Elliot Richardson Press Conference, Austin
Artist
Garry Winogrand
(American, 1928–1984)
Date1973-1974, printed later
Mediumgelatin silver print
Dimensionsimage: 22.5 × 33.3 cm (8 7/8 × 13 1/8 in.)
sheet: 28.2 × 35.5 cm (11 1/8 × 14 in.)
sheet: 28.2 × 35.5 cm (11 1/8 × 14 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineWilliam Grimm Fund
Terms
Object number1981.5
Label TextWinogrand’s 1977 publication, Public Relations, began as a project to photograph “the effect of media on events,” reflecting society’s dependence on television and photography.
U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson is best known for refusing to fire Archibald Cox, the independent special prosecutor assigned to investigate the break-in of the Watergate Hotel and President Nixon’s potential involvement in the event. Richardson's forced resignation by the president in October 1973 caused a media frenzy christened the “Saturday Night Massacre.” Here, instead of focusing on the drama associated with Richardson’s celebrity, Winogrand’s photograph exposes news coverage as insipid and boring, capturing the stagecraft around a 1974 press conference at the University of Texas, Austin.ProvenanceFraenkl Gallery, 55 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108On View
Not on view
