Michael Somoroff
Pastry Cook

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Images(2)

Artist Michael Somoroff (American, born 1957)American, born 1957

CultureAmerican

Titles

Pastry Cook
from the series Absence of Subject

Date2007

MediumGelatin silver print with selenium toning

DimensionsImage: 8 5/16 × 5 7/16 in. (21.1 × 13.8 cm)
Sheet: 13 15/16 × 10 7/8 in. (35.4 × 27.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of the artist

Object number2008.86

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionAugust Sander’s People of the Twentieth Century is one of the most iconic portrait projects ever undertaken, representing German society through hundreds of photographs that depict their subjects as types rather than individuals. In this clever reinterpretation, Michael Somoroff selected 40 of Sander’s images and digitally stripped them of their essence—the human figures. The resulting images explore the nature of portraiture and question the role of external surroundings in portraying the subject. Though the series is entitled Absence of Subject, Somoroff’s empty backgrounds still have a humanist, bodily aesthetic, as the viewer may sense that something is missing, that the image has more to tell.
ProvenanceThe artist, New York; given to MFAH, 2008.
Exhibition History"After Photoshop: Manipulated Photography in the Digital Age," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 19 June - 8 September, 2013.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Signed in pencil on verso center: "Michael Somoroff 3/5"

Circular blindstamp, recto lower right: "MICHAEL SOMOROFF PHOTOGRAPHY / NYC"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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