Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Garry Winogrand Retrospective

I had the very good fortune to view the Garry Winogrand retrospective that is currently on exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington D.C. The show originated in San Fransisco, and after Washington will travel to the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, then on to Paris and Madrid. Presented as part of the exhibit in Washington was a twenty minute video excerpted from a talk that Winogrand gave at Rice University in Texas. I first found the excerpt on YouTube, but after some searching discovered the entire talk. Winogrand is very outspoken about his estimation of Robert Frank and Walker Evans, and about his disdain for Bruce Davidson - which was fascinating to discover. There are gems and jewels throughout the more than 100 minutes of the video, well worth the investment of time to watch.

There is an extensive book available on Amazon covering the show, but as usual, actually seeing the actual prints in the show is a much more moving experience. There are images in the book that were less than impressive, but the actual prints look much more dramatic. And after seeing the video I understand how drama and visual poetry play an integral role in Winogrand's work.

Last week while visiting one of my usual spots for street photography, I ran into a fellow streettog and we both saw the same image at the same time. Interesting how different our takes on the moment were. Here's mine -




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