Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
2 total works
Ray K. Metzker (b. 1931) is one of the greatest living photographers of the modern era, although his name may not be as broadly familiar as that of some of his peers. Richly illustrated, "The Photographs of Ray K. Metzker" brings his extraordinary work to the attention of a larger audience, summarizing his life and achievements over the past six decades. With a fresh perspective, curator and author Keith Davis explores the roots of Metzker's innovative vision, from his early interest in photojournalism through his studies with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind at Chicago's Institute of Design in the late 1950s, and his bold innovations of the 1960s and 1970s. Metzker's work is richly diverse, embracing landscape, city scenes, and expressive potential of the multiple image. These many themes are united by Metzker's technical precision and daring, and his graphic use of sunlight and shadow. He has repeatedly reinvented his approach to the medium, and this book testifies to the remarkable range and originality of his work.
The landscape and people of the American Midwest have captivated photographer Terry Evans (b. 1944) throughout her forty-year photographic career. Evans has a deep connection to her native region, which she has explored from a variety of visual and thematic perspectives. "Heartland" traces the evolution of Evans' vision, beginning in the early 1970s with her social documentary images of people in Kansas. She became a landscape photographer in 1978, focusing on the grasses, land, and skies of the prairie; this was followed by an aerial survey of the entire Great Plains, from Texas to Canada. She has also photographed Chicago from the air, an abandoned military site, small-town life in Kansas, and historical samples of prairie flora and fauna from Chicago's Field Museum. More recently, she has documented the steel industry in the Midwest and oil and gas drilling in North Dakota. This generously illustrated book examines all of these works, which together reveal the enduring beauty of the prairie landscape.