Recently had the opportunity to observe Wolfgang Tillman: To Look Without Fear on a freebie night at SFMOMA. It was a smorgasbord of photographic styles, subjects and presentations: From straightforward portraits to completely abstract images (yours truly had no idea if several of the latter were even photographs- they sure didn't look it), from 3X5 drugstore prints casually taped all about, to imposing mural sized prints that dominated museum sized walls.
I honestly don't know what Mr. Tillman is about, he doesn't seem to care much about 'complex' photographic compositions whether in portraiture, landscape or photojournalism mode, and seems to practice an outsider artist approach to photography. Of course, he could be operating on a level far beyond my mortal ken, after all he is a world renowned, internationally acclaimed artist, and I'm someone barely known outside the realm of this narrowly read blog. Yeah, slight imbalance there, I know...
As I wandered throughout the ginormous museum rooms, appreciating but a handful of images, one thought kept running through my mind- one could create countless similar type exhibits of just about any photographer's work by simply hanging a vast assortment of their work prints, final prints and everything in between created during the part of their career where they desperately explored and attempted to find their own style. Most photographers, after many hapless starts and stops throughout the years, eventually end up honing and refining an individual style or approach suitable for certain content or particular subject matter. The greats become masters of their domain: in studio, on the streets, in the field. Tillman seems to be content at being a jack of all trades and master of none- but unlike so many of the countless minions of the aforementioned forever populating both art and history... he's become extremely successful at it!
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