FotoFocus 2018: What To See

Taft Museum of Art
The Berenice Abbott and Eugene Atget retrospective Paris to New York looks at a chance encounter of two street photographers, their influence on one another, and how they simultaneously became inspired by their surroundings. In 1920s Paris, Abbott—from Springfield, Ohio—met photographer Atget, who captured a city in flux as old Paris was modernized. A decade later, inspired by Atget, Abbott documented early 1930s New York City as it underwent its own metamorphosis. Oct 4–Jan 20, 2019

Berenice Abbott, Hot Dog Stand, 1936. Courtesy Museum of the City of New York. / Karl Blossfeldt, Adiantum pedatum.

Contemporary Arts Center
For the first time in the biennial’s history, FotoFocus will take over the entire CAC. Memory Banks, a solo exhibition of Swedish painter Mamma Andersson, places her paintings side-by-side with the photographs and ephemera she draws from. Other exhibitions include Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari’s collection and No Two Alike, which compares the works of photographers Karl Blossfeldt and Francis Bruguière with contemporary artist Thomas Ruff.
Oct 5–Feb 10, 2019

Courtesy Karl Blossfeldt Archiv / Stiftung Ann und Jürgen Wilde, Pinakothek der Moderne, München

Weston Art Gallery
Two exhibitions at the gallery defy standard photography practices, stretching the definition of the medium. Wide Angle: Photography Out of Bounds is a group show that features more than 20 artists who manipulate photographic images using collage and appropriated images. In tandem, L.A.-based artist Chris Engman’s show Prospect and Refuge features mind-bending photographed reconstructions of landscapes, including built environments he creates. Sept 21–Nov 18

Courtesy the artist and Temnikova & Kasela Gallery