the joy of editing in the light of the mind
December 9, 2016 5:06 PM   Subscribe

Princeton University has just launched a new archive showcasing the photographic works of Minor White. White, a founding editor of Aperture Magazine, found inspiration in Steiglitz' concept of Equivalence, as well as in his own complicated sexuality.
posted by selfnoise (9 comments total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
Graduates from the University of Minnesota with a degree in botany and English.
Then became a photographer. Sounds about right!
Really, this is fantastic. Nice post, selfnoise.
posted by heyho at 5:55 PM on December 9, 2016


Wow, that's an excellent essay. I really had no idea about White's sexuality overall, despite really enjoying his photography. I'd even read several essays by White before about photography, and Moore's essay just connects so well to White's overall theory of photography. In general, I'm not a huge fan of biographical interpretation, but, for me, this is like if I found out that Robert Frank was black or something — just a huge shift in the context that I'd always viewed the images in.

From looking around further, it seems like he was never out during his life. (Which, then, kinda makes sense that I never saw him mention anything about it in his essays.)

Great stuff.
posted by klangklangston at 6:47 PM on December 9, 2016 [2 favorites]


i was disappointed at how few male nudes were in the Minor White collection at Princeton
posted by PinkMoose at 7:34 PM on December 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


At least 102?
posted by klangklangston at 11:12 PM on December 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


did i have the wrong search terms, i searched male, nude, and male nude and got 1
posted by PinkMoose at 11:42 PM on December 10, 2016


Here you go. (obviously NSFW)
posted by selfnoise at 4:40 AM on December 11, 2016


Click "subject" under search and you get a word cloud that includes "nudes."
posted by mediareport at 4:41 AM on December 11, 2016


Thank you, I'm sorry
posted by PinkMoose at 10:23 AM on December 11, 2016


Yeah, another thing that I'm gonna attribute my ignorance of White's sexuality to is never seeing any of these nudes. When all the nudes you shoot are dudes, and half of them have stiffies, it's fair to assume that your interest goes beyond the pure appreciation of the sculptural form.

They're an interesting contrast with Ed Weston's shots, where there's similar lighting and treatment, but the bodies themselves are much harrier and less pristine. I think it's especially interesting because so many of Mapplethorpe's famous nudes follow the Weston bell-pepper sensuality, whereas his infamous nudes seem directly in line with these from White. I know that Mapplethorpe knew White, at least through Aperture, but I'm not sure whether he'd ever seen any of White's nudes (since the essay describes them as mostly private prints). I also don't know how much Mapplethorpe was influenced by White's philosophy, which really does seem a lot more hippy-dippy than Mapplethorpe's Warhol-inspired Art Star drive.
posted by klangklangston at 1:37 PM on December 11, 2016


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