Garry Winogrand

Garry Winogrand (1928–1984) was one of the most influential American photographers of his generation, along with his contemporaries Diane Arbus and Lee Friedlander. Winogrand’s vivid street photography captured the chaos and vitality of life in mid-20th-century America.

Garry Winogrand was born in 1928 in the Bronx, New York. He initially studied painting at City College of New York and later photography at Columbia University, where he developed a passion for the medium that would define his career. Inspired by Walker Evans’s American Photographs (1938), Winogrand’s dynamic black-and-white images document the everyday moments of urban life, often featuring candid scenes of people on the streets of New York City.

Winogrand’s approach to photography was groundbreaking. He shot mostly with his Leica M4 35 and later with a 28mm lens, which allowed him to shoot quickly and spontaneously, capturing a large portion of the street. This method resulted in photographs that felt immediate and alive, capturing the unfiltered essence of American culture during a time of significant social change.

Over his career, Winogrand produced several notable photographic books, including The Animals (1969), which featured the Central Park Zoo as a theatre where humans and animals converge in a comic drama, and Women are Beautiful (1975), celebrating femininity with candid shots of women he encountered on the streets of New York. Another important collection is Arrivals and Departures. Taken over a period of 25 years between 1958 and 1983, the images captured the bustling atmosphere of airports and train stations, highlighting the transient nature of modern life.

Winogrand’s work is often associated with the New York School of photography, a group of photographers who sought to capture the city’s vibrancy and complexity. His ability to find humour, irony and sometimes sadness in everyday scenes made his photographs uniquely compelling. His image of Marilyn Monroe (1955) on the set of the film The Seven Year Itch is one of his most famous works, showcasing his knack for capturing iconic moments.

Garry Winogrand died in 1984 at the age of 56. During his career, he exhibited widely and internationally. His works can be found in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.