• Andreas Gursky (German, born 1955), Avenue of the Americas, 2001. Chromogenic print, 81 ¼ x 140 ¼ x 2 ½ inches. Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian Gallery, New York. © 2018 Andreas Gursky/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn/ Courtesy Sprüth Magers, Berlin/ London.

  • Candida Höfer (German, born 1944), Villa Borghese Roma III, 2013. Chromogenic print, 70 7/8 x 80 1/8 inches. Courtesy Sean Kelly, New York and Sonnabend Gallery, New York. © 2018 Candida Höfer, Köln/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

  • Stephan Shore (American, born 1947), Second Street, East and South Main Street, Kalispell, Montana, Aug 22, 1974, 1974/2009. Chromogenic print, 14 3/8 x 18 1/16 inches. Courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York. © 2018 Stephen Shore.

  • Julius Shulman (American, 1910–2009), Academy Theater, exterior (Inglewood, Calif.), 1940. Gelatin silver print, 9 15/16 x 7 15/16 inches. Julius Shulman Photography Archive, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, 2004.R.10. © 2018 Estate of Julius Shulman/ J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.

Image Building: How Photography Transforms Architecture

March 18–June 17, 2018


Image Building: How Photography Transforms Architecture is a comprehensive survey that explores the dynamic relationship between architecture, photography, and the viewer. Seen through the lens of historical and architectural photographers from the 1930s to the present, Image Building offers a nuanced perspective on how photographs affect our understanding of the built environment and our social and personal identities. The exhibition features 57 images that explore the social, psychological, and conceptual implications of architecture through the subjective interpretation of those who captured it.

Organized by guest curator Therese Lichtenstein, Ph. D, Image Building brings together works by 19 renowned, under-recognized, and emerging artists ranging from early modern to contemporary architectural photographers. In addition to photographs, Image Building includes ephemera such as magazines and books that illustrate how the meaning of photography shifts when presented in the context of high art or mass culture.

Organized thematically into Cityscapes, Domestic Spaces, and Public Places,the exhibition examines the relationship between contemporary and historical approaches to photographing buildings in urban, suburban, and rural environments,looking at influences, similarities and differences.By juxtaposing these photographs, Image Building creates a dialogue between the past and present, revealing the ways photography shapes and frames the perception of architecture, and how that perception is transformed over time.

The photographers represented in Image Building: How Photography Transforms Architectureare: Berenice Abbott (American, 1898–1991)  Robert Adams (American, born 1937), Iwan Baan (Dutch, born 1975), Lewis Baltz  (American, 1945–2014), Hélène Binet (Swiss-French, born 1959), James Casebere (American, born 1953), Thomas Demand (German, born 1964), Luigi Ghirri (Italian, 1943–1992), Samuel H. Gottscho (American, 1875–1971), Andreas Gursky (German, born 1955), Candida Höfer (German, born 1944), Balthazar Korab (Hungarian, 1926–2013), Thomas Ruff (German, born 1958), Ed Ruscha (American, born 1937), Stephen Shore (American, born 1947), Julius Shulman (American, 1910–2009), and Ezra Stoller (American, 1915–2004), Thomas Struth (German, born 1954), and Hiroshi Sugimoto (Japanese, born 1948).

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Saturday, March 17, 5:30 pm   Opening Program for Members and Invited Guests   Talk with Therese Lichtenstein, Marvin Heiferman, and Terrie Sultan

Friday, April 6, 6 pm   Inter-Sections: The Architect in Conversation   Talk with James Casebere on Constructed Photography

Saturday, April 14, 5 pm   Inter-Sections: The Architect in Conversation   Talk with Iwan Baan and William Menking

Friday, April 20, 6 pm   Inter-Sections: The Architect in Conversation   Flattened Space: Talk with Lee H. Skolnick, Ralph Gibson, and Therese Lichtenstein

Friday, June 1, 6 pm  FILM: American Masters – Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future

Image Building: How Photography Transforms Architecture is made possible, in part, by the generous support of the Century Arts Foundation, The Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Fund for Publications, Joseph M. Cohen, The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Sandy and Stephen Perlbinder, Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership. Public Funding provided by Suffolk County.