"Twilight Visions:" Brassaï's Contemporaries

While catching up on art news in Artforum and Art in America, I came across an article that included a few of my favorite photographers: Brassaï (naturally!), Man Ray, and André Kertész. Well, the article was actually in The Daily Beast's Art Beast, but I came across the link via Art in America. Anyhow, Philip Gefter wrote about an exhibition, "Twilight Visions: Surrealism, Photography, and Paris," at New York's International Center of Photography that featured surrealist photos of Paris from the 1920s and 1930s. Jackpot! Sadly, the exhibit ended on May 9, 2010, but on the bright side, a few of the photos by Brassï's peers are still linked. Here are a few of my favorites:

This photo by Ilse Bing has all of the qualities that I love about a Brassaï photo: soft, blurred lighting and a completely candid ballerina in mid-twirl. This photo was taken at the Moulin Rouge in 1931.

To me, the most interesting aspect of this Man Ray photo is the placement of the mirror. I've become very interested in the many properties of mirrors throughout different periods of art history. Maybe Anne Hollander's entire chapter on the use of mirrors in art in Seeing Through Clothes had something to do with that...

I love black and white photos of the Eiffel Tower. This one, taken by Man Ray, is titled "For Electricity."

I'm not familiar with the work of Dora Maar (yet), but I really appreciate the themes and techniques of this portrait photo of Léonor Fini, taken in 1936. It really reminds me of some of Brassaï's photos in the Paris brothels (not to imply that Ms. Fini resembles a woman-of-the-night!). There's just something about her bravado that makes me think of those photos...

If you'd like to see more photos from the exhibit, I refer you to "Dreaming of Paris." All photos in this post are also courtesy of the Art Beast.