Takeaways from the William Klein Photography Exhibit

Last week I decided to take the train to New York and visit the International Center for Photography for its exhibit William Klein: YES: Photographs, Paintings, Films, 1948-2013.

Let’s start with a bit of a conclusion – WOW!!!!

I was familiar with some of Klein’s photography but not of his other work. I don’t own any of his books (that will hopefully change soon … they’re expensive!!!) and I had never seen any of his work in the flesh, so you could say that I wasn’t prepared for the visual explosion that awaited me!

As indicated by the name of the exhibit, the show covered all aspects of Klein’s incredible and varied career, with over 300 of his works covering his photography, filmmaking, painting and publishing. While I studied the entirety of this unbelievable smorgasbord, my primary focus was aimed towards his photography. But let’s be clear – Klein is a multi-talented genius!

While there were a few smaller images, and some in color, the vast majority were large black and white pieces. There were even large blow-ups of his so-called painted contact sheets. All of his famous images were on display in groupings that tracked his books and other work – Moscow, Tokyo, New York, Paris, fashion and abstract. By the way, I learned that all of his early books besides containing his photographs were designed, edited and include his written captions. Everything was done by Klein … everything … incredible!

While I’ve vented plenty in past entries about needlessly large prints that masquerade mediocre subject material, these oversized and grainy images didn’t seem to bother me … probably because of their incredible content!  And the 35mm grain was amplified further with the use of Tri-X or HP5 film. Even the Plus-X and Tmax images were grainy.  How did I know that? By looking at the painted contact sheets!  But you really don’t notice the grain until you move in close. So how were these pictures meant to be viewed … from a distance or up close? Not sure, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Strangely both ways worked for me. Again, the content. Well there is a first for everything!

And what about the content? I guess the way I would describe it is intense, almost in your face street work, made up close with a wide-angle lens (mostly the 28mm which he considered his “normal”). Unlike the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson made primarily with a 50mm lens that isolated the subject matter, Klein moved in closer and captured more of the scene for a completely different view and a completely different viewing experience for those that would see his images. While it’s not an approach I plan on taking the pictures shook me pretty hard! Truly great work! Klein’s approach is completely different from HCB’s, but the results are equally spectacular!

Bottom line … Klein is fantastic. A true master, right up there with HCB, Robert Frank and others that I’m more familiar with. Klein seems a little overlooked in comparison to the others, but make no mistake he is a giant! Seeing this show was a possible life altering moment. I had not thought about Klein very much, if at all. That’s changed now and he’s become an instant favorite!

If you are not familiar with Klein and his work do yourself a favor and change that … soon. Study his work and learn from it. I certainly intend to!

Scheduled to close on September 12th, the exhibit has been extended through September 15th. So if you’re in or nearby New York do check it out!!

Stay well,

Michael

Leave a Reply