A Little Culture Is Good For You
I'm on the Phoenix Art Museum's email list and they send me all kinds of notices about exhibits, classes, films and lectures. Most of the time, I think, "That would be interesting" then I delete the email. I'm just too busy.
However, they were doing a lecture on Richard Avedon and something made me say, "I need to make time to go to this one". I'd caught Avedon's In The American West series years ago but I really still thought of him as a fashion/portrait photographer. I also didn't know anything about him personally. So, I emailed my pal Chris who's also into photography and we made the plan to attend.
The lecture was given by David A. Ross who knew Avedon, or Dick as he called him, for 25 years. I knew I was going to like the guy when he started out joking about the Florida primaries then celebrated that Guiliani is out of the race. Ross came across as a guy I'd like to have a beer and BS with.
It was really fascinating. Avedon was a liberal from way back and it shows in his work if you know to look for it. Ross showed us pics of Malcolm X, George Wallace, Henry Kissinger and Eugene McCarthy (and a lot more) and provided stories and things to look for in the photos. He also told a great story about meeting Henry Kissinger and fantasizing about strangling him but settled for almost making him lose his temper when he mentioned that we invaded Cambodia.
It was really a neat experience and we checked out the exhibit after the lecture. There are some wonderful photos in there.
Chris and I decided we need to hit more of these events. It made us feel a little smarter and it's kind of fun to be able to say, "When I was at a lecture at the art museum...." Makes us sound culturified. (Yes, I made that word up.)
However, they were doing a lecture on Richard Avedon and something made me say, "I need to make time to go to this one". I'd caught Avedon's In The American West series years ago but I really still thought of him as a fashion/portrait photographer. I also didn't know anything about him personally. So, I emailed my pal Chris who's also into photography and we made the plan to attend.
The lecture was given by David A. Ross who knew Avedon, or Dick as he called him, for 25 years. I knew I was going to like the guy when he started out joking about the Florida primaries then celebrated that Guiliani is out of the race. Ross came across as a guy I'd like to have a beer and BS with.
It was really fascinating. Avedon was a liberal from way back and it shows in his work if you know to look for it. Ross showed us pics of Malcolm X, George Wallace, Henry Kissinger and Eugene McCarthy (and a lot more) and provided stories and things to look for in the photos. He also told a great story about meeting Henry Kissinger and fantasizing about strangling him but settled for almost making him lose his temper when he mentioned that we invaded Cambodia.
It was really a neat experience and we checked out the exhibit after the lecture. There are some wonderful photos in there.
Chris and I decided we need to hit more of these events. It made us feel a little smarter and it's kind of fun to be able to say, "When I was at a lecture at the art museum...." Makes us sound culturified. (Yes, I made that word up.)
