Stephen Shore is an American photographer known for his images of scenes and objects of the banal, and for his pioneering use of color in art photography. His books include Uncommon Places and American Surfaces, photographs that he took on cross-country road trips in the 1970s.
Biography
Stephen Shore was something of a prodigy as a photographer. Born in New York City in 1947, he learned about and practiced photography from the age of six. In 1958, Shore was given a copy of Walker Evans’ book American Photographs. This book had a profound effect on him, introducing him to a descriptive visual language of place. At the age of fourteen, his work was bought by Edward Steichen for the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. From 1965 through 1967, Shore worked in Andy Warhol’s studio, the Factory, a formative experience that allowed him to experiment with combining documentary and conceptual modes in the laconic style characteristic of his later images. In 1971, at the age of twenty-four, Shore had a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the first accorded a living American photographer.
Shore emerged in the 1970s as one of the major exponents of color photography, shooting bleak yet lyrical scenes of the North American landscape. Documenting everyday settings and objects, from hotel swimming pools and televisions to parking lots, gas stations, and deserted roads, Shore exhibited an ability to transform commonplace surroundings into compelling works of art, working with a subject matter similar to Walker Evans.
His photos and work
Beverly Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California, June 21 , 1975, de la série Uncommon Places, 1973-1986 © Stephen Shore. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York and Sprüth Magers
Image Analysis
- Foreground vs background | Dominant features
- The formal elements : line, shape, form, texture, pattern, tone
- Composition | low horizon line | Square format
- Perspective and detail / cluttering
- Wide depth of field | Large Format Camera
- Colour | impact and relevance
- Nationalism vs mobility vs isolation
- Social commentary | The American Dream ?