[Vault of Denver National Bank, Fisher & Fisher Architechts]

Laura Gilpin American

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 850

Born in Colorado, Gilpin achieved renown in the early 1940s for her photographs of the American Southwest, including Pueblo and Navajo communities. In this earlier work, however, she turns her attention to the metallic gleam and abstract machine forms of a bank vault in Denver. For many photographers, industry—with its pristine angles, smooth surfaces, and precise detail—seemed a perfect match for the medium of photography. While some artists focused on industry’s scale and power, here Gilpin emphasizes the glow and surface texture of a single mechanical element.

[Vault of Denver National Bank, Fisher & Fisher Architechts], Laura Gilpin (American, 1891–1979), Platinum-palladium print

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