Out of all the photo pieces in LUAG’s Taking It to the Streets collection, Garry Winogrand’s “Women Art Better Than Men. Not Only Have They Survived, They Prevail” photo stood out to me the most. First, this street photo is a candid shot. The photo is not level but is shot at an angle. We see a woman, with her hair being blown by the wind, carrying a shopping bag and holding her purse in her hand. The woman is smiling, but she is not staring at the camera but instead, her stare is towards the ground. She seems to be rushing somewhere because her gait is long. There is a woman behind her that does not seem to be rushing and instead is approached by a man convincing her to go into a store. I believe that this image was shot near Rodeo Drive, which is a famous place to shop for expensive designer brands in Beverly Hills. The lighting hits the side of the woman in the forefront, elongating the shadow of her legs. I really like how the image was shot at an angle because it does not give focus to the stores in the background, but it focuses on the woman. The candid pose tells us a story of the woman rushing towards somewhere, which makes me curious about the woman’s destination as she is not window shopping, but assertively walking towards her destination.
Garry Winogrand, American, 1928 – 1984. 1978-1980. Beverly Hills, California 1978 – “Women Art Better Than Men. Not Only Have They Survived, They Prevail”. https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/28143046;prevRouteTS=1614531490347
This is a really strong analysis of the elements of the shot and gives a good argument for why it should have been shot at an angle. Well done.