Stories of Self-Reflection: Portraiture by Women Photographers

Portraiture, although typically seen as static and posed, has an extraordinary ability to tell stories through the relationship between photographer and subject, subject and background. This Gund Associate (intern)-curated exhibition highlights recent gifts and promised gifts to the Gund Gallery Collection, focusing specifically on photographic portraiture by Claire Beckett ‘00, Helen Levitt, Vivian Maier, Rania Matar, and others. Through intimacy and empathy, these women photographers are able to raise questions about the constructed nature of identity, especially in the lives of the women and children they portray. These photographs reveal the close, yet complex relationship between photographer and subject and reflect the influence of both individuals on the final work.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.         

Image: Mary Ellen Mark (American, 1940-2015), Tiny Blowing a Bubble, Seattle (from “Streetwise”), 1983. Silver gelatin print. 16 x 24 inches. Collection of David Horvitz ‘74 and Francie Bishop Good. © Mary Ellen Mark, courtesy of The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation and the Howard Greenberg Gallery.