Exhibition: ‘Winogrand’s Women Are Beautiful’ at the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA

Exhibition dates: 10th August – 10th November, 2013

Curator: Nancy Burns, Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Worcester Art Museum

 

Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984) 'Untitled (Woman Carrying Bags)' about 1972

 

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


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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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
Worcester, MA 01609
Phone: 508.799.4406

Opening hours:
Wednesday – Sunday 10am – 4pm

Worcester Art Museum website

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Photographs: ‘The War at Home: Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information Color Photographs’ by Alfred Palmer Part 2

October 2013

 

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Large pipe elbows for the Army are formed at Tube Turns, Inc.,' 1941

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Large pipe elbows for the Army are formed at Tube Turns, Inc., by heating lengths of pipe with gas flames and forcing them around a die, in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1941
1941
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC

 

 

Kodachrome sheets 1941-1943

This is the second of a two-part posting on the large format Kodachrome colour transparency photographs of the American photographer Alfred Palmer taken during 1941-1943.

This man was a true master of his craft. Look at the lighting in the first three photographs. Palmer really understood the theatre of the scene he was photographing. The first photograph, an inanimate object picturing an elemental force, brings me to tears when looking at it. Too sentimental, too emotional? I don’t think so… just an amazing experience from a magnificent photograph.

See Part 1 of the posting.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image. Many thankx to the Library of Congress for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. No known copyright restrictions on any of the photographs.

 

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Casting a billet from an electric furnace, Chase Brass and Copper Co., Euclid, Ohio' February 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Casting a billet from an electric furnace, Chase Brass and Copper Co., Euclid, Ohio. Modern electric furnaces have helped considerably in speeding the production of brass and other copper alloys for national defense. Here the molten metal is poured or cast from the tilted furnace into a mold to form a billet. The billet later is worked into rods, tubes, wires or special shapes for a variety of uses
February 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Crane operator at Tennessee Valley Authority's Douglas Dam' June 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Crane operator at Tennessee Valley Authority’s Douglas Dam
June 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI

 

 

Alfred T. Palmer was an Office of War Information photographer from 1941 until 1943. 

The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a U.S. government agency created during World War II to consolidate government information services. It operated from June 1942 until September 1945. It coordinated the release of war news for domestic use, and, using posters and radio broadcasts, worked to promote patriotism, warned about foreign spies, and attempted to recruit women into war work. The office also established an overseas branch which launched a large scale information and propaganda campaign abroad. 

Photographers working for the U.S. government’s Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI) between 1939 and 1944 made approximately 1,600 color photographs that depict life in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The pictures focus on rural areas and farm labor, as well as aspects of World War II mobilization, including factories, railroads, aviation training, and women working. 

The original images are color transparencies ranging in size from 35 mm. to 4 x 5 inches. They complement the better-known black-and-white FSA / OWI photographs, made during the same period. Alfred T. Palmer was notable for his portraits of men and women at work in the industry. He used a crude lighting system which focused on the person rather than his environment, sometimes creating an extreme contrast in his images.

Text from the Wikipedia Commons website

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'An employee in the drill-press section of North American's huge machine shop runs mounting holes in a large dural casting, in Inglewood, California, in October of 1942' October 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
An employee in the drill-press section of North American’s huge machine shop runs mounting holes in a large dural casting, in Inglewood, California, in October of 1942
October 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'North American Aviation drill operator in the control surface department assembling horizontal stabilizer section of an airplane. Inglewood, California' October 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
North American Aviation drill operator in the control surface department assembling horizontal stabilizer section of an airplane. Inglewood, California
October 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Here's our mission. A combat crew receives final instructions just before taking off in a mighty YB-17 bomber from a bombardment squadron base at the field, in Langley Field, Virginia, in May of 1942' May 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Here’s our mission. A combat crew receives final instructions just before taking off in a mighty YB-17 bomber from a bombardment squadron base at the field, in Langley Field, Virginia, in May of 1942
May 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Hitler would like this man to go home and forget about the war. A good American non-com at the side machine gun of a huge YB-17 bomber is a man who knows his business and works hard at it' May 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Hitler would like this man to go home and forget about the war. A good American non-com at the side machine gun of a huge YB-17 bomber is a man who knows his business and works hard at it
May 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Young woman employee of North American Aviation working over the landing gear mechanism of a P-51 fighter plane. Inglewood, California' October 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Young woman employee of North American Aviation working over the landing gear mechanism of a P-51 fighter plane. Inglewood, California. 
October 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Working on the horizontal stabilizer of a "Vengeance" dive bomber at the Consolidated-Vultee plant in Nashville' February 1943

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Working on the horizontal stabilizer of a “Vengeance” dive bomber at the Consolidated-Vultee plant in Nashville
February 1943
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Testing electric wiring at Douglas Aircraft Company. Long Beach, California' October 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Testing electric wiring at Douglas Aircraft Company. Long Beach, California
October 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Truck driver at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Douglas Dam' June 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Truck driver at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Douglas Dam
June 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Experimental staff at the North American Aviation plant in Inglewood, Calif. , observing wind tunnel tests on a model of the B-25 ("Billy Mitchell") bomber' October 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Experimental staff at the North American Aviation plant in Inglewood, Calif., observing wind tunnel tests on a model of the B-25 (“Billy Mitchell”) bomber
October 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'An experimental scale model of the B-25 plane is prepared for wind tunnel tests in the plant of the North American Aviation, Inc., Inglewood, California' October 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
An experimental scale model of the B-25 plane is prepared for wind tunnel tests in the plant of the North American Aviation, Inc., Inglewood, California. The model maker holds an exact miniature reproduction of the type of bomb the plane will carry
October 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Parris Island S.C., barrage balloon' May 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Parris Island S.C., barrage balloon
May 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Women are trained as engine mechanics in thorough Douglas training methods, at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California, in October of 1942' October 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Women are trained as engine mechanics in thorough Douglas training methods, at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California, in October of 1942
October 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Annette del Sur publicizes a salvage campaign in yard of Douglas Aircraft Company, in Long Beach, California, in October of 1942' October 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Annette del Sur publicizes a salvage campaign in yard of Douglas Aircraft Company, in Long Beach, California, in October of 1942
October 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Annette del Sur publicizing salvage campaign in yard of Douglas Aircraft Company. Long Beach, California' October 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Annette del Sur publicizing salvage campaign in yard of Douglas Aircraft Company. Long Beach, California
October 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993) 'Engine installers at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, California' October 1942

 

Alfred Palmer (American, 1906-1993)
Engine installers at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, California
October 1942
4 x 5 Kodachrome transparency
Alfred Palmer/OWI

 

 

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Exhibition: ‘The Gender Show’ at George Eastman House, Rochester, New York

Exhibition dates: 15th June – 13th October, 2013

Curators: Dr. Alison Nordström (senior curator of photographs) and Jessica Johnston (assistant curator of photographs), with additional selections by the museum’s director, Dr. Bruce Barnes

 

Vincent Cianni (American, b. 1952) 'Anthony hitting on Giselle, Vivien waiting, Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn' from the series 'We Skate Hardcore' 1996 from the exhibition 'The Gender Show' at George Eastman House, Rochester, New York,  June - October, 2013

 

Vincent Cianni (American, b. 1952)
Anthony hitting on Giselle, Vivien waiting, Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
1996
From the series We Skate Hardcore
Gelatin silver print
Purchased with funds from Mary Cianni
© Vincent Cianni

 

 

I am so sick of museums and art galleries not allowing me to publish photographs that I collect freely available elsewhere on the web to illustrate their exhibitions.

1/ I am promoting the exhibition free for them to over 9,000 people over 3 days

2/ The images are freely available elsewhere on the web

3/ I am promoting artists so that the work is more widely known, and that can only be a positive for the artist (and the price of their art through greater recognition)

4/ The images are 72dpi jpg – what do they think, that people are going to rip them off. They are such low quality anyway who cares!


If artist’s are so precious about their work, even when someone is trying to promote it, then perhaps they should stop making art. Or perhaps it’s the archives and institutions, the patriarchies, that are just too protective of their precious mother-load.

Photography and photographs are ubiquitous. They are taken in the world and live in that world, not stuffed in some curators drawer or surrounded by a circle under the letter ©


This exhibition seems to have a finger in every gender pie without going hard core or in depth at anything. There seems to be no rhyme or reason, no catalogue to the exhibition (as far as I can ascertain), and no indication on how the exhibition is structured, even in the press release. How you would hope to cover such a broad topic in one exhibition is beyond me. That given, there are some fascinating photographs from the exhibition in this posting. My personal favourites in the posting are:

~ Donald York, Jr. standing beside his father’s wrecker, Millerton, New York by Mark Goodman (1974, below). Ah, the jouissance of youth (jouissance means enjoyment, in terms both of rights and property, and of sexual orgasm). Here “junior” is possessing the masculinity of his father’s truck while at the same time emphasising his youthful sexuality with short shorts, naked body, tilt of the hips, pose of the arm and slight cock of the head replete with hair falling over the eyes. There is a certain prepossession about this Donald York, a sexual knowing as he flirts with the camera.

