A photograph by Stefanie Klavens capturing the fading glory of US movie theaters.
Photo show highlights film theaters
A photograph by Stefanie Klavens capturing the fading glory of US movie theaters.
June 21, 2009
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Photographer Stefanie Klavens of Boston’s North End has long taken pictures to serve as a visual record of things that interest her. Her collection of photographs chronicling the disappearing American tradition of movie theaters is on display in Brookline Village.
“Celluloid Dreams: America’s Vanishing Movie Palaces and Drive-in Theaters’’ runs through July 20 at the New England Institute of Art’s Gallery on the Plaza, at 10 Brookline Place West.
Klavens began her “photographic journey’’ of old movie houses when the neon lights of the Strand Theater on the boardwalk in Ocean City, N.J., caught her eye in 1987. Subjects featured in her colorful one-woman show range from near (the Somerville Theatre) to far (the Bruin Theater in Los Angeles), as well as points in-between, including the Palace Theatre in Lockport, N.Y., and drive-in theaters across the country.
“This project opened my eyes to the cultural history of going to the movies and how our social habits and focus on the neighborhood theater has changed,’’ she said. “I want people to enjoy what they see, but I also hope it piques their curiosity about the theaters’ history and why they’re disappearing.’’
For details on the show, call 617-582-4617 or go to www.artinstitutes.edu/boston.
Cindy Cantrell
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
