The Jim Henson Foundation and the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present a new exhibition, American Puppet Theater Today: The Photography of Richard Termine as part of the 60th anniversary celebration of UConn’s Puppet Arts Program in 2025. The exhibition, including over 130 images and selected puppets featured in Termine’s photographs, including work by Torry Bend, Basil Twist, Dan Hurlin, Tarish Pipkins, Theodora Skipitares, Bread and Puppet Theater, Janie Geiser, Tom Lee, and Paul Zaloom. American Puppet Theater Today will be on display from Friday, Jan. 31 to Sunday, May 11 at the Ballard Institute.
Termine, an alumnus of the UConn Puppet Arts Program, has documented American Puppet Theater for over 30 years with a unique perspective that invites the viewer into the vivid world of puppetry. He is the lead performing arts photographer for The New York Times and has served as the in-house photographer for Sesame Street since 1988. His images have also appeared in the Washington Post, The Village Voice, Time, Newsweek, People, American Theatre, USA Today, Entertainment Design and Der Spiegel, and other publications.
Termine’s performing arts photography includes a wide range of images capturing notable artists globally (Lincoln Center, London’s Globe Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, and Dublin Theatre Company, among others), in theater (The Phantom of the Opera, Little Shop of Horrors, Cirque du Soleil), dance (Alvin Ailey, Merce Cunningham, Moscow Festival Ballet), opera (Metropolitan Opera, Folkoperan of Stockholm), television (The Today Show, Blue’s Clues, Live at Lincoln Center, The CBS Evening News), classical music (Lincoln Center Festival, Salzburg Camerata, Mostly Mozart), and concerts and cabaret (Liza Minelli, Michael Feinstein, Ray Charles, Yo-Yo Ma, Tony Bennett, Yoko Ono, Kristin Chenoweth).
“Richard brilliantly captures the vibrancy of the performances he photographs; even in static images, the puppets come to life,” said John Bell, a puppeteer, puppet historian and the director of the Ballard Institute. “The photos and puppets in the exhibition illustrate the dynamic range of this expansive art form and honor the lively community of artists creating puppet theater, from established experts like Basil Twist and Julie Taymor to emerging artists.”
Termine completed his MFA in Puppet Arts at UConn in 1978. He began his association with The Jim Henson Company in 1980 as a puppet designer and builder for a variety of Muppet productions. While working on the set of Sesame Street, he began photographing behind the scenes, leading to a new career as a performing arts photographer. He has been the in-house photographer for Sesame Street since 1988 and has been on the board of The Jim Henson Foundation since 1987, currently serving as the Foundation’s vice president.
The grand opening of American Puppet Theater Today: The Photography of Richard Termine on Friday, Jan. 31 will begin with refreshments served at 6 p.m. and an in-person exhibition tour at 6:30 p.m. by Richard Termine, with Cheryl Henson, the President of The Jim Henson Foundation; this will also be streamed on Ballard Institute’s Facebook Live channel (facebook.com/BallardInstitute/). All events will take place at the Ballard Institute, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.