As you explore our striking new hangar deck exhibition, be sure not to miss the photography exhibit “Intrepid Unearthed,” which offers a behind-the-scenes peek at some of the Intrepid’s hidden spaces.  

While the Intrepid was docked at Home Port in Staten Island for refurbishment, the museum commissioned five early to mid-career architectural photographers to interpret the ship’s unrenovated spaces.  The photographers – Justine Cooper, Benjamin Donaldson, Kerry Kehoe, Lisa Kereszi and Dwight Primiano – had the run of the ship.  With their equipment in tow, our five photographers climbed ladders, squeezed through hatches and thoroughly explored the Intrepid’s vast maze of passageways and compartments.  Some of their work documents parts of the ship that have since been restored and are open for visitors.  Other photographs offer a glimpse at areas that are not publicly accessible – spaces that have remained virtually untouched since the Intrepid was decommissioned in 1974.

Observant visitors to the Intrepid may recognize some of the spaces shown in the photographs.  For example, a few of the pictures depict the junior officer’s quarters, anchor chain room and hurricane bow – all part of the newly restored fo’c’s’le exhibit.  The forecastle, shortened to “fo’c’s’le,” is the forward part of the ship.  Our five photographers had the opportunity to work in the fo’c’s’le before it was refurbished.  Here is one example of “sailor art” that photographer Justine Cooper captured.  Can you find this painting on a wall in the fo’c’s’le?




We are grateful to our five photographers as well as architectural photographer Judith Turner and photography curator Sylvia Wolf, who participated in the selection process.  The exhibition was made possible with the generous support of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Look for “Intrepid Unearthed” in our temporary exhibit gallery, located in Hangar 2 near the replica of the Intrepid’s World War II scoreboard.  The exhibit will be on view until November 29, 2009.

Jessica Williams
Curator of History