The Animals

by Garry Winogrand (Photographer), John Szarkowski (Contributor)

The Animals is a classic photo book by the incessant, masterful photographer Garry Winogrand, reissued in a new edition by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, which first published the book in 1968. In it, Winogrand leaves the streets of the city for the caged aisles of the real urban jungle, the zoo, where he captures some of the more humiliating and strange moments in the lives of God's creatures. See a lion stick its tongue out between chain-link fencing, an orangutan pee into another's mouth, a hippo give a great big yawn, two lions lamely going at it, and seals watching lovers kiss.

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Garry Winogrand (1928-1984) was a street photographer known for his portrayal of America in the mid-20th century. John Szarkowski called him "the central photographer of his generation".

Winogrand was influenced by Walker Evans and Robert Frank and their respective publications American Photographs and The Americans. Henri Cartier-Bresson was another influence although stylistically different. Winogrand was known for his portrayal of American life in the early 1960s. Many of his photographs depict the social issues of his time and in the role of media in shaping attitudes. He roamed the streets of New York with his 35mm Leica camera rapidly taking photographs using a prefocused wide angle lens. His pictures frequently appeared as if they were driven by the energy of the events he was witnessing.

Winogrand's photographs of the Bronx Zoo and the Coney Island Aquarium made up his first book The Animals (1969), a collection of pictures that observes the connections between humans and animals. His book Public Relations (1977) shows press conferences with deer-in-the-headlight writers and politicians, protesters beaten by cops, and museum parties frequented by the self-satisfied cultural glitterati. These photographs capture the evolution of a uniquely 20th and 21st century phenomenon, the event created to be documented. In Stock Photographs (1980), Winogrand published his views of the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show and Rodeo.

At the time of his death there was discovered about 2,500 rolls of undeveloped film, 6,500 rolls of developed but not proofed exposures, and contact sheets made from about 3,000 rolls. The Garry Winogrand Archive at the Center for Creative Photography (CCP) comprises over 20,000 fine and work prints, 20,000 contact sheets, 100,000 negatives and 30,500 35mm colour slides as well as a small group of Polaroid prints and several amateur motion picture films.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who is looking at what? Are we a 'moving zoo' for the animals in the zoo? Once you see these pictures you will never see a zoo in the same way. If you have not experienced the photography of Garry Winogrand then I would really encourage you to pick up this book. How I wish he and Charles Bukowski would have worked on a book together!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting photos from the sixties taken at a zoo of humans and animals in all their essence, full of humor and crudity. Sometimes the humans in the photos were more interesting than the animals. Some of the photos have more of a bad photo for the family album feel than art. Depressing, negative afterward written by John Szarkowsi.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I like this book and I think most of the pictures are really great, I think I like his take on people better than animals.

[lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was deceptive. At first glance, the seemingly candid zoo pictures look like the ones everyone takes. But looking closer you begin to notice an intent. The zoo animals’ expressions get increasingly sad throughout the book. But this book is not about the animals, it’s about our relationship with them. The humans have equal importance in the photos and it’s here that the real quality of the compositions show. This image of a orangutan, her small baby and the human counterpart is particularly moving, but this short book is full of them.

[Rob GQ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.50

[97 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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