Lot 98 email save

Joseph Szabo, American, b. 1944

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Priscilla, 1969

Gelatin silver print, printed 1970s. 11 ⅛ x 16 ¾ in. (28.3 x 42.5 cm). Signed, titled and dated in pencil in the margin; signed, titled and dated in pencil on the reverse of the mount.

Joseph Szabo's subject is adolescence; his rare gift is capturing the spirit of his students at Malverne High School, Long Island caught between puberty and the precipice of adulthood. Taken in the 70s and 80s, his photographs represent a remarkable evocation of that period, and yet there is something timeless and endlessly compelling about Szabo's portrait of almost-adulthood. Priscilla, 1969 has become Szabo's most renowned image. She represents the essence of Szabo's photography. As Cornell Capa wrote; "Szabo's camera is sharp, incisive, and young, matching his subjects. One can use many adjectives: revealing, tender, raucous, sexy, showy... in Szabo's hands, the camera is magically there, the light is always available, the moment is perceived, seen, and caught."(Teenage, n.p.) Szabo's work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennial; the International Center of Photography; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Brooklyn Museum, amoung others. His work is included in the collections of many institutions including the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris; George Eastman House, Rochester, New York; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Nothing lasts forever, except high school. Cameron Crowe, Teenage, n.p.

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