Girl in Love T-Shirt, 1987 by Bruce Wrighton
I went up to MoMA this afternoon to see a silent film by Frank Borzage and afterwards I had some time to kill. I wandered along 5th Avenue for a bit when I remembered that there was a new Abelardo Morell exhibition of color work happening at Bonni Benrubi.
On my walk along 57th Street, I decided to pop into Laurence Miller Gallery to see what was happening there. I hadn’t been there in ages and was certainly unprepared for the captivating Bruce Wrighton exhibition on display.
Bruce Wrighton lived and worked in Binghamton, New York. Using an 8×10 camera, he made photographs there during the 1980’s until his premature death from cancer at the age of 38. He left behind a cache of negatives and contact prints from three major photographic projects: Street Portraits, Dinosaurs and Dreamboats, and St. George and the Dragon.
Considering that I’ve never seen nor heard of Bruce Wrighton and his work before today, I was quite literally blown away by the exhibition. Most especially I was impressed with a large group of portraits, each contact printed by the artist before his death. The show is made up of those contact prints as well as new posthumusly printed large format prints made at Laumont.
While the large prints are beautiful and well done, I found them to be a bit much preferring the smaller more intimately scaled images. The original contact prints are gorgeous gems and retain all their vivid color and sharpness. Looking at them, one is immediately reminded of the reasons for using a large format camera.
Parking Attendant, 1987 by Bruce Wrighton
“Yesterday I saw a parking attendant who had just the right look in his eyes. I didn’t even introduce myself, I said, “Can I take your picture?” And either because I was so forceful, or he was so open, or there was something in my sincerity, he just said, “Sure”.
He was a fairly young kid. Weeping eyes. Eyes that really spoke of the pain of having to struggle versus really wanting to find a home. As I chatted with him as I was making the picture–again setting up the 8 by 10 is not like the snap-snap of an SLR. It takes 15 minutes to get the whole thing together. It’s a commitment and it’s building a relationship.
I find that important because I need to develop some kind of rapport with these people. So during that rapport building session, he mentioned he was going in the army. I said to myself, gee that’s just so fitting. To me when a young kid tells me they’re going in the army and they’re working in some parking lot or something like that; I don’t know for certain, but I say this kid’s looking for direction. But in his eyes I got the sense that the direction had to come from within him.
Anyway the kid had a nice pink shirt and red hair and a red hat. There were aesthetic reasons as well (he laughs), the psychological and spiritual element have to be there, but as well a successful image for me has to be aesthetically balanced.”
-From an interview with Bruce Wrighton by Sean Phelan, August 2, 1988 for the Weekly Pennysaver
Behind the photographic process of each portrait on display one can imagine an equally fascinating description as the one printed above.
There is something quite classic about the images and they all have this very intimate atmosphere about them combined with a melancholy sadness and palpability. According to the press release, Wrighton tended to focus on working class people, many of whom lived outside the mainstream of society: Carnival workers, a parking lot attendant, a security guard.
Couple in Blue, 1987 by Bruce Wrighton
There are photographs from Wrighton’s two other projects on display as well and they are also worth looking at. I especially liked the classic 1950’s American cars portrayed in Dinosaurs and Dreamboats (great title). The images don’t just depict cars from another time as Wrighton carefully links the cars to the architecture that surrounds them. The photographs, with their bright and saturated colors, transport us back to a happy, almost naive place and time in America.
1950 Studebaker Champion, Binghamton, NY, 1987 by Bruce Wrighton
1958 DeSoto Firedome, J&S Texas Hots, 1987 by Bruce Wrighton
An image from St. George and the Dragon:
Union Hotel, Clinton Street, Binghamton, NY, 1986 by Bruce Wrighton
Bruce Wrighton: Through an Open Window is on view at Laurence Miller Gallery through October 25, 2008.
Hi!
If you interested in Abelardo Morell’s work check out the documentary Shadow of the House – Photographer Abelardo Morell
Working alone for over 7 years, director Allie Humenuk filmed Morell and his family both at home and abroad. It beautifully capture the artist and the artistic process. The film is having a successful run in festivals and at museums nationwide.
There are screenings of the film coming up at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Dec 5th, 6pm) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Dec 11th, 4:30pm) Both Humenuk and Morell will be in attendance.
For more information on the film visit http://www.shadowofthehouse.com
The compositions are simple yet somehow elaborate. There is a certain feel to each of the pictures, and I absolutely adore them. They are all very charming. I especially favor the picture taken at Union Hotel. It is loud, in a good way. All of the elements, such as the bedspread, the wallpaper, and the picture of Jesus, make this photograph interesting. Also, I love how it seems to follow a color palate.
I knew Bruce as a personal friend and well-loved member of my extended family.
That said, I am certain that his work deserves far more attention than it has received to date. Thus, I appreciate the time and consideration you gave to your own experience with his work.
Bruce was an exceptional person. His passing is a loss for the world. He lived for his camera and his work as a photographer. He died for light.
[...] Bruce Wrighton “He took straightforward and rather artless color photos of people and places, but it’s the portraits that really hooked me. His subjects, mostly posed outdoors standing before building walls in natural sunlight, are stunningly ordinary, and I couldn’t stop looking at them.” [...]
Thank you for giving Bruce Wrighton’s work attention. It is funny. He spent time with people who were themselves under the radar. and worthy of attention.