Our friend David passed along this wonderful audio exchange between Robert Flynn Johnson (author of "The Face in the Lens: Anonymous Photographs") and Scott Shafer regarding the allure and mystique of the anonymous, vernacular photograph. Well worth the listen...
Showing posts with label Audio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Audio. Show all posts
Monday, December 14, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Robert Frank's Elevator Girl, After All These Years
NPR recently aired a fascinating piece about Robert Frank's iconic image of the "elevator girl" working in a Miami Beach hotel in the late 1950's. Sharon Collins recently came forward affirming that the young girl, whose distant and melancholic gaze helped fortify Frank's vision of America, is indeed a younger incarnation of herself. The NPR story provided this interesting piece of historical context:
"Elevator - Miami Beach"
© Robert Frank
"A half-century later, Collins poses in a recreation of the scene"
© Ian Padgham/SFMOMA
"At the time, her name was Sharon Goldstein, growing up in Miami Beach. At fifteen, she got a summer job as an elevator girl at the Sherry Frontenac Hotel. She says the hotel was always full of tourists, and many of them had cameras. Although she wishes she remembers this particular tourist, she doesn't. But she pieced together what happened by looking at Frank's contact sheet.
"Robert Frank took about four photos of me without a flash in the elevator. I didn't know he was taking them. And then when the elevator emptied of its 'blurred demons,'" she says, "he asked me to turn around and smile at the camera. And I flashed a smile, put my hands on my hips. I hammed it up for about eight or ten frames."
"Elevator - Miami Beach"
© Robert Frank
"A half-century later, Collins poses in a recreation of the scene"
© Ian Padgham/SFMOMA
"At the time, her name was Sharon Goldstein, growing up in Miami Beach. At fifteen, she got a summer job as an elevator girl at the Sherry Frontenac Hotel. She says the hotel was always full of tourists, and many of them had cameras. Although she wishes she remembers this particular tourist, she doesn't. But she pieced together what happened by looking at Frank's contact sheet.
"Robert Frank took about four photos of me without a flash in the elevator. I didn't know he was taking them. And then when the elevator emptied of its 'blurred demons,'" she says, "he asked me to turn around and smile at the camera. And I flashed a smile, put my hands on my hips. I hammed it up for about eight or ten frames."
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
MoMA's Streaming Audio
The Museum of Modern Art is stockpiling an impressive audio component on their website. Comprised of lectures, commentaries, conversations and visual descriptions, these streaming podcasts provide diverse insights into a variety of both canonical and contemporary artists. Below are a few examples of some of the podcasts I listened to:
Robert Smithson. Corner Mirror with Coral.1969
Claes Oldenburg. Giant Soft Fan. 1966–67
Nicholas Nixon. The Brown Sisters. 1993
Marlene Dumas. Chlorosis (Love Sick). 1994
These are just a few of the examples of available podcasts on the MoMA website. I would highly recommend checking out some of the other content here, here and here.
Robert Smithson. Corner Mirror with Coral.1969
Claes Oldenburg. Giant Soft Fan. 1966–67
Nicholas Nixon. The Brown Sisters. 1993
Marlene Dumas. Chlorosis (Love Sick). 1994
These are just a few of the examples of available podcasts on the MoMA website. I would highly recommend checking out some of the other content here, here and here.
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