Pure Photography
20th Century Floral Masterworks
Photo Basel 2023
13 – 18 June, 2023
«Leaves» (1942)
© Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.
All rights reserved
Agave victoriae reginae, 1975
© Don Worth Photography Trust
All rights reserved
Child in the Forest, 1951
© Wynn Bullock Photography LLC
All rights reserved
In cooperation with WBB GALLERY (Zurich), photo basel 2023 presents the curated special exhibition "Pure Photography. 20th Century Floral Masterworks" with photographs by Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Brett Weston, Edward Weston, Don Worth and other photographers. The works are from a Swiss private collection.
The term "Pure Photography" was shaped by the legendary Group f/64, which was active in the greater San Francisco area from 1932. The photographers of this grouping opposed the prevailing pictorialism, which attempted to bring the "artist's hand" into photographs through elaborate printing techniques and the manipulation of negatives and photographs, in order to establish the medium of photography as a fully-fledged means of artistic expression. The representatives of the Group f/64 wanted to free black-and-white photography from the pictorialist approach and manipulation. Their goal was authenticity and purity, as well as technical perfection in the darkroom. The creation of the finest grayscales and deep blacks led to a photographic language whose aesthetics often took on abstract features and made the smallest details visible. The pioneers of the time fundamentally changed the perception and understanding of photography. Their contribution inspired generations of photographers, even today, and led to photography as a medium being elevated to the status of art for the first time.
Photographers exhibited in «Pure Photography»: Imogen Cunningham (1883 – 1976) • Edward Weston (1886 – 1958) • Ansel Adams (1902 – 1984) • Wynn Bullock (1902 – 1975) • Willard Van Dyke (1906 – 1986) • Brett Weston (1911 – 1993) • Morley Baer (1916 – 1995) • Don Worth (1924 – 2009) • Paul Caponigro (*1932) • Bob Kolbrener (*1942) • Robert Mapplethrope (1946 – 1989) • Michael Miner (*1949) • John Sexton (*1953) • Roman Loranc (*1956)
PHOTO BASEL 2023
Volkshaus Basel
Rebgasse 12, 4058 Basel
