Photographer Stephen Shore: God’s Eye But Human | Louisiana Channel

“It's like playing a sport. There are rules.”
We meet Stephen Shore, one of the most outstanding photographers of our time, who took a close look at the USA from above.
“For about 30 years, from the early 70s to the early 2000s, my primary camera was an 8x10 inch view camera, which is like a big 19th-century camera on a tripod. The physical nature of the camera, the size, all lead to very conscious decision-making. With the drone is completely different. I have no idea. The drone could be half a mile away from me. And I move it to the right; I move it forward 10 feet. I have absolutely no idea what will come into the picture, and it's very exciting. I am on this voyage of discovery.”
“The perspective has been in my mind since the late 70s. And a critic who was looking at the pictures said, it's like a God's Eye View. And I think it means that there's a view that is more encompassing than what we could see on the ground at eye level. But not so far up that it becomes just topographic. But it is close enough for it to be human almost.”
Stephen Shore was born in New York in 1947. His photographs are attentive to ordinary scenes of daily experience, yet through color--and composition--Shore transforms the mundane into subjects of thoughtful meditation. A restaurant meal on a road trip, a billboard off a highway, and a dusty side street in a Texas town are all seemingly banal images, but upon reflection, they subtly imply meaning. Color photography attracted Shore for its ability to record the range and intensity of hues seen in life.
In 1971, at age twenty-three, he became the first living photographer to have a one-person show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His 1982 book, Uncommon Places, became a bible for young photographers seeking to work in color because, along with that of William Eggleston, his work exemplified the fact that the medium could be considered art.
Stephen Shore’s work has been exhibited and collected at and by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Library of Congress, Washington DC, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He has received numerous awards, which you can find listed here: www.303gallery.com/artists/st.... Since 1982, he has been the director of the Photography Program at Bard College in New York’s Hudson Valley. Under the title Vehicular & Vernacular, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris opened a vast retrospective of Shore’s work in May 2024.
Stephen Shore was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner at 303 Gallery in New York on the occasion of his show presenting new drone photographs of the American landscape.
Camera: Jarl Therkelsen Kaldan
Edited by: Jarl Therkelsen Kaldan
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2024
Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, and C.L. Davids Fond og Samling.
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[@Kajoconnell]

Best drone photography I've ever seen.

[@pierresauvephoto]

I feel the same when it comes to our humanity. What is timeless is what I am attracked to. Thanks for sharing these thouths with us.

[@wanderingambience799]

I'm a great admirer of Stephen's work. In fact Uncommon Places set me off across the countryside in Australia. I love that he uses whatever tools are available for the era, not a purist per se.

[@photomonkey2893]

Thank you for this.

[@ccbphoto]

[kowtowing] I’m so not worthy! I truly admire him and I work!

[@Leo-Crespi]

Beautiful

[@echobeatty9746]

Beautiful interview! But who made the music? Why is it not credited?

[@65WZ]

Most people call it: Bird's eye view. Real-estate agents/offices, and historians excel in using drones in such perspective photography.

[@masterprintmaker]

haha Stephen :) I mean saying that Bob was a stuckist is a pretty tall tale. Who else made the radical shift from photography to film !?! Besides your images look the same for 60 years regardless of what camera you use - cheers ✌

[@jvaldesbartroli]

first

[@mamumonkan]

Hello Marc, did you just take a snippet out of a longer interview ... or why didn't you ask him deeper questions , such as about his influences ... I mean he changed the course of photography almost single handedly - so why not be better prepared for this interview !?!

[@samparkes2477]

They're like kitsch Google screensavers. He says he never wanted to repeat himself but all his photos are endless platitudes of kooky America, he just happens to use a different camera. Unbelievably overrated.

[@jessidurmis]

❤❤❤