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

Exhibition dates: 28th June – 2nd October 2022

Curator: Karen Hellman, assistant curator in the Department of Photographs.

 

Maker unknown (American) 'Phonograph Demonstration' about 1900-1905

 

Maker unknown (American)
Phonograph Demonstration
about 1900-1905
Gelatin silver print
27 × 37.1cm (10 5/8 × 14 5/8 in)
Getty Museum

 

 

“Sometimes theory leads to an over determination. Something is gained but at a price. Finding images that evoke a sound can only be saved by paying the higher price of remembering how images look when their sound is removed.”

~ Ian Lobb


From my knowledge of photography, I have added further images that I can hear … but not in the exhibition that I know of. You may like to recall other photographs that you could include in the exhibition.

Dr Marcus Bunyan


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

 

 

Though photographs are silent, photographers have long conjured sound in their images. Whether depicting crowded urban spaces, musicians performing, people engaged in conversations, or even more abstract depictions of sound, the pictures in this exhibition show photography’s power to communicate beyond the visual. The images date from the 19th century to the recent past, and in each, the audible plays as much of a role as the visual. As you look at these photographs, you are invited to imagine what you might “hear” as well.

Text from the J. Paul Getty Museum website

 

Florence Henri (American, 1893-1982) 'Columbia Records' 1931

 

Florence Henri (American, 1893-1982)
Columbia Records
1931
Gelatin silver print
24.8 × 39.1cm (9 3/4 × 15 3/8 in)
Getty Museum
© Martini & Ronchetti, courtesy Archives Florence Henri

 

Gjon Mili (American born Albania, 1904-1984) 'Tap Dancer, September 29, 1949' 1949

 

Gjon Mili (American born Albania, 1904-1984)
Tap Dancer, September 29, 1949
1949
Gelatin silver print
33.8 × 26cm (13 5/16 × 10 1/4 in)
Getty Museum
© Gjon Mili / The LIFE Picture Collection / Shutterstock

 

 

Photographs may be silent, but photographers have long conjured sound in their images.

Whether depicting crowded urban spaces, musicians performing, or people engaged in conversation, the pictures in this exhibition prove photography’s power to communicate beyond the visual.

Drawn from Getty’s permanent collection, In Focus: Sound, on view June 28 through September 2, 2022, unites two sensory perceptions – sight and sound – in photographs that record the visual while also imitating the audible.

“Photography and sound have more in common than one might expect,” says Karen Hellman, curator of the exhibition. “Photographs can evoke a sensory perception that they cannot actually depict. Looking at photographs while thinking about sound could provide a new way of viewing and appreciating photography.”

The 19th century saw a keen scientific and philosophical interest in reproducing ephemeral phenomena. This led to the development of the photograph as well as the phonograph. This interlinked history perhaps explains photography’s connection to sound and why photographers, even subconsciously, have endeavoured to picture it. In each image in this exhibition, which date from the 19th century to the recent past, the audible plays as much of a role as the visual.

This exhibition includes works by known and lesser-known makers from the 19th century to the recent past, including Julia Margaret Cameron, Walker Evans, Man Ray, Graciela Iturbide, Marco Breuer, Naoya Hatakeyama, and Christian Marclay.

In Focus: Sound will be on view June 28 through September 2, 2022, at the Getty Center.

Text from the J. Paul Getty Museum website

 

Naoya Hatakeyama (Japanese, b. 1958) 'Blast #0608' 1995

 

Naoya Hatakeyama (Japanese, b. 1958)
Blast #0608
1995
Chromogenic print
Getty Museum
Gift of James N. and Susan A. Phillips
© Naoya Hatakeyama

 

Man Ray (American, 1890-1976) 'Record' 1933

 

Man Ray (American, 1890-1976)
Record
1933
Gelatin silver print
28.9 × 22.5cm (11 3/8 × 8 7/8 in)
Getty Museum
© Man Ray Trust ARS-ADAGP

 

Albert Harlingue (French,1879-1963) 'Abbot Rousselot's Collection of Tuning Forks' about 1924

 

