Abstract
Focusing on Garry Winogrand’s Public Relations (1977), this article explores the problematic encounter between street photography and protest during the Vietnam War era. In doing so, it considers the extent to which Winogrand’s engagement with protest altered the formalist discourse that had surrounded his practice and the ‘genre’ of street photography more broadly since the 1950s. It is suggested that, although Winogrand never abandoned his debt to this framework, the logic of protest also intensified its internal contradictions, prompting a new attitude towards the crowd, art institution, street and mass media. By exploring this shift, this article seeks to demonstrate that, while the various leftist critiques of Winogrand’s practice remain valid, Public Relations had certain affinities with the progressive artistic and political movements of the period.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 59 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Arts |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 3 May 2019 |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2019 |
Bibliographical note
This research received no external fundingData Availability Statement
No data availability statementKeywords
- street photography
- Winogrand
- formalism
- protest
- Vietnam War
- documentary