Dance and photography operate in different ways: one unfolds through movement and time, while the other captures a single instant. Drawn primarily from SFMOMA’s permanent collection, this exhibition explores how photographers have represented dance from the early twentieth century to the present. The exhibition begins with the work of dancer and choreographer Anna Halprin, examines collaborations between professional dancers and photographers, highlights Eikoh Hosoe’s celebrated Kamaitachi series with Butoh founder Tatsumi Hijikata, and concludes with social dance imagery including Malick Sidibé’s Mali Twist photographs. Together, the works demonstrate how photographers became active participants in the experience and energy of dance rather than mere observers.
Larry Fink, Studio 54, New York City, 1977; collection SFMOMA, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Larry Fink/MUUS Collection.
Gallery
- Irving Penn, The Bath (A) (Dancers’ Workshop of San Francisco), 1967, printed 1995; collection SFMOMA, purchase through a gift of an anonymous donor, with the generosity of The Irving Penn Foundation.