Background
John Thaddeus Szarkowski was born on December 18, 1935, in Ashland, Wisconsin, United States.
John Szarkowski, curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Photograph: Eamonn Mccabe
John Szarkowski by Eamonn McCabe
John Szarkowski
(One hundred and twenty-seven photographs from an exhibiti...)
One hundred and twenty-seven photographs from an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art organized to illustrate the development of the art since 1960.
https://www.amazon.com/Mirrors-Windows-American-Photography-since/dp/0870704761/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=John+Szarkowski&qid=1606114315&sr=8-9
1960
(Traces the first one hundred and fifty years of photograp...)
Traces the first one hundred and fifty years of photography, and shows photographs of representative artists from William Henry Fox Talbot to Cindy Sherman.
https://www.amazon.com/Photography-Until-Now-John-Szarkowski/dp/0870705741/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=John+Szarkowski&qid=1606114315&sr=8-6
1992
(William Eggleston's Guide was the first one-man show of c...)
William Eggleston's Guide was the first one-man show of color photographs ever presented at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Museum's first publication of color photography. These photographs heralded a new mastery of the use of color as an integral element of photographic composition. The Guide contains 48 images edited down from 375 shot between 1969 and 1971 and displayed a deceptively casual, actually super-refined look at the surrounding world.
https://www.amazon.com/William-Egglestons-Guide-John-Szarkowski/dp/0870703781/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=John+Szarkowski&qid=1606114315&sr=8-5
2002
(Eugène Atget (1857-1927) devoted more than 30 years of hi...)
Eugène Atget (1857-1927) devoted more than 30 years of his life to rigorous documentation of Paris, its environs and the French countryside, through more than 8,000 photographs. In the process, he created an oeuvre that brilliantly delineates the richness, complexity, and character of his native culture. Atget’s uncompromising eye recorded the picturesque villages and landscape of France; the storied chateaux and the romantic parks and gardens of the ancien régime of Louis XIV; and, in post-Haussmann Paris, architectural details, private courtyards, shop windows, curious buildings and streets, and the city’s various denizens. Atget died almost unknown in 1927, although groups of his prints were included in various Paris archives. In 1925 Berenice Abbott discovered his work, and after his death, she arranged to buy his archives with the help of art dealer Julien Levy; in 1968 that collection was purchased by The Museum of Modern Art. Originally published in 2000 and long unavailable, this classic, superbly produced volume surveys the collection through 100 carefully selected photographs. John Szarkowski, head of MoMA’s Department of Photography from 1962 to 1991, explores the unique sensibilities that made Atget one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century and a vital influence on the development of modern and contemporary photography.
https://www.amazon.com/Atget-John-Szarkowski/dp/0870700944/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=John+Szarkowski&qid=1606114315&sr=8-3
2004
(The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski is a twentieth-...)
The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski is a twentieth-century classic - an indispensable introduction to the visual language of photography.
https://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-John-Szarkowski/dp/087070527X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=John+Szarkowski&qid=1606114315&sr=8-1
2007
(Originally commissioned to commemorate Minnesota’s centen...)
Originally commissioned to commemorate Minnesota’s centennial in 1958 and out of print for nearly forty years, The Face of Minnesota is a lost masterpiece of photography and an eloquent tribute to the people and places of the North Star state. Republished in celebration of the state’s sesquicentennial, this beautifully produced edition includes contemporary essays about John Szarkowski’s impact on American photography and introduces his work to new generations of Minnesotans.
https://www.amazon.com/Face-Minnesota-John-Szarkowski/dp/0816654484/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=John+Szarkowski&qid=1606114315&sr=8-4
2008
(Originally published in 1973, this marvelous collection o...)
Originally published in 1973, this marvelous collection of photographs with accompanying texts by the revered late Museum of Modern Art photography curator John Szarkowski has long been recognized as a classic. Reissued in 1999-with new digital duotones.
https://www.amazon.com/Looking-Photographs-Pictures-Collection-Museum/dp/0870705156/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=John+Szarkowski&qid=1606114315&sr=8-2
2009
(During his nearly three-decade tenure as Director of the ...)
