These images from Joe Standart's public event/exhibition Portrait of America, The New London Project are representative of the more than 120 life-size to 30 foot high images that populated the city of New London. The genre of portraiture was used to, in effect, hold a mirror up to the individuals, city and region and say, See the dignity. "I used portraiture to explore very basic but broad and universal themes of human life," says Standart.

It is a series of community celebrations triggered by a monumental exhibition. It is discussion groups. It is collaboration between artist, individual, community, governments and corporations. It is about the past, the present and the future. It is honest. It brings individuals and community to a common ground and invites self-examination. It points to a spirit of understanding, compassion and unity. It takes the dignified portrait usually reserved for the parlor mantle and delivers it to the common man elevating all to a state of elegance. It takes photography as art out of the sanctuary of the gallery and museum and delivers it for all to see, on the street. It is photography at its most powerful, at its best.

The genesis of the program began when artist Joe Standart decided to answer the self imposed question, "how can I use my gifts as a photographer to make a positive difference in the life of one random individual in the City of New London?"

About Us

Joe Standart
Artist/Director

Joe Standart is an award-winning photographer and internationally known artist, whose successful campaigns for many of the world leading organizations have won him awards from the Andys, The One Show and many others.

His passion for photography and for social issues lead to his monumental public art exhibition/event: Portrait of a City, The New London Project. The exhibition has been featured in the The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Associated Press, Photo District News, ABC News, NPR Radio, Public Television and other national media.

It charted new territory by so directly and honestly engaging his audience. His mission is to honor and challenge the citizens of a city to view themselves and their neighbors in a new light.

He began his career capturing the habitat of Alaska for the National Park Service in 1974. That groundbreaking work appeared in a nationally traveling exhibition and has been featured in numerous books and magazines.

Joe was a founding director of Photographers and Friends United Against Aids, the first group to mobilize the countries leading photo-artists to support Aids research and raised over $2 million. He has served on the board of the Florence Griswold Museum, one of the country’s leading art colony museums, which is dedicated to the Lyme Impressionists.

Joe worked with The Nature Conservancy, for two years documenting the fragile beauty of the lower Connecticut River, one of the Conservancy’s “Last Great Places” for a series of exhibitions designed to inform, inspire and educate. Joe’s fine art photographs have been exhibited in group and one-man shows across the country and are in the collections of many private collectors and museums.

Joe lives with his wife and two children in New York City and Lyme, Connecticut.

William Hereford
Project Coordinator/Producer

William has been working in the film and photo industry since graduating from Bates College in the Spring of 2007 with a degree in historical theory. He has a professional background in photography, cinematography,and video editing. He acts as a general overseer on all things technical for Portrait of America and orchestrates the day to day upkeep of the project. As well, he edits short video segments concerning the project's progress for fund raising purposes. He is an avid writer, reader, and windsurfer.

The Connecticut Project of Portrait of America is a public arts project. Its purpose and goal is to utilize the power of the arts, in this case photographic portraiture, to break down barriers and bring people and communities together.

The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism has provided a generous grant to get the project started. The project is being conducted in conjunction with the Greater Hartford and the Northwest Arts Councils. For the project to realize its full potential, it needs to raise significant additional money.

We know this can be easily accomplished if a lot of people give what ever they can to help support the project designed to build better communities.

NOTE: Please enter "Portrait of America" as the project title and "Joe Standart" as the artist name on the donation page.

Make a Donation

If you have any questions or comments we would love to hear from you. Simply send an email to:
info@portraitofamerica.org

Or call us at:
(212) 288-7666
(212) 288-7622 (fax)

To learn more about becoming a sponsor please contact: info@portraitofamerica.org

The Boston Globe - 06/28/2006

WTNH Channel 8 - 06/22/2006

The New York Times - 10/2/2005

We greatly appreciate your interest in making a contribution to this project. As of right now we are selling high quality t-shirts at $20.00, plus shipping. Call (212) 288-7666 to place you order. We have adult sizes - small, medium, and large. Get your POA T-shirt today!

New London Cityscape

New London Cityscape

New London Cityscape