This is the 23rd installment of the online series by Peter Fetterman Gallery called the Power of Photography highlighting hope, peace and love in the world. We invite you to enjoy and reflect on these works during this time.
Arthur Elgort (b. 1940)
Vaganova School, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2001
© Arthur Elgort/Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
Arthur Elgort is a well known and much respected fashion photographer. What is less acknowledged is that he has created a formidable body of work on dance. My favorite dance images of his are those he took in Russia at the famed Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.
He was given special access to the school which was the place where many of the greats in the history of dance began including Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, George Balanchine, Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov.
He never focused on the normal performance images but took us backstage and behind the scenes at rehearsal where all the real hard work is done. The hallowed studios are stark and arresting and the detail of the worn wooden floors and the chipping plaster give us such an insight into the dedication these dancers have to possess to be successful. They are like beautiful Degas paintings.
Gianni Berengo Gardin
Paris, 1954
© Gianni Berengo Gardin/Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
Gianni certainly is. When you look at his great body of work this is pretty evident and what is so wonderful is he is not afraid to admit it. That’s what makes him so special and why I have always been attracted to his work. It’s not something you hear many photographers say today. He spent some formative time in Paris in the 1950’s leaving his native subject matter behind to challenge himself. But people are always at the forefront of his imagery as in this tender, simple family moment where each of the family members are involved in doing their own thing but in perfect harmony.
Lillian Bassman (1917-2012)
Margie Cato, Junior Bazaar (White Gloves/White Dress), c. 1950
© Estate of Lillian Bassman/Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
It is not really fair to categorize Lillian as just a “fashion photographer.” She was so much more than that. She was truly an artist. The legendary graphic designer Alexey Brodovitch clearly recognized that early on in her career and was the first great creative to really encourage and mentor her. He understood her painterly talents, her understanding of shapes and the power of light and shadow and movement to create what was clearly a signature aesthetic style. You always know when you are standing next to a Lillian Bassman photograph. She always expressed the beauty of women in her own way. She has inspired a whole new generation of women artists. Her work ethic was contagious. She started to work hard in her teens and never really stopped till she passed away at 94 years old. I remember visiting her a few months before she died. She was excited to show me a new image she was working on like a jubilant kid. An incredible life force and inspiration.
Sebastião Salgado
Brooks Range Alaska , 2009
© Amazonas Images/Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
There was a time when we lived in equilibrium with nature, when we respected the earth and our fellow animals before we killed them in pursuit of our so-called “development” and “progress” and “economic prosperity.”
This is what Sebastião’s epic body of work “Genesis” showed us. We have managed as a species to destroy over half of the world’s natural resources and these images are a subtle wake up call for us to save the remaining half before it is too late.
Photos in themselves cannot save the world but they can, at the very least, foster the discussion.
Chester Higgins Jr.
Maya Angelou, 1969
© Chester Higgins/Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
Our dear friend, Chester Higgins Jr., has practiced his craft for over four decades now to documenting the life and culture of the African diaspora. He is a great photographer full of passion and humility whose life force is completely contagious.
This is a perfect marriage of artist and subject. Dr. Angelou was a true renaissance woman whose long and storied life in the cause of exposing injustice has inspired so many new generations of like minded travelers through her writings and activities.
When I revisited this image recently, in these challenging times, I felt a surge of joy and hope for the lessons she has taught us. She lived her life through her teachings and her beautiful voice and the three simple magical words with which she constantly employed us to listen to, “Just do Right”.
Lillian Bassman (1917-2012)
Mary Jane Russell, Harper’s Bazaar, New York (Hat), 1950
© Estate of Lillian Bassman/Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
No one can create that special mood like Lillian does. This photograph looks timeless. It could have been taken in the 1920’s in a Paris Atelier or in the 1930’s in a Prague loft or in the 1940’s in a freezing Russian painting studio.
How she transforms this beautiful hat with that moving gesture of the hand and the closed eyes looking down in an intimate, private thought, which on the surface seems like a simple image, into such a powerful and haunting photograph is pure magic and a testament to her unique talent. It just doesn’t look like a photograph. It could be a Seurat charcoal drawing. It is one of my favorite images of hers which I look at everyday and am still transported by it after all these years.
Dennis Stock (United States, b. 1928-2010)
Audrey Hepburn during the filming of “Sabrina” by Billy Wilder, 1954
© Estate of Dennis Stock/Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
Last night I was watching the great new documentary “Audrey: More than an Icon” on the life of the great Audrey Hepburn. It wasn’t what I was expecting. It’s a very serious, deep probing, intense documentary on many aspects of her life that have previously been overlooked such as her early childhood, her romantic relationships and the very moving third act of her great work for UNICEF helping children in need. It brought back of course memories of all her wonderful movies from “Breakfast at Tiffanys”, “Sabrina”, “Roman Holiday”, “My Fair Lady” and underrated “gems” like “Robin and Marian”. A superb documentary film directed by Helena Coan.
It also brought back good memories of working with Dennis Stock, an intense and often demanding, in a good way, Magnum Photographer. Many stimulating discussions on the nature of photography and what it was like working in what seemed like a really bygone era before the media explosion we are accustomed to now.
His photograph of Audrey on the set of “Sabrina” is still my favorite image of her. Of course it was hard to take a bad shot of her but there is something about the mood and the composition of this one that is very hard to beat.
Steve McCurry (b. 1950)
The Afghan Girl, Sharbut Gula, Pakistan, 1984
© Steve McCurry/ Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
This is one of the most recognized images in the history of photography often referred to as the “Mona Lisa” of photos. However many times you have seen it reproduced in books and magazines when you are actually standing in front of a real print of it, it is hard to resist its power and allure.
In 1984, with the Soviet war in Afghanistan raging, refugee camps set up along the Afghan -Pakistan border were quickly filling. As increasing numbers of the displaced arrived, Steve was asked by National Geographic to explore and document these refugee settlements. In one make shift girls’ classroom in a camp near Peshawar, he captured an image that would come to define a story, a conflict and a people.
This is what great social documentary photographers like Steve strive for throughout their careers, to create an image that connects the viewer from the specific to the universal revealing our common humanity.
Gianni Berengo Gardin
Tuscany, 1968
© Gianni Berengo Gardin / Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
I think many great photographers will admit to this. They may seem on the surface to be objective and especially where social documentary and factual imagery is concerned but in many instances their photographs are a clear reflection of themselves, of who they really are. It seems to be so true of many of the great Italian photographers perhaps more so than any other nationality. Gianni is deeply rooted to his unique culture and its traditions but also to the power of its landscape as is evidenced here in this beautiful, textured image of the Tuscan countryside that means so much to him.
Louis Stettner (1922-2016)
Girl Playing in Light Circles, Penn Station, NY, 1956
© Estate of Louis Stettner / Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
It seems incredible to me as a lover of great architecture how such a beautiful building such as the original Penn Station could have been demolished in the name of progress. It was a truly beautiful structure of marble and iron that surely bestowed some of its elegance and dignity on every passerby or waiting passenger.
Well at least we have this memory of this small child playing hopscotch and dancing in the circles of light in this majestic structure.
Peter Fetterman Gallery
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