William Albert Allard's subjects address
the camera with surprising openness in photographs that have
been a staple of National Geographic— where he has produced
over 30 articles since 1964. Equal parts colorist, storyteller,
and ethnographer, his down-to-earth manner, fierce integrity,
and the consistent brilliance of his essays have made him a
romantic model for a generation of American photographers.
Allard has published five
highly acclaimed books; Vanishing Breed, photographs and writing
about cowboys and the West was nominated for The American Book
Award and received the Leica Medal of Excellence for Outstanding
Achievement.
Allard's
prints appear in many private and museum collections and have
been published in most major U.S. and European publications.
He has photographed in 25 countries on topics as diverse as
rodeos, urban elephants, and India's untouchables.
"Call Allard's photographs
wonderful performances. They gain in our esteem–given
their particularity, their luminance, the high finish they give
to human existance–if we think of them not as facts but
as art, made things, opinions, as brightly informative and indispensable
mediators between the world and we who would see it, like it,
live in it more fully", wrote Richard Ford in his forward
to Allard's book Portraits of America.
"I
think I can feel color. I can't explain it, but I
can feel it. In my photography, color and
composition are inseparable. I see in color."
—William Albert Allard
