When most people think of Albert Watson, they picture his iconic portraits and high-fashion photography, unforgettable images of Alfred Hitchcock, Kate Moss and Steve Jobs. But a new virtual exhibition from Camera Work Gallery turns our attention to a lesser-seen side of the legendary photographer’s work – his extraordinary still lifes.
Titled The Silence of History, this online show runs through May 22, and features 26 striking images that blend the sensibility of classical still life with Watson’s unmistakable visual precision. Presented across two virtual floors, the exhibition is a quiet, powerful journey through objects that span millennia, from ancient Egyptian relics to fragments of 20th-century pop culture.
The crown jewels of the show are Watson’s photographs of archaeological artifacts from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, including relics from King Tutankhamun’s tomb. These objects are already steeped in history, but Watson’s treatment – such as the way he sculpts with light and teases out texture to highlight each form – ingrains them with an almost mythic grandeur.
But The Silence of History is far from a history lesson. The show moves fluidly between centuries and cultural references. A vintage Hudson Hornet is captured in a Las Vegas car graveyard. Millinery models appear like strange and delicate fossils, and then there’s the otherworldly presence of space travel featuring Apollo 15 equipment and Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit.
Even personal items once owned by Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali feel colossal, elevated by Watson’s mastery of lighting, transforming them into something timeless.
What’s striking about this body of work is not just the variety of objects but how unified they feel. Despite their different origins, Watson presents them as if they belong to the same quiet archive, a silent museum of human achievement, beauty and ambition.
While a virtual exhibition can never fully replace the experience of being in front of a print, The Silence of History makes a compelling case for what online galleries can offer. 'Walking' around the exhibition gives a true sense of the scale and presence of Watson’s work.
The show is beautifully curated and a rare chance to see a master photographer operating in a quieter, more meditative key – I urge you to check it out on the Camera Work Gallery website!
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