Introduction
These selections from Michael Becotte’s work demonstrate the progression through different stages in his career as a photographer at the Visual Studies Workshop in the 70s. They also reflect diverse trends in the field of photography.
Becotte’s work is without a doubt an asset to the Visual Studies Workshop in a variety of ways. Aside from being in the second class of students to receive an MFA degree from VSW, his work is valuable in tracing the progress of photography as an academic program in the 1970s. His skillful use of darkroom techniques, camera handling and offset lithography is a great contribution and is a source of inspiration for learning creative and intuitive photography for future generations of students.
The 1970s were a time of exploration, experimentation, and diversity in photography. While others explored the social landscape and self-portraiture, Becotte represented the real world by focusing on mundane objects of the environment using a unique and instinctive approach to his photographs. He has said that he “extended the sense of a transformed landscape” in his photographs in a creative manner.
Experimentation, abstraction, printing, darkroom techniques, creative composition, and skillful use of traditional film cameras are strong points in Becotte’s work, in addition to his emphasis on the texture, movement and shapes of objects in nature.
In his portfolio Luminations: Twenty Offset Lithographs, he used flash, car headlights, and infrared film, and explored other devices to create an illumination effect. He created exclusive offset lithographs by manipulating multitoners. His work highlights different aspects of photography and exceptional techniques.
About Michael Becotte
Michael Becotte, VSW Student file photo
Michael Becotte first studied photography under Nathan Lyons in a private workshop from 1966 to1967. Becotte was in the second class of VSW students to receive an MFA degree in 1972. He was born in Niagara Falls, New York, on March 4, 1945. He completed his photographic studies at Sam Houston State College in 1964, and was a student from 1964 to 1968 at the Rochester Institute of Technology where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Becotte has been a professor of photography at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia since 1973. NC
For more information on this artist, including VSW's holdings, please click here.
About the Exhibition
Movement: Selections from the First Decade of the Visual Studies Workshop is an online exhibition showcasing an assortment of over 100 pieces from working artists affiliated with the Visual Studies Workshop in the 1970s. These selected artists demonstrate the early years of a revolutionary new institution. [Read More]
