BEN MARCIN
b. 1958, Augsburg, Germany
Ben Marcin, Row Houses, Camden, NJ, 2011
Born in Augsburg, Germany. Many of his photographic essays explore the idea of home and the passing of time. “Last House Standing” and, “The Camps”, have received wide press both nationally and abroad (The Paris Review, iGnant, La Repubblica, Slate, Wired Magazine). More recently, Marcin has been exploring the myriad structures of the urban core in series like Towers, Street, Stairwells and Museums. His photographs have been shown at a number of national galleries and venues including the Baltimore Museum of Art; the Delaware Art Museum; The Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA; The Center for Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins, CO; The Photographic Resource Center in Boston; and the Houston Center for Photography. His work is also in several important collections including the Baltimore Museum of Art.
SELECTED AWARDS
2017 Klompching Fresh Finalist
2016 Trawick Finalist
2016 Sondheim Semi-Finalist
2016 Photolucida | Critical Mass Finalist
2015 Photolucida | Critical Mass Finalist
2015 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist's Award
2013 Photolucida | Critical Mass Top 50
2013 Review Santa Fe 100
2012 Sondheim Semi-Finalist
2011 Sondheim Semi-Finalist
2010 Sondheim Semi-Finalist
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & REVIEWS
“Last House Standing reads like a tribute to the forgotten solo row house, an “architectural quirk” as
German born, Baltimore-based photographer Ben Marcin calls them. Shot around Baltimore,
Philly and New Jersey, Marcin catalogs these solitary buildings that at one time weren't as lonely as
they are now. Their placement in the urban landscape feels strange yet appealing, almost like
portals to other dimensions—a case of when it stands alone, it stands out.” - Feature Shoot, AUG 2013
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Tina Coplan, “Full Circle: Ben Marcin”, Home & Design Magazine, May-June 2018 Issue
Jon Marks, “Picture This: Everyday Beauty”, Baltimore Style Magazine, December 2017
Center for Fine Art Photography, Portfolio Showcase 10, November 2017
Julie Grahame, “Ben Marcin: Museums”, aCurator Magazine, November 20 2017
Aline Smithson, Ben Marcin: "Structures", Lenscratch, November 8, 2017
Klompching Gallery, FRESH 2017, The Annual Summer Exhibit Catalog, October, 2017
Texas Women's University, The 16th Annual Joyce Elaine Grant Photography Exhibition Catalog, May, 2017
Richter, Eva, “Last House Standing”, Spurl Editions, January 13, 2017
Jacobs, Sarah, “15 heartbreaking photographs of abandoned buildings in Baltimore and Philadelphia”, Business Insider, Ap. 26, 2016.
McCrary, Nancy, “Rootballs, by Ben Marcin”, South X Southeast Magazine, December 19, 2015
Kirkman, Rebekah, “Ten photographers explore space, place, memory and history at C. Grimaldis Gallery show”, Baltimore City Paper, December 16, 2015
McCrary, Nancy, “Ben Marcin: Diptychs”, South X Southeast Magazine, November 21, 2015
Müller, Boris, “Diese Garagen Rocken”, Tages Anzeiger, November 2, 2015
De Zanche, Valentina, “Il fascino discrete di un parcheggio”, Studio Rivista, October 28, 2015
Byrnes, Mark, “The Hidden, Sometimes 'Frightening' Beauty of America's Parking garages”, The Atlantic, October, 15, 2015
Grahame, Julie, “Ben Marcin, Grids”, aCurator, September, 2015
Feeney, Mark, “At the PRC, 13 Ways of Looking at the World, Boston Globe, June 25, 2015
Smithson, Aline, “Towers”, Lenscratch, January 27, 2015
Smithson, Aline, “Out West”, Lenscratch, January 26, 2015
Hosdson, Canbra, “Last House Standing by Ben Marcin”, Juxtapoz Magazine, October 30, 2014
Byrnes, Mark, “A Photo Project Ponders Skyscrapers Without a Skyline”, The Atlantic, July 10, 2014
Byrne, Richard, “Solitary Refinement”, UMBC Magazine, Summer 2014
Gorence, Amanda, “Photo du Jour: Home Alone”, Feature Shoot, April 9, 2014
Jacobs, Harrison, “20 Depressing Pictures of Homeless Shantytowns Near Baltimore”, Business Insider, March 13, 2014
Gordon, Kalani, “Last House Standing and the homeless camps of Baltimore”, The Baltimore Sun-The Darkroom, March 12, 2014
Cassie, Ron, “Remnants of Things Past”, Baltimore Magazine, March, 2014, p.108-13
“Baltimore's People of the Woods”, Daily Mail UK, February 14, 2014
“Promenades a Baltimore”, Les Journaliers, February, 2014
Garrett, Jenna, “Photos of Baltimore Homeless Camps Hidden Just Out of Sight”, Feature Shoot, February 10, 2014
Byrnes, Mark, “The Secluded Homeless Camps of Baltimore”, The Atlantic, February, 14, 2014
Meier, Allison, “Athwart the Wrecking Ball: Last House Standing”, Hyperallergic, January 3, 2014
Schiller, Jakob, “Solitary Row Houses Defy the Process of Urban Decay”, Wired Magazine, December 31, 2013
“Photographer Captures the Haunting Images of Disappearing Rowhomes”, Fox News Baltimore, December 12, 2013
