Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles
Garry Winogrand American
Not on view
One of the most prolific photographers of the twentieth century, Winogrand made a career studying what he called "the effect of media on events." With unrivaled passion, he photographed rallies, press conferences, sporting events, funerals, parades, award ceremonies, and museum openings. Here the subject is John F. Kennedy speaking at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles to an ersatz audience of cameramen rather than conventioneers. Seen from behind, Kennedy shares the stage with an electronic doppelgänger-a small, closed-circuit television set broadcasting his speech, presumably for the benefit of backstage journalists. It is only on TV that we see his face-an irony not lost on Winogrand, whose brilliant analysis of public rituals focused on the ubiquity of television in American society in the 1960s.
