Sunday 22 May 2011

Stephen Shore

   As an autodidact artist Stephen Shore starts photography really early, when he discovers the book "American Photographs" from Walker Evans. When he is 14 years old, he sells three of his pictures to Edward Steichen for the MOMA collection before he meets Andy Warhol and Factory. In 1971, The Metropolitan Museum of Art devotes an exposition to him, yet Stephen Shore becomes the second photographer to be devoted while alive after Alfred Stieglitz. Two years later Shore decides to travel all over America to take pictures of his daily and landscapes encountered during his journey. He repeats then this experiment every year, and put together a serie of pictures edited in 1982 and in 2004 by Aperture called  "Uncommon Places". Real anthropologist, Stephen Shore collects pictures of hotels where he sleeps. Moreover, Shore considers color photography as an art in itself, which is absolutely innovative in an era where black and white is a must. Close to Wiliam Eggleston, he is also influenced by photographs of industrial buildings Becher but also and especially by the documentary approach of Evans. Evidenced by his images showcases, shop signs and streets, characteristics of his "Amarillo Tall in texas" project. His analytical approach and the feeling of fullness that comes from his landscapes are also frequently compared to the aesthetic of the painter Edward Hopper.





Reading and viewing:


L'intermède : http://www.lintermede.com/pages-stephen-shore-lecon-de-photographie-jeu-de-paume-rencontre.php

Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Shore

The J. Paul Getty Museum : http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=3666&page=1

The Nature of Photographs: A Primer by Stephen Shore

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