In this article, we will approach Larry Fink (photographer) from different perspectives, with the aim of providing a comprehensive view on this topic/person/date. We will analyze its impact on today's society, its evolution over time and the possible implications it has in various areas. In addition, we will examine its relevance in the current context, as well as the different opinions and theories that exist in this regard. Through this comprehensive analysis, we aim to provide the reader with a more complete understanding of Larry Fink (photographer) and encourage reflection on its importance in our daily lives.
Laurence Bruce Fink (March 11, 1941 – November 25, 2023) was an American photographer and educator, best known for his black-and-white images of people at parties and in other social situations.
Early life and education
Laurence Bruce Fink was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, on March 11, 1941. The family moved to West Hempstead, New York when Fink was thirteen. His father, Bernard Fink, was a lawyer, and his mother, Sylvia Caplan Fink, was an anti-nuclear weapons activist and an elder rights activist for the Gray Panthers. He had a younger sister, Elizabeth Fink. He grew up in a politically conscious household and described himself as "a Marxist from Long Island." His younger sister Elizabeth Fink (1945–2015) was a lawyer.
Fink's best-known work is Social Graces, a series of photographs he produced in the 1970s that depicted and contrasted wealthy Manhattanites at fashionable clubs and social events alongside working-class people from rural Pennsylvania participating in events such as high school graduations. Social Graces was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1979 and was published in book form in 1984. A New York Times reviewer described the series as exploring social class by comparing "two radically divergent worlds", while accomplishing "one of the things that straight photography does best: provid excruciatingly intimate glimpses of real people and their all-too-fallibly-human lives."
In 2001, for an assignment from The New York Times Magazine, Fink created a series of satirical color images of President George W. Bush and his cabinet (portrayed by stand-ins) in scenes of decadent revelry modeled on paintings by Weimar-era painters Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, and George Grosz. The planned publication of the series was canceled after the September 11 attacks, but was displayed in the summer of 2004 at the PowerHouse Gallery in New York City, in a show titled The Forbidden Pictures: A Political Tableau.
In 1969 Fink married artist Joan Snyder. Around this time, they moved from New York to Martins Creek, Pennsylvania. They had a daughter, Molly Snyder-Fink, and divorced in 1985. He was later married to Pia Staniek, with this marriage also ending in divorce. In 2000, he married Martha Posner.
Photographs. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1981. Booklet accompanying an exhibition by Fink and Joel Sternfeld.
Ist Fotografie Kunst? Gehört Fotografie ins Museum? "Internationales Fotosymposion 1981, Schloss Mickeln bei Düsseldorf." Munich: Mahnert-Lueg, 1982. ISBN3922170250. Contribution by Fink.
Focus Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara, CA: Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, 1985. Catalogue for an exhibition, September–October 1985, by Fink, Walter Cotton, Lee Friedlander, Mary Ellen Mark, Richard Misrach, and Richard Ross.
Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1991. Edited by Peter Galassi, contribution by Fink.
Still Working: Underknown Artists of Age in America. : Parsons School of Design, New York, 1994. ISBN0295973854. Edited by Stewart Shedletsky; photographs by Fink; essays by Ann Gibson.
Waking the Wood: Martha Posner: January 19 through March 2, 1995. Allentown, PA: Frank Martin Gallery, Baker Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, . OCLC630168745 Booklet with an introduction and photographs by Larry Fink, essay by J.M. Welker.
Uma cidade assim. Matosinhos: Câmara Municipal de Matosinhos, 1996. ISBN9729143234. Photographs by Fink and Bruno Sequeira.[n 1]
Fish and Wine: Larry Fink's Photographs of Portugal. Easton, PA: Lafayette College, Art Gallery, Williams Center for the Arts, 1997. ISBN0966032209. Booklet to accompany an exhibition held in September 1997 at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, and October–November 1997 at Gateway Center IV, Newark, New Jersey. With an essay by George E. Panichas.
Ellis Island: Echoes from a Nation's Past. New York: Aperture, 1997. ISBN0893813974. With photographs by Fink and others.
Runway. New York: PowerHouse, 1999. ISBN1-57687-027-8 (regular edition); ISBN157687-028-6 (limited edition). By Fink, with an introduction by Guy Trebay.
A City Seen: Photographs from the George Gund Foundation Collection. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2002. ISBN0940717689. Contribution by Fink.
The Forbidden Pictures: Photographs. New York: PowerHouse, 2004. ISBN1-57687-244-0. Twelve photographs by Fink, with texts by Fink and others.
Woolrich Roadtrip 2004, New York, NY to Woolrich, PA. Woolrich, PA: Woolrich, 2004.
Primal Elegance. Portfolio Book Series, no. 6. Revere, PA: Lodima, 2005. ISBN1-888899-29-8. Edition of 1000. Fourteen photographs by Fink of mantises.
Somewhere There's Music. Bologna: Damiani, 2006. ISBN8889431563; ISBN8889431628. By Fink, with an essay by George E. Panichas.
Cleveland Clinic: Two Views. Cleveland: Cleveland Clinic, 2006. ISBN0979082706. Photographs by Fink and Andrew Moore.
Effetto Luce. Florence: Luce della Vite, 2007. The publisher's description: "In 2007 Luce della Vite, the Montalcino wine producer hosted an gala event with international media and guests, including celebrities from the worlds of entertainment, fashion, wine and business, arrive in Florence to celebrate launch of new Luce wine at the prestigious Villa i Collazzi in Florence on Saturday night and photographer Larry Fink captured the most significant moments of the Effetto Luce evening."
The Vanities: Hollywood Parties 2000–2009: Photographs. Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 2011. ISBN3829605269. By Fink, with essays by Lucy Sante and Ash Carter, text in English and German.
Larry Fink: Attraction and Desire: 50 Years in Photography. Saint Louis, MO: The Sheldon Art Galleries, . ISBN0578077388. Accompanying an exhibition at the Sheldon Art Galleries, February–May 2011. With an essay by Olivia Lahs-Gonzales.
Contatti. Provini d'Autore = Choosing the best photo by using the contact sheet. Vol. I. Edited by Giammaria De Gasperis. Rome: Postcart, 2012. ISBN978-88-86795-87-6. Contribution by Fink.
Larry Fink on Composition and Improvisation. New York: Aperture, 2014. ISBN1597112739. With an introduction by Lisa Kereszi.
The Beats. Brooklyn, NY: PowerHouse, 2014. ISBN1576876896. Photographs by Fink of the beats, with an essay and poem by Gerald Stern and an essay by Robert Cordier.
Kindred Spirits. Minor Matters, 2014. By Fink, with an essay by Peter Barberie.