Winogrand and Nixon at MAPFRE, #1, Barcelona 2021
“Sometimes I feel like . . . the world is a place I bought a ticket to. It’s a big show for me, as if it wouldn’t happen if I wasn’t there with a camera.”
“I’m not very good at working for other people. I mostly make pictures because of some whim. With luck, I get a glimpse of something, and then it turns into an adventure, and then into a project.”
MAPFRE On The Map
The MAPFRE Foundation here in Barcelona is certainly putting themselves on the map with some amazingly curated, top-quality photography exhibitions in what they call the KBr Photography Center. The Center boasts two large exhibition spaces, an auditorium, areas for educational activities, and a bookstore dedicated to our wonderful art of “writing with light”.
Why the name, “KBr” for the photography center, you ask? Here is their clever answer:
“KBr is the chemical symbol for potassium bromide, a salt used in the analogue photography development process. Its main function is to slow down or delay the action of the developing agent, to prevent the formation of what is called a chemical veil, which allows obtaining a greater purity of the whites of an image.”
Nice concept.
This particular gallery, dedicated to photography, is just one of many art spaces sponsored by MAPFRE, the big insurance company based out of Madrid. (If you are in Madrid, check out the photography center there: FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE SALA BÁRBARA DE BRAGANZA, Calle Bárbara de Braganza 13, opposite the National Library.)
Prior Shows
Since opening, KBr has presented work from Bill Brandt, Paul Strand, Claudia Andujar, as well as a collection of daguerreotypes from Girona, Catalunya, Spain.
Winogrand and Nixon Until September 5, 2021
With that date, you’ll have a bit of time before they change out the exhibits–but don’t dawdle, this one is amazing.
I went mainly to see Winogrand’s work up close, but I was very impressed by Nixon’s collection of portraits of his wife and three sisters–one done each year from 1975 to 2020–sobering to see how Life takes it’s toll on all of us.
A Winogrand Sampler
Here, I’ll offer up a few of my snapshot examples (photography is allowed inside) to whet your appetite… But, when you visit the gallery, take the time to really study each photograph. Do some “border patrol” to see what treasures he left on the edges of the frame. Check out the background. Examine the gestures and the expressions. He was a genius at packing into the rectangle some very surprising juxtapositions and details.
Upon his early death in 1984 at the age of 56, he left behind a huge cache of as-yet-unseen images… some 6,500 rolls of undeveloped or unprinted film, for example. He was quite prolific in that respect, and he apparently loved the act of photographing much more than the actual work of developing and printing what he captured. These latter tasks he mostly left to others, although he did mark negatives or slides to indicate possible “keepers”.
So, we will probably be seeing “new” Winogrand photographs for years to come as the curators slowly plow through his massive collection.
Marking the entrance to the exhibit… a color image!
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #2, Barcelona 2021
A three-time Guggenheim Fellowship winner, Winogrand, had an special knack for capturing amazing moments and unusual perspectives. In this shot (1960 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles), note that all the “normal” photographers are on the scaffolding in front of JFK, so Garry selected a much different angle by coming in from behind… but that’s only a small part of what really makes this photograph buzz. Kennedy is in the midst of a gesture with his right hand that is also captured in the TV monitor–and both this hand and his head appear to be surrounded by a sort of heavenly halo of light generated from the stage lighting. And then there are other strange and interesting details–what’s with that jug to the left of the monitor? What is it? And then there is the clock recording this exact moment in history, stopping time as it were. Even more subtle is the out-of-focus photographer on the right. For me, this is both a unique portrait of John Kennedy and a critical commentary of the role of the media in politics:
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #3, Barcelona 2021
Typical of Winogrand’s style were the slanted horizons giving his image a bit of a chaotic or “impromptu-voyeuristic” look. Also, note the race element (another common theme of his) in this shot that dates from 1964… a Black man in apparent deep conversation with a White women. Gestures were always a major element of many of his compositions, so take close note of all those intricate hand, finger, and feet positions. This photograph is packed with mystery and action–well, maybe except for the guy on the far right calmly reading his newspaper through it all:
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #4, Barcelona 2021
This one makes me “lort” (laugh-snort) out loud. How could he have possibly gotten all these elements to align at the same zoologically cosmic moment? …the two rhinos, the woman with the odd glasses that rhyme with the animals, and the two windows in the background, rhyming everything else, and the rear and front fencing defining the habitat of each “species”. Winogrand did a lot of work at the Bronx Zoo, publishing a collection of photographs called The Animals in 1969:
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #5, Barcelona 2021
A simple, humorous composition with perfect use of a narrow depth-of-field… In the grand scheme of things, which one is the actual “beast”?
