young photographers receive institutional recogni-
tion for their work. His 1967 exhibitionNew Docu-
mentspromoted Lee Friedlander, Garry Winogrand,
and Diane Arbus as the ‘‘new documentarians,’’ and
he described their work as simultaneously ‘‘person-
al’’ and ‘‘social.’’ In this exhibition and catalogue,
Szarkowski completely redefined photography’s po-
sition with respect to the documentary tradition. As
he blurred distinctions between anonymous and
master photographers, Szarkowski also sought to
eradicate the distinction between documentary and
art photography. Szarkowski argued that while the
works inNew Documentsmay appear to be part of
the documentary tradition, the artistic intention of
their authors makes them different. The photo-
graphs seem impersonal and unmanipulated, but
that is because the artist-photographer is using that
style to mask his or her own presence. In other
words, nobody would think of these photographs
as art, and this is precisely why Szarkowski believed
that audiences needed critics like himself to explain
the works’ artfulness.
In 1976, Szarkowski took this system of artistic
evaluation to an extreme with his exhibition of Wil-
liam Eggleston’s color photographs and subsequent
catalogue William Eggleston’s Guide. Here, Szar-
kowski exhibited a group of color photographs that
had the look of a snapshot in their random selection
of visual elements. Yet, it was precisely the photo-
graphs’ lack of artfulness that aroused the greatest
controversy among the critics who accused Szar-
kowski of selecting images that looked as if anyone
could have taken them. The pictures had no clear
message or intent; they appeared ordinary, as if they
were color slides of someone’s relatives, or even, as
Hilton Kramer said, ‘‘boring.’’
Szarkowski drew further criticism with the pub-
lication of the catalogue for his exhibitionMirror
and Windows, published in 1978. In this project,
Szarkowski attempted to define American photo-
graphy since 1960; and, although he claimed to
provide a historical sketch of the period from
1960–1978, he really only dealt with those works
that he had found appealing as a curator during
that time. By the 1980s, Szarkowski’s authoritative
position within the art world had begun to wane as
critics increasingly found his approach too narrow.
In 1991, Szarkowski retired from MoMA as direc-
tor emeritus of the photography department, and,
although his ideas no longer held their initial
power, his eloquent writings and ideas remain a
cornerstone in postwar photographic criticism.
ErinaDuganneSeealso: Museum of Modern Art; Steichen,
Edward; Vernacular PhotographyBiography
Born Ashland, Wisconsin, 1925. Attended University of
Wisconsin, Madison, B.S. in the History of Art, 1948;
honorary degrees, the Philadelphia College of Art, Penn-
sylvania, 1965; Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Minne-
sota, 1978; Portland School of Art, Oregon, 1980;
Parsons School of Design, New York, 1988; University
of Wisconsin, Madison, 1991. Served in the United States
Army, 1945–1946; staff photographer, Walker Art Cen-
ter, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1948–1951; instructor,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1950; instructor,
Albright Art School, Buffalo, New York, 1951–1953;
Director of Photography, Museum of Modern Art,
New York, 1962–1991, Director Emeritus, Department
of Photography, Museum of Modern Art, 1991–present;
Artist in Residence, University of Wisconsin, Madison,- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship,
1954 and 1961. Living in New York.
Selected Works
The Idea of Louis Sullivan, 1956
The Face of Minnesota, 1958
The Photographers Eye, 1966, 1980
New Documents, 1967
From the Picture Press, 1973
Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of
the Museum of Modern Art, 1973
William Eggleston’s Guide, 1976
Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960,
1978
The Work of Atget: Old France, 1981
The Work of Atget: The Art of Old Paris, 1982
The Work of Atget, The Ancien Re ́gime, 1983
The Work of Atget, Modern Times, 1985
Photography Until Now, 1990John Szarkowski, Heavy Crop, Stayman Winesap, 2001.
[Copyright: John Szarkowski, Courtesy of Pace/MacGill
Gallery]SZARKOWSKI, JOHN