“Ben Marcin Photographs the Last House Standing”, Phaidon, November 5, 2013
“L'ultima Casa Rimasta in Piedi”, Il Post, October 7, 2013
“Last House Standing”, iGnant, September 25, 2013
“Last House Standing”, The Paris Review, September, 12 2013
“Foto Il Fotoprogetto: Le Case Solitairedi Baltimora”, La Repubblica, September 12, 2013
Rosenberg, David, “The Lonely Houses of Baltimore”, Slate Magazine, September 6, 2013
“10 Orphan Row Houses So Lonely You'll Want to Take Them Home With You”, The Huffinton Post, September 5, 2013
“Last Houses Standing: The Beautiful Row Houses Once Part of Sprawling Tenements that Illustrate Baltimore's Urban Decay”, The Daily Mail UK, September 1, 2013
Byrnes, Mark, “Heartbreaking Photos of Lonely Rowhouses”, The Atlantic Cities, September 3, 2013
Gorence, Amanda, “Forgotten Solo Row Houses Photographed in Baltimore, Philly and new jersey”, Feature Shoot, August 27, 2013
Smith, Tim, “Visual Diversions”, The Baltimore Sun, August 2, 2013
“Last House Standing”, Photoworld Magazine – Xinhua News Agency, May 2013, p54-57
Dorsey, John, “Houses, Walls, Doors and Then Some: Ben Marcin's Up-Close Photographs move between Reality and Abstraction”, Baltimore Sun, September 8, 1998
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
· 2017 C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD “Structures”
· 2013 C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD “Last House Standing and Other Stories”
· 2003 Villa Julie College Gallery, Stevenson, MD “Crossing the Landscape”
· 2002 World Trade Center, Baltimore, MD “Walls”
· 1997 Chesapeake Gallery, Harford CC, Belair, MD
· 1997 Montpelier Cultural Center, Laurel MD
· 1996 Maryland Hall For the Creative Arts, Annapolis, MD
Selected Group Exhibitions:
· 2018 Klompching Gallery, New York, NY, Commorancy
· 2018 C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Summer '18
· 2018 Art Palm Springs, Palm Springs, CA, with C. Grimaldis Gallery
· 2018 Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA, VIEWFIND 2018, curated by Page Bond
· 2017 Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, Portfolio Showcase 10, curated by Hannah Frieser
· 2017 Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, Singular/Signature, curated by Alyssa Coppelman
· 2017 C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Summer '17
· 2017 Kohl Gallery, Washington College, Chesterown, MD, What's Next, curated by Katherine Markoski
· 2017 Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX, 16th Annual Joyce Elaine Grant Exhibition, curated by
Julia Dolan, the Minor White Curator of Photography, Portland Art Museum
· 2016 Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, Home, curated by Kevin Miller, curator,
Southeast Museum of Photography
· 2016 Gallery B, Bethesda, MD, 2016 Trawick Prize Finalists
· 2016 Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD, 2016 Sondheim Semi-Finalists
· 2016 Art New York with the C. Grimaldis Gallery
· 2015 Baltimore Museum of Art – Baltimore, MD, Imagining Home
· 2015 C. Grimaldis Gallery – Baltimore, MD, Within/Without
· 2015 Art Miami with the C. Grimaldis Gallery
· 2015 Robert L Ringel Gallery, Purdue University, Shifting Spaces
· 2015 Photographic Resource Center – Boston, MA, EXPOSURE 2015, curated by Kristen Gresh
· 2015 Open Lens Gallery – Gershman Y, Philadelphia, PA, The Natural, The Material, And The Physical:
Landscape Through The Photographic Eye
· 2014 Art Miami with the C. Grimaldis Gallery
· 2014 Castell Gallery, Asheville, SC, NEXT, curated by Elizabeth Avedon
· 2014 C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Summer '14
· 2014 Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA, 20th Annual Juried Exhibition,
curated by Aline Smithson
· 2014 Houston Center for Photography, Photolucida presents Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads To
Another, curated by Jessica Johnston
· 2014 Corden | Potts Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads To Another,
curated by Jessica Johnston
· 2014 Towson Center for the Arts Gallery, Towson, MD, "Home: Human = Cage: Cockatoo",
curated by Cheryl Harper
· 2014 Johalla Projects, Chicago, IL, The Enigmatic Object, curated by Kyohei Abe of the DCCP and
Caroline Picard
· 2013 C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Summer '13
· 2013 Photo Center NW, Seattle, WA, Musings, curated by John Bennette.
· 2013 Nepalese Academy of Fine Arts, Kathmandu, Nepal
· 2012 FotoDC, Washington, DC, Uncover/Discover
· 2012 Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD, Sondheim Semi-Finalists
· 2011 Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD, Sondheim Semi-Finalists
· 2010 Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD, Sondheim Semi-Finalists
· 2010 Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, New Normal, curated by Edward Robinson