Albert Harlingue (French,1879-1963)
Abbot Rousselot’s Collection of Tuning Forks
about 1924
Gelatin silver print
17.9 × 12.7cm (7 1/16 × 5 in)
Getty Museum

 

Julia Margaret Cameron (British born India,1815-1879) 'The Echo' 1868

 

Julia Margaret Cameron (British born India,1815-1879)
The Echo
1868
Albumen silver print
27.1 × 22.7cm (10 11/16 × 8 15/16 in)
Getty Museum

 

Milton Rogovin (American,1909-2011) 'Storefront Churches' 1958-1961

 

Milton Rogovin (American,1909-2011)
Storefront Churches
1958-1961
Gelatin silver print
12.5 × 12cm (4 15/16 × 4 3/4 in.)
Getty Museum
Gift of Dr. John V. and Laura M. Knaus
© Milton Rogovin

 

Carrie Mae Weems (American, b. 1953) 'Untitled (Musical Score of "God Bless the Child")' 1995

 

Carrie Mae Weems (American, b. 1953)
Untitled (Musical Score of “God Bless the Child”)
1995
From the series From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried
Chromogenic print with sandblasted musical notations on frame glass
45.6 × 45.6cm (17 15/16 × 17 15/16 in)
Getty Museum
Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon in honour of Weston Naef
© Carrie Mae Weems

 

Will Connell (American, 1898-1961) 'Sound' 1936

 

Will Connell (American, 1898-1961)
Sound
1936
Gelatin silver print
34.2 × 26.7cm (13 7/16 × 10 1/2 in)
Getty Museum
Gift of Trish and Jan de Bont
© Will Connell

 

Lisette Model (American born Austria, 1901-1983) '[Singer, Sammy's Bar, New York]' about 1940-1944

 

Lisette Model (American born Austria, 1901-1983)
[Singer, Sammy’s Bar, New York]
about 1940-1944
Gelatin silver print
Getty Museum
© Estate of Lisette Model, courtesy of Baudoin Lebon/Keitelman

 

“Bowery old-timers claim her voice has had no match for power and ferocity since Maggie Cline used to stun with “Knock ‘Em Down McCloskey”.”

The uncredited text, referring to this photograph of the bar singer known as “Tillie,” accompanied a group of Lisette Model’s photographs made at Sammy’s Bar that were reproduced in the September 1994 Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Taken from below and at a slight diagonal angle, the image captures the vitality and vibrancy of the performer belting it out on the stage at Sammy’s, a local favourite in the Bowery district of New York, also visited by photographers Weegee and Diane Arbus. The angle from which the photograph was made also emphasises the gleaming microphone, which seem to rise up to meet the challenge of projecting Tillie’s already powerful voice.

Text from the J. Paul Getty app

 

Ralph Eugene Meatyard (American, 1925-1972) 'Untitled ("Motion-Sound" Landscape)' Negative 1969

 

Ralph Eugene Meatyard (American, 1925-1972)
Untitled (“Motion-Sound” Landscape)
Negative 1969, printed 1974
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Weston J. and Mary M. Naef
©  Estate of Ralph Eugene Meatyard

 

Christian Marclay (American-Swiss, b. 1955) 'Untitled (Death)' 2020

 

Christian Marclay (American-Swiss, b. 1955)
Untitled (Death)
2020
Chromogenic print
Courtesy of the artist, and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
© Christian Marclay

 

Further images that I can hear … but not in the exhibition that I know of

 

Tracey Moffatt (Australian, b. 1960) 'The Movie Star (David Gulpilil)' 1985

 

Tracey Moffatt (Australian, b. 1960)
The Movie Star (David Gulpilil)
1985
Type C photograph on paper
Image: 50.7 x 77.3cm
Frame: 74.5 x 99.0cm
Gift of the artist 1998. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program
Courtesy of the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
© Tracey Moffatt

 

Marion Kalter (Austrian, b. 1951) 'John Cage chez Dorothea Tanning, Paris' 1979

 

Marion Kalter (Austrian, b. 1951)
John Cage chez Dorothea Tanning, Paris

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Studio 54' 1977

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Studio 54, New York City
May 1977
Silver gelatin print

