Pictorialist photographer William Mortensen created images of classic terror. He may be famous for his Hollywood portraits from the 1930s, but we appreciate him for his monsters, his depiction of the occult, and his social commentary. He lived through the Great Depression, and reading his thoughts on his 1932 piece “Human Relations,” depicting a man with someone’s fingers deep in his skull, his experience of events that happened 80 years ago sounds eerily familiar:
Hatred is frequently the emotion that lies behind grotesque art… These were the days when stocks were stopping dividends, when lives of thrift and industry were being wiped out by the foreclosing of mortgages and the closing of banks, when Japan was carving herself a large slice of China. Everywhere there was the spirit of ‘Take what you can, and to hell with your neighbor.’ Those who were strong seemed to be, in sheer wantonness, gouging the eyes of humanity.
His insight provides more depth of meaning to his imagery, which on the surface may look like scenes from cheesy early horror cinema. Regardless of how you look at his work, Mortensen was adept at conjuring humor and texture from his subjects. After the jump, check out a gallery of his works…
Stuart Vail
February 16, 2013 at 8:56 pm
Now available: the long-awaited book by Robert Balcomb, the protégé of William Mortensen, one of the most important pictorial photographers of the last century. In addition to the numerous photos and illustrations accompanying the text is a gallery of over 80 portraits, still lifes, and pictorials from Balcomb’s long career, and six Mortensen prints — some being published for the first time.
http://www.amphoraeditions.com/mortensen.html
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