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #6, Barcelona 2021
The racial commentary is quite evident here. The contrast between the expression on the Black man’s face and the smiles on the faces of the “very important” White executives says it all. Another nice touch is that the frame includes what appears to be a Black service member on the far right. A possible message? Maybe that military service and hard labor are fine, but it’s Whites only anywhere else in New York in 1963:
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #7, Barcelona 2021
Sisters? Twins? Or simply dressed up for some event? Who knows? Just a simple photo portrait of the two of them with their outfits and their facial expressions (especially the woman on the left) would have been a keeper for most photographers–but then Winogrand ups the ante with that amazing lineup of gawkers in the benches on the right. (New York, 1970):
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #8, Barcelona 2021
Here’s another pic that screams “1970 New York”. The contrast between the ages of the two individuals as well as their differing fashion sense is already an interesting story–but then, the nervously pointed right foot of the gentleman adds just that last little bit of class to the image. Then, as always, there are other fun details to ponder… the sign that says “No Standing”… the large open space to the right leading to what could be a bar or lounge:
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #9, Barcelona 2021
The rhyme between the older women and the bags of trash is obvious and you have to wonder if there is a not-so-subtle message here–especially when one notices the youthful women framed perfectly just behind. And, what kind of cosmic luck did Winogrand have to also have a dog shit on the sidewalk at this exact moment. So, could this be a story of how older people are forgotten by society as so much trash (and even shit upon) as the memories of their lost youth trail behind? Or am I reading too much into this?
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #10, Barcelona 2021
Winogrand not only walked the streets of New York with his camera, he also stalked local fairs and rodeos. This one is from the 1964 State Fair in Dallas, Texas. Is it just pure luck that he caught the cow’s tongue coming out in the exact same form as the cowboy hat on the man’s head? He seemed to have a habit of making his own good luck more often than most photographers:
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #12, Barcelona 2021
July 16, 1969 was an historic NASA moment. Everyone here is fixated on the launch of the giant Saturn V rocket that is sending Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin to the Moon on the Apollo 11 mission. Naturally, Winogrand has chosen an unusual “behind-the-scenes” perspective… and, once again naturally, there is an extra element in the picture that really makes the image a classic–the woman with the Instamatic who is apparently making her own photograph of something in the complete opposite direction of the main action (sort of rhyming what Garry himself is doing):
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #13, Barcelona 2021
Finally, here is one of his political photographs, this being the “Hard Hat Rally” in New York City in 1969. Again, I love the little details… that “One Way” sign at the top… and especially the slightly concerned face of the only woman (aside from “Little Miss Patriotism”) perfectly visible between all the flag-waving testosterone trees. Is that woman the girl’s mother?
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #14, Barcelona 2021
It perhaps isn’t common knowledge that Winogrand shot a whole pile of color slides–some 45,000 of them–during the 1950s and 1960s. One of the exhibit spaces is dedicated to showing off some of this work in a looping three-screen slide show:
Winogrand at MAPFRE, #11, Barcelona 2021
Nixon’s Portraits
This exhibit was a really nice surprise. I visited the museum specifically to see Winogrand’s work, but Nixon’s portrait series was a super bonus. I had heard of this project but I did not remember that Nixon was the photographer behind the idea.
Nixon’s work in the past has focused on a variety of subjects including urban landscapes, the blind, schools and school children, nursing homes, and perhaps best known, his series on AIDS which he began in 1987 as that crisis was unfolding. He was even included at one of the most influential exhibitions of the 1970s, New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape at the George Eastman House in 1975.
Here, though, only this very personal and very long-term “sisters project” adorns the walls.
So, in this second exhibit hall, what you’ll find is… one “Brown Sisters” large format portrait from every year from 1975 to 2020. Walking from one to the next, I couldn’t help but think I was doing a strange and disconcerting bit of time travelling. The process certainly makes you reflect on the passage of time… on your own personal health… on mortality… on Life in general.
Since I am closest in age to Mimi (second from left), I found myself comparing my wrinkles to hers. Also, it seemed to me that some years would pass with very little changes to the individual women, while other years seem to provoke more dramatic changes in one or the other–a reflection of the inevitable unpredictability of of life’s joys and pains as we humans know it and live it.
Below, I have posted my snapshots (bad reflections and all) of three of these Brown Sisters portraits to give you a taste. For the full impact of Time and Mortality, though, you’ll need to physically go yourself, and spend time moving from portrait to portrait, from one year to the next–for nearly fifty years.
The entrance to the exhibit:
Nixon at MAPFRE, #2, Barcelona 2021
The longer explanation, for those interested in the details:
Nixon at MAPFRE, #3, Barcelona 2021
This is the first portrait in the series, from 1975. Nixon first photographed the women together in 1974, but that image was not deemed “good enough to keep.” From left to right, you have… Heather (23), Mimi (15), Bebe (25, and Nixon’s wife), and Laurie (21):
Nixon at MAPFRE, #4, Barcelona 2021
The 1994 portrait:
Nixon at MAPFRE, #5, Barcelona 2021
The 2019 portrait:
Nixon at MAPFRE, #6, Barcelona 2021
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