Donald Woodman

Donald Woodman graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1969 with a BS degree in architecture along with an extensive background in photography. He has worked with architectural photographer Ezra Stoller; educator and photographer Minor White; painter Agnes Martin.

He has created several major series of black and white photographs using 4x5 Polaroid positive/negative film. Mr. Woodman’s creative work has been supported by the Polaroid Corporation, which purchased and exhibited many of these images in conjunction with their prestigious, Polaroid Collection Program. His work is also included in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; the Museum of Art and History, Fribourg, Switzerland; the Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM; The Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM; the New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA; Butler Art Institute, Youngstown, OH; and many private collections.

In 1985 Mr. Woodman married the artist, Judy Chicago and from 1985 to 1993, they collaborated on the Holocaust Project: From Darkness into Light. Together, they created a 3,000 square foot traveling exhibition which premiered at the Spertus Museum in Chicago, IL in October 1993, subsequently traveling to seven other museums. The bulk of the exhibition combines painting and photography, the two mediums fused in an entirely unique manner. This project aptly demonstrates the range of Mr. Woodman’s impressive photographic skills.

For more than 35 years Donald Woodman has pursued a very active career as a photographer. His work has been included in publications and exhibitions both nationally and internationally, and he has worked with a variety of subject matter, using all camera formats, but he specializes in large format photography. In addition to his fine art photography, Mr. Woodman is an accomplished commercial photographer whose work includes seven books and he is a contributor to magazines including Time Magazine, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, and New York Newsday. His photographic work shows his ability to meld his broad knowledge of traditional photographic technics with the new advances in digital photography. As a teacher he has brought this unique understanding of photography to the students at several universities around the United States.

I do not think that there is male feminism or female feminism there exists just feminism. When I was coming up through the art world and the feminist movement in the 1960’s and 1970’s in America, I think that the philosophy of feminism was incorrectly cast as issues of gender. For me it should have been framed as issues of values. Because of this men were considered the enemy and all women part of the movement. This was and is not necessarily true.

How I define myself as a feminist is that I do not support a dominant paradigm whether imposed by men or women. Society rewards either gender for supporting this dominant structure. My personal experience has shown that both men and woman can be equally supportive of a dominant paradigm. Because of the social pressure and the rewards promised for supporting the dominant paradigm it makes it very difficult for both men and women to stand up to and change these values. I try to act and create work that supports both women and men and especially be a model for other men of how to act in a supportive/cooperative/inclusive manner in an effort to both challenge and change the dominant paradigm model.

I hope that you will look at several of the series that I have posted on my web site (www.DonaldWoodman.com) and decide for yourself if the work is feminist.