ArtsEntertainmentt
Manhattan Mythology
Ann Arbor photography show complements Jewish Museum exhibit.
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
ception and create auras.
Among the works of Jewish photographers are
Alfred Stieglitz's street scenes, Garry Winogrand's
harried people, Helen Levitt's children at play,
Walter Rosenblum's and Dan Weiner's earthy
activities, Irving Penn's formal portraits and Joel
Meyerowitz's embracing couples.
The only picture done in color is by Levitt. She
shows a young child crouching on a windowsill.
E
xperience the sights — and the sense —
of New York City without crossing any
. state border. Instead, head out to Ann
Arbor, where a photography exhibit and related
programs capture the people arid places of the
dynamic metropolis.
"New York Observed: The Mythology of the
City" runs through Sept. 22 in the West Gallery
of the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
More than 80 pictures transport visitors into the
moods and character of the urban center from
the 1880s to the 1980s.
The Michigan exhibit, mostly black and white
views, runs almost simultaneously with "New York:
Capital of Photography," on display through Sept.
2 at the Jewish Museum in New York City (see
related story on page 64).
Both exhibits feature enduring works shot by
many of the same Jewish photographers.
Multi-Faceted
"No matter where we come from, New York
holds such sway over us," says Carole
McNamara, assistant director for collections and
exhibitions at the Ann Arbor museum. "I believe
these pictures affirm and embrace that notion.
Sept. 11 Impetus
.
"For a long time, I had an idea about a New York
photography exhibit in the back of my mind,"
McNamara says. 'After Sept. 11, that became so
much stronger.
"Because of the time involved in a lighting-sys-
tem upgrade in our galleries, we came to have an
opening in our schedule, and I decided to use
that for the photography. Although we could have
done the show entirely with works from our col-
lection, I didn't want to be limited and looked
elsewhere for pictures that could be borrowed."
Adding drama to the display is the contrast
between the works portraying the vast skyline
and the works revealing the rhythms of the city
on a more intimate scale through the
streetscapes, interior views and portraits.
Ultimately, the exhibit shows how photos of
New York changed as the medium changed. The
new book about the New York City 5 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 20, at the museum. Another muse-
urn program, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept 5, will fea-
ture poetry readings about New York subjects.
Lectures about the exhibit will be given by cul-
tural historians and faculty members David
Scobey and Rebecca Zurier at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 12. Famed playwright Wendy
Wasserstein also appears in the series, with a dis-
cussion at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.
"When you are in New York, you feel you are up
against the real," Lopate says. "A conviction that one
is in the presence of reality cannot help but be attrac-
tive to a medium whose strongest suit has always
been recording the material world — hence, the love
affair between New York and photography." LI
"New York Observed: The Mythology of the
City" will be on view through Sept. 22 at
the University of Michigan Museum of Art,
525 South State St., Ann Arbor. Museum
hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-
Wednesdays and Fridays-Saturdays; 10 a.m.-
9 p.m. Thursdays; and noon-5 p.m.
Sundays. Exhibits are free with a $5 dona-
tion requested. Special programs also are free
and open to the public. (734) 764-0395.
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"The approaches taken by the photographers
represented are as varied as their subjects, and it
is appropriate that New York's commercial, cul-
tural and artistic energy has been recorded in all
its many facets by the photographs on view."
The images in "New York Observed" have
been culled from the permanent collection of the
museum as well as the holdings of the Detroit
Institute of Arts, the Toledo Museum of Art and
private patrons. The use of the word "mythology"
in the title of this reality exhibit has to do with
the ways in which a camera lens can shape per-
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2002
68
subjects and the compositional styles reflect
trends in culture and art.
"New York's rise to prominence as a world city
coincided with the birth and ensuing universality
of photography," says New York essayist Phillip
Lopate, invited to write a brief history of artistic
photography for the catalogue. "The image the
world retains of New York, from Duluth to
Dubai, owes almost everything to the photo-
graphic lens."
Lopate will be featured in one of four free pro-
grams related to the exhibit. He will read from his
Left to right:
Joel Meyerowitz,
"Kiss Me, Stupid," 1965.
Paul Strand:
"Fifth Avenue at
42nd Street," 1915.
Garry Winogrand:
"New York City, 1968," 1968.