Charles Harbutt
Encyclopedia
Charles Harbutt is an American
photographer, a former president of Magnum
, and full-time Professor at Parsons School of Design in New York.
, and learned much of his photography skills from the towsnhip's amateur camera club. He later attended Marquette University
.
Harbutt's work is deeply rooted in the modern photojournalist tradition. For the first twenty years of his career he contributed to major magazines in the United States, Europe and Japan, his work often intrinsically political, exhibiting social and economic contingencies. In 1959, on the strength of three photographs published in Modern Photography he was invited by members of the communist
underground to document the Cuban Revolution
, as documented in his book Cuba Libre, 1959.
Harbutt joined Magnum Photos
and was elected president of the organization twice, first in 1979. He left the group in 1981, citing its increasingly commercial ambitions and the desire to pursue more personal work. He has subsequently taught photography workshops, exhibited in solo and group shows around the world, and joined the faculty of Parsons School of Design at New School University as a full time professor, in addition to serving as guest artist at MIT
, The Art Institute of Chicago, and Rhode Island School of Design
. Harbutt was a founding member of Archive Pictures and is a member of the American Society of Magazine Photographers.
His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art
, the National Museum of American History
, the Corcoran Gallery, the U.S. Library of Congress
, George Eastman House, the Art Institute of Chicago
, the International Center of Photography
, the Center for Creative Photography
, and at the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Beaubourg, and the Maison Europeene de la Photographie in Paris. He is represented in New York by the Laurence Miller Gallery.
In 1997, his negatives, master prints & archives were acquired for the collection of the Center for Creative Photography, in Tucson, Arizona
.
More recently he mounted a large exhibition of his work at the Centro de la Imagen in Mexico City
in December 2000 and received the medal of the City of Perpignan at a retrospective of his work there in 2004.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
photographer, a former president of Magnum
Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices located in New York, Paris, London and Tokyo...
, and full-time Professor at Parsons School of Design in New York.
Biography
Harbutt was raised in Teaneck, New JerseyTeaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, and a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 39,776, making it the second-most populous among the 70 municipalities in Bergen County....
, and learned much of his photography skills from the towsnhip's amateur camera club. He later attended Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
.
Harbutt's work is deeply rooted in the modern photojournalist tradition. For the first twenty years of his career he contributed to major magazines in the United States, Europe and Japan, his work often intrinsically political, exhibiting social and economic contingencies. In 1959, on the strength of three photographs published in Modern Photography he was invited by members of the communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
underground to document the Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
, as documented in his book Cuba Libre, 1959.
Harbutt joined Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices located in New York, Paris, London and Tokyo...
and was elected president of the organization twice, first in 1979. He left the group in 1981, citing its increasingly commercial ambitions and the desire to pursue more personal work. He has subsequently taught photography workshops, exhibited in solo and group shows around the world, and joined the faculty of Parsons School of Design at New School University as a full time professor, in addition to serving as guest artist at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, The Art Institute of Chicago, and Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
. Harbutt was a founding member of Archive Pictures and is a member of the American Society of Magazine Photographers.
His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, the National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Among the items on display are the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker's...
, the Corcoran Gallery, the U.S. Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, George Eastman House, the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, the International Center of Photography
International Center of Photography
The International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
, the Center for Creative Photography
Center for Creative Photography
The Center for Creative Photography , established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers including those of Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and Garry...
, and at the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Beaubourg, and the Maison Europeene de la Photographie in Paris. He is represented in New York by the Laurence Miller Gallery.
In 1997, his negatives, master prints & archives were acquired for the collection of the Center for Creative Photography, in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
.
More recently he mounted a large exhibition of his work at the Centro de la Imagen in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
in December 2000 and received the medal of the City of Perpignan at a retrospective of his work there in 2004.
Books
- America In Crisis (1969) (contributor and co-editor)
- Travelog (1974)
- Progreso (1986)
- Cuba Libre, 1959 (2006)