Author Archives: Meredith Wisner

May Day

John Filo, [Mary Ann Vecchio grieving over body of college student Jeffrey Glen Miller shot during an anti-war demonstration by National Guardsman at Kent State University, Ohio], May 4, 1970 In this image Mary Ann Vecchio kneels over Jeffrey Miller, … Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Say Cheese!

Alexander Liberman, [Robert Rauschenberg in his studio], ca. 1960 Before the invention of the camera, portraiture was  limited to the wealthier classes.  In large part formulaic, portraits tended to be idealized, and contained signifiers that pointed toward the sitter’s wealth and … Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Decisive Moment

Associated Press, Atomic Bomb Sends Smoke 20,000 Feet Above Nagasaki, August 9, 1945 This photo, taken by the air force just moments after the atomic bomb Fat Boy was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, embodies the enduring image many … Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire

Bruce Davidson, Gang on the Boardwalk at Coney Island, 1959 Bruce Davidson, Teenager Combing Her Hair in Cigarette Machine Mirror, 1959 Perusing ICP’s collection of images of New York I was struck by how entwined the city once was with … Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

O harp and altar, of the fury fused

Unidentified Photographer, [Cartoon of Unidentified Man Jumping Off the Brooklyn Bridge], ca. 1883 Rudy Burckhardt, Brooklyn Bridge, 1954 Brett Weston, Fulton Street and Brooklyn Bridge, New York, ca. 1945 In just a few weeks I will  mark my tenth year … Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment