The Photography of Larry Snider
May 9 - June 19, 2008

He did not think of himself as a tourist; he was a traveler. The difference is partly one of time, he would explain. Whereas the tourist generally hurries back home at the end of a few weeks or months, the traveler, belonging no more to one place than to the next, moves slowly, over a period of years, from one part of the earth to another.

-- Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky

Artists have historically been inspired by cultures and places not their own whether they be the exotic or just different. Like its counterpart in the area of travel writing, this desire to find something in foreign locales has created a rich legacy of art works. Classic examples of this enduring genre would include such 19th century painters as Gauguin and his infatuation with Tahiti, or Turner's and Whistler's love affair with Venice. Matisse drew on the architecture and lush decorative patterns of North Africa for his Moroccan Series. Contemporary photographers such as Edward Burtynsky, with his images of China and India, and Jay Wolke's photographs of Sicily, are still drawn to other cultures and places. As Sylvia Wolf, Curator of Photography at the Whitney Museum, has elucidated: "Indeed, much of what we know about the world has come to us through photographs."

Very much in this same spirit, this exhibition, "Documenting the Other," focuses on Larry Snider's photographs of China, Myanmar, and India. This is just a sampling of his extensive portfolio of travel photography created over the last 30 years. Moreover, Snider's photographic agenda was clear from the beginning: "What I wanted to find were places less visited by travelers, areas where 'time present was still time past.' I wanted to find the outward posts not yet Westernized, where life was substantially less complex than that found in major metropolitan areas." Consequently, Snider's pictures have a timeless quality; they seem to exist in a world of the past before the advent of 20th century technology, before the automobile, television, the Internet, the Ipod. This is not to say these things have not intruded on these civilizations but Snider chooses instead to place his camera in such a way as to exclude these so-called techno-advances or to search out those outposts that the modern world has passed by. In order to deepen this sense of timelessness he focuses intensely on the indigenous people.

Snider's photography not only covers many areas of the globe but also many different subjects from landscapes and river scenes, to large cities and small villages. It is Snider's portraits, however, that are the hallmark of his oeuvre. They are richly photographed in black and white to further enhance that sense of the past. Moreover, the figures are pictured in traditional clothing and settings. "Man with Long Pipe" (1990), for example, is exemplary of this kind of photograph. The older Chinese man pictured in the photograph with his long pipe and traditional garb could easily be from the 1930s. It is a beautiful image, every detail tells a story. The man's face especially is like a map of his life with its deep furrows. Snider has a genuine fondness and curiosity for these souls. The viewer senses this intimate relationship with his subjects. This intimacy is not any easy task but one cultivated through trust and respect. The photographs visually communicate the willingness of the subject to be photographed and the loving care taken by Snider in the rendering of his subject. At the same time these photographs are carefully constructed in terms of composition and lighting to enhance this unwritten human contract between artist and subject. This is where the craft of a lifetime is put in service of the art of image making, where the "how to" becomes second nature and Snider's aesthetic vision takes over.

The long apprenticeship alluded to above began for Larry Snider in the late 70s while still he was still in his mid-thirties. Even as a young child he had a desire to be an artist but realized at a certain point that there were other students that possessed more "talent" (at least this was his perception), and that dream was put on hold. Snider went on to practice law and still does some consulting today. Over time his real passion became photography in which he found a medium to really express himself. He took classes and photography workshops to develop his eye and his craft. He studied closely the photographs of such 20th century masters as Irving Penn, Walker Evans, and Edward Weston. Prior to his study of law, he had already developed a love for the Far East and Asia taking courses in the political and cultural aspects of this area of the world as an undergraduate in college.

A note about travel: Travel is hard. Just consider the following: airport security, elaborate packing (especially if you are a photographer), health precautions, securing visas, organizing the trip (selecting a guide and interpreter), and various other preparations for travel to foreign lands. I raise these issues because often the viewer tends to forget that there is a living person behind the camera. The image is frequently, even by professionals, taken for granted as a disembodied entity. How the artist even got to the place where the image was recorded is secondary or not considered at all. This is not to make too big an issue out of this but rather to point out a simple fact about the nature of travel and photography. Certainly the artistic value of Larry Snider's photographs resides in the pictures themselves. Snider himself would make light of the hardships of his journeys as being just a small part of his practice. Nevertheless, Snider continues to relish the experience of photographing distant places and cultures very different from his own.

Snider is a restless and self-critical artist. He is forever looking for the better image, the exacting composition, the right light, and the revealing visage. In a recent conversation, Snider, having just returned from India, thought that he had captured even better pictures that he would like to include in this exhibition. I recount this conversation only to emphasize Snider's sustained desire to grow as an artist. What began some 30 years ago continues to nurture Snider. Finally, Larry Snider truly exemplifies the traveler alluded to in the Paul Bowle's above quote. There is a whole world out there to photograph and his bags are packed.

[click on image for larger view]