 

Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946) 'Songs of the Sky' 1924

 

Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946)
Songs of the Sky
1924
Gelatin silver print

 

Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946) 'Songs of the Sky' 1924

 

Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946)
Songs of the Sky
1924
Gelatin silver print

 

Eva Besnyö (Dutch, 1910-2003) 'Boy With Cello, Balaton, Hungary' 1931

 

Eva Besnyö (Dutch, 1910-2003)
Boy With Cello, Balaton, Hungary
1931
Gelatin silver print
42.5 x 39.2cm (16.7 x 15.4 in)

 

Arnold Newman (American, 1918-2006) 'Igor Stravinsky' 1945

 

Arnold Newman (American, 1918-2006)
Igor Stravinsky
1945
Gelatin silver contact sheet

 

Santu Mofokeng (South African, b. 1956) 'Opening Song, Hand Clapping and Bells' 1986

 

Santu Mofokeng (South African, b. 1956)
Opening Song, Hand Clapping and Bells
1986
From the series Train Church
Gelatin silver print
Image: 19 x 28.5cm

 

Minor White (American, 1908-1976) 'The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Pultneyville, New York' 1957

 

Minor White (American, 1908-1976)
The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Pultneyville, New York
1957
Gelatin silver print
24.4 x 25.1cm (9 5/8 x 9 7/8 in.)
Purchased in part with funds provided by Daniel Greenberg, Susan Steinhauser, and the Greenberg Foundation
Reproduced with permission of the Minor White Archive, Princeton University Art Museum
© Trustees of Princeton University

 

Eugène Atget (French, 1857-1927) 'Street diversions (or B organ)' 1898-1899

 

Eugène Atget (French, 1857-1927)
Street diversions (or B organ)
1898-1899
Albumen print

 

Walker Evans. 'Church Organ and Pews' 1936

 

Walker Evans (Walker Evans, 1903-1975)
Church Organ and Pews
1936
Gelatin silver print

 

Robert Frank. 'Bar, Las Vegas' 1955-1956

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Bar, Las Vegas
1955-1956
Gelatin silver print

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019) 'Political Rally, Chicago' 1956

 

Robert Frank (Swiss-American, 1924-2019)
Political Rally, Chicago
1956
Gelatin silver print
35.1 x 23.7cm (13 13/16 x 9 5/16 in)

 

André Kertész (Hungarian, 1894-1985) 'Cellist' 1916

 

André Kertész (Hungarian, 1894-1985)
Cellist
1916
Gelatin silver print

 

André Kertész (Hungarian, 1894-1985) 'Violoniste ambulant, Abony' (Traveling violinist, Abony) 1921

 

André Kertész (Hungarian, 1894-1985)
Violoniste ambulant, Abony
Traveling violinist, Abony
1921
Gelatin silver print

 

André Kertész (Hungarian, 1894-1985) 'Eiffel Tower, Summer Storm' 1927

 

André Kertész (Hungarian, 1894-1985)
Eiffel Tower, Summer Storm
1927
Gelatin silver print

 

Platt D Babbitt. 'Niagara Falls from the American side' whole plate daguerreotype c.1855

 

Platt D Babbitt (American, 1822-1879)
Niagara Falls from the American side
c. 1855
Whole plate daguerreotype

 

Platt D. Babbitt. '[Scene at Niagara Falls]' c. 1855

 

Platt D Babbitt (American, 1822-1879)
[Scene at Niagara Falls]
c. 1855
Daguerreotype

 

Platt D. Babbitt. 'Niagara Falls', c. 1860

 

Platt D Babbitt (American, 1822-1879)
Niagara Falls
c. 1860
Daguerreotype

 

Henri Huet (French, 1927-1971)/AP ''Life' magazine photographer Larry Burrows (far left) struggles through elephant grass and the rotor wash of an American evacuation helicopter as he helps GIs carry a wounded soldier on a stretcher from the jungle to the chopper in Mimot, Cambodia' 4 May 1970

 