Beautiful image

~ Greta Garbo by Edward Steichen (1928, below). My god, how would you be as a photographer looking in the ground glass to see this visage staring back at you. Strength of character, vulnerability and eyes that seem to bore right through you. Face framed with black surmounted by pensive hands.

A masterpiece

~ Ophelia Study No. 2 by Julia Margaret Cameron (1867, below). What an impression. Wistful, delicate, a ghostly slightly mad presence with hardly an existence but oh so memorable (Ophelia is a fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare that suffers from “erotomania, a malady conceived in biological and emotional terms which is a type of delusion in which the affected person believes that another person, usually a stranger, high-status or famous person, is in love with him or her.”(Wikipedia))

Madness and sexuality. The divine Miss Julia does it again…

Dr Marcus Bunyan



Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

Mark Goodman (American b. 1946) 'Donald York, Jr. standing beside his father's wrecker, Millerton, New York' 1974 from the exhibition 'The Gender Show' at George Eastman House, Rochester, New York,  June - October, 2013

 

Mark Goodman (American, b. 1946)
Donald York, Jr. standing beside his father’s wrecker, Millerton, New York
1974
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Dr and Mrs Maurice Miller
© Mark Goodman

 

Elias Goldensky (American born Russia, 1867-1943) 'Head and shoulders study' c. 1920

 

Elias Goldensky (American born Russia, 1867-1943)
Head and shoulders study
c. 1920
Gelatin silver print
Gift of 3M Company
Ex-collection of Louis Walton Sipley

 

Lewis W. Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'Greek Wrestling Club' c. 1910

 

Lewis W. Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Greek Wrestling Club
c. 1910
From the series Hull House, Chicago
Gelatin silver print
Transfer from Photo League Lewis Hine Memorial Committee; ex-collection of Corydon Hine

 

Nickolas Muray (American born Hungary, 1892-1965) 'Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. & Joan Crawford' c. 1930

 

Nickolas Muray (American born Hungary, 1892-1965)
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. & Joan Crawford
c. 1930
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Mrs. Nickolas Muray
© Nickolas Muray Archives

 

Victor Keppler (American, 1904-1987) 'First Hair Cut' 1943

 

Victor Keppler (American, 1904-1987)
First Hair Cut
1943
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the photographer

 

Unidentified Photographer. 'Two women fencing' June 16, 1891

 

Unidentified Photographer
Two women fencing
June 16, 1891
Tintype
Museum Collection

 

Lewis W. Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'The boys learn to cook' c. 1935

 

Lewis W. Hine (American, 1874-1940)
The boys learn to cook
c. 1935
From the series The Ethical Culture Schools NYC
Gelatin silver print
Transfer from Photo League Lewis Hine Memorial Committee
Ex-collection of Corydon Hine

 

Mary Ellen Mark (American, 1940-2015) 'Hispanic Girl with Her Brother, Dallas, Texas' 1987

 

Mary Ellen Mark (American, 1940-2015)
Hispanic Girl with Her Brother, Dallas, Texas
1987, print c. 1991 by Sarah Jenkins
From the series Urban Poverty
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the photographer
© Mary Ellen Mark

 

 

In common use, the word gender may refer to biological sex, self-identity, perceived identity, or imposed identity. Gender can be both fluid and ambiguous. Many of the ways we express and identify gender are based on visual clues. George Eastman House is proud to present The Gender Show, an exhibition that explores ways gender has been presented in photographs, ranging from archetypal to non-traditional to subversive representations, with a special emphasis on the performances that photography can encourage or capture.

With a collection that spans over 170 years of photography, Eastman House is uniquely able to thoughtfully examine our changing cultural and social landscape, in which evolving ideas of gender are framed as photographic images. The Gender Show offers the opportunity to see important photographs from our collection in a new context. The Gender Show sets the stage for a lively discussion of both photographic and cultural conventions and can be enjoyed by a variety of audiences for both its subject matter and content. Those interested in material, visual, and popular culture; gender, identity, and equality; and photographic history will find this exhibition captivating.

George Eastman House’s exhibition The Gender Show will explore how photographs, from the mid-19th century to today, have portrayed gender – from archetypal to non-traditional to subversive representations – with a special emphasis on the performances that the act of photographing or being photographed can encourage or capture. The Gender Show, presenting over 200 works, draws primarily from the Eastman House collection, which spans more than 170 years, and also features contemporary art photographs and videos on loan from artists and private collectors. The exhibition will be on view from June 15 through October 13, 2013.

The Gender Show is the first major Eastman House exhibition organised under the direction of Dr. Bruce Barnes, who assumed the role of Ron and Donna Fielding Director last October. “This exhibition is an extraordinary survey of how photographers and their subjects have presented gender over the course of more than 150 years,” said Barnes. “George Eastman House is uniquely able to review the ever-changing cultural and social landscape through depictions of gender ranging from innocent assertion to elaborate masquerade.”

From the Eastman House collection are photographs by many of the biggest names in the history of the medium – including Julia Margaret Cameron, August Sander, Edward Steichen, Nickolas Muray, Brassaï, Robert Frank, Andy Warhol, Barbara Norfleet, Mary Ellen Mark, Cindy Sherman, and Chuck Samuels – as well as rarely seen vernacular photographs, in the form of cabinet cards depicting early vaudeville and music-hall stars. The exhibition will also present works by contemporary artists, including photographs by Janine Antoni, Rineke Dijkstra, Debbie Grossman, Catherine Opie, and Gillian Wearing, and videos by artists Jen DeNike, Kalup Linzy, and Martha Rosler.

“Since before Duchamp photographed Rrose Sélavy, his female alter-ego, artists have used photography to explore issues of identity, sex and gender,” said Barnes. “In recent decades, the artist’s identity and gender have been an increasingly prominent theme within photography. This exhibition offers a unique opportunity to see works by leading contemporary artists in the context of photographs from our world-class collection.”

Included in The Gender Show are tintypes and daguerreotypes by unknown artists; advertising images; self-portraits by artists, sometimes in disguise; and portraits of celebrities who in their time were a paragon of their own gender or of androgyny. Subjects include Sarah Bernhardt, Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Additional famous subjects presented in the show include Frida Kahlo, Auguste Rodin, Franklin Roosevelt with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, and Andy Warhol.

Press release from the George Eastman House website

 

B. J. Falk (American, 1853-1925) 'Verona Jarbeau' c. 1885

 

B. J. Falk (American, 1853-1925)
Verona Jarbeau
c. 1885
Albumen print
Museum Collection

 

Cabinet card of 19th century burlesque artist Verona Jarbeau. Comedienne Verona Jarbeau dressed in masculine costume, and carrying a big stick.

 

Nickolas Muray (American born Hungary, 1892-1965) 'Gloria De Haven' 1947

 

Nickolas Muray (American born Hungary, 1892-1965)
Gloria De Haven
1947
Carbro print
Gift of Mrs. Nickolas Muray
© Nickolas Muray Archives

 

Nickolas Muray (American born Hungary, 1892-1965) 'Torso' c. 1927

 

Nickolas Muray (American born Hungary, 1892-1965)
Torso
c. 1927
Descriptive Title: Torso, Hubert Julian Stowitts
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Mrs. Nickolas Muray
© Nickolas Muray Archives

 

Lewis W. Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'Guiding a beam' From the series 'Empire State building' c. 1931

 

Lewis W. Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Guiding a beam
From the series Empire State building
c. 1931
Gelatin silver print
Transfer from Photo League Lewis Hine Memorial Committee
Ex-collection of Corydon Hine

 

Debbie Grossman (American, b. 1977) 'Jessie Evans-Whinery, homesteader, with her wife Edith Evans-Whinery and their baby' From the series 'My Pie Town'

 

Debbie Grossman (American, b. 1977)
Jessie Evans-Whinery, homesteader, with her wife Edith Evans-Whinery and their baby
Nd
From the series My Pie Town
Collection of the Artist, courtesy of Julie Saul Gallery
© Debbie Grossman

 

Debbie Grossman’s series My Pie Town reworks and re-imagines a body of images of Pie Town, New Mexico, originally photographed by Russell Lee for the United States Farm Security Administration in 1940. Using Photoshop to modify Lee’s pictures, Debbie Grossman has created an imaginary, parallel world – a Pie Town populated exclusively by women.

