Faces: Black and White Photographs by David Asgard Gilbert (1964-1973)
ATHENAEUM HALL EXHIBITION
Faces: Black and White Photographs
by David Asgard Gilbert (1964-1973)
May and June 2025
FACES
Photographs by David Asgard Gilbert (1964 - 1973)
David Asgard Gilbert was born in Maine in 1938. He joined the Marines at 17 and while enlisted he learned the skill of aerial photography. Later in life photography became his vocation and his passion. He died in 2021.
This exhibit is a tiny selection from ten thousand negatives and hundreds of photographs of his work in the possession of Joan Weston of St. Johnsbury.
About David, Joan writes:
He could teach himself to do anything. He had immense self-confidence.
At age 25 he became editor of the Chelsea (Mass.) Record. By then he had also started doing freelance work for UPI and AP wire services, where he soon earned a reputation as someone who could quickly and reliably produce both news stories and human-interest photographs.
Some of his most iconic work was done during that time period: he covered the war in Vietnam and photographed presidents, senators, musicians and many other public figures. In contrast to his political and wartime photos he also enjoyed capturing images of ordinary people on the streets or at work.
One of David’s strongest characteristics was a desire to explore new things, so in 1968 we put most of our possessions in storage and departed for England, where we spent the next year. Then it was on to Europe and the Middle East, part of a three-year journey. That particular trip paused in Israel, where David worked for the Jerusalem Post. Our subsequent journey back home included travels by train to countries behind the Iron Curtain, which provided opportunities for still more photos.
This exhibit features a certain type of David’s work; mostly single individuals looking directly at the camera; with some posed photographs, and a few groups of people. Joan and I agreed to call it Faces. We could have picked another focus and presented a different exhibit, another side of David.
Bob Joly, Curator
In 1968 Gilbert and Weston lived in England, then traveled throughout Europe and the Middle East. During a stop in Israel, David worked for the Jerusalem Post. Their subsequent journey back to the United States included travels by train to countries behind the Iron Curtain, which provided opportunities for more photos.
A map of the couple’s travels is included in the exhibition.
