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A Thousand Hounds: A Walk with the Dogs through the History of
Photography
4/27/2002 - 9/1/2002
Photography has offered a means of documentation and expression
for more than 160 years now. Focusing on a seemingly obscure
subject, curators Raymond Merritt and Miles Barth have unearthed a
delightful and varied array of images in which the dog's presence
serves as a central trope in the history of the medium. A Thousand
Hounds: A Walk with the Dogs Through the History of Photography is
based in part on The Cygnet Foundation's popular and critically
acclaimed book of the same title, which, when it was released by
Taschen in 2000, was announced as "a completely original history of
photography told through images of canines."
The exhibition celebrates the endearing and enduring partnership
between man and dog in well over 150 photographs and 2 photographic
sculptures, which date from 1840 to the current day and have been
created by both masters of the medium and lesser-known
practitioners. Among the noted artists included from the nineteenth
century are Thomas Eakins, Roger Fenton, Gustav Le Gray, and Edward
Muybridge, and from the twentieth century, Diane Arbus, Bill Brandt,
Henri Cartier-Bresson, André Kertész, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Man
Ray, Robert Mapplethorpe, Paul Strand, and Weegee. Also prominently
featured are works by contemporary artists, including William Wegman,
Elliott Erwitt, and Keith Carter, all renowned for their images of
dogs, as well as by Roger Ballen, Larry Clark, Gregory Crewdson,
Robert Frank, Ralph Gibson, Sally Mann, Vik Muniz, and Sandy
Skoglund. The exhibition is serious and scholarly in its considered
presentation of the dog's place in momentous historical and cultural
events of the past century and a half, ranging from polar
expeditions to the Great Depression to the World Wars. It is also
light-hearted and engaging in its celebration of photographers'
longstanding artistic interest in the canine as model, muse, and
metaphor.
A Thousand Hounds: A Walk with the Dogs Through the History of
Photography includes depictions of dogs with children, women, old
men, celebrities, and members of their own species. Presented in two
parts, its historical organization illuminates technological
innovations, as well as cultural, sociological and aesthetic
developments related to the medium, while contemporary work is
organized thematically, with individual sections devoted to the
notions of pathos, whimsy, elegance, companionship, and inspiration.
The earliest images in the exhibition introduce the viewer to the
first popular application of the new medium. When photography burst
onto the scene in the mid-nineteenth century, the lengthy sittings
required for daguerreotypes and paper negatives made pets unlikely
sitters for the portraits that were immediately commissioned by the
upper and middle classes. The daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes,
cartes-de-visite and cabinet cards presented here exemplify attempts
by anonymous photographers to memorialize all variety of man's best
friend.
Moving into the twentieth century, the exhibition covers two major
movements in the history of photography, pictorialism and modernism.
Dating from around 1907, George Seeley's platinum print is typical
of pictorialist photographers' penchant for Impressionistic
atmosphere and unique, crafted images with the semblance of drawings
or watercolors. By contrast, Bill Brandt's photograph from 1945
captures a dog as a glowing silhouette in the harsh glare of car's
headlights.
A section devoted to the subject of war demonstrates how dogs have
accompanied soldiers on the front from the earliest photographic
depictions of battle. Photographs by Gustav Le Gray and the Mathew
Brady Studio document the presence of dogs during the Crimean War
and the American Civil War. Numerous other photographs show how
these valued companions have transported equipment and supplies,
carried messages, searched for the wounded, and galvanized troop
morale and civilian support in every war since.
From the 1950s into the 1970s, photographers such as Mario
Giacomelli, Robert Doisneau, Diane Arbus, and Robert Frank developed
a personal vision that has become synonymous with a unique
photographic voice. The images presented in this exhibition reveal
how each of these voices has been compelled to capture the antics of
the dog.
In the 1980s and 1990s, photographers James Balog, Keith Carter,
Michal Rover and Peter Hujar created individualistic portraits of
dogs as pets or rare breeds with distinct emotions and
personalities, none more memorable than William Wegman's Weimaraners.
By comparison, the inclusion of dogs in real-life or constructed
narratives by Tina Barney, Nic Nicosia and Sandy Skoglund reveals
the enigmatic qualities that our canine friend bring to our lives,
while Robert Mapplethorpe and Scavullo remind us of the inherent
elegance of the simplest of poses.
The images in this exhibition address the history and concerns of
the photographic medium as much as they do the evolving relationship
between man and dog. The only disappointment to viewers will be that
the exhibition does not truly feature one thousand photographs of
our furry friends. A Thousand Hounds: A Walk with the Dogs Through
the History of Photography is organized by The Cygnet Foundation.
This exhibition is curated by Raymond Merritt and Miles Barth. The
local presentation of this exhibition is generously funded by Mr.
and Mrs. William E. Flaherty. Additional local media support is
provided by Adelphia Media Services and Sunny 104.3. The American
tour is sponsored by Cesar, Select Dinners.
Photography Workshop with Ralph Gibson
April 27, noon - 4:00 p.m.; Registration in the Great Hall, 11:00
a.m.
Participants bring their own cameras to photograph "K.C.", the dog,
with renowned photographer Ralph Gibson between noon and 1:00 p.m.
After breaking for lunch on their own and an opportunity to see the
exhibition A Thousand Hounds: A Walk with the Dogs Through the
History of Photography, visitors return at 3:00 p.m., for a critique
and dialogue with the artist. The Museum provides one roll of 35mm
film per participant and develops the prints. Enrollment for this
program is limited to 25.
Panel Discussion and Book Signing
April 28, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Underwritten in part by Harriett M. Eckstein
Moderated by Virginia Heckert, William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator
of Photography, exhibition organizers Raymond Merritt and Miles
Barth, and photographers Carole Baker, Keith Carter, and Ralph
Gibson engage in a lively discussion about photography and dogs. The
program concludes with an audience Q&A and a book signing by Mr.
Merritt and Mr. Barth.
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