 

Jessica Todd Harper (American, b. 1976) 'Self-Portrait With Christopher and My Future In-Laws' 2001, print 2013

 

Jessica Todd Harper (American, b. 1976)
Self-Portrait With Christopher and My Future In-Laws
2001, print 2013
Inkjet print
Gift of the photographer
© Jessica Todd Harper

 

Lejaren à Hiller (American, 1880-1969) 'Men posed in front of backdrop with ship' c. 1950

 

Lejaren à Hiller (American, 1880-1969)
Men posed in front of backdrop with ship
c. 1950
Carbro print
Gift of 3M Company, ex-collection Louis Walton Sipley
© Visual Studies Workshop

 

Melissa Ann Pinney (American, b. 1953) 'Bat Mitzvah Dance, Knickerbocker Hotel, Chicago' 1991, print 2003

 

Melissa Ann Pinney (American, b. 1953)
Bat Mitzvah Dance, Knickerbocker Hotel, Chicago
1991, print 2003
Chromogenic print
Gift of Richard S. Press
© Melissa Ann Pinney

 

Cig Harvey (British, b. 1973) 'Gingham Dress with Apple' c. 2003

 

Cig Harvey (British, b. 1973)
Gingham Dress with Apple
c. 2003
Chromogenic print
Gift of the photographer
© Cig Harvey

 

Victor Keppler (American, 1904-1987) 'Housewife in Kitchen' 1939

 

Victor Keppler (American, 1904-1987)
Housewife in Kitchen
1939
Digital Inkjet reproduction, 2012

 

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879) 'Ophelia Study No. 2' 1867

 

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879)
Ophelia Study No. 2
1867
Albumen print
Gift of Eastman Kodak Company
Ex-collection Gabriel Cromer

 

James Jowers (American, 1938-2009) 'New Orleans' 1970

 

James Jowers (American, 1938-2009)
New Orleans
1970
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the photographer
© George Eastman House

 

William Mortensen (American, 1897-1965) 'Preparing for the Sabbot' c. 1926

 

William Mortensen (American, 1897-1965)
Preparing for the Sabbot
c. 1926
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Dr. C.E.K. Mees

 

B. J. Falk (American, 1853-1925) 'Sandow' c. 1895

 

B. J. Falk (American, 1853-1925)
Sandow
c. 1895
Albumen print
Gift of Charles Carruth

 

Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden (German, 1856-1931) 'Youth with wreath on head' c. 1900

 

Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden (German, 1856-1931)
Youth with wreath on head
c. 1900
Albumen print
Anonymous gift

 

William Mortensen (American, 1897-1965) 'The Kiss' From the portfolio 'Pictorial Photography' c. 1930

 

William Mortensen (American, 1897-1965)
The Kiss
c. 1930
From the portfolio Pictorial Photography
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Dr. C.E.K. Mees

 

Anne Noggle (American, 1922-2005) 'Lois Hollingsworth Zilner, Woman Air force Service Pilot, WWII' 1984, print 1986

 

Anne Noggle (American, 1922-2005)
Lois Hollingsworth Zilner, Woman Air force Service Pilot, WWII
1984, print 1986
Gelatin silver print
Purchased with funds from Charina Foundation
© Anne Noggle

 

Edward Steichen (American born Luxembourg, 1879-1973) 'Marlene Dietrich, The Teuton Siren' 1931

 

Edward Steichen (American born Luxembourg, 1879-1973)
Marlene Dietrich, The Teuton Siren
1931
Gelatin silver contact print
Bequest of Edward Steichen by direction of Joanna T. Steichen
© Estate of Edward Steichen

 

Nickolas Muray (American born Hungary, 1892-1965) 'Marilyn Monroe .... Actress' 1952

 

Nickolas Muray (American born Hungary, 1892-1965)
Marilyn Monroe … Actress
1952
Carbro print
Gift of Michael Brooke Muray, Nickolas Christopher Muray, and Gustav Schwab
© Nickolas Muray Archives

 

 

George Eastman House
900 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607

Opening hours:
Tues – Sat 10am – 5pm
Sunday 11am – 5pm
Closed Mondays

George Eastman House website

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Exhibition: ‘In Focus: Ed Ruscha’ at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, Los Angeles

Exhibition dates: 9th April – 29th September, 2013

Co-curators: Virginia Heckert, curator in the Department of Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum, and John Tain, assistant curator for Collection Development at the Getty Research Institute

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) 'Contact sheet for Pacific Coast Highway' 1974

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
Contact sheet for Pacific Coast Highway
1974
Inkjet print
32.8 x 48.2cm (12 15/16 x 19 in.)
The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
© Edward Ruscha

 

 

“Yes, there’s a certain power to a photograph. The camera has a way of disorienting a person, if it wants to and, for me, when it disorients, it’s got real value.”

“My pictures are not that interesting, nor the subject matter. They are simply a collection of “facts”; my book is more like a collection of “Ready-mades”.”


Ed Ruscha

 

 

Cultural curiosities. A language of the street.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to the J. Paul Getty Museum for allowing me to publish some of the photographs in the posting. The rest I sourced from the internet (and spent hours cleaning) to make a better posting about the exhibition. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) 'Camera-ready Maquette for Every Building on the Sunset Strip' 1966

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
Camera-ready Maquette for Every Building on the Sunset Strip
1966
Gelatin silver print on board
63.5 x 92.1cm (24 15/16 x 36 1/4 in.)
The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
© Edward Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) 'Beeline, Holbrook, Arizona' 1962

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
Beeline, Holbrook, Arizona
1962
Gelatin silver print
11.7 x 12.1cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) 'Shell, Daggett, California' 1962

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
Shell, Daggett, California
1962
Gelatin silver print
11.9 x 12cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) 'Standard, Figueroa Street, Los Angeles' 1962

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
Standard, Figueroa Street, Los Angeles
1962
Gelatin silver print
12.4 x 14.6cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) 'Standard, Amarillo, Texas' 1962

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
Standard, Amarillo, Texas
1962
Gelatin silver print
11.8 x 12.1cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

 

In Focus: Ed Ruscha, on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum, at the Getty Center, April 9 – September 29, 2013, offers a concentrated look at Ruscha’s deep engagement with Los Angeles’s vernacular architecture and the urban landscape. The exhibition is part of Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in Los Angeles, and opens simultaneously with Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940-1990, another exhibition presented at the Getty Museum as part of this regional initiative. The Overdrive exhibition also contains images by Ruscha.

One of the most influential American artists working today, Ed Ruscha moved to Los Angeles in 1956 and continues to live and work in the city, incorporating local architecture, streets, and even the city’s attitude into paintings, prints, drawings, and photographs that are known for their graphic directness. Beginning in the 1960s, he began publishing photo books and using photographs to document thoroughfares in the Los Angeles area.

“Throughout his career, photography has played an important role in Ruscha’s exploration of the vernacular architecture, urban landscape, and car culture of Los Angeles,” commented Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. “By bringing together photographs from our collection and archival materials from the Getty Research Institute, we have been able to present a much richer understanding of Ruscha’s work and process.”

Highlighting an important joint acquisition of the artist’s work by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute in 2011, this exhibition features a selection of vintage prints related to Twentysix Gasoline Stations (1963) and Some Los Angeles Apartments (1965), the original camera-ready maquettes for Every Building on the Sunset Strip (1966), and contact sheets from this documentation of the Pacific Coast Highway (1974). The exhibition is co-­curated by Virginia Heckert, curator in the Department of Photographs at the Getty Museum, and John Tain, assistant curator in Collection Development at the Getty Research Institute.

“Gas stations and apartment buildings are among the quintessentially Southern Californian motifs that feature in Ruscha’s work,” says Heckert. “The Getty Museum’s acquisition of photographs made in conjunction with his photo books of the early 1960s gives us the opportunity to share his enthusiasm for the logos, signage, and language that enliven even the most banal architecture.”

Adds Tain, “What’s exciting about the photography that came out of Ruscha’s documentation of the Sunset Strip is that it really altered the sense of what was possible with street photography, which had always been from the viewpoint of the pedestrian. Today we have the Google Maps roving fleet of camera cars, but Ruscha was doing this kind of photography more than forty years ago.”

The exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to appreciate Ruscha’s photographs not as halftone reproductions in modest, mass-produced books, but as prints of the period. One of the best known images included in the exhibition is Standard, Amarillo, Texas (1962), which Ruscha used as the basis for his iconic oil painting Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas (1963). Other unpublished images from the iconic series of gasoline stations will be on view as well. Also included are the original camera-ready maquettes and press pulls for Every Building on the Sunset Strip, Ruscha’s fourth and arguably best-known photo book. Due to light sensitive annotations, each panel will be on view for eight weeks. The complete set of three maquettes will be on view during the first week of the exhibition only, April 9-14.

On display for the first time is a selection of contact sheets of the Pacific Coast Highway, representing a small sample of this monumental undertaking. Ruscha’s documentation captures the dramatically different landscapes of both the view west toward the Pacific Ocean and the view east toward the cliffs. The Pacific Coast Highway is just one of several streets that Ruscha has photographed over the past four and a half decades, beginning in 1965 with Sunset Boulevard. These contact sheets are part of Ruscha’s Streets of Los Angeles archive, including thousands of photographic negatives, proof sheets, contact prints, and related documents and ephemera, which was acquired by the Getty Research Institute in 2011. Nearly sixty photographs were acquired by the Getty Museum at the same time, making the Getty a preeminent resource for understanding the role of photography in Ruscha’s practice.

In Focus: Ed Ruscha is co-organised by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute, and features 50 works from both collections.

