The Stephen Bulger Gallery presented 2 retrospectives: George S. Zimbel and Ruth Orkin.
Zimbel's photos of children at play, set mostly in New York and Montreal of 50s and 60s, are wonderful snapshots of a bygone area. Not the least of which is a pre helicopter-parenting style, where children are left alone unattended and to their own devices.
Orkin's retrospective did not include a cross-section of her work, but mostly the set she took of Ninalee Craig (then a 23-year-old Jinx Allen) in Italy 60 years ago. It was a celebration of the most famous photo from that day, American Girl In Italy.
Looking at the photos, I was struck by how they seemed to "violate" rules about good photography such as "off-centered subjects are more interesting", and "shoot close and closer" (to defend against the typical amateur habit of full-frame tiny people lost in a background of cathedrals and mountains). But poring over the photographs, especially Orkin's contact sheet containing other unused shots, gave me a few pointers about why these photos work, and that there were no rule breaking, only more subtle and interesting options. Of course, that is my egoist conceit. The short answer may very well be: "talent and hard-work".
Looking at the photos, I was struck by how they seemed to "violate" rules about good photography such as "off-centered subjects are more interesting", and "shoot close and closer" (to defend against the typical amateur habit of full-frame tiny people lost in a background of cathedrals and mountains). But poring over the photographs, especially Orkin's contact sheet containing other unused shots, gave me a few pointers about why these photos work, and that there were no rule breaking, only more subtle and interesting options. Of course, that is my egoist conceit. The short answer may very well be: "talent and hard-work".
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