Larry Silver American, b. 1934

A member of the Photo League, American photographer Larry Silver’s work spans more than seven decades of documentary and fine art photography. Silver began photographing the streets and subways of New York City at just 15 years old and continues to capture the lifestyles and social landscapes that surround him. From his images of suntanned, swimsuit-clad bodybuilders populating the beaches of Santa Monica, to his documentation of the isolated relationship between the inhabitants and the physical landscape of Connecticut suburbia, Silver’s compositions are embedded with lyricism and observational qualities that define his trademark style. In 2003 Silver broke away from documentary work and began to create altered landscape images through experimental dark room techniques and paper manipulation. The artist’s new direction would result in series such as New Vision, featuring one-of-a-kind compositions that relate most readily to Abstract Expressionist works and experimental imagery from the Bauhaus School.

Born in 1934 in the Bronx, Silver studied photography at the High School of Industrial Art. The school's proximity to Peerless Camera Store enabled Silver to meet numerous members of the prestigious Photo League, including W. Eugene Smith, Weegee, and Lou Bernstein. In Silver's senior year, he won first prize in the Scholastic-Ansco Photography Awards and was granted a full scholarship to the Art Center School in Los Angeles. His Santa Monica-based series, “Muscle Beach,” was shot while Silver was in California and was exhibited at the International Center of Photography in 1985. Returning to New York City from the West Coast in 1959, Silver opened an advertising studio. In 1973 he relocated to the suburbs of Westport, Connecticut; historically an artists’ colony. While his subjects changed with the relocation, Silver’s work continued to elicit contemplation and exude balance, often illustrating the interplay between nature and the built environment.

Silver has had group and solo exhibitions in numerous prominent institutions, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Tampa Museum of Art, International Center of Photography, Brooklyn Museum, and National Museum of Chinese History in Beijing. His work is in over 25 museum collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Art Museum, and Boston Museum of Fine Arts and has been published in numerous books and catalogues including Made in California (2000); New York, Portrait of a City (2010); This Was the Photo League (2001); and Suburban Visions (2002).