'Mavericks' Of Color Photography Honored In Exhibition At Philadelphia Museum Of Art

PHILADELPHIA, PENN.

:In the 1960s, when elder statesmen of photography such as Edward Steichen and Walker Evans declared color photographs to be lurid and vulgar, a group of innovative artists, including William Christenberry and William Eggleston, began experimenting with improved technologies to seriously explore the possibilities of color photography. Their potent work, often examining humble subject matter, gained recognition in the 1970s and inspired a new generation of American color photographers.

"Mavericks of Color: Photographs from the Collection," on view in the Julien Levy Gallery of the Philadelphia Museum of Art from July 30 to November 27, presents a rare look at more than 50 photographs from the museum's collection by several dedicated practitioners of color photography: Christenberry, Eggleston, Joel Meyerowitz and Eliot Porter. The work of these "mavericks" was startling and revolutionary at a time when the carefully composed, meticulously printed black and white photograph was the standard for the medium.

Porter was a biochemist and dedicated amateur photographer when he was offered an exhibition at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery, An American Place, in 1938. A generation older than the other three artists in this exhibition, he began experimenting with color photography in 1940, in part due to the importance of color in identifying birds. Porter soon gave up his scientific career to become a full-time photographer and was resourceful in his inventions to make the camera more effective in the field.

In 1943, a selection of his color work was presented in the solo exhibition "Birds in Color: Flashlight Photographs by Eliot Porter" at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. By the early 1950s, he was publishing his color pictures extensively in a variety of magazines and journals. Featured in this exhibition are selections from his 1972 portfolio "Iceland," published by the Sierra Club, and the dynamic 1977 portfolio, "Birds in Flight."

Christenberry came to photography as a painter. Attracted by the forms and textures of the vernacular architecture around Hale County, Ala., Christenberry used a Brownie camera to photograph gas stations, churches and corner stores as studies for his paintings. During a stint in New York City, Christenberry got up the courage to call photographer Walker Evans and eventually showed him the photographs, which Evans encouraged him to take seriously.

Christenberry went on to teach at Memphis State University in Tennessee and in 1968 moved to the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., where his color photographs were shown in a solo exhibition in 1973. Christenberry often returns to the same subjects, photographing the effects of time, weather and neglect. The photographs in this exhibition were previously featured in Christenberry's solo show at this museum in 1991, "William Christenberry: Photographs."

Eggleston's solo exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in 1976 signaled a breakthrough in the acceptance of color photography and his concurrent publication William Eggleston's Guide remains an important touchstone for the medium. Born in Memphis, the artist spent his childhood in rural Tennessee. Inspired by the photographs by Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans, which he saw in books, Eggleston started photographing with black and white film.

Increasingly intrigued by the possibilities of color photography, he struck up a friendship with Christenberry. Known for his photographs of the American South, Eggleston has built an international reputation on his vibrant portraits of the utterly commonplace. Among his iconic works on view are powerful images of seemingly simple subjects - a red ceiling punctuated by a single bare light bulb, a tricycle abandoned on the sidewalk and a hooded jacket hanging on a nail.

Meyerowitz was working as an art director and designer in New York City when he became excited about the possibilities of photography. After observing Robert Frank in action, he picked up the camera in 1962 and began shooting color slides. Drawn to the bright signs and flux of the city, Meyerowitz worked in the tradition of street photography, first working with black and white film before turning in earnest to color printing in 1973. His bold images often capture the surprising juxtapositions and instantaneous events of daily life, such as the cryptic confluence of gestures among strangers or a man falling down in the street.

Rounding out the exhibition are examples from the 1970s by other color mavericks, including Harry Callahan, David Graham William Larson Lucas Samaras and Stephen Shore.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street.

For information, 215-763-8100 or www.philamuseum.org.