I was uninterested in doing any photography work, so instead, I decided to visit a few photo exhibits throughout New York City. My first stop was at the Early Photojournalism exhibit at the L. Parker Stephenson Gallery, followed by Anton Corbjin Portraits at the Stellan Holm Gallery, and ended the day looking at Stieglitz, Steichen and Strand photographs at The Met.I don't want to ruin anyone's aspirations of visiting any of these places, but to the unknown gallery visitor, expect a small collection of photographs (20 or less) at the galleries aforementioned. The total time for these galleries were approximately two hours, with the most time spent at The Met. Here are a few highlights from my self-proclaimed photo tour:
L. Parker Stephenson - Early Photojournalism 1855-1945 on display until Dec. 10, 2010
- Robert Capa photographed a French collaborator being paraded through town, with a shaved head and a child in her arms
- Henri Cartier-Bresson photographed Children playing in Ruins in Seville ($75,000) -- its a typical photograph of kids playing... but I found the photograph to be interesting because of the "layering" of people (i counted 8) which creates a visual depth of field that takes your eyes from the forefront of the photograph to the back
- and, one piece was my absolute favorite! It was a photograph by Sebastiao Salgado who photographed a group of workers along a hillside that so-closely resembled an art farm (i wish i could find a picture of it online, but I can't)... But it may have been related to the Serra Perada Gold Mine series which I found some photographs on Flickr... The photograph was selling for $5,500.
- 10 photographs were exhibited here and all were being sold for $21,000. The one that was probably the most interesting to me, if any, was one of Lucian Freud. There are other photographs there of Alexander McQueen, Bruce Springsteen and Kate Moss.
- Anton is a Dutch photographer, film and music director who through photography established himself with portraits of artists such as David Bowie, Miles Davis, Bono, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Waits.; and is known for directing music videos for the likes of Depeche Mode, U2, and Nirvana to name a few.
- A brief Q&A with Anton Corbjin was written in The New York Times blog section, you can view by clicking here
The exhibit opened today (Nov. 10) and exhibits a collection of approximately 115 photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen and Paul Strand.
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz's collection included a large number of photographs of a painter, Georgia O'Keefe (who he later married), and a few selected works from the publication "Camera Work". The photos I found to be the most interesting of Georgia O'Keefe was titled "Torso" and "Hand". The Torso image reminded me of a Roman sculpture, while the Hand image made me think of a elegance (now, do we all unbutton our jackets like so?)... After coming home and reading more about Stieglitz, I read this on The Met's website pertaining to the images of his wife, Georgia O'Keefe:
"His refusal to encapsulate her personality into a single image was consistent with several modernist ideas: the idea of the fragmented sense of self, brought about by the rapid pace of modern life; the idea that a personality, like the outside world, is constantly changing, and may be interrupted but not halted by the intervention of the camera; and, finally, the realization that truth in the modern world is relative and that photographs are as much an expression of the photographer's feelings for the subject as they are a reflection of the subject depicted"
images from The Met online library
Edward Steichen
- J. Pierpont Morgan Portrait, January 1903 -- this is one of the most famous photographs that Steichen took during his career. Steichen was asked to photograph J.P. Morgan by the German painter Fedor Encke whose request was to minimize the sitting time required by the busy subject, Morgan. Within two-three minutes, he took two photos and the image you see below is the second photo that Steichen took for himself... I remember seeing this image a LONG time ago, and after hearing the story behind it -- it just made me chuckle. If you did not know, JP Morgan was a financier, owned the railroads and also known as a "Robber Barron" during his time. In an article at the Smithsonian, he was called a "Cutthroat Capitalist" ... and if you see the photo below -- do you see an "illusion of a dagger?" -- Its not really a dagger, rather the arm of the chair that JP Morgan had his hands around. For more of the story, you can read the article at the Smithsonian, by clicking here.
(L) Description of J.P. Morgan Photo, (R) J.P. Morgan
photo taken with the iphone
- Autochromes - Autochrome is a one-of-a-kind color transparency composed of minute grains of potato starch dyed red, blue and green. Due to the sensitivity of the autochromes, only fascimiles were available for viewing, the originals will be available for viewing from Jan. 25 to Jan. 30, 2011. These autochromes were created by Steichen (but owned by the Stieglitz collection).
(L) Autochromes description, (R) Autochrome of Stieglitz
photo taken with the iphone
(L) Autochromes description of Mrs. Selma Schubert, (R) Autochrome of Stieglitz's Younger Sister
photo taken with the iphone
photo taken with the iphone
Paul Strand
Many of Paul Strand's photographs were of people, buildings and the streets. Sad to say, but after walking away from this exhibit, I remember very little of his photographic works. So to be fair, I revisited The Met website and have included a photo that Paul Strand was known for.
Many of Paul Strand's photographs were of people, buildings and the streets. Sad to say, but after walking away from this exhibit, I remember very little of his photographic works. So to be fair, I revisited The Met website and have included a photo that Paul Strand was known for.
image from The Met online library
If you're unable to visit The Met, click the link here to view the collection online (not as nice as physically seeing it in person, but gives you an idea).On a side note, as you leave the exhibit (if your facing the museum gift store), turn right -- walk down the ramp, and on your left you will see a daguerreotype print that is in very good condition. It was produced by Robert Vance.
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