Though perhaps Solomon’s deeper debt is owed to Margaret Mead, whose study of customs in New Guinea influenced her anthropological approach to the medium. The wife of a Tennessee businessman in the 1960s, Solomon eventually left the comforts of domesticity for “isolation from her own culture”. Since then, her photographic pursuits have led her from Deep Southern diners (Melanie and Lisa, Mississippi) to lofty Himalayan valleys (A Holy Man, Katmandu).
     In Solomon’s current exhibition, common rites can signify past civilizations, transience, or mortality (Bathers, Guatemala; And It Came to Pass, New York; Happy Birthday, South Africa), with spiritual icons juxtaposing routine activities or civil responsibilities (Buddha, Katmandu, Nepal, 1985; Untitled, Tokyo, Japan; National Anthem, Huari, Ancash, Peru). Omitting wall text and superfluous description, Solomon presents images that can be seen a clearer looking glass for understanding ourselves or others of different socio-political descent. In Five Whole Ounces/That’s a Lot, Solola, Guatemala, a liter of Pepsi-Cola accompanies a man in his journey to the afterlife. Here the evocation of ancient Egypt renders a poignant not caustic portrait; if Solomon slyly draws our attention to the objects or notions to which we cling in the 21st century, she nevertheless reminds us of the trajectory wherein these attachments are rooted.
     Rosalind Solomon’s RITUAL (at Bruce Silverstein Gallery, 535 W 24th Street), coincides each Saturday with a screening of her film A Woman I once Knew, May 15, 22, 29; June 5,12, 19, 26 (at Bruce Silverstein, 529 W 20th Street 3rd FL).