Garry Winogrand at Jeu de Paume in Paris

[Trask]

I attended the opening of the new Garry Winogrand show at the Jeu de Paume museum in the Tuileries gardens in central Paris, and can report that it certainly gave me -- as someone who admires what can be accomplished by street photographers -- lots to think about. One of the organizers of the original show at SF-MOMA was in attendance, and told me that this Paris is show larger that what was recently shown in Washington D.C. because the JdP was able to offer more gallery space. The show is proposed in three parts, marking the early (NYC), middle and late (Los Angeles) periods of Winogrand's photography, and has a looped movie of an interview Winogrand in which he responds to questions from students about his photography and techniques. Many of the images from the Los Angeles/third era section are from negatives that Winogrand never saw, had never developed in some cases, as selected by curators and a photographer friend of Winogrand's. I must say that it struck me that Winogrand's early work was superior to what he produced in his later years, and it occurred to me that perhaps Winogrand, a native New Yorker, was most productive in that environment that he had grown up in. And it seems to me, based on other photographs taken in NYC (e.g., Smith), the city in the 1950's seemed to throw up photographically enticing photo opportunities at every turn, all hemmed in by and occurring among the towering buildings. Los Angeles is entirely different in terms of density, history, layout, light, attitude, and perhaps this difference shows that Winogrand was a product of, and most successful in, his original environment.

If you're planning to visit Paris in the next few months, put this on your list of must-see shows here. It will move on to Madrid after Paris.

 

[snapguy]

Could be

You could be right. On the other hand sometimes it takes someone from the outside to really see what is out there staring at you. I live in the desert and recently saw a photo of a desert yard, a humble home and a little cacti. A scene I walk or drive by every day. But the lady who took the photo saw something special and got a great image of it. I'd love to see the Winogrand exhibit. Maybe it will come to Barstow, California or somewhere close.

 

[Trask]

Perhaps it will make it to LA, given Winogrand's history there. There is a large museum-type book covering the exhibit, if you're into photography books.

 

[SuzanneR]

I recently saw this show at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and it was fantastic. The later work was processed and edited after he died in 1984, and there is some controversy surrounding how his pictures and film were processed, edited and printed. I thought some of the posthumous prints were a a little too clean and or crisp compared to the workman-like newspaper aesthetic of the prints that he either made or oversaw. Anyway, it's a great show, and glad to see a photographer receive such world-wide attention in so many museums, both here in the states and oversees. Glad you enjoyed it!