William Garnett
Encyclopedia
William A. Garnett was an American
landscape
photographer who specialized in aerial photography
.
Garnett was born in Chicago
, Illinois
, in 1916, and in 1920 his family moved to Pasadena
, California
. After graduating from Pasadena's John Muir Technical High School he studied for one year at the Art Center School in Los Angeles and then, beginning in 1938, he worked for two years as an independent commercial photographer and graphic designer.
In 1940 he was hired as a photographer by the Pasadena Police Department, where he was employed for four years. In 1944 he worked briefly for the Lockeed aircraft company before being drafted into the U.S. Army, where he assisted in the production of training films for the U.S. Signal Corps.
After leaving the Army in 1945 Garnett used the G.I. Bill to pay for flight instruction and by 1949 he had purchased his first plane and begun capturing the aerial photographs for which he is admired. His work began to attract critical attention and in 1953 he won the first of three Guggenheim fellowships for his beautiful landscapes.
In 1955, Garnett had his first one-man show at the George Eastman House
in Rochester, New York
. His work was also included in Edward Steichen
's The Family of Man
exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art
in New York City
in 1955.
Garnett bought a Cessna 170B in 1956 and he used it for decades as a vantage point for his photography. He made small modifications to the plane to facilitate his photography. According to the Getty Museum, Garnett "experimented with a variety of camera formats and films but found that two 35mm cameras (one loaded with black-and-white film, and another with color film) best suited his needs." He may have also used Pentax 6X7 medium format cameras to capture his imagery.
In 1958 Garnett moved from Los Angeles
to Napa, California
, and continued working as a commercial photographer for the next ten years. In 1968 he joined the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley
. He served as a professor at the university until his retirement in 1984.
Garnett's photography was featured in many national magazines, including Fortune
, Life
, Reader's Digest
, and The New York Times
Magazine. His unique landscapes have also appeared in many art books and as illustrations in many textbooks.
His work has been collected by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York
, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the J. Paul Getty Museum
in Los Angeles.
In 1941 Garnett married contralto
Eula Beal
(1919-2008) and together they raised three sons.
Garnett died on August 26, 2006 at his home in Napa, California.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
photographer who specialized in aerial photography
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...
.
Garnett was born in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, in 1916, and in 1920 his family moved to Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. After graduating from Pasadena's John Muir Technical High School he studied for one year at the Art Center School in Los Angeles and then, beginning in 1938, he worked for two years as an independent commercial photographer and graphic designer.
In 1940 he was hired as a photographer by the Pasadena Police Department, where he was employed for four years. In 1944 he worked briefly for the Lockeed aircraft company before being drafted into the U.S. Army, where he assisted in the production of training films for the U.S. Signal Corps.
After leaving the Army in 1945 Garnett used the G.I. Bill to pay for flight instruction and by 1949 he had purchased his first plane and begun capturing the aerial photographs for which he is admired. His work began to attract critical attention and in 1953 he won the first of three Guggenheim fellowships for his beautiful landscapes.
In 1955, Garnett had his first one-man show at the George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. His work was also included in Edward Steichen
Edward Steichen
Edward J. Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. He was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Steichen also contributed the logo design and a custom typeface...
's The Family of Man
The Family of Man
The Family of Man was a photography exhibition curated by Edward Steichen first shown in 1955 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.According to Steichen, the exhibition represented the 'culmination of his career'. The 508 photos by 273 photographers in 68 countries were selected from almost 2...
exhibition 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...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1955.
Garnett bought a Cessna 170B in 1956 and he used it for decades as a vantage point for his photography. He made small modifications to the plane to facilitate his photography. According to the Getty Museum, Garnett "experimented with a variety of camera formats and films but found that two 35mm cameras (one loaded with black-and-white film, and another with color film) best suited his needs." He may have also used Pentax 6X7 medium format cameras to capture his imagery.
In 1958 Garnett moved from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to Napa, California
Napa, California
-History:The name Napa was probably derived from the name given to a southern Nappan village whose people shared the area with elk, deer, grizzlies and cougars for many centuries, according to Napa historian Kami Santiago. At the time of the first recorded exploration into Napa Valley in 1823, the...
, and continued working as a commercial photographer for the next ten years. In 1968 he joined the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He served as a professor at the university until his retirement in 1984.
Garnett's photography was featured in many national magazines, including Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
, Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
, Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
, and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Magazine. His unique landscapes have also appeared in many art books and as illustrations in many textbooks.
His work has been collected by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the J. Paul Getty Museum
J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California...
in Los Angeles.
In 1941 Garnett married contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
Eula Beal
Eula Beal
Eula Beal was an American contralto. During her relatively short touring career, she performed with distinguished collaborators not only in concert on the US West Coast but also in Concert Magic, a 1947 film billed as "the first motion picture concert." Beal was born in Riverside, California...
(1919-2008) and together they raised three sons.
Garnett died on August 26, 2006 at his home in Napa, California.
Quotes
From the artist's profile at the Getty Museum.Books by William Garnett
- The Extraordinary Landscape (Boston: Little, Brown, 1982)
- William Garnett, Aerial Photographs (Berkeley: University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
, 1996)