Santa Cruz, California
1973-1978, printed 1994
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 19.05 × 29.21 cm (7 1/2 × 11 1/2 in.) sheet: 27.94 × 35.56 cm (11 × 14 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of Mr. Isidore and Mrs. Dorothy (Steinberg) Kavka and Museum Purchase)
Accession Number
2015.19.4560
Art Historical Context
Richard Gordon's *Santa Cruz, California* (1973–1978, printed 1994) the essence of California's iconic coastal town through a classic gelatin silver print, measuring 19.05 × 29.21 cm. Created from a negative exposed during the vibrant 1970s—a decade marked by cultural shifts, environmental awareness, and West Coast leisure—this photograph exemplifies mid-20th-century documentary photography. Gordon, working in this traditional medium, harnessed silver halide emulsions on paper to produce deep blacks, luminous highlights, and exquisite tonal gradations, techniques prized for their archival qual...
About the Artist
Richard Gordon
Richard Gordon (1945–2012) was a self-taught American photographer born in Chicago, Illinois. He studied political science at the University of Chicago from 1963 to 1967 but discovered photography in 1965 while working at a local studio.) Early in his career, Robert Frank critiqued his work, praising his passion for the medium, and Gordon frequently paid homage to influences like Eugène Atget, Wal...