Louis Stettner

The latest in the Photofile series is a crisp ode to American photographer Louis Stettner (1922–2016). Since he began snapping photos on public transit in the 1940s, Stettner was driven by a fascination with ordinary people and their gestures, expressions, and poses. Photos from his early career in New York City favor square frames and austere compositions, and often capture dualities between subjects—in a series of shots taken on the subway, for example, a man in a top hat stares dejectedly at the floor while the woman next to him looks up at the ceiling as though in exasperation; another depicts a commuter reading a newspaper as her seatmate stares into the camera. After moving to Paris in 1947, Stettner continued his focus on “doubling” with hazier, high-contrast photographs of ordinary people (one shot of a pair of young identical twins wearing berets is set against a winding cobblestone road). Upon returning to New York City in 1952, he continued taking photos of commuters, often through train windows in photos marked by an intimacy and voyeurism. A thorough introduction by photographer Virginie Chardin competently lays out Stettner’s life and the artistic philosophy that fueled him—he sought, she notes, to capture subjects in quiet “moments of... inaction” where their true nature might be revealed. It’s a worthy celebration of an important chronicler of 20th century city life. (Jan.)