Westwood Gallery 568 Broadway, Suite 501 NY10012 New York France
My Kennedy Years, which includes over 50 photographs by Jacques Lowe (1930-2001). The photographs represent an intimate view of John F. Kennedy as he was on the campaign trail, important moments during his term as President and family moments with Jackie and his children. The exhibition commemorates the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s death. Westwood Gallery NYC is the location for the last photography exhibition during Jacques Lowe’s lifetime and My Kennedy Years exhibition is also a tribute to Jacques Lowe.
In 1958, when he met the Kennedys and was hired as the family’s personal photographer, Jacques Lowe was 28. This assignment provided him with unprecedented access to the private and professional life of one of the most iconic leaders of the 20th century, as well as the members of his family. Over the next three years, he took over 40,000 images of the couple and their children. The legendary images depict a period starting with Kennedy’s 1958 U.S. Senate re-election campaign, to his early years in the White House. Jacques Lowe’s photographs were a powerful instrument which shaped the public’s perception of the Kennedy family and have remained the essential documentary of the charismatic personality of Jack Kennedy and the historical period. The exhibition recounts both the story of these mythical years and the president who, in Lowe’s own words, “empowered each one of us to believe we could make a difference”, and the relationship between photographer and subject. Also on exhibit is video of Jacques Lowe speaking about his Kennedy photographs.
Lowe died in May 2001, and his original negatives, which were stored in a World Trade Center J.P. Morgan Chase Bank bank vault, were lost during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Only 10 negatives, which were out on loan at the time, have survived. The prints in this exhibition are from the Estate of Jacques Lowe’s collection of vintage and modern fine art prints, printed and signed by Lowe prior to his death. Accompanying the exhibition is the book, My Kennedy Years: A Memoir by Jacques Lowe, Thames & Hudson.