Edith, Danville, Virginia

1967, printed c. 1980

Emmet Gowin

(American, 1941-)

Culture

America

Medium

gelatin silver print

Measurements

Image: 15.9 x 16 cm (6 1/4 x 6 5/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Carl and Joan Schneider 2021.227

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

It was Emmet Gowin’s intimate portraits of his wife and family that first brought his art national attention.

Description

The startling intimacy and directness of Emmet Gowin’s portrait of his wife Edith is both inviting and off-putting. Edith, naked, opens the door to welcome her husband. But thanks to the camera, Gowin lets us experience the couple’s openness and mutual trust. “There are things in your life that only you will see, stories that only you will hear,” said Emmet Gowin. “If you don’t tell them or write them down, if you don’t make the picture, these things will not be seen, these things will not be heard.”