Photos of the Old Schwamb Mill at the Griffin

Ed Friedman says his job as a photographer is "to show people things they might not normally see themselves."  He adds, "the terms `looking' and `seeing' are two very different actions. We all spend most of our time looking at things. But we normally don't spend a lot of time 'seeing' what is in front of us. 'Seeing' requires cooperation between our physical sense of sight and our intellectual capacity." Visiting the Old Schwamb in Arlington, MA, many years ago, Friedman says he knew he "had to photograph and try to convey to others the kind of feelings and sensations I experienced then and continue to experience each time I go there." Friedman says photographing the mill "makes it relatively easy to see what is there...but even at the mill, you have to be able to look past the obvious charm of the place and focus on the details that are there."  

Friedman discusses his exhibit, Been through the Mill: Photography at the Old Schwamb Mill, during Senior /Family Sunday at the Griffin Museum January 22, 3 PM.