Museum take away (or Boob Descends a Staircase)

Yale British Art Museum, New Haven, Connecticut © Steven Willard

I was at the Yale British Art Museum to see the exhibit of work by Bruce Davidson and John Paul Caponigro*, two photographers who had an influence on my interest in photography. It is tied to the museum because all of the images in the show are from Great Britton, Davidson’s from 1960-1965, the Caponigro images from 1962 if I recall correctly to 1995. It was an interesting exhibit contrasting Davidson’s reportage style with Caponigro’s large format landscapes.

I don’t know about you, but the primary reason I go to such shows is to see the prints themselves. Books are great, but they don’t do justice to original prints, especially when the prints were made by the photographers themselves. I feel a connection that just doesn’t come through in books. I come away from such exhibits jazzed and rejuvenated. I don’t come out of galleries or museums with the intent to emulate the work I’ve just seen, but with renewed energy to just make art. It’s as though my batteries have gotten a boost, and I now have more energy; I’m stimulated.

After viewing the exhibit, I needed to visit the men’s room on a lower floor and chose to use the stairs which is how I came upon this image. The angles, textures and light just begged me to record them. All I had was my iPhone (no cameras in the gallery) so that’s what I used.

*The exhibit runs through September 14, 2014. http://www.britishart.yale.edu.

Apple iPhone4s, processed with Nik Snapseed® and Stackables®