Photographer Larry Fink (b. 1941) creates intimate, nuanced images of human interaction. Caught in the light of his camera’s flash, his subjects are absorbed in sensual connection, unspoken familiarity, and comic revelry. Drawn from deCordova’s permanent collection with loans from the artist, this exhibition focuses on empathy in Fink’s work. Whether photographing members of elite urban society or rural farmers, empathy drives his curiosity about our shared humanity and shapes his decisions for lighting, framing, and positioning his subjects.
Fink states that “empathy isn’t necessarily only about goodness or about, ‘Oh, I empathize with you’ as in sorrow, or something sentimental. Empathy, in my way of thinking about it, is more primal: it’s an animality informed by complex consciousness. It could involve any emotion.” This exhibition explores Fink’s critical compassion across projects that span his extensive career, including his best-known project Social Graces, his surprisingly tender images of boxers, and close studies of flora and fauna around his Pennsylvania farm. Also on view is a selection of rarely seen photographs of public protests, past and present. Shown together, these works affirm Fink’s lifelong quest for direct and personally felt experiences with those around him.
Organized by Sarah Montross, Curator, with Scout Hutchinson, Curatorial Assistant.
Larry Fink
Primal Empathy
October 19, 2018 – March 10, 2019
DeCordova Museum
51 Sandy Pond Rd Lincoln, MA 01773
decordova.org
Larry Fink, First Communion, Bronx, NY, 1961, from the series “Making Out 1957-1980,” silver gelatin print, 54/75, 15 1/8 x 19 1/4 inches, Gift of Stephen L. Singer and Linda G. Singer, © Larry Fink
Larry Fink, Boxing, Champs Gym, Philadelphia, PA, 1993, from the book Boxing: Photographs By Larry Fink, silver gelatin print, 14 1/4 x 13 1/4 inches, Museum Purchase with funds provided by Stephen and Linda Singer, © Larry Fink
Larry Fink, N.Y.C. Studio 54, 1977; printed 1983, from the series “82 Photographs 1974 to 1982,” silver gelatin print, 28/30, 13 3/4 x 14 inches, Gift of Diane and Eric Pearlman, © Larry Fink
Larry Fink, Mantis on Asparagus Fern, November, 1978, 1978, from the series “Praying Mantis,” silver gelatin print, 2/35, 14 1/4 x 14 1/2 inches, Gift of Stephen L. Singer and Linda G. Singer, © Larry Fink
