Emmet Gowin's photography explores the interconnectedness of personal and broader themes through diverse subjects, including intimate family portraits, sweeping landscapes, and aerial views of environmental destruction. His work reflects a deep engagement with issues of scale, individual impact, and the concept of belonging, illustrating how these elements intertwine across different contexts and experiences.
Moths of Central and South America, a Study in Beauty and Diversity
Emmet Gowin's latest project highlights the beauty and diversity of over one thousand nocturnal moth species from various tropical regions. These striking color portraits showcase the insects in their natural postures, often for the first time, arranged in groups of twenty-five per sheet. By combining natural and art historical backgrounds, Gowin emphasizes the urgency of recognizing the often-overlooked biodiversity of the tropics. This work not only celebrates these unique creatures but also advocates for greater environmental awareness and appreciation of our natural world.
The book showcases Emmet Gowin's aerial photography of the Nevada National Security Site, the U.S. location with the most nuclear tests conducted. Spanning 680 square miles, this formerly restricted area reveals the stark remnants of 1,021 nuclear tests, including subsidence craters that evoke a lunar landscape. Gowin, the only photographer granted access to this now-closed site, presents a significant collection of images, three-quarters of which are previously unpublished. The book includes insights from Robert Adams and an afterword by Gowin reflecting on the images' impact.
in 1964, I entered into a family freshly different from my own. I admired their simplicity and generosity, and thought of the pictures I made as agreements. I wanted to pay attention to the body and personality that had agreed out of love to reveal itself. Following his marriage to Edith Morris in 1964, Emmet Gowin began taking memorable portraits of his wife and extended family in Virginia. Emmet Gowin Photographs presents a collection of 68 of these images, accompanied by a short personal text by the photographer. Inspired by the work of Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Harry Callahan and Frederick Sommer, Gowin approaches his subjects with a reverence for the relationship between photographer and sitter. Although his photographs often resemble home snapshots, he aspires to take pictures that succeed as more than just family records, in some cases allowing the camera lens to dictate the circular shape of the image. Emmet Gowin Photographs was first published in 1976 by Alfred A. Knopf, New York. For the production of the 2009 edition the photographs were scanned at Steidls digital darkroom from vintage prints. Without changing the size of the images, the book format was slightly increased.