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Photo Insider | Duane Michals: The Great Expressionist

Photo Insider | Duane Michals: The Great Expressionist

By James A. Cotter

May 1999

Life is too short to be distracted by the pesky, mundane questions that plague most photographers: "How can I get this model to smile without showing her teeth?" or, "Does this house look better with or without the little red wagon in front?" So think hard, think deep, and ask new questions. As a photographer, how can you present the nature of existence and the drama of the human condition? How will you define beauty and ugliness in visual terms? What is death, and why is mankind fixated on rational explanations of the afterlife? In short, send the supermodels home and start asking the BIG questions. Duane Michals has been examining these issues over the span of his legendary and influential career, blurring the boundaries between photography and philosophy to create a body of work unique in the field.

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