Special Exhibitions

Land in Light: John Szarkowski Photographs

Meadow, Spring, 1997 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 inches © John Szarkowski Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York
		December 7, 2002- February 12, 2003 Admission is Free "Szarkowski's thinking, whether Americans know it or not, has become our thinking about photography." - U.S. News & World Report Land in Light: John Szarkowski Photographs is an exhibition of 20 black-and-white images that focuses on two favorite areas of interest for Szarkowski during the past decade: the landscape of East Chatham in upstate New York, where the artist lives, and Arizona. Images in the show include Meadow, Spring (1997), in which soft, nurturing light gently bathes new grass growth emerging from standing water. The meadow has been a favorite subject for the photographer, who has recorded it in different years and seasons. Stayman Winesaps from Barn (1997) was shot from the open doorway of a handcrafted 19th-century timber barn. The shelter's doorway frames a sublime moment in nature when trees and flowers are in bloom. Stayman Winesaps from Barn, 1997 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 inches © John Szarkowski Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York World-renowned photography historian and theorist John Szarkowski (born 1925), director emeritus of the department of photography at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, is also a respected professional photographer. During Szarkowski's tenure at MoMA (1962-1991), he organized more than 100 groundbreaking exhibitions that helped shape contemporary photography. Since his retirement, Szarkowski has returned to his first love of making photographs - prior to joining the MoMA staff, he created two books, The Idea of Louis Sullivan (1956) and The Face of Minnesota (1958). Szarkowski is also essayist for the book accompanying the free exhibition A City Seen: Photographs from The George Gund Foundation Collection, also on view at the museum Nov. 17, 2002-Jan. 26, 2003.