Photo-Unrealism
This exhibition explores the history of the abstract, the unreal, and the surreal in photography from its
origins to the present. For many, a photograph is a picture of something tangible, a recognizable
person, place or thing, but throughout photography’s history artists have explored its potential to
distort, disorient, blur, and alter the real world. This exhibition shifts the focus away from
photography’s reproductive qualities to its productive capacity: its ability to create fantastic images that
disrupt our sense of the natural order of things.
It cannot be coincidence that the words “realism” and “photography” emerged within a decade of each
other in the first half of the nineteenth century. “Realism” was coined in the 1830s, and the word
“photography,” was first used in the 1840s. From almost the moment of each term’s inception, they
were destined to inform each other, setting up a complicated series of expectations for photography that
it would often struggle to meet. Early photographs, for example, were often described as strange by
those that encountered them: they were monochromatic, the monocular vision of the camera flattened,
skewed, and condensed space, slow exposures erased human activity and prevented the recording of
clouds, and cameraless images recorded nothing but the shadow and contours of objects.
As the centuries progressed, photographers intentionally exploited these abstract properties, but also
went even further, manipulating processes to alter the camera image, and even creating their own
elaborately staged worlds for the camera to record. Comprised almost entirely of works from NOMA’s
permanent collection, Photo-Unrealism invites you to engage with this alternate history of
photography.
Label text
Unidentified Photographer
Picture from the Anthropological Collection of Prince Roland Bonaparte, circa 1880
Albumen silver print
Loan, from the collection of Tina Freeman
Anna Atkins
British, 1799 –1871
Ceylon, 1852-1854
Cyanotype
Museum purchase, General Acquisitions Fund, 81.385
William H. Bell
American, 1830-1910
Grand Canyon No. 12, 1972
Albumen silver print from a glass negative
Loan, from the collection of Tina Freeman
Bell began his career in his brother’s Daguerreotype studio in Philadelphia and ultimately worked with
nearly every major photographic process, including collodion processes, albumen prints, stereo cards,
and early film. In 1872 he was hired by the U.S. Army for the Wheeler Expedition survey team to make a
visual record of much of the Western region between the Great Plains and the Pacific coast. While in the
field he pioneered the dry plate process, which allowed him to prepare his negatives before leaving his
base camp. Bell’s long exposures often flattened out space, creating strange visual relationships between
objects of different depths, as here, where a great receding chasm is transformed into a flat collection of
shapes. Bell’s image emphasizes the same distorting quality of photography that John Pfahl
underscores in his work nearby.
Richard Beard
English, 1802-1885
Cut-paper silhouette of a man
Daguerreotype in leather case with gilt tin mat
Museum Purchase, Tina Freeman Fund, 2012.83
A. Aubrey Bodine
American, 1906-1970
Abstraction, circa 1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Grant and Matching Jeunesse Funds,
78.176
Nancy Burson
American, born 1948
Untitled, from the New Composite Series, 1988
Polaroid Polacolor ER photograph
Promised and Partial Gift of H. Russell Albright, M.D., 93.534
Nancy Burson has long employed technology in her work, which often questions the basis of perception
and self-presentation. In her investigations of race, gender, age and beauty, Burson unhinges
photography from its alliance with truth, demonstrating the limits of visual information. In this work,
Burson created a composite on a computer from scanned images and then photographed the computer
screen using a five-minute exposure. Strange yet reminiscent of actual physical deformities, the
woman’s gaze confronts the viewer, as if to question judgments made by sight alone.
Harry Callahan
American, 1912-1999
Grasses, Wisconsin 1959, 1959
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 75.21
Harry Callahan
American, 1912-1999
Water Reeds, 1941
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 75.22
Harry Callahan’s quiet images celebrate a delicate sense of balance captured in each frame—a balance
that is exhibited not only in the coexistence of intimate and formal treatments of his subjects but also in
the simultaneously narrative and abstract qualities of the image. The natural patterns found in his
landscapes such as Detroit, 1941 and Grasses, Wisconsin, 1959 demonstrate perhaps his most effective
method for producing imagery that, though free from extensive manipulation, is read abstractly due to
the closely cropped frames that strip the natural forms of the contextual reality existing beyond the
confines of the captured image.
