“Bombed Regency Staircase, Upper Brook Street, Mayfair,” c. 1942. Courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art. Acquired through the generosity of Clarissa A. Bronfman. © 2012 Bill Brandt Archive Ltd.

Bill Brandt‘s Shadow and Light exhibition is on view now through August 12th at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In a statement released by MoMA, “this exhibition is the first to emphasize the beauty of Brandt’s finest prints, and to trace the arc of their evolution.”

Brandt (1904-1983) was a German-British photographer, and probably one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. He’s known for his images of British society, as well as his distinctive nudes and landscapes. This exhibition visually explains Brandt’s photographic evolution and shows off some of his finest prints.

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"Luxembourg," 1923-1925. Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Abbott-Levy Collection. Partial gift of Shirley C. Burden.

The Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit on Eugène Atget is named after the sign that hung outside of the photographer’s studio door, which simply said “Documents pour artistes” (Documents for Artists). Atget photographed Paris over the course of his 30-year career with the artist in mind, often capturing detail-rich scenes like an abandoned park or rural courtyard that could serve as source material for painters and others. Taking care to avoid cliché sites such as the Eiffel Tower, Atget instead “focused on the fabric of the city,” including parks, street scenes, store displays and building facades. The rare times Atget did photograph his fellow Parisians, he focused his camera on those living on the fringes of society: street merchants, Gypsies and prostitutes.

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"Untitled Film Still #6." (1977) The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the generosity of Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder in memory of Eugene M. Schwartz © 2012 Cindy Sherman

It’s been 15 years since influential artist and photographer Cindy Sherman has had a major, comprehensive exhibit—and luckily fans of her work don’t have much longer to wait. Beginning February 26, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City is presenting a “retrospective survey” of her artwork, which will feature over 180 photographs made from the mid-1970s through the present.

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© Ernst Haas/Getty Images. Pedestrians crossing a New York street in winter time cast long shadows, 1980.

Ernst Haas (Austrian/American 1921–1986) was a prolific commercial photographer, known for his vibrant color work. His personal work has been kept mostly private, though, and escaped posthumous appreciation. In an effort to restore his place in the photography canon, the Christophe Guye Galerie will soon exhibit a selection of little known large-format works and several rare dye- transfer prints. Some of the works were presented in Haas‘ solo exhibition at MoMA in 1962, the museum‘s very first exhibition of color photography. The exhibition ‘Color Correction’, and former Director of the Musée de l’Elysée, William Ewing’s corresponding book published by Steidl, uncovers the “other” side of Ernst Haas’ work.  The exhibition runs from January 20, 2012 through February 25, 2012.

-courtesy Christophe Guye Galerie.

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