Todd Webb
Michigan

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Artist Todd Webb (American, 1905–2000)American, 1905–2000

CultureAmerican

Titles

Michigan

Date1941

PlaceMichigan, United States

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 6 5/8 × 4 7/16 in. (16.8 × 11.2 cm)
Sheet: 13 5/8 × 11 in. (34.6 × 27.9 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund, The Manfred Heiting Collection

Object number2002.2615

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Special Collections

Manfred Heiting Collection of Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionIn 1941 Todd Webb signed up for a 10-day seminar in Detroit with noted photographer Ansel Adams for $30. Though dozens of students started the course, only a handful finished, including Webb and his friend and classmate Harry Callahan. Webb noted, “The enthusiasm generated by Ansel’s visit made photography something we had to do, not wanted to do.” Webb’s unique eye for expressive detail is evident in this print, a calligraphic composition of twisting vines against a fence, produced in those frenzied weeks following his first photographic seminar. This passion for the medium would sustain Webb’s career over the next 50 years.

Provenance Research Ongoing Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Marked in pencil top center, verso: "Todd Webb", above signature: "Michigan 1941"
Marked in pencil recto below image lower right corner, "Todd Webb '41"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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