The Nelson-Atkins
Richard Learoyd: In the Studio
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Richard Learoyd: In the Studio

Admission is free.

This exhibition features a striking selection of large-scale color photographs by acclaimed contemporary photographer Richard Learoyd. The contemplative mood and exquisite detail of his portraits, figure studies, and still lifes, create an uncanny sense of intimacy between subject and viewer.

Working in his East London studio, Learoyd utilizes a room-sized camera obscura with a fixed lens to make unique direct-positive prints. Pared to the essential components of making a photograph—a dark chamber fitted with a lens, sensitized paper, and light—his labor-intensive process is closely associated with the early history of the medium.

Agnes in Red Dress by Richard Learoyd
Richard Learoyd, English (b. 1966). Agnes in Red Dress, 2008. Silver-dye bleach print, 68 × 48 inches. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Purchased in part with funds provided by the Ray and Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation, Anthony E. Nicholas, Director, Lyle and Lisi Poncher, and Leslie, Judith, and Gabrielle Schreyer. 2016.61 © Richard Learoyd, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.
Erika and Man with Octopus Tattoo by Richard Learoyd
Left: Richard Learoyd, English (b. 1966). Erika, 2005. Silver-dye bleach print, 60 5/8 × 50 13/16 inches. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Gift of the Hall Family Foundation in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2009.6.76. Right: Man with Octopus Tattoo II, 2011. Silver-dye bleach print, 58 5/16 × 49 1/4 inches. Collection of the Wilson Centre for Photography. © Richard Learoyd, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.