Garry Winogrand: Homage Part 1

Garry Winogrand was born in New York City in 1928. He shot street scenes and social scenes. Winogrand was known for his portrayal of America in the early 1960s and his interest in social issues of the day and in the role of media which was said to help him shape the human attitude and personality. He roamed the streets of New York with his Leica(camera) rapidly taking photographs using a prefocused wide angled lens. Often his lens would be tilted, leaving his photographs with a slanted result.

Garry studied painting at City College of New York and later studied painting and photography at Columbia University in New York City in 1948. He also attended a photojournalism class taught by Alexey Brodovitch at the New School for Social Research in New York City in 1951. Much later, he taught courses in photography at the University of Texas, Austin and at the Art Institute of Chicago. His lessons were always remembered and reflected greatly on his students.

His photographs in New York of the Bronx Zoo and the Coney Island Aquarium were used in his book The Animals (1969). In 1980 he photographed the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show and Rodeo which became another large thematic undertaking and book.

Winogrand died of gall bladder cancer, in 1984 at age 56, leaving behind nearly 300,000 unedited and in many cases undeveloped images. Some of these have been exhibited posthumously and published in an exhibit catalog entitled Winogrand, Fragments from the Real World published by MOMA.


- MorganRenee