Today I was lucky enough to be invited to a preview of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s newest special-exhibition, “Street Seen”. A more detailed report will follow later tonight, or tomorrow a.m., but for now, know this: Lisa Hostetler knows what she’s doing.
Ms. Hostetler’s put together a great exhibition, exploring the development in street photography in the American post-World War II years. Below are a few snapshots from the walk-through Lisa gave…
01-28-10, 6:54 a.m. Updated
“Street Seen“, as described by curator, Lisa Hostetler, is about photographers using the “camera as expressive medium, not documentary”; the photographers “combine the power of photojournalism with personal perspectives”. These ideas are quite evident in the exhibit. Hostetler “sets the stage” by showing some classic World War II-era photographs (Capa, Smith) that demonstrate classic LIFE-style documentary photography. Those photos then lead into Lissette Model’s “Reflections” and “Moving Feet” images. Viewers can see how photographers were moving away from strict documentary techniques and towards “expressive documentary” techniques. Through camera techniques (slow shutter speeds, camera movement, and unusual viewpoints) and darkroom manipulations (over-processing of the films, montages, and multiple exposures), the photographers were trying as hard to capture visions of themselves and their emotional states, as they were of the scenes before their eyes.
The roll-call of exhibited photographers sounds like the table-of-contents for a modern photo-history textbook. Ted Croner, Lissette Model, Robert Frank, Louis Faurer, William Klein, and Saul Leiter are the featured photographers. Works by Eugene Smith, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Margaret Bourke-White, Walker Evans, Helen Levitt, and Weegee are also shown. It really is a great overview of post-WW II street photography.
Standout images for me were:
–Lissette Model’s “Window Reflections, 1940” (the “S”+mens’ hats shot)
–Louis Faurer’s “Champion, NY, NY, 1949-50” (such nervousness and hope and worry on his face)
–Ted Croner’s “New York, 1947” (man-o-man, guys knew how to dress back in the 40s-50s)
–Saul Leiter’s “Canopy, 1958” (always a classic composition with its intense use of negative space)
–William Klein’s “Christmas Shopping, Macy’s, New York, 1954” (grainy, gritty; showing the street bustle well)
–Robert Frank’s “Lena is through working. It is 3 PM and she will go home soon” (very cool to see some pre-The Americans images!)
The exhibit members preview is tonight, THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2010 and it’s worth noting that featured photographer, Saul Leiter will be present for the opening!
Also worth mentioning is the catalogue for this show. It is an excellent production. Large reproductions of the photos and a lot of in-depth examination of the images; I can’t wait to read it!
Their are a number of education/outreach programs being run alongside this exhibit. They include: a book salon, a date night, a MAM After Dark event, an evening symposium, a conservation seminar, an artist talk with Phillip Lorca-diCorcia (a famous, current street-photographer) (I’m most excited about this talk!), numerous gallery-talks, and a pair of film noir screenings (the classic Double Indemnity and The Big Sleep). You can find more info about these events HERE.
