J. Paul Getty Museum opens A Photographic History of Working People
LOS ANGELES, CA.- The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center presents “In Focus: The Worker”, a photographic history of working people across a variety of cultures. Drawn exclusively from the Getty’s permanent collection, “In Focus: The Worker” includes photographs from the mid-nineteenth century through the late-twentieth century. The exhibition showcases more than forty works by seminal artists such as Thomas Eakins, Walker Evans, Hiroshi Hamaya, Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, Milton Rogovin, August Sander, and W. Eugene Smith. In addition to these prominent photographers, the exhibition also includes pictures by lesser known artists. On view at the Getty from Nov. 3, 2009 – March 21, 2010.
“The work we do plays such an important role in how we identify ourselves, so these insightful photographs are incredibly appealing,” said Paul Martineau, assistant curator, Department of Photographs, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and curator of the exhibition. “We wanted to give visitors a look at the various ways photographers have pictured working people. The exhibition includes vocational portraits, photographs that show the action of work as well as images created for the purpose of social reform.”
Selections include “Nurse and Child”, taken in the mid-1800s, depicting a stunning portrait of an African-American slave that communicates a woman’s strength and beauty in the face of injustice, and American photographer Thomas Eakins’ “Cowboy and Dog at the B-T Ranch” (1887), morewhich depicts a Dakota Territory cowboy smoking a cigarette during his work break. This photograph captures the essence of a worker who made his living by ranching in the rural expanse of the American West. Larry Burrows’s striking “Vietnam” (1966) represents a group of medics rushing an injured soldier from an airlift to the hospital’s operating table. In classic photojournalistic style, Burrows has captured the urgency and action of a specific moment. W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh (1968) shows an arresting close-up of a welder with flames reflected in his goggles. Smith created a dramatic composition by placing his camera low and shooting upwards, effectively raising the common worker to an almost heroic status.
Among the selection of works in the exhibition is Milton Rogovin’s captivating photograph “Cuba” (1989), which frames a group of workers standing at the entrance of a coal mine. Rogovin focuses on a young miner who gazes openly toward the camera, in contrast to his coworkers, who seem more tentative about being photographed.
The exhibition is arranged chronologically and includes a broad range of photographic processes from daguerreotypes to gelatin silver prints. This variety of materials underscores the role of changing technology in the depiction of workers.
In Focus: The Worker will be the sixth installation of the ongoing “In Focus” series of exhibitions, which present photographs from the Getty’s permanent collection thematically. Previous exhibitions have included “The Nude”, “The Landscape”, “The Portrait”, and most recently, “Making a Scene”.
Upcoming “In Focus” shows include In Focus: Tasteful Pictures, opening in March 2010. Photographers have been enticed by the subject of food since the earliest years of the medium. Drawn exclusively from the Museum’s collection, the selection of works for this show will include bountiful still life compositions, innovative close-ups and photograms, and documentary studies.
“In Focus: The Worker” overlaps and complements the exhibition Irving Penn: Small Trades, which runs from Sept. 9, 2009, through Jan. 10, 2010, at the Getty Center. Working in Paris, London, and New York in the early 1950s, American photographer Irving Penn created masterful representations of skilled tradespeople dressed in work clothes and carrying the tools of their trade. A neutral backdrop and natural light provided a stage on which his subjects could present themselves with dignity and pride. Penn revisited his Small Trades series over many decades, each time producing more exacting prints. In 2008, the Getty acquired the most comprehensive group of these images, carefully selected by the photographer—155 gelatin silver prints and 97 platinum prints—which are being exhibited in their entirety for the first time. Visit : http://www.getty.edu/
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