Ellen Wallenstein

Photographer, Book Artist, Retired Professor

RME for ADA (working title)

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Location: Sherman, Connecticut, US

Nationality: American

Biography: Ellen Wallenstein is a photographer, book artist and retired professor of art, currently living in Sherman, Connecticut.. Photographically she has always worked on long-term documentary projects, visually responding to daily life... MORE

Respecting My Elders is a collection of color portraits of creative persons over the age of eighty, photographed in their home and studios. They are the artists and intellectuals of my parentsâ€™ generation, whose wisdom and insight are important to our nation. Known as â€œThe Greatest Generationâ€, and coming of age between the two World Wars, the effect of their contributions upon future generations is evident in their cultural legacies. These include books, poems, paintings, photographs, plays and performances, as well as important breakthroughs in education, philanthropy and the sciences. As these persons enter the last phase of long and productive lives, I believe they deserve to be celebrated. My photographs are meant to capture their spirit and beauty, and to inspire admiration by future generations.Â

All photographs Â© Ellen Wallenstein, "Respecting My Elders".

Edward Albee
Playwright

â€œWhat could be worse than getting to the end of your life and realizing you hadnâ€™t lived it?â€â€¦â€¦

â€œBe useful, be useful. Do something that matters with your life.â€

Will Barnet Painter "Pain... any stage of your life."

Will Barnet
Painter

"Painting is almost like a religious experience, which should go on and on. Age just gives you the freedom to do some things you've never done before. Great work can come at any stage of your life."

Joan Copeland Actor â€œAccompl...ng to march down that road.â€

Joan Copeland
Actor

â€œAccomplishment is different today. They don't know what it takes to be a star. You have to earn being a star. Wanting to be an actor takes hard work, dedication and suffering. You have to be willing to march down that road.â€

Joan Copeland
Actor

â€œAccomplishment is different today. They don't know what it takes to be a star. You have to earn being a star. Wanting to be an actor takes hard work, dedication and suffering. You have to be willing to march down that road.â€

Professor Irwin CoreyÂ Commedi... things become possible."

Professor Irwin CoreyÂ
Commedian & Activist
"The World's Greatest Authority"

"With the beginning of a great & compassionate love, comes the growth of one's heart, and with that, a profound inner change. The way to opening the mind is often first through the heart. And once is the mind & heart are open, so many things become possible."

Arthur C. Danto Philosopher &a...â€™s greatest collaborator.â€

Arthur C. Danto
Philosopher & Art Critic

â€œCreativity should lead to work that others are interested in.â€...â€œReality is the photographersâ€™s greatest collaborator.â€

Lois DoddÂ
Painter

"Be stubborn and follow your own voice."

Estelle Ellis
Writer, Editor, Magazine Director

Paula Fox
Writer

"I have a painter's memory. I can remember things from my childhood which were so powerfully imprinted on me, the whole scene comes back."

Joe Franklin
Talk Show Host

Dr. Peter Gay
Historian

Milton GlaserÂ
Designer

â€œâ€¦. I think what I feel fortunate about is that I am still astonished, that things still amaze me, and I think thatâ€™s the great benefit of being in the Arts, where the possibility for learning never disappearsâ€.

Francine duPlessix Gray
Writer

"We write out of revenge against reality, to dream and enter the lives of others"

Ruth Gruber Photographer, Jour...t no obstacles stop you."

Ruth Gruber
Photographer, Journalist, WWII Hero

"Never retire.

Let no obstacles stop you."

A.R. Gurney,
Playwright

"The older I get the more fascinated I become with my craft and with the crafts of the directors, designers ad actors with whom I collaborate."

Nat Hentoff Journalist "I...es into free expression."

Nat Hentoff
Journalist

"I have I guess 3 passions. One is the Constitution. The other is jazz and the other is being an atheist prolifer which, of course, gets me in a lot of trouble - all of which combines into free expression."

Richard Howard Poet, Teacher &...quot; (from "At 65")

Richard Howard
Poet, Teacher & Translator

...after 65, next year
is now. Hours? there are
none, only a few
reckless postponements
before it is time...."

