Williams College Museum of Art Presents
Beautiful Suffering: Photography and the Traffic in Pain
January 28–April 30, 2006

This exhibition explores some of the key debates concerning the depiction of suffering in photography. Through 40 works by internationally renowned photographers such as Alfredo Jaar,
An-My Lê, Susan Meiselas, Andres Serrano, James Nachtwey, Sally Mann, and Sebastião Salgado, amongst others, images in Beautiful Suffering: Photography and the Traffic in Pain are drawn from the last two decades of art, advertising, and photojournalism. This exhibition challenges viewers to interpret our visual culture and to consider the inherent dilemma found in the act of making, and viewing, images of people in pain, raising fundamental questions about what and how we see. The exhibition, and an accompaning catalogue, is organized by Williams College professors Erina Duganne, Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow in the History of Photography; Holly Edwards, Lecturer in Art; and Mark Reinhardt, Professor of Political Science and American Studies, in conjunction with Stefanie Spray Jandl, Mellon Associate Curator for Academic Programs; and John Stomberg, Associate Director at WCMA. Supported by the Oakley Center for the Humanities and Social Sciences at Williams College, this exhibition will complement “Extreme Documentary: Alternative Verité,” a multidisciplinary conference organized by the Oakley Center, in collaboration with MASS MoCA, to be held April 7–8, 2006.