Providence
1967
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to image): 13.02 x 18.26 cm (5 1/8 x 7 3/16 in.) mount: 33.02 x 29.21 cm (13 x 11 1/2 in.) mat: 45.72 x 35.56 cm (18 x 14 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of the Callahan Family
Accession Number
2011.95.30
Art Historical Context
Harry Callahan's *Providence* (1967) is a captivating gelatin silver print, a medium celebrated for its rich tonal range and sharp detail, which became a hallmark of mid-20th-century black-and-white photography. Measuring a modest 13 x 18 cm when trimmed to the image, intimate work exemplifies Callahan's experimental approach, honed during his tenure as head of the photography at the Rhode Island School Design in Providence from 1961 to 1977. The title likely nods to that very city, evoking Callahan's deep engagement with urban environments as sources of abstraction and formal beauty. A pione...
About the Artist
Harry Callahan
Harry Morey Callahan (1912–1999) was a pioneering American photographer whose self-taught ingenuity transformed everyday scenes into profound visual poetry. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he briefly studied engineering at Michigan State University before working at Chrysler, where he joined the company camera club. In 1938, Callahan took up photography as a hobby, but a 1941 lecture by Ansel Adams ins...