Curated by Stephan Schmidt-Wulffen

Besides almost single-handedly dismantling the distinction between high and low forms of photography, introducing the use of color film for high-brow ambitions, and reviving large-format photography, Stephen Shore forged, in the ’70s, two distinct ways of observing the colloquial American landscape. “Uncommon Places,” 1973–86, posed a silent, dense description of the present, while “American Surfaces,” 1972–73, was restless, ephemeral, and glib. This show of 120 prints from 1968 to 1993 (as well as Shore’s daily logs from 1973 and early conceptual projects) should illustrate both sensibilities while forecasting the photographic realism of the present.

Travels to the Presentation House Gallery, North Vancouver, Nov. 12, 2005–Jan. 15, 2006; Worcester Art Museum, MA, Mar. 24–June 23, 2006.

— Stephen Frailey