Duane Michals

Duane Michals (pronounced /ˈmaɪkəls/, born February 18, 1932) is an American photographer.^[1] Michals' work makes innovative use of photo-sequences, often incorporating text to examine emotion and philosophy.^[2]

Education and career

Michals' interest in art "began at age 14 while attending watercolor university classes at the Carnegie Institute [Carnegie Museum of Art] in Pittsburgh."^[3] In 1953 he received a B.A. from the University of Denver.^[4] After two years in the Army, in 1956 he went on to study at the Parsons School of Design with a plan to becoming a graphic designer; however, he did not complete his studies.^[3]

He describes his photographic skills as "completely self-taught."^[2] In 1958 while on a holiday in the USSR he discovered an interest in photography.^[4] The photographs he made during this trip became his first exhibition held in 1963 at the Underground Gallery in New York City.

For a number of years, Michals was a commercial photographer, working for Esquire and Mademoiselle, and he covered the filming of The Great Gatsby for Vogue (1974).^[5] He did not have a studio. Instead, he took portraits of people in their environment, which was a contrast to the method of other photographers at the time, such as Avedon and Irving Penn.

Michals was hired by the government of Mexico to photograph the 1968 Summer Olympics.^[5] In 1970 his works were shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.^[6] The portraits he took between 1958 and 1988 would later become the basis of his book, Album.

In 1976 Michals received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Michals also produced the art for the album Synchronicity (by The Police) in 1983,^[3][5] and Richard Barone's Clouds Over Eden album in 1993.^[7]

Artistic influences and impact

Though he has not been involved in gay civil rights, his photography has addressed gay themes.^[8][9] Michals cites Balthus, William Blake, Lewis Carroll, Thomas Eakins, René Magritte, and Walt Whitman as influences on his art.^[2] In turn, he has influenced photographers such as David Levinthal and Francesca Woodman.^[10][11]

He is noted for two innovations in artistic photography developed in the 1960s and 1970s. First, he "[told] a story through a series of photos"^[5] as in his 1970 book Sequences. Second, he handwrote text near his photographs, thereby giving information that the image itself could not convey.^[5][12]

Awards

• Gold medal for photography, National Arts Club, 1994.^[12]
• Masters Series Award, School of Visual Arts, 2000.^[3]

Personal life

Michals grew up in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and currently lives in New York City.^[8] Michals has been in a relationship with his partner for 48 years as of 2008.^[8]

Selected books

• Michals, Duane. Sequences. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970.
• Michals, Duane. The journey of the spirit after death. New York: Winter House, 1971. ISBN 0878060251
• Michals, Duane. Chance meeting; photographs. Köln: A. & J. Wilde, 1973.
• Michals, Duane. Take one and see Mt. Fujiyama, and other stories. Rochester, NY: distributed by Light Impressions, 1976. ISBN 091661400X
• Michals, Duane. Real dreams: photostories. Danbury, NH: Addison House, 1976. ISBN 0891690050
• Michals, Duane. Merveilles d'Egypt. Paris: Denoël-Filipacchi, 1978.
• Michals, Duane, and Constantine Cavafy. Homage to Cavafy. Danbury, NH: Addison House, 1978. ISBN 0891690190
• Michals, Duane. A visit with Magritte. Providence, RI: Matrix, 1981. ISBN 0936554053
• Michals, Duane. Duane Michals. London: Thames and Hudson, 1983. ISBN 0500410712
• Michals, Duane, and Marco Livingstone. Duane Michals: photographs, sequences, texts, 1958-1984. Oxford: Museum of Modern Art, 1984. ISBN 0905836464
• Michals, Duane. Sleep and dream. New York: Lustrum Press, 1984. ISBN 0912810467
• Michals, Duane. Duane Michals. New York: Pantheon Books; Paris: Centre National de la Photographie, 1986. ISBN 0394744462
• Michals, Duane. Album: the portraits of Duane Michals, 1958-1988. Pasadena, CA: Twelvetrees Press, 1988. ISBN 0942642368
• Michals, Duane, and Max Kozloff. Now becoming then. Altadena, CA: Twin Palms, 1990. ISBN 0944092128
• Michals, Duane. Eros & Thanatos. Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms, 1992. ISBN 0944092209
• Salter, James, and Duane Michals. Still such. New York: W. Drenttel, 1992. ISBN 0962522422
• Michals, Duane. Salute, Walt Whitman. Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms, 1996. ISBN 0944092349
• Michals, Duane, and Marco Livingstone. The essential Duane Michals. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1997. ISBN 0821224638
• Michals, Duane. Questions without answers. Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms, 2001. ISBN 0944092861
• Michals, Duane. The house I once called home: a photographic memoir with verse. London: Enitharmon Editions, 2003. ISBN 1900564734
• Michals, Duane. Foto follies: how photography lost its virginity on the way to the bank. Göttingen: Steidl, 2006. ISBN 3865212751
• Michals, Duane, and Joel Grey. The adventures of Constantine Cavafy. Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms, 2007. ISBN 9781931885546
• Michals, Duane. Duane Michals. London: Thames & Hudson, 2008. ISBN 9780500410714

