Photographs

I went to The Museum of Modern Art recently to check out some of the new photography exhibitions. In addition to the stark repetition the Bechers’ work and some of my favorites from Diane Arbus there was a wonderful exhibition of vernacular photography. The snapshots by anonymous photographers all depict the shadow of the photographer. The photos are hung salon style with a variety of different frames, bringing to mind a Victorian parlor or a page taken from a vintage photo album. Seeing all these photographs together also made me think of one of the downsides of the advent of digital photography: mistakes like these are now easily and instantly deleted.

Keep your back to the sun. This is one of the basic rules of photography for obvious reasons. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your view of these things) this often led to the photographer inadvertently placing himself, or to be more specific, his shadow, into the picture. Sometimes it is apparent that this was intentional, with the photographer having a little creative fun by finding a way of inserting himself into the photograph while remaining behind the camera. The majority of the time though the shadow is unintentional, with the photographer concentrating on the subject in the view finder and not noticing the dark shape until after the prints were made. It’s kind of ironic, focusing on the subject and getting results that make the intended subject secondary. The shadow becomes the center of attention. The shadow becomes what the photograph is about. We no longer have a photograph of Sally playing in her own yard. We have a photograph of Sally being approached by a stranger in her own yard. The shadow of the photographer changes what is happening in the photograph. The results can be playful and lighthearted or an ominous and disconcerting dialogue between the subject and the unknown.

100 Shadows, an exhibition of anonymous photographs all depicting the shadow of the photographer, will be on display in the lobby of Jefferson Market through October.

Click through here for books on vernacular photography.

Recently the Milstein Division of U.S. History, Local History and Genealogy has acquired close to fifty books of historical photographs from locations across the United States. Photographic books are not uncommon but generally focus on large cities like Chicago, New York or Los Angeles. This series, however focuses on smaller cities like Omaha, Nebraska and Knoxville, Tennessee. Come visit us and take a look!

A new headquarters for The New York Times is being built on 8th Avenue between 40th and 41st Street. It is a 52 story building designed by the architect Renzo Piano. To document the construction of the tower is photographer Annie Leibovitz. The art project is titled “Building the Times: Photographs by Annie Leibovitz”.

http://nymag.com/

It is reminiscent of the photographs of the Empire State Building by Lewis Wickes Hine, as well as Margaret Bourke-White’s photos of the Chrysler Building.


Leibovitz’s is best known for her work at Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and Vogue. In 2005, her photos took the first two spots for the best magazine covers of the past 40 years by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

No.2 – Naked and pregnant Demi Moore holding her belly for Vanity Fair.
No.1 – Naked John Lennon curled around Yoko Ono for Rolling Stone.

To see the photographs for “Building the Times” go to: http://newyorktimesbuilding.com/leibovitz/

For information about the architecture of the building checkout the website for the Architectural Record at: http://www.archrecord.construction.com/features/0802nytimes/default.asp

Also the magazine article:

The New York Times Building, New York City. By Suzanne Stephens
“Architectural Record.” February 2008, pg. 94-105.

The Art Division owns several books on Annie Leibovitz and Renzo Piano, to view the records take a look at our online catalog: CATNYP