Week Seven: Garry Winogrand

After examining the works of the contemporary photographer David Hilliard, last week, I decided that this week I would view the works of Garry Winogrand By viewing such vastly different collections of work between these two artists, the ability tor recognize time within a photograph has become more abundant within my analysis of photography. With Winogrand's work, the essence of the 1950’s in black and white is clearly being depicted, but unlike other collections by other photographers from the same time period, Winogrand’s work has a much more lighthearted and joyous feel.

My fascination with photography as an art form comes from the specific style of street photography. I enjoy creating my own stage and setup and can also recognize when it is done incredibly well in professional shoots, but for me, nothing compares to taking a candid photography while walking around place that becomes so familiar day after day. I didn’t truly start to understand and appreciate street photography until I came across the incredibly large collection of photographs by Vivian Maier. Learning of her story and her anthology of undeveloped negatives, I was absolutely fascinated to experiences the essence of the 1950’s that was captured and then buried in storage. It’s this concept of capturing an era in time that not only does photography permit, but particular street photography. It allows for the citizens living at the time to display the features, the wardrobe, the expressions and the environment at one, natural concept, because at that time, it was natural for them. To me, there is something very special about the idea of being a witness through an image that was taken via the eye of another individual. Especially when it was taken almost seventy years previously.

With born New Yorker, Garry Winogrand’s compilation of photos that he took during the postwar decades all over the United States, we see something a little bit different with his street photography style then compared to Maier’s work. This clear depiction is what sparked interest in me of Winogrand’s work. It is not only seeing that one specific style can display so many different traits and characteristics, but also show, what I would almost say, two different sets of populations. It is clear that across the board American is surrounded by an incredible difference in socio-economic class, and to see that displayed in Winogrand’s work, emphasizes many ideas that are distinguished within his works.   

It is clear that with each one of Winogrand’s well framed shots, that he is harness the world of a certain group of individuals that at this time in history, weren’t expressing the struggles that one can come across in the complicated lives we lives. A great picture can be made, I believe, by featuring a strong human that is clearly depicting a powerful facial expression of true emotion. With these elements featured in one singular photograph, the viewer can be drawn closer in, in order to resonate with that feeling being depicted. This is usually done with images that show suffering, sadness, anger, or curiosity. I was immediately pulled into the photographic work of Winogrand because his images depict happiness, which is something that sometimes a viewer looks to and can also need to connect to when understanding a photographic piece of art.