Jeu da Paume to Open Exhibition of Photographs by Lisette Model |
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| Written by Diane Forbush |
| Saturday, 26 December 2009 02:13 |
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Model always said that she looked but did not judge. Yes, her photographs of the Promenade des Anglais in Nice were published by the left-wing journal Regards, in 1935, but she was not interested exclusively either in the rich or in the poor, and her images are much more about human relations. Her work evinces empathy, curiosity, compassion and admiration, and reflects the photographer’s attraction to voluminous forms, energy and liveliness, to emphatic gesture and expression: the world as stage. The critic Elizabeth McCausland has described Model’s camerawork as expressing “a subconscious revolt against the rules.”  This exhibition of some 120 of Lisette Model’s most representative
photographs illustrates the very bold and direct approach to reality that made
her one of the most singular proponents of street photography, the particular
form of documentary photography that developed in New York during the 1940s,
through the camerawork of such as Helen Levitt, Roy de Carava and Weegee.
Alongside the photographs, archive film and sound recordings of Lisette Model will evoke the photographer’s life, and there will be copies of magazines to which she contributed (Regards, Harper’s Bazaar, etc.). Lisette Model, Austrian - Born 10 November 1901, Vienna, Austria - Died 30 March 1983, New York, U.S.A. As a young woman Lisette Model aspired to become a singer and pianist, and studied with the composer Arnold Schönberg. Although her dreams of a career in music were never realized, she acquired from Schönberg an unwavering sense of dedication to art that would ultimately find expression in her work as a photographer. In 1937 Lisette married the Russian painter Evsa Model. The following year they moved to New York, where they were to remain for the rest of their lives. Lisette's talents as a photographer were greeted enthusiastically by art directors such as Ralph Steiner of PM's Weekly and Alexey Brodovitch of Harper's Bazaar. With Brodovitch's endorsement Lisette worked on assignment for Harper's Bazaar from 1943 to 1955. It was during this period that she produced some of her most memorable images. Lisette Model's legacy goes beyond her own achievement as a photographer. From 1949 right up until her death in 1983 she shared her love of photography with countless students from around the world. Her forthright manner and uncompromising approach to her art inspired many disciples, among them Diane Arbus, Larry Fink, Rosalind Solomon, and Bruce Weber. "The camera is an instrument of detection. We photograph not only what we know, but also what we don’t know" - Lisette Model Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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