During his nearly three-decade tenure as Director of the Department of Photography (1962-1991) at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, John Szarkowski recast the world's thinking about the art of photography. In this lecture on Ansel Adams, Szarkowski tackles the deeper significance of Adams' work beyond his enduring popularity as an environmental pioneer and rhapsodist of the American West.
https://www.amazon.com/John-Szarkowski-Ansel-Adams/dp/B07K7VD6HC/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=John+Szarkowski&qid=1606114315&sr=8-14
2004
(In this lecture, Szarkowski clearly relishes the chance t...)
In this lecture, Szarkowski clearly relishes the chance to praise the photographer he confesses is first among equals, Eugène Atget. "I think that Atget is the single most inexhaustibly interesting of all photographers so far, " says Szarkowski. "More interesting than Stieglitz or Weston or Cartier-Bresson; even more interesting than Walker Evans, who was his greatest student."
https://www.amazon.com/John-Szarkowski-Eugene-Atget/dp/B07K17V5NM/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=John+Szarkowski&qid=1606114315&sr=8-16
2004
(During his tenure as a Director at MoMA, he redefined the...)
During his tenure as a Director at MoMA, he redefined the world's understanding of the art of photography and established himself as one of the giants of 20th Century art history. Once he retired from MoMA, Szarkowski returned his focus to making pictures. In this lecture, he applies his iconic intellectual rigor and razor wit to the work of the photographer he might know best - himself.
https://www.amazon.com/Speaking-Art-John-Szarkowski-Photography/dp/B07WJVRF2X/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=John+Szarkowski&qid=1606114315&sr=8-11
2005
critic curator historian Photographer
John Thaddeus Szarkowski was born on December 18, 1935, in Ashland, Wisconsin, United States.
John Szarkowski became interested in photography at age eleven. In World War II Szarkowski served in the U.S. Army, after which he graduated in 1947 in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also received honorary degrees from the Philadelphia College of Art (1972) and Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1974).
Since 1962 John Szarkowski was director of the Photography Department of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Previously he taught at the Albright Art School of the University of Buffalo, New York (1951-1953), taught photography at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in 1950, and worked as a photographer at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (1948-1951).
John Szarkowski spent almost three decades at the MOMA. During this time, he was responsible for bringing attention to some of the greatest photographers of our time. It was Szarkowski who first presented the brilliance of Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, and Garry Winogrand in a joint exhibit that presented photographs from all three icons. At the time it was considered a groundbreaking exhibit, due to the content and appearance of the photographs. This was the first time photos were exhibited which mimicked snapshots in their casual style and appearance.
In retirement John Szarkowski returned to making his own photographic work, mostly attempting to picture a spirit of place in the American landscape. In 2005 he had several major solo exhibitions across the USA. The first retrospective of his work was exhibited at MOMA in early 2006.
John Szarkowski died of a stroke on July 7, 2007, aged 81.
(Originally commissioned to commemorate Minnesota’s centen...)
2008(Originally published in 1973, this marvelous collection o...)
2009(William Eggleston's Guide was the first one-man show of c...)
2002(Eugène Atget (1857-1927) devoted more than 30 years of hi...)
2004(Traces the first one hundred and fifty years of photograp...)
1992(One hundred and twenty-seven photographs from an exhibiti...)
1960(The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski is a twentieth-...)
2007(During his nearly three-decade tenure as Director of the ...)
2004(During his tenure as a Director at MoMA, he redefined the...)
2005(In this lecture, Szarkowski clearly relishes the chance t...)
2004Quotes from others about the person
In 1990, U.S. News & World Report said: "Szarkowski's thinking, whether Americans know it or not, has become our thinking about photography".
A year after his arrival in New York to take the position with the MOMA, John Szarkowski married Jill Anson, an architect and together they had two daughters, Natasha and Nina, and a son who died at the age of 2.