Neal Slavin: Groups in America

Neal Slavin (American, b. 1941) is a celebrated photographer, known for his keen portraits of groups of people in the United States and abroad. This installation of Slavin’s work comes from the artist’s portfolio of 15 photographs from 1979 titled Groups in America. The portfolio was a significant gift to Telfair’s contemporary photography collection and is on view here in its entirety for the first time.

Slavin began focusing on group portraiture after encountering a found photograph of a Boy Scout troop in 1972. The image captured his attention, and Slavin began to shoot his own group photos. His first attempt was a portrait of The Flushing Volunteer Ambulance Corps, taken in both black-and-white and color. Although he had been working primarily in black-and-white photography, Slavin discovered color provided richer detail and information, making it better suited for the complex dynamics of group compositions.

Slavin continues to photograph groups today, finding them a rich subject for exploration. The group dynamic is often sociologically revealing, as Slavin notes, when people “get together and they put on their public persona as opposed to their private persona.” Slavin allows the groups to pose themselves, revealing desires and concerns about how individuals are depicted by the camera. Distinct personalities become apparent even when the view is one of many bodies. Presented as straightforward, documentary evidence of a place and time, Slavin’s images in this exhibit highlight American subcultures of the 1970s, using humor to investigate what it means to belong.

Slavin has been photographing for more than 40 years and has published three books: Portugal, When Two or More Are Gathered Together, and Britons. His work appears in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, and the J. Paul Getty Museum, among others. In addition to teaching at Pace University and the International Center of Photography, Slavin is currently making a book and film titled The Prayer Project, which considers the gathering of religious groups in terms of tolerance and hope. The project continues his interest in the group as a form of self-identification. He notes: “I want my work to affirm our self-identity within our public persona; to affirm the joy of being together rather than being apart.”