FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 22, 2003

CONTACT: Travis Stewart (212) 873-3400, ext. 263

HELD OVER FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH!

ANN ZANE SHANKS:

BEHIND THE LENS September 9, 2003 – March 28, 2004

The New-York Historical Society is pleased to announce that, in observation of Women’s History Month (March), the exhibition Ann Zane Shanks: Behind the Lens, is being held over through March 28, 2004.

Over the course of her 40-year-career, the Brooklyn-born Shanks has brought her considerable artistic and entrepreneurial gifts to photojournalism, publishing, television and theatre while also fulfilling the roles of wife and mother of three. Her personal story – of a woman successfully balancing career and family at a time when few made the attempt – is one that should be of great interest to the many now following in her footsteps.

Shanks originally aspired to become an actress before taking up photography at the Photo League, where she took class with esteemed photojournalist Dan Weiner. She also won a scholarship to Alexei Brodovich’s legendary photography class, and in 1955 the Museum of the City of showed her photographs of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue El. Her work appeared frequently in national magazines like Esquire and Woman’s Day as well as in the publications of charitable and government agencies. In 1973, Shanks wrote and illustrated About Garbage and Stuff (Viking Press) a pioneering book for young adults about recycling. Subsequent books included Old is What You Get (Viking Press, 1976) and Busted Lives: Dialogues with Kids in Jail (Delacorte Press, 1982).

In the 1970s, Shanks added filmmaking to her arsenal of talents. Highlights of her career as producer and director include the half-hour television series American Life Style (1971-82), which was syndicated to 150 markets; the Emmy-nominated programs Drop Out Father, featuring Dick Van Dyke (CBS, 1982) and A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, narrated by Kirk Douglas (PBS, 1984); and many others. Ms. Shanks has received 27 film festival awards. In the 1980s, the prolific and multi-talented Shanks branched into the theatre, producing the Broadway play Lillian starring Zoe Caldwell in 1986, and the Off- Broadway production S.J. Perelman in Person , which she directed with Lewis Stadlen in 1989.

The exhibition will include approximately 75 photographic prints as well as the magazines and books in which they first appeared. Her first film, (1970), an independent short acquired by Columbia Pictures, will be on continuous view, along with memorabilia related to the Broadway productions. The exhibition is organized for the N-YHS by guest curator Bonnie Yochelson, whose previous exhibitions include Esther Bubley: American Photojournalist (PaineWebber Art Gallery, 2001) and Berenice Abbott’s Changing New York, 1935-1939 (Museum of the City of New York, 1998).

A publication featuring 55 of Shanks’ photographs entitled Ann Zane Shanks…Photography accompanies the exhibition.

The New-York Historical Society, located at West 77th Street and Central Park West, is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday, 10a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults; $5 for students and seniors. For general information, the public can call (212) 873-3400.

Ann Zane Shanks: Behind the Lens is made possible with generous support from Nancy Fitzpatrick and Lincoln Russell, the Howard Greenberg Gallery, Lola and Edwin Jaffe, Mimi and Mortimer Levitt, Eugene and Blanche Morris, Bob and Lynne Murphy, Peter Schwartz, John Shanks, The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation, and an anonymous donor. Programs at The New-York Historical Society are made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the Department of Cultural Affairs. American Airlines is the official airline of The New-York Historical Society. The New-York Historical Society gratefully acknowledges WNYC Radio as media sponsor for the 2003-2004 season.

PRESS IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE. PRESS CONTACT: Travis Stewart (212) 873-3400, ext. 263