Garry Winogrand On "American Masters" Tonight

I'm at work right now; my boss if off today; so I have a bonus vacation.

Thanks for the link and this timely post. LOL.

Cal
 
Still watching it but what is fantastic about it is that the entire film is basically a montage of his pictures. Tons and tons of ridiculously great pictures that I had never seen, in great quality often better than prints in books. It is like the ultimate Winogrand photobook.
 
Yes a fascinating documentary. The excellent, good quality 8mm color film clips he shot was something completely new to me regarding his work.

I was completely unaware of Winogrand until I read about him on this website a few years ago. I think many, many who shot 35mm film back in that day can relate to his instinctual feeling about photography. His genius was, in a way, that he pursued this instinct relentlessly.

Two quotes from him encapsulate his motivations (in my view):

“I have a burning desire to see what things look like photographed by me.”

“I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed.”
 
While you watch, pay attention to how the critics discuss Winogrand and his photography. You may find that the men engage in unadulterated hero worship while the women are much more perspicacious in their commentary.
 
gdmcclintock said:
While you watch, pay attention to how the critics discuss Winogrand and his photography. You may find that the men engage in unadulterated hero worship while the women are much more perspicacious in their commentary.
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Yes I did watch, and it was clear to me that the at least one of the younger women commentators (mainly the curator of an art museum in SF I think it was) expressed reservations about his book Women are Beautiful. Of course one might explain this, to some extent, by the modern requirement to apply current ethical standards to historical figures by the progressive left together with a compulsion to censor those who failed to comply with them. I did not see "hero worship" evident in the commentary (nor do I worship Winogrand as a "hero" myself, nor any photographer for that matter).

I did see a great deal of personal affection expressed for Winogrand by those that actually knew him, even lingering grief over his early death. That was expressed by both men and women, including his first wife, which to me is quite telling about his personality.

These are just my observations, as someone who is relatively detached from the artistic scene.
 
ASA 32 said:
Just watched it, fascinating, really enjoyed seeing some of his color images.
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Yeah, agreed, the color was great - beautiful. The documentary also really explained well why Winogrand preferred black and white. It was motivated by economics and the relative complexity of color printing for someone who shot the volume of film he did.
 
Got to see it last September at an event in Richmond VA, with the director and purchased it through youtube earlier this week as I think its something that will be worth re watching from time to time.
 
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