From official portraits and campaign ads to selfies and televised debates, images play an essential role in every presidential campaign. Now, Winning the White House: From Press Prints to Selfies—a new thought-provoking special exhibition presented by International Center of Photography opening at the institution’s dedicated space at Mana Contemporary on September 25—explores the complex relationship between candidates’ representations in visual media and their carefully created and tightly controlled campaign images.

Organized by ICP’s Assistant Curators Susan Carlson and Claartje van Dijk, Winning the White House: From Press Prints to Selfies moves to the Mana Contemporary location following a successful run at the Southampton Arts Center. Open for Mana Contemporary’s Open House and then by appointment only, the show features works by Cornell Capa, Grey Villet, Elliott Erwitt, Mark Bussell, Chris Buck, Stephen Crowley, Ken Light, Mark Peterson, Antoni Muntadas and Marshall Reese, and others as well as campaign ephemera, posters, and video materials created for candidates from John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

“We’re so pleased with the strong response to this exhibition thus far,” says Claartje van Dijk, Assistant Curator of ICP. “Since the time of Abraham Lincoln through the present day, presidential candidates have used photographic imagery in their campaigns to impact public opinion. While staged and curated press prints have historically been the tools of choice for candidates to reach and perform for their electorate, the delivery method has shifted from print publications to broadcast to computer and mobile phone screens—and the imagery has become more personal, more immediate and seemingly more off-the-cuff. With Winning The White House, we examine that evolution and put it side by side with the screened selection of campaign images.” 

“While professional press photographers continue to cover every campaign stop for major media outlets like their predecessors, they are now joined by thousands of amateur photographers,” adds Susan Carlson, Assistant Curator of ICP and van Dijk’s co-curator for Winning the White House. “With the rise of smart-phone technology and the rapid rate at which images are released on social media, the 2016 campaigns are seeing an even greater demand for visual content. This provides us with a timely opportunity to explore photography’s significant role in elections. We look forward to continuing the dialogue with the Mana Contemporary incarnation of the show.”

The International Center of Photography at Mana Contemporary is a 15,000-square-foot space that houses a gallery, media lab, research area, and collections. The gallery space is located at 888 Newark Avenue in Jersey City, NJ and is open by appointment only. To request access, please contact managallery@icp.org or go to www.icp.org.

The exhibition was made possible by ICP Trustee Renee Harbers Liddell and Chris Liddell.

ICP at Mana
September 25, 2016–January 27, 2017
By appointment only: managallery@icp.org

Sunday, September 25 | 1–6 PM
Mana Contemporary Open House
A complimentary shuttle service will depart every half hour from Milk Studios (450 West 15th Street, New York, NY 10011) starting at 12:30 PM, with the last bus leaving Milk at 4 PM. Returning buses are every half hour from Mana Contemporary from 2 PM to 7 PM.

ABOUT ICP
The International Center of Photography (ICP) is the world’s leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture. Through our new museum—located at 250 Bowery—as well as our exhibitions, school, public programs, and community outreach, we offer an open forum for dialogue about the role images play in our culture. Since our founding, we have presented more than 700 exhibitions and offered thousands of classes, providing instruction at every level. ICP is a center where photographers and artists, students, and scholars can create and interpret the world of the image, exploring photography and visual culture as mediums of empowerment, and catalysts for wide-reaching social change.