William Gedney

the long version

Mysterious, introspective, fiercely private, and self-taught, street photographer William Gedney (1932-1989) produced impressive series of images focused on people whose lives were overlooked, hidden, or reduced to stereotypes. He was convinced that photography was a means of expression as efficient as literature, and his images were accompanied by writings, essays, excerpts from books, and aphorisms. Gedney avoided self-promotion, and his underrepresented work was largely unknown during his short lifetime. He died at the age of fifty-six from AIDS. 'William Gedney: Only the Lonely, 1955-1984' is the first comprehensive retrospective of his photography.