In the Diane Arbus mood

At the time I was an MIT student, 1970 - 1975, the head of the photography department was Minor White. He was a celebrity, I never had him as a professor, but I saw him in the department from time to time. I had three semesters of photography, and they were the most interesting classes I had.

Alas, I don't recall who taught the first two courses I took, but the third semester was run by Tod Papageorge. He was a rising star in the world of art photography, one who seemed bored to be teaching us, we could tell that MIT was a just short-term paying gig for him. In 1979, he moved on to head the photography department at Yale. Still, I feel that I owe him a debt, as he introduced me to Eugene Atget, Garry Winogrand, and especially Diane Arbus, among many others, and I learned something about how to think about photographs and art from him.

I found this 2007 interview with Papageorge, and it all comes rushing back. The way he describes and analyzes photographs, quite distinctve, quite unchanged.

Below is the only photograph I took for which Professor Papageorge indicated any approval.