High on photography

A pair of shows at the High Museum of Art present divergent takes on the medium

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Two photography exhibitions currently on view at the High Museum of Art highlight different approaches to the medium, and the experience of viewing these exhibits reinforces the power of a single original photograph in the age of art being experienced through the filter of a computer screen.Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a small exhibit of five photographs, and in these images, the camera provides mostly a straightforward recording of events and reinforces simplistic historical storylines. “Dr. King and Coretta Scott King Leading Marchers, Montgomery, Alabama” by Morton Broffman is an example of this style. King appears heroic, gazing directly into the camera as he leads a crowd, while the other subjects look into the distance. Another couple of images by James Karales, including “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Home with His Family, 1962 (Holding Son Aloft),” show King’s domestic life.In striking contrast to the King photos is the collection Arbus, Avedon, and Winogrand. Viewing these images, created by three different photographers, after the King show is jarring. The Diane Arbus images offer the biggest contrast and are the highlight of both shows.The exhibit opens with the Arbus classic “Patriotic Boy with Straw Hat,” in which a young boy standing next to an American flag stares into the camera. He wears a bow tie, slightly askew, and a white straw hat. He has two pins on his suit jacket, one reads “God Bless America - Support Our Boys in Vietnam,” and the smaller pin simply “Bomb Hanoi.” Her use of a flash in daylight, often pointed directly at her subjects, accentuates this sharpness and darkens the background, giving them the appearance of being lit with a spotlight. These effects are much more pronounced when presented at the High, rather than seeing the image on the internet. In person, you meet the stare of the boy, and the effect is chilling. The rest of Arbus’ images are equally arresting.Her “family portraits” are particularly stirring, perhaps speaking to her own unease with her aristocratic upbringing that led her to search for images on the edges of society and to portray those from the mainstream as depraved. Arbus committed suicide in 1971 at the age of 48. No value assignedIn Arbus’ “This Is Eddie Carmel, a Jewish Giant, with His Parents in the Living Room of Their Home in the Bronx, New York,” a humongous man leans steeped over on a cane; he seems to be bowing his head so he does not scrape the ceiling with it. Next to him are his parents appearing frightened and shocked. The corners of the image are vignetted, giving a feeling of looking through a keyhole. The flash creates black shadows behind each of the characters and throws highlights on the thick curtains that cover the windows, giving a claustrophobic vibe. Details like these are hard to see on the web but add greatly to the overall experience of seeing, interrupting and experiencing the art.The other two photographers in the show don’t come across as fresh as Arbus. Garry Winogrand was a street photography superstar known for his candid images packed with information, shot with tilted frames and wide-angle lenses that distort spatial realities and disorients the viewer. Winogrand roamed the streets of America relentlessly until his death in 1984.Unfortunately, most of Winogrand’s photos here are drawn from his book Women are Beautiful, in which he used his vision to photograph random women on the street. He wrote in the book’s introduction: “Whenever I’ve seen an attractive woman I’ve done my best to photograph her.” Many of these images, despite their intense style, feel more than a little creepy.


Richard Avedon feels like the outlier of the threesome in the exhibit. While Arbus and Winogrand represent extremes of the medium, Avedon’s images are straightforward. In each, a single subject (ranging from from various artists to his own wife) is photographed in front of a white background, often allowing a glimpse into the subjects’ subconscious. “My photographs don’t go beneath the surface,” Avedon is quoted in the exhibit. “I have a great faith in surfaces, a good one is full of clues.”Arbus, Avedon, and Winogrand (Through Feb. 26) and Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Through March 12) Free-$14.50. Tues.-Thurs. and Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri., 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun., noon-5 p.m. High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. 404-733-4444. www.high.org.