The Instant as Image: Moments of Action in Photography

Built around Barbara Morgan’s exuberant images of dancers and Larry Fink’s surreal party photographs, this exhibition critically explores the camera’s unique ability to capture movement. Interest in representing movement through photography began as early as 1850 but reached a turning point in the 1930s with the invention of 35 millimeter roll film and handheld cameras. Artists working in documentary, street, and snapshot style have depicted motion as an expressive device rooted in the real world. Their work both bears witness and conveys the beauty of chance capture. The Instant as Image also features the work of Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Harry Callahan, Larry Clark, John Cohen, Elliott Erwitt, Lee Friedlander, Andre Kertész, Danny Lyon, Mary Ellen Mark, Hans Namuth, Nicholas Nixon, Edward Steichen, and Andy Warhol.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website