The world of photography has lost one of its most influential and original artists. Larry Fink, who died in November 2023 at the age of 82, was a master of capturing the essence of human emotions and interactions in his black-and-white images. Whether he was photographing celebrities at glamorous parties, rural workers in Pennsylvania, or political figures in satirical scenes, Fink always brought his distinctive vision and style to his work.
Who was Larry Fink?
Larry Fink was born in 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, to a lawyer father and an activist mother. He grew up in a politically conscious household and described himself as “a Marxist from Long Island”. He studied at the New School for Social Research in New York City, where photographer Lisette Model was one of his teachers and encouraged his work. He has been on the faculty of Bard College since 1986, and also taught at other institutions including Yale, Cooper Union, Parsons, and New York University.
Fink’s best-known work is Social Graces, a series of photographs he produced in the 1970s that depicted and contrasted wealthy Manhattanites at fashionable clubs and social events alongside working-class people from rural Pennsylvania participating in events such as high school graduations. Social Graces was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1979 and was published in book form in 1984. A New York Times reviewer described the series as exploring social class by comparing “two radically divergent worlds”, while accomplishing “one of the things that straight photography does best: providing excruciatingly intimate glimpses of real people and their all-too-fallibly-human lives.”
In 2001, for an assignment from The New York Times Magazine, Larry Fink created a series of satirical color images of President George W. Bush and his cabinet (portrayed by stand-ins) in scenes of decadent revelry modeled on paintings by Weimar-era painters Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, and George Grosz. The planned publication of the series was canceled after the September 11 attacks, but was displayed in the summer of 2004 at the PowerHouse Gallery in New York, in a show titled “The Forbidden Pictures: A Political Tableau.”
Fink was the recipient of Guggenheim Fellowships in 1976 and 1979 and National Endowment for the Arts Individual Photography Fellowships in 1978 and 1986. In 2002 he received an honorary doctorate from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. He published eight monographs of his work, including Photographs (1981), The Forbidden Pictures (2004), Primal Elegance (2006), and Boxing (2016).
READ ALSO:- Jason Greer and Four Friends Killed by Wrong-Way Driver on I-80 in Wyoming
A Legacy of Inspiration
His work has influenced many generations of photographers through his teaching and his books. He was known for his humanist approach and his ability to connect with his subjects, regardless of their background or status. He once said, “Photography is the critical instrument of the curious. It is the way we can see what is going on in the world, and also the way we can see what is going on inside ourselves.”
Larry Fink’s death has been mourned by many of his colleagues, friends, and admirers in the photography community. His friend and fellow photographer Mary Ellen Mark said, “He was a brilliant photographer and a wonderful person. He had a great sense of humor and a great sense of humanity. He was always interested in people and their stories. He was a true artist.”
Fink’s work will continue to inspire and challenge viewers with its honesty, humor, and beauty. He once said, “I don’t want to make pictures that are easy to look at. I want to make pictures that are hard to look at, because life is hard to look at.” He also said, “I want to make pictures that are beautiful because life is beautiful.” He succeeded in both.
