“Melody (Shoe)” was one of many Robert Mapplethorpe images in “The Perfect Moment”,a traveling exhibition funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. The exhibit was on display at The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles from mid-March through July, 2016. This classic Mapplethorpe photograph, as a backdrop for my “High Heels” image, beautifully complimented the woman wearing very similar shoes.
As a street photographer, roaming through museums and galleries is enjoyable not only for the beautiful art, but for the juxtapositions or symmetry created by visitors and the art-–be it sculpture, painting, or photography. In this case, I crossed paths with this museum-goer several times during the course of viewing the photographic exhibition. The dress she was wearing, her high heel shoes, her almost model-like pose were a perfect compliment to the art. A second “photo of the week’ will soon be posted from the same Mapplethorpe Exhibit with the same museum-goer. Honestly, it was simply happenstance.
There are photographers who concentrate of this type of art. Stefan Draschan, for one, spends hours with his camera in galleries and museums trying to capture museum-goers who inadvertently match the pieces they are looking at. On observing a visitor ‘mirroring’ a work of art, Draschan told the London’s Daily News, “It feels beautiful, as if some unseen eternal string subconsciously connecting through the centuries”.
Famous street photographer Elliott Erwitt, has published “Museum Watching” (Phaidon Press Limited, 1999). This is a visual observation of his many years watching people who are looking at art. The book includes photographs from the late 1950’s through 1999.
For more detailed information on David’s street photography, please visit DavidKalbPhotography.com Note one of the galleries includes images from art museums in San Francisco, New York, Seattle – as well as Los Angeles.