Clarence John Laughlin and His Contemporaries
A Picture and a Thousand Words
Letters, artworks, and more illuminate the life and times of the experimental photographer.
Williams Research Center and Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Louisiana Art
400–410 Chartres Street
Louisiana photographer Clarence John Laughlin (1905–1985) began his career in the 1930s, eventually emerging as one of America’s pioneers in surrealist and experimental photography. Though he felt isolated from the mainstream art world, his exhaustive written records and remarkable collection of images, amassed over 50 years, prove otherwise: Laughlin corresponded extensively and often traded photographs with his artistic peers. The exhibition Clarence John Laughlin and His Contemporaries: A Picture and a Thousand Words, displays the enigmatic photographer’s letters to and from fellow artists, writers, editors, and curators alongside the prints he exchanged.
The image exchanges reveal both what Laughlin admired in the work of his peers and the interest that other important 20th-century photographers took in his work. The letters—which range from cordial to contentious—underscore Laughlin’s deliberate and uncompromising approach to his photography and prose. Much of the correspondence on display reveals both sides of each conversation: the letters Laughlin received are paired with his own carbon copies of those he sent. with his photographer contemporaries.
Most of the items featured in the exhibition are drawn from the Clarence John Laughlin Archive, housed at HNOC since 1981. Selections from Laughlin’s personal collection of works by other photographers, now held by the New Orleans Museum of Art, will also be on view. Photographers with whom Laughlin exchanged images include Imogen Cunningham, Wynn Bullock, Edward Weston, Carlotta Corpron, and Brassaï. Individually, the images and letters offer glimpses into the minds of major figures in 20th-century photography. Together, they reveal Laughlin—who imagined himself working in artistic exile in New Orleans—to have been actively engaged (though not always in step) with national and international photographic trends throughout his life.
Related Stories
The 19th-Century Family Found in an Attic
When one New Orleans couple unsealed the attic of their Algiers house, they discovered a remarkable set of family portraits going back 135 years.
The Intimate Eye of George Dureau
Prospect.5 spotlights the New Orleans photographer’s “othered” portraits.
Related Collection Highlights
Pops Whitesell Photographs
The artist was an important figure in the French Quarter Renaissance, an effort by artists, authors, and architects to preserve and reinvigorate life in the historic neighborhood.
Michael P. Smith Collection
Smith documented the music, parading, and Black folk traditions of New Orleans for decades.
Related Virtual Exhibitions
From Daguerreotype to Digital
A look at over 20 different photographic processes and techniques represented in HNOC’s holdings, from the daguerreotype to the digital prints of today.
Enigmatic Stream: Industrial Landscapes of the Lower Mississippi River
Photographs by Richard Sexton capture the essence of a complicated, often mysterious section of the country’s largest waterway.
Related Books
In the Spirit: The Photography of Michael P. Smith from the Historic New Orleans Collection
with essays by Jason Berry, Dan Cameron, John H. Lawrence, and Jude Solomon
Louisiana Lens: Photographs from the Historic New Orleans Collection
by John H. Lawrence
with a foreword by Jeff L. Rosenheim
Perique: Photographs by Charles Martin
with essays by Mary Ann Sternberg and John H. Lawrence
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