Press release from the J. Paul Getty Museum website

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) '708 S. Barrington Ave. [The Dolphin]' 1965

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
708 S. Barrington Ave. [The Dolphin]
1965
Gelatin silver print
11.8 x 11.9cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) '1018 S. Atlantic Blvd.,' 1965

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
1018 S. Atlantic Blvd.,
1965
Gelatin silver print
10.8 x 11.1cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)'1323 Bronson' 1965

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
1323 Bronson
1965
Gelatin silver print
11.8 x 12cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, born 1937) '1555 Artesia Blvd.,' 1965

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
1555 Artesia Blvd.,
1965
Gelatin silver print
11.1 x 11.4cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) '4489 Murietta Ave.,' 1965

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
4489 Murietta Ave.,
1965
Gelatin silver print
11.4 x 11.4cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) '5947 Carlton Way' 1965

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
5947 Carlton Way
1965
Gelatin silver print
11.9 x 12cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) '6565 Fountain Ave.,' 1965

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
6565 Fountain Ave.,
1965
Gelatin silver print
11.8 x 11.8cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) '10433 Wilshire Blvd.,' 1965

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
10433 Wilshire Blvd.,
1965
Gelatin silver print
11.7 x 11.8cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) '818 Doheny Dr.,' 1965

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
818 Doheny Dr.,
1965
Gelatin silver print
11.6 x 11.7cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) '3919 N. Rosemead Blvd.,' 1965

 

Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937)
3919 N. Rosemead Blvd.,
1965
Gelatin silver print
12 x 12cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
© Ed Ruscha

 

 

The J. Paul Getty Museum
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles, California 90049

Opening hours:
Tues – Friday 10am – 5.30pm
Saturday 10am – 8pm
Sunday 10am – 5.30pm
Monday closed

The J. Paul Getty Museum website

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Exhibition: ‘Lewis Hine – Photography for a Change’ at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Zurich

“While human truth may be ephemeral qualities like justice are not; the struggle is to define justice and to live it. And for artists to display it.” Dr Marcus Bunyan

Exhibition dates: 8th June – 25th August, 2013

Curator: Alison Nordström, with the presentation at the Fotomuseum Winterthur specifically adapted for the venue by then-director Nadine Wietlisbach

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'Midnight at the Brooklyn Bridge' 1906 from the exhibition 'Lewis Hine – Photography for a Change' at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Zurich, June - August, 2013

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Midnight at the Brooklyn Bridge
1906
Gelatin silver print
12 x 17cm
© Collection of George Eastman House, Rochester

 

 

“While human truth may be ephemeral qualities like justice are not; the struggle is to define justice and to live it. And for artists to display it.”


Dr Marcus Bunyan

 

 

Here is one artist who certainly used photography for social good. Hine “represents the beginning of a long tradition of politically engaged, social documentary photography, so called “concerned photography”… He firmly believed that every person, every individual, was worthy of respect, and he believed photography to be the best tool for clearly and visibly expressing this view.” Bravo to him.

Unfortunately, like so many of these visionary and revolutionary artists, Hine died in 1940, completely impoverished. As a society, why is it that we don’t value these brave human beings until years after they have passed? Is it because of petty jealousies, the rush of life, people in positions of power too long or a lack of understanding of the visionary nature of their work? Or is it just that time passes them by.

I would like to pose this question.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to Fotomuseum Winterthur for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'Spinner in New England mill' 1913 from the exhibition from the exhibition 'Lewis Hine – Photography for a Change' at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Zurich, June - August, 2013

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Spinner in New England mill
1913
Gelatin silver print
12.6 x 10.1cm
© Collection of George Eastman House, Rochester

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'Italian family looking for lost baggage, Ellis Island' 1905

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Italian family looking for lost baggage, Ellis Island
1905
Gelatin silver print
33.4 x 27.2cm
© Collection of George Eastman House, Rochester

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'Candy worker, New York' c. 1925

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Candy worker, New York
c. 1925
Gelatin silver print
17.2 x 11.8cm
© Collection of George Eastman House, Rochester

 

 

To what extent can images effectively combat injustice and social inequity? The American photographer Lewis Hine (1874-1940) offered an early answer to this question through his work. Trained as a teacher and sociologist, he ardently wished that Americans would become conscious of the injustice of American labor laws. He also firmly believed that every person, every individual, was worthy of respect, and he believed photography to be the best tool for clearly and visibly expressing this view.

His work represents the beginning of a long tradition of politically engaged, social documentary photography, so called “concerned photography.” His photographs of immigrants from Ellis Island, child labor in American factories, and the construction of the Empire State Building high above Manhattan have become major icons of the 20th century. Simultaneously, the photographs also point to the fact, that the documented problems have not lost their currency, even one hundred years later. Today, even in Europe, we are experiencing intensive migrations, which will continue to increase in the future. Here we are not confronted with child labor, because we have transferred the kinds of industrial production that used child labor to distant countries. Accidents in non-European factories indicate the risky conditions under which our consumer goods are still produced today. Hine’s photographic eye and his black and white images form a trajectory that leads directly to the present.

Lewis Hine grew up in a family that owned a simple restaurant in the small town of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He lost his father at age 18 due to an accident. He provided for himself and his family first as a factory worker in a furniture production company and then as a doorman, salesman, and bookkeeper. After training as a teacher and studying sociology at the University of Chicago, Hine moved to New York, where he first came in contact with photography while teaching at the Ethical Culture School. Using the camera in his lessons, he made portraits of immigrants on Ellis Island in conjunction with a research project. From then on Hine viewed his camera as a weapon for revealing social injustice and effecting change through the power of images. With this motivation he traveled some 75,000 km through the United States for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) and photographed children at work in the fields, mines, factories, mills, and on the streets. His photographs played no small part in raising awareness for child labor and instigating initial reforms. They also represented some of the earliest and most significant contributions to the social documentary genre of photography. During the construction of the Empire State Building Hine was commissioned with documenting the phases of construction over the course of six months in 1930/1931. In over one thousand photographs he recorded the perspective of the construction workers and their hard work on the ultimately 381 m high building. Despite his early success and the use of his images by many governmental agencies, Hine died in 1940, completely impoverished, after an operation.

Fotomuseum Winterthur presents this comprehensive retrospective including 170 images and extensive documentation material in cooperation with the Fundación MAPFRE (Madrid), the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson (Paris) and the Nederlands Fotomuseum (Rotterdam). All works come from the George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, USA.

Press release from the Fotomuseum Winterthur website

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'Paris gamin' c. 1918

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Paris gamin
c. 1918
Gelatin silver print
24.4 x 19.4cm
© Collection of George Eastman House, Rochester

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'Jewess at Ellis Island' 1905

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Jewess at Ellis Island
1905
Gelatin silver print
24.1 x 19.1cm
© Collection of George Eastman House, Rochester

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'Mechanic at steam pump in electric power house' 1920

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Mechanic at steam pump in electric power house
1920
Gelatin silver print
16.9 x 11.7cm
© Collection of George Eastman House, Rochester

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940) '[Man on girders, Empire State Building]' c. 1931

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940)
[Man on girders, Empire State Building]
c. 1931
Gelatin silver print
12 x 9.2cm
© Collection of George Eastman House, Rochester

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940) '[Steelworker touching the tip of the Chrysler Building]' c. 1931

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940)
[Steelworker touching the tip of the Chrysler Building]
c. 1931
Gelatin silver print
16.9 x 11.9cm
© Collection of George Eastman House, Rochester

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940) 'Icarus atop Empire State Building' 1931

 

Lewis Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Icarus atop Empire State Building
1931
Gelatin silver print
9.3 x 10cm
© Collection of George Eastman House, Rochester

 

 

Fotomuseum Winterthur
Grüzenstrasse 44 + 45
CH-8400
Winterthur (Zürich)

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday 11am – 6pm
Wednesday 11am – 8pm
Closed on Mondays

Fotomuseum Winterthur website

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Exhibition: ‘Herb Ritts: Beauty and Celebrity’ at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City

“In contemplation, Ritts’ formal aestheticism confirms a serene beauty – spare, refined, erotic.” Dr Marcus Bunyan

Exhibition dates: 9th May – 28th July, 2013

Curator: Jennifer Klos

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Fred with Tires - Bodyshop Series, Hollywood' 1984 from the exhibition 'Herb Ritts: Beauty and Celebrity' at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, May - July, 2013

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Fred with Tires – Bodyshop Series, Hollywood
1984
Gelatin silver print
24 x 20 in. (60.9 x 50.8cm)
Gift of Herb Ritts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

 

I admit that I went through a stage of disliking Herb Ritts photographs – no longer!

In contemplation, his formal aestheticism confirms a serene beauty – spare, refined, erotic.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

 

Fred with Tires became the archetypal photograph of the male body in the 1980s and made the world-wide reputation of its commercial photographer, Herb Ritts. Gay men flocked to buy it, myself included. I was drawn by the powerful, perfectly sculpted body, the butchness of his job, the dirty trousers, the boots and the body placed within a social context. At the time I realised that the image of this man was a constructed fantasy, ie. not the ‘real’ thing, and this feeling of having been deceived has grown ever since. His hair is teased up and beautifully styled, the grease is applied to his body just so, his body twisted to just the right degree to accentuate the muscles of the stomach and around the pelvis. You can just imagine the stylist standing off camera ready to readjust the hair if necessary, the assistants with their reflectors playing more light onto the body. This/he is the seduction of a marketable homoeroticsm, the selling of an image as sex, almost camp in its overt appeal to gay archetypal stereotypes.

