Sept. 15, 2007 through Jan. 27, 2008
Explore the presentation and performance
of gender in Male & Female: Gender Performed
in Photographs from the George Eastman House Collection,
on view September 15 through January 27, 2008.
Male & Female emphasizes the performance of gender as
visual vocabulary. “Many of the ways we identify
and define gender are based on visual clues,”
explains Alison Nordström, the Museum’s Curator of Photographs
and curator of the exhibition. “They may be
such secondary sexual characteristics as facial
hair or its lack, or there may be culturally
determined elements such as costume, stance,
or activities.” The exhibition will survey photography
from the 19th century to the present, showing not only instances of exaggerated and stereotyped male and female
differences, but also images of ambiguous and deceptive
gender.
Nickolas Muray’s portrait of Marilyn Monroe, Edward Steichen’s
Greta Garbo, Candice Bergen’s portrait of Arnold
Schwarzenegger, and Victor Keppler’s advertising photographs
are just some of the noteworthy images included
in Male & Female. Other featured photographers include
Henry Peach Robinson, Bruce Davidson, Julia Margaret
Cameron, Peter Henry Emerson, Robert Frank, Danny
Lyon, Ben Fernandez, and Mary Ellen Mark. Along with
these recognized photographers and iconic images,
Male & Female also includes examples of anonymous
portraits of 19th-century vaudeville and music hall
stars. All of the exhibition’s more than 40 photographs
were culled from George Eastman House’s photograph
collection.
Part of Lucha Libre y Más
George Eastman House's series of three exhibitions dealing with extreme depictions of gender
in photography.
Related Exhibitions:
