January 16, 2010–July 18, 2010
Masterworks of American Photography: Popular Culture
Immerse yourself in the Carter’s latest photography exhibition, Masterworks of American Photography: Popular Culture. These images offer moments of recognition that bind us as a culture, and remind us of photography’s vibrant ability to reflect our shared lives.
From their introduction, photographs have made the world seem smaller. Entertainers and politicians have, from the start, taken advantage of the vivid immediacy of photographic portraits to elicit a sense of personal connection and gain audiences and support. The medium allowed armchair travelers to “visit” sites like Niagara Falls and Yosemite Valley. Photographs helped build fads by introducing new inventions like the bicycle. They gave the scourges of the Great Depression a human face and helped instill wartime patriotism, and brought Hollywood starlets into our living rooms, making these larger-than-life figures seem like one of us. They gave dramatic immediacy to the uprisings and debates of the 1960s. The photographs filling this display do not summarize great events. Instead, they offer discrete details that at times play the edges of controversy but more often exude goodwill and humor.
Comments
Pat Stewart Cipolla
January 16, 2010 - 8:18am
I am excited about visiting the museum tomorrow to see the Masterworks of American Photography;Popular Culture exhibit. The images in the Fort Worth Star Telegram article January 16 were wonderful. The written article, however, was not. Unfortunately the reviewer failed to see and write of the significance and beauty in the images, instead labeling them as contrived and dated. I disagree. Instead of seeing a PETA ad in Esther Bubley’s photograph of a boy and his dog, I see a happy boy and an excited puppy who love each other. The Dorothea Lange image of a coal miner’s daughter is powerful as it is and needs not be compared with any other photograph Ms. Lange might have taken. Marilyn Monroe’s photograph shows us a beautiful real woman with curves who eats, unlike the models of today. I daresay Marilyn Monroe is a much more beautiful and healthy role model than what passes for beauty in 2010.
To the reviewer, I quote from the classic film The Big Chill, 1983; “sometimes you just have to let art flow over you”. I hope you return and let these magnificent images flow over you when you are not preparing to write a review. You might find the beauty and history that others see in them.
Thank you, Amon Carter Museum, for the opportunity to see such amazing photography. I look forward to my visit tomorrow.
Pat Stewart Cipolla
Anonymous
February 7, 2010 - 11:53pm
So me and my friend are coming to see this museum sooon. We are coming up there for a awsome concert and are going to stop to see some beautiful beautiful art work. HOpefully it will be a awsome expierence.
love ,
two wonderful people
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