References

1. ^ Duane Michals biography. Grove Art Online, 2003.
2. ^ ^{a b c} McKenna, Kristine (1993-03-14). "Picture imperfect: for maverick Duane Michals, a photo is worth far less than a thousand words when the questions are about the very meaning of truth". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1993-03-14/entertainment/ca-543_1_duane-michals. Retrieved 2011-06-25. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} School of Visual Arts (2000-09-18 through 2000-10-21). "Masters Series: Duane Michals". http://www.schoolofvisualarts.edu/sa/index.jsp?sid0=201&page_id=482&event_id=33. Retrieved 2011-06-25. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Shaw, Kurt (2004-11-18). "Pictures of a life". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_273188.html. Retrieved 2011-06-25. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Phillips, Ian (1999-09-10). "Arts: angels in America". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/arts-angels-in-america-1117526.html. Retrieved 2011-06-25. 
6. ^ Museum of Modern Art (1970-10-07 through 1970-12-06). "Stories By Duane Michals (press release)". http://www.moma.org/docs/press_archives/4524/releases/MOMA_1970_July-December_0043_103.pdf. Retrieved 2011-06-25. 
7. ^ Barone, Richard (2007). Frontman: surviving the rock star myth. New York: Backbeat Books. pp. 150. ISBN 9780879309121. 
8. ^ ^{a b c} Murtha, Tara (2008-04-30). "Photographer Duane Michals discusses his gay-themed work". Philadelphia Weekly. http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/38467469.html. 
9. ^ Provenzano, Jim (2007-07-05). "The poet's eye: photographer Duane Michals visualizes Cavafy poems". Bay Area Reporter. http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=books&article=283. 
10. ^ Levinthal, David (2000). "Duane Michals". Photo District News. http://pdngallery.com/20years/20mostinfluential/michals.html. 
11. ^ Gabhart, Ann (1986). Francesca Woodman, photographic work. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College Museum. p. 54. OCLC 13474131. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Smith, Rosalind (December 2003). "Duane Michals: getting to the heart with a wry eye". Shutterbug. http://www.shutterbug.net/features/1203sb_duane/. Retrieved 2011-06-25. 

Further reading

• Bailey, Ronald H. (1975). The photographic illusion, Duane Michals. New York: Crowell. ISBN 0690007876. 
• Winterhalter, Teresa (1997). "Desire under the lens: critical perspective in a Duane Michals photograph". Literature and Theology 11: 229–238. doi:10.1093/litthe/11.3.229. 
• Todd-Raque, Jennifer (2006). "Duane Michals". In Warren, Lynne. Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography. New York: Routledge. pp. 1043–1046. ISBN 1579583938. 

Film and video

• Howard, Edgar B., and Theodore R. Haimes. Duane Michals (1939-1997). NY: Checkerboard Film Foundation, 1978. (DVD, 14 minutes, B&W/color.)
• Diamonstein, Barbaralee. Visions and Images: Duane Michals (American Photographers on Photography). American Broadcasting Companies, 1981. (Video, 29 minutes, B&W/color.)

External links

• Fahey/Klein Gallery. Duane Michals. Personal page. Portfolio of 39 images.
• Weinberg, Jonathan. "Things are queer." Originally published in Art Journal, December 22, 1996.
• Duane Michals. Photo District News, PDN Legends Online, 1998.
• Cotter, James A. Duane Michals. photo insider, April–June 1999.
• Vettese, John. Duane Michals. Temple University page, 2001.
• Smith, Rosalind. Duane Michals: getting to the heart with a wry eye. Shutterbug, December 2003.
• Svede, Mark Allen. Michals, Duane (b. 1932). glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture, February 7, 2004.
• 2004 Hall of fame: Duane Michals. New York: Art Directors Club, 2004.
• Pace/MacGill Gallery. Duane Michals. c. 2008.

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Name	Michals, Duane
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Date of birth	1932-02-18
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