Photography and Play

Independent curator Garcia (Photography as Fiction) shares over 80 images from the J. Paul Getty Museum in this study of leisure as a photographic focus, noting that despite the small amount of time it consumes in our lives, it is an important and frequent subject as "we hope to turn that one good day into something tangible." Garcia summarizes the history and use of photography by both amateurs and professionals to document play, concluding that "Photography is unique in its capacity to visually transport us from one reality to another, and that has made it our ideal companion in leisure." Featured photographers include Weegee, Cartier-Bresson, Arbus, Owens, Seto, Feininger, Nagano, and Model; most images are black and white, though some range back to the sepia toned 1840s and '50s, and others, like Lauren Greenfield%E2%80%99s shot of L.A. teens in their cars by the beach, showcase the vibrant colors of the 1990s. Though the images span a broad swath of time and place (from Paris to Tokyo to New York City) , it is evident that notions of leisure haven%E2%80%99t changed much%E2%80%94people show a resilient love of the beach, chess, billiards, drinking, and lounging under an open sky. Garcia's introduction serves as a thoughtful backdrop to the images, and although the volume is slim, the photographs here warrant revisiting. (June)