Garry Winogrand's Photos-Posthumously Developed on Exhibit @ MET

Winogrand's stirring black/white photos are impressive for their powerful impact and for the fact that many of these photos were never seen by this pioneer of modern photography.  Winogrand died in '84 at the age of 56 leaving behind a legacy of photos that hallmark the 50's & 60's in NYC & a broad range of photos that went beyond NYC's urban turmoil.  This is the 1st retrospective of Winogrand's photos in 25 years.  Most of these were developed by Winogrand's friend, John Szarkowski, dir. of photography @ the MoMA.  Szarkowski who passed away in '07 reluctnatly held a minimal exhibit of Winogrand's photos at the MoMA in '88 because he felt the work was unfinished & flagrantly flawed.   The MET presents 1/3 of Winogrand's posthumous plates.  His work challenged the conceit of photos as mechanical works vs. artistic expressions.  This has been debunked by Winogrand & many talented contemporaries of the 20thC such as Arbus, Leiter & Cartier-Bresson.  Winogrand chose to capture NYC life as did Leiter. Winogrand's black/white shots have a sharp focal point in off balanced frame.  Arbus' photos captured eccentric characters who posed for the camera. Winogrand shot spontaneously turning the ordinary into something foreign & explosive.  And, like Cartier-Bresson, Winogrand photographed to capture & reveal a moment in time. "If you didn't take the picture you weren't there."  There are several iconic works to look for: the interracial couple in Central Park carrying chimpanzees, a female strewn on the side of an LA street bypassed by motorists, and Muhamid Ali at a press conf., his white shirt setting him apart from the fray.  Winogrand's photos are social commentaries that are  ambigous, arresting & humorous simultaneously.  "The world isn't tidy, it's a mess."  It's the untidiness of life that makes this exhibit so enticing.