Fred Herzog: Modern Color

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Those images, taken through a camera that possessed only a primitive peephole viewfinder, were lost some years later as Herzog travelled to Canada on a rust-bucket ship that apparently nearly sank. The Canadian photographer worked largely with Kodachrome slide film for over 50 years, and only in the past decade has technology allowed him to make archival pigment prints that match the exceptional color and intensity of the Kodachrome slide, making this an excellent time to reevaluate and reexamine his work. Until that point, so few photographers had taken up the idea of simply touring the everyday streets and capturing what they saw. S., and Robert Frank, whose photographs were published in the influential book The Americans and who also died Monday. The most comprehensive book yet published on the Canadian color-photography pioneer 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.

Fred Herzog is known for his unusual use of color in the 1950s and 1960s, a time when art photography was almost exclusively associated with black and white imagery. Fred Herzog is the most comprehensive publication on the work of this important photographer to date.By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. In 1953, decades before William Eggleston and Stephen Shore established color photography as a serious medium for art photography, Fred Herzog shot his first roll of color film.

Scenes of society in the macrocosm, rather than showing us nothing, showed us everything: race relations, urban alienation, gender politics and class distinctions. Fred Herzog might not be a household name in the photography world, but his work holds its own against the likes of Walker Evans and William Eggleston, two photographers with whom Herzog shares an aesthetic. Digital inkjet printing has enabled Herzog to finally satisfactorily make prints from his slides and exhibit his important early color street photography. 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. In this respect, his photographs can be seen as a pre-figuration of the New Color photographers of the seventies.What was striking to Herzog at this time was that he was beginning to identify a genre that had perhaps not yet found its definition: street photography. Herzog also had the vision, and courage, to shoot in color when virtually all serious art photography was in black and white. 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.

Furthermore, his shots were taken using mostly Kodachrome slide film, meaning he was limited in terms of actually getting to exhibit his images in public. However, technology only allowed him to make archival pigment prints that match the color and intensity of the Kodachrome slide in the past decade. In this respect, his photographs can be seen as an early indication of the "New Color" photographers of the seventies. Despite slight shifts in social, cultural and technological parameters, the world now looks much the same as it did in the ’60s and ’70s.The Canadian photographer worked almost exclusively with Kodachrome slide film for over 50 years, and only in the past decade has technology allowed him to make archival pigment prints that match the exceptional color and intensity of the Kodachrome slide.

In his work, we’re shown a world we recognise, anachronistic as some of it may be, yet we relate to it.It was through focusing on the everyday in the US that Eggleston was able to reveal the deeper truths of the world. The real pioneer of the medium seems to change depending on whom you ask (most people, perhaps rightly, would say William Eggleston) but let’s allow some space for another name: Fred Herzog. In this respect, his photographs can be seen as a prototype for the New Color photographers of the 1970s.