Herb Ritts, whether in his commercial work or in his personal images such as those of the gay bodybuilders Bob Paris and Rod Jackson, has helped increase the acceptance of the openly homoerotic photograph in a wider sphere but this has been possible only with an increased acceptance of homosexual visibility within the general population. 
Openly gay bodies such as that of Australian rugby league star Ian Roberts or American diver Greg Luganis can become heroes and role models to young gay men coming out of the closet for the first time, visible evidence that gay men are everywhere in every walk of life. This is fantastic because young gay men do need gay role models to look up to but the bodies they possess only conform to the one type, that of the muscular mesomorph and this reinforces the ideal of a traditional masculinity. Yes, the guy in the shower next to you might be a poofter, might be queer for heavens sake, but my God what a body he’s got!”

Marcus Bunyan. “Historical Pressings,” from Pressing the Flesh: Sex, Body Image and the Gay Male (Phd thesis) 2001


Many thankx to Oklahoma City Museum of Art for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Djimon with Octopus, Hollywood' 1989 from the exhibition 'Herb Ritts: Beauty and Celebrity' at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, May - July, 2013

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Djimon with Octopus, Hollywood
1989
Gelatin silver print
44.5 x 38.7cm (17 1/2 x 15 1/4 in.)
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Tony with shadow, Los Angeles' 1988

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Tony with shadow, Los Angeles
1988
Gelatin silver print
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Point Dume' 1987

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Point Dume
1987
Gelatin silver print
31.9 x 25.4cm (12 9/16 x 10 in.)
Gift of Herb Ritts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Versace Dress, Back View, El Mirage' 1990

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Versace Dress, Back View, El Mirage
1990
Gelatin silver print
137.2 x 109.2cm (54 x 43 in.)
Gift of Herb Ritts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

The American photographer Herb Ritts produced a body of work in the 1980s and 1990s that seems to embody the outdoor lifestyle and glamour of the southern California beautiful set. This photograph, taken at El Mirage Dry Lake in California, appeared on the cover of Italian designer Gianni Versace’s September 1990 catalogue and incorporates a formalism and contemporary sensuality characteristic of Ritts’s aesthetic. Ritts’s photograph appeals through its boldly contrasting lights and darks.

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Versace Veiled Dress, El Mirage' 1990

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Versace Veiled Dress, El Mirage
1990
55.8 x 44.6cm (21 15/16 x 17 9/16 in.)
Gift of Herb Ritts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Now and Zen 1, El Mirage' 1999

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Now and Zen 1, El Mirage
1999
Gelatin silver print
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

 

Herb Ritts: Beauty and Celebrity will be on view at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art from May 9 through July 28, 2013. Organised by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston with the support of the Herb Ritts Foundation and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, this exhibition will feature over eighty large-scale black-and-white photographs by acclaimed photographer, Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002). Ranging in scale from intimate portraits to ten foot murals, the exhibition will highlight the diversity of the artist’s work. Known for his innovative approach to fashion, intimate portraiture of celebrities, and the classical treatment of the nude, Ritts emerged in the 1980s to become one of the most successful celebrity and fashion photographers of the late twentieth century and an important part of the history of American photography.

Herb Ritts grew up in Los Angeles and maintained his studio in Hollywood. A self-taught photographer, Ritts first began taking photographs in the late 1970s after studying economics at Bard College. The intimate publicity images that he made of Richard Gere were among his first serious portraits and helped to launch his career. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Ritts built his reputation as a leading celebrity portraitist and fashion photographer, contributing regularly to publications such as GQ, Mademoiselle, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. From 1988, he also made music videos and commercials for which he won numerous awards.

The photographs included in the exhibition represent some of Herb Ritts’s most iconic works which incorporate the natural light of the California sun while emphasising shapes, unusual juxtapositions, and the beauty of the human form. Ritts celebrates nature and the human body in evoking the tactile appeal of surface textures of grains of sand, veiled fabric, drying mud, and cascading water seen in Waterfall 4 (1988), Backflip (1987), and Woman in Sea (1988). Fashion photographs on view include such as Versace Veiled Dress, El Mirage (1990), Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood (1989), and Djimon with Octopus (1989). Examples of celebrity portraiture include Richard Gere, Jack Nicholson, Madonna, Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Depp, Bruce Springsteen, Drew Barrymore, David Bowie, Matthew McConaughey, and Mick Jagger. Also included in the exhibition are poetic and eternal images in Ritts’s Africa series, taken in 1993 when he traveled to East Africa, and examples from the rare Corps et Ames (1999) series of photographs, portraying dancers in motion.

This exhibition – drawn from the photography collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Herb Ritts Foundation – present Herb Ritts’ style and the range of his career.

Press release from the Oklahoma City Museum of Art website

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Male Nude with Bubble, Los Angeles' 1987

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Male Nude with Bubble, Los Angeles
1987
Gelatin silver print
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Wrapped Torso, Los Angeles' 1989

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Wrapped Torso, Los Angeles
1989
Platinum print
46.4 x 38.4cm (18 1/4 x 15 1/8 in.)
Gift of Herb Ritts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Backflip, Paradise Cove' 1987

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Backflip, Paradise Cove
1987
Gelatin silver print
90 x 70 in. (228.6 x 177.8cm)
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Corp et Âmes - 14, Los Angeles' 1999

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Corp et Âmes – 14, Los Angeles
1999
Gelatin silver print
14 x 11 in. (35.5 x 27.9cm)
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Chrissy Turlington, Versace 3, Milan' 1991

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Chrissy Turlington, Versace 3, Milan
1991
Gelatin silver print
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Madonna (True Blue Profile), Hollywood' 1986

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Madonna (True Blue Profile), Hollywood
1986
Gelatin silver print
24 x 20 in. (60.9 x 50.8cm)
Gift of Herb Ritts Foundation. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Matthew McConaughey, Palmdale' 1996

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Matthew McConaughey, Palmdale
1996
Gelatin silver print
24 x 20 in. (60.9 x 50.8cm)
Gift of Herb Ritts Foundation. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Loriki with Spear, Africa' 1993

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Loriki with Spear, Africa
1993
Gelatin silver print
45 x 41 in. (114.3 x 104.1cm)
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Tony Ward' 1986

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Tony Ward
1986
Gelatin silver print
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Waterfall IV, Hollywood' 1988

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Waterfall IV, Hollywood
1988
Platinum print
20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.64cm)
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Woman in Sea, Hawaii' 1988

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Woman in Sea, Hawaii
1988
Gelatin silver print
24 x 20 in. (60.9 x 50.8cm)
Gift of Herb Ritts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Bill T. Jones VI, Los Angeles' 1995

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Bill T. Jones VI, Los Angeles
1995
Gelatin silver print
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002) 'Man with Chain, Los Angeles' 1985

 

Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002)
Man with Chain, Los Angeles
1985
Gelatin silver print
47.8 x 38.4 cm (18 13/16 x 15 1/8 in.)
Gift of Herb Ritts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
© Herb Ritts Foundation

 

 

Oklahoma City Museum of Art
415 Couch Drive
Oklahoma City, OK 73102

Opening hours:
Tuesday – Saturday: 10am – 5pm
Sunday: noon – 5pm
Closed: Mondays and Major Holidays

Oklahoma City Museum of Art website

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Exhibition: ‘Experience Civil War Photography: From the Home Front to the Battlefront’ at the Smithsonian Castle, Washington, DC

Exhibition dates: 1st August, 2012 – 31st July, 2013

Co-curator: Michelle Delaney

 

Anonymous photographer. 'Ambrotype of a washerwoman for the Union Army in Richmond' c. 1865

 

Anonymous photographer
Ambrotype of a washerwoman for the Union Army in Richmond
c. 1865
Photo: Brian Ireley, Smithsonian

 

 

Many thankx to the Smithsonian Castle for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

“It is very strange that I, a boy brought up in the woods, seeing as it were but little of the world, should be drifted into the very apex of this great event.”


Abraham Lincoln, on the Civil War, July 1864

 

 

A box of gun cotton (cotton treated with nitric acid) carrying the brand name "Anthony's Snowy Cotton," a photo processing supply that a Civil War-era photographer might use in the field to create collodion photographs.

