Garry Winogrand
Along with Brassai, Freidlander, Arbus and Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand had extraordinary influence on many photographers of my generation. Most of my personal early work was motivated by these great image makers.
Of the names above, Garry Winogrand has probably been the most influential in my own way of realizing the world. The juxtaposition that consistently occurs in Winogrand's imagery is absolutely stunning. His work forever changed how I thought about and made images. Probably more than anyone else, he helped me to open my eyes, my mind and my photography.
Quotes:
"I am a tourist "- Garry Winogrand
"all (mass media) deal in illusions and fantasies. I can only conclude that we have lost ourselves and that the bomb may finish the job permanently, and it just doesn't matter, we have not loved life." - Garry Winogrand
"No one moment is most important. Any moment can be something."- Garry Winogrand
"There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described. I like to think of photographing as a two way act of respect. Respect for the medium, by letting it do what it does best, describe. And respect for the subject, by describing it as it is. A photograph must be responsible to both." - Garry Winogrand
I also believe that the subject describes itself. I love the way things are revealed in a photograph. But a camera is usually pointed at a certain type of subject. The revelation comes at least in part from that choice. To me, it has to do with what you choose to shoot and what you end up showing.
"What I write here is a description of what I have come to understand about photography, from photographing and from looking at photographs. A work of art is that thing whose form and content are organic to the tools and materials that made it. Still photography is a chemical, mechanical process. Literal description or the illusion of literal description, is what the tools and materials of still photography do better than any other graphic medium. A still photograph is the illusion of a literal description of how a camera saw a piece of time and space. Understanding this, one can postulate the following theorem: Anything and all things are photographable. A photograph can only look like how the camera saw what was photographed. Or, how the camera saw the piece of time and space is responsible for how the photograph looks. Therefore, a photograph can look any way. Or, there's no way a photograph has to look (beyond being an illusion of a literal description). Or, there are no external or abstract or preconceived rules of design that can apply to still photographs. I like to think of photographing as a two-way act of respect. Respect for the medium, by letting it do what it does best, describe. And respect for the subject, by describing as it is. A photograph must be responsible to both." - Garry Winogrand
How do I say it? The way I would put it is that I get totally out of myself. It’s the closest I come to not existing, I think, which is the best--which is to me attractive. - Garry Winogrand
Every photograph is a battle of form versus content. - Garry Winogrand
Well, I'm not going to get into that. I think that those kind of distinctions and lists of titles like "street photographer" are so stupid. I'm a photographer, a still photographer. That's it. - Garry Winogrand
"The timing of Winogrand's trip was auspicious – at least in terms of the angst and ennui of the era in which he photographed. Winogrand applied for his grant in the early 60s, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, when nuclear war suddenly had become a terrifying possibility. In his grant application Winogrand complained that the mass media "all deal in illusions and fantasies. I can only conclude that we have lost ourselves and that the bomb may finish the job permanently, and it just doesn't matter, we have not loved life." - Frank Van Riper - Garry Winogrand: Huge Influence, Early Exit
Garry Winogrand is at SFMOMA - March 09 - June 02, 2013
Related links
- Garry Winogrand: Huge Influence, Early Exit - Washington Post
- Garry Winogrand: America in his viewfinder - latimes.com
- Never Before Seen Photos From Legendary Street Photographer ...
- Garry Winogrand Illuminates Ambiguity at SFMOMA: Visual Arts ...
- “Photography--Garry Winogrand, Public Eye,” Art in America - NYU
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