Spotlight: Stephen Shore /photographer
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For Stephen, his eyes are his lenses. Stephen Shore was born in 1947 and grew up on New York City’s Upper East Side. Shore was the only child of Jewish parents running a handbag company and lived a privileged existence, with annual trips to Europe and regular exposure to art and other forms of culture. He was given a darkroom set by an uncle when he was six, which he used to develop his family’s snapshots, taken with a simple and inexpensive Kodak Brownie, often experimenting with different ways of printing the images using cardboard masks. Shore had little practice taking his own photographs, however, until the age of nine, when his parents bought him a 35 mm camera. Left: New York City, July, 1974
What inspires
Top: New York City, July, 1974 Right: New York City, July, 1974
your art?
“A photograph has edges. The world does not.” Top: New York City, July, 1974
Few photographers have been as influential on the evolution of the art of photography as American photographer Stephen Shore. When black and white was still considered the medium of ‘serious’ work, he was one of the frontier artists to use colour photography, challenging the conventions by turning his camera towards ‘the everyday’. I would say it first appeared with the conceptual work (1969-70) and that by American Surfaces (1972-73) it was one of the main themes of the work. Let me explain the connection. I was interested in taking pictures that seemed ‘authentic’, that did not show as much the artifice of visual convention. In the conceptual work, I tried that through the idea of taking some of the artistic decisions out of my hands: I would follow a program, for example taking a picture at a set time. I saw it as a way of subverting my imposition of visual convention. it’s totally conscious. I may not put it into words because I’m thinking visually. For example, if you’re sitting at a desk now, and as you’re reaching over, you realize you’re about to knock over a glass of water and you grab it... there’s a lot of thinking that goes on without words in your head. I’ve learned to be able to put what I’m doing into words because if I’m teaching, I have to communicate in words, but when I’m working I’m not thinking in words, I’m thinking visually. In visual terms, youconsciously aware of issues that I’m working on or intentions that I have,
time. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s not one thing, and it’s not something static. For example, Edward Weston wrote in the ‘20s or ‘30s about an idea of his called ‘pre-visioning’ where he imagines as he’s about to take the picture how the finished picture will look, and Ansel Adams called it ‘pre-visualization’. Other people try to make that sound like something dead – like you imagine the picture and then you simply fulfil it. I don’t want the model to sound static in that way, and if you read Edward Weston, what he’s talking about isn’t static, either. In addition, Shore also conducted fashion photography for Elle, Another Magazine and several others. Also, Italian luxury label Bottega Veneta commissioned Shore to photograph filmmaker Liz Goldwyn, socialite Lydia Hearst-Shaw and Will Chalker (model) for the brand’s 2006 collection advertisements. In 2010, Stephen Shore attained an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Photographic Society. At present, Shore is the director of the photography department at Bard College, a position he has held since 1982. Stephen Shore has also had one-man shows at the Museum of Modern Art, In 1991, Shore went back to black and white photography and more recently has moved on to digital imaging. In addition, Shore also conducted fashion photography for Elle, Another Magazine and several others. Also, Italian luxury label Bottega Veneta
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I wanted to make pictures that didn’t feel like taking something in the world and making a piece of art out of it.
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Right: New York City, July, 1974 Top: New York City, July, 1974
“ I do what feels natural, but I can’t say I haven’t thought about it. ”
In addition, Shore also conducted fashion photography for Elle, Another Magazine and several others. Also, Italian luxury label Bottega Veneta commissioned Shore to photograph filmmaker Liz Goldwyn, socialite Lydia Hearst-Shaw and Will Chalker (model) for the brand’s 2006 collection advertisements. In 2010, Stephen Shore attained an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Photographic Society. At present, Shore is the director of the photography department at Bard College, a position he has held since 1982. Stephen Shore has also had one-man shows at the Museum of Modern Art, In 1991, Shore went back to black and white photography and more recently has moved on to digital imaging. Shore shot almost 100 rolls of film which he subsequently culled into the series American Surfaces. He continued these trips in subsequent years, switching to a 4x5 Crown Graphic camera at the end of 1972 and to an 8x10 view camera at the end of
Ed Ruscha, Dennis Oppenheim, Christo, Garry Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander.In 1975, Shore’s images of North America were included in the seminal exhibition ‘New Topographics,’ at George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, alongside that of Robert Adams. Bernd and Hilla Becher and Lewis Baltz, among others. The exhibition was notable in establishing a movement in which photographers showed places as they were, rather than as idealized sites in the romantic tradition. The exhibition was also the beginning of Shore’s friendship with Bernd and Hilla Becher, which continued for many years. Shore met Ginger Cramer, his future wife, in 1976. She began to accompany him on his trips, despite understanding that these were for work, not leisure, and assisted him with tasks.
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Photo grapher of the Masses