5/5/2001
Open City
Moma, Oxford
Street Photographs 1950-2000 begins at the point at which photographers began to make work that was in part a reaction to this established vocabulary, and at the same time a continuation and extension of its tradition. The exhibition will begin with the striking photographs made in the 1950s by Robert Frank, Roy DeCarava and William Klein, as well as Tazio Secchiaroli, one of the first paparazzi.
Working in the street has always been one of the key activities of
photographers, but since the invention of small, hand-held cameras, "street
photography" has usually been taken to refer to spontaneous images seized
from the constant flow of human activity that the street provides: the
"decisive moment" as Henri Cartier-Bresson famously described it. The work
of Cartier-Bresson and his followers laid the foundation of a new vocabulary
for photographers that soon became evident in photography all over the
world.
Open City: Street Photographs 1950-2000 begins at the point at which
photographers began to make work that was in part a reaction to this
established vocabulary, and at the same time a continuation and extension of
its tradition. The exhibition will begin with the striking photographs made
in the 1950s by Robert Frank, Roy DeCarava and William Klein, as well as
Tazio Secchiaroli, one of the first paparazzi. These artists formed an
intimate relationship with street life and their work demonstrates a
distinctive move away from simple documentation to a more participatory
approach. Their ironic, and at times confrontational, stance was continued
in the 1960s in the powerful and sometimes disturbing photographs made by
Garry Winogrand. Other photographers in the exhibition who continued
working in this still fundamentally realist tradition include William
Eggleston, best-known for his innovative use of colour, and Nigel Henderson.
The exhibition will also include works that treat the street almost as a
theatrical stage, an arena that offers the photographer more opportunities
for control over his or her subjects than might at first be apparent. While
the rhetoric of street photography has always leaned heavily on the implied
authenticity of the moment, the street has increasingly been the site of
events overtly staged for the camera. This is particularly evident in
sixties fashion photography, represented here in key series by Richard
Avedon and Terence Donovan.
While Jeff Wall's elaborately staged and posed colour photographs, shown in
light boxes, could not be confused visually with the typical black-and-white
8 x 10 street photographs, they nevertheless make full use of the vocabulary
developed by street photographers of an earlier generation. In fact, they
derive much of their power from this tension between modes of
representation. The same could be said of Philip-Lorca diCorcia's
introduction of studio lighting effects into otherwise unaltered street
scenes, as well as his staged portraits of street hustlers. Other
contemporary photographers, such as Wolfgang Tillmans, move back and forth
between more or less traditional street photography and staged events, just
as they also move back and forth between the worlds of art and fashion.
Other photographers featured in Open City will include: Nobuyoshi Araki,
Nikki S. Lee, Daido Moriyama, Santu Mofokeng, Catherine Opie, Fazel Sheikh,
Raghubir Singh, Beat Streuli and Thomas Struth.
The exhibition is co-curated by Kerry Brougher, Chief Curator at the
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., and Russell
Ferguson, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. The exhibition
is organised by Rob Bowman, Associate Curator at the Museum of Modern Art
Oxford.
A fully-illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition.
Museum of Modern Art, 30 Pembroke Street, Oxford, OX1 1BP
Open: Tues-Sun 11am-6pm; Thurs 11am-9pm; Closed Monday
Admission: £2.50, £1.50 concessions (students, disabled, over 60, unwaged),
children under 16 free.
Free Admission: Weds 11am-1pm; Thurs 6-9pm.
Information: 01865 813830 (recorded); 01865 722733
Carole Scott, Development Officer
Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
30 Pembroke Street, Oxford, OX1 1BP
Tel: 00 44 (0)1865 722733 Fax: 00 44 (0)1865 722573
Contact: Tiffany Black, Press & Publicity Officer
e-mail: tiffany.black@moma.demon.co.uk