Morell, Abelardo. Voyages (per)Formed: Abelardo Morell. October 23, 2000 - February 28, 2001.

Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach Community College, 2000. [One of a series of Voyages (per)Formed exhibits that also included Alison Nordstrom, Carol Flax, and Peter Goin.] Glossy wraps, 10 pages (including covers, 8 black-and-white illustrations consisting of portions of images from old travel scrapbooks and postcards. Like new. Uncommon. 

Abelardo Morell (born 1948) is a Cuban-born American photographer celebrated for his inventive, playful experiments with optical phenomena and the foundational principles of photography. Born in Havana, Morell emigrated to the United States with his family in 1962, later earning his MFA from Yale University and serving as a long-time professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He gained widespread international acclaim in the 1990s for his transformative camera obscura projections, turning darkened rooms into immersive light-chambers where inverted outside views of landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, Manhattan, or Venice were projected directly onto interior walls, furniture, and inhabitants. Combining sophisticated technical mastery with a child-like sense of wonder, Morell has continuously reinvented visual perception through diverse projects—including macro close-ups of illustrated books, tent-camera projections onto natural ground surfaces, and painterly glass-plate compositions—earning major honors such as a Guggenheim Fellowship and placing his work in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum,and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Voyages (per)Formed: Abelardo Morell is a 10-page exhibition catalog detailing a solo photography exhibition that ran from October 23, 2000, to February 28, 2001. Organized as part of a multi-artist series addressing travel, history, and perception, the exhibition was presented by the Southeast Museum of Photography at Daytona Beach Community College in Florida, with elements also traveling to the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University.

Overview of the Catalog

• The Artist: Abelardo Morell, an acclaimed Cuban-American photographer internationally renowned for his innovative, large-format imagery exploring the intersection of optics, everyday spaces, and art history.

• Content & Structure: This slim, staple-bound softcover catalog features an essay contextualizing Morell's unusual approach to travel narratives. It functions as part of a thematic installation series by the museum that also spotlighted artists like Carol Flax and Peter Goin.

• Visuals: The booklet includes 8 black-and-white illustrations consisting of portions of images pulled from vintage postcards and historical travel scrapbooks.

Core Theme: The Optic Journey

True to Morell’s broader practice, Voyages (per)Formed reinterprets the traditional idea of a physical journey. Rather than relying on simple documentary travel snapshots, the exhibition explores how images, artifacts, and memories are constructed through time.

By manipulating historical travel ephemera, vintage print materials, and the mechanics of light, Morell challenges the viewer's perception of distant places, transforming flat, historic paper records into multi-layered, atmospheric optical experiences.