tainmeut

`Grand' Visions

Works of prominent Jewish photographers highlight
two Grand Rapids exhibits.

'All of the street photography I have done has a par-
ticularly Jewish point of view," says Meyerowitz, who
has not taken pictures of particularly Jewish subjects.
oel Meyerowitz wakes up to a 5-foot-wide
"The observations — sometimes humorous, some-
photograph hanging on the wall facing his
times poignant, sometimes serious — are kind of a
bed. The print shows a deeply wooded
Jewish commentary with a Jewish sense of humor.
area brightened by sunlight shining
"Jews, in a sense, have been the outsiders in most
through the trees.
societies that they occupy. They come in as immi-
The image of solitude, which Meyerowitz cap-
grants, fight their way up and sense some kind of
tured with his own camera, is very different from the discrimination. In my work, and in the work of
scenes that represent his work in two Grand Rapids
other Jewish photographers, there is the point of
exhibits.
view of the outsider, the little guy commenting on
"Eye of the Beholder: A History of Photography,"
life in the larger culture's precinct."
running Oct. 18-Jan. 5 at the Grand Rapids Art
Alfred Steiglitz's The Steerage, taken in 1907, breaks
Museum, includes a Meyerowitz picture as an exam-
new ground with photography as he shows the immi-
ple of developments in 20th-
grants referenced by Meyerowitz on a
century photography.
ship coming to America. It is consid-
"After 9/11: Messages
ered the first genuine reportage photo
from the World and Images
because the people were not posed
of Ground Zero," on view
for the picture.
through Tuesday, Oct. 15,
Diane Arbus' Identical Twins, shot
at the Gerald R. Ford
in 1967, has the photographer as the
Museum, shows a selection
outsider looking in at two young
of pictures taken by the New
girls, identical at a quick glance but
York photographer in the
with strong differences on closer
nine months following the
examination. The picture is shown
World Trade Center attacks.
as part of the "Mid-Century
"When I wake up in the
Modernism" segment, when street
early morning hours, I feel
and humanist photography were
like my bed is in these
becoming popular.
woods, and it has daily
Joel Sternfeld's McLean, Virginia,
meaning for me," says
an image from 1978, moves con-
Meyerowitz, 64, a frequent
temporary photography into an
photo exhibitor.
edgy sphere. A pioneer in color pho-
"If I can't live in the
tography, Sternfeld shows a roadside-
woods, I can have a picture
Joel Meyerowitz: "In my work, and in
stand with a house on fire in the
big enough to make me feel
the work of other Jewish photographers,
background. While the scene
like I'm there."
there is the point of view of thi. outsider." appears familiar at first sight, the
sighting of the fire moves the picture
into another dimension.
A Historical Perspective
Meyerowitz, who studied art at Ohio State
Meyerowitz keeps a camera with him at all times,
University, began thinking seriously about photogra-
and that's how he came to do the work in "Eye of
phy as a profession when he was in his 20s and
the Beholder," a historical exhibit that features 150
working as an art director.
rare and classic photographs.
After watching a commercial shoot by Robert
Curated by Richard Axsom, who taught at the
Frank, he decided to launch his own career, which
University of Michigan, the exhibit chronicles major developed in contrasts. There would be the busy
technical and expressive developments over a period
street scenes as well as the subdued landscapes.
of nearly two centuries. It draws on loans from
The Meyerowitz image in this exhibit is set in a
Chicago's LaSalle Bank Photography Collection, the
museum and captures three couples — the first in a
oldest corporate collection in the world.
painting, the second looking at the painting and the
Among the Jewish photographers whose work is
third shown through a window near the painting.
included are Alfred Steiglitz, Nathan Lerner, Ben
"When I entered the museum in France, I imme-
Shahn, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Lee
diately had the sense of life imitating art and just
Friedlander, Joel Sternfeld, Irving Penn, Aaron
quickly made the photograph," Meyerowitz recalls.
Siskind, Garry Winogrand and Robert Frank,
"The benefit of the photographer's point of view is
Meyerowitz's mentor.
seeing things that can't be comprehended by the par-

SUZANNE CHESSLER

Special to the Jewish News

Diane Arbus: "Identical Twins," Roselle, NI, 1967,
gelatin silver print, LaSalle Bank Photography
Collection, at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Joel Sternfeld• "McLean, Virginia," 1978, color
coupler print, LaSalle Bank Photography
Collection, at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Alfred Steiglitz: "The Steerage," 1907, photogravure,
LaSalle Bank Photography Collection, at the Grand
Rapids Art Museum.

10/11
2002

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