Robert Bergman - Street Photography

Tina Manley

NPR just had a story about Robert Bergman, who has a show at the National Gallery of Art. I thought it was interesting that they referred to his work as "street photography" even though he asks the subjects for permission and they are aware that their portrait is being made. Here are two articles:

http://www.brooklynrail.org/2004/05/art/bergman

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101202981.html

This is an interesting quote:

"The fundamental strangeness of documentary photography is the split between who it is of and who it is for—the split between its subjects and its audience. The documentary photograph is intended to move "you" (the middle class magazine or newspaper reader or the upper middle class art lover) to do something. Here’s a test: what does any given photograph make you want to do? Lewis Hine says change the child labor laws; Margaret Bourke-White says add fluoride to the water, give at your church, and stay the hell away from the bad side of town; Dorothea Lange says improve the treatment of migrant workers; Robert Frank says quit your job and see America (but you won’t always like what you see); Richard Avedon says look as long as you like—they can’t see you or stop you; Martha Rosler says leave the bums alone. When you look at a Robert Bergman photograph, you don’t think "Oh gee, I should give more to the United Way," but that maybe "you" are missing something by not treating everyone you encounter as a full human being."

Read, too, about how he makes his inkjet prints.

Hope you enjoy.

Tina
www.tinamanley.com

bdcolen

Tina Manley wrote:

NPR just had a story about Robert Bergman, who has a show at the National Gallery of Art. I thought it was interesting that they referred to his work as "street photography" even though he asks the subjects for permission and they are aware that their portrait is being made. Here are two articles:

http://www.brooklynrail.org/2004/05/art/bergman

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101202981.html

This is an interesting quote:

"The fundamental strangeness of documentary photography is the split between who it is of and who it is for—the split between its subjects and its audience. The documentary photograph is intended to move "you" (the middle class magazine or newspaper reader or the upper middle class art lover) to do something. Here’s a test: what does any given photograph make you want to do? Lewis Hine says change the child labor laws; Margaret Bourke-White says add fluoride to the water, give at your church, and stay the hell away from the bad side of town; Dorothea Lange says improve the treatment of migrant workers; Robert Frank says quit your job and see America (but you won’t always like what you see); Richard Avedon says look as long as you like—they can’t see you or stop you; Martha Rosler says leave the bums alone. When you look at a Robert Bergman photograph, you don’t think "Oh gee, I should give more to the United Way," but that maybe "you" are missing something by not treating everyone you encounter as a full human being."

Read, too, about how he makes his inkjet prints.

Hope you enjoy.

Tina
www.tinamanley.com

Fascinating, Tina - Thanks for bringing this to us. But I still would say it's portraiture, not street photography - even if it's taken in the street. But that doesn't make it bad, God knows. It's very strong stuff.

michswiss

I heard about this recently from Metafilter. There are several additional links to articles and exhibits if you're interested.

His work is very enjoyable. If I were to categorise, I would place it closest to "Environmental Portraiture". But I'm left curious about the allusions to benefactors and others that supported him through the years. How does that work for an artist/photographer of his style?

thoth

bdcolen wrote:

Fascinating, Tina - Thanks for bringing this to us. But I still would say it's portraiture, not street photography - even if it's taken in the street. But that doesn't make it bad, God knows. It's very strong stuff.

This is extremely fascinating stuff. I might take it a step further and say these aren't even portraits in a traditional sense. He almost appears to be photographing souls rather than people. They are all extremely captivating.

rutt

I heard a piece about him on NPR last night. You can listen here. He has a show at the National Gallery of Art; hence the buzz.

sara505

LOVE his work.