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George Lange

May 18 – June 1, 2020

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman's Loft. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976 , Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman's Loft. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976 

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman and George Lange. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976 , Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman and George Lange. Providence, Rhode Island. 1976 

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Francesca Woodman’s studio after she left RISD. 1976 , Archival pigment print

Francesca Woodman’s studio after she left RISD. 1976 

Archival pigment print

Edition of 10

Press Release

FRANCESCA WOODMAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY GEORGE LANGE

MAY 18-31, 2020

(To see our video interview with George Lange  CLICK HERE)

In our next online Viewing Room of Covid postponed shows, we’re presenting a selection of George Lange’s photographs of Francesca Woodman taken when they were students and friends at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).  A visual dialog between two remarkably talented young photographers, Lange’s photographs of Woodman are both a celebration of youthful creativity and a premonition of the importance Woodman’s pictures would have in their exploration of self-portraiture, female subjectivity, and the expressive power of photography.  

A counterpoint to the view of Woodman understandably imposed by her suicide at the age of 22, Lange’s pictures of Woodman have a charm and an energy and the unusual combination of one photographer photographing another.  (Usually we see photographers photographing painters, actors, and musicians but not other photographers.)  Kept virtually untouched in a box for close to forty years along with a selection of prints and ephemera that Woodman gifted to Lange, the work was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver last year in a show titled “Portrait of a Reputation”.  (A book of the same name was also published by Rizzoli.) Not just a view of the student as artist (or artist as student), the photographs are a portrait of a friendship.  

Lange, who went on to be a highly acclaimed editorial photographer, clearly saw that Woodman had the makings of a star and his pictures are imbued with an appreciation of her talent and a premonition of her significance as an artist.  By turns objective, intimate, and amused and aware of the mess that was Woodman’s personal and creative environment – Lange’s photographs shine a light on both sides of the camera in engagingly composed and recorded images.

In conjunction with this Viewing Room, we have created a short video in which Lange talks about the pictures and his friendship with Woodman.  To view the video click here