This is a seminal image that sums up in color the hippie era - counter culture era in New York City. In 1969, Bethesda Fountain on weekends was a gathering places for the radicals of the time. Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were regulars speakers there along with their followers.
Signed and dated lower right Edition 2/15 Unframed. Printed later. Other size available. Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Exhibited: Images en Couleur, Brooklyn Museum, 1970. ( This was one of the first major museum exhibition of color photography, Curated by Henri Ghent one of the first Black Curators ) Published: Popular Photography, Vivid Vision of Mitchell Funk, December 197

In 1969 on weekends, Bethesda Fountain was a gathering place for the radical, glamourous and hip people of the time. Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were regulars speakers there. Portrait of a "Black Hippie with Blond Afro" is another quintessential image that sums up the joyful era of peace and love. Although the image was taken 51 years ago, it looks very contemporary. It's a portrait of a woman and yet it's an abstraction of shape and color. Mitchell Funk's take on street photography demonstrates that grab shots do not have to look like snapshots. Funk's principles achievement is that he retools traditional photojournalism of the street to embody the compositional exactitude of the studio. His images are graphic, well-composed and about precise design as much as about subject. In this regard, Funk distinguishes himself from other practitioners of the genre. Later in his career, Mitchell would minimize the narrative and let the color of color photography be the protagonist. In 1970, photography was just marginally considered to be art. Color Photography was not even part of the art conversation. Participating in the first Color Photography show at a major museum was trailblazing and historically important. This color photograph represents a standard in the canon of photography history. Additionally, the show was assembled by a historically important black curator.
Signed dated and numbered lower right recto Edition 2/15 Unframed. Printed later. Other sizes are available. Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Exhibited: Images en Couleur, Brooklyn Museum, 1970. ( This was one of first major museum exhibition of color photography, Curated by Henri Ghent one of the first Black Museum Curators ) Published: Popular Photography, Vivid Vision of Mitchell Funk, December 1970
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography". In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time Life, Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum . He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek and Life Magazine, Fortune etc.

Mitchell Funk's take on street photography demonstrates that grab shots do not have to look like snap shots. They can be graphic, well composed and about design as much as about subject. Later in his career he would minimize the narrative and let the color of color photography be the protagonist.

Groovy portrait of a hippy in from of a Head Shop in St. Mark's Places, East Village. In the 1970s, color photography was still not recognized as fine art. As a street photographer, Mitchell Funk breaks with traditional black and white photography and shoots on the street with Kodachrome. His goal is to make color photography full of color in this nascent art form. In this image, the colorful walls are much as a subject as the introspective man. When Funk shoots on the street, he scans the environment for situations with remarkable color. In 1971, the idea of colorful color photographs was the radical trailblazing idea that has taken root in street shooters today. Mitchell Funk invented it over 50 years ago.
Signed dated and numbered 3/15 lower right recto, other sizes available, printed later, unframed. This work is printed on fine art Hahnemuhle paper. The color will vary from monitor to monitor.
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time-Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum. He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek, Fortune, New York Magazine and Life Magazine among others.

Hippy

In the 1970s, color photography was still not recognized as fine art. As a street photographer, Mitchell Funk breaks with traditional black and white photography and shoots on the street with Kodachrome. His goal is to make color photography full of color in this nascent art form. In this image, the colorful red car is much as a subject as the introspective man. When Funk shoots on the street, he scans the environment for situations with remarkable color. In 1971, the idea of colorful color photographs was the radical trailblazing idea that has taken root in street shooters today. Mitchell Funk invented it over 50 years ago.
Signed dated and numbered 3/15 lower right recto, other sizes available, printed later, unframed. This work is printed on fine art Hahnemuhle paper. The color will vary from monitor to monitor.
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time-Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum. He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek, Fortune, New York Magazine and Life Magazine among others.

