Photography

Posed/Unposed

MoMA Photography Theme

Questions Why would a photographer pose a person or a group of people?

Why would a photographer try to capture a person or group of people when they were not aware they were being photographed?

MoMA Photography Theme

Take a close look at

and Daughter) Untitled (Mother

by William J. Shew

Do you think this image is posed? Why or why not? What do you notice about the facial expression and body language of the subjects?

How is this different or similar from a family portrait you might have taken?

William J. Shew.

Untitled (Mother and Daughter).

c. 1850 MoMA Photography Theme

Take a close look at Frances Benjamin Johnston’s The Hampton Album

Frances Benjamin Johnston. Stairway of the Treasurer's Residence: Students at Work from the Hampton Album

. 1899 1900.

Are these people posing?

What do you think the context is?

MoMA Photography Theme

Frances Benjamin Johnston. Geography: Studying the Seasons from the Hampton Album

. 1899-1900.

Do you think Evans’ subjects knew they are having their photos taken?

Walker Evans.

Subway Portrait

. 1938-41.

MoMA Photography Theme Walker Evans.

Subway Portrait

. 1938-41.

Do you think this man is aware his photo is being taken?

Philip-Lorca diCorcia.

Head # 10.

2002.

MoMA Photography Theme

Let’s compare diCorcia’s and Evans’ photo portraits of strangers

Philip-Lorca diCorcia.

Head # 10.

2002 •How are these photographs different?

•How are they similar? MoMA Photography Theme Walker Evans.

Subway Portrait

. 1938-41

Photography and Public Image

MoMA Photography Theme

Questions What is the relationship between fame and photography?

MoMA Photography Theme

Take a close look at this photographic portrait of President Abraham Lincoln

What do you notice about President Lincoln in this image?

What do you notice about the facial expression and body language of the subject?

Based on this portrait, how would you describe this President?

Mathew Brady (studio of). President Lincoln, c. 1862.

MoMA Photography Theme

Let’s look at Nadar’s portrait French writer and critic

Théophile

Gautier

What does the composition, pose, and lighting tell you about this person?

Based on this portrait, how would you describe Gautier?

Nadar

(Gaspard Félix Tournachon )

. Théophile Gautier.

1855.

MoMA Photography Theme

What is going on in this portrait of Salvador Dalí by Phillippe Halsman?

Philippe Halsman.

Dalí Atomicus

. 1948.

MoMA Photography Theme

Let’s take a look at this portrait of Marilyn Monroe by Richard Avedon

What do you notice about Monroe’s expression?

Based on this portrait, how would you describe Monroe?

Richard Avedon.

Marilyn Monroe, actress, New York

. 1957 MoMA Photography Theme

Let’s compare these two celebrity portraits

Richard Avedon.

Marilyn Monroe, actress, New York

. 1957.

Philippe Halsman.

Dalí Atomicus

. 1948.

MoMA Photography Theme

Photography as Witness

MoMA Photography Theme

Questions Why is photography used to document historic events?

MoMA Photography Theme

Describe the scene in this photograph. What is being depicted?

Alexander Gardner

Alexander Gardner.

of the War Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter, Gettysburg

(1865). July 1863. from

Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook

MoMA Photography Theme

Describe the scene in this photograph. What is being depicted?

Jacob Riis. Lodgers in Bayard Street Tenement, Five Cents a Spot

. 1889.

MoMA Photography Theme

What does this photograph communicate about its subjects?

MoMA Photography Theme Dorothea Lange.

Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California.

1936

What do you think is going on in this photograph?

Gilles Peress.

Untitled

(boy with hand to head). 1994.

MoMA Photography Theme

How are these images similar? How are they different?

Gilles Peress. Untitled (Boy with Hand to Head)

. 1994.

MoMA Photography Theme

Dorothea Lange. Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California

. 1936.

Sets, Stories, and Situations

MoMA Photography Theme

Questions Why might photographers reference film, literature, or other photographs in their work?

Why might photographers stage, reenact, or reconstruct scenes for a photograph?

MoMA Photography Theme

What do you notice in these images?

Julia Margaret Cameron.

Venus Chiding Cupid and Removing His Wings

. 1872.

MoMA Photography Theme Julia Margaret Cameron.

Madonna with Children

. 1864.

What do you notice about the subject of these photographs?

Cindy Sherman.

Untitled Film Still #21

. 1978.

MoMA Photography Theme Cindy Sherman.

Untitled Film Still #3

. 1977.

What questions does this photograph raise?

Jeff Wall.

After “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, the Prologue.

1999 –2000, printed 2001 MoMA Photography Theme

Let’s compare the approaches of Cindy Sherman and Jeff Wall…

Cindy Sherman.

Untitled Film Still #3

. 1977.

MoMA Photography Theme Jeff Wall.

After “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, the Prologue.

1999 – 2000, printed 2001

Do you notice anything amiss in this photograph by Thomas Demand?

Thomas Demand.

Room (Zimmer).

1996 MoMA Photography Theme

The Photographic Record

MoMA Photography Theme

Questions How can photography act as an archive of personal and cultural history?

MoMA Photography Theme

What do these portraits have in common? Note the style, titles, and subjects.

August Sander.

Viennese Jockey

. 1929 August Sander.

Bohemians.

1925 MoMA Photography Theme August Sander.

Member of Parliament, Democrat.

1927

What similarities and differences do you find in these photos by Eugène Atget?

Eugène Atget.

Rue Lanneau

. 1925 Eugène Atget.

Cour, 7 rue de Valence

. 1922 MoMA Photography Theme Eugène Atget.

Courtyard, 22 rue Quincampoix.

1912 Eugène Atget.

Cabaret de L’Enfer, Boulevard de Clichy.

1910

Let’s compare the work of Atget and Sander. How are they similar? How are they different?

Eugène Atget.

Cabaret de L’Enfer, Boulevard de Clichy 53.

1910 MoMA Photography Theme August Sander.

Viennese Jockey.

1929

What questions do these photographs raise?

Carrie Mae Weems. Images 13-15 from the series

From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried.

1995 MoMA Photography Theme

What is happening in these images?

Walid Raad.

My Neck Is Thinner Than a Hair: Engines.

1996 –2004 MoMA Photography Theme

Let’s compare these series by Weems and Raad.

Carrie Mae Weems. Image 14 from the series

From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried.

1995 MoMA Photography Theme Walid Raad.

My Neck Is Thinner Than a Hair: Engines.

1996 –2004