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People Watching: Contemporary Photography Since 1965

Museum of Art Museum of Art

Exhibition: People Watching: Contemporary Photography Since 1965

Dates:

Location:

Center Gallery, Focus Gallery, Halford Gallery, Becker Gallery, Bernard and Barbro Osher Gallery
Through more than 120 photographs by more than four dozen leading contemporary artists, the exhibition explores the phenomenon of “people watching” as a recreational activity, an act of surveillance, a type of harassment, a sign of empathy, and a documentary form of expression.

Selected Works

a black and white photo of two seated people, in light colored garments and head coverings,in front of a striped background

untitled, ca. 1970, gelatin silver print by Malick Sidibé. Museum Purchase, Collectors’ Collaborative, in memory of Bruce MacDermid ’69, P’98, ’00. 2014.22.1

 

black and white photograph of a figure in a dress holding a hand mirror

Magnolia con espejo | Magnolia with mirror, Juchitán, 1986, gelatin silver print by Graciela Iturbide Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund. 2021.14.3

 

a panoramic photograph with a figure in a white t-shirt pointing towards the sky

Angel, 2007, c-print mounted on plexiglas by Alfredo Jaar. Archival Collection of Marion Boulton Stroud and Acadia Summer Arts Program, Mt. Desert Island, Maine. Gift from the Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Foundation. 2018.10.178

 

 

A color photograph of a figure with braided hair, jewlery, and rings tassels, jewelrey agains a green background

Demons, Tlazoteotl ‘Eater of Filth,’ p92 from Indigenous Woman, 2018, C-print mounted on Sintra, hand-painted artist frame by Martine Gutierrez. Museum Purchase, Greenacres Acquisition Fund. 2019.43

A figure in a long coat, with a feather pen in hand, leaning against a column of papers, agains a deep blue background

When The Storm Ends I Will Finish My Work, 2021, circular chromogenic print flush mounted to aluminum composite panel by Meryl McMaster. Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund. 2021.17

About

This exhibition explores the phenomenon of “people watching” as a recreational activity, an act of surveillance, a type of harassment, a sign of empathy, and a documentary form of expression. In the wake of the global pandemic of 2020, when social distancing and shelter in place orders have transformed our understanding of public space and our relationship to others, this exhibition will bring together