The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the W.M. Hunt Collection
Robert Michael Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits, and still-life images. His most controversial works documented and examined the gay male BDSM subculture of New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A 1989 exhibition of Mapplethorpe's work, titled Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, sparked a debate in the United States concerning both use of public funds for "obscene" artwork and the Constitutional limits of free speech in the United States.
Irving Penn was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at Vogue magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Issey Miyake and Clinique. His work has been exhibited internationally and continues to inform the art of photography.
Arthur (Usher) Fellig, known by his pseudonym Weegee, was a photographer and photojournalist, known for his stark black and white street photography in New York City.
Weegee worked in Manhattan's Lower East Side as a press photographer during the 1930s and 1940s and developed his signature style by following the city's emergency services and documenting their activity. Much of his work depicted unflinchingly realistic scenes of urban life, crime, injury and death. Weegee published photographic books and also worked in cinema, initially making his own short films and later collaborating with film directors such as Jack Donohue and Stanley Kubrick.
Walker Evans was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work from the FSA period uses the large-format, 8×10-inch (200×250 mm) view camera. He said that his goal as a photographer was to make pictures that are "literate, authoritative, transcendent".
Many of his works are in the permanent collections of museums and have been the subject of retrospectives at such institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the George Eastman Museum.
Diane Arbus was an American photographer. Arbus's imagery helped to normalize marginalized groups and highlight the importance of proper representation of all people. She photographed a wide range of subjects including strippers, carnival performers, nudists, people with dwarfism, children, mothers, couples, elderly people, and middle-class families.
Richard Avedon was an American photographer and artist known for his iconic portraits and fashion photography.
Avedon began his career as a photographer in the late 1940s, working as a freelance photographer for magazines such as Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. He soon became known for his distinctive style, which was characterized by his use of simple, uncluttered backgrounds and his ability to capture the essence of his subjects.
Throughout his career, Avedon photographed some of the most famous people of his time, including Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, and The Beatles. He was also known for his fashion photography, and his work appeared in many fashion magazines, including Harper's Bazaar and Vogue.
Avedon's work was often controversial, as he challenged traditional notions of beauty and fashion. He was known for his willingness to push boundaries, and his work was often seen as a reflection of the social and political issues of his time.
Today, Avedon is regarded as one of the most important photographers of the 20th century, and his work continues to inspire artists and photographers around the world.
Philip-Lorca diCorcia is an American photographer and artist. He is known for his staged and cinematic photographs that often blur the line between reality and fiction.
DiCorcia's work is characterized by his use of elaborate sets and lighting, which he uses to create images that are both beautiful and unsettling. Many of his photographs feature everyday people in staged settings, and he often uses strangers as his subjects, adding to the sense of mystery and voyeurism in his work.
DiCorcia has been the recipient of numerous awards and his work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. He has also been commissioned to create photographs for a wide range of clients, including fashion magazines and advertising campaigns.
DiCorcia's legacy as an artist and photographer continues to influence new generations of artists. His innovative techniques and approach to photography have helped to redefine the medium and have had a significant impact on contemporary art and culture.
Erwin Blumenfeld was a German-born photographer and artist who is best known for his fashion photography and experimental work in the mid-20th century. He was began his career as an artist, working in painting, drawing, and collage.
In the 1930s, Blumenfeld fled Germany and settled in Paris, where he became a successful fashion photographer. He worked for Vogue and other high-profile magazines, creating iconic images of models and celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and Grace Kelly.
Blumenfeld was also known for his experimental and avant-garde work, which often involved techniques such as photomontage, solarization, and multiple exposures. He saw photography as a means of artistic expression and used it to explore ideas about identity, beauty, and the nature of reality.
Blumenfeld's legacy as an artist and photographer continues to influence contemporary fashion and art. His innovative techniques and distinctive style continue to inspire new generations of artists, and his work is recognized as a significant contribution to the history of photography.