Tate Britain
8 September 2010  -  16 January 2011

From Tate Britain website:  "Muybridge was the man who famously proved a horse can fly. Adapting the very latest technology to his ends, he proved his theory by getting a galloping horse to trigger the shutters of a bank of cameras. This experiment proved indisputably for the first time what no eye had previously seen - that a horse lifts all four hooves off the ground at one point in the action of running. Seeking a means of sharing his ground-breaking work, he invented the zoopraxiscope, a method of projecting animated versions of his photographs as short moving sequences, which anticipated subsequent developments in the history of cinema.

British-born Eadweard Muybridge, who emigrated to the United States in the 1850s, is one of the most influential photographers of all time.  He pushed the limits of the camera's possibilities, creating world-famous images of animals and humans in motion. Just as impressive are his vast panoramas of American landscapes, such as the Yosemite valley, and his documentation of the rapidly growing nation, particularly in San Francisco. His dramatic life included extensive travels in North and Central America, a career as a successful lecturer, and the scandal of his trial for the murder of his wife's lover.

This exhibition brings together the full range of his art for the first time, and explores the ways in which Muybridge created and honed his remarkable images, which continue to resonate with artists today. Highlights include a seventeen foot panorama of San Francisco and recreations of the zoopraxiscope in action. His influence has forever changed our understanding and interpretation of the world, and can be found in many diverse fields, from Marcel Duchamp's painting Nude Descending a Staircase and countless works by Francis Bacon, to the blockbuster film The Matrix and Philip Glass's opera The Photographer.

In addition to Muybridge at Tate Britain, his birthplace Kingston upon Thames celebrates and investigates its unique Muybridge Collection with special exhibitions at Kingston Museum and at the Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston University. Visit the Muybridge in Kingston website for more information.

Organised by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC"

Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera

28 May  -  3 October 2010

From Tate Modern website: "Exposed offers a fascinating look at pictures made on the sly, without the explicit permission of the people depicted. With photographs from the late nineteenth century to present day, the pictures present a shocking, illuminating and witty perspective on iconic and taboo subjects. 

Beginning with the idea of the 'unseen photographer', Exposed presents 250 works by celebrated artists and photographers including Brassaï's erotic Secret Paris of the 1930s images; Weegee's iconic photograph of Marilyn Monroe; and Nick Ut's reportage image of children escaping napalm attacks in the Vietnam War. Sex and celebrity is an important part of the exhibition, presenting photographs of Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, Paris Hilton on her way to prison and the assassination of JFK. Other renowned photographers represented in the show include Guy Bourdin, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Philip Lorca DiCorcia, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Nan Goldin, Lee Miller, Helmut Newton and Man Ray. 

The UK is now the most surveyed country in the world. We have an obsession with voyeurism, privacy laws, freedom of media, and surveillance - images captured and relayed on camera phones, YouTube or reality TV. Much of Exposed focuses on surveillance, including works by both amateur and press photographers, and images produced using automatic technology such as CCTV. The issues raised are particularly relevant in the current climate, with topical debates raging around the rights and desires of individuals, terrorism and the increasing availability and use of surveillance. Exposed confronts these issues and their implications head-on."

Thomas Demand, Camera 2007

© Thomas Demand

Garry Winogrand's New York (Couple Kissing, Girl Staring at Camera, Tortilla Factory), 1969.

Shizuka Yokomizo's Stranger No 2, 1999

Update:

Review

Review

It was a pleasure to meet both Sally and Virginia Mann, at the "Sally Mann in conversation with Camilla Brown" session at the National Portrait Gallery last week. The conversation was very engaging. The main topics of discussion centered around "What remains", "Immediate Family" and the wet plate collodian technique followed by a lively discussion on Mann's new body of work which evolves around the theme of slavery/racism/religion. Six "work-in-progress" images were shown for the first time and the London audience were invited to respond. Sally Mann: "The Family and the Land" exhibition is on at  The Photographers Gallery London until 19th September 2010.

image: sherry cuttler