Shadow Forms: The Art and Philosophy of William Mortensen
Opening Reception: Friday, March 10, 2023, 5:30-7:00pm RSVP
Special Lecture Following Reception:
“American Grotesque: The Life and Art of William Mortensen” with author Larry Lytle Friday, March 10, 2023, 7:00-9:00pm
In-Person and Zoom Attendance Available RSVP
On View: March 10 – March 31, 2023
Regular Exhibit Hours: Tuesday-Friday 12:00-6:00pm, and by appointment (info@prs.org)
LOS ANGELES – The Philosophical Research Society (PRS) is pleased to present an exhibition of images by William Mortensen (1897-1965), an American photographer whose body of work ranged from portraits of Hollywood’s Golden Age stars (Fay Wray, Rudolph Valentino, Norma Shearer, Clara Bow, Ramon Navarro) to gothic, occult-inspired, and erotic or gory images.
Mortensen stood in staunch opposition to the realist or ‘purist’ movement in photography, which was ascendent in his day, and his striking images are a testament to his singular approach. He was far more concerned with the psychological and emotional impact of images than with their fidelity to reality, and he devoted considerable thought to the ways that an artist’s decisions regarding every element of a photo influence what the image evokes in the viewer, on both a conscious and subconscious level.
As a leader of the Pictorialist school, Mortensen manipulated his images with razor blades, paint brushes, and other tools, resulting in images that resembled etchings or sketches of dreamlike—and sometimes nightmare-like—scenes. The subject matter of these photographs—which included monsters, witchcraft, and sacrifices— in tandem with his innovative technique exerted a provocative and profound effect on the viewer that, in his view, could not be achieved by the ‘cramping’ realism so predominant and acclaimed at the time.
Mortensen’s defiance of convention resulted in much vitriol from his purist contemporaries; Ansel Adams referred to him as ‘the anti-Christ.’ This disdain from such major figures like Adams, Edward Weston, Charis Wilson, Nancy and Beaumont Newhall, and Willard Van
Dyke eventually resulted in Mortensen’s obscurity, and for generations he and his innovative images were relegated to the status of footnotes in official histories of photography. In recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in and appreciation for Mortensen, his work, and his influence on photography.
During his years in Los Angeles, Mortensen befriended PRS founder Manly Hall. The two had a reciprocal influence on one another; Hall’s deep knowledge of and prolific writings on the esoteric and occult informed Mortensen’s theories about images and choice of subject matter, and Mortensen’s photographic techniques inspired Hall’s own approach to photography, which he practiced during his travels to major cultural sites like Chichen Itza in 1932.
The opening reception of the exhibition at PRS will be followed by a lecture by Larry Lytle, whose scholarship on Mortensen has resulted in numerous articles and two publications by Feral House: American Grotesque: The Life and Work of William Mortensen and a reissuing of Mortensen’s own long-out-of-print The Command To Look: A Master Photographer’s Method for Controlling the Human Gaze, both on sale at the PRS Bookstore.
Prints of Mortensen’s work will be available for purchase for the duration of the exhibition.
Special Thanks to: Jessica Parfrey and Christina Ward at Feral House Publishing, and Larry Lytle.
