David Vestal (March 21, 1924 – December 5, 2013) was an American photographer of the New York school, a critic, and teacher.

Career

Vestal was born on March 21, 1924, in

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park ( ) is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, California, Eas ...

. He studied painting at the Art Institute of Chicago but took up photography during the late 1940s after moving to New York where the majority of his

street photography Street photography is photography conducted for art or inquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within Public space, public places. It usually has the aim of capturing images at a decisive or poignant moment by caref ...

and cityscapes were made. From the mid-fifties Vestal exhibited his photography and was included in eight exhibitions at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York, where his work is included in its collections and at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, and the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

. He was the recipient of John Simon

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

s in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. A lifelong educator, he taught at

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

, the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

, and at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

, and also gave numerous lectures and workshops around the country. A frequent writer on the medium, his column, "Vestal at Large," was a regular feature in ''Photo Techniques'' magazine, and his books include ''The Art of Black and White Enlarging'' (1984) and ''The Craft of Photography'' (1975). Vestal died on December 14, 2013, at his home in

Bethlehem, Connecticut Bethlehem is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,385 at the 2020 census, down from 3,607 at the 2010 census. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The town center is a historic dist ...

Publications

*David Vestal. ''The Craft of Photography.'' New York:

Harper and Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper and his brother John, the company operated as J. & J. Harper until 1833, when ...

, 1975. . **Updated edition. New York: Harper and Row, 1975. . *David Vestal. ''The Art of Black and White Enlarging.'' New York: Harper and Row, 1984. . *Douglas O. Morgan, David Vestal and William L. Broecker, eds. ''Leica Manual: The Complete Book of 35mm Photography.'' 15th ed. Hastings-on-Hudson, New York: Morgan & Morgan, 1973. .

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* Limelight Gallery, ''David Vestal'', January 3-February 14, 1955 * 1987: Galeria del Bosque, Guadalajara, Mexico * 1987: Salon de la Plastica Mexican, Mexico * 1988: Casa de la Cultura Jalisciense, Guadalajara, Mexico * 1989: Daytona Beach Community College, Daytona, FL * 1989: Casa de la Cultura Jalisciense, Guadalajara, Mexico * 2001: A Quiet Light, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY * 2010: Once Upon A Time In New York, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY.

Group exhibitions

*The Museum of Modern Art, ''Steichen Gallery Reinstallation'', April 2, 1971 * The Museum of Modern Art, ''Recent Acquisitions: Photography'', October 6, 1965 – January 9, 1966 * The Museum of Modern Art, ''Recent Acquisitions'', December 21, 1960 – February 5, 1961 * The Museum of Modern Art, ''Photographs for Collectors'', October 1–16, 1960 * The Museum of Modern Art, 70 Photographers Look at New York, November 27, 1957 – April 15, 1958 * The Museum of Modern Art, ''Christmas Photographs'', November 29, 1951 – January 6, 1952 * The Museum of Modern Art, ''Photographs by 51 Photographers'', August 1–September 17, 1950 * The Museum of Modern Art, Color Photography, May 9–July 4, 1950

Collections

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

*Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY * Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY * Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York *

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

, New York, NY * Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL *

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography and Film, is a photography museum in Rochester, New York. Opened to the public in 1949, is the oldest museum dedicated to photography ...

, Rochester, NY *

RIT RIT is a common abbreviated name for Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, USA. RIT or rit may also refer to: Business * Recherche et Industrie Thérapeutiques, the former name of what is now GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals in Bel ...

, Rochester, NY *

University of New Mexico Art Museum The University of New Mexico Art Museum (sometimes referred to as the University Art Museum or UNM Art Museum) is an art museum at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The museum's permanent collection includes nearly 30,000 objects, makin ...

, Albuquerque, NM *

Museum of New Mexico The Museum of New Mexico is a collection of museums, historic sites, and archaeological services governed by the State of New Mexico. It currently consists of six divisions: the Palace of the Governors state history museum, the New Mexico Museum o ...

, Santa Fe, NM * Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL *

Museum of Fine Arts Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

, TX *

Center for Creative Photography The Center for Creative Photography (CCP), established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona's Tucson campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American ph ...

, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ *

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

, Ottawa, Canada *

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

, KY *

High Museum of Art The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...

, Atlanta, GA * Hallmark Collection, Kansas, MO

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vestal, David 1924 births 2013 deaths American photographers People from Menlo Park, California People from Bethlehem, Connecticut Writers on photographic techniques