Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Paul McDonough, Sight Seeing @ Sasha Wolf Gallery



Man, McDonough is good, and even better when he is separated from New York City and the terrain so familiar in the preceding history of black and white street photography. McDonough is a revelation. In the warm surroundings of what looks like California or Florida, he uses the lack of clothes and the continuous hordes of teens congregating and making out to create a master class on forming a visual language. Every picture has rich little details littered throughout the frame, a thigh-high sock being pulled down, a second couple embracing in the distance, a slide labeled “miracle,” all slivers of the world that he has stopped, and reframed to capture and convey meaning to the viewer. Forming meaning from this democratic source material that surrounds our every waking moment is the foundation of all photography. It is the lifeblood of the medium. If you don’t find pleasure in this kind of thing, there is a good chance you are an artist and not a photographer.



Through May 5th

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