About this artwork
Minor White was a prolific photographer, editor, and teacher, as well as a cofounder of the influential photography magazine Aperture. Influenced by his studies of Zen and mysticism, White employed a subjective approach to photography, in which the overall feeling and texture of an image take precedence over its content; indeed, he held that photographs could be metaphors for inner emotional states. White preferred to work in sequences rather than individual pictures, bringing images together in synthesis. This picture comes from a sequence titled “The Sound of One Hand Clapping” (the title relates to a Zen koan, or riddle), which features abstract close-ups of ice and snow. With a star shape atop a triangular composition, the organic forms in the frost of his apartment window suggest a Christmas tree. “One does not photograph something simply for ‘what it is,’” White wrote, “but ‘for what else it is.’”
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Photography and Media
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Artist
- Minor White
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Title
- Christmas Ornament
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Place
- United States (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- Made 1958
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Medium
- Gelatin silver print
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Dimensions
- 32.6 × 19.7 cm (image/paper); 46 × 35.8 (mount)
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Credit Line
- The Mary and Leigh Block Endowment Fund
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Reference Number
- 1994.318
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
