Curiouser & Curiouser: A Visual Back and Forth

January 29 - March 22, 2025

Pictures are often used to convey an idea or back up a story that has already been devised. What if the pictures are the story? The works shown in this exhibition were chosen not for their adherence to a specific theme or their ability to demonstrate an artistic moment. They were chosen often for the fun of it, sporadically using capriccio, sometimes for a tongue-in-cheek chuckle. But always they were chosen or created for the enjoyment of looking at a photograph.

The exhibition begins with a deceptive photograph of a framed artwork that seems to melt into a corner, by Joe Cameron, one of the first professors of Photography at the Corcoran College of Art + Design, along with Frank DiPerna and Mark Power. A "response" was then sent by a student each week, quickly followed by a new photograph from the GW Collection. The end result is a conversation without words, a back and forth in shared images.

This exhibition was a collaboration between the GW Collection and the senior Photojournalism majors taught by Assistant Professor of Photography and Photojournalism, Matt Eich.  Support for this exhibition is provided by the following:

Lewis Levy Photography Fund

Francine Zorn Trachtenberg Fund for Photography

Friends of the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery       

Image: Harold Edgerton, Bullet Through Jack of Hearts, 1960, printed 1980-1981, gelatin silver print, 16” x 19-7/8.” Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of Mr. Pete Kayafas), CGA.1986.45.24. © Estate of Harold E. Edgerton