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Karen Ritchie Kelley of Pharmacy was rushing down the Pike last Friday when a photograph of the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel made her pause. “It brought back so many memories for me,” she said. “I grew up in Boston, and every Saturday, my mother would take us shopping and then to lunch at the Fairmont Copley afterward.”
Her mother has Alzheimer’s disease now and doesn’t remember those days, but the image gave Ritchie Kelley a wonderful feeling. “It just says mom to me,” she said. “I can remember for both of us.”
That framed photograph is one of six by former Boston Globe photographer Bill Brett now gracing the Nesson Pike just outside of the Cabot Atrium. Every day for one year beginning April 16, 2007, Brett took a photograph of some aspect of his native city and compiled those images into his book, “Boston: A Year in the Life.”
Thanks to Estrellita Karsh, BWH will showcase 72 Brett photographs along the Pike—six per month beginning this month with images of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in South Boston, the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square and others.
“Bill loves Boston; he feels it in every breath,” said Karsh, wife of the late photographer Yousuf Karsh, whose portraits adorn the Pike and many other areas in the hospital. “Michelle Rheaume and I had noticed a space along the Pike which we thought would make a perfect mini-gallery. When I saw Bill’s photos, and how sensitively Bill captured all phases of his city, I thought how much staff and visitors would appreciate a pause in their busy day to discover and re-discover Boston.”
Brett, who visited Friday while carpenters Tom Littlehale and Gary Morin were hanging the photographs, said he was thrilled when Karsh suggested this idea. “I’ve seen her husband’s work, and to have me just down the hall from him—believe me, it’s an honor,” said Brett, an award-winning photographer who continues to contribute to The Boston Globe. “The display looks beautiful.”
Karsh and Michelle Rheaume, BWH art coordinator, carefully selected the 72 photographs and consulted with Keith Crippen, design director for the Museum of Fine Arts, to determine the best paint color for the wall—lemon yellow—and to adjust the lighting above each photograph. Stanhope Framers designed and donated wooden frames that open from the back so that pictures can be changed monthly.
“This is an art gallery that never closes,” Karsh said of the display. “There are people passing by during all times of the day and night, and this is a respite for them. It’s a welcome to Boston.”