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Dave Heath photo exhibition at the National Gallery
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| Dave Heath, New York City, 1962. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2011.67.32. © Howard Greenberg Gallery and Stephen Bulger Gallery. |
The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa is currently exhibiting the work of American street photographer, Dave Heath (1931–2016).
The show, entitled Multitude, Solitude: The Photographs of Dave Heath is curated by Keith Davis from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mr. Davis came to Ottawa to give a talk about the show and the importance of Mr. Heath’s photographs.
Mr. Heath had a difficult childhood and it is reflected in his photographs. He was abandoned by his parents at a young age and bounced around foster homes and orphanages in Philadelphia.
He became interested in photography after being inspired by photo essays in LIFE magazine. He taught himself how to use a camera and work in a darkroom. He made several books of his photographs by hand.
“Dave Heath didn’t do spot news, he did timeless news,” said Mr. Davis. “He was a psychological photographer, not a social photographer. He attempts to record what’s going on in someone’s head.”
The exhibition contains black and white photographs Mr. Heath took as a young man in Philadelphia, Chicago and New York.
Mr. Heath was drafted into the US Army and served in Korea. While there, he took many portraits of fellow soldiers in Korea and the despair of war is evident in these photographs.
A large part of the exhibition is devoted to Mr. Heath’s acclaimed photo book – A Dialogue With Solitude, which contains themes of loneliness and alienation.
In 1970, he moved to Toronto and taught photography at Ryerson University. He continued to take street photographs and some of his colour prints and slide shows are in the last room of the exhibition.
Multitude, Solitude: The Photographs of Dave Heath, continues at the National Gallery until September 2, 2019.