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A City Seen
Photographs from the George Gund Foundation Collection
This exhibition presents Cleveland as revealed by some of our era's greatest photographers. All together, the photographs plot the neighborhoods, families, schools, gardens, and waterways of a vast city to create a singular portrait. Remarkably, all the images come from portfolios commissioned by The George Gund Foundation to illustrate its annual reports from 1990 through 2001, each incorporating a photographic essay reflecting the organization's philanthropic interests in Northeast Ohio.
What may be most compelling about these photographs is the depth of insight they express, especially considering they were produced by a group of photographers almost wholly unfamiliar with the city of Cleveland. They transcend the simple question, "What does a city look like?" by answering a more difficult one: "What is a city?" And in the case of the photographs in this collection, the question, "What is Cleveland?" is addressed without once resorting to the clichéd skyline view or the predictably photogenic industrial grit. Instead, the focus is on people—at work, in school, in real places at real times—and on defining aspects of the regional landscape, from the vast expanse of Lake Erie to the intimate spaces of urban gardens.
The concept presented appealing challenges for the artists: commissions like these are rare for fine art photographers, so these twelve made the most of their opportunities. The photographers, Michael Book, Lois Conner, Judith Joy Ross, Dawoud Bey, Linda Butler, Lee Friedlander, Gregory Conniff, Frank Gohlke, Larry Fink, Douglas Lucak, Nicholas Nixon, and Barbara Bosworth, were given free rein to approach their projects as they saw fit, and they have created a dozen highly individual portfolios. Michael Book was first, with the 1990 report. Rather than presenting glossy downtown images of "the comeback city," he delved into the city's living neighborhoods. Landscape photographer Lois Conner followed in 1991 with a group of luminous photographs linked to the Cuyahoga River. Judith Roy Ross portrayed students in Cleveland public schools in 1992. Dawoud Bey examined families using his innovative method of combining multiple images. Linda Butler offered a loving portrayal of Cleveland's arts institutions. The city's working people were the subject of Lee Friedlander's 1995 portfolio. In 1996, Gregory Conniff created Urban Gardens, showing how small plots of land all around the city have been remade as oases of life and renewal. Frank Gohlke's Lake Erie project offered a beautiful but unromanticized view of the lake and the land adjoining it. The Cleveland School of the Arts was the subject of Larry Fink's 1998 photo essay. Douglas Lucak applied his distinctive pinhole camera style to the urban landscape the following year. Nicholas Nixon provided a portfolio on Cleveland's Free Clinic for the 2000 Annual Report. Finally, in 2001, Barbara Bosworth turned her lens to the Cleveland Metroparks.
Thanks to the Gund Foundation, twelve outstanding photographers of our age have created substantial bodies of work about Cleveland—eloquent expressions that would probably not have existed otherwise. Altogether, these photographs add wonderful depth to existing photographic representations of Cleveland. Moreover, the Foundation is giving all of the portfolios to the Cleveland Museum of Art, impressively expanding the museum's collection.
A richly illustrated 180-page book accompanies this exhibition. The provocative essay by John Szarkowski, Director Emeritus, Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, introduces this original book about the melding of artistic vision with the character of a multifaceted community. Extensive public programming has also been organized to enhance the show. This cornucopia of activities celebrates the Foundation's 50th anniversary, drawing attention to its ongoing commitment to enhancing the quality of life in Greater Cleveland.
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