Josep Maria Cañellas
Spanish, active in France, 1856–1902
Untitled (Paris Street Scene), circa 1885
Albumen silver print
Museum purchase, Carrie Heiderich Fund, 96.13
Carlotta M. Corpron
American, 1901-1988
Floating, 1945
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Clarence John Laughlin, 82.281.25
Carlotta Corpron found expressive freedom in a focused investigation of light: “I want my photographs
to be mine, I want to feel that I am the one who saw them. I think that’s why I went into the kind of
photography I did, because I had this intense desire to create with light.” A teacher at Texas Women’s
University, Corpron briefly worked with László Moholy-Nagy in 1942 and later with Gyorgy Kepes, who
called her a “master of light-poetry.” Kepes introduced her to the light box (an invention of Nathan
Lerner), which she used as a backdrop for abstract constructions and to admit light in controlled
amounts, as in this image. Inside a two-by-three foot box with two pinholes for lighting, Corpron
arranged pieces of paper and focused on the modulation of light on planes. Corpron then combined the
negative with another of Venetian blinds lit from behind to produce the complex interplay of highlight
and shadow.
Thomas Demand
German, born 1964
Luke (Hatch), 2000
Chromogenic print on Diasec
Loan, from the collection of H. Russell Albright, M.D., EL.2006.108
Robert Disraeli
American, b. Germany, 1905-1988
Surrealist Study of Hands, circa 1932
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase, General Acquisition Fund, 82.189
Robert Disraeli remains one of the lesser known photographers of his generation despite his work for
Popular Photography and contributions to the Photo League, a collective of photographers founded in
New York in 1936. Yet his darkly humorous images represent the surrealist ethos of the 1930s and an
innovative spirit in the genre of staged photography. Disraeli presents a fantasy land that is both
comical and sinister with the reversal of human-insect dominance. In contrast to the winged attacker’s
visible strings, the shadowed hands suggest a puppet master or some unknown presence behind the
scenes. Disraeli sought a timely, highly expressive use of photography; he once declared, “There is an
absence of photographs that mirror the time in which we live…There is no indication in this collection
that the world today pulsates with pain and joy, with pessimism and great hope.”
Jay Dusard
American, born 1937
Wall, 1972
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Matching Grant, 81.22
Although best known as a photographer of Western life and ranching culture (which he documents
while traveling across the plains on his horse, “Spud”) Dusard here constructs a complex picture that
conflates labor and landscape. Composed of two negatives, this image flattens three-dimensional
objects with a layer of wood grain and reframes individual objects through contrast, in a style akin to
the work of Dusard’s mentor, Frederick Sommer. The weathered wall overflows with metal scraps,
driftwood, farm tools and old signage. At once obscured and unified by texture, objects tacked to the
structure become less comprehensible while fragments of feet, Bugs Bunny’s toothy grin and snatches
of text (“No Return” and “Caution”) add an ominous tone to the collage.
Harold Eugene Edgerton
American, 1903-1990
Bullet Through Plexiglas, circa 1960
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Harold and Esther Edgerton Family Foundation, 96.136
Rudolf Eickemeyer
American, 1862-1932
Secessionist Landscape, 1924
Bromoid print, gum print
Museum purchase, Jung Enterprises and WVC Funds, 75.11
Andreas Feininger
American, 1906-1999
Solarization, Stockholm Waterfront, 1935
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 75.124
Trained in architecture at the Bauhaus, Andreas Feininger stripped the human presence from this
surreal view of Stockholm, focusing instead on the sharp edge of the skyline. The image is “solarized,” a
technique known from the early days of photography in which the print is exposed to light during
development, causing the tones of the emerging positive to partially reverse back to a negative. After
struggling to work as an architect, Feininger became a photographer for architects instead and soon
after began to work on a book about Stockholm. Much of the characteristic views of the city could only
be captured across water so Feininger constructed his own camera with a telephoto lens in 1934.
Andreas Feininger
American, 1906-1999
Sutures of a Human Skull, 1951
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 75.144
Jaromir Funke
Czech, 1896-1945
Light Composition (Light Abstraction), 1927-1929
Gelatin silver print
Museum Purchase, General Acquisition Fund, 78.142
Philip Gould
American, born 1951
The Bullet Holes in the Capitol, 1995
Chromogenic color print
Gift of Philip Gould, 96.49
Emmet Gowin
American, born 1941
Area of Mt. Saint Helens, 1981
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase, Women's Volunteer Committee Funds, 83.126
Emmet Gowin
American, born 1941
Ireland 1972, 1972, printed 1974
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 75.30
Dr. Roger Graetz
American
Untitled (from the shrub), 1982
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Artist, New Orleans, 97.680
John Havinden
British, 1908-1987
Osram Globe, circa 1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase, General Acquisition Fund, 82.185
Lotte Jacobi
American, born in Germany, 1896-1990
Photogenic Drawing #1, 1949
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts and Museum Purchase Funds, 79.160
Already well known for celebrity portraits, Lotte Jacobi began producing more abstract photographic
works in 1946. Her work with photograms, images generated by placing objects on light-sensitive paper,
developed into experiments with light refracted through glass, cellophane and paper pieces. Her teacher
and colleague Leo Katz dubbed the works photogenic drawings, a term first employed by William Henry
Fox Talbot to describe light generated images. With little more than a penlight, paper and enlarger,
Lotte demonstrated the inventive possibilities of the darkroom, employing light and filters as her brush
and palette. She noted, “The experience was a marvel. With the photogenics I felt young again.”
