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John Szarkowski (b. 1925, Wisconsin) is an influential photography curator, historian, and critic. From 1962 to 1991 Szarkowski was Director of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
In World War II Szarkowski served in the U.S. Army, after which he graduated in Art History from the University of Wisconsin. He then began his career as a curator at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. At this time he was also a practicing art photographer, resulting over the years in a number of solo exhibitions and two books. In the late 1950s & early 60s, Szarkowski received two Guggenheim fellowships. In 1962 he was personally picked by Edward Steichen to be Steichen's successor at the Museum of Modern Art.
In 1974 Szarkowski published Looking at Photographs; a practical set of examples on how to criticize photographs. The book is still required reading for students of art photography. He has also published numerous books on individual photographers.
He taught at Harvard, Cornell and New York University, and continues to lecture and teach. In 1990, U.S. News & World Report said: "Szarkowski's thinking, whether Americans know it or not, has become our thinking about photography".
In 1991, Szarkowski retired from his post at the New York Museum of Modern Art, becoming the Museum's Photography Director Emeritus. In retirement Szarkowski returned to making his own photographic work, mostly attempting to picture a spirit of place in the American landscape.
Key works:
- Looking at Photographs (1974, 1999) (Criticism)
- John Szarkowski: Photographs (2005). (Own photography)
- Mr. Bristol's Barn (1997). (Own photography)
- The Face of Minnesota (1958). (Own photography)
- The Idea of Louis Sullivan (1956). (Own photography)
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