John Szarkowski

John Szarkowski (b. 1925, Ashland, Wisconsin) is an influential photography curator, historian, and critic. From 1962 to 1991 Szarkowski was the Director of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Related Topics:
1925 - Ashland - Wisconsin - Photography - Curator - 1962 - 1991 - New York - Museum of Modern Art

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He grew up in the rural Midwest, and became interested in photography at age eleven. In World War II Szarkowski served in the U.S. Army, after which he graduated in 1948 in Art History from the University of Wisconsin. He then began his career as a museum photographer at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. At this time he was also a practicing art photographer; he had his his first solo show at the Walker Art Center in 1949, the first of a number of solo exhibitions. In 1954 Szarkowski received the first of two Guggenheim fellowships, resulting in the book The Idea of Louis Sullivan (1956). Between 1958 and 1962 he returned to rural Wisconsin. There he undertook a second Guggenheim fellowship in 1961, researching into ideas about wilderness and the relationship between people and the land.

Related Topics:
Midwest - World War II - U.S. Army - 1948 - Art History - University of Wisconsin - Walker Art Center - Minneapolis - 1949 - 1954 - Guggenheim - Louis Sullivan - 1956 - 1958 - 1962 - 1961

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Then, in 1962, he was personally picked by Edward Steichen to be Steichen's successor at the Museum of Modern Art. When he arrived in New York, not a single gallery in the city showed fine art photography.

Related Topics:
1962 - Edward Steichen - Fine art photography

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In 1974 Szarkowski published Looking at Photographs; a practical set of examples on how to write about photographs. The book is still required reading for students of art photography. He has also published numerous books on individual photographers, including definitive work on the photography of Atget.

Related Topics:
1974 - Atget

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He taught at Harvard, Cornell University and New York University, and continues to lecture and teach. In 1990, U.S. News & World Report said: "Szarkowski's thinking, whether Americans know it or not, has become our thinking about photography".

Related Topics:
Harvard - Cornell University - New York University - 1990

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In 1991 Szarkowski retired from his post at the New York Museum of Modern Art, during which he had developed a reputation for being somewhat autocratic, and became the Museum's Photography Director Emeritus. He was succeeded by Peter Galassi, Chief Curator.

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In retirement Szarkowski returned to making his own photographic work, mostly attempting to picture a spirit of place in the American landscape. In 2005 he had several major solo exhibitions across the USA.

Related Topics:
Spirit of place - 2005

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There is a 48-minute documentary on his life and work: John Szarkowski: A Life in Photography (Checkerboard, 1998).

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