Duane Michals, One of the Most Innovative Photographers of the 20th Century, Dies at 94

Provocative, influential, and prolific American photographer Duane Michals has passed away at 94.

Michals’ gallerist, DC Moore Gallery, confirmed the artist’s death at a hospital on June 9.

“One of the most influential photographic innovators of the 20th century, Michals is widely celebrated for his work with sequences, multiple exposures, and text,” DC Moore Gallery writes. “Michals first made significant, creative strides in the field of photography during the 1960s. In an era heavily influenced by photojournalism and Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ‘decisive moment,’ Michals manipulated the medium to communicate narratives.”

Born in Pennsylvania in 1932, Michals graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in graphic design. He spent two years in the United States Army, stationed in Germany. Michals moved to New York City in the 1950s, where he lived for the rest of his life. Michals, openly gay long before it was socially or culturally accepted, lived with his partner, architect Frederick Gorrée, for more than 50 years. They were married from 2011 until Gorrée died in 2017.

He traveled to the USSR in 1958 with a borrowed camera, discovering his love of photography. After taking portraits of the many people he met on his trip, Michals returned to New York City with a new goal, to become a professional photographer. He held his first solo exhibition in 1963. In 1964, Michals made his celebrated series, “Empty New York.”

Michals was well known for using text as a significant component of his photographic works. The photographer often wrote directly onto his prints, adding poetic context to the artwork.

“I believe the only true knowledge is through experience,” Michals said. “You read a love story, and then you fall in love — then you realize the difference. I want to know what something feels like, not what it looks like.”

He was a boundary-pushing photographer throughout his career. Beyond including text on his prints, Michals also incorporated painting, collage, sculpture, and motion pictures into his photography.

“The focus changes constantly. And the more it changes and the older I get, the less sure I am about everything and the less I seem to know. I seem to ask more questions. I’m completely bewildered,” Michals said. “That also is a kind of wisdom, allowing oneself to unlearn. My work is about the absurdity of this condition.”

Michals had many successful photographic and artistic ventures throughout his life, leaving behind an expansive and diverse body of work. His work was exhibited worldwide at many renowned galleries and museums, including the Odakyu Museum in Tokyo, the International Center of Photography, and the Museum of Modern Art, to name a few. His work is featured in permanent collections across the globe, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto), and more. He published over 40 monographs.

Late New York Times art critic Richard B. Woodward described Duane Michals with particular poignancy:

“Seeking to bridge the chasm between the phenomenal and spiritual worlds, his work often illustrated his frustrations as well as his questions. As an artist, Mr. Michals devoted himself single-mindedly, but seldom without humor, to what could — and couldn’t — be said in words or shown in a photograph.”

Image credits: DC Moore Gallery, Duane Michals