Minor White (1908-1976) was a photographer and educator who remained a closeted
gay man throughout his life, mostly due to fear of losing his teaching jobs. His photography
remains highly influential to this day. Some of his work reminds me of George Platt Lynes,
but I couldn't find any record of them having met, never mind collaborated. White lived for over
two years in the Portland, Oregon YMCA, a place where he recruited several models.
This photo of him at work was taken by Phillip Hyde in 1949.
Thanks for sharing these. I am always interested in what you find of Minor's work. I studied photography under a man who was a protégé of his, but we spent very little class time looking at the nude photos. We spent way more time exploring his psycho-babble (my term, not his). All of Minor's works have some deep meaning that is not obvious to many of us mere mortals. (That is sarcasm by the way--don't take me too seriously!)
ReplyDeleteI doubt that George and Minor ever met; they appear to have moved in completely different artistic circles.
-Tom
You're welcome, Tom. I agree that Minor and Lynes were in different orbits artistically. Any similarities are probably due to broad stylistic trends of the era in which they were active. And I know exactly what you mean by "psychobabble." Some of Minor's work was a combination of surrealist and absurdist genres that seems to have intentionally made no sense. Having said that, Mr. White merited a major retrospective show at the Getty Museum a few years back.
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