John Szarkowski, Curator of Photography, Dies at 81

[Michael Jones]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/09/arts/09szarkowski.html?ref=arts

Not a good week for photography.

Mike

[Walter Calahan]

At least photography had a champion like John Szarkowski!

He gave us a lot, and helped shape our medium. 81 years is a good thing.

[davidb]

Like him or not, this is a huge loss to the photo world.

I'm going to spend the day with one of his books.

[Lazybones]

I will miss him. He was a giant.

[Brian Ellis]

The best writer on photography subjects in the history of photography IMHO. He'd be known for his writings even if he never curated a single exhibit. This is a huge loss for all of us who enjoyed and learned from his writing.

[Saulius]

It's a huge loss and he'll be missed. He did a lot for photography, we were lucky to have him. May he rest in peace.

[adrian tyler]

i've read and re-read all his work, for someone self taught like me his writings are gold dust and tower above all of the "artspeak" claptrap. sad news but celebrate all he achieved...

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

It's terrible that the photography community has lost so many important people in the past few years. Ever since henri bresson died 3 years ago, many, many important people have passed away after him. I was fortunate enough to have met and have grown a sincere fondness of Arnold Newman only months before he passed away. We must look at who the icons of photography are today who have built a road for us all to travel down and pay them our deepest respect.

[Jim Grimes]

A giant in the field. We will suffer the loss as a community.

[tim atherton]

John had been very gracious and helpful to me over the last few years. He gave some very positive (and humorous) criticism of my work. He was also willing to write those annoying letters of support you so often need for grants - a few were even successful. (he once apologized because he didn't think he had as much influence with the grant making committees as he used to...).

He also used to complain that as his eyesight wasn't so good the last couple of years and that my writing was too small (I started writing larger and larger) and he had to hunt out his 4x5 loupe before he could read it and reply. As well, he gave me advice about looking after the couple of apple trees I have in my garden.

I only knew him, mainly at a distance, over the last 3 years or so, but I'm going to miss him.

[paulr]

i've read and re-read all his work, for someone self taught like me his writings are gold dust and tower above all of the "artspeak" claptrap. sad news but celebrate all he achieved...

I was thinking the same thing ... and then realized that I'm not self-taught, I'm John-taught (like most photographers of the last many decades, whether they know it or not).

[paulr]

I only knew him, mainly at a distance, over the last 3 years or so, but I'm going to miss him.

Me too. I once got a nugget of criticism from him on my answering machine; I left it there where I could replay it again and again until the machine broke a few years later.

I can't think of anyone else whose words I'd revere as much, unless maybe Stieglitz came back from the dead and left a voicemail.

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

John had been very gracious and helpful to me over the last few years. He gave some very positive (and humorous) criticism of my work. He was also willing to write those annoying letters of support you so often need for grants - a few were even successful. (he once apologized because he didn't think he had as much influence with the grant making committees as he used to...).

He also used to complain that as his eyesight wasn't so good the last couple of years and that my writing was too small (I started writing larger and larger) and he had to hunt out his 4x5 loupe before he could read it and reply. As well, he gave me advice about looking after the couple of apple trees I have in my garden.

I only knew him, mainly at a distance, over the last 3 years or so, but I'm going to miss him.

Unlike Ruth Bernhard, unfortunately, I actually had the chance to meet John Szarkowski at the press preview of his exhibition at the MoMA back in 2006. Really nice guy, extremely articulate. The man, much like Arnold Newman, was madly in love with his wife. When she died back in December, John Szarkowski suffered a stroke only a couple of months later. I had heard from Peter Fetterman that John was doing better, but apparently broken heart syndrome got the best of him. One of our writers, Kay Kenny, had the opportunity to give him his last interview before he died. I will treasure this interview very much. If she had done the interview two weeks later, we would have missed out. John was devastated by the loss of his wife. An artist, a photographer, a curator...but most importantly a husband who loved his wife more than anything.