Working Thought: Winogrand

while I’m working is to try to make interesting photographs, and what to do with them is another act—a later consideration. Certainly while I’m working, I want them to be as useless as possible.
Garry Winogrand

his own words, he aimed to “transform the real world into something completely different: into a distinct image.”  

“I don’t think it tells you anything about a photographer or work, in a way . . . call me instead a zoo photographer, it doesn’t make any sense to me.” Winogrand spent a brief period teaching photography at the University of Texas (1973-78). The prolific photographer began shooting as soon as he landed, taking pictures of people waiting for their flights in the Austin airport.

—-When you are twenty years old and the photography instructor begins lecturing on form versus content, or that a photograph cannot tell a story, or that there are no rules of composition, or that things are changed when you photograph them, or that a photographic print is an interpretation of the world by a camera, or that he didn’t develop his film for months or years after he shot it; things can get philosophical and confusing pretty quickly.—)( If students were taking Garry’s class to learn photographic techniques and methods, they were sorely disappointed. Garry didn’t teach much technique. That was left to the PJ side of the photography world or to his “TAs”. You have a lifetime to learn technique, he seemed to be saying, but I can teach you what is more important than technique, how to see; learn that and all you have to do afterwards is press the shutter. — Garza

[The one time I used the art department darkroom was when one of the TAs taught us how to develop Tri-X by inspection, the Winogrand way. Using dark green safelights, you let the Tri-X develop about half way then unspooled enough of it to check the density of the first few shots under the green light. Garry put yellow tabs on each roll of film that he shot that told him the lighting condition of that roll. Garry used development by inspection for every roll, and in my later classes I think Garry allowed one of the TAs to process a few rolls of his film. Garry use of inspection development was a bit different than the large view camera negatives where the technique was first pioneered. Gary used it to under develop his film to keep a printable density range (basically, keep the development “flat”). ] Garza

Bibliography

Books

  • Harris Alex, Friedlander Lee (2004) Arrivals and Departures: The Airport Pictures of Garry Winogrand, Germany. Steidl
  • Szarkowski John (1988) Winogrand Figments from the Real World, New York The Museum of Modern Art
  • Papageorge Tod (1977) Garry Winogrand Public Relations. New York The Museum of Modern Art
  • Parr Martin & Badger Gerry (2004) The Photobook: A History volume 1, London, Phaidon Press Ltd
  • Turner Peter. (1985) American Images – Photography 1945 – 1980. London, Penguin Books.
  • Green Jonathan (1984) A Critical History American Photography. New York. Harry N Abrams Inc.
  • Dyer Geoff (2005) The Ongoing Moment (2006 Edition) London, Abacus
  • Malcolm Janet (1977) Diana & Nikon Essays on Photography Expanded Edition. New York. Aperture. 
  • Sontag Susan (1977) On Photography London. Penguin
  • Barthes Roland (1980) Camera Lucida, London, Vintage
  • Hill Paul (1982) Approaching Photography (Second Edition) Lewes. Photographers Institute Press
  • La Grange Ashley (2005) Basic Critical Theory for Photographers, Oxford, Focal Press
  • Barrett Terry ( 2006) Criticizing Photographs An Introduction to Undertanding Images ( Fourth Edition). New York Mc Graw Hill
  • Wells Liz (2004) Photography: A Critical Introduction (Third Edition) 
  • Mason Resnick for Modern Photography in 1988
  • * Public Relations (2004)
  • * Figments From The Real World (2005)
  • * Arrivals & Departures: The Airport Pictures of Garry Winogrand (2003)
  • * The Man in the Crowd: The Uneasy Streets of Garry Winogrand (1999)
  • * Stock Photographs: The Fort Worth Fat Stock Show and Rodeo (1980)
  • Journals / Articles
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