 

A box of gun cotton (cotton treated with nitric acid) carrying the brand name “Anthony’s Snowy Cotton,” a photo processing supply that a Civil War-era photographer might use in the field to create collodion photographs.
Photo: Brian Ireley, Smithsonian

 

A sampling of photographic chemical bottles used for wet collodion photography during the Civil War

 

A sampling of photographic chemical bottles used for wet collodion photography during the Civil War
Photo: Brian Ireley, Smithsonian

 

'This Civil-war era photo album of American political and military figures was owned by Karl Schenk, president of Switzerland' 1865

 

This Civil-war era photo album of American political and military figures was owned by Karl Schenk, president of Switzerland
1865
Photo: Brian Ireley, Smithsonian

 

Anonymous photographer. 'A book of illustrated personal portraits from the Civil War era' c. 1861-1865

 

Anonymous photographer
A book of illustrated personal portraits from the Civil War era
c. 1861-1865
Photo: Brian Ireley, Smithsonian

 

 

A photo exhibit to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Experience Civil War Photography: From the Home Front to the Battlefront, opens in the Smithsonian Castle August 1st 2012 and it continues for a year. Advancements in photography brought the conflict close to home for many Americans and the exhibit features a stereoview and a carte-de-visite album of Civil War generals.

During the Civil War the Castle served as a home for the Smithsonian Secretary’s family and a place of learning and collecting. The exhibit displays excerpts from the diary from the daughter of the Secretary Joseph Henry. Mary Henry recorded the comings and goings of soldiers to the Castle use of its towers to observe advancing soldiers and the state of Washington after Lincoln’s assassination.

Also featured are Smithsonian employee Solomon Brown (1829-1906) and the lecture hall that hosted a series of abolitionist speakers; it was destroyed by fire in 1865. Stereoviews, a form of 3-D photography that blossomed during that era, daguerreotypes, tintypes and ambrotypes – all emerging types of photography – are highlighted in the exhibit to explore the ways photography was used to depict the war, prompt discussion and retain memories.

The exhibit features a range of Civil War-era photographic materials from Smithsonian collections, including cameras, stereoviewers, albums and portraits, alongside photographs of soldiers and battlefields. Highlights include an ambrotype portrait of an African American washerwoman, carte-de-visite (a type of small photo) album of Civil War generals, an 11-by-4-inch-view camera and equipment and an examination of the emergence of battlefield photography and photojournalism.

Experience Civil War Photography: From the Home Front to the Battlefront is a joint exhibition produced by the Smithsonian and the Civil War Trust and is sponsored by the History channel.

Press release from the Smithsonian Castle website

 

Alexander Gardner (American born United Kingdom, 1821-1882) '[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Dead Confederate sharpshooter in "The devil's den."]' July 1863

 

Alexander Gardner (American born United Kingdom, 1821-1882)
[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Dead Confederate sharpshooter in “The devil’s den”]
July 1863

 

Alexander Gardner (American born United Kingdom, 1821-1882) '[Antietam, Md. President Lincoln with Gen. George B. McClellan and group of officers]' 3rd October 1862

 

Alexander Gardner (American born United Kingdom, 1821-1882)
[Antietam, Md. President Lincoln with Gen. George B. McClellan and group of officers]
3rd October 1862

 

Alexander Gardner (American born United Kingdom, 1821-1882) '[Antietam, Md. President Lincoln with Gen. George B. McClellan and group of officers]' (detail) 3rd October 1862

 

Alexander Gardner (American born United Kingdom, 1821-1882)
[Antietam, Md. President Lincoln with Gen. George B. McClellan and group of officers] (detail)
3rd October 1862

 

Abraham Lincoln's presidential campaign was one of the first to use photography as a political tool 1860

 

Abraham Lincoln’s presidential campaign was one of the first to use photography as a political tool
1860
Photo: Brian Ireley, Smithsonian

 

Timothy H. O'Sullivan (American born Ireland, 1840-1882) '[Fort Pulaski, Ga. The "Beauregard" gun]' April 1862

 

Timothy H. O’Sullivan (American born Ireland, 1840-1882)
[Fort Pulaski, Ga. The “Beauregard” gun]
April 1862
1 negative (2 plates) : glass, stereograph, wet collodion
Two plates form left (LC-B811-0197A) and right (LC-B811-0197B) halves of a stereograph pair
Photograph of the Federal Navy, and seaborne expeditions against the Atlantic Coast of the Confederacy – specifically of Fort Pulaski, Ga., April 1862

 

Alexander Gardner (American born United Kingdom, 1821-1882) '[Richmond, Va. Grave of Gen. J. E. B. Stuart in Hollywood Cemetery, with temporary marker]' Richmond, April-June 1865

 

Alexander Gardner (American born United Kingdom, 1821-1882)
[Richmond, Va. Grave of Gen. J. E. B. Stuart in Hollywood Cemetery, with temporary marker]
Richmond, April-June 1865

 

James F. Gibson (American, 1828-1905) '[James River, Va. Deck and turret of U.S.S. Monitor seen from the bow (ie. stern)]' 9th July, 1862

 

James F. Gibson (American, 1828-1905)
[James River, Va. Deck and turret of U.S.S. Monitor seen from the bow (ie. stern)]
9th July, 1862
1 negative (2 plates): glass, stereograph, wet collodion

 

James F. Gibson was probably the least known of the Civil War photographers. He, too, was born in New York City. He learned the art under Brady. Gibson eventually photographed Gen. McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign, Seven Days Battles, Battle of Gaines’ Mill, and Battle of Malvern Hill. He died in 1905.

 

A magnified view of a photo looking through a single lens viewfinder of a Civil War-era stereoviewer

 

A magnified view of a photo looking through a single lens viewfinder of a Civil War-era stereoviewer (featuring an image in the same series as the one above)
Photo: Brian Ireley, Smithsonian

 

Alexander Gardner (American born United Kingdom, 1821-1882) '[Washington Navy Yard, D.C. Lewis Payne, the conspirator who attacked Secretary Seward, standing in overcoat and hat]' April 1865

 

Alexander Gardner (American born United Kingdom, 1821-1882)
[Washington Navy Yard, D.C. Lewis Payne, the conspirator who attacked Secretary Seward, standing in overcoat and hat]
April 1865
Glass, wet plate colloidon

 

Matthew Brady & Co., 'Petroleum Nasby (David Ross Locke)' 1865

 

Matthew Brady & Co.,
Petroleum Nasby (David Ross Locke)
1865
Albumen photograph

 

An 1865 carte-de-visite portrait – a highly collectible albumen photograph on a small card – featuring American humorist Petroleum Nasby, pseudonym of David Ross Locke. Photo: Brian Ireley, Smithsonian

 

 

Smithsonian Castle
1000 Jefferson Dr SW
Washington, DC 20004, United States

Opening hours:
8.30am – 5.30pm daily

Smithsonian Castle website

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Exhibition: ‘Harry Callahan Retrospective’ at the House of Photography at Deichtorhallen Hamburg

Exhibition dates: 22nd March – 9th June, 2013

Curator: Sabine Schnakenberg

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor, Chicago' 1948

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Eleanor, Chicago
1948
Gelatin silver print
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

 

Great to see some early colour photographs from this master.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to the House of Photography, Deichtorhallen Hamburg for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

“I wish that people felt that photography was an adventure the same as life itself and felt that their individual feelings were worth expressing.”


Harry Callahan

 

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Detroit' 1943

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Detroit
1943
Gelatin silver print
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Chicago' 1949

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Chicago
1949
Gelatin silver print
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor' 1947

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Eleanor
1947
Gelatin silver print
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Harry Callahan, Bristol' 1993

 

Stephan Brigidi (American, b. 1951)
Harry Callahan, Bristol
1993
© Stephan Brigidi

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Providence' 1979

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Providence
1979
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

 

Harry Callahan (1912-1999) is regarded as one of the most innovative and influential artists in the history of 20th-century US photography. Deichtorhallen Hamburg is taking the artist’s creative intensity, the aesthetic standing his oeuvre enjoys in the context of 20th-century US photography and the fact that 2012 marked the 100th anniversary of his birth as an opportunity to present his oeuvre in an extensive retrospective with over 280 works from March 22 through June 9, 2013. The exhibition is to date the most extensive show of his work, and includes both his black-and-white gelatin silver prints and his colour works produced using the dye-transfer process.

Harry Callahan was one of the first to overcome the prevailing aesthetics of Realism by advancing the New Vision, which László Moholy-Nagy had established in the New Bauhaus in Chicago, and Ansel Adams’ so-called “straight photography” in an innovative, highly sensitive way. Between 1946 and 1997 the Museum of Modern Art in New York alone honoured Callahan’s photographic oeuvre in a total of 38 exhibitions. Together with the painter Richard Diebenkorn, Callahan represented the USA at the 1978 Venice Biennale, the first photographer ever to do so. Nonetheless, in Europe Callahan’s multifaceted work is still considered a rarity in the history of photography.

In addition to photographs of nature and landscapes, Callahan’s oeuvre, spanning a period of nearly 60 years as of 1938, embraces pictures of his daily strolls through cities such as Detroit, Chicago, Providence, Atlanta, and New York. Portrayed frequently in very intense light, his leitmotifs were streets, shop windows, buildings and pedestrians hurrying past. Very early on he regarded photography as a purely artistic medium, and saw himself as an art photographer rather than a representative of applied photography. In later years other works, in which his wife Eleanor and daughter Barbara were the focal point, were superseded by another major experiment: the photographs he took on numerous trips to France, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, and Ireland. His works document the emergence of Modernism, which was taking an ever-greater hold on everyday life. Relating to his three main themes, nature, the familiar figure of his wife Eleanor, and cities, Callahan’s images reflect his life in ever-new references that become increasingly less interwoven with one another. At the same time they trace the social and cultural transformation in the USA discreetly, elegantly, and with a tendency to abstraction, recording the changes as a seismograph does earth tremors. In his images Callahan consistently reflects on both his own and the camera’s way of seeing.

