William Wegman is an American artist and photographer best known for his series of photographs featuring Weimaraner dogs. Wegman was born in 1943 in Holyoke, Massachusetts and grew up in the nearby town of Massachusetts. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1965 and his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1967.
Wegman began his career as a painter, but later turned to photography and video art. He is known for his wry, humorous style and his ability to capture the personality and character of his subjects. In the 1970s, he began using his Weimaraner dogs as models in his photographs and videos, and they quickly became his signature subjects. Wegman has also worked in other media, including painting, drawing, and performance art.
Wegman’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. In addition to his art career, Wegman has also worked as a commercial photographer, shooting campaigns for clients such as Volkswagen, Target, and Levi’s.
Wegman has received numerous awards and accolades for his work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. He is also the recipient of the International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award for Art.
In addition to his artistic pursuits, Wegman is also an author and illustrator of children’s books featuring his dogs. He has published several books, including “The New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year” for “Flo Goes to School” and “Flo’s Big Book.”
Wegman’s work continues to be popular and highly respected in the art world, and he is considered a pioneer in the use of animals as subjects in contemporary art.
Here is a great video by Ted Forbes on photographer William Wegman.
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