Paul Strand / Frederick Sommer at the Getty

[canonetc]

Went to the Paul Strand exhibit at the Getty Museum (Los Angeles). While I do not know if Paul Strand was an RF guy, it was very interesting to see some actual Strand prints; including the one where he removed someone from the photo and left only his shadow. To remove someone from the negative (as says the exhibit note) must have been tough. Looking closely, you can see some interesting things in the print. Anyway, his platinum prints, some almost 80 years old with superb tonality and rich blacks, were very impressive.

Some exciting work, with the classics of course (such as the image "Blind", and the various Italian family portraits he took). Some say Strand "started" street photography; well...I dunno about that. The work is worth seeing.

There is also a show of works by photographer Frederick Sommer (1905-1999). He did the famous dual-negative image of artist Max Ernst, unique photos of chickens, still lifes, landscape, and some groovy paper cutout images that I cannot really describe. Other than that they remind me of Man Ray's rayograms without the glowing effect. I'm not sure what to see in his work, actually, or what is so "important" about it. The Getty calls him "one of the Greatest American Photographers of the 20th Century". But I feel this is nothing more than transparent marketing designed to sell a few Sommer books in the Museum store. They didn't say anything like that about Strand, who needs no such comment.

So, there it is. Would love to hear input from anyone else who goes to see it.

cheers,

chris
canonetc

 

[djon]

Sommer also did "street photography." Though mostly large format...

Sometimes shocking stuff, exquisite execution.

I do think he's one of the greats of that era, thought that when I first saw his images forty years ago.

He's a century ahead of most field camera shooters today. An acquired taste, but you do have to spend some time with it.