(from "At 65")

James Earl Jones
Actor

â€œ Never put the â€œnextâ€ down on paper. That is like predicting the future and that is how I miss out on â€œNowâ€ And â€œNowâ€ is too difficult to explain.â€

Wolf Kahn
Painter

What are you working on now?â€œPainting landscapes more feely than before.â€

How does one stay creative all oneâ€™s life?â€œA little bit of being frightened helpsâ€

Do you have a specific philosophy?â€œ1. I just work here. 2. Just follow the brush. 3. Try not to constantly judge oneâ€™s work.â€

Dr. Eric Kandel
Scientist

"Life is sort of a circle. You come back to a lot of the interests that you had early in life."

Dr. Eric Kandel
Scientist

Bel Kaufman
Writer

"Words of wisdom?Â Words of common sense. Provided you are healthy (a huge proviso) you can have a long and interesting old age. The problems and insecurities of youth are in the past, children are grown and on their own, this is the time to do not what you always had to do but what you want to do. You can be creative, productive, helpful, even inspiring or simply content to be privileged to live in a world which is changing every day."

Rebecca Lepkoff
Photographer

"Keep your passion alive., alert and imaginative. Work at it. Also involve your body. Keep your body movingâ€¦.. Avoid trends. Think for yourself. â€¦.Think of a project that you would like to concentrate on, and spend time developing it. Time passes. Will it be of interest 49 years from now?"

Romulus Linney Playwright &...€ (from â€œHeathen Valleyâ€)

Romulus Linney
Playwright & Novelist

..We know what we meant to come about, and we measure it against the way it did come out finally, over the years, and yes, we want the truth about that difference, ignorant though we might be.â€ (from â€œHeathen Valleyâ€)

Murray Louis
Choreographer

"The practice of art is so intensely subjective, so personal, so seemingly private, it is inevitable that eventually eveyrone gets caught in their own sticky web of definitions. Still one must persist.â€

Judith Malina Actor & Acti... the moment you are in now.â€

Judith Malina
Actor & Activist

â€œTremble. Your life is a rehearsal for the moment you are in now.â€

Albert Maysles
Filmmaker

"As a documentarian I happily place my fate and faith in reality. It is my caretaker, the provider of subjects, themes, experiences â€“ all endowed with the power of truth and the romance of discovery. And the closer I adhere to reality the more honest and authentic my tales. After all, the knowledge of the real world is exactly what we need to better understand and therefore possibly to love one another. Itâ€™s my way of making the world a better place."

Philip Pearlstein
Painter

"Look slowly and hard at something subtle and small."

Ned Rorem
Composer

â€œâ€¦Art does not change us- does not make us better persons. Art intensifies, makes us more of what we already are, shows us what we did not know we knew. Art is not real life but a concentration of life.â€

Dr. Lewis Rowland
Neurologist

Rhea Sanders
Painter

Sylvia Sleigh
Painter

â€œâ€¦if you set women against each other then youâ€™re going to be able to dominate them much more than if theyâ€™re together. You see our strength now is to love one another and appreciate one another and defend one another.â€

Rosalind Solomon
Photographer

"â€¦As long as I have eyes, ears, hands feet and sanity, I will improvise and keep moving. I advise young artists to do the same. This is a matter of essence, not age.â€

Dr. Fritz Stern
Historian

â€œLife and study have persuaded me of the openness of history. There is no inevitability in history. Thinking about what might have happened, what could have happened, is a necessary element in trying to understand what did happen. And if, as I believe, individual acts of decency and courage make a difference, then they need to be recorded and remembered.â€

Erika Stone
Photographer

Dr. Â Billy Taylor Musician, C...zz is a democratic process.â€

Dr. Â Billy Taylor
Musician, Composer, Educator

â€œJazz is a democratic process.â€

George Tscherny
Designer

"The challenge is to filter out the trivia, banality and kitsch that engulfs us, while remaining connected and stimulatedâ€¦Find what others overlooked."

David Vestal Photographer &...suggest you do the same."

David Vestal
Photographer & Educator

"I photograph, I work, I teach, edit, live, waste time and so on, exactly as I please, and suggest you do the same."

Eva Zeisel
Industrial Designer

â€œI donâ€™t create angular things. Iâ€™m a more circular person- itâ€™s more my characterâ€¦even the air between my hands is round.â€

Will Branet Painter "Pain... any stage of your life."

Will Branet
Painter

"Painting is almost like a religious experience, which should go on and on. Age just gives you the freedom to do some things you've never done before. Great work can come at any stage of your life."

Jeanyee Wong
Calligrapher

"If you love what you do you get better at it."