Photography Exhibition: At the Getty Museum - In Focus: The Portrait

There is a terrific photographic exhibit at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, In Focus, The Portrait.

The exhibit runs through June 14, 2009.

Following the invention of photography in 1839, portraiture became accessible to all. The 1850s marked the beginning of the medium's commercialization. Continuing technical improvements enabled the instant capture of likenesses under virtually any condition and expanded the dialogue between the photographer and the sitter.

While photography was first presented as the most truthful of representations, its underlying subjectivity is especially relevant in portraiture.

This exhibit is made exclusively of images from the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection. The selection of portraits surveys the relationship between photographer and subject, including formal portraits, intimate pictures, and documentary photographs.

Among my favorites in the exhibition are works by Matthew Brady, Edward Steichen, Paul Strand and Alfred Stieglitz. In the exhibition, Stieglitz's portrait of his wife, Georgia O'Keeffe is marvelous. O'Keeffe is one of America's most famous and celebrated artists. Just last week I saw two small, but terrific examples of O'Keeffe's work at the Museum of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts is the oldest school of art, and houses the oldest art museum in the United States. It is internationally renown for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings, sculptures, and works on paper.

If you're in the Los Angeles area, be sure to visit the Getty and see this wonderful photographic exhibition.

As I travel, I love seeing the work of other photographers as I hope you do. If you know of a new photographic exhibition which you think the Blog should publicize, please contact me.