Garry Winogrand
Anybody could look at Winogrand’s work and find something to be inspired or intrigued by. He loved photography very deeply, primarily experiencing the world through its lens. Hundreds of thousands of photographs of varying subjects, ranging from the serious to the hilarious and often a fluid balance of in-between, Winogrand’s photos express the full range of human emotions, attributed to the intentionality of capturing his perspective. He took photos of what he wanted, not what was collectively agreed to be photographable or commercially worthwhile. While what he photographed often coincided with newsworthiness, there are also several examples where this philosophy produced some of Winogrand’s most controversial (unsavory to some) photographs (a collective example being his book, ‘Women are Beautiful’).
“Whatever comes out, that’s the way I have to express it. I would like not to exist. I’m not speaking in mysteries, and I’m not talking about suicide or anything. I’d just as soon not exist.”
I wish I was in his position to take some of the photos myself; while others, I wouldn’t have taken at all. What I find most entertaining about his street photography is, despite his ability to divert attention, be inconspicuous with the camera and essentially become invisible, there is usually at least one person hyper aware that he’s capturing them. When I encounter this situation, I’m often compelled to put my camera down and pretend like I didn’t notice them but Winogrand didn’t shy away from these situations. Many of his greatest photos are of an observant subject in the sea of American life. It’s courageous, compelling, and constant storytelling that can be looked back on for profound historic reexamination and a glance through Winogrand’s eyes and maybe his mind.
“So I think what I do is nuts. The nature of the photographic progress, it is about failure. Most everything I do doesn’t quite make it. Hopefully, you’re risking failure every time you go out to make a frame.”
He shot film rolls without regard, blasting away as if he had infinitely renewable printing/storage. When he died, he left 2,500 rolls of undeveloped film, 300,000 unedited images, 6,500 developed—but not printed—rolls and 300 untouched photographs (WPOST). “The previous generation of documentary photographers made pictures in service of social causes, Winogrand and his peers believed that the everyday had value as a photographic subject” (MOMA). This is essentially what modern street photography and its many off-shoot genres is, finding art and photogenic frames in the mundane.
“The pictures are taking me in a direction of what I expect from art, which is to see things through another person’s eyes and to feel less lonely. Did he really want anybody to see ‘em? I don’t know. Garry, I don’t know.”
Garry Winogrand was an involuntarily electrifying pioneer of modern photography philosophy. Reportedly both insufferable and invulnerable, along with a portfolio that feels endless, Winogrand was observed to be larger than life. Inspiring but immensely imperfect, he lived and breathed through the viewfinder and was a central figure in photography's transition from strict photojournalism to an art enterprise. He was also existentially lost and mildly disturbed. His work was unfortunately unfinished before he died. Following posthumous development, his work often granted great insight to his personality and perspectives but most characteristically, his persistence. Despite his failing health and degrading prestige, Winogrand never stopped shooting his truth (granted, that often could be reduced to an extensive ‘appreciation’ for women).