Bold and graphic depiction of Times Square mainstay

Way back then....The Fillmore East hosted Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin as well as the in-residence Joshua Light show of psychedelic state-of-the-art visual effects. Accordingly, these artists expressed a wild lifestyle did not meet with alot of parental approval. To make that point, Mitchell Funk, did an on the spot in-camera double exposure of concerned mothers over the Fillmore marquee.
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one of the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum. He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek, Fortune, New York Magazine and Life Magazine among others

In the late 1960's, creativity erupted in all parts of youth culture. It gave birth to new forms of art, music and lifestyles. The counterculture movement rejected social norms and accepted the notion of people coming together and experimenting. The times became a kaleidoscope of wild and bright colors. A new sense of personal and artistic expression was born. The world was no longer black and white. Photography to Mitchell Funk was no longer black and white. In 1969, he would become a color photographer.
Signed and dated lower right Edition 2/15 Unframed. Printed later. Other size available. Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Exhibited: Images en Couleur, Brooklyn Museum, 1970. ( This was first major museum exhibition of color photography, Curated by Henri Ghent who was the first major black curator ) Published: Popular Photography, Vivid Vision of Mitchell Funk, December 1970

In 1969, Bethesda Fountain on weekends was a gathering place for the radical and hip people of the time. Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were regulars speakers there. Portrait of a fascinatingly attractive Hippy Girl is a quintessential image that sums up the joyful era of peace and love. It looks as if it were a setup photo akin to an advertising shoot where there is a willful collaboration between artist and model. In fact, it's just a magical moment grab shot where a girl glances into a photographer's lens. That instant is captured and the result is mesmerizing. Although the image was taken 51 years ago, it looks very contemporary. In 1970, photography was just marginally considered to be art. Color Photography was not even part of the art conversation. Participating in the first Color Photography show at a major museum was trailblazing and historically important and makes this photograph important. Additionally, the show was assembled by a historically important black curator.
Signed and dated lower right Edition 2/15 Unframed. Printed later. Other sizes are available. Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Exhibited: Images en Couleur, Brooklyn Museum, 1970. ( This was one of the first major museum exhibition of color photography, Curated by Henri Ghent one of the first Black Museum Curators ) Published: Popular Photography, Vivid Vision of Mitchell Funk, December 1970
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography". In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time Life, Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum . He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek and Life Magazine, Fortune etc.

As a progenitor of special effects photography and experimental photography in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mitchell Funk employed a variety of non-digital techniques to achieve mind-bending, consciousness-expanding and groovy images. In "Psychedelic Portrait of a Young Hippie" the then young photographer used multiple images in a post-production sandwiching technique. The serene blue-cast image with a zoom effect conveys an archetype of a woman typical of the Psychedelic Era. We Ship Internationally !

The result is a historically important "Far Out" photograph that is still optically engaging 52 years after it was created. "Can you dig it?" The work is signed dated and numbered 3/15 lower right recto, other sizes available, printed later, unframed. This work is printed on fine art Hahnemuhle paper. The color will vary from monitor to monitor.
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time-Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum. He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek, Fortune, New York Magazine and Life Magazine among others.

Mitchell Funk was color when color wasn’t art.
This image of an old man reading the New York Times, was shot with a mirror lens that creates ringlets of light in out of focus area
Can a street photograph be a grab shot and precisely designed at the same time? Mitchell Funk says yes. He brings finely honed photography skills such as composition, intense lighting and design to found subject matter. Mitchell Funk brings the compositional precision of studio photography to street photography. Unlike most street photographers, Funk is an abstractionist while being a documentarian. s. Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum. He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek, Fortune, New York Magazine and Life Magazine among others

In 1970, very few photographers we actually shooting in color. There is more personal and human feel to color photography than B& W. Like most of Funk's photos, this image was shot on Kodachrome 25.
Mitchell Funk brings the compositional precision of studio photography to street photography.
Unlike most street photographers, Funk is an abstractionist while being a documentarian.
Signed dated and numbered lower right recto Edition 2/15 Unframed. Printed later. Other sizes are available. Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum. He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek, Fortune, New York Magazine and Life Magazine among others

Done in 1970 during the psychedelic era, Mitchell Funk zooms a sleeping girl in Central Park. A perfect balance is struck between the zoom of colors emanating from her head and the assumed dream state of the subject.

This was shot just a few blocks north of the world trade center site. In the 1970's there were still 19th century walk up buildings, including this one that hosts a cigarette Billboard . Mitchell Funk brings to street photography a sense of lighting and compositional exactitude that one would find in still life photography. It's not surprising because at the time, he was doing studio still life product assignments for editorial and advertising clients.

