Exhibition dates: 10th August – 10th November 2013
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Woman Carrying Bags)
about 1972
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family Collection, 1984.102
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
As people may know, I am not a great fan of the photography of Garry Winogrand. Wile other people rave over this “master” of street snapshot photography, his work has never won me over, and possibly never will. There is something a little… what’s the word… creepy? voyeuristic? plain downright predatory about his photography. All the oblique angles in the world aren’t going to change my opinion.
For me, this series represents the pinnacle of Winogrand’s photography. The affection of the photographer toward the subject is clearly evident, coupled with a stealthy hunting instinct. It’s almost as if he is stalking these women to peer up their skirts (as in Woman in a Telephone Booth, New York, about 1972, below). The scenario is pretty unedifying. There are odd moments of joy (such as is in Woman Laughing, New York 1968, below) and beauty, as in the rightly famous Centennial Ball, Metropolitan Museum, New York (1969, below).
However, I feel like the human being in Woman Crossing Street, New York (about 1970, below) where the look on her face says that she could just bop him on the nose with a good left hook. And I wouldn’t have blamed her, either.
Dr Marcus Bunyan
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Many thankx to the Worcester Art Museum for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.
All of the photographs are Gift of the Schorr Family Collection © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Woman in a Telephone Booth, New York)
about 1972
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family collection
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Histrionics on a Bench, World’s Fair, New York)
1964
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family Collection
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Woman Laughing, New York)
1968
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family Collection
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Identically Dressed)
Nd
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family Collection
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Women Rallying, New York)
about 1972
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family Collection, 1991.293
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Worcester Art Museum is pleased to announce the photography exhibition, Winogrand’s Women are Beautiful, on view August 10 through November 10, 2013. Worcester Art Museum owns a complete portfolio of the Women are Beautiful series by photographer Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984). 68 of the 85 images will be on view. Photographs feature black and white images of young adult women taken primarily during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Hailed as a pioneer of the “snapshot aesthetic” within the genre of documentary photography, Winogrand used a wide-angle Leica M4 camera to produce spontaneous images emphasising how everyday subjects, like people, dogs, or crowds, interact with the landscape around them. His work features oblique perspectives, often resulting in uniquely composed photographs made by the stealthy eye of a private investigator. However, Winogrand is also routinely criticised for exploiting the subjects of his work, particularly women.
Organised by Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, Nancy Burns, Winogrand’s Women are Beautiful, presents the photographer’s most popular portfolio through the lens of five varying themes. These themes seek to promote Winogrand’s significance within the canon of photography, while engaging directly with the censure his works receive from art historians and feminists alike.
Press release from the Worcester Art Museum
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Restaurant Window, Boston)
about 1970
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family collection
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Café, Paris)
about 1969
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family Collection
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Cheerleaders, Austin)
1974
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family Collection
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Centennial Ball, Metropolitan Museum, New York)
1969
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family collection
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Women Walking Poodles, New York)
about 1959
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family Collection
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
Untitled (Woman Crossing Street, New York)
about 1970
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Schorr Family collection
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Worcester Art Museum
Fifty-five Salisbury Street
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Phone: 508.799.4406
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