Compiled by Sabine Schnakenberg, the exhibition at the House of Photography continues the series of major photographic retrospectives of internationally renowned representatives of photographic history previously staged at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, including Martin Munkacsi (2005), Lillian Bassman, Paul Himmel (2009), and Saul Leiter (2012). The exhibition is based on loans from two generous lenders, namely the Estate of Harry Callahan together with the Pace / MacGill Gallery in New York, and the extensive selection of Callahan’s images from F.C. Gundlach’s photographic collection, both those on permanent loan to Deichtorhallen as well as those in the collection of the F.C. Gundlach Foundation.

Press release from Deichtorhallen Hamburg website

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Atlanta' 1943

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Atlanta
1943
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Detroit' 1943

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Detroit
c. 1943
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Chicago' 1951

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Chicago
1951
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Eleanor, Chicago' 1951

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Eleanor, Chicago
1951
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Chicago' c. 1952

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Chicago
c. 1952
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Providence' 1978

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Providence
1978
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'New York' c. 1975

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
New York
c. 1975
Dye-transfer print
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999) 'Ireland' 1979

 

Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
Ireland
1979
© The Estate of Harry Callahan. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

 

 

Deichtorhallen Hamburg
Deichtorstrasse 1-2
20095
Hamburg
Phone: +49 (0)40 32103-0

Opening hours:
Tuesday – Sunday 11am – 6pm
Closed Mondays

Deichtorhallen Hamburg website

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Exhibition: ‘Gordon Parks: 100 Moments’ at New York State Museum

Exhibition dates: 26th January – 19th May, 2013

Curator: Dr. Deborah Willis, Professor of Photography and Imaging and Africana Studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'A dance group, Frederick Douglass housing project, Anacostia, Washington, DC, 1942' 1942 from the exhibition 'Gordon Parks: 100 Moments' at New York State Museum, January - May, 2013

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
A dance group, Frederick Douglass housing project, Anacostia, Washington, DC, 1942
1942
Gelatin silver print
17.5 x 22″
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress

 

 

The more I see the work of this outstanding artist, the more I fall in love with it.

There is a beautiful lyricism here – nothing extraneous or superfluous within the picture frame, sensitively balanced photographs that are whimsical and engaging. A woman and her dog in Harlem, NY, 1943 (below) is just a joy.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to the New York State Museum for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

“I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera.”


Gordon Parks

 

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'A woman and her dog in Harlem, NY, 1943' 1943 from the exhibition 'Gordon Parks: 100 Moments' at New York State Museum, January - May, 2013

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
A woman and her dog in Harlem, NY, 1943
1943
Gelatin silver print
23 x 21″
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'Street Scene: Three young boys, Harlem, NY, 1943' 1943

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
Street Scene: Three young boys, Harlem, NY, 1943
1943
Gelatin silver print
23 x 21″
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'Street Scene: Two children walking, Harlem, NY, 1943' 1943

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
Street Scene: Two children walking, Harlem, NY, 1943
1943
Gelatin silver print
23 x 21″
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'Anacostia, D.C. Frederick Douglass Housing Project. A family says grace before the evening meal. June 1942' 1942

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
Anacostia, D.C. Frederick Douglass Housing Project. A family says grace before the evening meal. June 1942
1942
Gelatin silver print
Gordon Parks Collection, Photographs and Prints Division
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'Red Jackson, Harlem' 1948

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
Red Jackson, Harlem
1948
Gelatin silver print
Gordon Parks Collection, Photographs and Prints Division
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'The Fontenelle Family' 1967

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
The Fontenelle Family
1967
Gelatin silver print
Gordon Parks Collection, Photographs and Prints Division
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library

 

Another Parks image in the show, taken in 1967 and published in Life magazine, is subtler though ultimately more powerful. It shows Harlem resident Bessie Fontenelle and four of her children at the welfare office. Across a desk, the family faces an anonymous white man, his back to the camera, with a suit, thick-framed spectacles and slicked hair. Fontenelle looks drawn and careworn, ground down by poverty. Parks lived with the family for a month and documented their lives for a story and photo essay for Life, an assignment he devised in response to an editor’s question about why inner-city residents were rioting across America.

“The problem in documenting a family like that,” Parks later said, “is that you wonder, in the end, whether you should have touched the family, or just left them alone.” While he lived with them, the alcoholic father, Norman, was unemployed, and Parks struggled with journalistic objectivity as he resisted the impulse to provide funds for food and clothing.

After their story was published, money flooded in from Life readers, and the Fontenelles were able to buy a small house in Queens. They’d been there just three months when Norman, who was drunk, dropped a lit cigarette onto the couch and burned the house down. He died in the fire, as did one of the six kids; another boy died a few years later, and three girls eventually were claimed by AIDS. Parks spent the rest of his life wondering whether, in service of telling the larger story of urban poverty for many families, he’d contributed to the destruction of the one he photographed.

Steve Barnes. “On exhibit: ‘Gordon Parks: 100 Moments’ at the State Museum,” on the Times Union website Jan 23, 2013 [Online] Cited 15/07/2024. Used under fair use conditions for the purposes of education and research

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'Boy at Swimming Pool, Harlem, NY, 1942' 1942

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
Boy at Swimming Pool, Harlem, NY, 1942
1942
Gelatin silver print
22 x 17.5″
Gordon Parks Collection, Photographs and Prints Division
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library

 

 

A new exhibition celebrating the 100th birthday of world-renowned photographer Gordon Parks opens on January 26, 2013 at the New York State Museum. Gordon Parks: 100 Moments showcases six decades of Parks’ photographs, including numerous never-before-seen images and Parks’ most famous photo, American Gothic, Washington, D.C. On display at the State Museum through May 19, 2013, the stunning visual collection is organised by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The exhibit also includes images from the Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information (OWI) collections at the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

“Gordon Parks was a true Renaissance man – musician, writer, film director and, most notably, world-class photographer,” said State Education Commissioner John B. King, Jr. “His work helped drive the Civil Rights movement by exposing the stark realities of life faced by so many African Americans. We are honoured to exhibit some of his most important images at the New York State Museum.”

“The State Museum is honoured to present this landmark exhibition by Gordon Parks, one of New York’s greatest photographers,” said State Museum Director Mark Schaming. “This is truly a unique opportunity to see these powerful images from the Schomburg’s vast collections together in a beautifully curated exhibition.”

Known for documenting the ordinary yet compelling lives of African Americans in cities like Harlem and Washington, D.C., Parks began his career in 1948 as a professional photographer for Life magazine, where he was the publication’s first African American employee. Tackling issues in black communities like post-World War II urban migration, the expansion of black newspapers and radio, entrenched segregation and economic discrimination, Parks was a consummate storyteller of urban life through his ever-questioning lens. Parks died in 2006.

Press release from the New York State Museum website

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'Policeman, badge no. 19687, NY, 1943' 1943

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
Policeman, badge no. 19687, NY, 1943
1943
Gelatin silver print
23 x 21″
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'American Gothic, Washington, D.C., (Ella Watson)' 1942

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
American Gothic, Washington, D.C., (Ella Watson)
1942
Gelatin silver print

 

One of Parks’ most famous images, taken in Washington, D.C., in 1942, captures Ella Watson, who at that point had been a cleaning woman in federal offices for 26 years and supported a family of six on a salary of about $20 a week. She’s in front of a large, vertically hung American flag and flanked by a broom and a mop, their well-used heads a testament to the rigor of her nightly labors. Watson, whom Parks chronicled as part of his work as the first black photographer for the Farm Security Administration, has a stony expression, and she looks slightly to the side of the camera – a gaze diverted and downcast. It’s a polemical picture, and its obvious echo of Grant Wood’s painting “American Gothic” led to Parks’ photo becoming familiarly known by the same name. Parks later said the photo was meant to highlight racism and inequality and that when he made the picture he was still seething from having been refused service at several retail establishments in Washington.