Mitchell Funk breaks with traditional black and white photography and shoots on the street with Kodachrome. His goal is to make color photography full of color in this nascent art form. In this image, a golden and almost angelic light illuminates a group of kids hanging out in the Lower East Side. When Funk shoots on the street, he scans the environment for situations with remarkable color. In 1972, the idea of colorful color photographs was the radical trailblazing idea that has taken root in street shooters today. Mitchell Funk invented it over 52 years ago.
Signed dated and numbered 3/15 lower right recto, other sizes available, printed later, unframed. This work is printed on fine art Hahnemuhle paper. The color will vary from monitor to monitor.
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time-Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum. He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek, Fortune, New York Magazine and Life Magazine among others.

Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), also known as Moondog, was an American musician, composer, theoretician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments...
Moondog, was a blind American composer and musician. He was a fixture in front of the CBS building Black Rock on 6th Avenue and 5nd street. Photographer Mitchell Funk breaks with tradition and shoots street photography in color. Today in 2022, this does not seem like a big deal. But 51 years ago, in 1971, it was quite a trailblazing effort. Color captures something that is missing in Black and White. It's a greater sense of realism.
Funk is an early voice for tight design, color, and carefully composed compositions instead of the more generally accepted "snapshot" street image.
The fine art print is signed, dated, and numbered 2/15, lower right recto. Other sizes are available , printed later, Printed on Hahnemuhle fine art paper
Can a street photograph be a grab shot and precisely designed simultaneously?
Mitchell Funk says yes.
He brings finely honed photography skills such as composition, intense lighting and design to found subject matter. Mitchell Funk brings the compositional precision of studio photography to street photography. Unlike most street photographers, Funk is an abstractionist while being a documentarian. Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one of the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum. He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek, Fortune, New York Magazine and Life Magazine among others

In the 1969, color photography was still not recognized as fine art. Mitchell Funk goal was to make color photography full of color in this nascent art form. When Funk shoots on the street, he scans the environment for situations with remarkable color.
Mitchell Funk is a "Color Photographer. On the heels of decades of Black and White street photography, Funk decided to take a different course and shoot street scenes in color where color itself was always at least a co-subject. Thus, Funk's work must be understood not only as a document of a scene but as color and design. Today in 2022 he still shoots today with the same enthusiasm as he did 53 years ago. The idea of colorful color photographs was the radical trailblazing idea that has taken root in street shooters today. Mitchell Funk pioneered it over 53 years ago.
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum . He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek and Life Magazine among others.

Mitchell Funk breaks with traditional black and white photography and shoots on the street with Kodachrome. His goal is to make color photography full of color in this nascent art form. In this image, the colorful walls are much as a subject as the introspective man. When Funk shoots on the street, he scans the environment for situations with remarkable color. In 1971, the idea of colorful color photographs was the radical trailblazing idea that has taken root in street shooters today. Mitchell Funk invented it over 50 years ago.
Signed dated and numbered 3/15 lower right recto, other sizes available, printed later, unframed. This work is printed on fine art Hahnemuhle paper. The color will vary from monitor to monitor.
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time-Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum. He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek, Fortune, New York Magazine and Life Magazine among others.

Mitchell Funk is a 10 trick pony. Over the last 52 years, he has worked in and pioneered a wide variety of styles in Color Photography. Manipulated, multiple exposure abstract photography is one of them . This work done in 1969 is decades ahead of it's time. The sky seems to be ablaze with fire and light symbolizing ordnance in air, fury of the crowd and a "rockets red glare" reference with the American Flag as a central point in the composition. It was chosen by trail blazing famous Black Curator Henri Ghent for inclusion in the First Color Photography Show at a major American Museum. "Images en Couleur" 1970, Brooklyn Museum.

Shot with a "Mirror Lens"
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of " Color Photography" In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum . He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek and Life Magazine among others.

Adult movie marquees of old 42nd street in 1970. Double header, ABC's of Marriage and Diamond Stud
Mitchell Funk is a "Color Photographer Pioneer". He was color when color wasn't considered art.
His early color work anticipates developments in color photography by generations.
In 1970 he participated in one the first " Color Photography" shows at a major museum. Brooklyn Museum, show "Images en Couleur" . 1971 Included he was included in the visionary book "Frontiers of Photography" Time Life. Color ! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum. He has had more than 50 Photography Magazine Covers and has had covers on Newsweek and Life Magazine among
others.