Minor White’s photography as balm for repressed feelings

In Madrid, the Mapfre Foundation presented the first major European retrospective of American photographer Minor White (Minneapolis, 1908. Boston, 1976).

Curator Carlos Gollonet explained that White used photography to express internal emotions, especially the frustration caused by his homosexuality at a time when openly acknowledging it could have cost him his job as a teacher. His photographs of landscapes, often shot from above with striking coastal views and textured rocks, subtly referenced male anatomy and mirrored his own experiences.

The exhibition features around 250 vintage prints spanning 1938 to 1973, arranged chronologically. White’s early work included photographs of buildings slated for demolition in Portland, Oregon, which he captured at night, focusing on shadows and structural details. He then expanded to still lifes, broken windows, and twisted tree trunks, all reflecting his inner state. White’s personal life deeply influenced his art.

Discovering his son’s homosexuality led his parents to distance themselves, leaving him feeling burdened by a secret he would carry for life. He developed a unique photographic approach, believing images should capture not what things are, but what they are becoming. He also created photographic series, which he called “cine of still images”, structured like books of poetry, with individual pictures building toward a cohesive narrative.

The exhibition includes his series The Temptations of Saint Anthony are Mirrors (1948), featuring nude photographs of a student that would have caused a scandal had they been published during White’s lifetime.