The Photographs of Ray K. Metzker and the Institute of Design exhibition at the J. Paul Getty

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles recently held an exhibition titled The Photographs of Ray K. Metzker and the Institute of Design. Metzker studied at the Institute of Design in Chicago which was founded in 1937 as the New Bauhaus with László Moholy-Nagy forging the way. The highly innovative and influential school promoted an integration of art, technology and craft through its programs in architecture, design, art and photography.

From the J. Paul Getty Museum – “Metzker’s work is part of a revered tradition that emerged from the experimental approach of Chicago’s Institute of Design (ID), where he received his graduate degree in 1959. Inspired by instructors Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind, Metzker fashioned an entirely personal synthesis of formal elegance, technical precision, and optical innovation.

His composite works hold an important status in the history of creative photography: at the time of their making, they were unprecedented in ambition and perceptual complexity. Metzker’s devotion to photographic seeing as a process of discovery is also deeply humanistic in its illumination of isolation and vulnerability.

This exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of Metzker’s five-decade career, while also providing examples of work by instructors and fellow students at the Institute of Design in Chicago, where Metzker studied from 1956 to 1959. Learn more about Metzker’s diverse forays into photography as well as the ID and its profound influence.”

Here are some images from the exhibition:

Ray K. Metzker, City Whispers: Los Angeles, negative 1981, print 2006. gm_336651EX1.tif Creator(s): Ray K. Metzker (American, born 1931) Title/Date: RETURNED LOAN -- City Whispers: Los Angeles, negative 1981; print 2006 Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 26.8 x 41.4 cm (10 9/16 x 16 5/16 in.) Sheet: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.) Framed: 52.7 x 62.9 cm (20 3/4 x 24 3/4 in.) Accession No. EX.2012.5.56 Copyright: © Ray K. Metzker Object Credit: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2009.6.25
Ray K. Metzker, Composites: Nude, negatives 1966, prints 1984. gm_33633001.TIF Creator(s): Ray K. Metzker (American, born 1931) Title/Date: Composites: Nude, negatives 1966; prints 1984 Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 56.5 x 25.4 cm (22 1/4 x 10 in.) Framed: 84 x 56 x 6.4 cm (33 1/16 x 22 1/16 x 2 1/2 in.) Accession No. 2012.26.1 Copyright: © Ray K. Metzker Object Credit: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Ray K. Metzker, City Whispers, Philadelphia, 1983. gm_33633301.TIF Creator(s): Ray K. Metzker (American, born 1931) Title/Date: City Whispers, Philadelphia, 1983 Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 24.5 x 24 cm (9 5/8 x 9 7/16 in.) Sheet: 35.6 x 27.9 cm (14 x 11 in.) Accession No. 2012.27.1 Copyright: © Ray K. Metzker Object Credit: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Ray K. Metzker, Atlantic City, negative 1966, print 2003 gm_336674EX1.tif Creator(s): Ray K. Metzker (American, born 1931) Title/Date: RETURNED LOAN -- Atlantic City, negative 1966; print 2003 Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 20.3 x 20.3 cm (8 x 8 in.) Sheet: 35.6 x 27.9 cm (14 x 11 in.) Framed: 47.6 x 40 cm (18 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.) Accession No. EX.2012.5.79 Copyright: © Ray K. Metzker
Ray K. Metzker, Chicago, negative 1958, print later. gm_336686EX2.tif Creator(s): Ray K. Metzker (American, born 1931) Title/Date: RETURNED LOAN -- Chicago, negative 1958; print later Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 14.6 x 22.2 cm (5 3/4 x 8 3/4 in.) Sheet: 20.3 x 25.4 cm (8 x 10 in.) Framed: 47.6 x 40 cm (18 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.) Accession No. EX.2012.5.91 Copyright: © Ray K. Metzker Object Credit: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2009.6.15
Ray K. Metzker, Double Frame, Philadelphia, negative 1965, print 1972. gm_336818EX1.tif Creator(s): Ray K. Metzker (American, born 1931) Title/Date: RETURNED LOAN -- Double Frame: Philadelphia, negative 1965; print 1972 Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 21.6 x 9.8 cm (8 1/2 x 3 7/8 in.) Sheet: 25.4 x 20.3 cm (10 x 8 in.) Framed: 47.6 x 40 cm (18 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.) Accession No. EX.2012.5.119 Copyright: © Ray K. Metzker Object Credit: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2011.21.58
Arthur Siegel, State Street, 1949. gm_336701EX2.tif Creator(s): Arthur Siegel (American, 1913 - 1978) Title/Date: RETURNED LOAN -- State Street, 1949 Culture: American Medium: Dye transfer print Dimensions: Image: 21.9 x 26.4 cm (8 5/8 x 10 3/8 in.) Sheet: 25.4 x 30.5 cm (10 x 12 in.) Framed: 42.5 x 52.7 cm (16 3/4 x 20 3/4 in.) Accession No. EX.2012.5.106 Copyright: © Estate of Arthur Siegel Object Credit: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Gift of Hallmark Cards, Inc., 2005.27.2201
Joseph Sterling, Untitled, 1961. Filename: gm_336709EX1.tif Creator(s): Joseph Sterling (American, 1936 - 2010) Title/Date: RETURNED LOAN -- Untitled, 1961 Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 19.1 x 19.1 cm (7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in.) Framed: 49.2 x 41.2 cm (19 3/8 x 16 1/4 in.) Accession No. EX.2012.5.114 Copyright: © Deborah Sterling Object Credit: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Gift of Hallmark Cards, Inc., 2005.27.4395 Repro Credit: Courtesy Stephen Daiter Gallery
Aaron Siskind, Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation 94, 1961. Filename: gm_05361601.TIF Creator(s): Aaron Siskind (American, 1903 - 1991) Title/Date: Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation 94, 1961 Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image (approx.): 27.9 x 26.1 cm (11 x 10 1/4 in.) Sheet: 35.4 x 27.5 cm (13 15/16 x 10 13/16 in.) Accession No. 84.XM.1012.107 Copyright: © Aaron Siskind Foundation Object Credit: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Aaron Siskind, Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation 25, 1957. Filename: gm_05362601.TIF Creator(s): Aaron Siskind (American, 1903 - 1991) Title/Date: Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation 25, 1957 Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 27.9 x 26.4 cm (11 x 10 3/8 in.) Sheet: 35.2 x 27.6 cm (13 7/8 x 10 7/8 in.) Accession No. 84.XM.1012.117 Copyright: © Aaron Siskind Foundation Object Credit: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Harry Callahan, Eleanor, Chicago, 1952. Filename: gm_06271501.TIF Creator(s): Harry Callahan (American, 1912 - 1999) Title/Date: Eleanor, Chicago, 1952 Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 10.2 x 12.7 cm (4 x 5 in.) Accession No. 88.XM.65.6 Copyright: © Estate of Harry Callahan Object Credit: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Charles Swedlund, Buffalo, NY, about 1970. Filename: gm_33679101.TIF Creator(s): Charles Swedlund (American, born 1935) Title/Date: Buffalo, NY, about 1970 Culture: American Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 18.7 x 15.9 cm (7 3/8 x 6 1/4 in.) Mount: 34.9 x 27.3 cm (13 3/4 x 10 3/4 in.) Accession No. 2012.39 Copyright: © Charles Swedlund Object Credit: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Purchased in part with funds provided by an anonymous donor in memory of James N. Wood