Jason Gardner. Exhibition and Book Launch. Opening Reception

Ted & Nune Studio is pleased to host an exhibition of Jason Gardner’s We the Spirits, a collection of Carnival portraits of traditional winter masquerades from fifteen countries.

Focusing on traditional, folkloric, and community celebrations with few outside visitors, Gardner collaborated with ethnographers and local experts to understand each of the fifteen festivals he photographed. Performed throughout Europe, these ancient rituals are the original core of what today is commonly known as Carnival.

‘In the middle of the night, or at the break of dawn, these youngsters turn into spirits. This gives them authority and power since the spirits are eternal. Clad in their official robes and paraphernalia—bells, headpieces, sticks of various description—these characters seem replete with magic, the magic of the spirits. — Giovanni Kezich, from his essay in We the Spirits.

Jason Gardner is an American photographer, based in Paris and New York. Growing up in Hastings on Hudson, he still has many connections in his hometown. Gardner’s We the Spirits, his second book, was selected as a Top 50 portfolio by Photolucida’s 2022 Critical Mass and has been exhibited throughout Europe, the US, Canada, and South America. Gardner’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, GEO Magazine France, The Financial Times, Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, Le Parisien, and NPR.org.