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Larry Fink: Sensual Empathy
Curated by Lucy Sante
Paris Photo, 2024
I first became aware of Larry Fink sometime in the 1980s, when I bought a postcard of a photograph showing a lady squinting over a revolver she is aiming straight at the camera. Who was she? Who was the photographer? What was their connection? I wanted to keep that electric moment, late in a uproarious party, when jollity tipped over into mayhem. I wanted to keep the photographer's sangfroid, or maybe it was the apparent trust between artist and subject.
I first became aware of Larry Fink sometime in the 1980s, when I bought a postcard of a photograph showing a lady squinting over a revolver she is aiming straight at the camera. Who was she? Who was the photographer? What was their connection? I wanted to keep that electric moment, late in a uproarious party, when jollity tipped over into mayhem. I wanted to keep the photographer's sangfroid, or maybe it was the apparent trust between artist and subject.
I first became aware of Larry Fink sometime in the 1980s, when I bought a postcard of a photograph showing a lady squinting over a revolver she is aiming straight at the camera. Who was she? Who was the photographer? What was their connection? I wanted to keep that electric moment, late in a uproarious party, when jollity tipped over into mayhem. I wanted to keep the photographer's sangfroid, or maybe it was the apparent trust between artist and subject.
I first became aware of Larry Fink sometime in the 1980s, when I bought a postcard of a photograph showing a lady squinting over a revolver she is aiming straight at the camera. Who was she? Who was the photographer? What was their connection? I wanted to keep that electric moment, late in a uproarious party, when jollity tipped over into mayhem. I wanted to keep the photographer's sangfroid, or maybe it was the apparent trust between artist and subject.
I kept it tacked up above my desk for years. When I met Larry fifteen years later the picture snapped into focus. Not only was Larry capable of establishing trust with his subject; he was also capable of egging her on. She wasn't aiming her gun at some faceless magazine ghoul from the big city--they were cronies.
I kept it tacked up above my desk for years. When I met Larry fifteen years later the picture snapped into focus. Not only was Larry capable of establishing trust with his subject; he was also capable of egging her on. She wasn't aiming her gun at some faceless magazine ghoul from the big city--they were cronies.
I kept it tacked up above my desk for years. When I met Larry fifteen years later the picture snapped into focus. Not only was Larry capable of establishing trust with his subject; he was also capable of egging her on. She wasn't aiming her gun at some faceless magazine ghoul from the big city--they were cronies.
I kept it tacked up above my desk for years. When I met Larry fifteen years later the picture snapped into focus. Not only was Larry capable of establishing trust with his subject; he was also capable of egging her on. She wasn't aiming her gun at some faceless magazine ghoul from the big city--they were cronies.
Larry had that effect on people. He gave you all of himself--his love and curiosity and humor and fellow-feeling and raucous high spirits--and that aura traveled with him into all kinds of alien circumstances, such as Hollywood parties. He was never a disembodied eye; he consciously occupied as much space as his subjects, and that narrowed the emotional distance between them, a trick he learned from his teacher Lisette Model.
Larry had that effect on people. He gave you all of himself--his love and curiosity and humor and fellow-feeling and raucous high spirits--and that aura traveled with him into all kinds of alien circumstances, such as Hollywood parties. He was never a disembodied eye; he consciously occupied as much space as his subjects, and that narrowed the emotional distance between them, a trick he learned from his teacher Lisette Model.
Larry had that effect on people. He gave you all of himself--his love and curiosity and humor and fellow-feeling and raucous high spirits--and that aura traveled with him into all kinds of alien circumstances, such as Hollywood parties. He was never a disembodied eye; he consciously occupied as much space as his subjects, and that narrowed the emotional distance between them, a trick he learned from his teacher Lisette Model.
Larry had that effect on people. He gave you all of himself--his love and curiosity and humor and fellow-feeling and raucous high spirits--and that aura traveled with him into all kinds of alien circumstances, such as Hollywood parties. He was never a disembodied eye; he consciously occupied as much space as his subjects, and that narrowed the emotional distance between them, a trick he learned from his teacher Lisette Model.
He took beautiful pictures of landscapes and animals, but his natural inclination was toward social realms, which ranged from galas to demonstrations to boxing clubs to children's birthday parties in rural Pennsylvania. All of those circumstances engaged his rapid eye, his almost painterly chiaroscuro, and his identification with the human beings he photographed, good, bad, or ugly. He mastered the art of sensual empathy, his way of conveying the world to the photograph.
He took beautiful pictures of landscapes and animals, but his natural inclination was toward social realms, which ranged from galas to demonstrations to boxing clubs to children's birthday parties in rural Pennsylvania. All of those circumstances engaged his rapid eye, his almost painterly chiaroscuro, and his identification with the human beings he photographed, good, bad, or ugly. He mastered the art of sensual empathy, his way of conveying the world to the photograph.
He took beautiful pictures of landscapes and animals, but his natural inclination was toward social realms, which ranged from galas to demonstrations to boxing clubs to children's birthday parties in rural Pennsylvania. All of those circumstances engaged his rapid eye, his almost painterly chiaroscuro, and his identification with the human beings he photographed, good, bad, or ugly. He mastered the art of sensual empathy, his way of conveying the world to the photograph.
He took beautiful pictures of landscapes and animals, but his natural inclination was toward social realms, which ranged from galas to demonstrations to boxing clubs to children's birthday parties in rural Pennsylvania. All of those circumstances engaged his rapid eye, his almost painterly chiaroscuro, and his identification with the human beings he photographed, good, bad, or ugly. He mastered the art of sensual empathy, his way of conveying the world to the photograph.
