionaries who have shaped the fine art photography landscape, promoting its understanding and recognition. The award ceremony, taking place on April 25, 2024, during the VIP Opening of The Photography Show presented by AIPAD, will be dedicated to honouring Vince Aletti.
Critic, curator, and writer Vince Aletti is an eminent figure in the world of fine art photography. He has been a lively presence in the New York City’s cultural scene since the 1970s: art editor for The Village Voice, contributor to The New Yorker, and the first writer to cover disco for Rolling Stones, he has always shaped the cultural surrounding with his deep knowledge of art and photography.
“The Board of Directors and I are incredibly excited to present this year’s AIPAD Award to Vince Aletti. It’s rare to see someone who so thoroughly lives and breathes photography. From his personal collection of magazine photography to his authorship, he surrounds himself with the medium and embodies the purpose of this Award; to acknowledge and thank an individual who is devoted to fine art photography and has shaped the public’s understanding of this art form,” said Lydia Melamed Johnson, Executive Director of AIPAD. “It’s such a pleasure to celebrate his career and thank him for his long support of AIPAD.”
This Award is a moment to honour an icon in the realm of photography but also an occasion to celebrate the photographic medium: it is a collective moment in which artists, gallerists, and patrons gather together, giving the opportunity to collectors and scholars to discover, support, and engage with new artists and young galleries.
Aletti will be part of a panel on Friday, April 26 alongside Jeff Rosenheim, previous AIPAD Award winner and renowned expert in American photography. Rosenheim curated the Metropolitan Museum of Art s Photography and the American Civil War traveling exhibition in 2013 and is now Curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This conversation will span the history of photography as a medium and explore its modern experimentations.
