Len Bernstein has been photographing since 1974. He began his study to teach the philosophy Aesthetic Realism in classes with its founder, Eli Siegel, and his education continues in classes taught by Ellen Reiss, Chairman of Aesthetic Realism. Mr. Bernstein has written and lectured on photography in relation to the family, love and marriage, and economics, using this Aesthetic Realism principle as his basis: “All beauty is a making one of opposites, and the making one of opposites is what we are going after in ourselves.” His photographs can be found in many private and public collections.
Portrait of Len Bernstein
© 2005 Harriet Bernstein
Seminars
Since 1986, Mr. Bernstein has participated in public seminars at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation in New York City. Many of his papers are on the life and work of photographers important in the history of the medium. They include:
Does Art Stand for Our Greatest Ambition? (Ansel Adams)
What is a Man's Greatest Victory? (Gordon Parks)
Man: Scornful and Praising (W. Eugene Smith)
Is Good Will Our Greatest Power? (Alfred Stieglitz)
Does Art Have the Courage We Are Looking For? (Robert Capa)
What Do the World and People Deserve? (Jacob Riis)
The Art Way of Seeing and the Pride We Are Looking For (Edward Weston)
Workshops and Talks
The University of Northampton, England - 2007
Sullivan County Community College, New York - 2007
Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities - 2008
International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, Chicago, IL - 2008
Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, Reno, NV - 2008
Flushing Library, Flushing, NY - 2008, 2009
High School of Art and Design, NY - 2010
Norman Thomas High School, NY - 2010
Public Collections
• The Library of Congress, Washington, DC
• Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, France
• The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
• The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
• The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
• The New York Public Library, New York, NY
• Museum of the City of New York, New York, NY
• Hebrew Home for the Aged, Riverdale, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
1983: big & small, Terrain Gallery, New York
1984 - 85: Traveling exhibition sponsored by Art Against Apartheid
1985: Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites? - Intersection '85, Terrain Gallery, New York
1992: Recent Acquisitions: Photography, The New York Public Library, New York
1998: One World: Eight Points-of-View, Pleiades Gallery, New York
1999: Three Photographers, Terrain Gallery, New York
2000: Terrain Gallery 45th Anniversary Exhibition
2001: Dressing for a New York City Childhood, Museum of the City of New York, New York
2003: Photography: In Black and White, New York Law School, New York
2003: The Surprising and Abiding Opposites, Terrain Gallery, New York
2004: Photography: In Black and White, New York Mercantile Exchange, New York
2007: Emotion—in Black & White and Color, Terrain Gallery, New York
2010: Childhood: An International Photo Exhibition, Dougherty Art Center, Austin, Texas
One Person Exhibitions
1998 - Proud Moments, Pleiades Gallery, New York,
1999 - Hebrew Home for the Aged, New York
2000 - The Wonder of the Everyday, Pleiades Gallery, New York
2002 - Peez Leweez, NY
2007 - University of Northampton, England
Articles
"What Do the World and People Deserve? Jacob Riis, Photographer" (Photographica World - The Journal of the Photographic Collectors Club of Great Britain - Number 98/2001)
"The Inspired State of Mind" (Metered Reading - September 2001) "Candid Photography and the Meaning of 'Real-Life'" (Apogee Photo Magazine - 2001)
"Photography" (lichen: a literary journal - Vol. 5/Spring 2003)
"Portraiture: the Pleasure of Knowing People" (Journal of the Print World - Vol. 26/Winter 2003)
"Acclaimed Teacher Inspires Students" (New York State English Council Annual Conference Book - 2003)
"People on an Escalator Share a Dream" (The Birmingham Times, Tennessee Tribune, The Philadelphia Sun, La Vida News - 2010)
Reviews
"Three Photographers at the Terrain Gallery" by Alma Vincent appeared in
The Villager (Vol 69/1999)
The New Voice of New York (Vol. 41/1999)
Caribbean Life (1999)
Journal of the Print World (Vol. 23/Winter 2000)
"Gazing into the mystery of photography" by Ted Waddell, an exhibition review and interview with Len Bernstein appeared in Sullivan County Democrat (2003)
"Emotion — in Black & White and Color" by Len Bernstein (Journal of the Print World - Vol. 30/Summer 2007)