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Art Art & Books

Slice of Life

PETER SRAMEK on view at

Gallery 44 Members’ Space (401

Richmond West) to June 2. Rating:

NNN Rating: NNN


peter sramek’s found-photo slice

recontextualizes Edward Steichen’s 1955 U.S. Camera Annual, a journal showcasing what this photo giant believed to be the best images from a single calendar year, to reveal just how dated and biased photos believed to be neutral can be.

By focusing on pieces that objectify women and glorify the H-bomb — and tossing in sexploitive ads for camera equipment — this 21st-century artist succeeds.

Sramek blends text from the original Annual with his own words, a ploy that further helps his case, but not every picture that survives his edit furthers his stated agenda. Ruth Orkin’s timeless image of a boy and girl, later featured by Steichen in The Family Of Man, remains far from dated, and an extensive spread of pix by a then 31-year-old Richard Avedon, shot for Harper’s Bazaar, glories in the very best of mid-century style.

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