Photographic Influences
Bryan Edwards ‘19
Collections & Exhibitions Student Assistant

I have been photographing seriously for the last five years, and prior to my work at Wellin, I focused mainly on landscape, portrait, and experimental long exposure. Through working at Wellin and cataloging and researching our extensive photography collection I began to appreciate street photography, a genre I had never considered. I have had the opportunity to handle the work of Garry Winogrand, a street photographer who shot primarily in New York City in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. At Wellin we have his most notable portfolio, Women Are Beautiful, a compilation of photographs Winogrand took of every woman he passed on the street that he found beautiful, which in many ways is a sad reflection on his divorce. Looking past speculation about his obsession over women during this era, we can find a lesson that as we walk from place to place we often neglect the interesting stories and situations in front of us. Winogrand’s work taught me to carry my camera, take a lot of shots, and look beyond what I typically view as boring. One of the photographs I researched by Winogrand will be in next fall’s Innovation Approaches / Honored Traditions - a collection exhibition celebrating the five-year anniversary of the Wellin Museum.