© 2019 Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD. All rights reserved.
Robert Frank, the influential Swiss-American photographer died yesterday at the age of 94. He was best known for his groundbreaking book, The Americans, which documented the people he met on his cross-country road trips in the mid-1950s. In black and white, … Continue reading
Graciela Iturbide, Mujer Ángel, Desierto de Sonora, México (Angel Woman, Sonora Desert, Mexico), 1979, Photograph from The New York Times.
From January 19th– May 12ththe Museum of Fine Arts in Boston will have Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico on view. Often compared to the literary style of Magic Realism epitomized in the work of Gabriel García Márquez, Iturbide’s work combines realism and fantasy. … Continue reading
Nan Goldin, Pain/Sackler, Royal College of Art, London, 2017, and Oxy Script, 2017.
Corporations and art museums have become more closely connected in recent decades because each benefit greatly from the alliance. The businesses and their owners enjoy good PR and tax write-offs, and the museums get the financial support that is so … Continue reading
Sharin Neshat, Video still from Rapture, 1999, Photo via Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY.
Born in Qazvin in Iran and educated in Berkeley, CA, Sharin Neshat creates images of the strong contrasts between Western and Islamic society as an invitation to open a dialog between the cultures. Neshat left Iran in 1975 to attend school and didn’t return … Continue reading
Wolfgang Tillmanns, Freischwimmer 190, 2011, color photograph (c-type print), 5'9" x 7'3", Photo by Yakshini via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License
If you are fortunate enough to visit London sometime between now and June 11th, visit the Tate Modern to see the exhibition of photographs by Wolfgang Tillmans. The artist, who is equally happy showing his work in fine art museums as he … Continue reading
Morton Broffman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. arrives in Montgomery, Alabama on March 25th 1965 at the culmination of the Selma to Montgomery March, 1965, silver gelatin print.
When I write about photographs, I typically discuss the work of art, or the object, but today I want to write about an image. This is an image of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. leading thousands of demonstrators from Selma, … Continue reading
Ansel Adams, Aspens, Northern New Mexico, Horizontal Aspens, 1958.
Photographs by the American master photographer Ansel Adams currently are on view at the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University. These iconic images are from the outstanding collection of Lynn and Tom Meredith. Adams is best known for his majestic … Continue reading
© 2015 Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD. All rights reserved.
American photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe (November 19, 1895 – December 11, 1989) is best known for her work in fashion. She photographed many covers for Harpers Bazaar working for Diana Vreeland. She preferred to work outdoors, which was novel at the … Continue reading
Mary Ellen Mark, Amanda and her Cousin Amy, North Carolina, 1990, gelatin silver print, Photo by J. Scott 2 via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.
The photographer Mary Ellen Mark passed away yesterday. Mark is best known for her arresting images of people who live on the edge. She paid the rent by photographing celebrities for Look and Life magazines, but it’s the photographs of … Continue reading
Diane Arbus, Eddie Carmel, Jewish Giant, taken at Home with His Parents in the Bronx, New York, 1970, Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Diane Arbus American Photographer Diane Nemerov was born to David Nemerov and Gertrude Russek Nemerov, owners of Russek’s, a Fifth Avenue department store, on March 14, 1923. She married her childhood sweetheart, Allan Arbus, in 1959 and they divorced in 1969. Arbus is … Continue reading
Robert Frank, Rodeo, New York City, 1955, gelatin silver print, 13” x 9 1/16”, Image via the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Sometimes an outsider’s perspective is keen. Born and raised in Switzerland, the photographer Robert Frank immigrated to the United States in 1947. Within 10 years, Frank’s initial optimism about the country soured as he roamed throughout the U.S. on a … Continue reading
Paul Strand, The White Fence, Port Kent, 1916, gelatin-silver print, 9 3/4
Paul Strand American Photographer Along with Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand (October 16, 1890 – March 31, 1976) made tremendous strides in establishing photography as a fine art. His modern-style photographs are noted for their sophisticated sense of composition, an absence of … Continue reading