Tonight was my latest lecture about 20th Century American Women Photographers (3rd in a series), and I was been busy putting the finishing touches on it today, so I never got around to a proper blog post.

I’m happy to report that it all went well. There were about 35 people this time, include a visiting class of high school girls — from an all girls high school — on a study abroad trip from the U.S. Specifically, they were from New Jersey, the state where I was born and where I grew up. Quite a coincidence, eh?

Here’s a quick overview of the topic for this evening, which focused on 4 American females who were/are active as photographers in the late 20th (or early 21st century). Women whose work challenges the viewers to confront topics and themes that go beyond the societal norms and expectations for what’s appropriate for photography.

Lecture: The Innovators: Advancing New Approaches to Photography
In the second half of the 20th century, American women photographers started to push in new directions, challenging such traditional notions as “appropriate” portrait subjects and photographic genres themselves. In this lecture, Dr. Lee McIntyre will explore work by four women who revolutionized the field: Diane Arbus and her thought-provoking portraits of “deviant and marginal people”; Annie Leibovitz and her controversial yet intriguing portraits and ad campaigns; Cindy Sherman and her stylized, staged self-portraits, which command some of the highest prices ever paid for a photograph and also Joanne Leonard (whose series Newspaper Diary was exhibited at the d.a.i. in spring 2014) and her compelling “intimate documentary” photos from the genre that she invented.

Born in New Jersey, Lee McIntyre holds a Ph.D. from the University of
North Carolina. She is a photographer and instructor who has lived,
traveled, taken photos, and exhibited her work all over the world.
In English

Both the class of students as well as others in the audience were very attentive during the talk, and asked good questions afterwards. You can’t ask for more than that as a speaker! It’s always a lot of fun to put this kind of lecture together.

As usual, though, I had far too much material to include in just a one hour talk. 🙂 Here’s a fun example that wound up on the cutting room floor, as it were, although I did manage to mention it (but not show it) during the Q&A session.

In the lecture itself, I talked about the work of Annie Leibovitz, a famous celebrity portrait photography. Back in 1981, she was just starting to become known for incorporating unusual concepts into her portraits. Her approach involved talking to the celebrities ahead of time to get an idea of their likes, hobbies, etc., hoping to uncover an idea for an intriguing and unexpected approach to their portraits.

Around that time, Steve Martin was becoming very popular as a comedian and film star. As he started to earn money, he started collecting modern art paintings. So, while sitting in his living room chatting with Annie Leibovitz, he commented that he’d just bought a new painting. He said he found this work so intriguing that he found himself wondering what it would be like to actually be in the painting.

And thus an idea for the portrait was born:

Steve Martin, 1981, by Annie Leibovitz

A fun photo to go with a fun evening – I do love doing these lectures!:-)