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John with his Eyes Closed

Gary Schneider (American, born in South Africa in 1954)
1992, printed 1993

Medium/Technique Photograph, gelatin silver print, toned
Dimensions Overall: 102.2 × 81.9 cm (40 1/4 × 32 1/4 in.)
Other (Mount): 102.2 × 81.9 cm (40 1/4 × 32 1/4 in.)
Framed: 94 × 76.4 × 3.5 cm (37 × 30 1/16 × 1 3/8 in.)
Credit Line Lee M. Friedman Fund
Accession Number1996.72
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPhotographs
Gary Schneider makes large-scale photographic portraits, using an interactive and personal approach. His rather unearthly images are the result of extremely close-up, almost claustrophobic long exposures - in this case, of one of his favorite subjects, his partner John Erdman. Referred to as "durational portraits," Schneider's photographs are inspired in part by the living, breathing quality and evocative blur he admired in nineteenth-century studio portraits by artists such as Julia Margaret Cameron. To create this intimate, death mask-like portrait of Erdman, the photographer meditatively played a beam of light over his friend's face throughout a protracted sitting in the dark.

ProvenanceHoward Yezerski Gallery, Boston; purchased May 1996.
CopyrightReproduced with permission.