Henri Huet (French, 1927-1971)/AP
‘Life’ magazine photographer Larry Burrows (far left) struggles through elephant grass and the rotor wash of an American evacuation helicopter as he helps GIs carry a wounded soldier on a stretcher from the jungle to the chopper in Mimot, Cambodia
4 May 1970
Gelatin silver print

 

Henri Huet, French (1927-1971) 'The body of an American paratrooper killed in action in the jungle near the Cambodian border is raised up to an evacuation helicopter, Vietnam' 1966

 

Henri Huet (French, 1927-1971)
The body of an American paratrooper killed in action in the jungle near the Cambodian border is raised up to an evacuation helicopter, Vietnam
1966
Gelatin silver print

 

James Barnor (Ghanian, b. 1929) 'E. K. Nyame, the legendary Ghanaian musician, photographed for a record cover, Accra' c. 1975

 

James Barnor (Ghanian, b. 1929)
E. K. Nyame, the legendary Ghanaian musician, photographed for a record cover, Accra
c. 1975
Gelatin silver print

 

Roger Scott (Australian, b. 1944) 'Ghost train' 1972

 

Roger Scott (Australian, b. 1944)
Ghost train
1972
Gelatin silver print

 

Diane Arbus. ‘The House of Horrors’ 1961

 

Diane Arbus (American, 1923-1971)
The House of Horrors
1961
Gelatin silver print

 

Diane Arbus (American, 1923-1971) 'A child crying, N.J.' 1967

 

Diane Arbus (American, 1923-1971)
A child crying, N.J.
1967
Gelatin silver print

 

Stephen Shore (American, b. 1947) 'Lookout Hotel, Ogunquit, Maine, July 16, 1974'

 

Stephen Shore (American, b. 1947)
Lookout Hotel, Ogunquit, Maine, July 16, 1974
1974
Chromogenic colour print, printed 2013
17 × 21 3/4 in. (43.2 × 55.2cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Acquired through the generosity of an anonymous donor
© 2017 Stephen Shore

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006) 'Shooting Victim in Cook County Morgue, Chicago, Illinois' 1957

 

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)
Shooting Victim in Cook County Morgue, Chicago, Illinois
1957
Pigmented inkjet print, printed 2019
11 7/8 × 17 15/16″ (30.1 × 45.6cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Family of Man Fund
© 2021 Gordon Parks Foundation

 

Robert H. Jackson (American, born 1934) 'FATAL BULLET HITS OSWALD. Jack Ruby fires bullet point blank into the body of Lee Harvey Oswald at Dallas Police Station. Oswald grimaces in agony' November 24, 1963

 

Robert H. Jackson (American, born 1934)
FATAL BULLET HITS OSWALD. Jack Ruby fires bullet point blank into the body of Lee Harvey Oswald at Dallas Police Station. Oswald grimaces in agony
November 24, 1963

 

Robert H. Jackson (American, b. 1934) 'Jack Ruby (52) shoots Lee Harvey Oswald (24) 24 November 1963' 1963

 

Robert H. Jackson (American, b. 1934)
Jack Ruby (52) shoots Lee Harvey Oswald (24)
24 November 1963

 

Originally published in the Dallas Times Herald, November 25, 1963. Cropped from the source image to the portion that was published in 1963. Winner of the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Photography.

 

Unknown photographer. 'Survivors of the atomic bomb attack of Nagasaki walk through the destruction as fire rages in the background Aug. 9 1945'

 

Unknown photographer
Survivors of the atomic bomb attack of Nagasaki walk through the destruction as fire rages in the background Aug. 9 1945
1945

 

John Williams (1933- 2016) 'Open Air Shower, Bronte Beach' 1964

 

John Williams (Australian, 1933-2016)
Open Air Shower, Bronte Beach
1964
Gelatin silver print

 

Dorothea Lange (American, 1895-1965) 'Man Stepping from Cable Car, San Francisco' 1956

 

Dorothea Lange (American, 1895-1965)
Man Stepping from Cable Car, San Francisco
1956
Gelatin silver print

 

Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984) 'Upper Yosemite Fall' 1946

