seeing faces

Today I visited two exhibits about portraiture in one way or the other: Annie Leibovitz at National Portrait Gallery and Dryden Goodwin at the Photographer's Gallery.

Annie Leibovitz is a good photographer and I had been looking forward to seeing the exhibit. But I must say I do not really see her as an artist - her photography is never about representation or being experimental. I was surprised to see that her photos from her private life were so much like everyone else's photos. Nothing extra there. She made herself, in some way, a comparison between herself and Richard Avedon - he was working with commissioned photography and still being respected as an artist. But Annie Leibovitz is never on the border to cruel or critical in her photography. Neither do I see poetry. I miss that extra layering.

Some years ago, in Paris, I saw an exhibit of Lartigue's work - I was really touched by it and his photos. I can close my eyes and I see them again. That's a photographer!

Dryden Goodwin's exhibit (both photos) was on the other hand all about representation, about depicting faces in photo and drawing. His faces were not portraiture of special or famous people, but of humans. Even before reading on his website about Giacometti's influence, I could see it. Several people were there drawing faces, like the girl sitting on the floor. I also felt the urge to draw, to create. Interesting.