I visited both the Käsebier and Baltz exhibits today. The Käsebier show was a bit of a letdown. The Sioux Indian portraits are not really her strongest work--artistically or technically. Part of the problem was the Ripley Gallery--it's a poorly lit cavernous space and didn't serve the intimately-sized images (WP and smaller) very well. The portraits were mostly shot in Käsebier's NY studio on a single day, and while she managed to get some nice shots--the quality was uneven and it was clear the session was rushed. The promised historical camera and studio equipment was nowhere to be found. The exhibit is worth going to, but not going out of your way to see. I felt like the curation and presentation weren't as strong as they could have been.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed the Lewis Baltz exhibit at the NGA. The photographs are very formal and precise expressions of the New Topographic movement, but also influenced by abstraction and minimalism. The exhibit is mostly silver gelatin prints--looking like 8x10 contact prints or possibly medium format enlargements--in any case the print quality is very rich. The curation was nicely done, although I disliked the inclusion of a room-sized mural from Baltz's later work.