 

Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984)
Upper Yosemite Fall
1946
Gelatin silver print

 

Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984) 'Nevada Fall Profile' 1946

 

Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984)
Nevada Fall Profile
1946
Gelatin silver print

 

Kaho Yu (Australian) 'Untitled' from the series 'Infinitesimal Residual Vibration of An Unknown Sound' 2009-2011

 

Kaho Yu (Australian)
Untitled from the series Infinitesimal Residual Vibration of An Unknown Sound
2009-2011

 

Kaho Yu (Australian) 'Untitled' from the series 'Infinitesimal Residual Vibration of An Unknown Sound' 2009-2011

 

Kaho Yu (Australian)
Untitled from the series Infinitesimal Residual Vibration of An Unknown Sound
2009-2011

 

The photographs in this series were taken during a period when I was feeling existentially bored. Instead of distracting myself with activities and accumulating new sensations, I decided to “look” at boredom, to study, and perhaps to understand it. The most natural strategy was to observe the immediate environments where my daily activities take place – train stations, cubicles, copy machines room, etc. I carried a medium format camera on a tripod and spent the odd hours wandering alone through those familiar spaces.

My “study” did not lead me to any revelation or answer. Instead, I found myself spending a lot of time waiting in a long silence, between the opening and the closing of the camera shutter.

Charles Babbage, a scientist in 1837, postulated that every voice and sound, once imparted on the air particles, does not dissipate but remains in the diffused movements of all the particles in the atmosphere. Thus, there might one day come a person equipped with the right mathematical knowledge of these motions who will be able to capture the infinitesimal vibrations and to trace back to their ultimate source.

Taking a long exposure, letting the light slowly accumulate an image on the celluloid surface, to me, is not unlike a sound seeker searching in the air particles, for the tiny residual movements that have been conveyed through the history of mankind, from the beginning of time.

Kaho Yu artist statement

 

… i listen to the wind that obliterates my traces

 

 

… i listen to the wind that obliterates my traces brings together a collection of early photographs related to music, a group of 78rpm recordings, and short excerpts from various literary sources that are contemporary with the sound and images. It is a somewhat intuitive gathering, culled from artist Steve Roden’s collection of thousands of vernacular photographs related to music, sound, and listening. The subjects range from the PT Barnum-esque Professor McRea – “Ontario’s Musical Wonder” (pictured with his complex sculptural one man band contraption) – to anonymous African-American guitar players and images of early phonographs. The images range from professional portraits to ethereal, accidental, double exposures – and include a range of photographic print processes, such as tintypes, ambrotypes, cdvs, cabinet cards, real photo postcards, albumen prints, and turn-of-the-century snapshots.

The two CDs display a variety of recordings, including one-off amateur recordings, regular commercial releases, and early sound effects records. there is no narrative structure to the book, but the collision of literary quotes (Hamsun, Lagarkvist, Wordsworth, Nabokov, etc.). Recordings and images conspire towards a consistent mood that is anchored by the book’s title, which binds such disparate things as an early recording of an American cowboy ballad, a poem by a Swedish Nobel laureate, a recording of crickets created artificially, and an image of an itinerant anonymous woman sitting in a field, playing a guitar. The book also contains an essay by Roden.

Text from the Dust to Digital website Nd [Online] Cited 23/07/2022. Published by Dust-to-Digital, 2011. The book is out of stock but available on Abe.com website.

 

'... i listen to the wind that obliterates my traces' book cover (2011)

 

… i listen to the wind that obliterates my traces book cover (2011)

 

 

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Artist in focus: Larry Fink

April 2015

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Peter Beard's, East Hampton', from the portfolio '82 Photographs 1974 to 1982' 1982; printed 1983

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Peter Beard’s, East Hampton, from the portfolio 82 Photographs 1974 to 1982

1982; printed 1983
Silver gelatin print

 

 

Hands / Class – Tree, Surface, Root

These are magnificent photographs. Fink’s mastery of the picture plane, ensemble, mise-en-scène, chiaroscuro is outstanding. But for me it is the attitude of the hands that make these photographs. Reaching, holding (usually the bodies of women), clasping, upturned, crotch grabbing, oversized, limp, clenched and gesticulating – in more of less every photograph it is the positioning of the hands that are the focus of my attention, and their relation to the social class of the proponent. The hedonism of Studio 54, the snobbishness of the benefits at MoMA and Corcoran Museum, and the Russian and Hungarian balls with their icy coolness and sidelong glances, all played off against the working class birthday parties of Pat Sabatine.

