Panopticon Gallery exhibits extended

Because of what organizers describe as an overwhelming response, the Panopticon Gallery, inside the Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square, has decided to extend its Harold Feinstein exhibit until Jan. 8.

"Harold Feinstein | A Retrospective" displays about 50 years' worth of some of Feinstein's best-known black-and-white images, from the boardwalk at Coney Island and the streets of New York, to his tour of duty as a grunt in Korea.

According to Panopticon's website, Feinstein began his photographic career in 1946. Edward Steichen, an early supporter, purchased his work for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art and frequently exhibited it there.

He was a member of the New York Photo League, exhibited at Helen Gee's Limelight Gallery, and hung out with photographers such as Helen Levitt, Weegee, Garry Winogrand, and W. Eugene Smith. Feinstein is best known for his photos of Coney Island.

The Panopticon show coincides with the release of Feinstein's book of the same name, published by Nazraeli Press.

Two other exhibits at Panopticon are running concurrent with Feinstein's:

Stephen Sheffield, a fine art photographer in Boston, is in the private room.

The gallery describes his work as a dynamic use of photography that play out as stories and depict both everyday and unusual events.

Each image is framed by his unique and dark sense of humor, occasionally casting himself as the protagonist.

His portfolios include straight photography, alternative processes, the use of Polaroid, and large-scale photo assemblages.

(Left: Shake, 2008)

Panopticon's Emerging Artist is Alipio Hernandez, a recent graduate of the New England School of Photography.

His series 'Ambiguous' was inspired by stories his grandmother told him when he was a young child growing up in Venezuela.

The gallery says Alipio uses clothing dye to tone the portraits in his gelatin silver prints before he cuts them apart and stitches them back together.

In some instances, these rather straight-forward portraits become abstracts - facial features are moved around and/or double exposed, creating a sense of movement and obscurity.

Panopticon Gallery
502c Commonwealth Ave.
Boston 02215
617.267.8929
Hours: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday