Outsiders: American Photography and Film 1950s-1980s

by Sophie Hackett (Editor), Stephanie Smith (Foreword), Katherine A. Bussard (Contributor)

Idealists, outsiders, and those brave enough to be themselves, as depicted by visionary photographers and filmmakers including Diane Arbus and Nan Goldin, reveal another America. A visual tour through life at the margins in the United States from the late 1950s to the early 1980s, Outsiders highlights the work of iconic photographers and filmmakers who profoundly changed the image of American culture. Kenneth Anger, Diane Arbus, Shirley Clarke, Nan Goldin, Danny Lyon, Garry Winogrand, and their contemporaries challenged rigid postwar society with their powerful films and photographs. Lyon’s travels with Chicago biker gangs and Arbus’s swordswallowers form a dramatic counterpoint to a trove of midcentury images from Casa Susanna, a community of cross-dressers enjoying country life en femme. Outsiders captures diverse and significant subcultures and interests, united by each subject’s will to determine his or her own identity. Accompanying the images, essays by curators and critics explore American underground cinema, street photography, the distinct countercultures of New York and Los Angeles, and the spectacle of everyday living in a time of political and cultural turmoil.

Genres: Photography

190 pages, Hardcover

Published May 31, 2016

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an exhibition catalogue, “Outsiders” appropriately showcases the works of eleven photographers all with one goal in mind: to put on display the socio-economic struggles of deviant or minority groups in the 1950s - 1980s. Whether they be works such as amateur-esque snapshots from Casa Susanna, high strung spirits of the queer community from Nan Goldin, or Danny Lyon’s documentary nature capturing bike riders, they all unite together to inform the public audience not only of their day-to-day lives, but of the struggles these groups face. Themes of racism and classism are cultivated through the works to evoke conversation of events that occured before the 2000s, and to also reflect on today’s world in realizing that these issues are very much present in real time. It is successful in rendering a space for the white middle-class audience to look into the windows of "underground" worlds opened up by the photographer's lens. Historically, only photographs considered “art” were to hold a space in galleries and museums. This exhibition contrasts conventional art photography, with its snapshot amateur-esque approach and documentary focus on the moment. The artists featured were not thinking of technical image making, but making images documenting their communities during that specific moment in time. By holding a group body of work consisting of series' that were all created in a particular time period with themes of class, race, deviancy, and minority groups, the overall conversation has a stronger impact in today’s political and social world.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concisely and sharply curated, including a wonderful longer essay about how American street photography and Garry Winogrand broke into the high art world and what it stands for. Great selection of photos. Enjoyed the Gordon Parks quick take the most.

[Juanita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and provides segues for more reading and viewing. Also inspiring!