William Christenberry

Along with such masters as William Eggleston and Stephen Shore, William Christenberry is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of color photography.

His photographic exploration of the American south has been ongoing for forty years, drawing inspiration from such pioneers as Walker Evans and paralleling the work of international practitioners like Bernd & Hilla Becher, all the while influencing a generation of emerging photographers. Beginning with his earliest Brownie photographs from the early 1960’s to his later work with a large-format camera, William Christenberry: Photographs is a survey of this artist’s poetic documentation of Southern vernacular architecture, signage, and landscape that captures moments of quiet beauty in a sometimes rustic terrain. Coupling never-before-seen photographs, both old and new, with images that are now iconic, this exhibition comprises fifty vintage photographic works and one sculpture, and, in turn, conveys the breadth of his unprecedented project and singular photographic vision.

The exhibition will coincide with a multi-media retrospective at the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution and a stunning catalog published by Aperture.

William Christenberry Biography: William Christenberry (b. 1936) has been a professor at the Corcoran College of Art and Design since 1968. He is world renowned for his photography, sculpture, drawings, and paintings that pay tribute to his roots in rural Alabama. His work can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

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William Christenberry: Photographs 1961-2005