Friday January 24, 1997
At 91, San Francisco photographer Ruth Bernhard is among the last of America's first generation modern art photographers. Her sharply lit 1930 image of an arrangement of Lifesaver candies is an icon of early modernism, influencing generations of photographers to discover the dramatic within the ordinary.
S K Josefsberg Studio is presenting a small retrospective of Bernhard's images, with particular emphasis on her elegant nudes of women.
Sometimes using props as diverse (and as unlikely) as a painter's dropcloth or a cardboard box, and sometimes using nothing at all, her photographs set a new, distinctly female standard for the classical nude.
In town briefly for the show's opening, Bernhard shared some thoughts about photography and, in particular, her nudes.
ON PHOTOGRAPHING WOMEN: "A woman posing for me feels entirely different about her body than with a man. She feels honored. She feels at home and at ease and trusting. She is never trusting with a man. I can talk to here and she never feels ugly. I give her pictures, not money. Money gets in the way. It dictates time."
ON PHOTOGRAPHING MEN: "I once tried to photograph a man. He was 22 with a body like David. His genitals were small and his body had no hair. He was a carpenter and had been working with shorts on. Here was this white body with brown leg. I photographed him so he would not be disappointed, but I've never shown them."
ON HOW SHE WORKS: "Some of my models did not have ideal proportions but I surely made them look like they did because I understand camera angles. I work for two or three hours and maybe make one or two images. I am not interested in a lot of pictures. I'm anxious to make just one. I use the simplest equipment. I have nothing new. I learned how to be my own exposure meter."
"It's almost as though the body is lying in parts and I assemble it into something beautiful. First I look at her proportions. If she has a long torso and short legs, I move my camera down. Then I ask her to put her weight on each leg to see what the hips are doing. I work very carefully with the best she has. Proportions are very important. I tighten everything. At the very end I ask her to breathe so that her body is both tense and relaxed."
"I never carry a camera with me. Everything that I do is by intuition. The only thing I plan is when the model arrives. I am an opportunist. My pictures are about awareness. I consider it a great privilege to be a photographer. It is such a joy to make a connection with everything."
ON EDWARD WESTON: "Edward Weston made me think photography was serious. Before that I thought it a craft. I saw his work and realized the heart was involved. I asked myself if I could also make people feel that way. When I first saw his work I cried. he ran after me with a handkerchief and said, 'Stay for dinner.'"
"The difference between my photographs and Edward's is he is a man and I am a woman. A man's nude suggests 'What is your phone number?' When I look at a woman I look at her as being me. I identify with her beauty and proportions. There is never sexiness in my photographs. Sensuousness? Yes."
ON ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE: "I think Robert Mapplethorpe was inspired some by my sense of organization. I've never seen a bad Mapplethorpe photograph. but he had a more narrow view than I. he was very interested in his personal experiences. I have great regard for that. Impersonal photographs are for the birds. I photograph the things for which I am very passionate, for instance, leaves.
