Garry Winogrand at Bonni Benrubi - New York, New York - Review of Exhibitions

Art in America, Feb, 1995 by Robert G. Edelman

This exhibition of Garry Winogrand's previously unpublished photographs of New York City burlesque houses was an occasion to consider the early work of an important American photographer. Taken circa 1954, Winogrand's pictures of female strippers (seen onstage and in wings and darkened dressing rooms) were printed in small numbers and then relegated to storage during the photographer's lifetime (Winogrand died in 1984). Seen here as a thematic grouping, the vintage prints (recently rediscovered in a closet by the photographer's former wife) form a revealing narrative that might have served as a photojournalistic essay for magazine, had an editor of day been willing to run such candid exposures.

In the early '50s, Winogrand worked as a freelance photographer, and by mid-decade his commercial work was appearing in magazines like Collier's and Redbook At the time this series was shot (assuming the dating is accurate), Winogrand knew little outside the world of commercial photography. Apparently, he had not even seen the work of Walker Evans, whose book American Photographs would later have a major influence on his understanding of the medium. What makes these photographs so appealing is, in fact, their romantic naivete. Winogrand's sympathy for his subjects is particularly evident when the pictures disclose some of the more mundane aspects of the performers' private moments offstage.

Recalling Degas's and Lautrec's casual renderings of brothel habitues and dancers, Winogrand's strippers are often captured in repose or in some moment of preparation or self-absorbed thought. Women Backstage Relaxing shows a frieze of several dancers, the space between them divided up by the strong vertical struts of the dressing room--we could almost be in the wings of a ballet theater frequented by Degas. In fact, many of these photographs share a curiosity mixed with voyeurism that parallels the French painter's fascination with women in guileless and informal attitudes.

One sequence, titled Denise Lorr in Her Strip on Stage, captures a solo dancer going through her routine. Seen in profile, she is spotlighted against a dark background, her sensuous contour resembling the outline of a painted figure from a Greek vase. Several photos, such as Man and Woman in Shadows and Showgirl Coming Offstage, display a stark, almost melodramatic form of reportage that recalls Robert Frank or Brassai. These early photographs can be seen as a foil against which Winogrand's subsequent work asserted itself, work far more experimental and original. However, Winogrand's particular take on women, by turns confrontational and reverential, persisted in fueling his ambition throughout his career.