Before street-style photography became a major component of both fashion and art, Garry Winogrand turned his surroundings -- the streets -- and the social issues of his time into artistic images. Winogrand pioneered the "snapshot aesthetic" within the documentary photography realm, capturing a unique perspective of everday life. Although Winogrand was critiqued at times for seemingly exploiting women in his work, a new retrospective of 68 photographs entitled Winogrand's Women Are Beautiful -- based on his 1975 photo book of the same name -- celebrates, rather than criticizes, his various images of women. The images candidly capture women in everyday life, transforming their daily duties -- from parties to protests -- into beautiful works of art. Winogrand wrote in his book, “Whenever I’ve seen an attractive woman, I’ve done my best to photograph her. I don’t know if all the women in the photographs are beautiful, but I do know that the women are beautiful in the photographs. By the term ‘attractive woman,’ I mean a woman I react to, positively… I do not mean as a man getting to know a woman, but as a photographer photographing.” The exhibit opens Saturday, August 8th, at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusettes, and runs through November 10th.
ÃÂÃÂÃÂéThe Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Winogrand captures one of women's most notorious traits: gossiping. The group of six women seem to have a lot to say as they lean in and whisper to each other.
ÃÂéThe Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Clad in matching patterned skirts, sleeveless turtle-neck white tops, and a long pendant necklace, Windogrand photographed two girls dressed identically.
éThe Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
In 1974, Winogrand captures a cheerleading squad mid-act at a basketball game in Austin, Texas.
Two women, casually dressed, are spotted in Paris by Winogrand as they walk their dogs.
©The Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Winogrand photographs a woman carrying bags down the street in 1972.
©The Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Rallying near Central Park in NYC, Winogrand captures a series of women proudly protesting for their feminine rights -- one woman holds a sign that reads, "STOP THE WORLD, WE WANT TO GET ON!"
éThe Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Leaning inside a phone booth in NYC in 1972, Winogrand captures a woman chatting on the telephone.
©The Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Winogrand captures two women relaxing in a Parisian cafe. One woman enjoys a coffee, presumably, while the other sits with a carafe d'eau.
éThe Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
In his hometown of NYC, Winogrand captures a woman crossing the street in a paisley button-down, bellbottoms, and a hankerchief in 1970.
©The Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Seen through a restaurant window in Boston -- which pays resemblance to a photograph -- two separate groups of women are seen enjoying a meal.
©The Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Holding her purse and an ice cream cone, a woman is found laughing outside a store-front on the streets of New York in 1968.
éThe Estate of Garry Winogrand, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