I spoke to my friend and mentor Ian Lobb about these photographs and we had a lively discussion:

MB: What do you think of the work of Larry Fink?

IL: The image of the child holding up his hand was on the cover of the second (?) Larry fink monograph. They are OK, but not great.

I have a rule: “The closer we get to the origin the more options we have.” But Larry is building on heaps of people – Winogrand, Mark Cohen etc, and earlier. And when that happens it really needs to be BUILT to be a success for the viewer. But he is just adding a bit. Its good, OK work. It’s mainly referencing stuff though. I can’t see anyone building on what he has done, a worker would have to go down the tree to a point before him to progress again.

Photography is pretty much fantastic before the fact, so things can look pretty good if it just happens. The process is so different from the reproduction of music that keeps trying to return to an original – photography has done that, but then runs tangential ideas where there can be flash and frozen time and no colour etc…

MB: I can understand what you are saying Ian … even though I don’t necessarily agree!

There is an essay I have just read as part of a Joan Fontcuberta book (“The Right Distance,” in Joan Fontcuberta. Pandora’s Camera: Photogr@phy after Photography. Mack, 2014, pp. 143-150). It’s interesting what he has to say about the “distance” of the photographer from the object… long distance landscape (in Victorian times… Muybridge, Carelton Watkins), long distance city (Marville) – the infinite sublime I call it – coming closer with Atget (parts of doors, stairs, closer engagement) and Blossfeldt – and then the avant-garde in the 1920s with the dissolution of far near into near far… followed by New Topographics and the griding of space, the regimentation and delineation of an even narrower point of view, both aesthetically and objectively.

I am paraphrasing but that is what he says anyway. It makes sense in one way. But in another we do not have to be either / or – near / far. Nor do we have to be “new” every time we take a photograph.

What I am arguing is that you do not always have to reinvent the wheel, in answer to your observation that you have to go back down the tree. Nothing is ever new and sometimes, as with the photography of Fink, it is the gesture that is enough for me – that human gesture that will never happen again exactly in that form. I am still in wonder of that moment, of the child’s raised hand (Pat Sabatine’s 8th Birthday Party). I don’t really care that people have done it before, they have never captured that moment, that precise gesture before… and it is still beautiful to me. The apple never falls far from the tree.

IL: A good term Marcus: the infinite sublime.

Fontcuberta understands it very well – mainly because it could be applied to the best of his pictures in terms of the continual involvement that some of them generate. As I said, the Larry Finks are OK. Have you seen the YouTube about Joel Sternfeld photographing in NY? He is literally right in peoples faces, and yet they don’t even seem to notice him. I’d like to see one of Larry Fink with his flash in these small rooms and intimate spaces.

What I can say is that some smart person will invent the term that distinguishes between the surface aesthetic of the digital and analogue print. There is such “value” in the display here [of Fink’s work], that would not mean the same in a digital print. Why? The analogue look could even be faked to fool everyone I suppose. Even with these, the surface would fall apart @ about 19″ sq and it would all be lost.

MB: It is the surface aesthetic Ian, but it goes deeper than that. I saw the Richard Avedon exhibition up at The Ian Potter Museum of Art were his negatives were blown up to enormous size and digitally printed… and they just didn’t work. There is a containment of energy within a classical analogue black and white photograph that the surface of a digital print cannot capture, yes, but in a good analogue photograph there is also an emotional depth that seems to transcend surface…. and as yet, digital photographs rarely approach this state of being. What would be a word that evinces surface and psychological depth at one and the same time?

