Fred Herzog: Modern Color

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However, technology only allowed him to make archival pigment prints that match the color and intensity of the Kodachrome slide in the past decade.

Fred Herzog is known for his distinctive approach to color photography in the 1950s and 1960s, a time when the art form was almost solely represented by black and white imagery. By taking color rather than black and white photographs, he made his street scenes seem much more modern. For more than 50 years, the Canadian photographer worked almost exclusively with Kodachrome slide film, and it is only in the past decade that technological advances have enabled him to produce archival pigment prints that match the extraordinary color and intensity of Kodachrome slides.In his work, we’re shown a world we recognise, anachronistic as some of it may be, yet we relate to it. Until that point, so few photographers had taken up the idea of simply touring the everyday streets and capturing what they saw.

Herzog’s big breakout occurred late in life when The Vancouver Art Gallery held the first major retrospective of his work in 2007: Fred Herzog Vancouver Photographs curated by Grant Arnold. Fred Herzog is best known for his unusual use of color photography in the 1950s and 1960s, a time when art photography was almost exclusively associated with black-and-white imagery. In this respect, his photographs can be seen as a pre-figuration of the New Color photographers of the seventies.Herzog also had the vision, and courage, to shoot in color when virtually all serious art photography was in black and white. That which we find, the work and the use of the people out there, it’s natural, that’s what ordinary people do, that interests me.

Scenes of society in the macrocosm, rather than showing us nothing, showed us everything: race relations, urban alienation, gender politics and class distinctions. Professionally employed as a medical photographer, he spent his evenings and weekends photographing the city and its inhabitants in vibrant color. Fred Herzog is known for his unusual use of colour in the 50s and 60s, when art photography was almost exclusively associated with black and white imagery. Roger Bamber’s 50-year career spanned everything from the Falklands War to Live Aid, but it was in his home city that he found most of his inspiration, as Ailsa McWhinnie discovers. This book will bring together over 230 images, many never before reproduced, and will feature essays by acclaimed authors David Campany and Hans-Michael Koetzle.By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.