John Gossage

John Gossage (born 1946, New York City) is an American photographer, noted for his artist's books and other publications using his photographs to explore under-recognised elements of the urban environment such as abandoned tracts of land, debris and garbage, and graffiti, and themes of surveillance, memory and the relationship between architecture and power.

Life and career

Gossage was born in Staten Island, New York City in 1946 and at an early age became interested in photography, leaving school at 16 and taking private instruction from Lisette Model, Alexey Brodovich and Bruce Davidson. He later moved to Washington, D.C. to study, and subsequently received a grant from the Washington Gallery of Modern Art which allowed him to remain in the city and refine his photographic technique. He has shown his photographs in solo and group exhibitions since 1963.

After a number of years with Nazraeli Press his usual publisher is now Loosestrife Editions and Steidl.

He has taught at the University of Maryland, College Park and curated several photographic exhibitions. He lives and works in Washington, D.C.

Publications

Publications by Gossage

• Hey Fuckface! (1984). A study of Environmental Protection Agency-listed hazardous waste sites in and near Staten Island and Syracuse, New York.
• The Pond.
  • New york: Aperture, 1985. ISBN 9780893812065. With an essay by Denise Sines. Edition of 2000 copies.
  • New york: Aperture, 2010. ISBN 9781597111324. With a preface by Toby Jurovics and an essay by Gerry Badger.
• LAMF: Three Days in Berlin 1987 (1987).
• Stadt des Schwarz (1987).
• The Things That Animals Care About (1988).
• There and Gone (1997).
• Empire (2000).
• The Romance Industry (2002).
• Berlin in the Time of the Wall (2004). Images taken during more than twenty years of study of Berlin.
• The Thirty Two Inch Ruler: Map of Babylon. Göttingen: Steidl, 2011. ISBN 978-3865217103.

Publications with others

• Snake Eyes (2002). With Terri Weifenbach.

Exhibitions

• The Thirty Two Inch Ruler: Map of Babylon, World Photography Festival and Sony World Photography Awards Exhibitions, World Photography Organisation, Somerset House, London, 26 April–22 May 2011.

Collections

Gossage's work is held in the following private and public collections:

• Museum of Modern Art, New York.
• Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
• Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.
• Sprengel Museum, Hanover, Germany.
• Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal.
• The Menil Collection, Houston

Sources

• Anglo-American Name Authority File, s.v. "Gossage, John R.", LC Control Number n 79075639. Accessed 11 May 2006.
• Canadian Centre for Architecture; Exhibitions, 'Empire'. Accessed 11 May 2006.
• Gossage, John. Hey Fuckface! (Tucson, Arizona: Nazraeli Press, 2002).
• Nazraeli Press. Accessed 11 May 2006.
• Photo-eye, "Hey F**kface". Accessed 11 May 2006.
• Photo-eye, "Snake Eyes". Accessed 11 May 2006.
• Photography-now.com. "John Gossage". Accessed 11 May 2006.
• Ryerson University; The Kodak Lecture Series; John Gossage, Date of Lecture: 1999-11-12. Accessed 11 May 2006.
• Stephen Daiter Gallery; Artists; John Gossage. Accessed 11 May 2006.
• Union List of Artist Names, s.v. "Gossage, John". Accessed 11 May 2006.