Baseball Cards, New York, 1955 Review of William Klein’s New York, Originally published in Image Magazine, Journal of Photography of the George Eastman House, September, 1957 By Minor White NEW YORK by William Klein. London, Photography Magazine, 1957. 195 pages, 189 illustrations. Captions separate. Raucous is the word for William Klein’s New York. Sensational in the […]
Two men dancing at a drag ball, N.Y.C. 1970. By Judith Butler, ArtForum, February, 2004 The Diane Arbus exhibition “Revelations,” currently (2004) showing at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, is not difficult to attend. The crowds that circled the block to see the major Marc Chagall exhibition earlier this fall are now quite […]
In the American West is a complicated stew composed of various ingredients. While Avedon certainly addresses Western myths and refers to the artists who visualized them, his photographs also act as social commentary and as an affirmation of his own photographic style. Stylistic Trials and Documentary Tribulations in Richard Avedon’s In the American West […]
It is hard now to remember what all the upset was about when they were new; hard to remember, for example, that when the Museum of Modern Art mounted an Arbus retrospective a year after her death, there were some viewers among the teeming crowds pressing into the museum to gawk at the freaks who […]
Half the time the photographers seemed not to have even looked through the camera. Far from seeking the perfect composition, the ‘decisive moment’, their work seemed curiously unfinished. It captured ‘indecisive’ rather than decisive moments. By Gerry Badger “Frank… and Klein brought to the decade a feeling for its woes which, in retrospect, synthesizes […]
Along with Berenice Abbott and Weegee, Lisette Model became a photographer of New York. The city–the place became very important to Model–even her portraits are uniquely anchored to place. By Elsa Dorfman, Ann Thomas on Lisette Model (Published by the National Gallery of Canada to accompany an exhibition of Model’s work which travelled in the […]
Ronald Fischer, Beekeeper, Davis, California, May 9, 1981 Initially drawn to actors, Avedon also sought out people with a highly cultivated sense of themselves as characters—subjects who could collaborate with him in the creation of an impromptu performance. By Maria Morris Hambourg and Mia Fineman Essay from the exhibition publication, Richard Avedon: Portraits (Harry N. […]
“It’s like a modern Aladdin’s Lamp, you rub it and, in this case the camera, you push the button and it gives you the things you want.” Click to Play (Right Click & Save to Download): “Weegee” MP3 by Weegee, 1958. From the 1958 LP “Famous Photographers Tell How” (Audio transcription by Erica […]
Diane Arbus’ Noah’s Ark of Humanity – A legendary photographer’s unfinished book By Randall Decoteau This article was written in response to the exhibit Diane Arbus: Family Albums at the Portland Museum of Art. In 1968, three years before her suicide, the great American photographer Diane Arbus (1923-1971) wrote that she was compiling her photographs […]
“I know every block, every sign-post, every cop, every beggar, every . . . everything.” Interview with Weegee and Mary Margaret McBride for station WEAF on July 11, 1945 ANNOUNCER: It’s one o’clock, and here transcribed is Mary Margaret McBride. MARY MARGARET MCBRIDE: Who’s always been madly in love with New York City, but […]
Untitled by Diane Arbus, New York, Aperture 1995 By Elsa Dorfman Originally published in The Women’s Review of Books, January 1996 Best known for her portraits of people who live on the margins of society – giants, midgets, freaks, transvestites, nudists – Diane Arbus is an undisputed master of photography. Her work is in every […]
Then she appeared at the door, and compared with my image of her, she might almost have been her own daughter. A Visit with Diane Arbus – On a Hot Summer Day in New York, One Month Before Her Death By Allan Porter On a hot, muggy afternoon in New York, I took a […]