Photographs from the Collection The renowned German artists Bernd and Hilla Becher (1931–2007; 1934–2015) changed the course of late twentieth-century photography. Working as a rare artist couple, they focused on a single subject: the disappearing industrial architecture of Western Europe and North America that fueled the modern era. Their seemingly objective style recalled nineteenth- and early twentieth-century precedents but also resonated with the serial approach of contemporary Minimalism and Conceptual art. Equally s… moreHeather Dewey-Hagborg, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Rhonda Holberton, Mika Tajima, and Gail Wight. more Photographs in DialogueConstellations: Photographs in Dialogue explores how additions to the collection expand, deepen, and complicate the stories a museum can tell. From Edward Weston to Zanele Muholi, the exhibition weaves together historical and contemporary voices, bringing fresh narratives to light.
The photographs on view showcase the collection’s strengths, particularly in Japanese photography, the documentary tradition, and work by Bay Area artists. Constellations also highlights SFMOMA’s ever-expa… moreImmersion, a French-American Commission of the Hermès Foundation1970s Photographs by Lew Thomas, Donna-Lee Phillips, and Hal FischerThe Photographs of John Beasley Greenetransmitting photographs from mail art to social networksGifts to the Collection from Carla Emil and Rich SilversteinJohn Akomfrah and J.M.W. TurnerPhotography from the Campaign for ArtPhotography in a Moment of Change100 YEARS OF THE SPIRITUAL IN MODERN ARTShifting Geographies in Contemporary ArtVoyeurism, Surveillance, and the Camera Since 1870part of the 75th anniversary celebrationpart of the 75th anniversary celebrationSurrealist Photography and Sculpture from Bay Area Collections Diane Arbus (1923 – 1971) found most of her subjects in New York City and its environs during the 1950s and 1960s. Her portraits of couples, children, carnival performers, nudists, middle-class families, transvestites, people on the street, zealots, eccentrics, and celebrities explore the relationship between appearance and identity, illusion and belief, theater and reality. Organized by SFMOMA to include all of the artist's iconic photographs as well as many that have never been publicly exhi… moreWorking in early- and mid-twentieth-century Germany, August
Sander photographed anonymous people, then divided the images into archetypal groups such as The Farmer and The Woman to create a typological "total picture" of society. A monumental work that set new conceptual and aesthetic standards, People of the Twentieth Century remains highly significant today for its unique place in the history of photography and its continuing influence on contemporary artists. Organized by the August Sander A… more |
