My first introduction to Gary Winogrand was his book, Woman are Beautiful, published in 1975 by Light Gallery Books. Looking through this book and reacting to the energies of the women I found them all quite relatable. Yes, this is the gaze of Gary but it is so much more than that. As a woman, countless days I have walked down the streets of NYC; on my way to work or home or traveling, to a film, on my way out or on my way in. Sometimes I wander, sometimes it’s through what’s left of the diamond district in order to be overwhelmed and takin in by the noise, the low whispers of hustlers saying ‘buying or selling’ in my ears. I enjoy the seediness, the beauty and spontaneity of the streets which I can only assume Gary enjoyed to. The everyday where we can cruise the street, capturing the beauty we see in others. In Woman are Beautiful, I see myself in these women, I see myself in Gary the voyeur, watching me. Immersed in the everyday where woman can cruise the street, and others, like Gary, can capture the beauty of it. Sometimes it’s a breast, a smile, the strength of arms against the weight of a suitcase, the hands to hips, the eye contact, the gossip, the spread legs on a staircase. To be in the streets. To want to be seen and to be seen. I am that woman in his photographs. The woman alone with coffee, on the street lighting a cigarette, reading underneath a tree, protesting in the streets. We are all woman in his photographs. Woman of strength, independence, and assertive.
-Jen Fisher