JOHN SZARKOWSKI

In 1962 John Szarkowski accepted the position of director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Before that time he had received two Guggenheim Fellowships for his own photography, had been given exhibitions by the Walker Art Center, the George Eastman House, and the Art Institute of Chicago, and had published two books of his photographs - The Idea of Louis Sullivan and The Face of Minnesota - to critical and popular acclaim. From 1962 until retiring from the museum in 1991, he made no effort to exhibit or publish his work. Now his work from his first twenty years as a photographer and that since resuming his life as a photographer is published in this volume. Published in conjunction with a major touring retrospective exhibition originated by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the book is confirmation that Szarkowski is first and foremost a photographer.Accompanying the photographs are excerpts from a lifetime's correspondence, giving a glimpse of Szarkowski's perspective on life and photography. Curator Sandra S. Phillips contributes a critical essay. - Accompanying the photographs will be excerpts from a life-time's correspondence giving a glimpse of Szarkowski's perspective on life and photography. Curator Sandra Phillips contributes an introductory essay.- The exhibition will open at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in February 2005 to national fanfare in honor of Szarkowski's 80th birthday, and will travel to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, as well as several other venues into 2006.- John Szarkowski is the author of many classic works including Looking at Photographs, The Photographer's Eye, Photography Until Now, The Work of Atget, Winogrand, Irving Penn, and Ansel Adams at 100.