SUSAN MEISELAS

Breaking Boundaries at the Milwaukee Art Museum

image above: Susan Meiselas, Lena on the Bally Box, Essex Junction, Vermont, 1973. Gelatin silver print. 7 3⁄4 x 11 1⁄2 in. Courtesy the artist. © Susan Meiselas/Magnum Photos; cover story image: Susan Meiselas, Youths practice throwing contact bombs in forest surrounding Monimbo, 1978; printed later. Inkjet print on mesh. 26 1⁄2 x 39 3⁄4 in. Courtesy the artist. © Susan Meiselas/Magnum Photos

BY: Sarah Sunday

Now available for online viewing, the Milwaukee Art Museum presents the exhibition Susan Meiselas: Through a Woman’s Lens. Rolling with the punches of the coronavirus pandemic, the museum now offers a 360-degree virtual view of the exhibition — a close reminder of what it is like to walk through museum halls. The online experience goes beyond many brick-and-mortar exhibitions and showcases a plethora of video and audio clips with viewpoints and musings from Meiselas, her subjects, and those who assisted in collaboration.

A glimpse into upwards of four decades of revolutionary photo-documentary work from the brazen female gaze, Lisa Sutcliffe, the curator of the exhibition expresses that “Susan discovers her guiding interest and her desire to move beyond being defined as a woman photographing women.” The two women convey their initial, dual uncomfortability with the name choice for the show as Meiselas has continually striven to pry herself from the boxed-in version of what a female photographer is and isn’t. Yet, her work plainly transcends any hedged-in or confined preconceptions based on gender.

Meiselas has photographed a vast range of subjects across a spectrum of femininities; female U.S. Army recruits, Miss Nude contestants, government delegates, victims of abuse, New England carnival strippers, and Nicaraguans in the throes of dictatorship and revolution. Street photography has remained at arm’s length for Meiselas and instead, her forte lies in the more elaborate art of friendship and close familiarity. By cohabitating and creating relationships with subjects that span years, Meiselas has gained photographic recognition and produced her most wondrous work. Recognized for her human rights advocacy, Susan Meiselas goes beyond the surface level of photography and illuminates the “other,” their narrative, and how they grapple through life. The images presented at Through a Woman’s Lens are altogether compassionate and empathetic, proffering keen insights and avant-garde perspectives into stories which might have otherwise never been told.

Learn more about the virtual exhibition here.