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Semiotics of the Street

Feb 4–Jul 17 2022

Seattle Art Museum

Third Floor Galleries

London, 1950, Robert Frank, gelatin silver photograph, 10 7/8 x 14 1/8 in., The Seattle Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, 77.72, © Robert Frank.

Photographers have been drawn to the street—its signage, shops, and window displays—throughout the 20th century. This installation features 30 works, beginning with the photographs of Eugène Atget—one of the first artists to extensively explore street photography at the turn of the century—before showcasing Depression-era photojournalism and urban photography of the 1950s to 1970s by iconic American photographers including Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Roy DeCarava, Helen Levitt, and Victor Gardaya.

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