Typically, I love to go to The Zimmerli because, guess what guys, it's FREE for students! Yes, that's right, free. I know students love anything thats free, so one of these days if you're looking for something fun or interesting, or even time-killing to do on College Ave, check it out. The sooner the better, too because The Clark-Winogrand exhibit is definitely worth it, and it will be up until the beginning of July.
They are both considered to be documentary photographers, from the 1960s and 70s, but the way that they both exhibit what they see in the world is unique and very interesting. Both of them are very different in philosophy and aesthetic.
While Winogrand took on the task of photographing random occurances on the street, Clark took a more intimate documentary style by photographing his close friends. Primarily, Winogrand was interested in showing an image that one would see while walking down the street, but he did so in a way that caused the viewer to second-guess themselves.
The feelings I got from seeing his photos in person was much more intense than seeing them via the internet. They really radiate light in a way that is striking, and the way Winogrand would shift his camera to an angle was unsettling, and really caused me to look at the image in a new way. Also, probably my favorite part about his images is how they really can allow the viewer to form a story around what is shown. The Zimmerli has a nice selection of his images from his portfolio, "Women Are Better than Men. Not only have they survived, they do prevail" circa 1981.
As far as Clark goes, these were really the images that got me through the door. He always struck me as the Holden Caulfield of photographers. He presents raw and unobstructed reality in a serious and even damaging way. Like I said before, the images he took were of his friends and they first appeared in his book, "Tulsa" from 1971. The book is comprised of somewhat candid images of the people in his life, including some self-portraits, from his hometown of Tulsa, Arizona.
They are a document of a group of kids that were drug-addicted, depressed, and harsh. The images are very raw, and some of them extremely disturbing to see. Perhaps the most disturbing was "Untitled," of a pregnant woman in her underwear shooting up. These images at the time really shattered whatever conceptions people had about values in America, and contemporarily, they are a good document of people living on the edge of society at a time that the country was changing so rapidly.
The exhibit is definitely worth the trip, especially for the lovely, lovely price of $0. For anyone else, $3 is not that much to see some photos that many people the world over would love to see.
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