If there are images best appreciated through prints made by their author, it’s certainly those by Ray K. Metzker, an American photographer who studied at the Institute of Design in Chicago in the mid-1950s under teachers like Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. These images cannot be understood with just a quick glance; one must immerse oneself in them. This is what makes his originals so valuable and adds to the allure of the exhibition currently presented in Brussels at the Fondation A Stichting.
This exhibition gathers around a hundred prints from the photographer’s archives preserved in Philadelphia and from the gallery Les Douches (Paris), which exclusively represents him in Europe. This initiative came from the gallery’s director, Françoise Morin, and takes place in a space founded by Astrid Ullens de Schooten Whettnall twelve years ago. Its monumental collection was showcased this summer at the Rencontres d’Arles, in France.
The pleasure is all the greater because Ray K. Metzker is one of those photographers rarely highlighted in Europe; his last major exhibition was in 2007 at the Musée de l’Élysée in Lausanne, Switzerland. Together with former journalist Philippe Séclier, the Parisian galerist curated this show with a focus on street photography, “because it’s a theme that runs through his entire body of work over half a century.”
Spanning from the 1950s to the 1980s, the exhibition is organized into series, reflecting the photographer’s constant reinvention around this singular theme. This subject accompanied him from city to city, as he moved from Chicago to Philadelphia, traveled through Europe, and even explored within his studio with the “Composites” series, initiated in 1964, in which he assembles strips of negatives and prints them later.
“My concern was the photographic form,” wrote Ray K. Metzker about his approach in the Loop of Chicago series, a project he pursued from 1957 to 1959. Whether in this work, in Early Philadelphia (1962-1964), Pictus Interruptus (1976-1980), or City Whispers (1980-1983) – all included in the exhibition – what stands out is his ability to explore the medium’s possibilities. This exploration happens both on location during the shot and in the darkroom, where he completes his images.
Is it the framing, the precise capture of a building’s shadow and a ray of sunlight, or the extreme contrast of black and white that creates the magic? It is all of these at once. Metzker’s uniqueness lies in the time required to understand his work, as his compositions are so intricate, and he masterfully redefines time and space.
« City Lux », by Ray K. Metzker, is on view until December 22, 2024, at the Fondation A Stichting in Brussels, Belgium.