Peter Keetman
German, 1916-1987
Traffic, 1953
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase, General Acquisition Fund, 82.180
György Kepes
American, born Hungary, 1906-2001
Photodrawing, 1979
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the Artist, 73.257
André Kertész
American, born Hungary, 1894-1985
Distorted Nude #40, 1933
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase, Women's Volunteer Committee Fund and Dr. Ralph Fabacher, 73.131
A major influence in both documentary and modernist photography, André Kertész began his series of
female nudes in 1933 for publication in the men’s magazine Le Sourire. Interested in distortions created
by water or metal lamp covers since World War I, he employed three parabolic mirrors and a zoom lens
for this image. He recalled, "Sometimes, just by a half-a-step left or right, all the shapes and forms have
changed. I viewed the changes and stopped whenever I liked the combination of distorted body shapes."
Kertész depicts his subject as both erotic and grotesque, vulnerably posed toward the camera, yet with
both bloated and shrunken limbs. The mirrored image disturbs the viewer’s sense of space and the
classical ideal of the female nude, perhaps as comment on the feminine sphere and fetishization of
women.
Edmund Kesting
German, 1892-1970
Marianne Vogelgesang, circa 1935
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase, 79.133
Vilem Kriz
American, born 1921
Dimanche d'Aout, 1946
Gelatin silver print, printed later
Museum purchase, 1977 Acquisition Fund Drive, 77.81
Victor Landweber
American, born 1943
Fifty Thousand Contact Tiny Time Pills, No. 8, 1976, 1976
Color Polaroid
Gift of G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, 77.89.16
Clarence John Laughlin
American, 1905-1985
The Waters of Memory (Madewood Plantation), 1946
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Mrs. Hazel MacKinley, 72.1
Nathan Lerner
American, 1913-1997
Light Box Experiment, 1939
Gelatin silver print
New Orleans Museum of Art: Museum purchase, General Acquisition Fund, 82.105
Joel D. Levinson
American, born 1953
[Untitled] (Multiple T.V. Screen Images) from Mass Media series, circa 1979-1980
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Clarence John Laughlin, 84.21.63
Angus McBean
British, 1904-1990
Self Portrait, 1949
Gelatin silver print
1988 Discretionary Purchase Fund, 88.10
One of the most prominent photographers of English theatre, Angus McBean began creating seasonal
greetings with a surrealist flair in 1934. As in this example, his Christmas cards mostly featured selfportraits in fanciful landscapes, drawing on his training as a set designer and his appreciation of
“surrealism for its fun value.” Set in an ominously sparse landscape, the monumental bust transforms
into McBean’s likeness on the right side and looms over the miniature couple out for a stroll. Though
the classical columns suggest grandeur and an almost god-like status, the kitschy unreality of the scene
and McBean’s half-smirk convey tongue in cheek self-promotion.
Duane Michals
American, born 1932
Rene Magritte, 1965
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts and Museum Purchase Funds, 79.30.9
Lennart Olson
Swedish, born 1925
Tre Tjorn broor, Severige, 1961
Gelatin silver print
Museum Purchase, Carrie Heiderich Fund, 89.293
Robert Petschow
German, 1888-1945
Shadow, circa 1930
Gelatin silver print
General Acquisitions Fund, 81.172
John Pfahl
American, born 1939
Canyon Point, Zion National Park, Utah, 1977
Color print, integrated color coupler
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts and Museum Purchase Funds, 79.288
Through the arc of a simple piece of string, John Pfahl restructures relationships between land and
space and challenges the viewer’s perception of perspective. Though he physically adds to the
landscape, the flattened plane of the photograph completes the effect, causing the contour of the canyon
walls to translate almost perfectly into a thin white curve. Readily apparent in the lush array of browns,
the boulder’s topmost highlight induces a tension between mass and line, light and dark. Part of his
series, “Altered Landscapes,” this view of Canyon Point emphasizes the importance of framing and the
transformative rather than documentary function of photography.
