Afternoon at the Museum

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say. I think art is too. I had a great afternoon at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum. It’s definitely worth a visit and I wanted to share some favorites with you. All the art is from the online Smithsonian Collections.

The National Portrait Gallery has a fascinating exhibit on Feature Photography.

I got lost in that space which Kathleen is staring into. I wanted to ask, "Where are you? What are you seeing?" Her kitchen is so ordinary, but her facial expression is certainly not. Photographer Katy Grannan shot her as part of a series for an article exploring the effects of post traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq War veterans. "Photography is a kind of permission; it’s a way in. It’s a catalyst for extraordinary experiences that would otherwise not be possible."

I had to stop and wonder what Adelyn, Ash Wednesday, New Orleans, Louisiana was thinking. She was photographed by Alec Soth. I really liked his thoughts about this collection. “In putting together a collection of my best portraits of women, I’m trying to come to terms with how I honestly see and depict women. Are my pictures romanticized? Sexualized? Why do I see women in this way? For me, photography is as much about the way I respond to the subject as it is about the subject itself.”

Untitled (Kara on Easter Sunday) made me laugh. Kara doesn’t look too happy and in my mind's eye I envisioned her as her adult self, and I'm not sure she's any happier. I just couldn’t help but laugh at her apparent misery. Jocelyn Lee’s collection was simple and beautiful. She writes of her work, “I photograph because I am interested in people, what it means to be alive, and how we make sense of the world.” I also like the next photo from her collection.

I loved Untitled (Jocelyn with moth). What is she dreaming of? The colors are gorgeous here. And that moth on her hand is huge!

Martin Schoeller specializes in really close close-ups. I like it. “A photographic close-up is perhaps the purest form of portraiture, creating a confrontation between the viewer and the subject that daily interaction makes impossible, or at least impolite. In a close-up, the impact stems solely from the static subject’s expression or apparent lack thereof, so the viewer is challenged to read a face without the benefit of the environmental cues we naturally use to form our interpersonal reactions.”

Of course, Angelina Jolie is beautiful and when you’re staring at a 4’x5’ reproduction of her face her beauty is even more apparent as are her imperfections. Martin captures her beautifully.

Barack Obama. And seriously his head is a really odd shape and his ears aren’t in focus. He almost looks like a cartoon character. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but really Martin, this is the shot you chose.

A short walk down the hallway re-tracing your footsteps and you enter the American Art Museum. Here's a peek at the Twentieth Century-Art collection.

Manhattan by Georgia O’Keeffe--“One can’t paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt.” I just smiled and smiled when I saw this one, and I’m not sure why.

In the Gilded Age collection I loved September Afternoon by George Inness. I just wanted to soak up all this color and roll around in it.

I think I'm coveting a job in downtown DC. I would come here to eat lunch and wander around. I'll be back lovely museum. See you soon.