Dr Marcus Bunyan


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

 

 

Larry Fink is a prominent American photographer who is best known for capturing images of high-profile social events. Fink’s images from the 1970s and 1980s capture individual vignettes within social gatherings, and nod to the development of documentary photography within the image-driven culture of the second half of the twentieth century. Some of the photographs below are from Fink’s series 82 Photographs 1974 to 1982 and Making Out 1957 – 1980 and depict scenes from clubs and parties in and around New York City. Fink’s subjects are caught off-guard by his camera, and their expressions provide windows into their weariness or giddy party euphoria. Capturing groups and individuals at surprisingly intimate and vulnerable moments, his photographs subtly reveal the disconnect often found between a subject’s public image and his or her inner self. For example, in Peter Beard’s, East Hampton, Fink captures a dynamic group of people in various levels of engagement with one another. While some are intertwined, others glance outward to the party beyond, having seemingly lost interest in the gathering at hand.

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'John Sabatine and Molly' 1980

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
John Sabatine and Molly
1980
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Jean Sabatine and Molly' 1983

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Jean Sabatine and Molly
1983
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'N.Y.C. Club Cornich', from the portfolio '82 Photographs 1974 to 1982' 1977; printed 1983

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
N.Y.C. Club Cornich, from the portfolio 82 Photographs 1974 to 1982
1977; printed 1983
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'N.Y.C. Club Cornich', from the portfolio '82 Photographs 1974 to 1982' 1977; printed 1983

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
N.Y.C. Club Cornich, from the portfolio 82 Photographs 1974 to 1982
1977; printed 1983
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Benefit, Corcoran Museum, Washington DC' 1975

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Benefit, Corcoran Museum, Washington DC
1975
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Benefit, Corcoran Museum, Washington DC' 1975

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Benefit, Corcoran Museum, Washington DC
1975
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Benefit, MoMA, New York' 1977

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Benefit, MoMA, New York
1977
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'ICP Peter Beard Opening' 1977

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
ICP Peter Beard Opening
1977
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Oslin's Graduation Party' 1977

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Oslin’s Graduation Party
1977
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Oslin's Graduation Party' June 1977

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Oslin’s Graduation Party
June 1977
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Studio 54' 1977

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Studio 54
1977
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Studio 54, New York City' May 1977

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Studio 54, New York City
May 1977
Silver gelatin print

 

Shore writes that the four ways, “in which the world in front of the camera is transformed into the photograph” are flatness, frame, time, and focus. Fink was aware of these attributes of photography and used them to define the picture’s content and structure. (The depictive level)

Shore, Stephen. The Nature of Photographs. John Hopkins University Press, 1998 quoted by Tyler Brennan Reiss, October 16, 2013.

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Studio 54, New York City' May 1977

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Studio 54, New York City
May 1977
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Studio 54, New York City' May 1977

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Studio 54, New York City
May 1977
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Washington DC' 1975

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Washington DC
1975
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) '2nd Hungarian Ball' 1978

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
2nd Hungarian Ball
1978
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Russian Ball, New York' 1976

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Russian Ball, New York
1976
Silver gelatin print

 

“Sometimes you’re invited to a big ball and for months you think about how glamorous and exciting it’s going to be. Then you fly to Europe and you go to the ball and when you think back on it a couple of months later what you remember is maybe the car ride to the ball, you can’t remember the ball at all. Sometimes the little times you don’t think are anything while they’re happening turn out to be what marks a whole period of your life. I should have been dreaming for months about the car ride to the ball and getting dressed for the car ride, and buying my ticket to Europe so I could take the car ride. Then, who knows, maybe I could have remembered the ball.”

~ Andy Warhol

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Russian Ball, New York City' 1976

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Russian Ball, New York City
1976
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Pat Sabatine's 8th Birthday Party' 1977

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Pat Sabatine’s 8th Birthday Party
1977
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Pat Sabatine's 11th Birthday Party' 1980

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Pat Sabatine’s 11th Birthday Party
1980
Silver gelatin print

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023) 'Skating Rink' 1980

 

Larry Fink (American, 1941-2023)
Skating Rink
1980
Silver gelatin print

 

 

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