LOOKbetween – getting there /2

What do you do on the first day in New York? You go to the MoMA. Of course. This time I was eager to see the huge Hery Cartier Bresson exhibition.
We got into the MoMA fast – cutting the line with our online ticket – which was great. Soon I found myself standing in front of the same railing that I always stand to take a picture of my bottom part. Why? Do not ask me because I do not think I know it myself. Anyway, this time it was actually not easy as the light was dim … it was raining cats and dogs outside – which was another reason why I loved the fact, that we did not have to wait in that enourmous line of people that was winding itself around the block.

When I went to Kenya in 2006, I saw all these women in Nairobi with the most magnificent braids … each and every hairdo seemed unique, like a signature. It was so beautiful I thought that I would do a portrait-session there that focussed on hair. I remember I spent quite some time thinking about how to best go about this and how the pictures should be done and look like … I wanted to start the project in Mosocho, where I knew I would spend some time. But what was my surprise when I got there to see, that most women there just had their hair cut short like men. That was unfortunate.

I did get some snap shots, like the above, but that was not what I had planned to do. Next time maybe?

In the MoMA I found this piece of artwork from Lorna Simpson (Wigs (Portfolio), 1994). Not necessarily what I would have done but quite intriguing prints of wigs on light felt. I really liked the texture of it … after all felt is made out of “hair”.

The photograph above is from Diane Arbus and one that I had never seen before despite being a huge fan and knowing most of her work.

Even though it was allowed to photograph the images, it was not easy to do so without capturing the whole room – the same problem occured if you simply wanted to look at the images – you found yourself dancing in front of the frames to help separate the room from the picture. There is magnificent non-reflective glas around and I truly wonder why it is not used for these beautiful collections of photographs.

The HCB exhibition was exquisite (no cameras allowed in there, though) and despite of my promise to myself to not increase the weight of my already heavy backpack … I simply had to buy the hardcover catalogue. It is really worth it – have you ever seen an HCB contact sheet?!