Steve Barnes. “On exhibit: ‘Gordon Parks: 100 Moments’ at the State Museum,” on the Times Union website Jan 23, 2013 [Online] Cited 15/07/2024. Used under fair use conditions for the purposes of education and research

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'Grandfather and grandchild on Seaton Road, Washington, DC, 1942' 1942

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
Grandfather and grandchild on Seaton Road, Washington, DC, 1942
1942
Gelatin silver print
21 x 17″
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'First Aid: Interracial activities at Camp Nathan Hale, Southfields, NY, 1943' 1943

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
First Aid: Interracial activities at Camp Nathan Hale, Southfields, NY, 1943
1943
Gelatin silver print
22 x 17.5″
Gordon Parks Collection, Photographs and Prints Division
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'Construction workman, Washington, DC, 1942' 1942

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
Construction workman, Washington, DC, 1942
1942
Gelatin silver print
21″ x 17″
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress

 

 

New York State Museum
260 Madison Ave  Albany
NY 12230, United States
Phone: +1 518-474-5877

Opening hours:
Tuesday – Sunday 9.30am – 5.00pm
Closed Monday
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day

New York State Museum website

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Exhibition: ‘Picturing New York: Photographs from the Museum of Modern Art’ at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth

Exhibition dates: 26th January – 12th May, 2013

Co-curators: Lucy Harper (Project Curator at the Art Gallery of Western Australia) and Sarah Meister (Curator at the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art, New York)

 

Berenice Abbott (American, 1898-1991) 'Fifth Avenue, nos. 4, 6, 8, Manhattan' March 20, 1936 from the exhibition 'Picturing New York: Photographs from the Museum of Modern Art' at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, January - May, 2013

 

Berenice Abbott (American, 1898-1991)
Fifth Avenue, nos. 4, 6, 8, Manhattan
March 20, 1936
Gelatin silver print
15 x 19 1/4″ (38.1 x 48.9cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Thomas Walther Collection
© 2012 Berenice Abbott/Commerce Graphics

 

 

A second tranche of images from this touring exhibition of photographs from the MoMA collection, presented at the Art Gallery of Western Australia in Perth. My personal favourites in this posting are the tonal Abbott, mean streets Gedney, luminous Groover and the intimate Burckhardt. There are two photographers I don’t know at all (Gedney and Burckhardt) and one who is very underrated: Peter Hujar.

See a posting on this exhibition when it was at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, November 2009 – February 2010

Dr Marcus Bunyan


Many thankx to the AGWA for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

William Gedney (American, 1924-1989) 'Brooklyn' 1966 from the exhibition 'Picturing New York: Photographs from the Museum of Modern Art' at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, January - May, 2013

 

William Gedney (American, 1924-1989)
Brooklyn
1966
Gelatin silver print
7 9/16 x 11 5/16″ (19.3 x 28.8cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of the Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
© 2012 Estate of William Gedney

 

William Gale Gedney (October 29, 1932 – June 23, 1989) was an American photographer. It wasn’t until after his death that his work gained momentum and his work is now widely recognised… William Gedney died of AIDS in 1989, aged 56, in New York City and is buried in Greenville, New York, a few short miles from his childhood home. He left his photographs and writings to his lifelong friend Lee Friedlander.

Text from the Wikpedia website

See more photographs by William Gedney on the Duke Libraries website and on The Selvedge Yard website

 

Jan Groover (American, 1943-2012) 'Untitled' 1981

 

Jan Groover (American, 1943-2012)
Untitled
1981
Platinum/palladium print
7 5/8 x 9 1/2″ (19.4 x 24.2cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of Howard Stein
© 2012 Jan Groover

 

 

“Depicting the iconic New York that captivates the world’s imagination and the idiosyncratic details that define New Yorkers’ sense of home, this exhibition from MoMA’s extraordinary photography collection celebrates the city in all its vitality, ambition and beauty. Made by approximately 90 artists responding to the city as well as professionals on assignment, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Lewis Hine, Helen Levitt, Cindy Sherman, Alfred Stieglitz, and Weegee, over 150 works reveal the deeply symbiotic relationship between photography and the ‘city that never sleeps’ – New York. Both an exploration of the life of the city and a documentation of photography’s evolution throughout the twentieth century, Picturing New York celebrates the great and continuing tradition of capturing the grit and glamour of one of the world’s greatest urban centres.

Artists include Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Lee Friedlander, Nan Goldin, Helen Levitt, Cindy Sherman, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Weegee, and Garry Winogrand, among many others.”

Text from the AGWA website

 

Lisette Model (American born Austria, 1901-1983) 'Times Square' 1940

 

Lisette Model (American born Austria, 1901-1983)
Times Square
1940
Gelatin silver print
15 9/16 x 19 9/16″ (39.6 x 49.7cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of the photographer
© 2012 Estate of Lisette Model, courtesy Baudoin Lebon Gallery, Paris and Keitelman Gallery, Brussels

 

Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984) 'New York City' 1968

 

Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
New York City
1968
Gelatin silver print
8 7/8 x 13 3/16″ (22.5 x 33.5cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Purchase and gift of Barbara Schwartz in memory of Eugene M. Schwartz
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery

 

Henri Cartier-Bresson (French, 1908-2004) 'Near the Hall of Records, New York' 1947

 

Henri Cartier-Bresson (French, 1908-2004)
Near the Hall of Records, New York
1947
Gelatin silver print
15 5/16 x 22 13/16″ (38.9 x 57.9cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of the photographer
© 2012 Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum, courtesy Foundation HCB, Paris

 

Rudy Burckhardt (American born Switzerland, 1914-1999) 'A View From Brooklyn I' 1954

 

Rudy Burckhardt (American born Switzerland, 1914-1999)
A View From Brooklyn I
1954
Gelatin silver print
10 5/16 x 9 3/16″ (26.2 x 23.4cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of CameraWorks, Inc. and Purchase
© 2012 Rudy Burckhardt / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

 

Rudy Burckhardt (1914, Basel – 1999) was a Swiss-American filmmaker, and photographer, known for his photographs of hand-painted billboards which began to dominate the American landscape in the nineteen-forties and fifties.

Burckhardt discovered photography as a medical student in London. He left medicine to pursue photography in the 1930s. He immigrated to New York City in 1935. Between 1934 and 1939, he traveled to Paris, New York and Haiti making photographs mostly of city streets and experimenting with short 16mm films. While stationed in Trinidad in the Signal Corps from 1941-1944, he filmed the island’s residents. In 1947, he joined the Photo League in New York City. Burckhardt married painter Yvonne Jacquette whom he collaborated with throughout their 40 year marriage. He taught filmmaking and painting at the University of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1975.

On his 85th birthday, Burckhardt committed suicide by drowning in the lake on his property.

Text from the Wikipedia website

 

 

Rudy Burckhardt and Edwin Denby
The Climate of New York
1980

 

 

Trailer for Rudy Burckhardt Films from Tibor de Nagy Gallery on Vimeo.

 

Lee Friedlander (American, b. 1934) 'New York City' 1980

 

Lee Friedlander (American, b. 1934)
New York City
1980
Gelatin silver print
18 5/8 x 12 3/8″ (47.3 x 31.5cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Family of Man Fund
© 2012 Lee Friedlander

 

Underwood and Underwood (American, active 1880-1934) 'Above Fifth Avenue, Looking North' 1905

 

Underwood and Underwood (American, active 1880-1934)
Above Fifth Avenue, Looking North
1905
Gelatin silver print
9 1/2 x 7 5/16″ (24.2 x 18.6cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
The New York Times Collection

 

Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946) 'City of Ambition' 1910

 

Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946)
City of Ambition
1910
Photogravure
13 3/8 x 10 1/4″ (34 x 26.1cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
© 2012 Estate of Alfred Stieglitz / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) 'New York Series #22' 1976

 

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
New York Series #22
1976
Gelatin silver print
14 5/8 x 14 3/4″ (37.1 x 37.4cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of the Estate of Peter Hujar and James Danziger Gallery, New York
© 2012 Peter Hujar Archive

 

Peter Hujar (October 11, 1934 – November 26, 1987) was an American photographer known for his black and white portraits. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, United States. Hujar later moved to Manhattan to work in the magazine, advertising, and fashion industries. His subjects also consisted of farm animals and nudes. His most famous photograph is Candy Darling on Her Deathbed which was later used by the group Antony and the Johnsons as cover for their album I Am a Bird Now. The one-time lover, friend and mentor of artist David Wojnarowicz, Hujar died of AIDS complications on November 26, 1987, aged 53.

See the more photographs on the Peter Hujar Archive website

 

Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc. 'The Mount Everest of Manhattan: The Silvered Peak of the Chrysler Building' 1930

 

Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc.
The Mount Everest of Manhattan: The Silvered Peak of the Chrysler Building
1930
Gelatin silver print
8 3/4 x 6 13/16″ (22.3 x 17.3cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
The New York Times Collection

 

Walker Evans (American, 1903-1975) 'Girl in Fulton Street, New York 1929' 1929

 

Walker Evans (American, 1903-1975)
Girl in Fulton Street, New York 1929
1929
Gelatin silver print
7 1/2 x 4 5/8″ (19.1 x 11.7cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of the photographer

 

Lewis W. Hine (American, 1874–1940) 'Italian Family Looking for Lost Baggage, Ellis Island, New York' 1905

 

Lewis W. Hine (American, 1874-1940)
Italian Family Looking for Lost Baggage, Ellis Island, New York
1905
Gelatin silver print
5 9/16 x 4 5/16″ (14.1 x 10.9cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York

 

 

Art Gallery of Western Australia
Perth Cultural Centre, James Street Mall, Perth

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