Albert Renger-Patzsch
German, 1897-1966
Salt Mines, circa 1930
Gelatin silver print
Loan, from the collection of Tina Freeman, EL.2014.129
Albert Renger-Patzsch
German, 1897-1966
Geological Study, circa 1930
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase, Jeunesse d'Orleans Fund and Acquisition Fund, 81.245
Murray Riss
American, born 1940
Tricycle, Car Ad, and Sneakers, Part of Flying Objects Series, 1974
Gelatin silver prints
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts, 75.235, 75.236, and 75.237
Aaron Siskind
American, 1903-1991
Jerome, Arizona, 1949, 1949
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Ms. Pamela P. Bardo, 76.16
Aaron Siskind
American, 1903-1991
Los Angeles 4, 1947
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Ms. Pamela P. Bardo, 76.17
Michael A. Smith
American, born 1951
Badlands, South Dakota, 1975, 7585 64/575, #1, 1975
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase, 1977 Acquisition Fund Drive, 77.77
Yoshiro Soga
American, born in Japan
Floating Wall, 1973
Solarized silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts and Museum Purchase Funds, 79.208
Frederick Sommer
American, 1905-1999
The Thief Greater than His Loot, 1955
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 75.48
Coupled with enigmatic, metaphorical titles, Frederick Sommer’s photographs transform scraps of
refuse and oddities into unified, lyrical assemblages. A successful architect before becoming a
photographer, Sommer completed his arrangements slowly, sometimes taking years to consider
relationships between forms, and did not permanently affix pieces but reused them for other works. In
a 1972 text, “Poetic Logic of Art and Aesthetics,” Sommer mused, “we are the ones who put life into
stones and pebbles.” Individual pieces gain meaning in relation to other forms and textures, often
enhanced by careful lighting and enlarging. Though never a formal member of the Surrealists, Sommer
shared the group’s interest in the accidental and automatic.
Giorgio Sommer
Italian, 1834-1914
Amphitheatre in Pompeii, ca. 1870
Albumen silver print
Loan, from the collection of Tina Freeman, EL.2014.130
Karl Struss
American, 1886-1981
The Sun Dance, 1910
Platinum print
Museum purchase, 1977 Acquisition Fund Drive, 77.17
Josef Sudek
Czech, 1896-1976
Orbis, circa 1930
Gelatin silver print
1977 Acquisition Fund Drive, 77.11
Thomas Reed
American, born 1937
Curb and Wall, 1979
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Matching Grant, 81.19
Ruth T. Thorne-Thomsen
American, born 1943
Untitled, 1980
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts, 81.198
Jerry Uelsmann
American, born 1934
Floating Sphere in Japanese Temple, 1980
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts, 81.127
Unidentified Photographer, probably Russian
Photomontage, circa 1925
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas and Lon L. Beck, 92.887
James Van Der Zee
American, 1886-1983
Daddy Grace, 1938
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase, City of New Orleans Capital Funds and P. Roussel Norman Fund, 76.40
The foremost photographer of the Harlem Renaissance, James Van Der Zee depicted well-known
figures such as Marcus Garvey and Florence Mills in addition to funerary and wedding portraits. Selftaught from an early age, Van Der Zee often collapsed images from different negatives into one print to
create a specific mood or biographical detail. This image of Daddy Grace emphasizes the preacher’s
Christ-like care for children. Originally from Portugese Cape Verde Islands, Bishop Charles Manuel
“Sweet Daddy” Grace founded the United House of Prayer for All People in 1919, advocating spirit-filled
worship and God’s power to heal. Van Der Zee depicts the preacher as a shepherd of the children with a
visual manifestation of his spiritual, nearly prophetic power, in the upper left corner.
František Vobecký
Czech, 1902-1990
Dream, 1937
Photomontage
Museum purchase, Mr. and Mrs. H. Blumenthal Fund, 77.389
Carleton E. Watkins
American, 1829-1916
Mirror View of Three Brothers, Yosemite Valley, circa 1866
Albumen print
New Orleans Museum of Art: Museum Purchase, General Acquisition Fund, 79.67.6
Brett Weston
American, 1911-1993
Abstraction with Metal Binder, 1972
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Mrs. P. Roussel Norman, 85.201.2
Brett Weston
American, 1911-1993
Puddle and Leaves, 1976
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Mrs. P. Roussel Norman, 85.201.5
Piet Zwart
Dutch, 1885 1977
Sport, circa 1935
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase, Zemurray Foundation Fund, 80.37