Through May 31st, the Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica is exhibiting a selection of photographs from some of the greatest portrait artists of the 20th century, including Berenice Abbott, Eve Arnold, Sid Avery, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dan Budnik, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Elliott Erwitt, Annie Leibovitz, Jacques Lowe, Arnold Newman and Marc Riboud.
Portrait photography has undeniably helped the medium establish itself over the decades. At the interface of documentary and art, today the portrait is inseparable from the practice of photography and ubiquitous in our visual culture. Its use in the illustration of newspapers and magazine articles is almost dogmatic. The portrait speaks to the viewer, perhaps due our fascination of the men and women who succeed, and the portrait is a symbol of success. Beyond the desire to carry on the memory of a person and create a historic image of their person, the portrait serves an immediate, representative function. The photo portrait is the bronze bust of today.
The people immortalized in this exhibition were extraordinary human beings: Ernest Hemingway, Winston Churchill, Alfred Einstein, Henri Matisse, to name just a few. And the photographers who captured the essence of their personalities, or a piece of their existence, were also extraordinary. There was nothing left for them to learn about technique. They were empathetic artists who knew how to combine profundity and understanding of the human condition. A great portrait should explore the nuances of character and, in some cases, capture a certain feeling. We, the viewers, are invited to share in that feeling. However, as is often the case with photography, it’s a matter of subjectivity.
EXHIBITION
Portraits of the 20th Century
Through May 31st 2014
Peter Fetterman Gallery
Bergamot Station, Michigan Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90404
USA
(310) 453-6463
