[Lens]
While in Paris, photography became Brassai’s main language as he wandered through bars, ballrooms and occasionally brothels, sometimes giving direction to his subjects.
Author Archives →
The Earliest Days of American Photography
[Lens]
A new exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles looks at the complex — and sometimes even illicit — history of photography in the United States.
Indians Celebrating India at Houston FotoFest
[Lens]
This year’s FotoFest International, the first and longest-running worldwide photography biennial, focuses on work by artists of Indian origin.
Single Mother, Pioneering Photographer: The Remarkable Life of Bayard Wootten
[Lens]
In 1904, Bayard Wootten, a divorced single mother in North Carolina, first borrowed a camera. She went on to make more than a million images.
Nan Goldin Looks Back at Friends and Lovers
[Lens]
A reissue of “The Beautiful Smile” looks back on Nan Goldin’s highly personal work that combines art photography with a snapshot aesthetic.
In Search of the American Family
[Lens]
An upcoming show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston explores the idea of family: from the ones shown in portraits to the fleeting glimpses of the photographer whose own family is back home, waiting.
The Subway Portraits of Helen Levitt
A piece printed in the Times’s Metropolitan section as well as the Lens Blog about Helen Levitt’s subway series .
Telling the Tales of Trees Around the World
[Lens]
More than just providing of shade, fruit or wood, trees are nature’s documentarians, witnessing – and sometimes playing a role in.
Tina Modotti, Behind the Camera and Out of Weston’s Shadow
[Lens]
A recently republished book sorts out the life of Tina Modotti as an artist and activist — and the long shadow of Edward Weston.
Finding Visual Poetry in Russia
[Lens]
Igor Posner returned to St. Petersburg looking for the “half-seen, half-recollected” moments that had stayed in his mind since he left Russia in the early 1990s.
Irving Penn Reinterpreted, by Irving Penn
[Lens]
Though Irving Penn made photographs with his printing process in mind, the most striking aspect of his oeuvre lies in his broad reinterpretation of commercial magazine work from decades earlier.
Drawing Your Dream Man
[Lens]
Anna Ivantsova’s images pair traditional photographic portraits of her subjects with computerized depictions of their ideal partners.
An Insider’s View of Alaskan Inuit
[Lens]
A new exhibit offers an insider’s take on Inuit life in Alaska, putting the lie to the stereotypes made popular by televised reality shows.
Peter Hujar’s Gay Lower East Side: Out of the Shadows
[Lens]
A traveling retrospective finally recognizes the work of Peter Hujar, whose photos of gay life were overshadowed by those by his contemporary, Robert Mapplethorpe.
The Devotion of an Old-Fashioned Doctor in Romania
[Lens]
Ioana Moldovan photographed the daily life of a family doctor, who sees medicine as more of a “calling than a career,” in rural southwestern Romania.
Photographing Everyday Beauty From Above
[Lens]
Kacper Kowalski’s passion for paragliding led him to ditch an architectural career for one as a flying photographer chronicling stunning, everyday scenes in his native Poland.
Highly Personal Portraiture by William Eggleston
[Lens]
“The portraiture of William Eggleston, whose color photography helped shepherd the medium into the art world, is the exclusive feature of a new exhibit and book.
In a Mining Region, Lingering Echoes of Tunisia’s Uprising
[Lens]
“West of Life” looks at the troubled history of a region in Tunisia where protests by miners preceded the uprising that led to the Arab Spring.
A Photographer’s Eye
[Lens]
A few months ago, Nicholas Nixon started photographing his eyes in close-up, fascinated by a surprising, palpable power in the resulting images.
Capturing the Love, and Psyches, of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
[Lens]
Marcel Sternberger’s portraits of the famed Mexican artists manage to show his ability to deeply delve into the emotions and thoughts of his subjects.
Among Koreans, Giving Death Your Best Face
[Lens]
The Korean tradition of the funerary portrait inspired Juliana Sohn to offer her services to Korean-Americans wishing to be remembered as they saw themselves.
A Living-Room Reinvention
A Teenage Photographer Witnessing Syria’s War
[Lens]
The flood of Kurdish refugees into Turkey compelled a young photographer to ditch school and travel to the border with Syria, where he documented Kurdish fighters clashing with the Islamic State.
In Spas and Bathhouses, Epic Nudes
[Lens]
Ruth Kaplan spent a dozen years visiting bathhouses making pictures of “epic nudes” that plumb how people express themselves though their bodies.
