As I See It: The Private Eye of John Loengard exhibit features photographs selected from the book, As I See It, written by John Loengard, including 128 photographs in duotone. As I See It, with an introduction by award winning short story writer Ann Beattie, showcases a diversity of John Loengard’s photographs. Additionally, the book offers Loengard’s reflections before and after each photograph was taken. Loengard subjects include movie stars, writers, politicians, artists, and other photographers, as well as everyday people engaged in a host of extraordinary activities rendered unforgettable and compelling by the photographer’s vision. From the shimmering Marilyn Monroe to a man dozing on the beach; a guffawing Ronald Reagan to Henri Cartier-Bresson flying a kite; a groundskeeper in Dublin to picnickers in Central Park – John Loengard’s vision captures the artistry of humanity.
“If I had a photographic creed, it would be to try to evoke feeling from objects that are not evocative, to find movement in situations that are still, and to capture beauty in subjects that have none,” said John Loengard.
John Loengard joined the staff of photographers at LIFE magazine in 1961, and became one of LIFE’s most distinguished staff photographers developing memorable essays on Georgia O’Keeffe, the Shakers, and the Vanishing Cowboy, to name a few. In 1972, when LIFE suspended publication as a weekly, Loengard became a member of parent company Time Inc.’s magazine development group. One of his projects was People magazine, where he served as the picture editor in 1974. When LIFE revived as a monthly in 1978, Loengard became picture editor and remained in that capacity until 1987. During this tenure as editor, Loengard worked with other legendary LIFE photographers Ed Clark, Loomis Dean, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Andreas Feininger, Martha Holmes, Ralph Morse, and Margaret Bourke-White. Selected photographs from these masters will also be on display and available for purchase.
More recently, Loengard was a freelance photographer and author of a number of books including Pictures Under Discussion, which won the Ansel Adams Award for book photography in 1987, Celebrating the Negative, and Georgia O'Keeffe at Ghost Ranch. His book, LIFE Photographers: What They Saw, was named one of the year's ten top books of 1998 by the New York Times. The Great LIFE Photographers, edited by Loengard and released in October 2004, was well-received and favorably reviewed by NewsNight with Aaron Brown on CNN, Newshour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, and others.
