[Maquette for Contemporary Photographer Portfolio]
As Dave Heath explained to the Guggenheim Fellowship Committee in 1963, the stakes of his photographic project were high; he intended to represent no less than “the human condition in all its absurdity and in all its majesty.” With the support of photographic mentors including Robert Frank and W. Eugene Smith, Heath won $4,000 to support his practice. He debuted photographs from the first six months of his fellowship in a 1964 issue of Contemporary Photographer, for which he created this intriguing maquette. As the work reveals, Heath’s skills as a printmaker—honed over years of training, first as a drugstore photo-finisher and later as a darkroom technician—are matched by a sixth-sense for sequencing. Photo-stories in LIFE magazine first sparked his interest in photography, and this mock-up reflects an abiding attention to the rhythm and flow of images across a page. In twelve neatly-outlined layout designs, Heath balances incisive street photography and intimate portraiture. A rare storyboard drawing accompanies this set, showing an earlier draft of the image order. Here, Heath’s quick cartoons of the photographs hint at his compositional priorities. These sketched shapes—the furrowed brow of a pedestrian, the mark of a cruciform pendant, and the exaggerated eyes of a child—together form chance elements of an elusive, expansive humanity.
Artwork Details
- Title: [Maquette for Contemporary Photographer Portfolio]
- Artist: Dave Heath (American, Philadelphia 1931–2016 Toronto)
- Date: 1963
- Medium: Gelatin silver prints
- Dimensions: Image: Varies, from 4 3/4 × 3 11/16 in. (12 × 9.3 cm) to 7 5/16 × 8 1/2 in. (18.5 × 21.6 cm)
Mount: 9 1/2 × 19 1/2 in. (24.1 × 49.6 cm)
Overall: 21 1/4 × 11 × 3 1/4 in. (53.9 × 27.9 × 8.3 cm) - Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gift of Mark and Barbara Newman, in honor of Dr. Shawna Gay Newman, 2023
- Object Number: 2023.625.1–.13
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.