IDA WYMAN - HEART AND MIND

Ida Wyman: Heart and Mind

September 9 – October 5

The Crossman Gallery at the University of Wisconsin n-Whitewater
800 W. Main Street
Whitewater, WI 53190-1790

Reception: September 9 from 5-7pm

"I want to photograph a certain synchrony of heart, eye, and brain." -Ida Wyman


Ida Wyman was one of the fascinating artists in photography today. When Ms. Wyman first started her career in the 1940s as a magazine photographer, an industry that was almost exclusively male at the time, she started out as a "girl" mailroom boy at Acme News pictures (later UPI) and worked her way up from there. A trailblazing and innovative photographer, Ida has inspired many photographers, both male and female.


Ida strives to capture everyday life of everyday people in all its frustrating, illogical and banal glory. From her classic Girl with Curlers photograph of a little girl on the street in LA staring defiantly at the viewer to the delicate symmetrical composition of Wrought Iron with Snow, Ida photographed what moved and inspired her.


You can easily connect the dots between many artists photographing today with Ida Wyman. Her unique brand of street photography helped define a fledgling style still trying to establish itself. Street photography has since evolved, but the roots Ida helped lay with others such as Arthur Fellig, Ruth Orkin and Arthur Leipzig are still visible. Although not as famous as some of her contemporaries, Ida was one of the defining artists of early street photography that helped shape how we look at our world.

Thanks to Professor Melanie Herzog for this quote from Chords of Memory

Installation photo by Erica DeGlopper

Ida Wyman recently passed away at the age of 93. Monroe Gallery of Photography will present a major retrospective exhibit of her photography February 7 - April 19, 2020.

Congratulations to Gallery photographers Steve Schapiro and Art Shay

Steve Schapiro speaking after receiving the 2017 Lucie Award for Achievement in Photojournalism. Earlier this year the Gallery presented the exhibition "EYEWITNESS" to celebrate the completion of a project based on James Baldwin’s 1963 book, “The Fire Next Time”. Steve Schapiro’s photographs documenting the civil rights movement from 1963 – 1968 are paired with essays from “The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin in a major book published by Taschen in March. The book won the 2017 Lucie Award for Book Publisher of the Year (Limited).

Art Shay, now 95, speaking after being honored with the Lucie statue for Lifetime Achievement during the Lucie Awards gala ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York October 29, 2017. “Art Shay: A Tribute” is currently on view at Monroe Gallery of Photography through November 19, 2017.

Art Shay brought the crowd to its feet with a rousing harmonica solo to conclude the evening.

Watch the video introduction of Art Shay, featuring Michelle Monroe of Monroe Gallery of Photography

2017 Lucie Awards Honoree: Art Shay, Lifetime Achievement from Lucie Foundation on Vimeo.

Congratulations to Gallery photographers Steve Schapiro and Art Shay!